Year 5 March Tim Hartin & Lonni Holland

Issue 457 "From Pluto with Love"

Last Issue: While on an outer space rescue mission the team encounters an unusual collection of space debris including a Rigellian Recorder, who tells them how his fleet was attacked and destroyed. Moments later the FF are also attacked. Sue encloses them in a force bubble which she attaches to one of the now departing aggressors. Back on Earth, the newly refurbished Four Freedoms Plaza headquarters has been taken over by the Frightful Four.

At the outer edge of the solar system, some 50 AU* from the sun, lies the small icy planetoid of Pluto. Its atmosphere is mostly nitrogen and methane with traces of carbon monoxide. The thin atmosphere actually freezes from the intense cold (70 Kelvin) and falls to the surface. The very planet itself is composed of a combination of rock and ice. While Pluto may not be the best place for a vacation resort, one alien species thought it was the perfect base for an outpost to keep an eye on the Sol solar system.

* Astronomical Units

Two large robotic interceptor rockets roared through the service tunnels as they landed within a deep crevasse that served as a hidden spaceport. This was but one part of a much larger secret station hidden within the core of Pluto, as if it had been carved from the inside out. The landing rockets quickly docked. Moments later they were lowered into a cavernous hanger by automatic programming. The silence of the empty hangar was interrupted by the buzz of someone’s communicator.

“Ben! Watch the toes, you big lump of…”

“Or what, you’ll give me a hotfoot? Dream on, junior.”

“Boys!” A woman’s voice cut through the air. Her inflection was short and to the point – like a dagger thrust to the heart. Quiet reigned once more, interrupted only by the muted tapping of Reed working at a display of buttons on the wall.

With a loud rush of compressed air, a huge airlock opened. “Okay, Sue, drop your invisible field. I’ve rigged some of the Rigellian Recorder’s internal sensor array… that’s some impressive technology actually. Did you know --”

“Careful Suzie, I think the big brain is in love.” Ben shook his head as Reed continued to ramble on, now about the hyper-tension fluid system of the Rigellian Optical Cone Cluster...

Sue Richards just stared at her husband, one raised eyebrow topping her long suffering expression. Reed stopped talking as soon as he noticed his wife’s gaze. “Oh right, where was I… Ah yes, basically I’ve set Reginald’s Internal Sensor Array on an infinite feedback loop that should obscure us from all prying sensors for the time being. Might as well save your energy, Sue. No doubt we will need it later.”

The Fantastic Four and their Rigellian Recorder cautiously entered the peculiar circular airlock. What was on the other side certainly surprised them. They didn’t expect a large stone hallway that disappeared into darkness. The ceiling was a good twenty feet high and fifteen feet wide. The walls were uneven stone with strange patches of a much rougher slate.

“So this is where the Harlem Globetrotters practice.” Ben took a step forward, stumbled and grabbed at the wall to steady himself. “Then again, maybe not. Geez, Louise, how come I feel so heavy? Shouldn’t I be bouncing to the ceiling here? I was durn near just a minute ago.”

Reed and the Recorder held a hurried, whispered conference. “You certainly should, Ben. The normal gravitational pull on Pluto is only approximately .06529 that of Earth while I would estimate that we are now in a field exerting a pull at least 1.35 what we are accustomed to.”

“You’re slipping, boss man. From five decimal places down to a measly two? Let’s try to be a bit more accurate, okay?” Johnny grinned.

Reed ignored him and continued, “Your suits should compensate for the increased gravity within a few minutes. Still, adjusting gravity this drastically within a planetoid indicates we are up against a race with superior graviton technology and more comfortable on a high gravity planet. I wonder if---“

“Enough science, already,” the Thing interrupted. “Where to now, Reed?”

Reed started walking forwards. “Down the corridor, but cautiously and keep an eye out for a control panel.”

“What do they look like? Same as the thingummie you used to get us in here? ” asked Johnny as he scanned the walls. The surfaces all looked the same to him.

“Possibly, I don’t know for sure.” Reed’s eyes never stopped examining around him for signs of a control panel hatch. “But I’ll let you know when I find one.”

In a sensor room, deep within Pluto, even the eight foot tall occupants were dwarfed by the large monolithic stone walls with the advanced sensors built into them. Holographic projectors cascaded their sensor images onto screens of solid methane ice sheets. Then the subdued background of soft hums and near muted clicks was broken.

“Sector Three Outer Airlock has been activated. “

A large humanoid rock creature loomed into the light. His face looked like it had been chiseled with a blunt instrument by a blind sculptor. His eyes appeared as deep shadow filled gouges. His mouth was a large rift across the lower portion of his elongated face. His voice sounded like a landslide. “Report, Subleader Ponn.”

“But Field Marshal Klorr,” The subordinate at the sensor readout spoke up. “Sector Three is fully automated. We have no personnel in that sector. Perhaps there were survivors from the Rigellian fleet we destroyed.”

“Ridiculous. They are an inferior species of minuscule stature and ability. Our destruction of them was complete. Their fleet was useful only as a test of our new weapon.”

The Subleader looked submissive. “Truly, not even the meta-humans of Earth can withstand the force of gravity. With our newly developed Directional Graviton Catapult and the endless supply of ammunition as provided by the rocks, asteroids and other objects in this area the Terrans call the Kuiper Belt we can succeed in destroying Terra. But I don’t understand why we are no longer trying to conquer them, sir.”

“We have tried again and again. If we can’t defeat them then we shall annihilate them, to redeem the honor of Krona.” With a wave of his stony hand Klorr dismissed the subject. “Enough of this. Continue to monitor your station, Subleader. And if this activation is as a result of someone’s sloppy maintenance or inattention to duty it will result in a quick trip home, without a ship. The DGC can have many uses.”

Ponn returned his attention to the display in front of him. He adjusted several dials and double checked some of the readings. A furrow appeared across the top of his rock-like visage, in a human it would have been a frown.

“Field Marshall, sensors are reporting no anomalies, but…”

“But what?”

“The Global Seismic Sensors are reporting unusual tremors within the planetoid’s depths.”

CRASH!!!

The sound reverberated through the corridor as slabs of rock, mixed with dull slate pebbles tumbled to the floor making the footing treacherous. Ben ignored the debris and just forged onward, continuing to smash the wall in the spot that seemed to be giving way. He had had just about enough of Reed’s systematic approach and had started punching his way through the nearby wall.

The rest of the team were yelling at Ben as they caught up to him but he didn’t stop until he came bashed his way into a strange side tunnel. Turning back towards them, a big grin splitting his orange face he raised a finger in a classic “We’re number one” gesture.

“You’re lucky, Ben. A wrong punch could have sent us straight onto Pluto’s surface. The rest of you remember, no yelling. We are in unfriendly territory after all.” Reed activated his wrist computer and scanned the vast side tunnel. “Interesting crystal structure… Appears to be some sort of information conduit.”

“I’d had enough of Big Brain mumbling to himself in the hall; now I find something interestin’ and he’s still at it.” Ben scanned the side tunnel for any potential threats. Nothing out of the ordinary. Well, ordinary in the Fantastic Four sense of the word. He continued with his griping about Reed’s chattering, “It was starting to grate on my nerves. I just had to do sumthin’ instead of standin’ around and doin’ nuttin’.”

“So you instead throttle your way into a Crystal-based Circuitry Junction Node.”

“You mean it’s a junction box?”

“Exactly, Ben. That’s an excellent analogy. My scans of it appear to suggest that we will experience a further increase in gravity as we move deeper into the planet. Our atmosuits will continue to compensate for some of the gravity increase, but the suits do have their limits. Let’s hope we don’t find out what those limits are. ” Reed pointed out the rows of multicolored crystals that ran from the murky distance into a large batch of uneven, rainbow hued forest of luminous shards on the side tunnel’s wall. “All connections feed into this one junction.

‘Can’t you use it to find out what’s going on?” Johnny waved a thumb at the crop of crystals. “Don’t you have a gadget or something that can plug into that thing?”

Reed shook his head. “I wish it were that simple. I would need delicate equipment to get any recognizable results. Still…” Reed's voice trailed off when he looked at the Rigellian Recorder. “Exactly how sensitive are your sensory systems?”

Reginald the Recorder tilted his head towards Reed and responded in a hushed tone. “Observation: Sensitive enough to detect three silicon-based beings coming this way from the lower tunnel. Conclusion: Sensor input suggest they are…”

“Kronans,” answered Reed Richards. “Advanced beings made of rock and stone, from the Krona System.”

“Affirmative. Data: Originate from the planet Ria, first from its sun in the Krona system of the Milky Way Galaxy. Originally tried to invade Earth but were defeated by Thor. Records confirm that the Kronans were defeated once more by Thor and they lost their base which was located on one of Saturn’s moons. Observation: Kronans are planning to attack earth once mo…”

“Shhhh…” Invisible Woman reacted instinctively. With a wave of her hand, everyone faded from view. She silently watched the Kronans walk by her.

They were more of the eight foot tall giants of living rock. Their complexions were a sandy brown with various patches and swashes of darker shades. Their only apparel was some sort of utility belt forged from an unidentifiable metal.

Johnny whispered, “Oh crud, who invited Ben’s relatives to the party?”

Earthside:

She-Hulk and Wyatt Wingfoot were held immobile by a strange energy field which originated from a device near their feet. Thin metal collars were around their necks. The Wizard was busy attaching a disc-like device to Reed's computer. He was attempting to download the Fantastic Four's database.

"All this for a bunch of computer files?" asked She-Hulk as she struggled to stand up. “Why didn’t you just try a P2P client? It would have been a lot easier, on all of us.”

"Nattering woman. These are more than just any files, but Reed Richard's personal database. While I have no personal interest in what Richards does, the right people will pay well for his discoveries."

Stegron paced back and forth as he continued to stare at She-Hulk. His human brain held hostage by his most primitive impulses and urges Stegron’s thoughts drifted to those of food. He stopped, bent down and sniffed at her leg, his mouth watering at the delectable sight before him. Then he sniffed too closely and suddenly a shapely green leg sent him flying across the room. She-Hulk leapt to her feet and whirled to face the Wizard. But before she could do anything further, the Wizard activated a button on his gauntlet and She-Hulk dropped to her knees obviously in great pain.

The Wizard dragged her back up to her seat and secured her, then began to examine the apparatus on the floor to determine how she had managed to escape. He moved it slightly, made a few adjustments to the controls on it then stood upright. His finger stabbed a different button on his gauntlet and Stegron let out a howl of pain.

“You idiot! By giving in to your base impulses you bumped the restraining web equipment and weakened the field.” The cold light in his eyes betrayed his fury. "My genius has led the Fantastic Four on a fool's errand after a few wayward astronauts, leaving their newly inhabited headquarters vulnerable to someone with a greater mind than Reed Richards! I’m not letting any Jurassic reject upset my plans."

Stomping back to the computer he resumed what he was doing while activating his com-link and demanded status reports from the others.

"All clear down here, Wizard." Quicksand continued her scan of the lower private floors of the Fantastic Four's quarters. Hydroman made an identical statement about the upper floors.

The Wizard laughed. “Excellent. Now if Stegron can control himself we will be finished here within the hour.” He looked back at his captives. “Hmm, I wonder if anyone would pay for the return of these two or I should just eliminate them now.”

A small, unseen presence watched from an air duct. He was not alone, behind him swarmed several hundred ants. "Don't worry, my friends. Help is on its way. I hope."

Pluto:

“Junior, your mouth nearly got us captured.” Ben peered down the corridor. He could still make out the now distant retreating figures of the Kronan guards. “That was too close. When they turned to look for the source of your jabbering I’da sworn they could see me. No offense, Suzie, I know your invisibility fields are terrific, but it still gave me the creeps.”

“My mouth?” Johnny snarled. “What do you think brought them down here, you over grown orange boulder? You! Smashing through a wall… didn’t you think someone just might hear you? Sheesh!”

His sister whispered, “Shhhh, both of you. After all these years you should both know better. Sometimes I feel like I’m running a kindergarten. ” She turned back to her husband. “Reed, what now? Do we find out why the Kronans are here, or look for the astronauts?”

"Both, eventually. I’ve almost got the position of the astronauts now. There they are – two levels down and thirty meters to the right of our current position. Their life readings seem strangely low but stable, as though they were in some form of stasis." Reed Richards detached the Recorder's circuitry from the crystal junction box.

"Thirty meters? Sheesh, big brain. You think this is science class at ESU? What's that in American?" asked Ben.

"Observation: 98.4252 Imperial Feet of Terran designation." replied the Recorder. "Not to be confused with the unit of measurement known as Imperial Feet in the Gyvurian Cluster. One Gyvurian Foot equals thirty-six Terran feet. In that case thirty meters would equal…"

The Thing interrupted. "Yadda, yadda, yadda… Let's get those astronauts and head for home before I die of old age. What’s the plan, big shot?"

Mr. Fantastic drew them all into a tight circle. “Listen closely, everyone, especially you two, Ben and Johnny. This could get complicated.”

Earthside:

Outside the storm raged on, thunder competing with the rumble of the never ending New York traffic, and lightning splashing luminescence on the sides of the Manhattan skyscrapers. In one apartment, twenty eight stories up from the street, the superior soundproofing and dark, thick draperies deadened the gale’s effects. Still something was disturbing the bedroom’s lone occupant. He tossed and twisted, effectively tangling himself in the sheets. Suddenly he sat up.

“Damn. It’s the phone.” Willie Lumpkin fell from his bed, straightening himself with a hand on the nightstand as his aching back protested his too rapid movement. He limped towards the living room and the incessant ringing of his phone. “Yeah, yeah, I’m coming. Give me a minute.”

He grabbed the receiver.

“Hello? Hello? Oh good you’re still there.”

“You want me to what? But I…”

“Okay, I’ll do what I can. Nope, sorry I don’t have a cell phone so I can’t stay in touch, but you’ll know if it works.”

He dressed hurriedly but stopped briefly on his way out of the apartment. Picking up a picture frame he looked at the obviously aged photo held therein. “Well, Lila, I guess you shouldn’t have thrown me over for my best friend. Just think, instead of sitting around in Glenville, Nebraska, you could be here in the Big Apple, watching your husband run off to be a genuine super hero.” He replaced the picture. “Wonder how much good wiggling my ears is gonna be tonight?”

When Irish eyes are smiling, sure it’s like a morn in..

Shamus Hoolihan flipped open his cell phone and the music stopped.

“Sure and you’ve found me, boy-o. Speak up now.” Although born in Queens, as was his father, Shamus still managed a Hollywood version of an Irish brogue, which thickened in direct proportion to the amount of Bushmills he had consumed. He poured himself another shot as he listened.

“Go on outta that. In Four Freedoms itself? Those idjits won’t be able to hit a cow’s arse with a banjo when we’re through with them. I’ll be there straight away, me bucko.”

He adjusted his ring-tone to vibrate, slipped his cell phone in his jacket, ran his fingers through his curly hair and headed out of his apartment, softly whistling Danny Boy.

Pluto:

“Ben, don’t you have that barricade built yet? They’re almost on top of us.”

“Well you could help, matchstick. It takes time to rip slabs outta the wall and pile ‘em up so they actually stay up. How about fusing some of it together. Sure would make my job a lot easier.”

The Thing continued to pile hunks of rock and broken circuitry across the tunnel. In the distance a squadron of Kronan Assault soldiers closed on their position in a tight wedge formation, sonic shields overlapping, broken only by protruding power lances.

The Torch focused a tight beam of flame at the barrier, melting the rock and metal into a solid mass. “Okay, that’s it, Ben. They’re getting too close. This’ll slow them down but it looks like it’s time to get ready to rumble.”

“And about time, too! Just like bein’ back in the U.C.W.F.* again, except when I was rasslin’ I got to hit my opponents, not hunker down behind a wall and throw rocks at them.” He suited words to action and started lobbing hunks of rock over the barricade at the approaching troops. “These guys even look like some of my old opponents.”

* Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation

Concentrated energy beams flickered over the barrier as the Kronans activated their lances. Johnny dodged and wove in the air, avoiding the rays. He was burning brightly, his body a deep crimson inferno wreathed with tongues of flickering yellow and orange. His flame rained down over the approaching forces, splashing into wide molten puddles on the sonic shields, creating blue smoky puffs as it hit and melted the power lances into smoldering slag.

On and on the battle raged. Flying near the curved ceiling Johnny projected a steady beam of flame at the floor directly in front of the Kronans, making it melt and bubble like lava, slowing but not stopping their steady approach. Then more troops could be heard coming from farther down the tunnel.

“Ben! Isn’t it almost time?”

“Sorry, kiddo, but not yet.” The Thing reached for more rocks to throw. He had already exhausted the supply he could reach from the tunnel walls and was now ripping up hunks of the floor. “You think I like hiding back here, throwin’ stones? I feel like a sissy. I wanna get out there and give some of those guys a knuckle sandwich but we gotta wait for the signal. In the meantime we follow the game plan.”

At that moment a power beam hit Johnny dead center. His flames blew off him, extending back and flickering out like a birthday candle. He dropped towards the floor of the tunnel, struggling to reignite.

“Uh, some plan!”

Over two years later here we are again. Writing science fiction based stories can become a challenge. We had to go back to issue 456 and delete a reference to Charon, Pluto’s only moon, as two more moons have been located since 456 was published. Of course Pluto was a planet then as well. In 2006 a new definition of ‘planet’ meant it was downgraded to a dwarf planet and renamed 134340 Pluto. For the sake of clarity (and because we keep forgetting the number) we’ll just continue to call it Pluto.

Time marches on and things just keep getting more and more complicated for our heroes and for their friends back on Earth. Join us for issue 458 where everything will be wrapped up… one way or another.

Tim Hartin & Lonni Holland
March 9, 2008