by André Caroff
Beffort and Akamatsu did not have the cool-headedness of an electronic brain. At 600 yards the two saucers in front were already in their sights. At 550 yards the men pressed the triggers and left their fingers on. At 500 yards the double beam hit the two saucers head on and disintegrated them just when the Great Brain gave its green light to attack. All this happened suddenly and silently, but Madame Atomos, who was coming a little farther behind, had the reflex to surround her saucer with a magnetic shield before entering the mortal range. The saucer passed through the disintegrator ray without suffering any damage and disappeared over the horizon while Beffort and Akamatsu emptied their reservoirs in vain.
Of course this all unfolded in the blink of an eye, with that incredible speed that characterized the actions of Madame Atomos, and the two men had the depressing feeling that it had all been a dream. The saucer they had used was no longer in the middle of the field, two of the rifles were out of service and the last saucer was already coming back toward Scotts Bluff.
Beffort grabbed the last rifle and aimed it at the sky. His actions had been linked to one another since the beginning of the attack and in this chain of movements there was no place for any comments. Madame Atomos’ saucer was over the city in a heartbeat, swooping down on the west suburb, very far from Beffort and his partner. It let out a blinding flash and shot back straight up to vanish into the endless sky.
“Watch out!” Beffort warned, “We’re not out of it yet.”
The sinister whistling backed up his words. The saucer was already coming back, out of the horizon, plummeting toward the field and disintegrating the forest on its way. Beffort opened fire, emptying his weapon at the saucer, which was emptying its own with blind fury. Very quickly the forest was swept away and the grass wiped out, but when the saucer had to retreat because of lack of ammunition, Beffort and Akamatsu were still standing under cover of a pitiful thicket.
Beffort threw his useless rifle to the ground and turned to his friend. “Never been so close to death, huh?”
Pale and pointing to the west where the saucer had unleashed another attack and was coming back to shoot at the two men, Akamatsu said, “Over there Madame Atomos has disintegrated a set target.”
Beffort turned white. “Good God! The bungalow where Mie and Bob are living!”
He started running like a madman, but he knew that there was no chance of seeing his loved ones alive. Akamatsu followed him as best he could, dragging his arm along like dead weight, and the two of them ended up on the road just as a police car was coming out of nowhere. Beffort and Akamatsu were wearing the uniforms of the Atomos Organization. They were almost hit and had the hardest time proving their identity, but finally convinced the policemen to drive them to Scotts Bluff.
The car crossed the town at full speed while the fighter jets from the US Air Force made a ridiculous search for Madame Atomos’ flying saucer, which was already on the other side of the country. The car turned abruptly onto a cozy little street lined with cute bungalows.
“Where is it?” the sergeant asked.
Beffort and Akamatsu did not answer. In the spot where the house of Mie and Bob used to be, there was nothing but a square of flat land covered with ashes.
Chapter XI
Being the head of the FBI since the death of “The Boss,”6 James Edward Evans or J.E.E. had learned a lot. Originally he had considered Madame Atomos and her Organization with the typical detachment of a man who had never battled with her except in news reports: it all seemed faraway and a little unreal and anyway did not concern him in the least. But after being appointed, J.E.E. found himself thrown into hot water up to his neck. With his remarkable ability to adapt, he understood that the war the US was waging against Madame Atomos was no joke and had a real chance of becoming worldwide someday if the sinister woman suddenly got her mind off the Beffort family.
In fact, the hatred that Madame Atomos bore against the United States had been, in a way, put on hold from the day that Beffort had freed Mie Azusa, the ex-Miss Atomos, from the claws of her motor-brain. Therefore, J.E.E. was convinced that Beffort’s disappearance, as well as that of his wife and son, would spell disaster. Madame Atomos would be at liberty, ready to devote herself and accomplish the annihilation of the USA and then—why not?—attack all the nations belonging to the Atomic Club.
J.E.E. had great affection for Smith, Mie and little Bob. He did not like setting them up as goats on a tether tied to a post, but he knew for a fact that their fate could not be changed. As long as they were alive, Madame Atomos would be after them and as long as Madame Atomos was after them, the USA and the rest of the world would be relatively safe.
This explains why J.E.E. kept such a close eye on Mie and Bob while Smith Beffort was gone. The minute he was reported missing, J.E.E. and a group of G-men jumped on the first plane heading toward Scotts Bluff. At 10 o’clock, Mie and Bob were secretly moved to Chadron, north of Scotts Bluff, so Madame Atomos’ flying saucer had just disintegrated an empty house…
“Are you Mr. Beffort?” The man was holding the gate open. Smith did not know him because he had only been with the Washington office for a short time, but he was there on orders of the perceptive J.E.E. “I’m in charge of telling you,” the G-man continued without waiting for an answer, “that your wife and son are safe. My car is on the corner. If you want, I can take you to them right away.”
For a second, Beffort was speechless. Akamatsu laughed happily and said, “So, are you going, Smith. Miracles only happen once, but I’m sure you’ll hang your stockings over the fireplace next Christmas.”
Beffort found his tongue, “You bet I’m going! And you’re coming with me!”
Akamatsu shook his head and pointed to his shoulder. “Out of service, Smith. Sorry, but I’ll be sitting out the rest of this operation in an armchair and sipping Cutty Sark. For a fractured collarbone, I know they put on a pretty big cast—too big to go running after Madame Atomos!”
Beffort shook his hand and ran to the car. Six minutes later Akamatsu was in the hospital and Beffort was speeding toward Chadron.
For a while Madame Atomos had been in her shelter in Alturas, in the very north of California, when the reports from her servants were relayed to her via the Great Brain in Atomia. On learning that Beffort, Akamatsu, Mie and Bob had escaped her formidable strike force, the terrible Japanese woman went into a rage like she had never known before. But an outside observer could never have detected the fury she felt. In Madame Atomos, everything happened on the inside, behind closed doors—an inner explosion, very trying on the nerves, which usually left her panting.
Madame Atomos was no longer young and she lived in utmost solitude. Her universe was made up of hatred, bloodthirsty dreams and murderous madness. Sometimes she lost her mind and drowned in the whirlpool of demonic rage, became a kind of wild beast spending vast amounts of destructive energy to assuage her need for revenge.
It was from her refuge in Alturas that Madame Atomos was burning California. Just like for atoms, she had domesticated fire, but here, too, machines were needed. For once the Great Brain was not in command and the huge electronic mechanism that Madame Atomos had before her could start a fire in a 600 mile range around Alturas. But Madame Atomos’ anger made her forget one important detail: the flying saucer that had just brought her from Nebraska to California was still in her Alturas refuge. Normally the machine would have made a short layover and then left for Atomia to cover her tracks. Even though the planes of the US Air Force were much too slow to keep up with the saucer, the radars had followed it unerringly. In the next few minutes a swarm of reports were swept into the office of Dr. Soblen, Witter and Owen Bernitz.
For some time they knew that Beffort and Akamatsu were back and this relieved the tension and reenergized the men in Bishop. Soblen, especially, seemed suddenly charged up. He went over to the wall map and, as he adjusted his glasses, said, “Alturas! We can be there in less than an hour.”
“Slowly, doc,” Eddy
Witter advised. “Before doing anything, shouldn’t we get the go ahead from Smith Beffort?”
The doctor looked impatient. “Smith is in Scotts Bluff,” he argued, “and to get him back to California would take all kinds of things to happen. We know that this flying saucer is sitting in a relatively isolated area located in the mountains riddled with lakes. This is exactly the type of country Madame Atomos loves for her hideouts. In my opinion we need to attack right away!”
Witter shrugged his shoulders. “I can’t do anything without orders.” He was a federal agent and responsible to Washington. His reasoning was logical.
Owen Bernitz understood. “Okay,” he said, “I see that the Green Dragon Force has to come into the game now. Mr. Beffort gave orders as such. We have to try to catch some members of the Organization in California and, if possible, destroy Madame Atomos’ hideouts. I agree with you, doc. We’ve got to hit hard and fast.”
“Do as you like,” Eddy Witter said, “but at least inform Beffort or J.E.E.”
“I’m in charge,” Soblen assured. “How do you figure on doing it, Owen?”
Bernitz laughed silently, shaking his cigar in the corner of his mouth. “Tell the guys in Alturas to stay out of our way and I’ll do the rest. We have paralyzing rifles and dynamite. That’s more than enough to liquidate the Atomos Organization that’s panicking in its cubbyhole. With a little luck maybe we can even put the flying saucer out of service.”
The clicking of the teletype interrupted him. Eddy Witter ripped off the sheet of paper, scanned the news flash coming from Sacramento and turned pale. “Fires just broke out pretty much everywhere from Northern to Southern California and we don’t have enough men to fight them all. Owen, I do believe that it’s high time you got to work.”
Soblen furrowed his brow. “Do you think that these new fires are the result of the saucer landing?”
“How could you not? For two to three hours most of the fires were being contained and now all of a sudden it’s starting all over again.”
Soblen pursed his lips. “You’re right. Between the disappearance and the return of Beffort and Akamatsu nothing happened. They escape from Madame Atomos and she takes revenge on California. But if you think about it, it would be ridiculous and highly unlikely that Madame Atomos is presently in the Alturas hideout.”
His words evoked no reply. Nobody knew for sure where the sinister Japanese woman was. Sometimes they managed to locate her in such and such a place, but it was always very vague and ambiguous. Now, Soblen, Witter and Bernitz were aware that to beat Madame Atomos, she had to be in a tight corner where she could not move.
“We can suppose so, doctor. That doesn’t commit us in any way…” It was obvious that he did not believe it.
Soblen persisted, just for the sake of argument. “Let’s say she’s there and we don’t do everything we can to capture her…”
“Which means?”
“The army, air force and navy are spread out along the California coast and over its borders. Why not bring them together around Alturas?”
Owen Bernitz waved his cigar butt and warned, “Watch it, doc, that’s not the best way and you know it. Every time we’ve attacked Madame Atomos in force, we’ve failed. If you unleash all the armed forces of the United States on Alturas, it’ll be the prettiest massacre in history. The planes will blow up in the air, the tanks and infantry will be disintegrated…”
“Okay,” Soblen cut in bitterly. “I know the score. But you can’t take on such responsibility all by yourself.”
Owen Bernitz straightened up. All of a sudden he was the gang boss that the police had taken years to arrest, the pitiless killer that the jurors had unanimously sentenced to death and his character took on amazing depth. “Sorry to contradict you, doc,” his voice was hard, “but Mr. Beffort created the Green Dragon Force specifically for this kind of situation. So, I’ll take responsibility for the matter, just like in Rhode Island7, and I’m sure I’ll do what the boss would want.” One way among others to recall that he only took orders from Smith Beffort. It hit home and hard for Witter and Soblen, but they did not say a word. Beffort had, in fact, wanted this when he formed the Green Dragon Force.
Bernitz continued, “I’m gonna get my team together and we’re going to Alturas. We’ll make a soft landing so that no one from the Atomos Organization can alert the Great Brain, which wouldn’t be the case if the US Army went into action.”
“And if you fail?” Witter asked.
“Then it’ll be time for you to take over,” Bernitz replied coldly. “See you later, gentlemen.” He snapped up his hat and dashed off.
“There you go,” Soblen sounded glum. “The Green Dragon Force is a state within the State.”
Witter sat down, lit a cigarette and spoke calmly, “In a country where there are so many states, it’s just one more, isn’t it, doctor?”
“That doesn’t bother you?”
Witter stretched his legs. “The Green Dragon Force has proved themselves. Without them thousands of Americans would have fallen at the hands of Madame Atomos. Personally I trust Bernitz, his men and their methods.”
“A bunch of killers!” Soblen raged.
Witter smiled. “The Marines are no better. They’ve killed for years in every corner of the globe and they get decorated for it. If I were President of the USA, I would decorate the Green Dragon Force.”
Soblen sat down. After that speech he could do nothing but put his bitterness away, in his pocket, under his handkerchief.
Chapter XII
Smith Beffort was finishing breakfast with his family (which he rarely did) when the telephone started ringing. He got up to answer it but Mie stopped him, “Sit down, Smith, I’ll take care of it.” She got up quickly to find the phone, which she still had not looked for in her new home, found it in the living room and picked up.
“Evans here,” the FBI chief’s voice said right away. “Is that you, Mrs. Beffort?”
“Smith is having breakfast,” Mie answered. “Do you want to talk to him in person?”
J.E.E. snorted, “No need. Just tell him what I’m telling you: we’ve determined that the saucer that attacked Smith and Akamatsu around Scotts Bluff went back to a mysterious base located near Alturas in Northern California. Since your husband wasn’t here, neither Witter nor Soblen wanted to take the initiative, so Owen Bernitz took over. The Green Dragon Force being what it is, I can’t stand in the way, but be sure to tell Smith that I’m totally against it.”
“Why?”
“I don’t think Bernitz is up to such an operation,” J.E.E. responded sincerely. “He works great when he’s under orders, but… it’s only that I’m afraid he’ll hurt our chances.”
Mie sighed. “That’s your way of telling me that Smith should leave for Alturas immediately, isn’t it?”
J.E.E. was embarrassed and cleared his throat. “Listen, Mie, I know your husband barely survived a dangerous mission and that he is constantly on the battlefront, but his presence there is imperative. The situation in California is really bad. Fires are breaking out pretty much everywhere and no one can stop them. If this continues, the whole region will be nothing but burned earth…”
“And of course, Smith has to put out the fires with his magic wand,” Mie taunted.
“Don’t be sarcastic,” Evans begged. “I guarantee you that the United States is under a terrible threat. All our usual means are useless against the fires of Madame Atomos. The specialists are pulling out their hair!”
“So what can Smith do that they can’t?” Mie asked, becoming annoyed by the conversation.
Beffort, who had sneaked up, gently took the phone out of her hands. He was still wearing the uniform of the Atomos Organization and his powerful build made him look like superman. “Evans,” he said into the mouthpiece, “you want to tell me what you expect from me?”
“Oh, you were listening?”
“No, but I pretty much know what it was about after hearing my wife’s answers
. What’s happening around Alturas?”
“The saucer landed around there,” J.E.E. summarized, “and since then thousands of fires have broken out across California. Soblen and Witter think rightly that these fires are being controlled remotely from the shelter in Alturas. The Green Dragon Force is about to arrive on the scene, but you should be there to supervise…”
“Okay,” Beffort interjected. “Order a jet plane to be at my disposal and I’ll take off in ten minutes. What else?”
“Nothing. Thanks. Um… the plane is already waiting for you at the Chadron Municipal Airport. Good luck, Smith.” He hung up quickly.
Beffort smiled, also hung up and turned to his wife. “Do you have a suit for me, dear?”
Mie swung around without answering, opened a suitcase that was still lying on the floor and took out a summer suit and a paralyzing pistol. She was starting to get used to it.
In this area the land was chaotic, like what a lunar landscape might look like. Nevertheless, the vegetation surrounding the area suspected of being a hideout was very thick, creating a surprisingly unnatural contrast.
“Looks like this place was razed on purpose,” Lucky Simms commented.
Owen Bernitz did not respond, but he looked around. He had set up his men at a distance, under the trees, and he himself was positioned closer, on a rocky point stretching out like a T on the loose stones. He was there with his action team: Lucky Simms, Ralph Stutton, Sammy and Art Baxter, a group of tough guys, expertly trained, who were fearless and knew their enemy well. Yet, Bernitz felt uncomfortable. For the first time, he was about to act without the help of Beffort or Akamatsu—this was out of character for him. The razed land before him might be riddled with all kinds of traps. Bernitz had no personal experience with Madame Atomos’ hideouts, but he knew they were always protected by ultra-sensitive microphones and a dense network of cameras.
