Rye Ironstone: Mother Tesla's Death Ray

by John Wilkerson

I jumped in Capri and revved the engine.

  “Time for your Mr. Dallas?” I asked, as we pulled onto the street.

  Gael retrieved a slip of paper from her pocket. “Yes. Here’s the address.”

  We drove across town past the rail station to the warehouse district. The address wasn’t difficult to find. The choice of locations was perplexing.

  The sign out front read ‘XXX – Mail Order Only.’ Mr. Dallas since of humor was warped.

  I parked the car in the street, and Gael and I walked up to the front door. Butcher paper covered the inside of the windows.

  A man in his forties opened the door just as I reached for the handle. He was clean shaven, with the distinctive smell of someone who’d recently been to the mall and run the gauntlet down the perfume isle.

  Dallas motioned us in. “Doctor Gale, Mr. Ironstone, please come in.”

  We stepped into a cluttered office with a desk and rows of file cabinets. Thick dust covered the surfaces. Taped to the inside glass were photos of scantily clad women dressed in 1950’s Betty Page getups. It was nostalgic, and I liked it.

  The soft light from a couple of battery-powered lanterns illuminated the space, aided by the glow of sunlight pressing through paper-covered windows.

  “Mr. Dallas, it’s wonderful to see you again.” Gael stepped forward and embraced the man in a quick noncommittal hug.

  Dallas looked down from his impressive six-foot-something height, and held Gael’s hands like a family friend. “Pleasure’s all mine, Doctor Gale. I wish it was under better circumstances, but any chance to catch up with you is always a joy.”

  Okay, this just got weirder. Gael and Dallas knew each other. Dang. She was harder to peel than a frozen onion. I coughed a little, drawing the attention back to me.

  “Mr. Ironstone.” Dallas stepped forward and shook my hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you. It’s good to finally meet.”

  I wanted to say something clever, but wimped out and said in my best lame voice, “Thank you, sir.”

  Dallas grabbed the two lanterns and motioned for us to follow him through the door to the warehouse.

  I was delivered into adolescent nirvana. Shelves upon shelves were stacked with images of young women. Yep, those kinds of women. Movies too. No VHS or Betamax. It was all in classic steel cans, with typewriter printed labels. My younger self quivered as the older me turned away and respectfully ignored the scantily clad vixens.

  Gael poked me in the ribs. “Pay attention, Rye. This is important.”

  I pushed too far. “What are you worried about? Is your picture in here somewhere?”

  I never saw it happen. I felt it, but I never saw it. Gael got one of my fingers. I didn’t scream. There wasn’t time. Pain has many colors. This time it was black.

  I sat on the floor for a few minutes and took control of my breathing, all the while wishing I could disappear.

  Mr. Dallas and Gael waited for me at one of the large packing tables. I gathered my wits and sucked up my ego.

  “I’ve been watching him for the past couple of months,” Gael said. “He’s extremely lucky. It’s what seems to keep him alive. The logic center in his brain that controls speech is his biggest downfall, but in all, he has potential. We can use him.”

  I plopped down on a stool and asked the most logical question I could fathom.

  “What?”

  Gael did her own Vulcan eyebrow raise toward Dallas. “He’s smarter than he appears.”

  Chapter Six

  My mood deteriorated at the sight of the six bright-orange three-ring binders lying on the plywood packing table. Paper labels read: Ironstone, Raymond Zeus ‘Rye’ – Under Consideration.

  “Now, Mr. Ironstone.” Dallas turned his attention toward me. “You’ve an interesting life, I see.”

  I fought the urge to answer with a one-word question and took the time to formulate something with a bit more intelligence. “Yeah, I guess.”

  Gael snickered.

  “What’s this all about?” I reached for one of the binders.

  Dallas leaned forward and deftly gathered them into a stack just out of my reach. “As you know, we have a little problem with someone creating lightning, and demolishing buildings. I’d hoped you’d be able to lend us a hand.”

  I glanced at Gael who sat expressionless on a stool across the table from me. Dallas leaned slightly forward with a noncommittal grin on his face.

  “If you want to talk about the church group and what I’ve found, fine, but if this is a shakedown by some bureaucratic pimp, I’m out of here.” I slowly pulled a breath through my nose, and worked to slow my annoyance.

  Dallas sat up straight. “Fine, fine. Why don’t we start with the church compound?”

  “Nineteenth century throwback group with a woman who shoots sparks out of her eyes. What’s to tell?”

  “Pretty slim observation, Mr. Ironstone.” Dallas opened a small notebook and started writing. “You’re better trained than that.” He eyeballed the stack of orange binders.

  I rested my elbows on the table. “Their leader appears to be a woman named Mother Mary. She wears blue robes, shoots lightning, and I believe is the mother of Blondie. Blondie was the woman doing the shooting at the school quad.”

  I decided to throw another tidbit of kibble to the hound. “The university is or was involved. Dean Meeks is presently the main person of interest. I think he’s close to Mother Mary.”

  Mr. Dallas bit his lips between his teeth and stroked his chin with his fingers. “What brought you to this conclusion?”

  “Cat princess here pointed out Meeks at the church compound. He was wearing the same uniform as all the other church members, but with more status. I got interested, and poked around his office. Oh, and his office was cleaned out. He knew about the attack before it happened.” I gently drummed my finger tips on the table top.

  Dallas wrote a few more notes and asked without making eye contact. “Cat princess?”

  Gael gave me a wink. “His vocabulary is quite animated. It’s refreshing in a sexist way.”

  “Mr. Ironstone,” Dallas said. “The death ray is real. It was invented by Nicola Tesla despite what the history books say. Unfortunately, he never delivered the final prototype or technical drawing to the army. We, the government, have been searching for it for over fifty years.” Dallas steepled his fingers. “I think it’s time I told you the full story.”

  My anger boiled. “Yeah, you think? This town got knocked down by blue-lighting, some crazy-hottie executed nearly a score of coeds, and there’s a woman wearing blue robes shooting sparks out of her fingers.” I slammed my fist on the table.

  I knew it wasn’t Mr. Dallas’s fault, but he was the first person I’d come across who could do something about this mess and he was too tight lipped with the facts.

  Dallas turned toward Gael. “Would you excuse us please?”

  She stood up and slid her stool under the table. “Gladly. It’s always difficult to have the first conversation with new recruits.” Gael passed by my seat and placed her hand on my shoulder.

  Warmth passed through my body from her touch.

  “Rye, Mr. Dallas is on the good-guys team.”

  “I’ll try,” I said.

  Dallas waited patiently until I could hear the door between the office and warehouse close as Gael retreated to the other room.

  I studied Dallas. He was tall and fit with chiseled good looks. He could have been a Marlborough man, except for the gray suit. His hands were large, and I could see dirt and calluses on his palms. A thin scar snaked under his left eye adding to a rough and ready expression.

  Dallas opened the first orange binder. “Rye, correct? Not Raymond?”

  “I want to pick the topic, not you.”

  “Okay,” Dallas said and closed the binder.

  “How come you can enter the town and nobody else can, or are you the only one allowed too?”

  Surprise flashed across his rugged face. “I have… certain…
abilities. They allow me to not be affected by electricity.” Dallas paused and stared me eye to eye. “That’s a strange question.”

  “Others have tried and only you made it?”

  “Yes.”

  I held up my finger to stop his answer. “In the past few days, a building fell on my head, been shot at and magically survived, beaten up by a grandmother, seen a woman rise from the dead, and now you tell me you can walk through electrical storms unscathed.”

  “About sums it up.” Mr. Dallas bobbed his head. “You’re special, just like the rest of us. We don’t know how special you are, but according to Doctor Gale, it’s enough for her to recommend you be brought into the organization.”

  “She’s only known me for three days.” My mind continued to replay the past few days with Gael. “She said she chose me?”

  “No, Mr. Ironstone. We chose you. This thing with the death ray was unexpected and you got caught up in it along with Doctor Gale. You were hired by the university at our urging, for testing. The good doctor kept an eye on you. To see if you would fit in. Because of the death ray, our timetable with you has been moved forward.”

  Anger and tunnel vision are twin brothers. Anger loomed at the end of the tunnel, and Mr. Dallas was the freight train.

  “Next question,” I said.

  Dallas nodded his head. “Go ahead.”

  I pointed to the stack of binders. “What’s the backend to this meeting, and how long have you been watching me?”

  A smile crossed Dallas’ face. “Mr. Ironstone, Doctor Gale said you were astute, and yes to your question. We’ve watched you for a long time. Since birth actually.”

  “Why?” I think I knew the answer, but it terrified me to hear the truth.

  “Raymond Ironstone, your grandfather worked for us during the war. We track all the lineage of our previous members for several generations. Many times, the special skills we look for are hereditary.”

  I was stunned. Words were never difficult for me. This time a vice-grip locked down my lips. My mind rocked, was it anger, excitement, or maybe anxiety, I’m not sure. I knew I should be dead. There was no legitimate reason Blondie missed her shots at me.

  I checked the anger and decided to give the man the benefit of the doubt. I respected Gael, and she liked him.

  “Either way, the next step was to see what could be found at the university, hence the key,” I said.

  Dallas sat up straight and cocked one ear. “What are you talking about?”

  “Meeks’ office, where I found the information for the key,” I pulled the camera out of my jacket pocket, removed the cartridge, and slid it across the table. “Get this developed, and look at the photos. I need one of your guys to cut me a copy, and have it back here by morning. Plus the other prints.”

  “What have you found?” Dallas’s posture rippled with surprise.

  “I think it’s the key to Tesla’s secret lab.”

  **

  I got a new badge. It was nifty. The official explanation for my quick induction was to allow me and Gael the authority to continue our investigation and clean up the mess out at the Blue Fez Boys church camp.

  I was now a card-carrying member of the oldest spy and fixit organization in the nation, previously known as the Culper Ring of General Washington fame.

  The badge was sculpted with a red star and ‘Special Bureau One.’ It was a bit unnerving to see my name inscribed next to the Federal Eagle.

  Mr. Dallas and I chatted for nearly an hour. He turned out to be a pretty cool dude. He assured me food and water was on the way, and asked me to assist in getting university students to deliver the goods to the town’s people. I gladly volunteered their services.

  We parted ways, and on the way out, I passed by the stock shelves to take another quick glimpse of the pinup girls.

  “Hey, cookie,” I said as I opened the warehouse door to the office. “Let’s go. We need to see this other guy you mentioned.”

  Gael jotted notes in her little leather book, softly humming a tune. “You done with Mr. Dallas?”

  “Yes.” My eye caught a signature on one of the framed pictures on the wall. It was an original Betty Page photo, and signed. I took it.

  “Do you plan to make a habit of stealing?” Gael asked me as I unlocked the car door for her.

  “For an original Betty Page, yes. Besides, I have a badge. Get out of jail free.” I flipped the frame onto the backseat and slipped behind the wheel.

  Gael squeezed my hand as I placed it on the gear shift. “Welcome to the team, kid. You’ll do great.”

  “Thanks, mom.”

  “Your mother is a fine woman. I like her a lot.”

  “You know my mother?”

  “Of course. I was there when you were born.”

  I shook my head and let the comment pass. Gael was going to take a while to get use to.

  The fallen power poles and stalled cars added a level of excitement to the drive. We ground rubber and zoomed through intersections with abandon. I’d learned I wasn’t a goof-up, or kicked out of the army for being an idiot. I’d been removed by the Bureau to see what direction my skills would take.

  Cool, I was special. They wouldn’t tell me what kind of special. But who cares. Rye was moving up in the world and my new friend, Dr. Gael Gale was helping me along.

  I glanced over at Gael and admired my companion. She’d done me right in many ways. She looked up and smiled.

  I winked and smiled back. “Where to, cookie?”

  Her directions wound us through town. Stately homes flew by. The ones not turned to rubble.

  “Next house on the left, follow the driveway. He should be waiting for us,” Gael said.

  I down-shifted turned into the back of what was clearly one the town’s early founding fathers’ home. The multi-story mansion was covered in wooden shingles and painted in rustic green colors.

  A little old man was sitting under a gazebo set away from the main house. We hopped out and followed the stone path across the yard.

  The white-haired man slowly rose to his feet and outstretched his hands. “Professor Gale. You’re an inspiration to my eyes.”

  Dude was smooth.

  Gael greeted him with a warm embrace and peck on the cheek. “Professor Victor, thank you for seeing us,” she said as she guided him to his wicker chair.

  “The pleasures all mine, my wonderful flower. What can I do to entice a beautiful young woman to visit more often?”

  Dang, he was really smooth.

  The professor retrieved a brass handbell from the table and gave it a sharp ring. “Tea?”

  A round woman somewhere over thirty and less than sixty exited from the house pushing a tea cart.

  “Ah, here it is.” Thank you, Miss Margareta. I’ll serve, thank you,” Victor said as he motioned for Gael to fill the cups.

  Gael took charge and used the provided strainer to catch loose leaves. “Professor Victor, this young man is Rye Ironstone. I mentioned him when I stopped by yesterday.”

  “Yes, yes, you did. Is he a student of yours?” The Professor sipped at his tea and ran his piercing blue eyes up and down my length. “History is an interesting profession, but he looks too fit to do the work. Maybe he’s here for the forestry program.”

  I kept my mouth shut. Victor still hadn’t acknowledged I was worth speaking to. This first salvo was him admitting someone besides his precious flower was also in attendance.

  “No. Not the forestry program. He’s from the Bureau. We’re here on business.” Gael took the first sip of her tea.

  Those blue eyes studied me. I shuddered, my bowels bubble.

  Victor turned his attention to Gael. “Is he Raymond Ironstone’s descendant?”

  “Yes. We just brought him in. This is his first mission.”

  Professor Victor set his tea cup down on the table beside his chair. “We talked about this yesterday, Professor Gael. Has something changed?”

  “Yes, sir. Quite a bit has changed. We h
ave a solid lead and need a little guidance. You used to work with Master Tesla. I was hoping you could help.”

  A snort buzzed from Victor’s bulbous nose. “Help, madam? What could I provide today I could not provide yesterday, or fifty years of yesterday’s?

  Gael leaned into the professor and placed her palm on his knee. “As you know, we never did find the secret lab. I was hoping this young man might be able to help.”

  “You must be foolish, child. Master Tesla only kept the lab at the university. It was in the physics building on campus. It was dismantled during the war, once Einstein’s theory was proven.”

  Gael softened her voice and smiled a warm and enticing smile. “Now, Montgomery, I know you never knew about the secret lab, but we have the key and are ready to use it.”

  Professor Victor perked up. Thirty years seemed to fade from his winkled face. “A key? Oh my. What do you mean a key?”

  Gael turned to me. “Our Mr. Ironstone has secured the key to the lab.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” I said in response. “The Bureau has ordered us to open the lab and shut down the death ray. Any means necessary, all hush, hush.”

  Professor Montgomery Victor’s face became animated. A red flush rose to caress his bushy ears. “I have told everything I know many times over the years. I know of no secret lab.” He banged his fist on the tea cart rattling the service and spilling amber liquid to the flagstones below.

  I pushed into the conversation before Gael. “Sir, Professor. May I ask a few questions? They might seem odd, but I have a theory.” I slipped into my security training. I didn’t think the professor was misleading us, but I wanted to see if some unknown fact was hidden deep within.

  He flipped a dismissive hand. “Go ahead. You cannot do any worse than those army shrinks.”

  “I’m sorry everyone has given you such a rough time about this, and honestly, I believe you. I don’t know if a secret lab exists or not, but I trust Dr. Gale and want to help her.”

  “Yes, yes. Get on with it.”

  “Does your house have grounding wires?”

  This caught Victor off guard. His eyes flashed, and the buzz from his nose rattled again. “Yes, young man. It does. Why?”