by Nick Svolos
We walked in through the lobby entrance, and I collected my badge. I looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was eight. Oh, now I got it. If we arrived after nine, my badge would be gone and I’d probably set off a security alert. The attendant handed Doughboy a ready-made badge of his own.
“Come here often?” I asked.
“From time to time. Mainly when I want to grab a free meal and check up on the Old Man.”
A quick elevator ride later, we stepped into Ultiman’s quarters. They were about as spartan and functional as you might expect if you’d ever met the man, only spartaner. Yeah, I just made up a word again. Sue me. I had a lot on my mind. Anyway, he had a huge workstation with several monitors, a little dining table with two chairs, a dresser and a bed. That was pretty much it.
“Hey, Gunny!” Doughboy smiled as we entered the room.
Ultiman’s face brightened, and with a laugh of genuine delight, he crossed the room to greet his friend. “Evan! How are you?” I’m not kidding. He smiled. He laughed. In one second, he’d shown more emotion than I’ve seen him display in the two months since I’d met him. I honestly thought his face would crack if he so much as grinned.
It didn’t last. He saw me, and the laughter and smiles dropped away. “Ah, Mr. Conway. I take it this is a business visit. Welcome.”
“‘Fraid so, Barn. We got a little problem,” Doughboy said.
“Your problems are never little. Sitrep?”
“Dr. Schadenfreude has infected the population of Los Angeles with a, what did you call it, Conway? A nanovirus?” I nodded. “Anyhow, this thing wipes out all the supers. His organization takes over the world, bad things happen and the world ends somewhere around 2028. The last human dies in ‘29. Further details are probably more than I should reveal. You know.”
“Yes. Spoilers. I take it we cannot just act directly against Schadenfreude?”
“Nope. You’re about to go into a meeting with the government, and you’ll agree to go to North Korea. Once you’re there, your team’ll be captured.”
“I see.”
It shook me how Ultiman just took all this in stride, like Doughboy was relaying last night’s box scores.
“What can I do to help?” the hero asked.
“I need to borrow your powers.” Doughboy unrolled his rucksack and produced the Force extraction tool he’d stolen. “This thing removes them. Conway, here, will have a way to get into North Korea on Wednesday. I’ll smuggle your powers into the country, and Conway will use them to bust you out. Then, The Angels come back and save the world.”
“What?” I yelped. “Wait a minute! You didn’t say anything about—”
“Sorry, kiddo, I couldn’t tell you. You’d refuse.”
“Hell, yeah, I’d refuse. Why don’t you just smuggle them to Ultiman?”
Doughboy shook his helmeted head. “Won’t work. He’ll be in a containment cell.”
“Mr. Conway, if this is how Doughboy says it works, we do not have much choice.”
“You don’t. I’m sorry, fellas, I’ve been working on this for a long time. Tried to resolve this in so many ways I’ve lost track. This is the last trick I’ve got up my sleeve. If this doesn’t work, I don’t think there’s any way to stop what’s comin’.”
“Geez, and I thought Schadenfreude was crazy.” I groaned and started pacing. I felt like a rat in a cage. My mind raced. There had to be another way. “Can’t I just break them out in a more conventional way? Find a way to shut down the containment field?”
“I don't want to offend you, Conway, but do you really feel like you’re up to something like that? You seem to be a resourceful guy, but breaking into a prison is pretty dicey, even for a team of trained professionals. I hope you’ll forgive me for sayin’ so, but I’m a little hesitant to hang the fate of the world on a lone reporter fighting his way past a battalion of trained soldiers.”
Well, when he put it that way, I had to admit it was a low-percentage play. James Bond could pull it off, but I’d be lucky to make it as far as the parking lot. Ultiman’s powers would be about the only way someone like me could do it. “Dammit!”
“Yeah. I’m sorry Conway. I told ya you wouldn’t like it, but it’s the only way.”
Ultiman nodded. “It makes sense, Mr. Conway. Glorious Leader will never see this coming. If Doughboy says this is our best chance, then we must take it. It is a lot to ask of you, I know. I also know you are up to the task. You are perhaps the most resourceful man I have ever met.”
I sat down in one of the dining chairs. I looked down at my hands. They were shaking. Like they already knew I was going to agree to this insane plan. “Dammit,” I repeated. “Alright. I’m in. God help me, I’ll do it.”
Doughboy clapped me on the shoulder. “Attaboy!”
“What do you need me to do?” Ultiman asked.
“I attach this thing to your spine,” Doughboy said, holding up the extraction device. “Then I push this button, here, and the nanobots get injected, take out the superpowers, and they come out here.” He indicated the empty vial. “You probably want to take your shirt off.”
“It hurts,” I added. “A lot. We should probably find a way to strap you down.”
Ultiman gave the matter some thought. “I do not think we have anything in the Tower that can hold me. Will a stasis field interfere with the process?”
Doughboy shrugged and looked at me.
I returned the shrug. “I don’t know. Maybe. I gotta figure something might go wrong. All the static electricity might short the bots out.”
“All right. I will just have to tough it out, then,” Ultiman said as he took off his jersey. “Archangel, be ready to incapacitate me if I lose control.”
“Understood, Ultiman,” said the disembodied voice.
Doughboy made ready to attach the device. “Say, Conway, did you see exactly where they put this thing?”
I walked over and examined the space between Ultiman’s shoulder blades. “I saw a mark on Jorgensen’s body. Right here,” I pointed to a spot between two vertebrae. “I think that’s where you want it to go.”
“Got it. You ready?”
Ultiman took a deep breath. “No, but do not let that stop you. Just be sure to stand back.”
“Roger that,” Doughboy said as he fit the device in place and pressed the button. We both backed off to a safe distance.
Ultiman shivered involuntarily as the device projected an orange glow to disable his invulnerability and injected its cargo into his spinal column. “Agh,” he grunted. “That tickled a bit.” He stood still, waiting for the main event.
Dr. Schadenfreude’s nanobots didn’t keep him waiting long. It started with an orange glow emanating from his spinal column, first around the injection site, and then working its way up and down from there. Ultiman growled, fighting against the pain. Tendrils of orange light began to spread along his rib cage, arms and his skull, and soon his whole body was glowing bright orange. He dropped heavily to his knees in agony, but I had to hand it to him, he never lost control. He whimpered, and tears splashed on the floor beneath his face.
I saw the empty vial begin to fill. “Almost done, Ultiman. About half way there.”
Groaning, the Angel nodded weakly. The glow was almost blinding now, powerful enough to be seen through the dense fibers of his skinsuit trousers. “O Deus!” he cried out.
The glow finally died away, and Ultiman collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily. Doughboy walked over to remove the device from his back. “Ya did good, Gunny.”
Doughboy and I helped the Angel to his unsteady feet.
Ultiman chuckled and grinned sheepishly. “My God, I’m ... tired,” he said in astonishment. Carefully, he took a few steps to test his legs. “This might take some getting used to.” He walked over to the dining table, strained to give it a little lift and set it back down. “Incredible.”
“So, what happens now?” I asked Doughboy.
“Ultiman goes on about his bu
siness. Just do what you were gonna do, Gunny. Let things play out.” He turned to me. “We’ll leave now, and I’ll explain the rest of the plan. Best not to discuss it here.”
“Spoilers.”
“Yup.”
“Oh, crap, there’s one more thing. I’m going to be showing up here in…” I checked my watch, “Fifteen minutes. By now, Herculene’s already found out I’m here, meeting with you, but that version of me doesn’t know about this visit. It’s gonna lead to a big argument.”
Ultiman nodded, taking this time travel insanity like it actually made sense. “Yes, I can see how there might be a misunderstanding. Archangel, please erase any records of this visit. I will square things with her when the time is appropriate, Mr. Conway.”
“Thanks.” Well, at least that was settled. I looked at Doughboy. “I guess we gotta get out of here before I show up.”
The time traveler chuckled. “You’re getting the hang of this, Conway. Abso-lutely.”
***
It was Wednesday morning, and Doughboy and I sat in Alice, several blocks down the street from my apartment, nursing coffee, chomping on donuts and waiting for me to leave with Dawson on our ill-fated field trip to the Mojave Desert. “So, what got you and the others into crime fighting after the war?” I asked. I was curious, and I thought the story would be a good way to kill some time.
“Well, for me at least, once I got home, the idea of putting the watch away just didn’t sit right. Felt like I had a responsibility. You know, to help people. Prohibition started a couple years after, and we had gangs popping up everywhere. But, I mainly got the idea once I heard about Red Cap. I knew it had to be Seamus, of course. Mainly from the teleporting, but also the way he killed. He was always a little crazy, but he had a problem with turnin’ it off after the war ended. I think he liked killin’, and the gangsters gave him a good outlet. I tried to do things a little cleaner, of course. I’d capture ‘em when I could. Let the law sort ‘em out.”
“How about Ultiman? Which one was he?”
“Actually, he stayed with the Corps for quite a while. As a Gunnery Sergeant, they kept him on to train recruits. Lost track of him for a spell, until Red Cap bought it. We both wound up looking for his killer and brought Hubris’ gang down together. Back then, it seemed like costumes were coming out of the woodwork, like all these supers were just waiting for someone to show ‘em it was possible to get out there and make a difference.”
“You guys inspired them.”
“I guess we did. Heh, imagine that.” He drifted off into memory then, sipping at his coffee. “I’ll say this for your time, Conway, you guys know how to make a good cuppa joe.” He went silent for a bit before continuing. “I think that’s how it works. Inspiration. Gettin’ the idea that things can be better. That we can be better. Back during the war, once we each learned about what the others could do, I think we made each other better. Seamus said he could teleport farther. He even learned how to go places he couldn’t see. I noticed different ways to use the watch. Slowing time instead of stopping it altogether. Barnabus learned how to fly.”
I almost choked on my donut. “What? He couldn’t fly?”
“Can you believe it? The guy’s been walkin’ everywhere since Rome was a little trading village, and never thought of trying to fly ‘till he saw a biplane squadron overhead and wondered what it would be like to be up there.”
Rome? My God, just how old was he? “You’re kidding.”
“True story. I guess he just needed the inspiration.”
We saw ‘me’ emerge from the parking lot, converse with Sergeant Spaulding and Corporal Fournier, and get into Dawson’s car. Once we drove off, Doughboy asked, “You ready?”
I sighed. “I guess. What do I do after I get to Pyongyang?”
“Just do what you think best. Try not to overthink it. You’re a good man, Conway, all you need to do is trust yourself to do the right things.”
“You’ll forgive me if that doesn’t fill me with confidence. Right now, my instincts are telling me to run away, find a hole, get in and pull it in after me.”
“Heh. I know the feeling. We all feel that way. You won’t do it, though. It ain’t in your nature. That’s what makes you a hero.”
“I’m no hero, Doughboy.”
“Keep tellin’ yourself that, kiddo. Go ahead and find that hole if you really believe it. Me, I don’t buy it for a second. That’s why I’m gonna go smuggle Barneys’ powers into North Korea. That’s a long trip if you’re not there to take delivery.”
“You know, I meant to ask. If you can get in there, why not just take the Force yourself? I’m feeling kinda superfluous.”
“Spoilers,” he grinned and stuck out his hand. “Godspeed, Conway.”
I shook it. “You too, Doughboy.” I got out of the car, but turned back for one last look at the ReVere. “You know, when this is all over, I expect you to let me get a look under the hood of this thing.”
He laughed. “You have my word.”
***
By eight-thirty that morning, I was cooling my heels in the lobby of the Bonaventure Hotel, waiting for Assistant Secretary Kirk. I didn’t have much with me. A few changes of clothes in an overnight bag, a suit to wear to the interview and my passport. I’d paid a pre-dawn visit to the Beacon to grab some notebooks and leave a note for Harry to let him know where I was going. Anything else I might have wanted to take with me was on its way to be captured in the desert, so I’d have to make do. Just before nine, one of the State Department functionaries met me to escort me up to Kirk’s suite.
The Bonaventure’s a nice hotel, far nicer than I could afford, and Kirk occupied the Presidential suite. She was seated behind an enormous desk with Drummond sitting across from her. One of the functionaries took my gear, and I went to join them.
She greeted me with a warm smile. “Thank you for coming, Mr. Conway.”
“You’re welcome. So, how’s this gonna work, ma’am?”
“Well, for starters, you can tell us who you really are,” Drummond growled. Several soldiers entered the room and leveled their weapons at me. I looked at the General. He had a pistol in his hand, and it was pointed at my chest. I raised my hands in surrender. Well, this was a short trip.
“General Drummond, what’s the meaning of this?” Kirk erupted.
“This man isn’t Reuben Conway,” he said. He pulled out a phone, dialed a number and set it on the table, his aim never wavering from my windpipe.
Spaulding answered on the first ring. “Yes, General?”
“Sergeant, where’s Reuben Conway right now?”
“He’s in a car heading east on the I-10 with some LA cops. They’re heading for the Mojave, sir. Something about following up on the shootout last night.”
Drummond terminated the call. “So, who are you? Some kind of shape-changer?”
Oh, for cryin’ out loud. “I’m Reuben Conway, General. Everybody stay calm and I’ll try to explain.”
“General, order your men to stand down, and for God’s sake, put that thing away,” Kirk ordered. “Let’s hear him out.”
The general didn’t like it, but he re-holstered his weapon and gave the order. The soldiers lowered their weapons. I slowly set my hands on the back of the chair, where everyone could see them. “It would be best if what I have to say is only heard by you two.” I slowly motioned Drummond over and whispered a phrase Doughboy had given me in his ear. “Protocol Seventy-Two is involved.” Apparently, that’s supposed to mean something. I hoped I hadn’t just given him the go-ahead to kill all the Jedi.
His eyes widened. “You men are dismissed,” he said to the soldiers. “Stand by outside the door.”
“My assistants can be trusted, Mr. Conway.”
“Not with this, Madam Secretary,” the General said. It was her turn to be shocked, but she nodded to her people, and the functionaries removed themselves from the room.
Once they were gone, Drummond explained. “Madam Assistant Secretary, P
rotocol Seventy-Two governs the actions government officials are to take when dealing with a time traveler.”
Apparently, it’s not something they share with Assistant Secretaries. He might as well have told her I was from another planet. “What?” was all she managed to get out.
“I have a very limited understanding of the whole thing,” I said as I sat down. “I have to be careful with what I say. I hope you understand.”
“Mr. Conway has just told me he’s traveled through time. He’d better have some proof,” Drummond said, with more than a little threat in his voice.
“Proof is something I don’t have, I’m afraid. But you guys want me to go to North Korea, and for that, you’re gonna have to take a few things on faith. I think about all I can tell you is that your soldiers, the cops and I are heading out to the desert to follow up on a lead on the Force ring we busted last night. At about two this afternoon, we’ll stumble onto their base and get captured by the giant robots that attacked Santa Monica. It’s all connected. Dr. Schadenfreude’s out there, planning to activate a nanovirus in LA, and things don’t end well. I was rescued by a time traveler, Doughboy, and put back here. He says the key to stopping all this is to get The Angels back here, and to do that, I gotta go to North Korea. After that, well, he says it’s all ‘spoilers’.”
“That’s quite a story, Mr. Conway,” the diplomat said. “I’m not sure we can proceed without something more tangible to go on. You’re sure you don’t have any way to prove what you say?”
I thought it over for a moment. What could I say that wouldn’t screw everything up worse than it already was? Damn this time travel stuff! It was hard enough when everything was linear. How was I supposed to explain this, when my own perspective on recent events was all over the place? Let’s see. What was in place now that they could get their hands on?
“You’re gonna need some scientists with really powerful microscopes,” I said. “The nanobots are already in the water supply. They should be able to verify that, at least.”
