Metropolis hissed out his words between clenched teeth. “Nod your head once for yes, twice for no, Marshall. Do you fathom my meaning?” One nod. “Tell me this: have you made direct contact with the entities of Counter-Earth?” Another nod. “And were you planning to take advantage of their plight, to your own benefit?”
At this third nod, Metropolis seemed to lose control. He squeezed until Marshall’s face began to turn blue and I cried out for him to stop.
Metropolis tossed aside Marshall’s body and I was forced to examine the prone form to make sure that a murder had not been committed. A slow but steady pulse assured me that the killer would yet live.
When I looked up, I saw that Metropolis had lowered the access ramp to the rocket ship and was peering inside.
“Gilda,” the doctor said, sounding very calm for a man who had just throttled a human being into unconsciousness. “I want you and Stanford to wait for me.”
“Nonsense,” my wife declared. “I know you’re planning to go to Antichthon and I refuse to let you do so alone.”
I strode up to them, confusion warring with excitement within me. “I agree. You must take with you people you can trust, people who can handle the sorts of dangers you might face!”
Metropolis grinned like a Cheshire cat. “Excellent!” he proclaimed, slapping me hard on the back and nearly causing me to lose my footing. “The three of us it is!”
I stammered something in reply, about how my meaning had been lost, but Gilda was smiling at me with pride and my protestations fell silent.
I stared at the rocket ship and sighed quietly. Another adventure had begun!
Dear reader, I hope to continue with more details soon but for now, this book must remain behind, lest it possibly be lost forever. I will endeavor to return and reclaim it soon!
Chapter VIII
The Solaris Protocols
In the two months since they had returned from Shanghai, the members of Assistance Unlimited had read and re-read the Stanford diary so many times that it was now in danger of falling to pieces. Agnes Drake had tearfully accepted that her sister was most likely dead, especially after hearing more sordid details from Whip Marshall’s lips. And Kelly, though still angry over having been sent back from the mission early, was mollified by the discovery of the Soul Stones and the resulting publicity for the museum. She was already knee-deep in planning for a second expedition to retrieve the rest of the stones.
Sporrenberg had been granted permission by his government to remain in the United States until he could find a lead on the whereabouts of Die Glocke and there had no visible fallout from his encounter with Lunt. He had remained as a closely watched guest at Assistance Unlimited headquarters and since he now wore plain clothes, it was easier for Eun to forgive him his political allegiances.
Lazarus was tapping the cover to Stanford’s journal when Samantha entered the room. Lazarus had taken to spending time in one of the old sitting areas. It had several large windows that let in a lot of sunlight and gave an unobstructed view of the small garden the team had put up in the rear of the old hotel building.
“Are you reading that again?” she asked, taking a seat on a nearby couch. She was wearing cream-colored slacks and a clinging white blouse. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, giving her a youthful appearance that wasn’t far from the truth. Lazarus sometimes forgot that almost all of the team — with the exception of Morgan — were still in their twenties or thirties.
“I was,” Lazarus admitted. “There’s been so sign of Stanford, his wife or Doctor Metropolis since that last entry. A cousin of Stanford’s had a series of particularly vivid nightmares the summer after their disappearance — she said that her cousin and his friends were suffering in great torment and that their flesh had been sliced from their still-living bodies. Stanford beseeched her to find all traces of his notebooks and destroy them, lest anyone attempt to follow in their footsteps.”
“How horrid! So you think they really took off in a rocket? And these dreams… could they really be some sort of message from Counter-Earth?”
“It wouldn’t be the strangest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Samantha adopted a pensive expression, leaning forward with her elbows resting on her knees and her hands clasped together. “I was wondering… are you ready to talk about whatever had you in a funk a few months ago? Before we got involved in all this?”
Lazarus looked at her and his eyes softened a bit. “I’m sorry I kept you all at arm’s length. Something had sparked a memory of mine… about a woman. She died and it just reminded me of the things I had lost. I don’t even know that some of them are gone because the way my amnesia works. Did you know that I’ve looked up all the information there is about my parents but I don’t remember them at all? When I see photographs of them, it’s like looking at strangers.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I wouldn’t change a thing about my life. I’d forgotten that briefly before Christmas but I remembered it during our time in Shanghai. I like where I am and I consider all of you my family now.”
Samantha smiled and it seemed to brighten the entire room. “We love you, too.”
Sporrenberg cleared his throat from the doorway. Despite the fact the he wasn’t in uniform, he stood ramrod straight, with hands clasped behind him. “I’m sorry to interrupt but I have information that may be of interest. Some of my contacts here in the United States believe they may have found Die Glocke. Strange lights and sounds that are consistent with those reported at Der Riese have been reported coming from Locust Mountain, Pennsylvania.”
“That sounds familiar,” Samantha said, looking towards Lazarus.
Her employer nodded, though he looked quite thoughtful. “It’s the site of the big underground mine fire. The entire city was condemned by the governor back in ’28 but they expect the fire will continue burning for another few centuries.”
“I remember now!” Samantha exclaimed. “It was an anthracite coal fire, wasn’t it? No one’s sure how it got started but they said that temperature below ground is well in excess of 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit.”
“That’s right. Clouds of heat and carbon monoxide seep out from holes in the ground, giving the entire area a misty appearance. The people who have refused to move have suffered from such terrible health problems that many of them walk the streets wearing gas masks.”
“But why in the world would the Circus have moved Die Glocke to such an awful place?”
“It’s as close as you can get to hell on earth,” Sporrenberg pointed out. “Maybe they find it comforting.”
Lazarus sprang up, moving past Sporrenberg and into one of the many libraries secreted around the building. He was flipping through a file full of newspaper clippings when Samantha and their German guest joined him. Without looking away from the clippings, he said, “Locust Mountain is also home to Professor Bruno Murdera. In the underworld, he’s known as Professor Murder.”
“I thought he died,” Samantha said, tapping her chin. “I’m sure of it, in fact. The FBI was chasing him for something and his car went off the side of a hill. They even recovered his body.”
Lazarus held up an autopsy report. “The body was found four days after the car crash. And there was no explanation for why the brain was missing.”
“I never read anything about that!” Samantha exclaimed.
“It was kept quiet,” Lazarus confirmed.
“I am not familiar with this man,” Sporrenberg said, taking the autopsy report from Lazarus and flipping through it.