Superman and The Shadow - Matchmaker Chronicles Volume 0.5 1/26
Rated PG-13 for violence
Submitted:2017.
Disclaimers: Some of the characters in this story are property of DC, December 3rd productions and Warner Bros. Others are Street & Smith Publications. No Copyright infringement is intended. I have just borrowed the characters for a short time. The rest are mine.
The Shadow stories that inspired this one were
“Murder By The Dead”, originally broadcast on October 10, 1937
“The Silent Avenger”, originally broadcast on March 13, 1938
and
League of Terror originally broadcast on January 9, 1938
although they have been adapted rather heavily.
In memoriam – William Christopher - Father Francis Mulcahy / Andrus - 10/20/1932 – 12/31/2016
I wish to express my thanks to my Beta readers Artemis (Welcome back, Artemis!), Ray Reynolds (Welcome back Ray!) and Morgana for their invaluable help. This was a VERY rough draft when it first landed in their collective hands.
/ “text”/ indicates telepathic communication
*text* indicates bold
<text> indicates thoughts
{text} indicates over the telephone
Universal Locator designation Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 – Prime
Universal Locator designation Alpha 025 x Gamma - 086 x Tau 142 Alt 25 Shadow
Author’s note:
I have been a fan of Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Spidey, The Shadow, Doc. Savage, The Avenger and the other comic book and pulp heroes almost all of my life. When the Shadow series came out in paperback in the sixties I collected and read them.
(Yes, I am almost old enough to have read them when first published, almost, but not quite.) In recent years I have become an aficionado of Old Time Radio, with The Shadow being one of the shows I have collected. That being said, I believe that I am well steeped in the traditions of The Shadow.
I now offer for your enjoyment my tribute to both Superman and a superhero from the thirties, The Shadow. I hope to give you the flavor of the times by adding musical clips that you can play in the background as you read. Frankly, some of the comments the characters make will be more understandable if you do.
As much as possible I have stayed true to The Shadow canon combining the early pulp stories with the later radio dramas. In this particular story I do take some license.
In my Matchmaker series canon, this story should be volume 0.5 would fit in as a prelude to Volume 1. .
And now, without further ado, we go back in time to a period before television, when radio was king, the time of - The Shadow * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 1 –
Metropolis November 1995
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Universal Locator designation
Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 – Prime
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They say that it is in Spring that a young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of love, but it was November in Metropolis and the day had dawned a clear crisp early autumn morning…
Clark Kent was whistling softly as he walked down the street. He was about to pick up the love of his life and that thought brought an end to the whistling because it is very difficult to whistle when you are smiling. Barely keeping from floating, he skipped up the steps to her front door and let himself in. He took the elevator to the fifth floor and approached her door. He had barely knocked when he heard the locks being disengaged. As the door opened, he said, “You must have been waiting for me.”
Lois was dressed in a gray business suit and had the strap of her bag over her shoulder. The skirt came to mid-thigh and so did her jacket as she exited her apartment. “Actually, I was just leaving. I didn’t want to be late and if you had been any later, and I had been waiting for you, I would have been.”
Crestfallen, he stammered, “What … but … Wait a minute! I’m not late!”
Smiling, she replied, “I know, but that doesn’t keep me from ribbing you, now does it?”
“Oh, so you
were waiting for me?”
“Of course I was. Besides, if we were too late there’s always...” She gave the wavy hand signal that had come to symbolize flying, “the air taxi.” She snickered.
He smiled and took her hand in his as they turned toward the elevator.
Once they were on the sidewalk, Lois asked, “How soon do you want to get married?”
With a smile he asked, “How long will it take to plan?”
Smiling, she replied, “That all depends on how big it is going to be. If we have it in Smallville, then it won’t take long. If we have it here in Metropolis, it won’t be as big as that fiasco that Luthor had set up, but it will be larger. I’m sure mother will want to have a hand in the planning and she will want something grandiose.”
That brought Luthor to mind and all of the manipulation he had used to get her to marry him. She was relieved that she had recovered her senses in time to say ‘No’ at the altar. That day she had thought there had been an end to his manipulation, but then he had returned from the very dead and tried again. Would there be no end to his scheming?
She compared Luthor to Clark and there simply was no comparison. She really had never loved Luthor … it was a dependence which he had created. Clark … now there was a person to love. He was sweet, kind, gentle … the direct opposite of Luthor. Her grip on his hand tightened.
He noticed it and asked, “Problem?”
“No … I was just thinking … about how much I love you ... and how different you are from Luthor.”
“I would hope so.”
They walked on hand-in-hand.
When they neared the Planet building they stopped in a small bakery that they liked and Clark picked up a powdered sugar coated cake donut while Lois selected some croissants. Next they picked up their coffees at Daryl's. As they approached, Frank, the vendor, spotted them and started making up their usual orders. He noticed something different, they were holding hands. As they approached the cart, he said, “Well, I see that something has changed.”
Smiling, Lois brought up her left hand and replied, “We are engaged!”
“Well, congratulations. Here you go. They’re on the house … to celebrate.”
“Thanks, Frank. That’s very kind of you.”
“If you weren’t regular customers it might have been a different story. Enjoy!”
When they entered the Planet building, Lois was able to hold both her pastry bag and coffee in one hand and push the button with a finger on the other to summon the elevator.
They were alone in the elevator. As the doors started to close, Clark took a bite of his donut. As soon as the doors were closed, Lois was in his arms, they were kissing and they didn’t stop until they felt the elevator stopping.
As they stepped out, Jimmy spotted them and snickering, asked, “Sharing Clark’s donut, Lois?”
Mystified, Lois replied with a grunt, “Huh?”
Clark looked at her face, smiled, placed his donut on top of his coffee cup, pulled out his handkerchief and wiped the powdered sugar from her mouth as Jimmy laughed and walked off.
Feeling like a couple of kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar, they moved to their desks and got to work.
After settling in, Lois nibbled on her croissants as she finished typing up a small article. Once she had finished it and e-mailed it to Perry she looked over at Clark, her partner, her
fiancé. Sometimes she still had a hard time wrapping her mind around that. Clark was her fiancé … they were going to be married soon. How did she ever get so lucky? He was busily researching something on the computer so rather than bother him she pulled out her calendar and started looking at dates. After five minutes of this she gave up. She needed to make a lot of other decisions before she could pick a date so she put the calendar away.
As she did she again looked over at her fiancé. As she did, he sat up and looked around. He looked over at her and gave the little wavy hand signal and she knew that Superman was needed. She nodded her understanding and watched as he stood and headed for the stairwell, loosening his tie as he went. She was surprised that she had never noticed that before.
She turned back to her computer because she would have to wait for his return to find out what the emergency had been.
Other than that it was a slow day in the newsroom and Lois was idly hitting random keys on her computer keyboard. She was actually thinking about her partner and was typing as she daydreamed about him. The keys weren’t actually so random because they spelled out,
“Lois Lane,
Lois Kent,
Lois Lane-Kent,
Lois Olive Kent,
Lois Olive Lane-Kent,
Lois Kent,
Lois Lane,
Lois Kent,
Lois Lane-Kent,
Lois Lane-Kent.”
Clark had left, probably to keep a plane from crashing or a ship from sinking or, heaven forbid, prevent another asteroid from crashing into the Earth or perhaps something as mundane as getting a cat out of a tree.
She stopped her typing and looking over at his empty desk, she thought about what she had recently learned about him. She still wasn’t sure if she should be mad at him or not. It still stung that he hadn’t told her and she’d had to figure it out for herself. The nerve of him, hiding just who he was for all that time.
She sighed as she thought back on what had happened even more recently. In that incident at the wishing well, which had been a trap, Clark’s powers had been transferred to her by the red Kryptonite laser that the Newtrich sisters had used on Superman.
Her time as Ultra Woman had been
quite a learning experience. Talk about
walking a mile in someone’s shoes.
It hadn’t taken long before Lois understood just what it
was like to be Superman and how
hard it was to be him. She now had a
new appreciation and
fresh understanding of what he went through each day.
She had had his powers for almost a week, but that time spent as Ultra Woman had really been eye opening. As a result, as soon as the situation had been resolved and Clark had his powers back, Lois had decided to take the bull by the horns and she had proposed to Clark. She looked down at her left hand and smiled at the diamond that glittered there. It had only been fitting, since she had been the one to turn him down initially.
Right then and there she decided that she really had forgiven him.
Looking at what she had idly typed, she was surprised at what was there. She read the lines over and went back and struck out both of the names that included her middle name. She had never liked Olive even though she had been named after one of her favorite aunts. She decided that once they were married, professionally, she would remain, Lois Lane, but that in private she would be Lois Lane-Kent or Lois Kent, probably Lois Kent. It was traditional, after all and she really didn't have a strong enough family tie to make her desire to hyphenate.
She looked at the clock and saw that it was getting close to lunchtime. Since she couldn’t be sure just how long he would be gone, she decided to go to lunch and maybe he would be back before she returned.
Standing up and spotting Jimmy, she shouted, "Jimmy!”
Popping up from his chair and reaching for his camera in anticipation of an assignment, he eagerly replied, “Yeah, Lois?”
“Clark went out to check with one of his sources. If he gets back before I do, tell him I went to Travaglini’s." Her new bag was in her bottom drawer. She’d had it custom made to be reversible, two tone, tan/black. Pulling her drawer open she reached in and grabbed the bag. She slung the strap over her shoulder, kicked the drawer closed and headed for the elevator.
As she did, Jimmy, disappointed that it wasn’t some juicy assignment, replied, "Sure thing, Lois. I'll let him know," and gently placed his camera back on the desktop.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
When she got into the elevator she pushed the button for the ground floor and sighed as the ancient device closed its doors and rattled as it descended, something she never noticed when she had Clark there to distract her. Reaching its destination the doors groaned as they opened and she stepped out, relieved that it had not dropped her to the basement and actually released her where she wanted to be.
Exiting the lobby of the Planet building, she passed out through the revolving door. Once on the sidewalk she paused and shielding her eyes with one hand against the glare of the bright cloudless sky, she looked up hoping to see a red and blue clad figure in the clear sky. Disappointed in her quest, Lois sighed, turned left and headed for Travaglini’s cafe. After covering a half a block, she repeated her sky watching.
It was still a little before lunchtime, so the crowds on the sidewalk were light and she was pretty much alone with her thoughts. She knew that Clark really didn’t want to wait too long for the wedding so she was starting to make mental lists. She was working on one of these lists as she was passing an alleyway, when her thoughts were interrupted, “Psssst. Hey you. Come here.”
Lois stopped and peered into the gloom. Her eyes were still somewhat dazzled by having stared into the bright, sunlit sky so she couldn’t see anything except shadows, but the voice was unmistakable. There was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she had heard that voice somewhere before. She stood there, undecided, reluctant to move from the sidewalk. Suddenly the snout of a chrome-plated automatic glittering in a beam of sunlight appeared as the voice, in a commanding tone, said, “
In here, Miss Lane.”
Seeing the automatic coupled with the voice caused instant recognition. She blurted out, “
Tempus! You again?”
She tensed, preparing to flee when she was stopped by a wave of the gun and the voice saying, “Now, now, none of that. Step in here …
now. I
could kill you where you stand, but where would be the
adventure … the
irony in that. God, how I love irony. That would accomplish my ends, but it would be more messy, now
wouldn’t it?”
Hesitantly, moving as slowly as she dared, hoping that Clark would swoop in and save her, Lois stepped into the alleyway.
“Much better. Now just stand still and everything will be okay.” He pulled a small device from his pocket and said, “This time I’m not taking
any chances. I’m taking you and dropping you off where he will
never find you.” He pushed a few buttons and a doorway popped into existence in front of her. She was standing there, transfixed as he shoved her from behind.
As soon as he shoved her, he turned and hurried away not waiting to see the outcome. As far as he was concerned, there could be only one outcome. Exit Lois Lane … exit Utopia. He had made sure that there was no Superman where he had sent her to help her get back. He had checked the records and there wasn’t even a Clark Kent, no one that she could make into Superman. As he hurried away, he thought, <I’ll need someplace to hide out for a while to make sure that Herb doesn’t step in and correct things.>
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Universal Locator designation
Alpha 025 x Gamma - 086 x Tau 142 Alt 25
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As she stumbled through the portal she felt someone bump into her, then she was frantically trying to regain her footing. As she did, she spun around only to see the portal close in upon itself. Having traveled in time before, she was less disoriented than she had been on previous occasions. Looking around, trying to get her bearings, she found herself on a relatively busy city street. She received a couple of strange looks, but no one accosted her on her sudden appearance. She was thanking her lucky stars that most city dwellers kept to themselves. That was working in her favor.
As she was standing there, she was looking around, trying to figure out just where Tempus had dumped her.
She could see that it was a large city, but
which one was it? Finally, as she scanned the cityscape, from where she stood she could see a rather large edifice dominating the skyline which she recognized as the
Empire State Building. <Okay, so I’m in New York City. At least I’m not in the middle of a Kansas corn field. Why? What is Tempus’s plan this time?>
While she was musing on this revelation she heard a shout from behind her, “
Miss Lane? Miss Lane?”
She turned slowly at the name only to see a man in a taxi driver uniform, including a chauffer’s cap approaching. This was not the usual attire for a cabbie in Metropolis or New York for that matter. Incredulously, as he neared, she asked, “You know me?”
He stopped and looked her over. He stared at her legs for an extraordinarily long time before he shook himself and said, “Sure, I’d recognize youz anywhere. Burbank called and said the Boss wanted youz picked up. He wants I should bring youz to him. He’s uptown, at de apartment. Uh, Miss Lane, if youz don’t mind … dat outfit … uh …it is a bit …
revealin', ain't it? I mean, The Boss prefers it if we ain’t too
splashy. Youz know what I mean?”
As he was saying all of this, Lois was trying desperately to understand. He had said ‘
The Boss’. Could that be
Luthor? Maybe if she played along she could get more information. Thinking fast, she said, “Oh, this little thing, it’s the latest thing from Paris. Don’t you like it?”
As he stared at her legs, he said, in an appreciative tone, “Sure, Miss Lane, what’s
not to like? Youz got
nice gams.”
For some strange reason, his stare made her feel uncomfortable. She needed to move this encounter along. “Well, we don’t want to keep The Boss waiting, now do we?”
Turning, he headed for the hack and she followed. When they got to it, Lois noted the style of the vehicle and decided that it wasn’t anything from the nineties, it was black, large, boxy and it had
running boards for heaven’s sake. If she had needed to guess, she would have guessed the thirties or forties. He opened the back door for her to enter. As she did, her skirt, which was already short, hiked up a bit more and she caught the driver staring again.
When he closed the door, she was relieved when the locks didn’t automatically engage. She looked around the interior of the hack and noted another discrepancy; there was no Plexiglas partition between her and the driver. She also found the driver’s ID. When she spotted it she read, ‘Moses Shrevnitz.’ Just who was
Moses Shrevnitz? He had mentioned another name, Burbank. She didn’t remember any of
Luthor’s henchmen by those names. She decided that she would have to wait and face the issues as they came so she sat back and relaxed, but that only lasted for a second. The urge to acquire information was overwhelming. Since he was apparently known to her, using his surname wouldn’t do. She’d have to be more familiar. She asked, “Moses, do you know why The Boss wants me?”
“Are you sure you are feelin' okay? Why are youz callin’ me dat, Miss Lane. Youz know dat everybody calls me Shrevvy. Anyhow, no, I don’t know. Mr. Cranston just said I was to pick youz up.”
Her relief was palpable. At least, it
wasn’t Luthor, but just who was this
Mr. Cranston? Well, she had gotten what she wanted – information, but this was information
overload. Apparently she was a lookalike for a Miss Lane in this world and she was an associate of a Mr. Cranston … whoever
that was and she was
now in
New York City. What
was she exactly, secretary, girlfriend,
sex partner? She’d have to be cautious.
Shrevvy’s driving was smooth and he didn’t switch lanes very often. A big difference between here in this New York and her Metropolis that was obvious was the noise level. It was a lot quieter here. In Metropolis there would have been horns blaring constantly.
Another thing she noticed was the absence of air conditioning in the cab. It felt like summer and she was dressed for Metropolis in the fall. Even with the windows rolled down it was
stifling in the cab.
She unbuttoned her jacket and shrugged out of it, but that wasn’t enough so she unbuttoned a couple of the buttons of her blouse and held it open to the breeze coming in the window. When she did, she noted Shrevvy looking at her in the mirror. She was just about to say something when her attention was drawn outside of the confines of the cab because she heard a youthful voice shouting, “Extree! Extree! Read
all about it! Japan invades China! Read
all about it!”
Lois searched her memory. She remembered that Japan had invaded China before World War II. That had to be what he was shouting about. Okay, she was right about the time period. It was the thirties or forties, more likely the thirties.
Now that her attention had been drawn to the environment, she looked at the busy sidewalks and the numerous pedestrians as they drove and she found out just why Shrevvy had been staring at her legs. The current fashion had skirt lengths at mid-calf, not mid-thigh, which was the length of her skirt and most of the women wore
hats. The men mostly wore business suits and almost all wore hats, fedoras like she had seen Indiana Jones wear in
Raiders or derbies similar to that which Herb habitually wore. If she was going to fit in, she would have to change her wardrobe.
Deciding that she had enough information to mull over she sat back, fanned herself and contemplated while Shrevvy drove the cab. It wasn’t the kind of wild ride she was used to with Metropolis cabbies. It was rather pleasant, actually. Shrevvy was an
excellent driver.
After a pleasant drive uptown, Shrevvy deposited Lois in front of a tall building. He held the door for her as she exited and she couldn’t get over the feeling that he was trying to look down her blouse and at her legs at the same time. Since she had no idea as to just what their relationship was she decided not to make anything of it. As she exited the cab she was carrying her jacket over her forearm and was wondering how she would negotiate the next hurdle.
Standing on the sidewalk she looked up and saw that the building they had stopped in front of was of Gothic architecture and topped twenty-five stories, had a gray stone façade and gargoyles at the roof corners. It reminded her of the ghost central building from
Ghostbusters.
She couldn’t stand there forever, so with a shrug of her shoulders and thinking, <Well, here goes nothing.>, she headed through the doors into the lobby. As she did, the quandary about her next step was settled when the elevator starter said, “Good morning, Miss Lane.” She caught him staring at her legs and decided that the sooner she changed clothes the better.
He turned to the elevator operator, who was also staring at her legs, and said, “Penthouse.” Then he said to her, as she entered the car, “Watch your step, please.”
Well, that solved that problem. Mr. Cranston was in the penthouse and she apparently was a
frequent visitor.
She entered the elevator and it was a good thing she had heeded his advice, because the floor of the car was a couple of inches below the floor level. Once she was in and the door closed, the operator threw over his lever, the car started to move and she was whisked to the top floor. Before he allowed her to exit, he operated his lever several times, lifting and dropping the car inches at a time until he was satisfied it was close enough.
As she exited the elevator, the operator said, “Watch your step, please.” Again it was a good thing that she heeded the admonition since the car floor was an inch above the landing. She wondered how much of his need to adjust the elevator’s position was caused by his distraction staring at her legs. Once out of the car she was greeted by a single door. As she approached the door she thought of the ‘ancient’ elevator at the Planet and was glad that it was self-service. Before she reached that door, the doors of the elevator closed and it dropped out of sight, even before she knocked.
From within, she heard, “Come in.”
She turned the knob and opened the door. As she did, through an entryway, she could see an opulent, although what she would have called old fashioned, apartment and a man in a housecoat, at a side table, with his back to her, pouring a cup of coffee. Without turning around, he asked, “Would you like a cup, Margot?” Lois gasped because from the back, he looked like Clark and the voice was Clark’s.
Okay, so her name was Margot, Margot Lane. “Yes, I think I will.” She replied.
He stopped pouring and spun around, instantly on guard. His right hand started to move toward his left armpit, but stopped when he saw her and he dropped it back to his side. His piercing eyes drove into her very soul as he challenged, “Well, you look like Margot, but you are not her. Who are you? Why are you impersonating her?”
He looked like Clark, all except for the hairdo, it was slicked back the same as when he was in his Superman persona and no glasses. Gathering from what she had been told by Shrevvy, she knew that this must be The Boss. She needed an ally so she decided that honesty was the best policy, besides, if he looked this much like Clark, maybe he would have the same personality. “It wasn’t by choice. Shrevvy apparently mistook me for Margot. Yes, my name is Lane, but it is Lois, Lois Lane … and I’m not from around here. This looks like New York. It has to be because I saw the Empire State Building, but it’s not the New York that I know. There’s just something … different about it. I know ... where are the twin towers?”
Mystified, he asked, "What twin towers?"
"The World Trade Center, the tallest buildings in the world."
"The Empire State Building is the tallest building in the world. Now, what have you done with Margot?”
His lack of knowledge of the World Trade Center confirmed her supposition of the time she was in. It seemed so strange to be standing here, being questioned by Clark, especially a Clark in his Superman persona. On firmer ground now, Lois replied, “I haven’t done anything with Margot. It would appear as though we have accidentally switched places. I’m here, in your New York and I suppose that she is where I came from, Metropolis.”
“Metropolis? Where is that? Is it somewhere in North America?”
“As a matter of fact, yes. It’s in New Troy. It’s on the east coast, south of Virginia and North of North Carolina.”
“I’ve never heard of it. Why did you exchange places?”
“It was none of my doing, I assure you. There’s this man, his name is Tempus. You wouldn’t by any chance have heard of him, would you?”
“I don’t believe so. Please continue.”
“Okay, well, there’s this guy, Tempus, and he has a pet project, which is keeping me and my fiancé apart. He’s from the future and that future is a utopia, which he hates and he thinks that by keeping us apart he can prevent that utopia from forming.”
“A man from the future. I recently read a fascinating story about time travel. I believe the title was ‘The Time Machine…”
Lois interrupted and finished for him, “By H. G. Wells. Yeah, Herb and I are old friends. I hope that he is looking for me even now.”
“How could that be? He lives in England, doesn’t he?”
With a rueful expression on her face she thought, <He’s still alive? Right, he died in 1946.> Lois replied, “Yeah, well, the truth is that he not only wrote about building a time machine, he actually built it. That’s how this whole mess started. He travelled to the future and met Tempus. He asked him to come back with him as proof of a future society. He didn’t know that the man was a homicidal maniac that wanted to destroy the family that was the basis for the utopia he lived in. He broke loose, got a time travel device of his own and has run amok ever since. This is just his latest attempt at keeping us apart.”
Mr. Cranston was thoughtful for several moments, mulling over this information before he asked, “What makes you and your fiancé so special that your family founds this utopia?”
Lois wondered briefly just how much she should reveal and decided that if she wanted to return home she would need his help. The Clark in that other alternate universe had Clark’s powers, maybe this one did too. He was so much like her Clark she felt that she could trust this man. “If I tried to describe him, you wouldn’t believe it. My fiancé is kinda special. He has these … abilities. He uses them to help people and fight crime.”
A slow smile appeared on Lamont Cranston’s face. Then he asked, “Does he use a secret identity?”
“Well, yeah, how’d you know?”
“Well, you see, I know because I too have certain ... abilities ... that I use to help people and fight crime.”
This appeared to confirm Lois’s supposition. She rolled her eyes and said, “Figures.”
Lamont started to laugh. It was a rather sinister laugh that sent chills up Lois’s spine. He asked, “Why do you say that?”
“According to Herb, that’s Herb Wells, there are Lois and Clark or in this case, Margot and Lamont, couples in each universe. Somehow we are focal points in each universe’s development. I’ve met another Clark. Unfortunately, he had lost his Lois. Even though he has all of my Clark’s powers, he hasn’t been able to find her.”
“What does he call himself?”
“I was the one that named his super persona. I dubbed him ‘Superman’. What name do you use?”
“Criminals call me ‘The Shadow.’ Why Superman?”
“It’s because of all that he can do.”
“Which is?”
“Well, he’s faster than a speeding bullet, stronger than a locomotive and can leap tall buildings in a single bound, or so they say. Actually he can fly under his own power and fast … he’s so fast all you see is a blur. Strong … he picked up and lifted a space ship into orbit. He can see through solid objects and start fires with beams from his eyes. Oh, and he used his super-cold breath to chill the wine several times.”
In a musing tone, he responded, “He sounds like a physical marvel. You mentioned the Empire State Building a bit ago. There is a physical marvel here in the city. He makes his headquarters on the eighty-sixth floor of that building. His name is Doc. Savage. He has a team of associates that go with him on his adventures. Each is a specialist in his field. He has an Archeologist/Geologist, William Harper ‘Johnny’ Littlejohn, an Engineer, Colonel John ‘Renny’ Renwick, a Chemist, Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Blodgett ‘Monk’ Mayfair, an electrical genius, Colonel Thomas J. ‘Long Tom’ Roberts, and a lawyer, Brigadier General Theodore Marley ‘Ham’ Brooks.”
Lamont continued, “Doc himself was trained from babyhood, using scientific techniques to be stronger and faster than a normal man, able to see in the dark, climb with great agility and many other fantastic things. He has this vest with myriad pockets. Each one contains devices that range from glass walled anesthetic balls to super-magnifying glasses. His associates use super-machine pistols that shoot anesthetic bullets.”
Lois was amazed. She had never heard of anyone like that. “It almost sounds like a military organization, all those officers, and high ranking to boot!”
“They all became friends during the Great War.” He paused for a second; thinking of what she had said, before asking, “Space ship? What year do you come from that you have spaceships? We only have them in science fiction. Are they that common in your time?”
“It was 1995 when I got up this morning and no, they are not that common. What year is it here?”
“It is 1937.”
Lois nodded her head and said, “I was right then. I heard a newsboy shouting a headline about Japan invading China. You are right on the cusp of World War II. In a couple of years, Adolph Hitler will start his world domination campaign.”
Lamont nodded, “I have been afraid of that. Hitler has been Chancellor of Germany since the death of Hindenburg in August of 1934. He has been doing a lot of things that make me believe that he is preparing for war even though the treaty of Versailles prohibited Germany from creating an army, navy or air force. I’ve been following the newspapers. Anyone with
eyes can see that there is trouble coming.”
Lamont shook his head in doubt. “Roosevelt says he will try to keep us out of the fight. He is supposed to give a speech in a few days. I have sources that have gotten some of the content. He’s going to be calling for an international quarantine against the epidemic of world lawlessness. Read for that Hitler’s aggressions against his neighbors."
Continuing, Lamont said, "Hitler’s agents have been stirring up trouble in areas, like the Rhineland, bordering on Germany. My thought is that they will ‘ask’ for help from Germany which will give Hitler an excuse to act."
"Roosevelt’s speech will actually be opposed to the current political climate which is all for neutrality. He thinks that we can use economic pressure to cause him to stop.”
Lois replied with certainty, “He will fail. Japan and Italy will ally with Germany in the Axis.
German U-Boats will sink a couple of American Destroyers on convoy duty, but the people won’t start calling for blood until December 7, 1941. That will be when, in an
unprovoked surprise attack,
Japan will
bomb Pearl Harbor. A couple of hours after the attack the declaration of war will be delivered to Cordell Hull by the Japanese ambassador. It was supposed to be delivered earlier. They had difficulty decoding and transcribing it, but that’s no excuse.
That is what will bring the U.S. into the war. It will be a war on two fronts, Europe, which will spill over into North Africa, and the Pacific.”
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