THE SILVER AGE #10

By Derrick Ferguson

"Journey Into Terror!"

          This issue is dedicated with much thanks to Travis Hiltz who came up with the name "The Goo Men" when I was REALLY stuck as to what to name them guys. So much for writing by the seat of your pants. Thanks, Trav.

          The creature had it's rubbery, slimy hands firmly around Rocky's neck and it quickly wrapped it's legs around Rocky's waist and proceeded to squeeze as hard as it could, effectively cutting off Rocky's wind at the throat and preventing him from drawing a decent amount of much needed oxygen into his lungs. Rocky staggered to his feet, one massive fist smashing repeatedly into the goo man's head but much like a punching bag, the gelatinous head absorbed the blows. Rocky was hitting the goo man with all of his strength, something he never did against an opponent since Rocky was strong enough to literally take somebody's head off but all this creature did was tighten its grip even more. A second one was slowly walking toward Rocky, hands outstretched, bent on helping its partner finish Rocky off. Rocky's vision was growing dim even as he heard Corinna's panting curses as she was engaged in her own life or death struggle against the creatures that had invaded the Challenger submarine.

          A gunshot echoed off the metal walls of the airlock chamber and chunks of gelatinous flesh splattered against Rocky's face. The goo man, minus a head, fell to the deck, its transparent limbs flopping wildly. Rocky staggered away from the body, coughing as he fought to get air into his lungs. Another gunshot rang out and the second goo man joined his partner on the deck.

          Ace Morgan turned away and ran over to where Corinna was desperately holding off two more of the goo men. Two more accurate shot's from Ace's .45 automatic dispatched them and Corinna smiled her thanks as they joined Rocky. The left side of Ace's face was still bruised and swollen but otherwise he appeared to be his old self. His sky blue eyes were narrowed in concern and amazement as he looked at the four creatures he had been forced to kill. "You've been busy, I take it."

          Rocky rubbed his abused neck and smiled wryly at his friend. "You don't know the half of it. I gotta tell ya, Ace…you always did have good timing."

          "Where's the rest of the gang?"

          Corinna was motioning for them to follow her. "We have to assume that these creatures have attacked the others as well. We may have to retake the sub. And we must find out what's happened to Prof."

          "Why? Where's Prof?"

          Rocky hurried after Corinna, throwing a response over his shoulder; "We'll fill you in as we go, Ace. And man, don't think I'm not beginning to wish I'd stayed in Hollywood."

          Red's voice came to them from further on down the corridor; "Rocky? Corinna? That you?"

          "Yeah! We're with Ace! You okay?"

          Red saved his answer until he and Lois joined them. "We heard the alarm and came running to help you but got jumped by these…well, I dunno just what the hell you'd call 'em."

          "No need to explain." Corinna jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "Four of them tried to kill us as well. If Ace hadn't shown up just in time…"

          "What about June?" Ace demanded. "Where is she? And where's Prof?"

          "Oh, shit!" Red exclaimed. "Prof's still outside! We gotta get him back in here!"

          Ace was determinedly heading for the bridge. "First we make sure June's all right!"

          Followed by the rest, Ace hurried to the bridge and what they found there made The Challengers and Lois Lane gasp with horror.

          A number of the goo men occupied the bridge, operating the controls with as much familiarity as The Challengers themselves. June Robbins was lying on the illuminated map table and one of the goo men was standing close to her, tendrils from the huge single eye in the middle of his head protruding to June's head where they had entered through her mouth, ears and nostrils. June's eyes were wide open and the expression in them was one of terrified disgust. Her chest rose and fell rapidly and her long fingers twitched spasmodically.

          Ace roared in sudden rage and the .45 in his fist came up but the voice they all heard in their heads stopped him from squeezing the trigger.

          "Do nothing or the woman dies."

          Ace took his finger off the trigger and slowly lowered the gun. "Who the hell are you? What are you doing with June? I want you to let her go and I mean right NOW."

          "You have no say here. You give no orders. You belong to us now. Do what we say or the woman dies. And then the man dies."

          "It must mean Prof," Red whispered in Ace's ear. Ace waved his teammate to silence.

          "We mean the other man. The one you came here to find." One of the goo men activated the monitor screen and it showed the view from outside, directly in front of The Jules Verne. Prof was still out there and they could see Tino Mannery was attached to the surface of a grayish mass that looked frighteningly much like a brain. Tendrils were sunk into Tino's flesh and thanks to the extremely high resolution of the plasma screen they could easily see the terror in Tino's eyes.

          "That's my brother, damn you!" Red made to charge the goo men but Rocky held him back. Corinna gripped both Ace and Red by the shoulders and said in a firm, controlled voice, "We need you two to keep your heads and stay focused! The only way we're going to save June and Tino is by working as a team and thinking our way out of this!"

          Lois nodded. "Far be it from me to be the voice of caution, boys…but we are in some deep shit here. However we play this, let's be frosty."

          Ace nodded. Lois and Corinna were both right. No matter how he felt about June, he had to think about all their lives and about coming out of this adventure with all of them alive and well and even more so, finding out what this creature was.

          "Why don't you tell us who you are and what you want?"

          "I am what I am. I have no name. I have never needed one. I am the only one of my kind as far as I know. I have never found another like me."

          "Were you created by somebody?" Lois asked. "Were you brought here from another planet? Left here as punishment? Or maybe you're an explorer who was stranded here when your ship left?"

          "I tell you I do not know! I have been alone for so long, until others of your kind come into these waters and I can absorb your forms, your thoughts and your lives." The telepathic voice took on a twinge of longing, of sadness as it continued: "Other forms I have absorbed are so…limited…you have so much more…so much more…"

          "Just how long have you been alive?" Ace asked.

          In return, a flood of images filled all of their minds: of pirate ships, of World War II aircraft and submarines, pleasure yachts of the rich, tramp steamers, luxury liners. All of them filled with men and women who had disappeared in The Bermuda Triangle and who had been absorbed by this creature, whatever it was.

          "My God," Lois breathed, her dark eyes shining with excitement. "If we can bring this thing back with us to The States, we can solve hundreds of years of missing ships! Think of it, Ace! We can close the books on so many mysteries…"

          Corinna's cultured voice was frosty with disdain as she replied, "Not to mention bringing closure to many families who have grieved for loved ones for years without knowing what the fate of their lost loved ones was. I think that's a higher priority than you winning another Pulitzer, Miss Lane."

          Before Lois could fire back another retort, Ace said over his shoulder, "We've got more than enough time to discuss what we do with this thing later. Right now, I'd like to get it off June and regain control of our ship. Anybody got any idea how we can do that before June or Tino gets killed?"

          Just then the radio crackled into life, "Prof to Jules Verne. Come in, Jules Verne. Somebody answer me! June! Rocky!"

          Red moved over to the console to toggle the switch to speak. The goo man attached to June quivered all over. "What are you doing? Do not approach me!"

          "We just want to talk to our friend outside, that's all." Red said. "He's worried about us. There's no harm in that, is there?"

          "The man outside? You can talk to him. That is all you can do. You all belong to me now. You will all soon BE me."

          A wretched groan emerged from June's mouth as more of the tendril forced it's way into her mouth. Ace's entire body was trembling with the terrific effort it was taking for him not to rip the goo man apart with his bare hands. Ace's self-control was legendary but only a man of stone could have watched what was happening to June and not been affected.

          Red clicked on the radio. "Red here, Prof. How's Tino? How does he look to you?"

          "He's alive but other than that I can't tell much. What the hell's going on over there?"

          "I'll give you the short version: we've been boarded and the sub's under the control of these….they look like guys made out of hair gel, if you can believe that. If you can come up with a way outta this, we'd sure as hell would appreciate it."

          "Well, this thing that your brother is stuck to puts me in mind of a suggestion Rocky made for how to deal with this thing. I'd suggest you do that."

          Everybody turned to look at Rocky who had an expression of utter bafflement on his wide face. "Not sure exactly what you're gettin' at, Prof."

          "Sure you do, Rockhead.. Your suggestion impressed me, remember?"

          Understanding washed over Rocky's face and he nodded as the earlier conversation came back to him:

          "I hear ya, Prof. You wanna take that chance, you being outside an' all?"

          "Hell, Rocky, isn't that what this whole thing is about? Do it, big man."

          Ace looked at Rocky in mystification. "You mind explaining what the hell you two are up to?"

          "No. Just be ready when I move."

          "When will that be?"

          "RIGHT NOW!"

          Rocky exploded into action, rushing forward, with his right arm straight out to the side to clothesline the goo man with his tendrils in June. The goo man was knocked backwards into a control panel, which shorted out, electrocuting the goo man, who jerked and thrashed about as lethal volts of electricity surged through its transparent body.

          Ace was immediately at June's side, his hands digging into her eyes, nose and mouth, removing the remains of the tendrils infesting her system. June's eyes rolled up in her head until only the whites showed and her limbs jerked. Ace turned her on her side and she vomited great chunks of gelatinous flesh onto the deck.

          The booming of the guns in the hands of Red Ryan and Lois Lane were deafening in the confined space as they fired at the other goo men that rushed on them.

          Then there was a telepathic scream in all their minds that made them all howl in miserable pain as they collapsed to the deck, writhing in agony.

          "You will all DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

          Only Rocky was still on his feet, blood streaming from his nostrils, his vision rapidly failing as he made directly for the weapons console, his fists lashing out to knock goo men out of his way as he fought on with a single-minded determination that allowed for not even the concept of defeat or failure. The lives of his best friends depended on him and Rocky Davis had never failed his friends. He picked up the last goo man and flung him away as if it weighed nothing. He made it to the weapons console, activated the electric charge generator, and turned it up to maximum.

          Rubbery hands laid hold of his shoulders, arms and hair, yanking his head back, trying to drag him away from the console. Rocky's hand reached down for the CHARGE RELEASE button-

          -A goo man's hand seized Rocky's wrist and yanked it away. Slowly, Rocky was being dragged backwards-

          -and that was when Red Ryan staggered to his feet and with a shaky yell of defiance that cleared his head, he ran forward, slamming into Rocky from behind. Rocky fell forward, angling himself so that his forehead squarely hit the CHARGE RELEASE button.

          Although the normal charge release was 100,000 volts, Rocky had cranked it up way past that and put a severe strain on The Jules Verne. Systems shorted out all over the ship. Dials and readout screens exploded, showering the bridge with glass.

          The automatic fire suppression systems activated, spraying foam onto the dozen fires that broke out all over the sub. Over the radio, they could all hear Prof's scream but it was quickly eclipsed by the telepathic yowl that seemed to go on and on and on and on as one by one, The Challengers were driven into unconsciousness to save their sanity from the hideous psychic onslaught…

          Rocky's eyes slowly opened and his vision was normal and clear. He looked around, not for the first time since being a Challenger Of The Unknown somewhat surprised to find himself still alive and in the infirmary. Lois Lane and Ace Morgan were at his bedside, both of them grinning in relief as Rocky sat up in the bed.

          "Judgin' by them silly grins on your mugpieces, I take it we made out okay?"

          Ace clapped a hand on Rocky's shoulder. "Can't complain, big guy. Of course, you did blow out half the computer and electric systems on the sub when you sent that charge through the creature. But it forced the thing to let us go."

          "How are the others?"

          Ace pointed at an unconscious June Robbins who was lying on another bed. "June's still out but all her vital signs are good. She must have thrown up about a pound of the stuff that thing was forcing into her. Corinna and Prof both say that they think she will be fine…she just had to get it out of her system. But I still want to get back to Miami as soon as possible and get her checked out."

          Rocky's face was dismayed as he swung his legs out of bed, ignoring the pains shooting through his body. "Prof! He was outside when I shocked the thing! Is he-"

          "He's fine. That suit of his is tougher than even he thought it was. It insulated him from the electric shock. In fact, he was able to grab Tino and bring him back on the sub."

          "Thank God! I heard him scream and thought-"

          "We were all doing our share of screaming," Lois said grimly. "That psychic backlash at the end gave us all one hell of a headache."

          "Don't I know it," Rocky agreed, massaging the back of his neck. "So what's our status?"

          "Prof went back outside to secure that thing to the sub. He's hell-bent on taking your suggestion and towing it back to Miami. Red's with his brother. Corinna is busy with repairs and now that we've made sure you're okay, we can go give her a hand."

          "And get that radio fixed as soon as you can, fellas!" Lois exclaimed. "I've got the story of the year to report!"

          Red Ryan pulled his chair closer to his brother's bed as Tino continued with his story. "So what happened then?"

          "We all piled into a couple of life rafts and the pilot activated the homing beacon. He said it had a range of three hundred miles and there was an excellent chance somebody would catch our signal and pick us up. He said he didn't see us as being at sea more than eight hours or so." Tino motioned at the pitcher of ice water on the small metal table by the bed and Red obligingly poured him a glass.

          "It didn't take more than five hours for that thing to find us, don't ask me how. I was drifting in and out of sleep. Seemed as if every time I got comfortable, somebody would roll over on top of me or a wave would wash into the raft. Then I heard a scream but I though it was my dream." Tino grinned wryly. "I remember dreaming about that time we thought you were dead. That's where I thought the dream came from. But the screams continued and when I snapped awake I saw dozens of tendrils reaching up out of the water, grabbing the others. I jumped overboard, started swimming away as fast as I could. I didn't know what the hell that thing was but I preferred taking my chances in the open sea than trying to fight it, whatever it was."

          Red handed Tino the glass of water. "But you didn't get far."

          "I sure as hell did not. The thing wrapped it's tendrils around me and yanked me underwater so fast it wasn't funny. The odd thing was it didn't absorb me as fast as the others. It kept me attached to it's brain and I could feel it forcing me to relieve memories over and over again, as if it were getting some kinda cheap thrill outta it.."

          Red nodded in confirmation. "Based on what it told us, it enjoys living through the memories of it's victims. And your memories of when you took my place as a Challenger and the adventures you had must have been particularly exciting and stimulating to it."

          Tino sipped the water, the ice spheres clinking slightly. "I'm just glad it's all over." Tino extended his hand. "Thanks, bro. It's good to know that no matter what happens to me in this crazy, mixed up world, I have a brother that will always come look for me and take care of me."

          Red took Tino's hand, squeezed it hard. "I'd have went to Apokolips to get you back, Tino. You know that. And so would the others. You know that Corinna Stark showed up at my hotel and insisted on coming along to rescue you?"

          "Who's the other babe? The dark-haired hottie with the wicked eyes and kickin' cheekbones? You know how I love a babe with cheekbones."

          "Her? You don't know Lois Lane? The Daily Planet's star reporter and one of Metropolis's Top Ten Most Eligible Bachelorettes?"

          "THAT's Lois Lane?" Tino frowned. "I dunno…for a second I coulda sworn she looked like Courtney Cox…"

          The Jules Verne was heading back for Miami. After six hours of intensive repairs, the sub was ready to move. It couldn't submerge again once they had surfaced but then again, nobody really minded. They left the conning tower hatch open so fresh air could circulate through the sub.

          Ace Morgan, Red Ryan, Rocky Davis, Corinna Stark, Tino Mannery and Lois Lane all crowded onto the conning tower, all smoking Don Tomas Presidente cigars from Ace's private stock. Ace jealously guarded his cigars but he felt this was a fitting occasion to share. They all puffed on their cigars contently, looking at the huge bulk of the creature that was being towed about 130 feet behind the sub.

          "Damn if I don't feel good," Rocky sighed. "We found Tino, kept from getting killed ourselves in the rescuing and bring back a creature that can solve a lot of mysteries about The Bermuda Triangle. Not a bad job, yo."

          "You sound as if there were still more mysteries to be discovered, Rocky?" Lois said.

          "We've been in The Bermuda Triangle four times now, Lois," Ace said thoughtfully. "Each time we've come out with more questions than answers."

          "I tried to get a look at that file involving the time you boys came into The Triangle to find Henry Kissinger. Damn thing is still classified. "

          Rocky was chuckling. "I like ol' Hank. For a peace negotiator he could throw one hell of a mean punch. If I had got him 20 years ago I coulda made a good boxer outta him."

          "We should call him up for lunch," Red said, throwing an arm around Tino's shoulders. "After we saved him, he became quite The Bermuda Triangle buff and-"

          The howl of anguish from inside the sub jerked all of them out of their jocular mood and characteristically, it was Ace who led the way as one by one, they all climbed down the ladder into the sub.

          Prof was standing by the radio, bent over the console, his shoulders jerking uncontrollably. Great racking sobs were ripped from his chest in tortured gasps. The Challengers Of The Unknown stood in a quiet semi-circle around Prof, waiting patiently until he turned to face them, his cheeks wet with tears.

          "I was calling Clayburne at the hospital to get an update on Dora's condition…we've been out of touch for so long…I wanted to know how she was doing…" Prof let the microphone in his gloved hand drop to the deck. "Dora's GONE…she left the hospital sometime during last night…despite her injuries, despite the security, she walked right out of the hospital and nobody saw her leave….Clayburne's been tearing up Australia trying to find her…but she's GONE.."

          Both June and Corinna ran forward but it was June who got there first and she threw her arms around Prof and the lanky scientist broke down, sobbing uncontrollably and the anguish of his cry rang in the ears of his friends:

          "Dear God, Dora's GONE!"

          Ace slowly walked over and wrapped his arms around both the shaking body of the sobbing Prof and June. "We'll find her, Prof. No matter what it takes or where we have to go, we'll find Dora."

          It was Rocky next who walked over to join them. Then Corinna and Tino.

          Lois Lane did not join them. She watched them and felt just a bit envious. She did not join them because these were people joined by bonds she did not have to them. To insert herself into what was a special moment between these people who were indeed Challengers Of The Unknown would not have been right.

          Even as Prof's soft sobs filled the sub, Lois Lane went to the controls to see if she could get some more speed out of the sub and get them to Miami faster.

NEXT ISSUE: So what happened to Dora Lockridge? Where is she? Chances are it has to do with the control crystal in her brain containing the consciousness of KRA, an artificial life form bent on the total destruction of The Challengers and the human race! Whatever you do, you won't want to miss the next two issues of DC LEGENDS' CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN: THE SILVER AGE!