“Who are you?” Justine demanded. “How dare you?”
“Your mother knows me as Doctor Natas, and I dare much, my child.” There was no flicker of recognition in Justine’s gold-flecked eyes. “I see you are not familiar with the name.”
Natas directed an inquiring glance at Louise. “So you never told her the tale? The story of our adventure together in Tibet? Never told her of Doctor Ard– ”
“That’s enough,” Louise interjected. “We are here. You have us. Get on with it.”
Natas’ cat-like green eyes blazed briefly, but his visage quickly calmed. “You are right, of course. Time is of the essence.” He clapped once, and two lascars emerged from behind the throne. Natas pointed to Justine. “Escort the doctor to the laboratory.”
The two burly men took Justine by each arm and directed her to a wall of bookcases, one of which slide aside to reveal a hidden elevator. As the three entered the elevator cage, Justine turned and looked imploringly at her mother, but Louise merely nodded reassuringly. Then the elevator’s folding door closed and they were gone.
Louise looked at the satanic visage of Doctor Natas. Twenty-two years ago, he had held her and Doctor Francis Ardan captive in his “City of Gold and Lepers,” hidden deep in the wasteland of the Koko Nor desert of Tibet. Then, Natas had mastered the alchemy of converting base matter to gold. He had captured dozens of eminent scientists–including Doctors Francis Ardan and Louise Ducharme–as well as thousands more menial workers. All the prisoners had been held as slaves, hostage to an especially virulent form of leprosy. Only the City’s Z-Rays, another of Doctor Natas’ discoveries, held the sickness in check. And thus had held Natas’ slaves captive to toil in the City, for to flee was to die.
Natas had aspired to world domination, and would have achieved it, if not for Francis Ardan and Louise Ducharme.
Now, Louise’s face took on an expression of profound disgust. “What do you really want from her?”
“Information, Doctor Ducharme, merely information.”
“You won’t get it.”
“By hook or by crook, I will.”
“She is but a girl!”
“She is of age. And she is genius… Just like her father. She will share her secrets. They will be safe with me.”
Two more lascars appeared. “Take Doctor Ducharme to her room.” The three entered the hidden elevator and disappeared from sight.
Another Asian man came forward from the shadows behind the throne. “You play a dangerous game, Master.”
“Perhaps, Pao Tcheou, perhaps. I have been patient, have waited 22 years. I am close. The danger is necessary.”
“But to lead Ardan here. It is hazardous,” Pao Tcheou said.
“I decide what is necessary or not. Remember that, honorable cousin. When you lead the Council, you may decide.”
“Master, you have my allegiance. But the other Council members do not have your foresight. They do not understand your plans. Fen-Chu, in particular, grows restless.”
“Pao Tcheou, all is unraveling as I planned. I brought Doctor Ardan and Doctor Ducharme together all those years ago. I set them in the perilous circumstances that drew them to each other. Though they destroyed my City of Gold, it was I who won in the end. All is as it should be. You will reassure the Council,” Natas said.
“Very well, Master.”
“Excellent. And now, go to check in the laboratory. Ensure that Doctor Caresco is obtaining what he needs.”
Pao Tcheou bowed deeply and withdrew.
“It is time,” the villain Natas said to himself. Turning to a large apparatus in the corner of the throne room, he activated several switches. A screen came to life, and focused on the outside of the clinic, just around the corner from the nearby dairy. A police vehicle pulled up to the corner.
Arriving at the clinic on the Rue Mouffetard, Doc Ardan instructed Maigret to wait outside, but to bring police backup if he did not appear after four hours. Maigret agreed and turned to enter his vehicle. At the faint sound of a high-pitched whine, he looked up and saw a slight shimmer in the air, almost as if he were looking through waves of heat on the desert, although the waves were tinged with blue light.
And nothing else.
Ardan was gone, leaving nothing but the faint hint of ozone in the air, although he couldn’t possibly have rounded the corner so quickly in the time Maigret had been turned away.
Doc Ardan materialized in Natas’ throne room, appearing in mid-air and dropping to the floor. Cat-like, Ardan landed on his feet. He stared for long seconds at the Asian man standing by the apparatus in the corner, an assemblage of electrodes, antennae and globes topping a control panel of knobs, switches and sliding levers.
“Congratulations, Doctor Ardan,” Natas said, assuming his seat in the room’s center. “You are as agile as ever. The perfect physical and mental specimen.”
“That’s an interesting trick,” Doc said.
“Oh, that. Merely a refinement of a technology developed by another of your many foes, which was in turn based upon Nemor’s Disintegrator.”
“Yes, I know, the teleporter. That’s how you abducted the women. Delivered the note to Maigret. And cast debris into the air at my plane.”
Doctor Natas was only momentarily nonplussed. “Very clever, Doctor. I will not underestimate you again. Since you are familiar with the technology, you also know that the teleporter as originally designed only worked in a straight line, limiting its range. We have strengthened the integrity of the transmission stream considerably, but the device’s range is still not to my satisfaction. Perhaps you would care to ‘take a crack’ at it?”
“I don’t think so,” Doc replied.
“Come now, Doctor. You and I are giants, supermen. Immortals, even! Does not the science of this device intrigue you? I fail to understand how you could let this technology languish these 14 years.”
“I’m not surprised,” Doc said wryly.
“Nevertheless, you will assist in the completion of the teleporter,” Doctor Natas said. Six more brawny dacoits appeared from the shadows and took positions circling Doc.
“On no less than three separate occasions you have interfered with my plans,” Natas continued, raising three long, clawed fingers.
“Tibet, 1927. The destruction of the City of Gold and Lepers. The dispersal of my labor force. That was a considerable inconvenience, Doctor.” One finger curled inward.
“Limehouse, December 1931. You and Allard interfered with my plans and those of my colleague, Yu’An Hee See.” The second finger closed, leaving one long forefinger pointing at Ardan.
“Haiti, April 1940. The complete destruction of my arsenal, including various advanced aircraft and submersibles.” Natas closed his last finger into a fist.
Throughout this recitation, Doc had remained standing as motionless as a Greek statue, evincing no sign of emotion.
“You are a worthy adversary, Doctor Ardan, deserving of my respect.” Natas paused. “But the scales must be balanced. Debts must be repaid. You will assist me with the teleporter.”
“Enough of this charade, Natas,” Doc said. “You’ve already kidnapped Justine Ducharme, and she’s the expert in this area. Louise Ducharme is a medical doctor, so if you’re only seeking to perfect your teleporter, then you have no reason to capture her, except to force Justine’s cooperation. You don’t need me at all.”
“Au contraire, Doctor. You were present when the teleporter was first used. Doubtless you analyzed its secrets. You are a scientific genius in numerous fields of study, a genius perhaps only second to my own. Do this thing for me, and in consideration of our distant… familial relationship, I will release you unharmed.”
Ardan’s silence was his answer.
Natas gestured for the dacoits to close in on Ardan. “Take the Doctor to the laboratory,” instructed Natas, but before the men could act upon that order, Ardan was a blur of bronze motion.
Two solid punches sent the first two men immediately to the
floor.
As two more adversaries approached, Doc tore hanging shreds away from his already ripped shirt, took a classic Baritsu stance and waited for the men to press their attack. They coordinated their assault, and faster than thought, the men were flying through the air in different directions, hitting opposite walls and collapsing insensate on the ground.
The final two lascars appraised Ardan with more caution.
Ardan leaped, and before they could react, he was behind them, with each cabled bronze hand gripping them at the base of their necks and working at the junctures of neck and shoulder. Both attackers slumped to the floor, unconscious.
By this time, however, Doctor Natas had made it to the apparatus in the corner, manipulating several switches and dials. The granite ceiling above Doc’s head was already enveloped in the shimmering blue light. Before even Ardan could react, chunks of stone were raining down upon his head, knocking him unconscious. Only the skullcap resembling his natural bronze-colored hair protected Ardan from suffering a concussion.
Natas pressed another button, and shortly thereafter Pao Tcheou appeared from the elevator hidden behind the bookcases.
“Put him with the others. We are almost done here,” Natas said.
Pao Tcheou bowed deeply.
Ardan, Louise and Justine sat in a dank cell deep below Natas’ throne room.
“Louise…” Doc had just awakened from the blow to his head.
“Francis,” Louise asked with concern, “are you all right?”
“Yes, there does not appear to be any permanent damage.”
“I gave you a quick once-over while you were still out, and I agree. Although I have to say this is obviously not the first time you’ve taken such a blow to the head. Or elsewhere, given all those scars.”
Doc looked uncomfortable, and shrugged slightly, but didn’t say anything.
“Thank you for coming.”
Doc finally looked up and took in Louise’s milky complexion and raven hair. Memories and emotions buried for 20 years came swirling back unbidden, but he quickly suppressed them. “Thus far, my presence here has been unproductive,” Doc said ruefully.
“But you came. So thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Ardan looked over at Justine. Her eyes, swirling with gold-flecks, stared blankly into nothingness. “Is that…?”
“Yes. That is Justine. She appears to be hypnotized. They brought her back half an hour ago in this state, and she hasn’t come out if it. I’ve examined her, and she appears to be unharmed, but nothing I do or say elicits a response.”
There was an awkward silence, broken only by the incessant sound of water dripping outside the cell door.
Finally, Doc said, “I respected your wishes. I stayed away from you after Tibet. I didn’t realize it was because we had a daughter.” There was a hint of anger in his voice, although his face remained a bronze mask.
“I had hoped to spare Justine from incidents just like this one by raising Justine alone. You were prepared, trained in that strange program your father arranged, to fight evil all over the world. That is no life for a wife and daughter, and who was I to try to dissuade you from what you had spent your whole life preparing for?”
“Perhaps if I had known, I would have made a different decision.”
“That is easy to say,” Louise flared, “but it is rather less easy to overcome a lifelong program of indoctrination. Your path was set. It didn’t include me. I missed you, and occasionally wondered… But I have not pined away for how it could have been. Justine and I have a good life, happy, safe and healthy. And from all the news accounts, and all the stories I’ve heard over the years of the people you’ve helped, I think things turned out the way they were supposed to.”
Doc was quiet for a bit. Then, he ventured, “Many of those accounts are drastically exaggerated.”
“Nevertheless.” Louise was firm.
“Yes. Nevertheless.” Ardan inhaled, exhaled deeply. “I had another child once, a son. Before we met.”
“You never told me.”
“No… It didn’t turn out well.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You needn’t be.” Ardan looked over at Justine, noting her coppery blonde hair and bronzed skin. “She is a beautiful young woman. And intelligent. Her scientific reputation precedes her.”
He paused, and then looking back to Louise, told her, “You’ve done a wonderful job raising her. You made the right decision.”
Louise took Ardan’s hand in hers and squeezed it, smiling. Then she took him in her arms. “Thank you, Francis,” she whispered.
At a slight moan, they both looked over at Justine, who started to come out of her trance.
“Justine, Justine. Are you all right?” As the girl nodded, Louise went over to her. “This is my… colleague, Doctor Ardan.”
“How do you do, Doctor Ducharme,” Doc said formally. “How do you feel?”
“I feel very well, thank you. As if I have slept for hours….” She stretched.
“What happened in the laboratory?” Louise asked.
“I don’t remember… We went to the lab. There were several men there, all in white coats. One gave me a brief physical exam, and took a tissue sample, which I thought was odd. Then he gave me an injection. The next thing I remember, I woke up here with you.”
“Clearly,” Ardan interjected, “Natas’ men have managed to extract the information they wanted while you were under. Why else return you here so quickly? He must be stopped. Now that Justine is awake, we can leave.”
“How do you suggest we do that?” Louise asked. “Shall we just ring for the porter and tell him we’re ready to check out?
Without answering her directly, Doc unloosed his belt, aimed the buckle at the heavy cell door, and depressed a tiny switch. After about 30 seconds of this, while the two women stared at Ardan and began to doubt his sanity, the door latch started to glow with heat. Doc aimed a massive kick at the latch and the door flew open. He glanced at Louise expectantly, with one eyebrow raised ever-so-slightly–a habit he had also picked up from his old master M. Senak–and gestured for the two women to follow.
“I withdraw the question,” Louise said.
Unhindered, the three traversed several maze-like corridors of the abandoned dairy underneath the clinic before they finally found the elevator’s lower entrance. When they emerged on the top level from behind the hidden bookcase, Natas’ throne room was deserted, save for the telltale hint of ozone.
Doc went over to the teleporter apparatus in the corner and examined it. Looking closely at the rematerialization settings, he noted that they were set for latitude and longitude coordinates which were across the globe. In China.
Doc, Louise and Justine emerged from clinic onto the Rue Mouffetard, and introductions were exchanged with Inspector Maigret. Ardan was quiet, reflecting that their escape was too simple. However, before Ardan could bring Maigret up to speed with the details of their ordeal, the call box outside the erstwhile clinic rang.
Ardan exchanged glances with the other three, and then walked over and picked up the receiver.
“Oui?”
A familiar mechanical voice recited, “Important message for the Doctor. Important message for the Doctor. Important message–”
“This is the Doctor.”
Once again, a click indicated recognition of Doc’s voice, and another wax cylinder in his New York headquarters carried its message over the Atlantic.
“Greetings, Doctor Ardan! I wished to set your mind at rest that, despite your interference in my affairs, I have extracted the information I needed from Mademoiselle Ducharme. The teleporter can now be aimed much more accurately and at much longer distances, as you no doubt saw when you examined my equipment. No, do not bother attempting to follow me, the apparatus has already self-destructed in the time it has taken you to evacuate the clinic and receive this message. And to further ensure that you do not attempt to follow me, I have arranged a further distraction for
you, which, I assure you, you will ignore at your peril.
“I also pledge to you that Mademoiselle Ducharme will remain unmolested by me in the future. Please convey to Justine, and to her mother, my deepest regrets at inconveniencing them, and my warmest regards. They are both the finest examples of their gender, and come from excellent stock, as you well know. I have nothing but the highest admiration for them both. And for you, my dear Doctor. Goodbye.”
The line clicked off and Doc hung up the telephone. He conveyed the gist of Natas’ message to the two women and the Inspector. Natas’ statement about Ardan interfering in his affairs struck him as strange, in this instance. Ardan had really done nothing substantial in terms interfering with Natas’ plans and rescuing the two women, and yet Natas clearly wanted him to think he had. Why?
Nonetheless, Ardan kept his lingering doubts to himself. Instead, he told the two women that he had been considering a semi-retirement from his life of adventuring, in order to focus more of his energies on scientific research. He concluded by cautiously suggesting that he visit Louise and Justine when they had more time to become better acquainted. Louise looked skeptical, but Justine was enthusiastic.
“Yes, Doctor, I would like that. In fact, I would very much appreciate your input on a new area of research I’ve been contemplating with my British colleague, Dr. Rushton. It may be that in addition to teleporting objects from place to place, we can actually dematerialize them at one end of the process, and rematerialize them at a different size.”
“The laws of physics–”
“Yes, yes, and just a few years ago conventional wisdom dictated that we would never exceed the speed of sound. The laws of physics state that objects cannot travel faster than light, and yet I firmly believe that as we learn more about the universe, the laws of physics will be rewritten to account for practical interstellar travel. Given your own inventions and scientific discoveries, and what we have seen today with that fiend Natas’ teleporter, how can you disagree?” Justine challenged.
“In truth, I cannot,” Ardan admitted.
Tales of the Shadowmen 1: The Modern Babylon Page 9