Courageous

by Nicholas Olivo

  “I’m not from around here.”

  “That’s convenient. Let me see your ID.”

  That was when it hit me that I’d never gotten my wallet back after Sojin had waylaid me. “I don’t have it on me.”

  “Well, that’s even more convenient.”

  “No, seriously, I’m from the future. I’ve traveled back in time to get information from you.”

  Mitt reached for the call button again, but I caught his wrist as gently as I could.

  “I know this sounds crazy,” I said, “And I’m not sure how to prove to you that I’m with the Caulborn. We don’t have a secret handshake or code word. Though now that I think about it, it probably would’ve helped if we did. I can tell you that the security guard you know as Jake has been working for the Caulborn since the 1850s, and Jake himself never registered as a life form any of the Caulborn could identify. I can also tell you that your partner’s name was Jack Santo, a man who fell fighting an abomination known as the Glawackus. You also found a pair of magical amulets. The Care Taker took those amulets, the ones you based the Anisa and Mieso amulets on, had them stored in the Shaker Springhouse, and essentially sealed them off the same way they did to the Ark of the Covenant in Raiders of the Lost Ark.”

  “How do you know all this?” Mitt asked, his eyes wide.

  “Because I’m Caulborn,” I said. “And I have the Anisa Amulet.” I fished it out from beneath my shirt. “And someone very bad has gotten ahold of its counterpart. I need anything you can give me, any insight you can provide, to stop him.”

  “The courage amulet,” Mitt said, reaching out a hand to touch it. “How did you get it?”

  “I found it in the Springhouse, like I said. But I’m finding it doesn’t work exactly like it does in the comics.”

  Mitt gave a grin. “No, I had to embellish a bit, lest the Care Taker think I was trying to deliberately expose the agency. Some of it’s true, though. It does bestow the ability to fly, and it does react to a person’s fears.” Mitt leaned back in the bed and looked up at the ceiling.

  “I remember when we found that in the mountains in Peru. Jack and I had been chasing a cult of demon worshippers all around the world, and they shot down our plane over the Andes. We crashed, but once we got free of the wreckage, we found we were in a clearing, an ancient temple gate carved into the side of the mountain.” Mitt’s eyes had gone distant, as if he were looking back at that moment. “We had next to no supplies, having lost all but the shirts on our backs in the crash. The radio was gone, and those fancy cellular telephones like I see on the TV were years away from being invented. The snow was coming down, and the temperature was falling, so we got inside and took what shelter we could.”

  Mitt reached for a glass of water at the bedside table. “The funny thing was,” he continued after taking a sip, “the temple was warm. Fires burned in braziers, and there were dry clothes nearby. Modern ones, too. There was a suit and tie in the styles and sizes that Jack and I both preferred to wear. And when Jack found an unopened pack of Lucky Strikes and a tin of shortbread cookies, we both thought we’d lost our minds.” Mitt gave a short laugh at the memory. “The look on his face, on both our faces, I’m sure, was that this was so surreal. The amount of dust in the entryway told of a place that hadn’t been disturbed in decades, maybe even centuries, and yet here were all these modern things, just lying there for the taking.”

  “Who put them there?” I asked, thinking I might already know the answer.

  “Jack and I did,” Mitt said. “Not consciously, of course. The fear amulet, the one you know as the Mieso Amulet, was picking up on our thoughts and needs, even from a distance. The amount of fear we must’ve been giving off was intense; we thought we were going to die, and nothing really cranks up the terror like being confronted with one’s own mortality. After changing clothes and eating the cookies, and washing it down with a Thermos of hot chocolate that was conveniently nearby, we found our way into what we dubbed the amulet room. It wasn’t anything fancy, and in truth it was more like a closet than a room. The Grand Artifact Hall in the Temple of Coragem that you see in the comics, that was how I pictured what it should have looked like, a massive room with pedestals and archways and sunlight streaming through stained-glass windows.

  “What was really there was much more modest. The amulets were nestled on a small shelf, wrapped in animal hide. They were the only things there, other than the items we’d inadvertently created, and to this day, we haven’t been able to learn who made the amulets, how, or why. And at the time, we only knew that we’d found a couple of old pieces of jewelry. We had no idea of the extent of powers they possessed.

  “Now, I was trained as an artificer, and even though I didn’t have any of my equipment, once I touched them, I could feel the power coming off these things. I just wanted to get back to Boston and study them, but as the night wore on, I began to worry that we wouldn’t find our way home. I was turning the courage amulet over in my hands, lamenting that I might not see my wife ever again. All I could think about was how scared I was that I wouldn’t be able to see her, to tell her I loved her, just one more time.

  “And then, then it was like a map formed in my head. I knew immediately how to get to a town where we could get transport back to Boston. I told Jack, and though he was skeptical, the two of us had seen enough weird things in our service to the Caulborn that we weren’t going to write it off. So, taking our new clothes and the small cache of provisions we’d found, we set out, heading northwest. And after a two-hour hike, we came across a small town that had just received deliveries of medical supplies from a Red Cross helicopter. Jack had one of his fake IDs on him, one that said we were from the Bureau of Investigation, I think, and that was all it took to get airlifted back to Lima, and from there, ultimately, to Boston.”

  As Mitt took a sip from his glass, I couldn’t help but comment on something. “If the Mieso Amulet was providing all those items, I’m surprised it didn’t repair the helicopter or the radio,” I said.

  Mitt gave a sheepish grin. “A week later, Jack and I took a group of Caulborn operatives back to the temple to investigate it further and recover the helicopter we’d crashed. Imagine our surprise when we found it in pristine condition, parked just over the hill where we’d left it. If we’d just walked back up the hill, instead of going northwest along my mental map, we’d have found it restored.”

  “I’ll bet that caused some commotion,” I said.

  Mitt barked a hoarse laugh. “Oh, did it ever. The Care Taker didn’t exactly come out and say that Jack and I had been drunk and imagined the whole thing, but he came close. Let me tell you something, son. Never, ever take a person who’s defined their life with personal ambition as your leader. They’ll only listen to themselves, and only focus on what’s important to them. John Griffen was like that. I think in another life, he might have been a politician. But with him at the helm, the Caulborn weren’t interested in artifacts or lost civilizations. He’d made it his priority to ensure that paranormals and mundanes were segregated as thoroughly as possible.”

  Mitt waved a hand. “So Griffen had us lock away the amulets in a forgotten little artifact repository, where they’d be safe and sound.” A mischievous look entered Mitt’s eyes. “Of course, what he said, well, what he officially decreed, was that the amulets were to be stored in the repository and never removed. He never said I couldn’t experiment with them in the vault, so that’s what I did. Over the course of a few months, I took notes, made observations, and ultimately unraveled a lot of how the amulets worked. They were fascinating pieces, and I lamented that I couldn’t write a paper on their enchantments, but doing so would only anger Griffen, and that was a headache I didn’t need.”

  This was fascinating, and I wanted to just sit here and talk to Mitt, to learn all about him and his life, hear more about what it was like to be part of
the Caulborn back then. But I needed to learn how to work the Anisa Amulet, so I tried to steer the conversation back toward that. “You said the amulets worked differently than in the comics, how so?”

  “Well, in the comics, Commander Courageous could see the fears someone had, and then tap into those. The real amulet lets the wearer do the same thing, but there’s a catch. If the person wearing the amulet is currently afraid, then the amulet only focuses on that person. And when you are calm, when you can sense the fears of the people around you, you need to consciously choose if you’re going to take the fear in an offensive, defensive, or utilitarian capacity.”

  My face must’ve reflected the confusion I’d felt because Mitt gave me a sympathetic smile. “Think about it like this. Imagine someone’s afraid of spiders. Commander Courageous senses that, and he has a choice. Does he use that offensively, that is, gain strength and the ability to shoot webs; does he use it defensively, and gain a resistance to the spider’s poison; or does he use it in a more utilitarian fashion, and gain the ability to scale walls and sense minute changes in air pressure.”

  “Spiders can do that?” I asked.

  Mitt nodded. “It helps them hunt more effectively. I never had Commander Courageous do it because by the time I learned all the interesting stuff about spiders, Stan Lee had just published Amazing Fantasy #15, and I didn’t want to get sued for ripping off Spider-Man.” He waved a hand again. “But I’m getting off topic. Those choices, offense, defense or utility, they’re almost like a magician holding out three cards to you. Pick one, and you’re off. But once you’ve picked, you can’t change, you can’t go back. Don’t ask me why, it’s just the nature of the enchantment.”

  “But I’ve been wearing this thing for most of the day, and I haven’t sensed anyone else’s fears.”

  Mitt gave me a lopsided grin. “Son, back when I was a Caulborn agent, every single one of us was on edge, almost all the time. Sure, we hid it, we covered it up with wisecracks and machismo, but under it all, we were scared. How couldn’t we be? Humans aren’t very high in the pecking order. The only thing we had going for us was that we couldn’t be mentally compelled. Sure, that’s a handy trait, but it’s not going to stop a werewolf from tearing your throat out, or a vampire from biting you, or a breathstealer from sucking the air from your lungs. So, we had weapons, and some of us had special talents. I knew one fella who had a spirit companion he called a fylgiar. Another woman could occasionally bilocate. Tricks, little ones, to be sure, but sometimes, they were all we had. What I’m saying, Vincent, is that unless things have changed dramatically since my time, you’re constantly a little bit terrified underneath that wise-guy smile you’re wearing. The amulet won’t let you tap other people’s fears while you’re like that.”

  I thought about what I’d Glimpsed earlier. When Parkli had killed Cartoosh, she had lost her look of terror. She’d realized that the amulet would let her beat the priestess, and that bit of courage had let her tap into Cartoosh’s fears with lethal efficiency.

  I returned my thoughts to the present and asked Mitt, “Is that why you made Courageous’s tagline ‘Never let fear get the better of you?’”

  Mitt touched the tip of his nose. “Got it in one, boyo. But here, let’s try something. You’re safe here, your enemies are years away from ever bothering you. Nothing can hurt you right now. Try to sense what I’m afraid of. Don’t look at me, look toward me, let your eyes go out of focus.”

  I took a calming breath and did as Mitt directed. It took a few tries, but finally, I got a clear picture in my head of a snake, and with it, a sensation that there were three paths open before me. One felt hostile, one felt sheltered, and the third… well, it was sort of just there. I mentally touched the third one, and suddenly the world shifted from colors and light to thermal images and heat sources. Mitt’s body registered as a range of reds and yellows, the bedframe and table a cool blue. The radiator by the window was a dull orange, the window itself a rectangle of bright gold. I gasped in surprise and the world snapped back into normal view. “What the heck was that?”

  “Well, since you didn’t sprout poisonous fangs, and you didn’t expel blood from your eyes or mouth, I’m guessing that you sensed the world as an ophidian does, by seeing the heat signatures of the bodies around you.”

  “You’re scared of snakes?” I said.

  Mitt nodded, pulled the sheet aside, and gestured to a pair of puncture scars on his right ankle. “When I was six years old, I was out with my dad in Arizona, visiting my Grandpa. It had been a long drive to Grandpa’s, and I’d slept through most of it, and was still a little groggy when I started walking around his yard. I heard a rattling sound, and not knowing what it meant, I went to investigate. Well, as you can imagine, the rattling was a snake, bit me right there but good. Dad rushed me to the hospital, and they just got the antidote to me in time. Five more minutes, and I’d have been dead. So, scared of snakes? Hell yes.

  “But here’s the thing. I’m scared of more than just snakes. But fear is a much more complicated thing than what the lists of phobias would have you believe. Sure, lots of people are scared of snakes or dogs, of heights or crowds, but that sort of fear isn’t debilitating to most people. I genuinely feel bad for the ones affected to that degree, because that sort of fear is a bear to live with. Most folks, though, they’re afraid of more abstract things. What sort of powers do you think Commander Courageous would get from someone who’s afraid they won’t be able to provide for their family? That their parent won’t think they’re good enough? That their spouse will run off with the housekeeper? Those things, the things that are multiple fears layered on top of one another, those things can be accessed by the amulets, and they’re more powerful than a simple phobia, but they’re much harder to utilize.”

  Mitt coughed and leaned back against his pillows, taking another swig of water once the fit had passed. “Ah, but listen to me carrying on. You probably have questions. Ask away.”

  “Is the Mieso Amulet stronger?”

  “Yes. The Mieso Amulet lets the wearer access and utilize the fears of multiple people simultaneously, and unlike the Anisa Amulet, which only bestows power on a single person, its wearer, the Mieso Amulet lets a person impact the world around them. Had you been wearing the Mieso Amulet when you sensed my fear of snakes, you’d have been able to conjure a whole nest of vipers in the room.”

  “How do I beat that?”

  “The Mieso Amulet may be stronger, but the Anisa Amulet does have one advantage over it.”

  My eyes lit up. “Do you mean like how Commander Courageous is immune to Señor Fear’s powers, but not the other way around? It works like that?”

  “Pretty close,” Mitt said. “The wearer of the Anisa Amulet is immune to the effects of the Mieso Amulet. That’s why Señor Fear could never tap into Commander Courageous’s fears. But the wearer of the Anisa Amulet can tap into the fears of the person wearing the Mieso Amulet, which is why Courageous could, and often did, tap into what Señor Fear was afraid of.”

  Mitt looked me in the eye and said, “That’s the key to it, son. You have to be cleverer than whoever’s wearing the other amulet. You have to think about what it is that a man who can control fear is afraid of. Exploit that, and you’ve got a chance. And from the look of it, son, you can. You say you found your way here. You say you’re a fan, so you’ve read the comics. You know how this works; you can beat him.” He tipped his head to one side. “When in the future are you from, exactly?” I told him and braced myself to answer any awkward questions about what the world would be like, or if he’d ask me if he was still alive in my time. Instead, he merely nodded and then said, “It’s good to know the agency is still active in the future.” He gave a short laugh. “If that old HQ building could talk, the stories it could tell.”

  “Well, right now, I’m actually working out of a replica of Courage Point th
at’s on Mount Olympus.” Mitt merely raised an eyebrow at me, and I hastily added, “But HQ has been moved to the old Woof’s restaurant.”

  “Old? Why, that place just opened a couple of years ago.”

  I rubbed at the back of my neck. “Right. Yes. Well.”

  Mitt grinned and put up a hand. “I’m not going to ask you anything else.” He glanced up at the clock on the wall. “You’d best be off now, the nurses will be coming back to give me my afternoon medicine, and they won’t appreciate finding you here.”

  I stood and glanced around. “Um, I’m not really sure how I got here,” I said. “The amulet just sort of brought me.”

  “Okay,” Mitt said. “Let’s look at it from a different angle. You are currently stuck years away from your own time, with no way to get home. You will never see your friends or family again, and you won’t be able to stop this crisis you’re talking about unless you can come up with something.”

  And those words were enough to spark a tiny bit of fear in me. Fear that Treggen would win because I was trapped in the past. The amulet became warm against my chest, and a portal I didn’t consciously conjure opened in front of me. Mitt gave me a grin. I moved for the portal.

  “And Vincent,” Mitt said, drawing my attention back to him. “Never let fear get the better of you.”

  I gave him a wave and stepped back through the portal to my own time.

  Chapter 10

  My portal dropped me back in the hallway at Courage Point. Heading back to the main chamber, I found Petra sitting in Ms. Infinity’s seat at the Defenders’ table, a stack of comic books in front of her. She looked up at me and smiled. “I had Alexis whip up some reprints of the old Commander Courageous comics and have been going through them, looking for anything that might be helpful.”