The New Adventures of the Eagle

by Pro Se Press

  “What’s that?” asked Joan.

  “The project Dr. Pappas was working on. Its codename is ‘Fire from the Sky.’”

  Joan almost laughed “That sounds like something out of, well, Greek mythology or something.”

  “No,” said The Eagle. “The project is no myth. Pappas is working on it, which I’ve known all along. After all, I have no Aunt MAUD.”

  Before Joan could ask for an explanation, The Eagle turned and asked for the chemicals Joan had acquired. He created an iodine vapor and subjected the paper to it.

  “What are you doing?” Nico asked.

  “I had time to examine these papers quickly, and I could tell one thing. The reason Cipriana was unable to decipher them is that they are not complete. Dr. Pappas wrote some of his notes in invisible ink. This process will quickly show me where the paper has been altered with moisture.”

  “So that’s what the chemicals were for,” said Joan. “What about the other item?”

  “All in due time my dear,” The Eagle replied, patting her gently on the hand. “Now to read what Dr. Pappas has written.”

  “But you are no physicist. How will you know what the papers say?” The Greek sounded dubious.

  “I’ve done my research. I know what words and symbols to look for in order to understand enough.”

  “Well then. You better get started.”

  Nodding, The Eagle did.

  Chapter Eight

  On the Boat

  They were back, once again, at the dock, where all of this had started.

  After revealing the invisible ink, it took The Eagle only minutes to decipher the papers. Then his suspicions about the cylinders in Cipriana’s office at the cottage were confirmed, and with that knowledge, the final pieces of his plan fell into place. They were made of nickel and designed to aid in the transport of dangerous materials.

  Radioactive materials.

  It seems that Dr. Pappas had made a great deal of theoretical progress on a process for making a substance with the potential to power a bomb… a bomb that could, as hard as it was to believe, destroy an entire city. This single bomb… could indeed rain fire from the sky.

  But on this small Greek island, Pappas did not have access to the materials or equipment he needed in order to carry out his procedure, so it was all just a matter of theory for now. It was, however, why The Eagle had been summoned to escort him to The United States (London would have been too dangerous. Though they had made strides in the same sort of procedures already, their entanglements with the Nazis made England a less-than-ideal destination).

  Now, however, Pappas would be headed to either Rome or, more likely, all the way to Berlin. The Axis would have access to his knowledge and they would quickly obtain the equipment needed to make this weapon a reality.

  The truck carrying Cipriana and The Eagle had been on the road to the dock, so Il Gufo undoubtedly planned to take Pappas off the island by boat.

  But not if The Eagle could help it.

  After his daring escape from the truck, The Eagle suspected that Il Gufo and his men would accelerate their departure, leaving the island, and escaping into the wind as quickly as possible. But The Eagle would not allow that.

  “They want me,” he said as the group made their final preparations. “And not just for my code-breaking skills either. Il Gufo knows of my reputation, just as I know of his. That’s the reason those thugs were ordered to take me alive. They want two birds with one stone, so to speak.”

  Joan gasped. “You mean?”

  “Yes. They know how valuable I would be to them. They know the secrets in my head as well as all my contacts combined with my value to the United States government would be very valuable.”

  “So we are walking into a trap,” Nico said without a trace of emotion in his voice.

  The Eagle shook his head. “Not walking. More like sauntering. Strolling maybe. Or perhaps gamboling. But never walking.” Joan grabbed him by the arm, a look of true concern on her face. He put his hand under her chin. “But don’t worry about me. I’ve survived much worse than this.” Joan looked ready to speak again and Jeff put up his hand to silence her. “We can discuss the danger after we make it out alive. Now come. We’re wasting time.”

  ***

  Much to Joan’s chagrin, The Eagle’s plan involved walking right into the teeth of the enemy… or the beak of the Owl, so to speak. She would, of course, stay behind, monitoring the radio transmission, ready to perform her crucial role in the plan. But she had to trust that The Eagle would come out on top.

  Rather than spending time trying to figure out which of the many boats belonged to Il Gufo, The Eagle had decided that if they wanted him, they could take him.

  So, dressed in a freshly pressed charcoal grey suit with a brand new hat and neatly polished shoes, the spy crossed strode onto the docks as if he owned them.

  He was fully prepared to make a bold proclamation if that’s what it took. But he needn’t have worried about that.

  This time, four black-clad goons approached him. Il Gufo, it seemed, had an unlimited supply. And since two had been unable to handle him in the back of the truck, why not send four?

  “Looking for me?”

  ***

  It should have been an epic meeting, the first encounter between Il Gufo and his Western counterpart. It should have been quite ugly. After all, they were two rivals, from two different countries, representing two very different ideologies, directly at odds with one another.

  But the Italian was nothing but cordial.

  “Ah, yes. ‘The Infamous Eagle’... how nice of you to come directly to me. It saves me the trouble of having to come and get you. Well, it saves my men the trouble and, after the beatings you’ve delivered to several of them already, well, I am sure they are even more grateful.”

  In many ways, Il Gufo was a mirror image of his American counterpart. He was well dressed in the finest Italian fashions. His shoes cost more than the car Jeff Shannon drove back in America. The man’s silk tie was tightly knotted and his suit, a pinstriped affair, was finely tailored. Inside the boat, he wore no hat. His hair was slicked back, his moustache neatly trimmed.

  On the other hand, the man before him was stripped of hat, shoes, belt, tie, jacket, and of course… weapons. His jet-black hair was askew, his moustache covered in a thin bead of sweat, his dark complexion furrowed in anger.

  The Owl was a handsome man, with strong features and a deep, resonant voice. His English was quite good.

  But his captive responded in flawless Greek.

  “You have Dr. Pappas. You will give him to me.”

  “And why would I have this man of whom you speak?”

  “You thirst for power. He can provide it.”

  Il Gufo rubbed his chin. “Well, at the moment, it would appear you have no power here. No weapons. No allies. Surrounded by the enemy. So, then, Mr. Eagle, I would ask you this: how can you possibly hope to escape this predicament alive, never mind in the company of the man you seek?”

  “You will give me the Doctor and my freedom. In exchange, I shall not turn you over to the Americans.”

  Il Gufo let out a sharp laugh. “A tempting offer, I am sure. I shall consider it, Mr. Eagle. Though, to be honest, you bring very little to the table. Perhaps the journey to Brindisi will change my mind. Take him below!”

  And, without further conversation, the goons did as they were told, dragging The Eagle away, not even noticing the smile on his face.

  Chapter Nine

  The Eagle’s Plan

  The storage room they’d locked him in was quite small and quite dark. They had checked him repeatedly and thoroughly for hidden weapons or tools of course. Still, he could not help but feel confident in the plan.

  The Owl’s men had thrown him in the dark room quite rudely, paying no heed to his questions or attempts at conversation. Il Gufo had most likely impressed upon them how dangerous The Eagle could be, even when the odds were stacked against him.
r />   As they appeared to be now.

  But The Eagle, as always, had a plan.

  And for now, it was just a matter of waiting. After a few moments, the boat began to move. It was pulling away from the dock, out into the Aegean.

  And a few moments after that, the wait was over. The commotion outside trickled through the door of the storage room and the dialogue was audible.

  “You heard me. All hands are needed upstairs. Cipriana has commanded it. I shall watch the prisoner. Go, go, go!”

  After a thunder of boots rushed away from the door, the key turned in the lock. Standing in the doorway was yet another man, dressed all in black – sweater, coat, hat and gloves. He sported a black moustache and a dark complexion… and a large smile.

  “My dear friend Nico, how much you look like me!” The man in the doorway called heartily, for he was, indeed, The Eagle.

  “Bah. These clothes do not suit me. I am more comfortable in fatigues than lapels,” Nico replied, a small smile cutting through his stony façade. “Your plan worked. I feared they would not leave.”

  “All I had to do was invoke the name they feared almost as much as the Owl himself,” The Eagle replied. Nico seemed puzzled. He had not yet guessed Cipriana’s true identity.

  “And before that, it was a simple matter to replace one of the many faceless thugs in Il Gufo’s employ. The black clothing and the stolid demeanor were easy to imitate. And, since you looked so much like the disguise I wore earlier, it was simplicity itself to pass you off as The Eagle. Well played, my friend.”

  The Greek nodded. “Where is the doctor?” Back to business it was.

  “In the most heavily guarded room on the boat, of course,” The Eagle replied, smiling still. “Follow me.”

  And Nico did.

  Chapter Ten

  The Doctor, at Last

  As he approached the sentries who stood guard outside the berth that held the elusive Dr. George Pappas, The Eagle knew they had to move quickly. Very soon, the goons he had lured away from Nico’s cell would learn they had been tricked and would converge on the most valuable cargo on the boat.

  But Nico and The Eagle were headed there first. Brandishing the weapons The Eagle had smuggled on board, the two spies sprinted down to the lowest deck, and then crept along the passageway until they caught sight of two guards standing on either side of a hatch, blissfully unaware of the intruders’ presence. The Eagle put his hand up and the two spies pressed themselves against the bulkhead.

  The Eagle waited for the engine to churn as the ship accelerated, then stepped out and opened fire, efficiently putting a single bullet into each of the guards. Nico might be a marksman, but The Eagle was no slouch in that department. He knew the noise of the engine would partially mask the gunfire, but he further knew it was only a matter of time before more of Il Gufo’s seemingly endless supply of goons descended upon them.

  “Keep watch,” he said, and Nico nodded.

  Bending over one of the guards, he fished out the man’s key ring and, in a matter of seconds, he’d opened the hatch.

  Doctor Pappas was, to put things lightly, a mess.

  The doctor was disheveled, unshaven, and unwashed. He was dressed in a simple brown jumpsuit, as if he was an automobile mechanic rather than an atomic physicist. Instinctively, the scientist drew back, a look of terror in his eyes.

  “MAUD sent me,” The Eagle proclaimed, calmly and clearly.

  After a few seconds, the code phrase sunk in through the haze of fear. The Doctor shook his head, gathered up some papers, and spoke for the first time. “You are here to rescue me.”

  “Yes. But only if you do everything I say.”

  Pappas nodded once and fell in line behind The Eagle.

  An instant later, shots rang out in the corridor.

  The Eagle readied his weapon. “Stay behind me,” he commanded, and entered the fray.

  ***

  It was a good thing Nico was a sure shot.

  The Eagle dropped to one knee next to him and joined the battle, the nervous doctor cowering against the wall, making himself two-dimensional to avoid the fracas. The goons were attacking from both sides. The Eagle and his ally went back-to-back and picked off the first wave of enemies in short order.

  “We’ve got to move,” The Eagle declared. “There are more where those came from, and if we don’t take control of this ship soon, all of this will be for naught.”

  Nico nodded. “Lead the way.”

  They moved quickly, with The Eagle in the lead, Dr. Pappas in the middle, and Nico bringing up the rear. Their senses were alert for any dangers ahead or behind. They were in the talons of the enemy now.

  And somewhere on this boat were two fierce foes, Il Gufo and his sister, Cipriana, both of whom were deadly and angry.

  The Eagle knew full well what they said about “birds of a feather…”

  It was a good thing he had an Ace up his sleeve. Or, rather, a Queen on shore with a radio.

  Now he just had to keep the esteemed Dr. Pappas alive in the meantime. And maybe take down a corrupt Italian criminal and his entire empire in the process.

  Just another day on the job for the spy known as ‘The Eagle’.

  Chapter Eleven

  The Endgame Begins

  The stairwell led up to the bridge. It was there where The Eagle would take control of the ship and, then presuming that Joan had completed her part of the plan, it would be a simple matter to gift wrap Il Gufo for transport to Britain to face the consequences of his actions.

  That was the plan, at least.

  But after taking out the men who guarded the entrance to the bridge and forcing their way inside with a cry of triumph, The Eagle realized that, indeed, the plan was in jeopardy.

  It was Dr. Pappas, of all people, who put the proverbial dagger (and the literal gun barrel) in his back.

  “I am sorry,” the scientist whispered, “they said they would let me go in exchange for you. I just want to see my Agape again.”

  “I understand,” The Eagle whispered through clenched teeth. It all came down to a woman, it seemed. It usually did.

  It was Cipriana who leveled a gun at Nico and relieved both him and The Eagle of their weapons, but it was Il Gufo who laughed at them. The dastardly siblings were all that was left of The Owl’s forces, but now they were more than enough to keep the spies in check.

  Il Gufo’s laugh, not surprisingly, sounded like the hoot of an owl.

  “Well, well, Mr. Eagle, how nice to meet the real you. Your friend” he nodded toward Nico, “was very convincing. It seems, however, that the person you came to rescue did not want your help. My sister,” he smiled at Cipriana, “can be very persuasive.”

  Betrayal had not been part of the plan. But The Eagle had extricated himself from far worse.

  Piece of cake.

  “Well, signore, would it be an insult to you if I gave you one last chance to surrender, before all of this comes crashing down around you?” The Eagle smiled, even in near-certain defeat.

  This time, Il Gufo did not laugh. “Normally, my friend, I would take a comment such as this as an empty threat, mere bluster from a desperate man. But I have heard the legends of your exploits, your adventures in South America, in Northern Africa, and elsewhere. I know not to underestimate you. But still, I shall have to decline your generous offer.”

  “Then I have but one question for you, signore. How much of this man’s work did you truly understand?”

  The question seemed to puzzle the criminal for a moment. He cast a stern gaze at the Doctor, who, frozen in fear, could do little more than shrug.

  “Then,” The Eagle continued, “You are completely unaware of how successful he was. Which is why it was so easy for me to obtain this,” he gestured toward the pocket of his woolen coat, and Cipriana raised her weapon at him.

  But Il Gufo was curious. He waved his hand at her, indicating that she should not shoot. “What are you playing at, Eagle?”

  The Eagle s
lowly reached into his pocket, as Il Gufo nodded, allowing him to proceed. Curiosity had seized the Owl. The Eagle produced the small metal cylinder, which Joan had procured for him earlier.

  “You had no idea, then, that the good Doctor here had indeed succeeded in his experiments, in creating the material we all seek?” And with a flourish, The Eagle pulled the top off the cylinder and threw its contents at his enemies.

  They both screamed as a fine metal powder rained down upon them.

  While they were distracted, the spies sprung into action.

  As gently and firmly as possible, the Eagle spun around, taking the Doctor by surprise, grabbing his weapon, and knocking the man of science to the ground. He turned once more, and he and Nico pounced on the brother and sister.

  Nico grabbed Cipriana by the wrist, forcing the gun from her hand. “I take no pleasure in fighting a lady.” He kneed her in the stomach and, as she bent over, he brought his elbow down on her head, knocking her unconscious. “But you are no such thing.”

  Meanwhile, The Eagle was locked in combat with The Owl. The two struggled for the Italian’s gun. They were evenly matched, both strong and well trained. They wrestled along the deck of the bridge, gripping the gun with all their strength, knowing that, whoever took control of it, would take the other man’s life.

  The Owl braced himself against the bulkhead, pushing off with all his might and rolling on top of The Eagle, pinning the American down. The Eagle struggled, one hand on the gun, the other quietly reaching into his pocket.

  Then, as Il Gufo let out a triumphant cry, ripping the gun from his enemy’s grip and bringing it to bear on The Eagle’s chest, the American spy made one last move.

  With a twist of his wrist and a flick of his thumb, he ignited the lighter he had retrieved from his pocket, launching it into the face of Il Gufo, causing the criminal to cry out in surprise and pull back.