Part Twelve

"This... is completely outside our mandate," said Rear-admiral LaSalle, from where he stood on the dock beside Steel Lace, staring in shock at the smaller island. "We were sent here to clean up an illegal fight racket involving supers. Not deal with a full-blown mad science event!"

"Well, it's a good thing we're here, then," said Steel Lace, straight-faced.

"What are we gonna do about the crater?" said Energia, over the coms. "It's like another Chernobyl!"

"Actually, no," said Steel Lace, rechecking her suit's instruments. "There's lot of radiation, but almost no fallout. Whatever is causing the ionization, it's not accompanied by much smoke or vapor. There's just lots and lots of ionizing radiation. Probably to deter intruders."

"What if we collapse the crater rim in on it to smother the reaction?" said Maciste.

"You'd create a lot of fallout," said Tiger. "Listen, right now nearly all of the damaging stuff is ionizing radiation heading straight up. Just notify space control of the hazard, and wait for it to burn out. Intense reactions like that usually don't last long, and this is in a refractory pit well above the water table."

"I want everyone on the management island to pull back," said Steel Lace. "At least until we can get people with radiation counters to check where is safe. Rear-admiral LaSalle agrees with me and is ordering his people back, too. Energia, can you get close enough to the mine entrance you saw to check it? I probably don't need to tell you to watch for traps."

"On it. It wouldn't be safe here for most people, but it's not a problem for me. I could even go inside the crater, though not close to the source."

"Just check out the entrance, please," said Steel Lace.

"I'm thinking... both islands might have indirect access to the old SubTerran tunnels," said Tiger, thoughtfully rubbing his chin as he stood with the vehicle shed Özil had left from between himself and the crater. "Just one of my hunches.

"Which are right an unnerving part of the time," said Steel Lace. "Go on."

"Most of those facilities have been mapped, by now, though there are still some branches which haven't been entered in millennia. The SubTerrans usually avoided volcanoes, but in some places they went shallow - well, for their tunnels - and wove their way around magma chambers at a safe distance. Of course, all those were built tens of thousands of years ago, and many volcanoes have gone dormant or have formed from scratch since then. Even the continents have moved a significant amount, on the scale of constructs built across faults. Which is why some sections are isolated."

"Yes, but volcanism in the Cascades began tens of millions of years ago, and the youngest volcanoes in the range began forming well over a hundred thousand years ago," said Andrea, after accessing her onboard databases.

"So this could have been a SubTerran tunnel entrance or not," said Energia, as her boots touched gently to the soil on the path leading to the boarded-up entrance. "Okay, I just landed at the 'mine.' Radiation here is barely above background, thanks to the crater rim. I'm pulling out my camera. Gadgetive should be able to get you hooked up to my video feed."

"We're getting it," said Steel Lace, who was actually looking over Gadgetive's shoulder.

"The outer part looks like human construction," said Energia, "but all made of old, weathered wood. Maybe several centuries old."

"That could easily be faked," said Tiger, remembering the door to the house on Kravaal Island. Another similarity.

"We have people - including from both Coast Guards - sending drones," said Steel Lace. "However, they can't get too close to the crater. So, for now, you're on you own. Keep talking, and keep showing us what you're seeing."

"Okay, I'm sensing a lot of metal - modern armor steel by the feel of it - beyond the old, boarded-up entrance. I think this outer part is actually hinged to swing aside. The armored door I'm not sure about."

"Watch for traps!" said Gadgetive.

"Yes, Mother," said Energia, rolling her eyes.

She did do a thorough scan. She didn't find traps, but she did learn quite a bit about what lay beyond the wood.

"You remember the armored outside door at that concealed Nazi factory?"

"Yes," said Gadgetive.

"Yes," said Blue Impact.

"This makes that look like plywood. I don't have enough juice to burn a hole through it, and it's too thick for me to work the latches from this side."

"Well, when you can, try to see what's happening in the crater," said Steel Lace. "The activity there seems to be dying down."

"Roger."

Energia took off again and lifted cautiously to the rim of the crater.

"Yeah, it's a lot less active, now. I'm going over the edge to get a better look inside. Should be able to recharge while I'm doing it, too. Putting the camera away. It probably wouldn't work in there, anyway."

"Be careful!" said Blue Impact.

"Whoah!" said Energia, again, obviously still impressed. Her voice was less distinct, thanks to the intervening rock and metal, plus the ambient radiation, but it was still understandable. "Looks like the whole bottom of the crater melted down into the ground a ways. The bottom looks larger, now, too, and is all molten."

"I bet they activated whatever it was to seal off their escape route," said Tiger, sounding angry even over their coms.

"According to what my people have been able to piece together from the documentation which was left unburned," said LaSalle, "someone using the island many years ago found an underground garage of late SubTerran construction equipment under that fake volcano. Which they - the SubTerrans - originally used for ventilation, back when it was just a hill with an exhaust vent at the top. For some reason - maybe because the original finders were smugglers - this was never reported. The people behind the fight club had their mastermind - Rasputnik - supervise using the equipment to remodel the hill to look like a volcano. No reason has been found for this, yet. All this was among the oldest records our people have found here. Apparently those burning the evidence started with the newest material and didn't have time to get to the oldest. Ironically, that meant that what we were looking for right now was easy to find."

"That's another crime we can add to the list," said Tiger, now definitely angry. "Not only producing a superfund nuclear cleanup site, not only damaging a previously unknown old SubTerran tunnel, but destroying their machines. They aren't making those any more!"

"Hold on," said Energia. "The radiation is dying down a bit more. I can see... That's not a reactor! It's a person! Floating on the molten... whatever it is."

"Don't go down there unless you are sure you can handle it!" said Steel Lace, sternly.

"No problem. I know my limits. I'm not in a hurry, either. That place should be cool enough - in both senses - soon."

"We have some drones over the crater, now," said LaSalle. "A couple of them have zoom lenses on their cameras. We can verify there is a figure there. Looks like a naked man. Trying to identify."

Energia, her store now nearly full, rose back above the crater rim.

"Yeah, it's going to be a while before I can get much closer than I already did," she said, her voice again clearer. "There's also a lot of fumes, too, and not much wind gets down there. I'll probably have to use my respirator. Anything else you need me to look at right now?"

"My people think they've identified the person in the crater," said LaSalle, sounding shocked. "They think that's Afterglow, the Ground Zero Man!"

"He is thought to have died decades ago!" said Tiger, now also shocked.

"I'm... not familiar with him," said Energia, still flying slowly around the rim of the crater.

"Basically, he was a someone killed and animated by a huge dose of radiation," said Tiger, who might have had personal knowledge. "No metabolism, but still able to move and think. He slowly went crazy from the combined effects of the ionizing radiation messing with his nervous system, and the social isolation. Few dared to get physically close to him. He is thought to have sacrificed himself absorbing the energy of a mad science device on an island in the South Pacific, thereby saving a huge swath of the planet from a doomsday device which could have eventually irradiated the entire planet. He channelled the radiation from that into space, shutting down the chain reaction driving things in the process. Only, when he was done, he was gone. Experts said he had expended all his substance in the effort. That was close to forty years ago. If that is him, this is the first sign of him - to public knowledge - since then."

"Yet another complication," said LaSalle, with a tired sigh.

* * *

As they waited for the radiation to die away, with little else they could do meanwhile, the heroes began digesting what they had recently learned.

"If there actually is a connection between events between here and Silver Lake that might be the reason security and lower management here were warned I'm not a real cop," said Vic, frowning. "If the mind-controller I faced on Kravaal Island decided to check on me, it would have been easy to find out who I was. As well as find images of me in and out of the armor."

She sighed and shook her head.

"Sometimes I envy you folks with secret IDs."

"They do come in handy," said Blue Impact. "Though they have their own disadvantages, as I'm sure you are aware of. From working with Tricorne, if not your job. That also wouldn't have prevented him from getting images of you in armor if what you hypothesize is what actually happened."

"Now I'm thinking we should warn the Park Service at Silver Lake to be on the lookout for a bunch of management types and office workers making their way out of the park."

"Oooh, not a bad idea," said Blue Impact. She rose, and hurried off to find Steel Lace and LaSalle, as she went speaking over her shoulder. "I just hope somebody thought of this sooner."

As it happened, someone had. Several people, in fact, had pointed out that possible scenario to both Steel Lace and the head of the Coast Guard operation, not long after the presence of SubTerran workings were suspected. So far, there was no response from Silver Lake. However, Both Tiger and Vic called FBI Special Agent Folgert on Kravaal Island to pass along the warning. They actually got together physically and made it a conference call. This was done directly, through cell phones, by both. Tiger and Vic were assured the alarm system had not reported any unexpected arrivals. However, the people working there would be on alert.

* * *

"Well, I called my boss and he asked the FBI to put out notices on the few people we have enough ID for to make that worth doing," said Vic, to the members of Tricorne, once they were back together. "Turns out Unduly Özil and several of the others were already wanted, for multiple felonies. However, they've been wanted for at least a decade each. It doesn't seem likely they'll be caught any time soon. There are several people going by the name Rasputnik who are listed on national or international warrants, some of them going back nearly a century. So, they aren't likely to be caught, either. At least, not any time soon."

"Well, that's unsatisfying," muttered Gadgetive, looking irritated.

"Unfortunately, that's the sort of thing I deal with in my job," said Vic, with a heartfelt sigh. "Law enforcement - as opposed to mask hero work - far more often involves cold cases which are never solved."

She settled down to wait with the others. Soon, though, her brilliant phone rang. The ID was for Special Agent Folgert.

"Yes. Whoah, no kidding. Yeah, not sure how long it'll take, but I'll get there as soon as I can."

She hung up and looked at the others.

"They're asking that Tiger and I return to Kravaal Island as soon as we can. Their alarm system showed someone coming onto the island, and they think it's the mind controller. I don't suppose you can give the two of us a ride?"

"Why are they asking for you two, specifically?" said Blue Impact.

"We've both worked with them before."

"Energia has to stay here," said Blue Impact, quickly overriding the youngest member of Tricorne. "She's one of the few who can enter that crater without danger, and probably the only one who wouldn't need decontamination afterwards. Gadgetive should probably stay, too. However, I can pilot the pod and give you and Tiger a lift."

"Excellent! I'll go tell him."