Part Two

"I'm glad you told me about that guy who woke up on the body farm and walked away," said Special Agent in Charge Drake, when Vic entered his office in response to a summons late that morning. "I just had a talk with the director there and she was very glad - if a bit startled - to hear the explanation for what happened. They were thinking someone had stolen one of their subjects."

He laughed.

"Of course, having one of their bodies get up and walk away is also pretty unnerving. I think they're glad no-one saw it happen! They might just have another body on their hands, from that event frightening a worker."

"Okay, so that's one mystery solved," said Vic, grinning, as she took a seat. "At least for them. What about that super fight racket? The Super Battle Federation?"

"There has been lots of activity on that front the past few years, including reports of illegal activities. Most of these reports seem to be due to a misunderstanding of charity fundraiser bouts between supers. The whole idea is to have a nonprofit group which is using those fights to raise money for disadvantaged supers - including those injured during the Shilmek War - by staging a series of unlimited super fighting events. Even if they weren't voluntary and for a good cause, those are being held outside the US. Which means that even if there's something illegal going on it's outside our jurisdiction. Unless the government of the nation where they're held specifically asks the US for your kind of help."

"Huh. Well, from what my source told me, the guy the report came from could have misunderstood what he was getting into, or simply could have altered a story to avoid making himself look bad."

"I have still passed your report on. It's possible we'll be involved if the head office finds there's something actionable, but that seems unlikely."

* * *

"Okay, folks, I need your attention for a few more minutes," said Steel Lace. The Bay Area Guardians - well, a large percentage of them - were assembled for their morning briefing. The material she covered today was mostly commonplace; recent crimes and criminals to watch out for, including the suspicious activities at that employment agency. However, the last item she presented today was something unusual even for a superhero team. "A fisherman in North Cascades National Park was on Silver Lake - well, one of them - when a sudden storm forced him to take shelter on one of the small islands there."

"Why does that sound familiar?" said Mesa, frowning. "Something about an island in Silver Lake, I mean."

"Yeah..." said NightMist, also frowning. "Something from the Thirties? I think I heard my Grandma talk about it."

Most likely, the grandmother she meant was the original Mist, younger half-sister of the original Night Master.

"Anyway, he found an old home, long abandoned," said Steel Lace. "Through a hole in the floor he saw what he described as mad science equipment. He says he also saw lots of ice."

"Now I remember!" said NightMist, suddenly sitting straight upright. "Back in the Twenties some mad scientist experimenting with human hibernation built a vacation home there, to use as a cover for his work! Something about making use of natural ice, under the ground. Though I wonder if this is the same Silver Lake. There are a lot of them."

"Yeah, I remember it, too, now," said Mesa, nodding again, but this time much more assuredly. "The mad scientist and some others got trapped there when they were accidentally exposed to an anesthetic gas. They were thawed out about a decade later. None of them lived long after that, though. The chemicals protected them from the cell-ruptures that normally go with freezing, but contained toxins which soon led to organ failure. Wonder if modern dialysis would correct that..."

"Close enough," said Steel Lace, cutting off his medical musing. "That history is why the fisherman's report is being taken seriously. It's also why - since that entire area is now federal property - the US government put the call out for help in investigating that island, through the National Park Service and the Forestry Service."

"Isn't that a job for the Bureau of Special Resources?" said Lungfish.

"Yes, but despite recent improvements they are still very underfunded and understaffed," said Steel Lace. "Right now, they can't even spare anyone to go with us. None of the few teams in Washington State are suitable. Most of them can't even legally operate outside of their counties. At least, not as teams. The lone-wolf supers up there are too hard to contact."

"Why us, specifically?" said Cumulous, obviously irritated.

"We currently have several members available who are appropriate to such an investigation," said Steel Lace. "Those members have a good mix of abilities and skills which could be useful in this investigation. So, they go in - and I'm hoping you, Lungfish, will be one of them, since this is an island in a lake and there could be flooding of lower levels of that house and old lab - and take a quick look around. Based on that we - and the Park Service and the Bureau of Special Resources - decide whether anything more is needed."

"Do you have any idea how cold that water would be?" said Lungfish, in mock alarm.

He sat back and grinned, his iridescent full-body costume of two-tone dark greens shimmering a bit in the light from the ceiling glow panels of the briefing room. A black, domino-style mask and a utility belt disguised as a weight belt completed his outfit.

"Anyway, the team would be you, Mesa, Andrea and Cumulous."

"So..." said Mesa, leaning back, putting his hands behind his head, lacing his fingers together and staring thoughtfully at the glowing ceiling. "Someone with an air affinity. Someone with a water affinity. Someone sort-of with an earth affinity; that's me. Plus an android, who presumably has a machine affinity."

His currently customary outfit of corduroy pants, work boots and short-sleeved work shirt was all in earth tones. Mesa grinned at the Bay Area Guardians' mystic, who was also present.

"Those affinities you cited are rather... marginal," said Aura, smugly. "Also, I doubt this expedition will need my services."

"Yeah, you're pretty much useless where mad tech is involved," said Mesa, tongue-in-cheek. "Or any tech, for that matter. Which is why Andrea is along."

He gave Andrea Kenniman a grin, which she responded to with a Vulcan-style bland expression. This contrasted wildly with her current "masked naughty cheerleader" costume.

"Hmph," said Aura, sitting back and folding her arms over her chest in irritation. Some of her irritation perhaps being due to the fact that most buxom female present was, in a very literal sense, artificial.

"Anyway," said Steel Lace, in conclusion, "There's no place nearby to land a hopper, and it's almost too close for one, anyway. You'll need to go out to our boat shed and get a floatplane."

* * *

Another reason for the Bay Area Guardians to be involved was their motorpool. They had a large combined boathouse and hangar on San Francisco Bay which contained a couple of submersibles, several conventional surface boats, a couple of hovercraft and a hydrofoil, plus three amphibious aircraft.

"Good afternoon, folks," said the older man who greeted them, as the quartet left the dedicated pneumatic subway which ran between the headquarters building and the enclosed wharf he managed. "Steel Lace called ahead, and said you'd be needin' a plane."

"Thank you, Charlie," said Mesa. "Yeah, we've got to make a trip to northern Washington State."

"Well, the Viking is all fueled and ready to go. She'll hold all of ya' and with the auxiliary tanks has enough JP for the round trip."

"Thanks," said Mesa, smiling and nodding. "Cumulous, you're checked out on that, aren't you?"

"As Steel Lace well knows," said the aeronautical super, who besides being able to fly on his own was the best pilot on this investigation team.

"Excellent. Well, we better get on our way."

"Where is it we're heading, again?" said Cumulous. "I definitely want to file a flight plan."

His costume was a full-body sort, very snug and streamlined, all in shades of pale blue, with goggles over his eyes.

"The old Kravaal property. It's on a small island in Silver Lake, the one in the North Cascades National Park near the Canadian border in Washington State. Today that whole area is in the Park, but that island used to be private property."

The plane they took was the only one available to the Bay Area Guardians which could carry enough people, had enough range and could land on water. Fortunately, the custom modified plane was also the fastest of the three amphibious aircraft available.

The aircraft was a modern, light twin turboprop, equipped with retractable floats. The floats could not pull fully into the hull, like standard retractable landing gear, but they did pull flush with it, to reduce drag. The ride was therefore quick for a plane which could land on water. The trip was still a long one.

As Cumulous intended, they were on a filed flight plan. However, there was no air traffic control for the actual lake area. He found the specific island with no problem, and flew back and forth over it and the surrounding water.

"Trees have grown so high I can't make out any structures on the ground," he reported, as they pulled up after another pass. "Though I do see a dock on the south shore. Anyone else see anything?"

"I am sensing a great deal of incongruous metal and some other out of place materials," said Andrea. "I can't actually see a house or anything else constructed, except that dock you mentioned."

"I guess that's our target, then."

He flew a short distance away from the island, extended the floats and eased the plane down. Given his powers, the conditions for landing were perfect. Given his skill with that specific plane, so was the actual landing. Cumulous taxied the plane up to the old dock and shut off the engines.

"I don't think this thing is safe," said Mesa, from the door of the plane, as he looked out at the rotting wooden structure. "Not to walk on or even to tie the plane to."

"Break out the paddles and get us to the beach, then," said Cumulous. "It's not far, and there's a clear area directly ahead. We can tie up to a tree there."

Partly by paddling, partly by Mesa pushing - carefully - on the decrepit dock with his paddle, he and Lungfish got the plane beached. The latter then jumped out and pulled the plane firmly aground.

"There!" he announced, after tying a proper nautical knot in the line running from plane to sturdy tree. "At least our ride won't blow away, now. Unless it takes the tree with it!"

"I don't think this is where that fisherman came onto the island," said Andrea, looking around as she clambered ashore across the top of one of the floats. "There's the traces of an old path over there, going from the dock inland, but it's very overgrown and the growth is intact. In fact, there are no signs anyone has forced a way through the vegetation anywhere around here."

"Well, he said he went into the house seeking shelter, and that's where he saw whatever he saw," said Mesa. "So, that's where we need to go, however we get there. Presumably, that's where the path leads. Guess I'll play human bulldozer."

"Better you than me," said Andrea. "My skin is harder to repair."

"You do have beautiful, café au lait skin," said Cumulous, who had a bit of a crush on Andrea.

"Thank you," she said, favoring him with a smile. "I selected the color myself."

Actually, she had selected her entire appearance, including apparent gender, once her parents - the Kennimans - decided she was old enough to make such choices. Mesa - covering a snicker over that exchange - first went diagonally from the beach to the old path, then along that trail. The only difference Mesa could tell between off the path and on was the age of the growth. Apparently, the path had originally been paved in some manner not now apparent, which had slowed the vegetative takeover. However, soon they could, indeed, see a structure ahead.

"I think I can make out other buildings on the island," said Mesa, the tallest of the group, as he forced his way through the thick growth on the old, overgrown path. "Cumulous, could you take a look?"

There was just enough room between the upper part of the undergrowth and the lower branches of the mature trees for their flyer to thread his way cautiously around, through the air. The others soon reached the large, stone porch at the front double-door of the main building, thanks to Mesa's path clearing. They waited there for Cumulous, who landed beside them.

"There's some outbuildings, but they're all in worse shape than this. This also seems to be the only thing which fits the description of 'house.' By the way, it's larger than I thought. More like a Summer home than a fishing cottage. I could see at least two other entrances."

Mesa rattled the door.

"It's also a lot more solid than it looks."

"You!" someone yelled. "What are you doing?! Stop that!"

"Uh... what?" said Mesa looking towards the sound of the voice. He seemed confused.

"Get away from there! In fact, you people get off this island! This is private property! All of it!"

There was a disturbance in some of the weeds grown up around the house, and the source of the voice finally became visible. The man who appeared was tall and lean bordering on gaunt, and dressed for the outdoors. He stopped at one end of the porch, to glare up at the quartet from the Bay Area Guardians. He seemed completely unfazed to be confronting several people in colorful costumes. Even though Mesa, alone, was several times his weight.

"This is a national park," said Andrea, eyeing her companions, who all seemed stunned speechless, with concern. "We're here to investigate..."

"This is private property!"

"This island - the lake and the land around and on it - are part of the Park," said Andrea, firmly.

"The Park was created in 1968," said the man, angrily. "My great-grandfather build a vacation home for the family here long before that, and we still keep it up. This whole island is our property, no matter what the feds say! So go away! Don't come back!"

Without a word, the quartet turned and walked calmly back to the plane. Andrea was not affected by whatever was controlling her teammates, but went along with them out of uncertainty.