New York City was a city of contrasts. It was home to a great diversity of peoples and races from across the world of every ethnic or cultural type. Jewish business held business here. Chinese shop owners ran markets. Italian restaurateurs served their favorite dishes, and African-American rap stars of American parents performed on nearly every street corner, trying hard to "keep it real" by not succumbing to the stereotypes of becoming street-level terrorists shooting up neighborhoods and playing suicide with addictive dangerous substances. For this week in September, the cultural diversity was joined by people from other planets. One of the largest structures in NYC for gathering aficionados, the Manhattan Civic Center was playing host to a diversity of extra-terrestrial beings that should not have ever met. Darth Vader came dating Deanna Troi from Star Trek, stormtroopers came with female Ferengi, a horde of Klingons came with human equivalent dates, a female Boba Fett attracted attention, a few Star Gate adventurers joined the melee interspersed with Babylon Five pilots, Cylons and even a five-foot-tall Yoda. Among them were comic book characters in both poor costumes and nearly accurate costumes. Sci-Fest was the five-day version of Halloween without the horror stars, the candy or the wandering from house to house. Science fiction fans got to meet their favorite science fiction stars. Others came to buy and sell old classic toys or collectibles, often spending far more than they expected. Others saw valuable movie props, others waited for old stars to make appearances to talk to fans. Lines of three hundred people in a row often marked autograph booths. For this diversity of practically a million people, there was only four bedrooms on the ground floor and four more upstairs with lines longer than the autographs booths. Most people tried to hold their bladders because their costumes were so hard to get on or off. Others were far smarter, refusing to eat, drink or put anything into their bodies until they left. A native of India, Rajesh Koothrappalli was actually a professor at Cal Tech in Pasadena, attired as the star pilot Han Solo maneuvered around the female Fett without saying a word although he noticed her chest pushing out the front of her costume. He looked around for his friends in the main avenue through the mini-city of stalls, stands and booths. A hairy Wookiee walked by with a Cylon rolling a Star Gate. A blonde Princess Leia, her large chest forcing her harem outfit, giggled past him carrying a Star Trek prop. A guy sat in a bench tried fixing his Spider-Man costume coming apart at the seams.
"Howard, what kept you?" Raj looked up to his buddy Howard Wolowitz in a matching Han Solo costume. "We all promised to meet here at seven to return to the hotel." Wolowitz was also a co-worker at Cal Tech with him, having traveled to New York for the science fiction festival. "It's almost eight…" He paused. "Look, I got Lou Ferrigno's autograph!"
"I can beat that…" Howard lifted his stack of comic books under his arm. "Look, Yvonne Craig!!!"
"You got Bat-Girl's autograph!!!" Raj was jealous. He had tried to get the Batman star's autograph, but she had to leave early. "I don't believe it… what did she write…" He read the signature. "Howard… keep it in your pants." He paused. "You hit on Batgirl?"
"I did…" Howard smirked proudly. "Now, I can say I've been shot down by Lynda Carter, Lara Parker, Gates McFadden, Carrie Fisher and Yvonne Craig!"
"You're incredible."
"Guys…" Another of their party joined them dressed as an innocent farm boy from Tatooine who became a Jedi Knight, but this Luke Skywalker had curly brown hair and black-framed glasses. "Have you guys seen Sheldon? I lost him near the Dungeons And Dragons experience."
"Oh, what a shame…" Raj was not fond of Sheldon. "Let's go…"
"We can't leave him behind." His name was Leonard Hofstadter, an experimental physicist also from Cal Tech. "Those Star Gate guys have order to vaporize him on sight. They're now out right now there forming coalitions with the guys from Babylon Five and Battlestar Galactica. They'll kill him."
"What a shame…" Howard looked up from thumbing through his book. "Let's go…"
"Guys…"
"Too late." Raj stopped short of leaving and stopped near the display of Lost In Space props. They looked back to Sheldon struggling to catch up with them. His Leonard Nimoy wig was askew, one sleeve had been ripped off his blue Starfleet sweater and his tricorder was hanging by one end of its strap. He had been running off at the mouth again. Leonard looked at his roommate and just sighed aggravatedly embarrassed for his roommate.
"What did you do?" Leonard asked the question no one wanted an answer for.
"Nothing…" Sheldon reacted meekly with that light slightly arrogant high voice of his. "I just started a spirited debate on how the Prime Directive was vastly superior to the dogmas of the Star Gate and Babylon Five philosophies and the next thing I knew I was tossed to these Wookiees and Klingons batting me around like a train car between King Kong and Godzilla."
Leonard, Raj and Howard stared at him tiredly annoyed in unison and wondered why they allowed themselves to be connected to him.
"Sheldon…" Leonard took a deep breath and released it. "What is this knack you have for constantly ticking off complete strangers?"
Sheldon looked at Leonard with a vacuous light, started to speak, paused looked around and finally spoke.
"I don't understand the question."
"Let's get out of here…" Leonard turned to lead this party back to their hotel to change and head back home to Pasadena. Raj had his collection of souvenirs, Howard his comic books and autographs and Leonard still had a bit of his dignity intact. Sheldon looked at the stormtroopers glaring at him, the Klingons cursing him in their native language and the aliens from "V" sharing rumors about him between them and hastened his step. Howard was studying his book as they took the stairs up to the lobby and turned left past their fellow sci-fi and graphic novel stars for the exit to the outside of the center.
"Howard…" Raj pulled Howard out of the way of running into Robby The Robot. "What is that book you're reading? A guide to the hottest science fiction babes in the universe?"
"I wish…" Howard came last out the doors on to the chilly New York autumn weather. "Actually, this book is really fascinating! Did you know there are actually people in the real world who are actually pulling off real superhero-level feats and adventures but yet the police and FBI are trying to cover it all up?"
"There is not!" Leonard scoffed and took the book to read the chapter. "Superheroes In Reality… no one believes that stuff!"
"Oh, yeah…" Howard took his book back. "Three Batman sightings in Baltimore, one Spiderman in London and two Superman sightings in Toronto and Montreal…" He started believing in the incredible sightings claimed by people…
"What? He's not satisfied with Metropolis anymore?" Raj sarcastically responded.
"Well, why don't we all just throw ourselves into a gamma bomb explosion and start wearing green power rings!" Sheldon tried to hail a cab but it just raced right by him. "Howard, you just can't take the veracity of that book seriously. The research is shoddy, the accounts are described by people who live in trailer parks and it lacks any sort of scientific theory, scrutiny or logical analysis. It's like that picture of Chupacabra doing the hula in Mexico City!"
"Really?" Howard begged to differ. "It has over seventy five photos of Supergirl from digital cameras across the country…" He revealed one from Boston. "In this one, she looks like Ashley Tisdale!!!"
"Supergirl??" Raj reacted shocked. "What? She's like a second to third string DC Comics character. How could she possibly be real?"
"Oh my god…" Another cabbie ignored Leonard looking at the photo. "She does look like Ashley Tisdale!!!" He saw the photo and then noticed another. "But in this one she looks like Penny!!!"
They all took a look at the book.
"Okay, how much do we really know about that girl?!!!" Sheldon tried to hail a cab that raced right past them, but in its place, another one slowed and pulled to the curb next to them. Leonard pulled the door open to let Raj and Howard in the cab first.
"Leonard," Howard was musing on this discovery. "Next time that cheese cake goddess gives you a hug, you better be wearing Kryptonite underwear!" He got in the back of the cab with Raj.
"Very funny…" Leonard got in ahead of Sheldon and sat behind the driver to put down his artifacts from Sci-Fest. The cab driver was slumping forward hiding his face.
"Dolphin Hotel, please…" Leonard announced as Sheldon got in and pulled the door shut. "Third and Lexington…"
"Third and Lexington…" The cabbie mumbled in a vague indiscernible accent. "Okay, but first…" He flicked a switch in the center console and the roof of the cab lit up with flickering and pulsating lights similar to the dance floor of a disco. Sheldon jumping with a light squeak, Howard reacted as if he was being arrested and Raj looked around confused.
"Hello and welcome to Cash Cab!!!" The driver spoke in his real voice. "I'm your host, and you're in a game show played right here in my taxi where you win money by answering general knowledge questions. You guys want to play?"
"Is this legal?" Raj asked. None of the guys had ever heard of this game.
"Of course it's legal, you want to play?"
The guys looked confused at each other. Was this for real?
"Third and Lexington… please…" Sheldon leaned forward and answered uninterested.