"What are you up to?"
Under cover of the jungle foliage, The Phantom stared through his binoculars at the clearing two hundred yards away. Several large tents had been erected. Outside one of them stood a thickly built black man with a beard dressed in green fatigues. The shoulderboards on his uniform sported four stars. He spoke to another man dressed like a space age Roman Centurion.
"They look pretty chummy," said a slender woman with black hair lying next to The Phantom. She, too, was looking through binoculars. "This can't be good."
"When it comes to General Bababu, nothing is ever good."
The Phantom looked over the rest of the encampment. A rocketship sat just beyond the circle of tents. Ten robowarriors guarded the perimeter. So did 30 of Bababu's rebel soldiers. After seeing what Ming's forces had done to Bangalla's capital of Mawitaan, he was surprised they would talk to any person in this country.
Anyone in the world, for that matter.
Yet Bababu and the Mongonoid calmly chatted. From this distance, The Phantom could not hear what they talked about. Instead, he observed their body language. Both men appeared relaxed. Each one nodded every so often. Whatever was being discussed seemed agreeable to them.
"This is what really worries me."
"What?" asked Diana Palmer, The Phantom's girlfriend.
"The fact Bababu's troops are being allowed to keep their weapons with those robowarriors around. I'd never imagine Ming's forces trusting humans like that."
"They have to be in cahoots," said Diana. "I wouldn't be surprised if General Bababu fed the Mongonoids every scrap of information he had about Bangalla's military. Maybe's he's hoping Ming'll make him president in return."
"Perhaps not only of Bangalla, Miss Palmer," a tall man in olive drab fatigues chimed in. "Given General Bababu's lust for power, he may wish to be ruler of the entire world, in Ming the Merciless' name."
The Phantom nodded. Lieutenant Hulapaak of Bangalla's elite Jungle Patrol made a good point. Why settle for one small part of the world when you can have it all?
Though it would be as a puppet ruler.
Of course, for someone like Bababu, better to be a puppet ruler than simply a puppet.
"So what do we do?" asked Diana.
"We should attack," Hulapaak suggested. "We cannot allow General Bababu to take over Bangalla, especially backed by those metal soldiers."
"I'd like nothing better, Lieutenant," said The Phantom. "But you saw what those robowarriors did to the army in Mawitaan. None of the weapons we have can knock them out of commission. We have to come up with a plan before we launch any kind of attack."
"Yes, Ghost Who Walks."
From the look in his eyes, Hulapaak would rather go in guns blazing right now. The Phantom couldn't blame him. Bangalla was his home. He'd pledged his very life to defend it and its people from all manner of evil.
But leading a charge against warriors immune to bullets would do nothing to protect Bangalla's people. It would only get them all killed.
Perhaps he could sneak closer to Bababu's camp at nightfall. Hopefully he could find out exactly what the mad general hoped to gain from his alliance with Ming. Maybe he could try to drive a wedge between the two.
"What would really help is if we could get some of those ray guns," Diana noted. "Then we could rub out those robowarriors."
The Phantom nodded. He wondered if the Mongonoids trusted Bababu enough to give him some of their ray guns. That might make them easier to procure. Those weapons would certainly tip the advantage in their favor.
A little in their favor, any way. But sometimes, a little tip was all one needed to –
A piercing bird whistle cut through the jungle. Not from an actual bird, but from one of the Jungle Patrol scouts.
Someone was approaching their position.
The Phantom, Diana, Hulapaak and 12 other Jungle Patrol soldiers crawled deeper into the foliage. The purple-clad, black masked Phantom slowed his breathing. His senses extended in all directions, trying to pick up any sounds, any smells, out of the ordinary. He heard wind rustling through the leaves and bushes. There was, however, no sound of birds chirping or squawking. No sound of any wildlife, period. Something had spooked them all.
Then he heard it. A thump on the ground. Then another. Another. Rhythmic. Deliberate. Something walking. Not something flesh and bone. It was more metallic in nature.
The first robowarrior passed by, not more than fifteen feet from where The Phantom lay. Three more followed. The Phantom turned his head just a couple of inches to the left, then the right. Diana and the Jungle Patrol soldiers were well-hidden. With luck, these metal monsters wouldn't see –
Something rustled in the trees above. The Phantom looked up.
A black and white colobus monkey bounced up and down on a branch. It unleashed a growling, almost croaking noise.
The robowarriors turned and raised their heads. Two of them fired their ray guns. The branch exploded. The monkey screeched, flames rushing up its fur. Smoldering wood and leaves dropped toward the ground. The debris crashed onto a pair of Jungle Patrol soldiers. Both men wailed.
The robowarriors moved toward the brush.
"Fall back!" ordered The Phantom. "Everyone fall back!"
He sprang to his feet, firing both his Colt M1911 pistols. Diana and the Jungle Patrol soldiers banged away with their Lee-Enfield rifles. More as a distraction than anything else. Bullets couldn't penetrate the robowarriors' metal hide. But it might buy them some time to put a bit of distance between them and the robowarriors before they opened fired.
It didn't.
Ray beams cut through the foliage. Leaves disintegrated in puffs of orange. The beams blasted through two Jungle Patrol soldiers trying to help their comrades wounded by the falling branches. Seconds later, the wounded soldiers were also struck by ray beams.
The Phantom, Diana and the nine surviving soldiers fled through the jungle. Beams sizzled past them. A soldier cried out. Flames and smoke leapt off his back as he fell.
They broke through the foliage and into a grassy clearing. The Phantom checked around. They needed cover otherwise they were dead.
He spotted it just as Diana pointed and yelled, "Up there!"
A small rise to their left led to a rock outcropping.
"Go!" The Phantom charged up the hill, followed by the others.
The robowarriors entered the clearing just as they reached the boulders. Beams shot from their rifles. Three struck the ground, sending up fountains of dirt.
The fourth sliced through the chest of a Jungle Patrol soldier. He fell and rolled back to the clearing.
The Phantom peered around the boulder. The robowarriors marched toward the outcropping. The Phantom was about to duck out of sight when he spotted a huge gap between the ground and the rock. He looked at the robowarriors, then at the gap. An idea formed.
"Lieutenant. I need your grenades."
Hulapaak yanked a satchel off his shoulder and tossed it to The Phantom. He then had another soldier throw him his satchel of grenades. He stuffed the first one into the gap between the ground and the boulder. The Phantom reached into the second satchel and pulled out a grenade.
Beams shot over the rocks. A few Jungle Patrol soldiers returned fire, for what good it would do.
The Phantom checked around the boulder. The robowarriors were 25 feet away. He pulled the pin, dropped the grenade back inside the satchel and threw it into the gap.
"Fire in the hole!" The Phantom dove to his stomach. So did Diana and the soldiers.
A crump echoed from under the rock. Multiple explosions went off, like an armful of drums dropped on the ground. Smoke rose from the gap.
The boulder remained.
The Phantom put his shoulder into it and pushed. Hulapaak and three other soldiers joined him. The boulder moved just a little. The grenades had barely loosened it.
More beams crackled over ahead. Two hit the top of the boulder. Bits of rock rained down on them.
The Phantom drew both his pistols and crawled along the base of the boulder.
"What are you doing?"
He didn't answer Diana. Instead he slid into the gap.
The robowarriors were ten feet away.
The Phantom fired both guns. Bullets pinged and sparked off the robowarriors. He didn't stop squeezing the triggers until both seven-round magazines were empty.
The robowarriors turned to him, just like he wanted.
The Phantom rolled away from the boulder as beams leapt from the ray guns. They struck the gap. A huge fountain of dirt and smoke sprang from it. The boulder teetered and fell over. Lying on his stomach, The Phantom watched it tumble down the rise.
The robowarriors might be bulletproof, but they weren't very fast. Two of them barely moved a step as the boulder smashed into them. It continued to the bottom of the rise, leaving a pair of crumpled, metal bodies in its wake.
The remaining two robowarriors, however, escaped undamaged. They continued up the rise, ray guns firing. Diana and the others lay behind a row of smaller rocks, their only cover with the boulder gone.
Waves of fear crashed against The Phantom's soul. He had to fight to keep it from overwhelming him. What could he do now? There had to be something.
A nasally buzz came from above. He looked up. His entire body tensed when he saw a rocketship diving toward him.
The robowarriors ceased fire and looked up as the ship hovered nearby. Its exhaust created a mini-hurricane. The Phantom and the others threw their arms in front of the faces, the artificial wind pelting them with dirt, pebbles and grass. The buzz turned into a deafening roar.
The rocket ship swung around, its starboard side facing them. A hatch slid open. The Phantom stared between the space between his arms.
Is that . . .?
Two athletic-looking men stood in the hatch, both clutching rifle-sized ray guns. He recognized them from various newsreels and newspaper photos.
Flash Gordon and Crash Corrigan.
The robowarriors raised their rifles.
Gordon and Corrigan fired. Sparks burst from the robowarriors' chests. They both collapsed.
The two heroes jumped from the rocketship. Moments after landing on their feet, they hurried over to him.
"Your timing is perfect, Mister Gordon." The Phantom got to his feet.
"Just call me Flash. It's an honor to meet you, Phantom." The two shook hands. "Are all your people okay?"
"We're alive, thanks to you. But we lost some good men of our Jungle Patrol to those robowarriors."
Gordon's gaze fell to the ground, a look of regret forming on his face. "Sorry. I wish we could have gotten here sooner."
"The time for mourning must come later. There's an encampment not to far from here. We were observing it before you arrived. General Bababu was meeting with one of Ming's soldiers."
"General Bababu?" said Corrigan. "I've read about him. He's tried to overthrow your government a couple of times."
The Phantom nodded.
"If someone like that is talking with Ming's people, it can't be good," Flash stated.
"I agree," replied The Phantom. "Whatever they're plotting, we need to put a stop to it."
The rocketship landed nearby. More men emerged, including a middle-aged man he'd worked with before.
"Mister Donovan." The Phantom shook his hand and stared at the others. He recognized The Shadow. Dick Tracy and Simon Templar were introduced to him by Donovan.
"I take it you're responsible for this . . . gathering," said The Phantom.
Donovan nodded. "Yes I am."
"Good. I'll need their help."
He quickly explained how he'd observed General Bababu talking with a Mongonoid soldier.
"Bababu may be rotten to the core," said Corrigan, "but he's still human. I mean, an Earth-born human. To throw in with Ming . . ." The US naval officer shook his head.
"All throughout history, there have been men and women willing to work with those who have conquered their countries," Templar pointed out. "Why should this invasion be any different?"
"Only one way to find out what this louse of a general is up to," said Tracy. "We drag him back here and give him the third degree."
The group raced down the rise and into the jungle. The Phantom led them to the edge of the encampment. He saw four robowarriors and twenty of Bababu's rebels standing guard.
Of Bababu, the Mongonoid and the rocketship, he saw no sign.
"Maybe they got out of here when the robowarriors found us," said Diana.
"Damn," grumbled Donovan. "We could've learned a lot from those two."
"Maybe one of Bababu's goons knows something," Tracy told him. "Or they may have left some clues behind."
Donovan's head bobbed left and right as he mulled it over. "It could be worth checking out. We just have to get through that little army first."
"Allow me to help with that."
The Shadow drifted back into the foliage. Within seconds, he had vanished. The Phantom peered through the leaves. No sign of the black-clad hero. He stilled his breathing, listening for footsteps or the brush of a body against the vegetation.
Nothing.
He found it a bit unnerving. Not many could hide from him in the jungle. He had heard that The Shadow could "fog men's minds." Was he doing that now?
And why do it to men who are his allies?
A minute passed without anything happening. Two minutes. The Phantom watched the encampment, searching unsuccessfully for any sign of The Shadow. The robowarriors and rebels continued to guard the camp. Some of the rebels appeared alert, others chatted or smoked. The robowarriors all stood at attention. He doubted they would succumb to boredom, tiredness and all the other issues that had plagued human sentries since the dawn of warfare.
Crack!
A blinding white light erupted in the middle of the compound. The rebels spun around toward the disturbance. A few stumbled back, covering their eyes.
More flashes and cracks went off throughout the encampment. Next came puffs of smoke. Some of the rebels fired wildly. One cried out and fell, hit by a comrade's bullet.
The Shadow jumped out from one of the smoke clouds. He threw small vials at the head of a robowarrior. Wisps of white smoke rose from it. The Shadow leapt back into the cloud as the smoke around the robowarrior's head grew thicker. It trembled, then toppled over.
That must be acid.
The robowarriors stomped around in circles, searching for The Shadow. The rebels continued to yell and fire. Two more were hit by stray bullets.
An arm extended from one cloud, holding a pistol. It cracked three times.
Three rebels fell.
"What say we give him a hand?" Flash Gordon brought up his ray gun and fired. A robowarrior's head exploded.
Dick Tracy and Crash Corrigan also fired. Both needed just one shot to eliminate the last two robowarriors.
The Shadow shot two more rebels. Several fled into the jungle. Three of them turned their rifles toward The Phantom and his group. He raised both pistols and fired. Next to him, Templar fired his ray gun.
The three rebels twisted and fell.
A terrified scream pierced the air. The Phantom saw a rebel pulled into a smokecloud. The man's cries rose.
Suddenly he was silenced.
The Shadow walked out of the cloud, dragging the half-conscious rebel. The Phantom's eyes swept over the encampment. The only rebels he saw were dead ones. The others were probably still making a mad dash through the jungle.
The Shadow returned to their position and dumped the rebel on the ground. He groaned for several seconds before opening his eyes, eyes aimed at The Shadow.
The rebel screamed.
"Silence!" The tone was almost a combination of a whisper and a scream.
The rebel's mouth clamped shut.
"What is your name?"
"Da-Dafini. Corporal Dafini."
The Shadow's eyes bore in on Dafini. "You are scared." Now his voice was soft, yet ominous.
Dafini nodded.
"Then you must breathe. Slowly. In . . . Out . . . In . . . Out."
Dafini did as told. Soon a serene look settled on his face.
"Focus only on my voice. My voice is all that exists in this world. Are you scared now?"
"No."
"Will you answer my questions truthfully?"
"Yes."
"What was General Bababu saying to the Mongonoid soldier who visited him here?" asked The Shadow.
"I do not know," replied Dafini.
"Did you know that your camp would be visited by a Mongonoid?"
"No. But General Bababu told us this morning that we must be prepared to receive a visitor."
"Did he say what this visitor wanted?"
"No."
The Shadow paused. "What was the general's mood like before the Mongonoid arrived?"
"It wavered, as it always does. Happy one moment, angry the next."
"What was the general happy about?"
"I am not sure. Maybe his dreams."
"His dreams? Explain."
Dafini nodded. "General Bababu was smiling when the rocket approached. He said, 'All my dreams are about to be realized.'"
"General Bababu has only one dream," said The Phantom. "To rule Bangalla."
"So he probably cut a deal with Ming to run this place for him," Tracy speculated.
The Shadow straightened up. "I fear we will not get much more information from this one. He is nothing but a common soldier for General Bababu, not one of his inner circle."
"At least we got something out of him." Donovan stared down at Dafini. "We now know that General Bababu is indeed working with Emperor Ming. For all we know, the bastard's been feeding him information about our planet for years."
"Unbelievable." Tracy shook his head, staring at The Shadow. "I always thought hypnosis was just a cheap parlor trick."
"I suspect most examples of hypnosis you have seen, Detective, were indeed cheap parlor tricks. When used properly, however, it is a most effective means of interrogation."
Donovan looked back at Bababu's encampment, smoke still drifting over it. "Well, even though this was a small skirmish, I think we can chalk this up as the first victory for the Defenders of Freedom."
The Phantom turned to him. "Defenders of Freedom?"
Donovan shrugged. "I had to call you something. Six of Earth's Greatest Heroes Brought Together to Defeat Ming the Merciless is a bit too long."
"Six men against millions of robowarriors and thousands of rocketships?" The Phantom folded his arms. "It sounds like impossible odds."
"How many times have you triumphed over impossible odds?"
Many times. Not that he would say it out loud. Bragging was not in the Phantom's nature. "I suppose I'll have to do it this time, since I have no desire to see Bangalla, or the rest of the world, ruled by Emperor Ming and General Bababu."
"You won't have to do it alone, Phantom," said Gordon. "That's why Donovan brought us all together."
The Phantom took in each member of the Defenders of Freedom. Up until now, he had only known Flash Gordon, The Shadow and Crash Corrigan by their reputations. Very remarkable reputations, at that. Donovan must have thought highly of Dick Tracy and Simon Templar to include them in such a group.
Five extraordinary gentlemen, and himself, against the forces of Ming the Merciless.
Perhaps the odds were not too impossible.
He looked back at Donovan. "So do you have any ideas how we can defeat Ming?"
Donovan gave him a half-smile. "A few."
TO BE CONTINUED