Flash stood still, watching The Phantom and General Bababu lock gazes. He tensed, waiting for one of them to speak.
Bababu was the first to break the silence. Not in the way he expected.
He laughed. He hearty laugh, straight from the belly.
"This guy gets shot in the can he's laughing like he's seen a Marx Brothers movie?" Tracy shook his head. "Yup. He's definitely off his rocker."
Bababu kept laughing. The Phantom's gaze hardened.
"You think all this amusing?"
The general grinned. "I do. Very much so."
The Phantom grabbed Bababu by the collar and hauled him to his feet. The general grimaced in pain.
Flash figured Bababu was about to experience a hell of a lot more pain.
The Phantom belted him square in the face. He hit him again. Again. Again. Blood flowed from the general's mouth and nose. The Phantom punched him again, then threw him against the rock wall. The general sagged to the floor.
To Flash's amazement, the man started laughing again.
"All these years," Bababu said, his voice distorted by a broken nose and split lip, "you thought all I wanted to do was take over your pathetic little country. Well, I did, but to provide the forces of the great and powerful Emperor Ming with a ready-made base of operations for the conquest of Earth." His eyes narrowed at The Phantom. "And to eliminate you as a potential threat to the Emperor."
"That all worked out well, didn't it?" said Templar.
"I may have failed to take over Bangalla and kill this vermin in the past, but I succeeded in my primary mission. I infiltrated Mongonoid spies in many of your governments, militaries and businesses. They fed me every scrap of information on your planet's defenses, leadership, technological advancements and culture. Our invasion fleet knew all your strengths and weaknesses."
Bababu gazed at all the Defenders. "You all thought I was just some power mad Earth general with no ambitions beyond the borders of this insignificant country. That was the beauty of my cover. Everyone was so concerned about my attempts to overthrow Bangalla's government, you never suspected my true intentions. I built the greatest spy network in the history of this planet, right under your noses."
The general laughed.
The Phantom kicked him in the face. "Your great spy network is about to be dismantled. You're going to give us the names of every Mongonoid spy on Earth."
"You can torture me all you want, I'll never betray my Emperor. Hail Ming!"
"I have no intention of torturing you," said The Phantom.
"Of course you won't. You're weak."
"I don't need to torture you when we have The Shadow."
The smile on Bababu's swollen, bloodied lips vanished.
The Phantom stepped aside, The Shadow taking his spot. Slowly, he crouched next to Bababu. The general turned away from the caped hero.
The Shadow grabbed Bababu's cheeks and twisted his face toward him. The general closed his eyes.
"Shut your eyes all you want, General. You cannot resist my powers. You will tell us the names of all your spies. You will tell us their names."
Bababu's body shuddered. He drew shaky breaths.
"N-No."
"Blimey," Templar muttered. "Never thought I'd see that."
Neither did I. Flash thought no one immune to The Shadow's powers of hypnosis. Apparently, that wasn't true. Perhaps someone very strong of mind can fight it.
"You will tell me, General. You want to tell me."
Bababu's teeth clenched. Tremors gripped his head.
"The names of your spies are on the tip of your tongue. You are tempted, so tempted, to reveal them. You must reveal them."
Bababu groaned.
"You must reveal them."
Bababu spasmed. Spittle flew from his mouth. "P-P-Peter Lefferts, Lieutenant. Staff officer for the American Navy's Chief of Naval Operations."
"Good, General," said The Shadow. "Very good. Now give me another name."
"J-Jennifer Anderson. Secretary at G-Grumman Aircraft Engineering. Daniel Casey, agent for the FBI."
Bababu spilled his guts. He gave up the names of spies serving in various positions in governments, militaries, law enforcement agencies, businesses, science outfits and newspapers all over the world. Flash didn't know whether to feel angry or sick to his stomach hearing how Ming's spies had so thoroughly infiltrated the world's major institutions.
"Shouldn't someone be writing this down?" asked Corrigan.
"No need," said The Shadow. "I can recall every one of these names."
"So can I."
Everyone looked at Templar.
"What? A sharp memory helps in my line of work."
"So what do we do with this rat now?" asked Tracy.
"He must answer for his crimes." The Phantom glared at the wounded general. "He will stand trial here in Bangalla."
"I'd think a lot of other countries would want to drag his carcass into one of their courtrooms," added Corrigan.
The Phantom turned to him. "Most of his crimes have been committed here in Bangalla. This is where he should be tried."
"You can try this piece of garbage in Timbuktu for all I care," said Flash. "So long as he rots in a cell for the rest of his miserable life, or gets fried in the chair."
"So what do we do with him in the meantime?" asked Tracy. "Many of this guy's troops are still out there. There probably isn't a secure prison in this entire country."
"Unfortunately, you are correct," replied The Phantom.
"The Roswell Rocket Base has a brig," Flash suggested. "We can lock him up there until we defeat Ming and get Bangalla back on its feet."
"And when this war is over, General Bababu will be handed over to Bangalla to stand trial to his crimes?"
Flash put a hand on the jungle hero's shoulder. "You have my word."
The Phantom stared at him in silence for several seconds, then nodded.
"Right then," said Templar. "Shall we lug the 'Conqueror of Bangalla' back to the Defender?"
The Phantom and The Shadow yanked Bababu to his feet. The general groaned in pain. Not that Flash, or anyone else it seemed, cared. When they reached the exit of the mountain base, Lieutenant Hulapaak and two Jungle Patrol soldiers greeted them.
"You captured Bababu."
"Captured him, and got him to spill his guts about his whole Mongonoid spy ring," added Tracy.
"How goes the battle?" asked The Phantom.
"Bababu's forces have been routed," Hulapaak responded with no small amount of pride.
"Casualties?"
The young officer's lips tightened for a second. "Three dead, three others wounded."
The Phantom hung his head. Flash also stared at the ground. He hadn't really gotten to know any of the Jungle Patrol soldiers, outside of Hulapaak. Still, they wore the uniform of their country, served with Bangalla's most elite fighting force, and paid the ultimate sacrifice not only for their nation, but the entire world. As a fellow soldier, Flash respected their service, and would mourn their loss.
"Even though we won here today," The Phantom said to Hulapaak, "this war is not over, not until all of Ming's forces have been vanquished from Earth. Until that time, Bangalla is still under threat. Do what you can here to defeat what remains of Bababu's forces. I will remain with the Defenders of Freedom until Ming is stopped once and for all."
"Yes, Ghost Who Walks." Hulapaak saluted.
The Defenders headed back to their rocketship, which was parked on the airstrip. Once inside, The Phantom and The Shadow dumped Bababu onto the deck. He grunted in pain.
"Please. I need medical attention."
"My heart bleeds for you, pal," said Tracy.
"I hate to say it, but do we really want him to bleed to death before he goes to trial?" Corrigan pointed out.
Tracy frowned. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Better keep him alive for his date with the electric chair." He looked to The Phantom. "Or whatever you use in Bangalla."
"The gallows, actually."
"I will treat him." Zarkov fetched the first aid kit.
"Dick, watch him." Flash nodded to Bababu. "Make sure he doesn't try anything funny."
"Oh, I'll make damn sure he doesn't," Tracy glared at the general while Zarkov applied the healing spray.
"Meanwhile, I have a call to make."
Flash sat in the pilot's seat, with Dale looking on from the co-pilot's seat.
"Moment of truth, I guess," she said.
"Yes, it is."
He paused before turning on the radio. What if Bababu had a back up control console? What if this wasn't the only anti-radio wave transmitter on Earth?
Only one way to find out.
Flash flicked the switch for the radio.
"Defender to Roswell Rocket Base. Defender to Roswell Rocket Base. Come in. Over."
One second passed. Silence. Two seconds. More silence. Donovan said he'd have someone manning the radio back in New Mexico, waiting for the message that they had destroyed the transmitter.
Three seconds. Maybe –
"Defender? Defender is that really you?"
Flash let out a huge sigh of relief and smiled. "This is the Defender. We're in Bangalla and our mission is a success."
"That's great news. I honestly thought I'd never hear anything coming out of this contraption. Hang on, Defender. I'm gonna go get Mister Donovan. He's gonna be damn glad to hear from you."
Five minutes passed before Donovan got on the radio. "Is that really you, Captain Gordon?"
"It is. You have no idea how good it is to hear you."
"It's good to hear from you, too. Hell, it's good to hear anyone's voice over the radio. Good job, all of you."
"Thanks. Not only did we knock out the anti-radio wave transmitter, we also captured General Bababu."
"Excellent," said Donovan.
"You have a pencil and paper handy?" asked Flash. "Bababu gave up the entire Mongonoid spy network on Earth."
"Wait one . . . Got it. Shoot."
The Shadow stepped into the cockpit and rattled off the names of all of Ming's spies.
"This is great," said Donovan. "A regular jackpot. As soon as I get off the horn with you, I'll pass this along to The President, then we'll start rounding up all these snakes."
A pause. "Good work, gentlemen . . . and lady. You should all be proud of yourselves. You're all a credit to the country. Hell, to the entire world."
"Thank you," replied Flash.
"I'll see you all back at Roswell. Donovan out."
With that, Flash strapped into his seat and started the engines. The Defender rose into the darkening sky and flew east. Dale broke out some canned rations for the Defenders. Flash didn't realize how famished he was until he opened the can. He dug in with gusto. So did the other Defenders.
"So," Templar began as they flew over the Atlantic. "Robowarriors standing about like statues, check. We can talk on the wireless again, check. The world's least favorite general bound and gagged in the back, check. His spy friends about to be rounded up, check. I'd say this war has turned decidedly in our favor."
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Simon," said Corrigan. "Ming still has his rocketships flying around. They can turn the entire planet to ash from the air."
"Ming won't wipe out the human race." Flash looked over his shoulder. "He wants us for slaves."
"He can still wipe out a good chunk of the world and still have several million people to throw into his mines," Dale pointed out. "Or be a part of his harem."
"Comforting thought, that," Templar chimed in.
"Even if we can talk to other countries now and combine our forces to take on Ming," said Corrigan, "what good will it do against his rocketships? The only thing on Earth that has a chance of shooting them down is the Defender. Nothing against your piloting skills or your ship, Flash, but I don't like the odds of one ship versus hundreds."
"Neither do I. That's why if we're going to beat Ming, we're going to have to do it -"
"Donovan to Defender!" The radio burst to life. "Donovan to Defender! Come in."
Flash's brow furrowed at the urgent tone in Donovan's voice. "This is Defender. What is it?"
"We've got major, major problems down here."
Flash tensed. "What sort of problems?"
"Don't ask me how it happened, but someone turned all the robowarriors back on."
TO BE CONTINUED