Chapter 2.
Story by Carycomic
Wonder Woman plugged in her telepathic radio before putting the stethoscope-looking earpieces against the left and right sides of her forehead. At this point she began concentrating upon the face of the individual she was trying to contact in far-off Nanda Parbat.
"Calling Lamont Cranston. Calling Lamont Cranston. Are you there, old friend? Repeat: calling Lamont Cranston! Calling Lamont Cranston! Do you read me? Over!"
After what felt like an eternity (yet was probably no more than thirty or forty seconds, real time), an image appeared in the glass circle facing the Amazon Princess. An image of what was apparently a male Caucasian wearing a black hat, with slouched brim. offset by a red scarf that obscured three-fourths of his face. Except, that is, for his seemingly charcoal-colored eyes!
"Diana Hippolytides," declared the one formerly known as The Shadow. "It's been a long time since we last conversed this way."
She smiled. "Yes. When you helped me prevent the looting of Princess Mei's tomb by the Nazi alchemist Monstrodamus."
"How may I be of service, Your Highness?"
"I seek to help a good friend solve the mystery of what happened to his great-grandfather. A man named Jericho Jackson."
There followed a highly awkward pause. Followed by the telepathic equivalent of The Shadow's trademark unnerving laughter.
Unnerving, that is, to anyone except an Amazon warrior.
"You find my request amusing?" she fumed.
"No, Your Highness. I'm merely pleasantly surprised that I can still be astounded by the extent of Amazon courage."
"What do you mean?"
"What you ask is no small favor. As it only serves to remind me of what is perhaps my most painful failure!"
"I apologize if I'm dredging up any bitter memories. Butt, I truly need to know. Could you please elaborate?"
"Very well, Your Highness. Yet, only for you!"
The Shadow then collected his thoughts before continuing.
"In the spring of 1918, the Russian Dowager Empress Maria Feodoraevna approached the French embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark, with a startling piece of intelligence. Namely; that the White Russian army would soon be advancing upon the Communist-occupied city of Yekaterinburg... where the Russian royal family was being held captive. Evidently, one of the Romanov loyalists, serving with the White Russians, felt this needlessly endangered the royal family. So, he took it upon himself to leak word of the advance to the Empress Maria, who understandably requested that her family be extracted from the city, beforehand!"
"Alas! It was not until Le Deauxieme Bureau had verified her information that her request was relayed to Premier Clemenceau, who relayed it to Marechal Foch, who relayed it to Squadron G-8 of the Lafayette Flying Corps. Brevet Captain Jericho Jackson, commanding."
"It was he and his wing men- -Bull Martin, Nippy Weston, and Dave Nelson- -who were supposed to rendezvous with a Cossack cavalry troop (commanded by yours truly) at a spot roughly equidistant between Yekaterinburg and Murmansk. From there, they were supposed to fly the royals to safety in the British Crown Colony of Gibraltar. Unfortunately, for all parties concerned, Squadron G-8 never showed up! I'll spare you the tragic details resulting from my having to improvise an alternative plan on the spot. Suffice it to say, it would've been far better if the official story- -that the Romanovs had been executed, with merciful swiftness, in July of 1918- -had been true."
Wonder Woman let her old comrade-in-arms recompose himself before asking her next question.
"Didn't you, or anyone else, at that time, try to find out what happened to them?"
"Of course! But, the chaos of the Russian Civil War made that impossible. Even for me! In retrospect, however, that might have been for the best. Because, if I had encountered Brevet Captain Jackson, back then, he might not have outlived his (hopefully) satisfactory explanation!"
"Thank you, Lamont. And, again, my apologies."
The Shadow merely nodded in grateful acknowledgement of her sincerity before signing off.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
(TWO HOURS LATER)
They met at the reflecting pool at the base of the Washington Monument. With Wonder Woman naturally disguised as 'Diana Prince'!
"Were you able to get anything?" she asked the eighty-year-old man sitting on the bench beside her.
Lt. General Steven Trevor Canyon (USAF Intelligence; retired) nodded. Although, he paused to light his pipe before continuing.
"According to my sources -and I had to stamp 'paid' to a lot of old markers to get this info- Operation: Seven Stars called for Squadron G-8 to fly northward from their aerodrome in Le Bourget, France, to a top-secret encampment near Thurso, Scotland. There, they'd transfer to a quartet of reverse-engineered German aircraft. Bat-shaped robot planes invented by, and captured from, a German scientist named Dr. Friedrich Krueger! Anyway, they were to fly northeastward to a refueling stop near Bergen, Norway, before turning due eastward toward the agreed-on landing site in Russia. There, they'd pick up the royals and fly south-by-west toward Cairo. The destination called for by Plan A!"
"But, if that proved out of the question, for any reason (like, say, the Central Powers having too many anti-aircraft batteries en route?). Then, Plan B called for Gibraltar to be the next stop."
"It's a pity no one had a Plan C," Diana murmured. Then, she realized something.
"You said 'robot planes.' But, you don't mean like my thought-controlled invisible jet, do you?"
The tone in her voice made the question sound more like a statement. One that Canyon quickly affirmed.
"The innovation that made them so deadly, back in World War I, were the hydraulically-flapping wings. They went up and down and up and down; just like real bats' wings!"
Wonder Woman shook her head in disbelief. "How could the Germans have had such advanced technology in post-Edwardian times?"
The retired general smiled. "You might better ask that question of your friend J'onn J'onzz. Because my sources also told me that Krueger's think tank included an expatriate 'Martian' in their ranks!"
"A what?!" Diana involuntarily exclaimed.
Canyon grinned. "More specifically? A bluish-green dwarf who dressed like Napoleon; wore a crested helmet like an ancient Roman; and was code-named 'Scorpio.' "
The Amazing Amazon briefly pondered this information before nodding.
"I'll do just that. Ask J'onn, I mean. Thanks for doing this for me, Steve."
She whispered that last part before gratefully pecking him on the cheek. At which he smilingly returned the gesture before replying. "Anything for you, angel."
tbc
GLOSSARY
Bull Martin and NIppy Weston: the loyal wing men of Agent G-8. Robert Hogan's high-flying pulp fiction master spy of World War I (copyright 1933).
Dr. Krueger: Agent G-8's arch-enemy. "Friedrich" is just an in-joke I couldn't resist!
Dave Nelson: the Golden Age Hillman Comics character Airboy was born David Nelson, Jr. I'm merely extrapolating that David, Sr. was a WWI veteran.
Steve Canyon: a swashbuckling charter pilot and WWII veteran created by the legendary Milt Caniff after his retirement as head illustrator from the comic strip 'Terry and the Pirates'. What with DC Films having ret-conned Steve Trevor into a WWI flying ace, I've made this slightly lesser known Steve into Wonder Woman's Golden Age 'acquaintance'. A namesake godson of the former, if you will!