Title: Phantom Payne
Synopsis: A wounded sailor receives help from The Shadow.
By: Corbin
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters in this story. It was just for fun.
*Author's Notes: * This is a rewrite of The Shadow radio show episode entitled The Shadow Returns. This particular episode was originally broadcast on November 19, 1939 (many, many years before I was even born).
**Just in case you were wondering I made The Shadow of this story a little bit of a mix between the radio Shadow and the character from the movie. The Shadow in the radio version seems a little less jaded then the one in the movie and I kinda liked that aspect of him. However, I did borrow the mind manipulation bit from the 1994 movie.
The crew of the cruise vessel met in one of the larger lower decks as the Captain had ordered. Most of the time the crewmen were at ease and cheerful, but today everyone seemed to be on edge. They chattered nervously with one another until the Captain entered. When the men saw the Captain they fell silent.
The Captain's expression was a mask of calm, but inside he was racked with worry for the safety of the crew. The crewmen seemed to sense the Captain's apprehension. The men held their breath and waited for their Captain to speak.
"I'm sure that by now you've all heard the rumors about the injuries suffered by crewmen on a dozen vessels much like our own. It seems that the crewmen who suffer these injuries are only slightly affected at first, most suffer from massive infections. Many men have lost limbs, such as arms and legs to these infections. At least four crewmen have lost their lives to these mysterious infections," The Captain paused, a determined look passed over his face.
"I want you all to continue to perform as well as you have been, but take care of yourselves. I don't intend to send men home missing limbs. I certainly don't intend to lose members of my crew," The Captain released a sigh. "All right, that's all. Back to your posts men."
The ship's Doctor hung back and called out to the cabin boy, "Payne, you see me in the sickbay now."
As soon as the Doctor had left crewmen Johnson pulled the younger man Payne aside. "Payne, don't you trust him. Don't let him do anything to you if you want to keep working on the boat," Johnson's face was intense. "Don't let him touch you. You'll only get worse," Johnson turned to leave, and then he turned back to Payne, "You remember what I said. Don't trust Vadlaw."
Victor Payne winced. The last place he wanted to end up was the sickbay. Payne absently rubbed his right arm. It felt stiff from the shot he had received in port; in fact he could still feel the arm pulsing with a fiery heat.
The young man quietly tapped on the sickbay's main door. The medic bade him to enter.
"Hello Doc," The young man greeted the Doctor in a soft voice.
"Ah, Payne. Come in and have a seat," The Doctor gestured toward the black padded examination table.
The young man slid up onto the table and dangled his feet over the side. Payne glanced around the tidy sickbay feeling apprehension as he recalled both the Captain's and crewman Johnson's words.
"How are you feeling?" The Doctor asked the boy as he hung his stethoscope about his neck and gave the boy a light smile.
"I feel okay Doc," Payne fidgeted on the table as Doctor Vadlaw listened to the boy's heart.
Vadlaw's eyes drifted to Payne's right arm, it appeared a little swollen. Gently the Doctor rolled up Payne's sleeve and saw the place where the boy had received his last injection. Vadlaw's eyes narrowed as he prodded the swollen limb with his fingertips. Payne flinched and Vadlaw released the boy's sore arm.
"Where did you get this injection, Payne?" Vadlaw never softened his expression; in fact he almost appeared to be angry.
Payne swallowed, "Well Doc, I saw that Doctor you recommended while I was in port." Payne was growing more and more nervous now, "Why, is there something wrong, Doc?"
"Your arm has an infection," Vadlaw had turned away from the boy and was busy filling a hypo.
Payne felt his heart jump in his chest, "Aww, Doc, I can't go home to my mom with my arm all laid up in bandages. She'd never let me leave port again," Payne spoke in a voice of protest.
"Well Payne, I can't force you to submit to treatment. But you allow that arm to get worse and I'll have your name stricken from the duty roster. They'll send you home straightaway," The Doctor smiled inwardly as he saw panic flood Victor's face. Vadlaw knew he had control of the young sailor, and he knew the boy would not refuse treatment now.
"Oh well I don't want to cause trouble, Doc. It's just that it's my first tour and I didn't want to cause any grief," Payne had swallowed any thoughts of resisting the Doctor now; he had no intention of losing his place on the ship.
"Ready then?" Vadlaw held the ready hypo in his hand. The boy gave a defeated nod. Vadlaw quickly swabbed the boy's sore arm.
"Shoot Doc," Payne's face tensed as he waited for the burn of the injection. The Doctor hesitated for a moment.
"All right Victor, this won't hurt," Vadlaw stated as he administered the injection.
Payne took in a sharp breath as he felt the sudden burn shudder through his aching shoulder, seconds later gentle warmth was spreading quickly through his body. Victor nearly fell off the table as his vision blurred suddenly.
"Doc? Doc help me. Please stop this-" Victor's frightened tone faded away as he slumped forward into Vadlaw's arms.
The Doctor pushed the young man back onto the table and eased him down. Vadlaw smiled and shook his head, "Fainted eh Victor?" Vadlaw was busying himself with various surgical instruments mostly scalpels and clamps, "A very effective drug will do that. Even to a young lad such as yourself."
The Doctor selected his favorite scalpel and stared at the glimmering blade as it shined in the sickbay lighting, "Now Victor, let's have a proper look at that arm."
*~*~*
Doctor Vadlaw ordered that Payne should be taken below deck and allowed to recover from his "injury". Johnson and another crewmen carried the young man below and put him in one of the spare bunks. The young man was still unconscious and he remained that way for several more hours.
It was dark and muggy in the deck where Payne had been ordered to stay. He had been there for nearly two days. Payne was completely miserable and he was growing worse with each passing hour. He wished that he had not allowed Vadlaw to treat him. Even if it meant he would have been taken off active duty he felt that he would have recovered fully by now. Payne groaned in agony and tried to sleep to ignore his festering shoulder.
*~*~
"Lamont are you all right?" Margo Lane's voice was full of concern as she glanced over at her companion Lamont Cranston, "Lamont you look exhausted."
"I do feel a little tired," Lamont offered her a weary smile in an attempt to be festive. "I need a rest from this vacation."
"Oh Lamont, this is supposed to be fun," Margo responded. She seemed to be filled to the brim with energy while Lamont was dead on his feet.
"I've had it with fun. That cruise director is trying to kill me with fun activities." Lamont smiled and imitated the cruise director's nasal toned voice, "Come along Mr. Cranston the dance will be such fun. Mustn't dawdle Mr. Cranston you'll miss out on all the fun at dinner." A sigh of exasperation escaped Lamont's lips, "I believe I've had enough fun to last me an entire year."
Lamont suddenly stopped talking. He heard men shouting in heated voices. Lamont glanced toward the shouting and spotted several crewmen and Vadlaw. Lamont sensed that this argument was about to turn nasty. He was about to step into the fray, when the first officer appeared followed by Captain.
"What's going on here?" The exec spoke up in his stern tone as he glared at the subordinate crew-members. All of the crewmen froze and fell silent at the sound of the first officer's voice.
Vadlaw was the first to speak, "Johnson came to my cabin and attacked me." Vadlaw lightly touched his jaw. The Doctor was lucky to have all of his teeth in tact; Johnson packed a mean right hook.
"You go below deck and look at Victor Payne. Then you'll understand why I punched him," Johnson was filled with anger; he wanted to give the doc a few more good hits to the face.
"Payne's been screaming with pain for two day's and Vadlaw won't do a thing for him," A crewman in the thick of the small mob spoke up in Johnson's defense. The exec's face tightened at the image of Payne crying out, he didn't want anyone of the crew to suffer needlessly.
Captain Blair's face never changed. "Is this true Vadlaw?" Blair's tone was level and unbiased.
"Well Sir, the boy's arm requires surgery and we simply don't have the proper facilities for him. Once we get to port I'll have him transported to a sanatorium where I can do the job right," Vadlaw's tone never wavered. The confidence in his tone seemed to mollify everyone but crewman Johnson.
"So there isn't any harm in waiting? Payne will be all right?" The Captain questioned Vadlaw in an attempt to quiet the entire crew; he didn't want any more outbursts.
"Yes Sir, the boy should be no worse for wear once I get him patched up."
Blair glanced over at Johnson who was still seething with heated anger, "Johnson, you struck an officer. I can't allow that type of conduct to pass on my ship. You'll be allowed a hearing once we reach port." Johnson looked down at the deck; he knew what was coming now. "Mathews, take Johnson below to the brig and see to it that he's put in irons."
"Aye Sir."
Once Mathews had finished with the grim task of placing Johnson in the brig he returned to find Lamont Cranston and Margo Lane standing near the entrance to the lower decks.
"Mr. Mathews is it? My name is Lamont Cranston," Mathews nodded to Lamont. "May I go below and see this boy, uh Payne?"
Mathews seemed a little shocked. Normally passengers didn't care to see sick or injured crewmen, "Sure, if that's what you want, Sir."
"Margo, maybe you'd better stay here," Lamont wasn't sure how bad the boy's condition was; he wanted to see Payne alone first.
"Sure Lamont."
Mathews led the way down the dark corridor to the deck where Payne was. They entered the room to find that Payne had stumbled out of bed and was lying on the floor. The boy struggled to stand but he couldn't find the strength. Victor was a mess.
"Victor, what are you doing out of bed?" Mathews stated as both he and Lamont helped the boy to his feet.
"Well, it's been two days, I've got to get back to work. People at home are depending on me, I can't just lie around," Victor stated as Mathews and Lamont began helping him back toward his bunk.
"Victor, you're not well enough to stand; let alone be any use to the Captain or to your family like this. You need to rest so you'll get better," Mathews spoke softly as they helped Victor back into his bed.
"I know, but I think that I'm just getting worse down here. My arm just keeps throbbing and I'm just feeling really lousy," Mathews placed a hand on Victor's forehead as he listened to the boy speak.
"You're a little on the warm side. I'll see about getting you some water to drink. Oh, this is Mr. Cranston; he's a passenger. He wanted to see how you were doing."
"Mr. Mathews, would you mind telling Miss Lane to come down here? I'd like to speak with her."
Mathews smiled and nodded before he turned away and left the room.
Within moments Margo had made her way down to the deck where Lamont and Victor were talking.
"Whew, it's a little bit warm down here. Why doesn't the Doctor put the boy somewhere that he won't roast to death?" Margo's mental voice found Lamont.
"Cabins on deck are expensive. When we go back on deck I'll speak to Captain Blair and see if I can't do something."
"Victor, do you mind if I take a look at your arm?" Lamont asked wanting to see what Vadlaw had done so far to treat the boy's infection.
"Okay," Victor allowed Lamont to roll up his t-shirt sleeve, Victor's blue uniform collared shirt was on the ground, it had been too tight around the swollen arm so Johnson helped him cut the shirt off.
The wound had been tightly stitched shut, and there was no bandage to protect it from further infection.
"Look at this Margo, the wound can't drain. This infection will never heal this way. No wonder it's causing him so much pain. This boy needs surgery or he'll lose his arm."
*~*~*~
"Captain Blair, I'd like to speak with you about the boy below deck," Lamont and the Captain walked over to the railing, both men leaned on it. Lamont's gaze focused on the distant waves of water.
"Payne? What about him?"
"Well, why isn't he in one of the upper cabins?"
"I left the boy under Vadlaw's charge."
"If it's a matter of money I'd be happy to pay for the cabin space."
The captain smiled, "It's not a matter of money I assure you. I trusted Vadlaw to make the decisions in the boy's best interest. I didn't know he was below deck until after the outburst today. I've already ordered the boy be moved to a proper cabin." Blair was silent for a few seconds apparently lost in thought, "I wonder why Vadlaw ordered the boy below in the first place. It's no place for a sick man."
"Indeed. Thank you for your time, Captain," Lamont turned and walked away from Blair. There was someone else he wanted to speak with now.
*~*~
Crewman Johnson sat in the brig wondering how many years in prison he was going to have to serve for decking Vadlaw. It had almost been worth it to see the surprised look on Vadlaw's face when Johnson slugged him right in the jaw. Given the chance Johnson would slug that Doctor again.
"Johnson," Johnson glanced around for the source of the voice, there wasn't anyone else in the brig. Johnson was sure that he had been alone for several hours. "Johnson, I need to speak to you." Johnson's eyes grew wide; he began to wonder if Vadlaw had tainted his food with something in an attempt to get revenge for the punch in the jaw.
"I assure you that I am real."
"Why can't I see you?" Johnson attempted to stand, the shackles resisted and pulled him back down.
"You have no need to see me. Just listen to what I have to say and answer my questions."
"Are you a ghost?" The question was voiced in a timid tone. Johnson thought he might have been speaking to another sailor who was perhaps a former victim of Vadlaw's medical attention. There was a soft chuckle that reverberated throughout the brig, Johnson felt himself shiver at the sound.
"No, I am mortal. I have no desire to be seen at the present time. I am hiding my physical image from your thoughts."
"What do you want with me?"
"I want to help you and Payne before it's too late. Tell me what you know about the ship's Doctor."
"Vadlaw has served on many other ships and I know that he has had several other patients that were like Payne is now. Some lose arms, legs …others are not so lucky," Johnson paused, "Vadlaw does not heal men…he mutilates them."
The Shadow left the brig without another word, and Johnson wondered if he was really alone.
*~*~
Blair read the message he had just received to himself again. Vadlaw's medical license had been revoked. Vadlaw had several charges of malpractice placed against him. Many of these charges had been dropped. Some of them however, remained with the Doctor. Blair ordered that Vadlaw be brought to him for questioning, but the good Doctor was nowhere to be found.
Blair busied his radio operator once again with the task of contacting the nearest ship with a competent medical officer on board. The Captain wanted to transport the boy to the ship with the surgeon for medical attention, but the sea was not going to cooperate. The waters were far too rough to safely transfer the sailor.
The surgeon informed the Captain that Payne needed immediate care and since they could not move the boy the surgery would have to be performed by ranking officers.
"Well Captain, you're the ranking officer. Looks like you'll be Payne's surgeon," Lamont stated after Blair had told him the news from the other ship's surgeon.
Lamont picked up Margo's thoughts as she stood beside him, "Lamont, the Captain doesn't even know how to carve a turkey. He shouldn't be the one to operate." Before Lamont could stop her she voiced her opinion, "Why don't you perform the operation, Lamont? You've had some medical training."
The Captain really liked Margo's idea, in fact he looked relieved. Lamont shot Margo an annoyed glance; there wasn't any fair way to get out of this now, "But Margo I've only had some emergency aid training. That's hardly surgery."
"Mr. Cranston, I think you're the man for the job," Blair patted Lamont on the shoulder and started to walk away to be sure things were set up for Payne. "Be ready in two hours." Lamont almost started to protest, but he stopped himself.
Two hours later and the Captain had everything set up in the cabin he had ordered Payne to be accommodated in. A two-way radio was set up so that Lamont could communicate with the Doctor from the other ship.
"Doctor," Blair spoke clearly into the mic, "We have everything set up on this end. Are you ready? Over."
"Yes, I'm ready over here. Let me speak with the man who'll be performing the surgery."
"Doc this is Mr. Cranston. He's a passenger; he'll be operating on Payne."
"Hello Doctor," Lamont spoke into the mic that was on a table next to Payne's bed. It was close enough that Lamont could be clearly heard by the Doctor on the other ship.
"Cranston, I'm going to ask you a few questions before we begin. I want to be sure you have everything you'll need before you begin."
"Okay, ask away."
"You have plenty of bandages and clean towels?"
"Yes."
"A sharp scalpel and plenty of hot water?"
"Yes, Doctor."
"Antiseptic?"
"I'm going to use iodine."
"Good. What about an anesthetic?"
"I'm using a local. I know how to administer that. The hypo's all ready."
"All right Cranston. It sounds like you're ready to begin. Start by swabbing the arm with alcohol and administer the injection."
Lamont looked down at the boy, "Victor, I'm going to give you the local now. It's going to hurt, but only for a moment." Lamont gingerly rubbed Victor's arm with a small amount of alcohol on a piece of cotton, he allowed Payne a moment to prepare himself.
"Okay, I'm ready Mr. Cranston."
Lamont quickly administered the injection. A small groan of displeasure escaped Payne's lips as his shoulder erupted with pain. A few moments later Victor's pain began to recede and some of the tension in his face relaxed.
"Doctor, the anesthetic has been administered."
"Okay, swab the entire infected area with the iodine. Make an incision about two inches down through the most infected part of the shoulder. That's all there is to it."
Vadlaw suddenly burst into the room, a loaded pistol was in his right hand and a medical bag was in his left, "I didn't authorize you to take over the treatment of this boy!"
Captain Blair stepped up ignoring the weapon in the Doctor's hand, "Vadlaw, you've no authority here."
"I beg to differ, Captain," Vadlaw brandished the weapon, "Get out of here all of you. This boy is still under my care and I'll not have you endangering his health by performing amateur surgery!" Vadlaw stormed over to the two-way radio and flung it off of the table onto the floor. The radio fizzled for a moment and then went silent.
"It's all right everyone's leaving now," Lamont projected the command to Blair and the few crew-members that offered to assist the surgery in any way that they could. Seconds later the Captain and the other men were leaving the room without protest. The Doctor glared at Lamont.
"What are you waiting for Cranston? Get out of here now!" Vadlaw took a quick look at Victor and then glanced back expecting to see Cranston still on his way out. The young man was already gone. Vadlaw was mildly impressed with the speed of Cranston's exit; he wished that sometimes he could disappear like that. Vadlaw pocketed his weapon and stalked over to the door bolting it shut.
Vadlaw turned toward Payne with a smug grin on his face, "Well Victor, we're finally alone," Vadlaw closed a little bit of the space between Payne and himself.
"You keep away from me," Victor whispered as he attempted to sit up and failed. The fever had sapped him of most of his strength.
"Aww Victor, is that any way to speak to me? I'm your Doctor. I want to help you," Vadlaw closed the rest of the distance between the boy and himself. Vadlaw stood near the boy's bedside.
"You didn't help me the last time you said you were going to," Victor tried to shrink back from Vadlaw, but he wasn't able to find the strength.
"But this time I promise, I will help you."
"Don't touch me!" Victor cried as Vadlaw fingered the boy's injured limb.
"Victor, I hate to tell you this but I won't be able to save that arm. It's too far gone, it will have to come off."
Vadlaw set his medical bag on the table and reached into his lab coat pocket. He pulled out a small bottle of liquid, about the size of a bottle of cough syrup, and a piece of thick, white gauze. Vadlaw began soaking the cloth with the liquid as he listened to Payne cry out in protest.
"No! You can't take my arm! Please, somebody help me! Captain! Mr. Cranston, please!"
"They can't help you now, Victor. Nobody can."
Vadlaw gripped Payne's chin with his left hand and placed the cloth over the boy's mouth and nose with his right hand. Victor's cries were muffled to vague moans of protest and the boy shook with fright. Victor reached up and gripped the hand that was clamping the cloth down over his face and tried to pull it away from himself. Vadlaw did not even have to try to foil Victor's attempt to free himself, the boy's body heaved as he struggled in vain.
"Easy Victor, easy. Just breathe deep and slow. Easy," Vadlaw watched with satisfaction as the young man began to relax, "That's it…nice and slow."
The boy's eyes rolled back and his grip on Vadlaw's hand went slack. Vadlaw waited for a few more seconds before pulling the cloth away from the boy's face. The Doctor picked up the scalpel that had been waiting for Lamont. An eerie laughter echoed through the cabin causing Vadlaw to jump in surprise. "Put down the scalpel, Vadlaw." The Shadow merely made a statement his voice had no hypnotic command behind it.
Vadlaw looked annoyed, "I thought I broke that stupid radio." Vadlaw kicked the damaged radio for good measure. Dark laughter filled the cabin once more.
"This is a voice you can't shut out, Vadlaw. I'll say it once more; put that scalpel down," Obediently Vadlaw set the scalpel back down on the table where he had picked it up. The Shadow silently approached and picked up the surgical tool. It appeared to float in midair. Vadlaw was dumbfounded for a moment.
"Who are you?" Vadlaw pulled out his pistol to defend himself against the unseen adversary.
"I am The Shadow," The Shadow broke into a fit of sinister laughter.
Vadlaw aimed his pistol where he had seen the scalpel floating and fired. Vadlaw thought he sensed a presence behind him, he whipped around and fired once more. Vadlaw fired the gun two more times in a fit of frustration. The last bullet connected. The Shadow groaned in pain but refused to reveal himself to Vadlaw.
"Hah, I know I hit you that time Shadow!" Vadlaw glanced toward the cabin door; he could hear several members of the crew trying to break the door down.
"You may have hit me Vadlaw, but you have only one bullet left. Those men outside the cabin are more than likely armed. You won't escape," The Shadow's mysterious laughter reverberated through the cabin once more.
"Ah, but that's where you're wrong Shadow. I still have a way out of this, and it's like you said I only have one bullet left," Vadlaw shoved the muzzle of the pistol into his mouth and before The Shadow could project a command to stop him Vadlaw had fired the round. The Doctor was dead before the weapon hit the floor.
Lamont made himself visible just as the crewmen broke into the cabin. Margo rushed in and ran over to Lamont. "You're bleeding!" She attempted to put pressure on the wound in Lamont's side, he pushed her away from him.
"Don't worry about me right now. Help me with the boy."
In a matter of seconds Lamont had opened the boy's shoulder. He peered into the incision he had reopened. The boy's blood glistened, no it was something else and it was glittering. Something dark red.
"Look at this Margo. Underneath the boy's muscle. It's a ruby," Lamont shook his head with disgust.
"How did that get there?" Margo asked as she watched Lamont work gently around Victor's shoulder muscle.
"Oh well it's certain that Vadlaw hid it there. That's why he wanted to wait until we reached port to operate on the boy's arm," Lamont smiled as he dropped the stone into a collection tray.
Lamont placed the scalpel and the other tools he'd used to operate on Payne in the tray. A sudden wave of dizziness washed over Lamont, the thought came to him that he must've been losing a substantial amount of blood.
"Lamont, are you all right?" Margo watched as Lamont looked up at her dizzily; seconds later he had passed out into oblivion.
When he awoke he was in his cabin lying in bed. Lamont glanced under the covers at his wounded side. The bullet had been removed and the wound had been neatly bandaged. Margo appeared with a glass of water and some aspirin, she set both items on the night stand near Lamont's bedside.
"You're awake, how do you feel?" Margo sat down on the edge of the bed and reached up to feel his forehead for a fever. Seconds later she withdrew her hand.
"I imagine I'll survive. How did Payne make out?"
"He's doing fine thanks to you," She smiled and continued speaking, "Police found the hospital that Vadlaw took the wounded sailors to had a private wing. Vadlaw and several other ship's doctors to perform their surgeries used it. They were smuggling precious gems and other things in the bodies and limbs of the sailors."
"Vadlaw was just one of many."
"Yes, it's terrible that people entrusted their lives to those men and it was blatantly betrayed," Margo looked down at Lamont once more.
"Some men aren't what they appear to be."
She looked down at him and smiled, "No, some aren't."
The End