JSA: Land Of The Thuggee
By Bruce Wayne
Justice Society of America created by Gardner Fox
Dedicated to ME, who has taught me more about being philosophical than anyone.
DISCLAIMER: Most of the characters portrayed in this story are copyright by DC Comics, an AOL/Time/Warner company. They are used without permission for entertainment without profit by the author.
Chapter 6
Bombay is one of the largest, most densely populated cities in India. It is also a major seaport and trade center, with harbors always crowded with ships and boats transporting everything from passengers and luggage to steel and petroleum.
The Justice Society members arrived in Bombay a few hours after sundown, and Lieutenant Tagore accompanied them as the team approached the Temple of Bhowani. The CID officer was only vaguely familiar with Bombay, but he was still better at finding his way around the city than the JSA would have been if they tried to negotiate the crowded streets on their own.
Tagore was a tall gaunt man with a trim black beard and coal-black eyes. He had formerly been a member of the 10th Indian Parachute Battalion and trained as a commando paratrooper. He had a good record with the CID, and the Justice Society members had decided Tagore was an unlikely candidate to join the cult of Kali. One reason was that the lieutenant was an atheist.
"The only function of religion is social control," Tagore remarked. "It is supposed to set down spiritual guides for moral and ethical behavior, but in India we have too many different religions, none of which get along. Religion is the cause of half the disputes throughout the world, not just here in India. Look at the Middle East. There is constant fighting between Jews, Moslems and Christians. Or look at Ceylon, right at the tip of India. More than half the population are Buddhists and most of the others are Hindus. They're constantly fighting down there. If there is a God, he must surely be disgusted with the whole lot by now."
Tagore's attitude had not made him popular with his men, who were mostly pious Hindus, but he certainly did not sound like a man who would be in league with the Thuggees. The lieutenant drove a rented Volkswagon minibus past the Temple of Bhowani, and the JSA got their first look at the place.
The temple was made of gray brick with a tar-patch roof and wooden shutters on the windows. Two grim-faced Indians stood guard at the front of the temple. They were dressed in white with yellow turbans on their heads. Neither man appeared to be armed, although they were large enough to physically intimidate anyone who might approach the temple.
"Lieutenant," Hawkman said, "find a parking space. Somewhere out of view from the temple guards, but not more than a block from the building will be ideal."
"I think we'll find what you want right around the corner," Tagore replied, turning the steering wheel to the right.
"Starman and Atom will take out the sentries," Hawkman said. "Remember, this might be a harmless collection of Hindus worshipping Bhowani. Handle the sentries as innocent bystanders. Don't use force unless there's absolutely no choice. Understand?"
The others nodded.
"Everybody knows what to do," the JSA chairman remarked. "So let's get to work!"
Starman pulled his Cosmic Rod out the holster that was on his right hip. The Atom flexed his fingers, getting himself ready for a possible fight. Both men climbed from the VW minibus and headed for the temple.
The Atom went first because he was always the first one into battle.The two heroes were grateful that most of the buildings on the street were jammed together. This created a long, consistent patch of shadows. Starman and Atom moved along the walls, making the most of the natural camouflage.
One of the guards at the Temple of Bhowani stared at the shadows. The Atom and Starman froze. They blended into the darkness as best they could. The second guard said something to his partner.
Starman pointed his Cosmic Rod at one of the guards. Using the rod at its lightest setting, a bright yellow beam of light emanated from the tip. The beam struck the guard and he stumbled backward and fell against a wall. The guard slumped unconscious to the ground as the Atom dashed foward.
The American crimefighter ran toward the surprised sentry. Starman followed his partner's example. As the guard opened his mouth to shout a warning to the others inside the temple, the Atom suddenly dived forward and hit the ground in a fast shoulder roll. His tumbling body clipped the guard's shins and knocked his feet out from under him.
The guard's cry of alarm became a muffled grunt as he toppled forward. He tried to rise, but Starman closed in swiftly and hammered the bottom of his fist between the man's shoulder blades. The sentry fell flat on his belly. Starman used his Cosmic Rod beam to knock out the man. After being hit by the beam, the man sighed as he slipped into an involuntary slumber.
The other members of the JSA and Lieutenant Tagore advanced. Starman and Atom quickly bound the sentries' ankles and wrists with some handcuffs that Tagore carried and dragged them into an alley next to the temple. Wonder Woman joined the pair while Hawkman, Hourman and Tagore moved to the opposite side of the building.
The Justice Society hoped to get enough information about the congregation inside the temple to learn whether or not they were Thuggees. The crimefighting team did not want to burst inside the temple and disturb an innocent group of Hindus carrying out sincere religious services to the goddess Bhowani. They would try to find out as much as possible without using violent measures.
Hourman swallowed one of his Miraclo pills as Hawkman pried loose a slat in one of the shutters, raising the wooden vent wide enough to peer inside. Lieutenant Tagore moved closer to the window to observe and listen because he was the only member of the team who understood Hindi.
"They're chanting," the CID man announced in a soft whisper. "Asking the great mother goddess for strength and wisdom, courage and purity. Usual nonsense."
"I see the congregation," Hawkman whsipered as he peered through the space in the window shutter. "Rather a mixed crowd. All different castes appear to be represented."
The American noticed several worshippers wore turbans and cowls. A few were women, but the majority appeared to be Hindu men from the lower castes. The congregation was assembled in a great hall that seemed to take up more than half the building. The interior was dimly lit by candles and the scent of an incense floated through the slats to Hawkman's nostrils.
He shifted his head to get a better look at the rest of the worship hall. Hawkman saw an altar at the end of the room. A priest dressed in a yellow robe and holding a pickax with a silver head addressed the congregation. Beside him on a pedestal was the brass figure of Bhowani -- or Kali -- with numerous weapons clutched in her eight fists.
"The priest just said, 'Kali demands action, Kali demands sacrifice,'" Tagore told Hawkman and Hourman. "Now he's talking about how Kali slayed the devils."
"He's referring to the goddess as Kali instead of Bhowani?" Hourman asked eagerly.
"Both names are used for the same goddess," Hawkman explained. "That doesn't mean they're Thugs, but this is looking more and more suspicious by the second."
"The priest has announced it's time to sacrifice a demon to Kali," Tagore declared.
Hawkman peered through the peephole as two Indians dragged a white man to the altar. The prisoner's mouth was covered with a gag and each Indian held on to an arm. A third Indian stepped behind the captive and raised a yellow cloth, twisted into a cord and knotted in the middle.
"Let's go!" Hawkman said urgently.
Hourman leaped up to grab the eave of the roof. He swung his body like a pendulum and launched himself feet first at the shuttered window. The flimsy wooden slats burst on impact as the crimefighter's feet smashed into the shutters. He plunged through the window and nimbly landed inside the temple among a dozen followers of Kali.
Two startled Indians turned to face the American hero who had nearly landed on top of them. Hourman thrust out a boot, kicking a Thuggee as one might a door. The Indian hurtled backward into several other zealots. Another Thug reached for the "Man of the Hour." The crimefighter's left hand chopped his opponent's nearest forearm and swiftly snapped a backfist to the Thuggee's face. She fell to her knees, blood trickling from the nostrils of a broken nose.
Wonder Woman smashed through another shuttered window at the opposite side of the room. The Amazon warrior literally landed on a Thuggee, her feet slamming into the man's back. The stomp drove the Indian to the floor. Wonder Woman was thrown off balance as more startled Thugs leaped to their feet. The female warrior from Themyscira twisted her body in midair to throw a flying body block into two Indians. All three bodies fell to the floor, with Wonder Woman on top.
The Justice Society member was on her feet first as two more Indians closed in fast. Wonder Woman slashed her hand in a fast backhand sweep, swatting it across an opponent's face. The amazing woman whirled with the motion and delivered a spinning kick to the other attacker's chest. Both Thuggees fell to the floor.
Starman fired a blast from his Cosmic Rod into the ceiling, blasting a shower of plaster dust across the congregation. The Thuggees recoiled from the strange beam of power that emanated from the device in Starman's hand. The congregation backed up toward the center of the prayer hall. Lieutenant Tagore appeared at the window and shouted in Hindi, ordering the Thugs to surrender.
Starman aimed his Cosmic Rod at a door and blasted it open with a bright yellow beam. The Atom rushed through the entrance.
The Thuggees stood like a convention of department store dummies, frozen by surprise rather than fear. The priest yelled at his followers, gesturing with the ornate pickax. None of the members of the JSA understood what he said, but they did not need Tagore to translate.
The two Thuggees who held the white captive did not release him, and the man with the scarf suddenly swung his silk garrote around the prisoner's neck. The strangler crossed his wrists, tightening the scarf and forcing the knot into his victim's windpipe.
Most of the other Thugs attacked the men of the Justice Society. Only a handful of zealots armed themselves with cloth garrotes. The rest simply lunged forward with fingers arched like claws. They literally attacked the American crimefighters with their bare hands.
"Great Hera!" Wonder Woman exclaimed as she watched the fanatics attack her teammates.
Many of the Indians looked at the scantily-clad woman and hesitated, unsure of what to do. She was an enemy but their rules forbid harming a woman.
Wonder Woman made the decision for them and moved into action without hesitation by slamming a powerful fist into the chest of the closest kill- crazy lunatic.
The incredible Amazon swung a fist toward the next opponent and punched him in the stomach. The Thug doubled over and then fell to the floor.
Over on the other side of the room, hands clawed at Hourman's arms, pulling hard. A Thuggee gripped each arm and twisted as a third Indian smiled up at the cowled man. He held a yellow scarf.
Hourman smiled back at the Thug. The "Man of the Hour" launched a snap kick to the Thug's groin. His boot crashed into the guy's groin with agonizing force. The Thuggee wheezed like a sick cow and clasped both hands to his mashed balls as he wilted to the floor.
Suddenly a streak of yellow flashed past Hourman's eyes. He felt a silk garrote close around his throat. Another Thuggee had gotten behind him an applied his deadly strangler skills. The other two fanatics still held the super-hero's arms as the killer tightened the cord around Hourman's neck. A terrible pressure dug into the American's windpipe as the knot containing a silver rupee threatened to crush his Adam's apple ...
To be continued ...
By Bruce Wayne
Justice Society of America created by Gardner Fox
Dedicated to ME, who has taught me more about being philosophical than anyone.
DISCLAIMER: Most of the characters portrayed in this story are copyright by DC Comics, an AOL/Time/Warner company. They are used without permission for entertainment without profit by the author.
Chapter 6
Bombay is one of the largest, most densely populated cities in India. It is also a major seaport and trade center, with harbors always crowded with ships and boats transporting everything from passengers and luggage to steel and petroleum.
The Justice Society members arrived in Bombay a few hours after sundown, and Lieutenant Tagore accompanied them as the team approached the Temple of Bhowani. The CID officer was only vaguely familiar with Bombay, but he was still better at finding his way around the city than the JSA would have been if they tried to negotiate the crowded streets on their own.
Tagore was a tall gaunt man with a trim black beard and coal-black eyes. He had formerly been a member of the 10th Indian Parachute Battalion and trained as a commando paratrooper. He had a good record with the CID, and the Justice Society members had decided Tagore was an unlikely candidate to join the cult of Kali. One reason was that the lieutenant was an atheist.
"The only function of religion is social control," Tagore remarked. "It is supposed to set down spiritual guides for moral and ethical behavior, but in India we have too many different religions, none of which get along. Religion is the cause of half the disputes throughout the world, not just here in India. Look at the Middle East. There is constant fighting between Jews, Moslems and Christians. Or look at Ceylon, right at the tip of India. More than half the population are Buddhists and most of the others are Hindus. They're constantly fighting down there. If there is a God, he must surely be disgusted with the whole lot by now."
Tagore's attitude had not made him popular with his men, who were mostly pious Hindus, but he certainly did not sound like a man who would be in league with the Thuggees. The lieutenant drove a rented Volkswagon minibus past the Temple of Bhowani, and the JSA got their first look at the place.
The temple was made of gray brick with a tar-patch roof and wooden shutters on the windows. Two grim-faced Indians stood guard at the front of the temple. They were dressed in white with yellow turbans on their heads. Neither man appeared to be armed, although they were large enough to physically intimidate anyone who might approach the temple.
"Lieutenant," Hawkman said, "find a parking space. Somewhere out of view from the temple guards, but not more than a block from the building will be ideal."
"I think we'll find what you want right around the corner," Tagore replied, turning the steering wheel to the right.
"Starman and Atom will take out the sentries," Hawkman said. "Remember, this might be a harmless collection of Hindus worshipping Bhowani. Handle the sentries as innocent bystanders. Don't use force unless there's absolutely no choice. Understand?"
The others nodded.
"Everybody knows what to do," the JSA chairman remarked. "So let's get to work!"
Starman pulled his Cosmic Rod out the holster that was on his right hip. The Atom flexed his fingers, getting himself ready for a possible fight. Both men climbed from the VW minibus and headed for the temple.
The Atom went first because he was always the first one into battle.The two heroes were grateful that most of the buildings on the street were jammed together. This created a long, consistent patch of shadows. Starman and Atom moved along the walls, making the most of the natural camouflage.
One of the guards at the Temple of Bhowani stared at the shadows. The Atom and Starman froze. They blended into the darkness as best they could. The second guard said something to his partner.
Starman pointed his Cosmic Rod at one of the guards. Using the rod at its lightest setting, a bright yellow beam of light emanated from the tip. The beam struck the guard and he stumbled backward and fell against a wall. The guard slumped unconscious to the ground as the Atom dashed foward.
The American crimefighter ran toward the surprised sentry. Starman followed his partner's example. As the guard opened his mouth to shout a warning to the others inside the temple, the Atom suddenly dived forward and hit the ground in a fast shoulder roll. His tumbling body clipped the guard's shins and knocked his feet out from under him.
The guard's cry of alarm became a muffled grunt as he toppled forward. He tried to rise, but Starman closed in swiftly and hammered the bottom of his fist between the man's shoulder blades. The sentry fell flat on his belly. Starman used his Cosmic Rod beam to knock out the man. After being hit by the beam, the man sighed as he slipped into an involuntary slumber.
The other members of the JSA and Lieutenant Tagore advanced. Starman and Atom quickly bound the sentries' ankles and wrists with some handcuffs that Tagore carried and dragged them into an alley next to the temple. Wonder Woman joined the pair while Hawkman, Hourman and Tagore moved to the opposite side of the building.
The Justice Society hoped to get enough information about the congregation inside the temple to learn whether or not they were Thuggees. The crimefighting team did not want to burst inside the temple and disturb an innocent group of Hindus carrying out sincere religious services to the goddess Bhowani. They would try to find out as much as possible without using violent measures.
Hourman swallowed one of his Miraclo pills as Hawkman pried loose a slat in one of the shutters, raising the wooden vent wide enough to peer inside. Lieutenant Tagore moved closer to the window to observe and listen because he was the only member of the team who understood Hindi.
"They're chanting," the CID man announced in a soft whisper. "Asking the great mother goddess for strength and wisdom, courage and purity. Usual nonsense."
"I see the congregation," Hawkman whsipered as he peered through the space in the window shutter. "Rather a mixed crowd. All different castes appear to be represented."
The American noticed several worshippers wore turbans and cowls. A few were women, but the majority appeared to be Hindu men from the lower castes. The congregation was assembled in a great hall that seemed to take up more than half the building. The interior was dimly lit by candles and the scent of an incense floated through the slats to Hawkman's nostrils.
He shifted his head to get a better look at the rest of the worship hall. Hawkman saw an altar at the end of the room. A priest dressed in a yellow robe and holding a pickax with a silver head addressed the congregation. Beside him on a pedestal was the brass figure of Bhowani -- or Kali -- with numerous weapons clutched in her eight fists.
"The priest just said, 'Kali demands action, Kali demands sacrifice,'" Tagore told Hawkman and Hourman. "Now he's talking about how Kali slayed the devils."
"He's referring to the goddess as Kali instead of Bhowani?" Hourman asked eagerly.
"Both names are used for the same goddess," Hawkman explained. "That doesn't mean they're Thugs, but this is looking more and more suspicious by the second."
"The priest has announced it's time to sacrifice a demon to Kali," Tagore declared.
Hawkman peered through the peephole as two Indians dragged a white man to the altar. The prisoner's mouth was covered with a gag and each Indian held on to an arm. A third Indian stepped behind the captive and raised a yellow cloth, twisted into a cord and knotted in the middle.
"Let's go!" Hawkman said urgently.
Hourman leaped up to grab the eave of the roof. He swung his body like a pendulum and launched himself feet first at the shuttered window. The flimsy wooden slats burst on impact as the crimefighter's feet smashed into the shutters. He plunged through the window and nimbly landed inside the temple among a dozen followers of Kali.
Two startled Indians turned to face the American hero who had nearly landed on top of them. Hourman thrust out a boot, kicking a Thuggee as one might a door. The Indian hurtled backward into several other zealots. Another Thug reached for the "Man of the Hour." The crimefighter's left hand chopped his opponent's nearest forearm and swiftly snapped a backfist to the Thuggee's face. She fell to her knees, blood trickling from the nostrils of a broken nose.
Wonder Woman smashed through another shuttered window at the opposite side of the room. The Amazon warrior literally landed on a Thuggee, her feet slamming into the man's back. The stomp drove the Indian to the floor. Wonder Woman was thrown off balance as more startled Thugs leaped to their feet. The female warrior from Themyscira twisted her body in midair to throw a flying body block into two Indians. All three bodies fell to the floor, with Wonder Woman on top.
The Justice Society member was on her feet first as two more Indians closed in fast. Wonder Woman slashed her hand in a fast backhand sweep, swatting it across an opponent's face. The amazing woman whirled with the motion and delivered a spinning kick to the other attacker's chest. Both Thuggees fell to the floor.
Starman fired a blast from his Cosmic Rod into the ceiling, blasting a shower of plaster dust across the congregation. The Thuggees recoiled from the strange beam of power that emanated from the device in Starman's hand. The congregation backed up toward the center of the prayer hall. Lieutenant Tagore appeared at the window and shouted in Hindi, ordering the Thugs to surrender.
Starman aimed his Cosmic Rod at a door and blasted it open with a bright yellow beam. The Atom rushed through the entrance.
The Thuggees stood like a convention of department store dummies, frozen by surprise rather than fear. The priest yelled at his followers, gesturing with the ornate pickax. None of the members of the JSA understood what he said, but they did not need Tagore to translate.
The two Thuggees who held the white captive did not release him, and the man with the scarf suddenly swung his silk garrote around the prisoner's neck. The strangler crossed his wrists, tightening the scarf and forcing the knot into his victim's windpipe.
Most of the other Thugs attacked the men of the Justice Society. Only a handful of zealots armed themselves with cloth garrotes. The rest simply lunged forward with fingers arched like claws. They literally attacked the American crimefighters with their bare hands.
"Great Hera!" Wonder Woman exclaimed as she watched the fanatics attack her teammates.
Many of the Indians looked at the scantily-clad woman and hesitated, unsure of what to do. She was an enemy but their rules forbid harming a woman.
Wonder Woman made the decision for them and moved into action without hesitation by slamming a powerful fist into the chest of the closest kill- crazy lunatic.
The incredible Amazon swung a fist toward the next opponent and punched him in the stomach. The Thug doubled over and then fell to the floor.
Over on the other side of the room, hands clawed at Hourman's arms, pulling hard. A Thuggee gripped each arm and twisted as a third Indian smiled up at the cowled man. He held a yellow scarf.
Hourman smiled back at the Thug. The "Man of the Hour" launched a snap kick to the Thug's groin. His boot crashed into the guy's groin with agonizing force. The Thuggee wheezed like a sick cow and clasped both hands to his mashed balls as he wilted to the floor.
Suddenly a streak of yellow flashed past Hourman's eyes. He felt a silk garrote close around his throat. Another Thuggee had gotten behind him an applied his deadly strangler skills. The other two fanatics still held the super-hero's arms as the killer tightened the cord around Hourman's neck. A terrible pressure dug into the American's windpipe as the knot containing a silver rupee threatened to crush his Adam's apple ...
To be continued ...