44
"So when you held the piece of rope, your memory returned just... all of a sudden?" George queried Phyllis as he piloted a small anti-gravity transport that carried his family towards the Bermuda triangle. Despite the fact that there was a more comfortable lounging area in the rear cabin, the entire family sat in the cockpit area together.
"Yes," she replied, "but you must remember that it was a segment of the magic lasso of truth. And my 'truth' was being hidden by my amnesia. Plus, I had been recalling little snippets of old memories more and more lately. It was like when you want to use a certain word to describe something but that word just seems to be beyond your grasp. You have it 'on the tip of your tongue' as they say. My memories were like that, and when we found the segment of golden lasso among Kal's things..."
"Kal...?"
"Your great-great-great- grandfather. I called him by his Kryptonian name."
"Just how old are you?" asked Noel.
Phyllis smiled at her daughter. "You know a lady doesn't answer that question in front of gentlemen, dear." She turned back to her husband. "Anyway, when we went through all those things, I felt the memories pounding away trying to get through to me. I instinctively knew what each was and what it represented. And I knew that the golden lasso of truth would finally unlock the secrets I had been holding inside for years, so I took it in my hand and... well, I guess the phrase 'the truth will out' took on a whole new meaning."
"Mom, how much farther before we reach our destination?" asked Jimmy as he peered out the transport's window at the choppy seas below.
"Not much further, Jim. Just be patient."
"I'm not too sure how to take all this," said George. "I've always envisioned growing old with you. That won't happen, will it?"
"I... honestly don't know, darling, but I think this is a conversation we should probably save for later, don't you?"
"How high up are we?" interjected Jimmy again.
His dad answered, "Approximately twenty thousand feet."
"I guess that's high enough."
"I guess it is. Why do you ask?"
"Is the cabin pressurized, Dad?"
"Is that all? Yes, it is. But if you're feeling like it's hard to breathe, that's a natural reaction. After awhile, you get used to..."
"It looked like we entered through an air-lock when we came in. Is that what that was?"
"Uh-huh. What's this all about, anyway?"
"Uh... Just want to learn a little more about what my dad does for a living."
"Oh... well... If that's all you want to know there are a lot of other things I can tell you that are a lot more interesting. For instance..."
"Er... Excuse me a minute, Dad. I need to use the little boys' room. Gotta fly." And Jim left the cockpit area.
"Hey, Mr. Curious! You're going the wrong way! That's the way to the airlock!" said George just before alarm sounded an in-flight entry into the airlock.
The three remaining family members suddenly looked at each other and said, " 'Gotta fly?' " George put the transport on autopilot and a mass exodus ensued as the Kent family quickly adjourned to a window with the best view of the exterior door of the airlock. In short order, another alarm sounded, the exterior door opened, and a young man clad in a blue outfit and red cape ejected himself from the transport.
"What the deuce does he think he's doing?" said his father. "He'll be killed!"
"No," said his mother. "He'll be okay. He has his ancestor's power of invulnerability. But why would he do this?"
"Because," said his sister, "He wants to fly!"
"Yes, but why would he do this now?"
"Seems like a good time to me, Mom. He's already twenty thousand feet in the air, so he'll have a couple of minutes to figure it out. If he doesn't, there's nothing but ocean under him, so he'll won't hurt anyone or damage anything. Don't tell him I said so, but I think it was pretty smart."
"Well," said George, "I'll fly the transport low so that we can try to find him in case he doesn't figure it out."
"All right," said Phyllis. "We're almost to the island anyway. Go ahead and drop down to ten thousand feet and come around ten degrees southwest."
"Okay... executing!" The anti-grav plane circled slightly and lowered its trajectory to reach the desired altitude. "But I don't see anything resembling land, yet."
"You will. Just stay on this course. We'll watch for Jim and you watch for the island. It should phase into view any second."
"Phase...?" About that time, a great land mass seemed to shimmer into existence from out of nowhere.
"That must be it!" he said without trying to conceal the surprise in his voice. "And there's an air strip right on our course. I don't know how you knew it would be there, but there it is, Prin... Princess!" He swallowed hard at the pet name he had used for his wife the last two decades. Now, he realized, it was more than a pet name. It was fact. "I'll set her down here. Did you see our budding super-hero?"
"No, but I-I'm sure he's okay."
"I see him!" cried Noel.
"Where?"
"Look! Up in the sky!"
"It's a bird!"
"Oh! yeah! I guess it is just a bird."
George gently maneuvered the craft onto the air strip for a perfect landing. Almost immediately, a low rumbling was heard - and felt by the Kent family. "Must be the changing strata underground," said George. "We should try to do this as fast as possible." They were preparing to exit the transport when the sound of knuckles rap-rap-rapping on the outside door was heard. After quick glances all around, the air lock doors were opened and there on the runway stood James Kent, sopping wet with water dripping from a thoroughly soaked blue and red uniform.
"Nice swim?" asked Noel as she stepped past her waterlogged brother.
"What were you thinking?" asked his dad.
"I thought it was a good place to try to fly," said Jimmy.
"Well," said Phyllis as the rumbling sounds continued, "That's one of the reasons we're all here together. I'm going to teach you. But first, we must find a few things that are somewhere on this island."
"Is this where you came from that day I found you adrift on that raft twenty years ago?" asked George.
"It's a very long story, darling, but yes, I had been in a struggle with an enemy who was threatening to destroy my family and friends who lived here. We had all been captured and forced to remove our magic bracelets which give us our powers of strength and endurance. I had managed to formulate our escape from our holding pen, and turned the tables on our foe. But there was one more surprise in his arsenal - an explosive with which he was planning to ignite and eradicate us all. He was caught in his own trap and, I can only surmise, was killed. But I also was hit by the force of the explosion as I attempted to reach safety with that raft. It must have knocked me cold and led to my amnesia."
"What about the other Amazons?"
"I think everyone made it out okay. When we escaped our prison, they were supposed to retrieve our bracelets and return while I kept our enemy under surveillance. Unfortunately, circumstances dictated that I had to force the issue before they returned with mine."
"So is that what we're looking for?" asked Jim. "The bracelets?"
"That, and a couple of other things. My lasso, breastplate, and magic girdle."
"Magic girdle?"asked an incredulous Noel.
Phyllis laughed. "Jimmy has his working clothes. I'll need mine, too."
"All right," said George. "I guess we should get started. Hopefully, we'll meet a few of your friends before long. I guess they would know exactly where to find your belongings."
"Yes, and once I have my bracelets, I can give Jimmy a few flying lessons."
"You can do that?" asked her son.
"Yes, I can, dear. One of the powers granted me through my feminum bracelets is the wings of Hermes. But before we leave, maybe Daddy could help you dry out a little with his heat vision. Would you mind doing that, darling?"
With a nod, George granted her request, and a cloud of steam immediately rose from Jimmy's uniform. "Gee, thanks, Dad!" He said. Noel, watched it all with a look of melancholy that escaped everyone but her mother.
"Come on," Phyllis said. "If anyone is here, they would be in the citadel - this way."
As the rumbling continued to come and go, the Kents made their way through the dense growth of flora via a small clearing which led to a well worn path. With Phyllis leading the entourage, they hiked along the lane until they emerged from the woods and found themselves on the outskirts of a small city. All of the buildings, homes, and temples were built in classic Greek style white stone, many appearing weathered and ruined.
The group continued their trek into the square unmet. "Odd," said Phyllis. "We should be seeing hundreds of amazons by now. Frankly, I'm surprised that we haven't been detained."
"Could it be that your enemy survived the explosion? Maybe returned and..."
"No, I'm sure that didn't happen. It does look like the island has been abandoned, though." They continued to explore the area, finding nearly all the once proud buildings in various stages of ruin. Until, that is, they approached one temple that stood out from the others. It seemed to be better cared for and kept up. "This used to be the citadel," said Phyllis.
Together, they entered the citadel and found display after display honoring Diana, the Amazon who entered Patriarch's world and became known as Wonder Woman. Exploits of their champion were memorialized in sculpture, oils, photos, dioramas. Many were accompanied with old fashioned newspaper clippings or two-dimensional videos (Noel was completely baffled by the television set style monitor). The building shook just a bit from the pulsating rumble that came and went, but finally, they came upon the centerpiece of the museum - a glass case housing a mannequin displaying the original uniform and tools of Wonder Woman.
"So these are your working clothes?" asked Noel. "Which is the magic griddle?" The glass shimmered as another rumbling came and went.
Phyllis laughed. "It's a magic girdle. And it's this belt-like thing here," she pointed out. The glass shimmered again with another tremor.
"Oh. What's all this other stuff? It looks like handcuffs and a yellow rope like the one in the box we found. Were you guys into bondage or what?"
"From where did you pick up that phrase? You're only twelve years old!"
"Sherry said it once, I guess," admitted an embarrassed Noel.
"Remind me to have a talk with Candace when this is over!" Phyllis said to George. He winked an okay back to her.
"These," she said pointing at the 'handcuffs,' "...are the magic bracelets which give amazons their great powers of immortality and strength. This particular pair has extra powers as well. The rope is the magic lasso of truth. The breastplate is one of several I've used in the past, perhaps the last one I ever took into battle."
"Battle?" asked Jim.
"The never-ending battle. You'll find out, Jim, that now that you have these gifts, you will be expected to use them in all manner of ways. It will be your responsibility to Mother Earth and her citizens to do so, just as you did earlier today, just as you are about to do later."
Noel became wistful again. Her mother noticed and said, "And the same goes for you, too, young lady."
"M-me?"
"Yes, you. I know you're feeling left out, aren't you?"
"Well... yes! I mean Jimmy's got super powers, you've got super powers, even Dad's got super powers... sort of..."
" '...even Dad? ...sort of...?' " said George.
"Sorry, Daddy. Yeah, everybody except me. I feel like this... super-family is going to fly off someday and leave me all alone to just be an ordinary human! I don't want you to leave me alone!"
"Sweetie! That will never happen!" said Phyllis as the entire family converged on the child with open arms and love. "We could never leave you for anything! As for these so-called powers, you should always remember this: It isn't the powers or the magic or the gimmicks we use that make us what we are. It's our hearts - our humanity - that make us great. Look at Super-Gramps for instance..."
"Super-Gramps...?" George whispered to his son.
"Something we came up with the other day, just go with it." Jim answered.
"He was lucky enough to have parents that could teach him right from wrong and a passion for helping others. He may have been alien to this planet, but it turned out that his greatest strength of all was his humanity - his compassion for others. Without that, he would have been nothing. Don't ever - ever - take yourself for granted just because you're an 'ordinary person.' After all, Mr.Carr has no super powers and we wouldn't even be this close to saving our planet without his findings."
"Momma!" said the girl as she grabbed her mother in a child's embrace. "I'm sorry, I know you're right. I just saw everyone else getting these powers and I wasn't and... oh... I just... don't know!"
"Anyway, if that really bothers you, keep in mind that you are half Amazon with a little Kryptonian blood thrown in. When you're older, you just might become more powerful than any of us."
"Really?" she said as her mother wiped away a tear.
"Really!"
"Then, I could beat up Jimmy, couldn't I?"
"Hey!" said big brother. "Too much power is not a good thing, okay?"
"Okay!" Noel was stifling the sniffles but forcing a smile at the same time.
"How do we get the display open and get your things?" asked George. There seems to be a pretty sophisticated lock on it."
"Yes," said his wife. "Even though the island looks rather deserted, it appears someone has been keeping this building - and its contents - in good condition."
"That would be me!" came a voice from behind them.
"Artemis!" cried Phyllis. A rather imposing female figure stood in the doorway behind them as another tremor shook the island. Her armor appeared to be a mixture of ancient Greek and Egyptian, with a little high-tech thrown in. At her side was a nasty looking spear.
"Okay, you know me. But just who in Hades are you?"
"Look at me, Artemis! It's me! Diana!"
"You resemble Diana, but that's impossible. She's dead. She died defending our home, such as it is these days."
"It is me!"
"You look older than Diana."
"I had no bracelets, remember? It's been twenty years. I've aged just as a mortal would."
"If you're Diana, where have you been? Why have you chosen to return now?"
"The blast from the explosion knocked me silly. I was actually suffering from amnesia until recently. I know how hard it must be for you to believe me but..."
"Who are these people with you?"
"This is my family: my husband, George; my son, Jim; my daughter, Noel. I've been going by the name of Phyllis. Phyllis Kent."
Artemis raised her right eyebrow at this. She glanced at Jimmy, who was still in his uniform, cape and all. "And I suppose you want me to believe that this is Superman."
"Yes... and no. My husband is a direct descendant of Kal-El. My son is the great-great-great-great- grandson of Superman."
"He doesn't look very super to me."
"Hey!" said Jim, "My powers only came to me yesterday!"
"Can you fly?" asked Artemis.
Jim looked at his sister and asked, "Why does everybody ask me that? What is it about this flying thing?" Then to Artemis, he replied, "No, I haven't learned how to do that, yet. But I hope it's soon so I never have to answer that question again."
"Hmmph!"
"How come no one ever asks me to change the course of mighty rivers or something easy like that?"
"Artemis, listen to me!" implored Phyllis. "The Earth is in great danger of exploding! Jimmy and I and another Kryptonian..."
"Another Kryptonian?"
"Yes! We have a chance to stop the process that if left unchecked could rip the globe apart and kill everything on it! I know you feel the tremors that have already begun beneath us. Please, Artemis! Unlock the display and let me have my bracelets - and the power - to help save the Earth from destruction."
"I don't know for sure that you are Diana, but you certainly talk like her. All right, I'll take a chance. I'll let you wear the bracelets. If you are Diana, I'll know it immediately. If you aren't, they will do you no good at all, and I will make you pay for disturbing our shrine."
Artemis produced a remote keypad from a pocket in her armor and pressed out a code. The display case opened obediently and she handed the bracelets to Phyllis. "I have been following the news of the quakes. I sincerely hope you are who you say you are, for if you are not then we are all surely doomed."
Phyllis held the bracelets in her hands and just stared at them for a moment. She looked as if she was saying a silent prayer or two, then she shackled the bracelets about her wrists. In that instant, there was a change in her that was both imperceptible yet undeniable. There were no lightning bolts from the heavens nor sounds of a chorus, but her family would swear later that they heard both. Her physical appearance remained unchanged, yet she seemed to be recharged with the drive and spirit of youth. She had only a flash of time to savor this feeling however, for Artemis suddenly attacked with a vengeance!
Swinging the spear over and down, she attempted to smash Phyllis' head. In one motion, Phyllis caught the end of the spear with her right hand as it was coming down, redirected it to miss her yet continued the motion. When it was past her, she turned her back to Artemis and grabbed the other end of the spear in her left hand. With a mighty heave, she went to one knee and pulled the spear – and Artemis - over her head, flinging her fifteen feet away.
Artemis got up quickly with fire in her eyes, and she appeared to be readying for a counter-attack. But those same eyes softened right away as the truth sank in. Diana, the princess had returned to Paradise Island!