Foreword: sorry for the three-month delay, guys. But, that's partly because I would have felt awfully exploitative, posting a new chapter any sooner after Leonard Nimoy's death. So, naturally, the rest of this story will be dedicated to him. May the rest of his family live as long and prosperously as he did.
Chapter 7.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
(FOUR YEARS EARLIER)
"John Henry Irons?"
The tall African-American man in question instantly woke up at hearing his name whispered so harshly in his right ear. But, even as he sprang out of bed and landed in a crouch, he could see nothing in the darkness. So, he carefully reached out his right hand towards the lamp on the night stand to the left of his bed.
"I would prefer it if you left that light off," the mysterious whisperer now spoke again.
"Who are you?" demanded the ex-weapons designer. "Show yourself!"
"In Gotham City," replied the Dark Knight: ". . .I'm called the Batman. And, I understand you're locally known, out here, as Steel."
Irons stood up to his full height: "How'd you know that?"
"Last month, the so-called 'freeze ray' developed by one Victor Fries was removed from GCPD custody by a man who represented himself as being an ATF agent.* He claimed he was taking it away for 'safe and orderly' disposal at their leading East Coast facility for such. But, I checked. And, the freeze ray never arrived there! Nor does the ATF have any record of an agent by the name of. . .Nathaniel Burke."
Irons clenched both of his hands into fists. Even though he was now dead, Burke's profiteering legacy was still finding a way to haunt him!
"If you know about me," he replied: ". . .then you know what happened to him."
"Yes. But, I still don't know what happened to the freeze ray (which, as I'm sure you're already aware, was really just a dispenser of laser-guided liquid oxygen)! And, as you have more contacts out here than I do, I would deeply appreciate it if you could let me know if you hear anything from them about that."
"Assuming I do," said Irons: ". . .how do I get word to you?"
"Have your colleague, Ms. Sparks, make a donation to the Wayne Foundation in the amount of $100.01. I'll then contact you on this disposable cell phone."
The Batman handed over relatively small rectangular object that resembled a cross between a transistor radio and a juvenile walkie-talkie. Following which, the former left just as soundlessly as he had arrived! Two weeks after that, the Dark Knight was informed about a couple dozen 'cryo-static guns' that had been reverse-engineered from the missing prototype.
Reverse-engineered on the orders of- -and subsequently shipped westward to- -one Peter B. Keyes; U.S. Air Force Intelligence.
LANGLEY, VIRGINIA
LABOR DAY, 1997
(11:59 P.M./EDT)
Like a lot of other first-generation CIA agents, Larry Lance had served in World War II as a spy/commando for the OSS (Office of Strategic Services). But, after he was laid off by the Company during the Carter Presidency, he used his skills to become a private detective in Midwestern Star City. There, he met and eventually married (after arranging for her defection from the Soviet Union) Lorelei Circe. A metahuman KGB agent code-named 'Siren'! And the daughter they brought into the world ultimately grew up to follow in both her parents' covert footsteps. . .
. . .as Carolyn Lance (code-name: 'Black Canary').
But, that chain of reflective thought was broken the moment Carolyn's visitor announced himself.
"Do you have the file?"
She nodded; handing over the flash drive in her right hand. Whereupon, the Dark Knight inserted it into a bat-shaped palm pilot in his left hand. What unscrambled itself on the small glass screen before him almost made his eyebrows arch in total surprise.
"They seriously thought they could take this thing alive? ? ?"
"So Keyes convinced them," Carolyn whispered in reply.
"If I wanted to get Lt. Harrigan's take on what happened, where would I find him?"
Even in the near-total darkness of the area of the parking garage where they were meeting, Batman could see her frown.
"UCLA Medical Center. The radioactive dust they used as part of the slaughterhouse trap wasn't completely water-logged by the sprinkler system."
GOTHAM CITY (48 HOURS LATER)
"An alien headhunter, Master Bruce?!" exclaimed Alfred with understandable incredulity.
The Batman nodded as he finished uploading the contents of the flash drive to the Batcave's main frame computer.
"The Cold War has been over for seven years," he added. "And, yet, Uncle Sam seems intent on starting a whole new arms race. In fact, you want to know what I find most troubling about 'Project: Wild Hunt', Alfred? The fact that, if A-2 had succeeded in capturing this 'Predator', he would have been confined at the same facility that mass produced those duplicate cryo-guns. Namely; Lexcorp of Metropolis!"
tbc
