Terror of
the
Chapter
1.
Introduction
by Skytower
"Hello?"
"Diana..." the rest of the words were drowned out in what Diana recognized
as gunfire.
"Etta?" Diana asked, recognizing the voice on the other end of the
phone as Etta Candy.
"Miss Syn is in San Fransisco..." Etta's voice was again drowned out
by gunfire. For a moment there was complete silence, and when Etta's voice
did come back, Diana only caught one word in three. "Sisters... Doctor...
Kidnapped.... Warn... Wonder Woman... blood...Have to..."
Etta's voice cut off completely and Diana jiggled the
receiver.
"Operator." Diana called.
"Operator." A bored sounding voice came over the reciever.
"This is Yeoman Prince, War Department, where did that call come
from?"
"Yes sir! Yeoman Prince!" the operator snapped, all boredom gone from
her voice. "It was relayed to this office from somewhere in
California."
"Thank you." Diana said, hanging up the phone.
The picture showed a small Asian woman in a black dress with a pearl
necklace and a diamond bracelet. She was standing with Charlie Chaplin and
Myrna Loy.
"Her real name is Myaukia MacGuire." Steve said reading over the
intelligence that had come with the folder. They were in Wonder Woman's invisible
plane speeding toward the west coast. Diana had only taken a few minutes
to decide on a course of action after the phone call. If Etta had just been
in trouble, she would have gone alone, but Etta had mentioned Miss Syn. Myaukia
MacGuire had spent the years before the war dancing on both sides of the
law, at home with the rackets and Hollywood royalty. Even after it had started,
she had played both sides carefully against each other. Now it wasn't certain
if she was with or against the allies. Oriental Mission, the British intelligence
operation for Eastern Asia had her classified as an informant. But the OM
was notoriously unreliable. Something that affected the security of the allies
needed more than just Wonder Woman. Or at least that is what Diana told herself.
Secretly she just liked being alone with Steve.
"Age 23, Asian of mixed descent, heir to the MacGuire fortune, born
in Honk Kong, raised in England and Europe and Japan, a child prodigy, has
a dozen degrees in science, mathematics... a British newspaper called her
the most brilliant woman of the age. She holds fifteen
patents."
"But she's been banned from America." Wonder Woman
said.
"Lost her medical license and was deported in 1940 due to her involvement
with some insane asylum in Los Angeles." Steve said.
"What was Etta doing in San Fransisco?" Diana wondered again. "She
said she was going to visit her mother in New Jersy."
"I don't know, but she used her army intelligence ID to hitch a ride
with a transport plane four days ago. General Blankenship wasn't too
happy."
"Etta must have had a good reason." Diana said.
Steve was silent on that and Diana was left to her own thoughts. She
spared a glance at the man in the seat beside her. Steve Trevor was tall
with dark hair and blue eyes. He had the natural grace of an athlete, and
was as handsome a man who had ever lived. Diana loved him with all her heart,
and she was sure he loved Wonder Woman. The trouble was, he did not know
that the woman seated in the pilot's seat was both Wonder Woman and Diana
Prince. He had sometimes remarked on a physical resemblance between the two
of them, but never anything beyond that. As Wonder Woman, Diana wore a red
and gold bustier with blue swim trunks sprinkled liberally with stars. Bellow
the eagle on her chest was the golden belt of strength and golden lasso of
truth. As handsome as Steve was, Wonder Woman was almost the ideal woman.
She was taller than he was, with a fully developed body. As Diana Prince,
Wonder Woman wore large glasses, slumped, bound her breast and tied her long
black hair behind her in a bun. The disguise was basic, but it served, though
sometimes Diana hated that it served. As Wonder Woman, Steve loved her...as
Diana Prince, she was almost office furniture. That was part of his attitude,
indeed the attitude of most men toward most women, and Diana was only beginning
to see changes in that attitude. American society was changing with more
and more women going to work, but there still remained many die-hards, and
sometimes Diana wondered if Steve wasn't one of them.
"Why would Miss Syn be in San Fransisco." Diana asked to pull her
mind from the direction it had been going in.
"With someone like her, it's hard to say." Steve said. "OSS thinks
she might be involved with the Axis, but the British swear she's one of their
agents. It could be that she's a double agent."
"Or an independent." Diana said.
"Well if we find her, and she is working for the British, I'm not
sure what we can do." Steve said.
"Diana said that there was gunfire and that Etta sounded almost angry
over the phone. And she specifically mentioned me." Wonder Woman said. "If
we find Miss Syn, I intend to get answers."
"Be careful with your lasso." Steve cautioned. "Remember, the fewer
people who know what it can do, the better."
Wonder Woman nodded. Once bound with her lasso the person had to do
whatever he or she was ordered, and they could tell nothing but the truth.
It would work on anyone, including Wonder Woman. That weakness had nearly
cost Diana her life a few times, her freedom many times, and her virginity.
Few knew about the lasso, and Diana meant to keep it that
way.
At the airport, they were met by Captain Aron Greenburg, a tall thin
man with brown thinning hair and thin glasses. He hustled them into a waiting
car and it sped off almost before he was through with introductions. A thick
fog that was blanketing the city hindered the car.
"We sighted Miss Syn on the docks." The Captain said. "In the warehouse
district. We got it cordoned off ,but some guy called out that he has hostages
and if we try to storm the place he'll shoot them."
"Did he say who the hostages are?"
"Nope, just threw out a major's uniform coat."
Minutes later, they came to a dark set of buildings that slumped next
to a set of rotting piers. Streetlights barely gave enough light to see the
buildings, and shadows moved frequently. A young sergeant met their car,
but was stunned by Wonder Woman's appearance and it took them a few seconds
to snap him out of it.
"They crashed out sir." He said trying hard not to look at Diana's
chest. "While we were trying to keep them from scattering the top of the
roof opened up and a damn auto-gyro took off. We couldn't get a shot at it
through the fog."
"Is there anyone left in the warehouse?" Diana asked.
"No ma'am." The sergeant said stuttering. Try as he might he, was
not able to take his eyes off of her. "There's something else major, what
we fought... well it weren't human."
"Explain that." The captain snapped.
"You better see for yourself sir."
The corpse was riddled with bullet holes. The creature had stood nearly
five feet tall and was wearing a simple grey coverall. But it wasn't human.
Dark fur covered its body and the face was more ape than human. Fangs could
be seen in the half open mouth ,and above the deep set eyes was an incredibly
thick bone that was ridged with spines. The hands were human ,but the ends
of the fingers were sharp claws.
"What is it?" the Captain asked.
"I have no idea." Steve said. "Wonder Woman have you ever seen anything
like this?"
Diana bent down to take a closer look at the creature.
"Never. Not even in the myths of my people."
"It was strong." The private said. "Even after all that it threw us
around like dolls. If there had been more than one, I don't think we could've
beaten it."
"What about the plane?" Diana said.
"From here ma'am." The sergeant said leading them into another room.
This one was a mini-factory with lathe presses, die and casting equipment
and over to one side was a small chemical laboratory set up. The top of the
room slid on enormous tracks.
"What was going on here?" the Captain asked.
"I don't know." Steve said. "But I don't want anyone knowing about
it, especially the corpse in there. Captain I want a complete lock down on
this place, no one gets in or out and no press. I don't want to hear about
this in anything but an official report."
"Yes sir."
The captain started to bark orders, and Steve went over to Wonder
Woman who was inspecting the roof door.
"I feel like we're in an episode of the Shadow or Buck Rodgers." Steve
said.
"Do think that creature came from outer space?" Diana
asked.
"I don't know what to think. Let's hope we can find out a bit more
once we search this place."
"I don't think we will." Wonder Woman said. "From the looks of this
building, this has been a spy center for years. Whoever operated here set
it up to get out in a hurry if they were trapped."
"How did Etta find out about this place?" Steve asked. "Why didn't
she call us the minute she did?"
Diana just looked at the chamber and had no answer for
him.
A week later they still had very few answers. A full team of top scientist
from the war department and FBI had gone over the warehouse from top to bottom.
The chemical lab set up was a complete mystery, even to several chemistry
professors. The best they could come up with was that it was some sort of
distilling process, but beyond that they were puzzled. The warehouse itself
was owned by an old woman in Utah who was living in an insane asylum. She
could barely recall what day it was. The beat cop didn't think the place
was used at all. He had never seen anyone going in or out of it. That mystery
was solved when they found a tunnel leading into the sewers.
The corpse of the monkey man was another puzzling matter. The doctors
reported that the creature was related to chimps, but again past that they
were stumped. The creature scared them though. One was so angry at the "Hoax"
that he had to be threatened with an anti-war jail term when he threatened
to go to the press.
The only clue they did find was in one of the furnaces. The papers
had been burnt in a hurry and the FBI crime lab was able to reconstruct a
map showing a section of the Pacific Ocean. Five islands were marked off
with similar symbols, but no one could guess what those symbols were. The
islands themselves were former French colonies that had been abandoned due
to volcano activity.
"Have to admit this is the perfect place to hide." Steve said as he
and Wonder Woman searched the third island on the chart. They had landed
on the island just before dawn, and Wonder Woman had sent her invisible plane
to circle until she mentally called for it. She still wore her costume ,but
Steve had changed to a pair of tough denim pants and shirt. Still, even with
the lotions he had brought the insects attacked his face and hands mercilessly.
He slapped at another one. "I can't think of anyone who would want to come
here."
"Maybe an entomologist." Diana said with a quick smile. Steve smiled
back.
They kept going and Diana's admiration for Steve grew as it had been
growing ever since they came to the islands. With her powers Wonder Woman
did not sweat, the insects did not bother her at all and several times poisonous
snakes had attacked her to no avail. Steve had none of her advantages but
his attitude had not soured ,and while he marveled at her strength he wasn't
jealous of it. Not that the ultra-humid weather and hot climate wasn't bothering
her. They ate no hot food and slept on the ground. Quite a few times Diana
had woken up to find a colony of insects making a nest in her cleavage. At
the end of many days, Diana longed for nothing more than a hot bath and the
radio back in her apartment.
"Wait." Steve said and Diana froze.
"Where?"
"Up on that hill, just to the left of that rocky
outcropping."
Diana looked but saw nothing. He could be wrong, they had both been
fooled a couple of times. Still they waited and a few minutes later she saw
a small flash of reflected sunlight.
"Sentry?" she asked.
"Not sure." Steve said, taking a pair of binoculars out of his pack.
He looked and after a few minutes handed them to her. "Sentry alright. This
is the place."
Diana looked and after a few minutes saw another one of the monkey-men
pass out of a cave in the mountains and then go back in. He was wearing a
grey tunic.
"Natural volcanic tunnels." Steve said. "A ready made
base."
"But no sign of a dock or landing strip." Diana said. "What do you
think, should we try to get past him tonight?"
"Let's do a little more scouting first." Steve said. "We can cut north
along the cliff line and see if there is a way to climb up from there. He
shouldn't be able to see us."
"Right."
The jungle merged gradually into a cliff face as they moved further
north. Diana and Steve kept an eye on the sentry, but once they were past
a certain point they were out of his line of sight. Wonder Woman and Steve
made their way along the bottom of cliffs, getting sprayed by the waves.
Wonder Woman was edging along a thin ledge and feeling her away along the
rocks when suddenly there was nothing there. Holding on her one hand for
balance, she looked around. After a moment of surprise she motioned Steve
to follow and they entered the mouth of a giant cave.
"No wonder we didn't see it." Diana said.
The cave was enormous, going as far back into the mountain as they
could see. The mouth of the cave was a large steeple, the top half of which
was covered by a false wall. The wall formed a large door that measured nearly
30 feet high.
"At high tide with that door closed this place is invisible." Steve
said.
They looked around the cave and saw a pier at which was moored a submarine
and a yacht. Beyond the pier, beached, were the remains of an old sailing
ship. Beyond both was a rise that they could not see above.
"It's a regular pirates bay." Steve said. "Eroyl Flynn would love
it in here."
Wading into the water ,they moved further into the cave and crept
onto the beach. There were no sentries in sight human or
otherwise.
Diana had thought she was beyond surprise, but the next sight proved
her wrong. As they peered over the rise they saw a chamber that made the
rest of the cave look small. In the chamber was a small city. Built of stone
that looked like marble and granite, the city was laid out in precise blocks.
Streets and houses were regular sizes. The houses were elegant and had elaborate
carvings on them. They all formed a semi-circle that vanished into the shadows
of the chamber. The city was tilted at an angle, as if it were sliding into
the shadows. Only a quarter of it was visible, the rest was buried under
sand or covered with volcanic rock. Light came from a hundred electric light
bulbs that hung from the ceiling. Near the city was a set of three old sailing
ships that had been beached. The ships had been built upon, turning them
into a large triangularly shaped wooden fortress. Running along the far end
of the chamber was a small stream that emptied into the chamber they were
in.
"My god!" Steve whispered.
"Suffering Sapho!" Wonder Woman said nearly at the same
time.
"What have we found?" Steve asked.
"I don't know." Wonder Woman said. "I don't recognize the markings
on any of those buildings."
"Incredible!" he swore handing her the binoculars. "Take a look at
that submarine."
"It's a U-boat..." Diana started and then her voice died as she saw
what was attached to the conning tower.
A crane had been fitted to the conning tower of the U-boat and from
it a large cage was suspended above the water. In the cage was a crowd of
the monkey men. They huddled in the center, clinging to each other and the
top of the cage. A man in a dark uniform stood on the tower and every so
often snapped a whip at them.
"If Etta's here she's in more trouble than we thought." Diana
said.
"This is beyond Etta." Steve said. "We have to find out what is going
on here and report
it."
"Look
over there." Wonder Woman said pointing to their left. A path followed the
edge of the cave and vanished into the rocks. "Let's go down that way and
see if we get a closer look."
"Right."
Steve put the binoculars away and pulled his gun, checking it silently
to make sure it was ready to fire. Then, with Wonder Woman leading, they
edged over to the path and started down it.
They had only gone a few yards down the path when Wonder Woman held
up her hand. Steve stopped and looked at the ground she was pointing at.
A thin line, barely discernable in the dim light ran across the
path.
"Looks like they aren't as careless as we'd like." Steve
said.
"Why have this here and no sentry?" Wonder Woman
asked.
"They had one on the cliff." Steve agreed. "This place has more mysteries
than "I love a mystery".
"Hang on." Wonder Woman said gathering him into her arms. "It goes
about five feet."
She gathered herself and launched them both into the air and over
the trap. They landed on the other side and Wonder Woman put him
down.
"You are fun to travel with." Steve said with a
smile.
"Anytime." She answered his smile with her own.
They moved down the path silently until they heard the sound of a
choked scream and a German voice cursing mixed in with growls of rage and
pain. Taking the path in a run they came around a corner and witnessed the
end of a fight.
The monkey man was heavily wounded. Two German sailors held his arms
while a third hit him again and again in the face. A woman with blonde hair
and a ragged robe staggered up from the ground and threw herself at one of
the sailors. She got slapped down for her efforts but her distraction gave
the monkey man enough time to free one arm. With a savage thrust he took
out the throat of his tormenter. The other sailor was thrown into the wall,
and they heard his neck crunch as his head impacted into the jagged rocks.
Wonder Woman was moving in the moments it had taken the two men to
die, but she was too late. The remaining sailor had pulled a knife and thrust
it into the monkey man's chest even as the monkey man grabbed his killer's
throat and snapped his neck. Wonder Woman halted mere steps from the
combatants.
"Sim..." the blonde woman gasped crawling over to the monkey man.
She was crying and Wonder Woman pulled the German sailor off of the monkey
man.
Steve came over to stand beside her and they let the woman have a
few minutes of grieve before Wonder Woman bent down.
"I'm sorry." She said putting her hand on the woman's
shoulder.
"Thank you." She said looking up at Wonder Woman. "It's stupid of
me really. I never loved him. I never knew him long enough to love him."
She stood and both Wonder Woman and Steve were shocked as the woman put her
hand over her enlarged womb. "But I guess a woman really should cry for the
father of her child."
"You're pregnant by that thing?" Steve demanded taking a step back
from her.
"I am major." She said giving him a look of both scorn and understanding.
"HIS name was Sim. I am Lady Cynthia
Throckbottom-Rockingham."
"I'm Major Steve Trever." Steve said coming toward her again. "This
is Wonder Woman. I'm sorry if that came out wrong."
"It's quite alright." She said pulling herself together. "It's more
charitable than the reaction I would have once had."
"What is going on here?" Wonder Woman asked.
"I can't tell you here." Lady Cynthia said. She started down the path.
"There might be other patrols. Come, I know someplace
secret."
It took only a few minutes for Lady Cynthia to lead them down the
path and into a tunnel. They were in a part of the city that had not been
fully buried or fully excavated. The streets seemed full of ghosts to Diana,
and she thought for a moment of Tartarus and the city of the dead. But even
through the rocks and the ruin of the city, she could tell it had been a
beautiful place once.
Lady Cynthia led them through a small doorway and into a medium sized
domed chamber. Once they were inside, she dropped a curtain over the entrance.
There was a small fire near a cot. On the walls were frescos of mythic beings,
centaurs, satyrs, demons, and some creatures Wonder Woman did not recognize.
Lady Cynthia was out of breath and went over to the cot and lay
down.
"Sorry." She said as Diana gave her a drink from her canteen. "But
I'm not as fast as I should be."
Cynthia took a long drink and then leaned back against the wall. In
the torchlight they could tell she had grown pale.
"I suppose you're wondering how I got into this situation?" she
asked.
"There's a lot of things I'm wondering." Steve said.
"But if you'd like we can start with that." Wonder Woman said sitting
next to her. She felt that Cynthia needed to talk.
"I was caught in Hong Kong when the Japanese overran the city." Cynthia
said. "I don't know what you've heard, but I can tell you the Japs were not
a kind group of people. Especially if you were occidental. One night I was
going to nightclubs and looking after my family affairs, the next day the
nightclubs were burning and so was my house. I hid out in a cellar for days."
She faltered and took another drink from the canteen. "I could look out,
there was a window, and I watched as my friends were stripped and ran naked
through the streets, raped... A Japanese officer staked them out in their
own yards and invited people passing by to rape them."
She stopped and pulled herself into a sitting position. Cynthia's
voice took on a hollow, reflective tone.
"We had no idea... Well we should have... but to be British in Hong
Kong was to be above those people. We were English after all, we were the
ones in charge. We never dreamed that the Japs would challenge us. I certainly
never imagined what they would do, what the dirty yellow bast..." she caught
herself and stopped for a moment. "What the Japs were capable of."
"The Japs think their destiny is control of the Asian world." Steve
said. "To them ,whites are fools or weak cowards."
"I hid out for a week." Cynthia said. "Some of my servants were still
loyal, at least for a week. Then they began ask for payment. Piece by piece
I gave them what I had. The more I gave, the more they demanded. It was quite
a shock to realize that the woman who had been cleaning my underwear for
years should harbor some resentment toward me. But that's the way it always
is I suppose. I have learned that no matter how benevolent a master is, he
is still a master. Given that I've forgiven her, or I would if I hadn't shot
her."
Lady Cynthia was looking into the fire and her voice had taken on
an odd detached tone.
"She never knew I had the gun, when she came at me with knife. She
looked so shocked..."
"How did you get out of Hong Kong?" Diana asked
gently.
"Well I had nothing left really. Nothing but the dress I was wearing
and the body in it. The dress was worthless, but the body..." she drew her
robe more closely to her body. "I have a good body you know, you can't tell
just now, but it's quite attractive."
"Well when I had nothing else but the dress I was wearing ,I used my body
to book passage on a steamer bound for Europe. But Miss Syn made the captain
a better offer, and I ended up here."
"So this is Miss Syn's base." Steve said.
"Yes." Lady Cynthia said. "I knew her, before the war. She used to
go to the same club as I. When she took me off the steamer she told me that
when we were equals she was called "Myaukia", but now that I was her property
she was Miss Syn."
She was silent and Diana put her arms around the other
woman.
"You know I was worth only 200 pounds to her?" Cynthia gave a dry
and bitter laugh.
"How long have you been here?" Steve asked.
"Months." Cynthia said. "For the first week it wasn't terribly bad.
There was an endless series of physical examinations... but never understood
why. I saw the monkey men of course, but I never... could never have dreamed
what was going to happen. Then one day instead of an exam she gave me something
to drink. Five minutes later I was randy enough bounce bottom with anything
still breathing. She threw me into a room with Sim and..." She patted her
stomach.
"Why?" Diana wondered.
"Because I'm upper crust." Lady Cynthia laughed. "Miss Syn has been
doing this for years, but only with street trash. Girls who wouldn't be missed.
But she wanted to see if hereditary nobility would produce a better breed
of monkey men. She had an Italian countess, a Russian Duchess, a member of
the Chinese royal family... I was just the latest... I think the word she
used was: breeder."
"She's mad." Steve said.
"Yes, I rather got that impression." Cynthia said dryly. "But now
things have gotten rather worse."
"Because of the child?" Diana asked.
"No. Because one week ago a German submarine showed up and took over.
They've locked her up, caged her monkey men and right now they are questioning
her on her breeding process. Sim and I managed to listen in to a few sailors.
In a years time the allies are going to be facing armies of monkey men."
"A year?" Steve asked.
"Miss Syn has learned to control their aging." Cynthia said. "I have
seen them grow from child to adult just in the time I've been
here."
"We can't let the nazi's succeed." Diana said. "And Miss Syn must
be punished for what she has done."
"You can't hurt her." Lady Cynthia said. "Or take her away from
here."
"Why not?" Steve asked. "Don't you think she belongs in
prison?"
"Prison?" Cynthia barked. "She bloody well belongs in Dante's
inferno!"
The outburst drained her and she clutched at her belly. She looked
at them pleadingly.
"But look at me major, I'm pregnant! I've seen films of these births,
she forced me too so I'd be prepared. If she doesn't deliver my child he
will rip his way out of my body."
Wonder Woman gasped in horror.
"I'm due soon." Lady Cynthia said. "A matter of weeks. Maybe days."
She gave them a small English smile. "I don't know how I'm ever going to
phrase the birth announcement in the Times."
"What sort of woman is she?" Diana asked.
"The sort that brought down Sampson and caused the Trojan's to loose
their city." Lady Cynthia said her voice once more gaining an lunatic edge.
"She's Anne Boylein, Morgan LeFay, Lillith...She's a demoness in a yellow
skin!" she sagged in defeat both physical and mental. "But she's my only
hope."
Diana thought for a moment. There was no way even the healers of her
people could handle the type of delivery lady Cynthia described. Though an
island of women the Amazon's had not had a human birth to deal with in thousands
of years.
"She's right Steve." Diana said. "We have to help Miss Syn, at least
until Lady Cynthia's baby is born."
After a long pause Steve nodded.
"How many nazi's are we dealing with?" he asked Lady
Cynthia?
"Not
counting the ones Sim killed I've seen at least 20."
"They all came by U-boat?" Steve asked.
"Yes. Miss Syn came by yaht in the morning and in the night the U-boat
came in and the men attacked. The monkey-men were caught off guard and they
used gas bombs. Sim managed to get me away." She smiled. "He wasn't human,
and I used to laugh when he tried to be a gentlemen. I hated him... but I
loved him these past few days... I almost kissed him this morning. He wanted
me to, but I just couldn't. Even if he had brought me the first good food
I'd had in two days. He knew I hated him, but he was determined to win me
over... He was just so damn... polite about it! He was more of a gentlemen
than many a man I've met in London."
Tears ran down her face and Diana held the woman for a few
minutes.
"It's alright." Lady Cynthia said pulling back from her. "He will
live on in his son."
Steve started to say something but stopped himself ,and Diana knew
why. The woman was barely holding herself together, asking her if she could
love a son that wasn't completely human, a son that would never be accepted
by society, wasn't the thing to do just then.
"Did Miss Syn bring anyone else with her on the yacht?" Diana
asked.
"Yes. A man and two women."
"Was one of the women medium sized with curly brown hair?" Steve
asked.
"Yes."
"Etta." Diana said.
"A friend of yours?" Lady Cynthia said.
"Yes." Steve said. "She's the one we came looking for. Wonder Woman
,you don't suppose Miss Syn forced Etta..."
"No." Lady Cynthia said. "She examines you thoroughly before she gives
you to one of them." Lady Cynthia said.
"Where is she being held?" Diana asked.
"In one of the pirate ships." Lady Cynthia said. "Sim was able to
talk to her for a few minutes yesterday. She told him to free the other monkey
men and lead the revolt. We were going to try when the sailors attacked
us."
She laughed and again there was a hysterical edge to her laughter
that worried Diana.
"Do you know he actually bargained for my freedom? He nobly went against
her and wouldn't agree too anything until she gave her word to let me go
free. And I still wouldn't even kiss him..."
"I'll make the same bargain then." Diana said forcefully. "Steve will
go out to the U-boat and wait for my signal. If she doesn't agree to help
you and release all her captives and turn herself into the allies for trial,
then Steve will use the U-boat's radio to summon the U.S.
Navy."
"I can scuttle the sub so that no one will get away." Steve
said.
"I'll show you where she's being held." Lady Cynthia said getting
up. "There's a hidden way through the city to a river that empties out into
the cavern. You can get to the sub from there too."
Lady Cynthia gasped in pain and stumbled. She would have fallen if
Diana hadn't grabbed her.
"Just tell us." Diana said.
"No!" Cynthia cursed and Diana could see the woman will herself to
stand. "I have to show you. There are too many passages to get lost in."
"Alright." Steve said. "But once the fighting starts you head for
cover."
"I assure you major I am not in the mood for battle. But if anything
should happen to me promise me something?"
"Anything." Diana said.
"Take Sim and I back to England. Bury us in the family plot. Side
by side. He's earned more from me than that, but that's all I have left to
give him."
"I give you my word." Diana said.
They emerged from the tunnels at a higher level than when they went
in. Diana and Steve stared for a moment at the city and the bay. There was
a small stream that traveled along the wall and emptied into bay just a few
yards away from the sub. A small path followed the stream. Shadows thrown
by the lights hid most of it.
With Diana carrying Lady Cynthia, they walked carefully down the path.
They stopped just as the rocks leveled off across from the ships. With a
nod to Wonder Woman, Steve made his way further down the
stream.
He was gone only a few moments when Lady Cynthia gasped in pain and
sank to the ground.
"I seem to be a bit off in my sums." She said panting. "Never was
terribly good in school."
"Wait here." Diana said. "I'll get Miss Syn back as soon as I
can."
"Don't worry about me." Lady Cynthia said. Another shot of pain twisted
her face. "No, that's rubbish, worry a lot about me, get her here." She winced
in pain and then favored Diana with a white lipped smile. "I'm not doing
the English reputation of stoicism very much good am I?"
"You are as brave as any warrior I have fought with." Diana said kissing
her forehead. "Be strong, I will not abandon you."
"Jolly good." Lady Cynthia said. "Miss Syn is in the hold of the ship
closest too us. There's a small hole above the copper."
Wonder Woman left her and with two great leaps was at the side of
the boat. She followed the green line of the ships copper bottom until she
came to a small hole.
"Miss Syn." Diana whispered.
After a moment she saw a movement and an eye appeared at the
hole.
"Do I know you?"
The voice was calm, almost tranquil and very polite.
"We don't have much time." Wonder Woman said. "Do I have your word
that if I release you and help you gain control of this place that you will
help those women who are pregnant, free all your captives, and turn yourself
over to the allies for trial?"
"That is a lot to ask considering we haven't really been introduced."
Miss Syn said.
"Do I have your word?" Wonder Woman repeated sternly.
"You have my word." Miss Syn said. "But is my word trustworthy? Is
your word trustworthy?"
"An honorable persons word is their bond." Diana said picking up a
rock. "Now stand back."
With all her strength Diana threw the rock across the bay and into
the wall. It whistled as it traveled and made a sound like a gun shot when
it hit the wall. Then she drew her arm back and punched through the wooded
hull of the beached vessel. Taking hold of the wood she ripped a four foot
section out of the hull.
The room revealed through the breach was small enough to be a closet.
Miss Syn stood against the wall, her wrist chained to a hook above her. She
was completely nude and her body bore the marks of whips and fist.
"Bonds can be literal as well as figurative." She said pleasantly.
"I am Myaukia MacGuire and I am honored to meet you Wonder
Woman."
"We don't have time for introductions." Wonder Woman said. She reached
up and snapped the chains and then tore the metal from Miss Syn's
wrist.
"Impressive." Miss Syn said looking up at her.
From outside they started to hear gunfire. Miss Syn reached down and
picked up a tattered blanket. She wrapped it around herself just as the door
opened. A startled guard looked in and Wonder Woman grabbed him and threw
him through the opening she had made in the hull. He hit the far wall of
the cave and fell into the stream.
They stepped out onto the sand as two monkey men ran around the ships.
They each carried a gun. They stopped short at the sight of Miss Syn and
she snapped orders at them.
"Kill the invaders, free your brothers." Miss Syn said her voice full
of iron.
"The one who freed us?" one of them asked.
"He's with me." Diana said.
"An ally, treat him as one of us." Miss Syn said.
Without any sign of concurrence, the monkey men turned and ran back
the way they had come. Lady Cynthia's scream filled the cavern rising above
the noise of the nascent battle.
"Cynthia?" Miss Syn asked.
"Come." Wonder Woman said ,running to where she had left the English
woman.
Lady Cynthia was as white as a pearl when Wonder Woman reached her.
Pain racked her face and her hands bled where they had clutched the rocks.
Miss Syn bent down and opened Cynthia's robe. The expression on her face
was of concentration, but not concern. She might have been studying a
mathematical problem.
"We must get her to hospital." Miss Syn said.
"Where?" Wonder Woman asked picking the woman up.
"Follow me." Miss Syn said heading toward the ruined
city.
They emerged from behind the ships into a battle of chaos. The monkey
men did not have many weapons, but they threw themselves into the battle
with abandon. No thought was given to safety or danger. As a result the Germans
were simply being overrun. A German might fire until his gun was empty and
still be faced with five monkey men. In a one to one contest there was no
doubt as to who would win.
They ran up a short path and into a small tin Quonset hut. Painted
black the place was nearly invisible against the rock. With Miss Syn leading
the way, they dashed down a central corridor and into a large room.
"Wonder Woman?"
Diana turned from putting Cynthia down on a medical table and looked
back through the passage they had come through. On either side was a set
of barred doors. From one of them she could see Etta Candy.
"Etta?" Diana said.
"Free them all." Miss Syn ordered. She threw Diana a set of keys.
"We will need to set up a full hospital to deal with the wounded."
Lady Cynthia screamed as Miss Syn tore off her tattered blanket and
put on a lab coat.
"Wonder Woman, do you know what that woman has been doing here?" Etta
demanded. Behind her, Diana could see two other people in the cell. One was
a tall man with thick brown hair. The other looked so much like Etta it had
to be her sister.
"I know, but right now we need to help her." Wonder Woman said opening
the cell door. "That woman in there is having a child, and Miss Syn is the
only one who can deliver it safely."
Lady Cynthia screamed in pain.
"I can help." The man said starting toward the cell door. "I'm a
doctor."
"Sid!" the other woman shouted. "I don't want you near that slant
eye bitch again!"
"I can't let that woman die!" Sid snapped.
"Let him go Abby!" Etta snapped. "Nothing will happen in an operating
room!"
"She's right." Wonder Woman said.
"Go then damn you both." Abby said.
Sid eased past both of them and into the other room.
"Etta we need to set up some sort of medical center." Diana said.
"Steve and the monkey men are fighting the Germans and they'll be wounded
to tend too."
"Behind that door is an operating room." Etta said pointing to the
other door.
"You set things up." Diana said. "I'll go outside and
help."
"Come on Abby." Etta said.
Etta's sister moved to help her. Etta went to a door and opened it
revealing a closet full of medical supplies.
Praying Lady Cynthia would
live Diana ran toward the exit and the sounds of battle.
...End chapter one.