Chasing Lightning
1
Cory Chase looked out on Cutter Bay from the wheel of his sloop. He had a slip he docked in on the piers pushing into the protected harbor. He had been at sea a few months, and had returned because of a message from a man named Martin Kale.
Kale wanted to meet him over a letter he had been holding for a client. He wanted to deliver the letter as soon as he could now that the conditions had been met. The client, Oliver Hunt, had recently died of a stroke. Most of his belongings had been donated to museums and collections across the country already.
Kale's last duty to Hunt was to hand over the envelope and its contents to Chase. To that end, he had been scouring cities from one end of the country to the other until he found Chase's home port. Then a radio call was sent out to the sailor.
Chase had never heard of Oliver Hunt. He had no idea what could have been left behind for him.
He had a feeling he didn't want to know either.
2
Wally Garret played both sides of a ping pong match. It was an old trick he had learned from his father. Anyone watching would see two men smacking the white ball back and forth. The two men would just be twins with the same clothes on.
Wally caught the ball as he checked his watch. He put the ball and paddle on the table as he walked out of the room. He had a lunch date in a few minutes.
Wally hit the shower, pulled on a clean running suit, and vanished from his apartment's door step. He appeared in front of a restaurant miles away a few seconds later. He smoothed back his hair as he waved to his date.
Jean Kelly waved back, smiling slightly.
"How can you always be late?," Jean asked, waiting by the door. "You're the fastest man alive."
"Habit," said Wally, smiling. "What's the occasion?"
"We finally located the Almagordo," Jean said.
The couple walked inside, waited to be seated in the non-smoking section, and placed their order with the waitress. Wally smiled, watching his love squirm with excitement. She had been looking for that wreck for five years.
"Gunther is trying to get funding for a dive," said Jean. "Maybe raise it if we can get enough money."
"Sounds good," Wally said. "When will you know?"
"He's talking to the head of the department," said Jean. "Hopefully we will be able to get a boat tomorrow so we can at least look at it to see how bad it is."
"Let me know when and I will go out with you," said Wally.
3
Cory Chase looked up at the front of the Carney Building, hands in the pockets of his light jacket. Martin Kale had an office in the middle of it, according to the address he had written down from the radio call.
The question of Oliver Hunt's legacy still bothered him like a nagging fishwife.
He had never met any Oliver Hunt as far as he could remember.
Chase crossed the street. He passed through the revolving door, crossed the lobby, and headed for the elevator banks. He summoned a cab, and headed for the right floor. He paused when he got off. A sign pointed him to the end of the corridor, across from an accounting firm. He crossed that space slowly.
What am I doing here?
Chase pushed the door open. His arrival was unnoticed by the receptionist until he cleared his throat. The surprised woman smiled at him slightly.
"How can I help you?," she asked.
"I'm Cory Chase," said the sailor. "I have an appointment to see Mr. Kale."
The receptionist led Chase into the inner office when Mr. Kale indicated he was ready. The office seemed spartan to the sailor. One bare desk, Mr. Kale's chair, two visitor chairs, and a lamp made up the furniture. There was no decorations, no pictures, no trophies, no books.
Chase frowned at the bareness. It wasn't what he expected.
"Thank you for coming," said Kale. "As I said in my message, Oliver Hunt left this package for you, and a letter to explain why he wanted it left to you."
"I never met Hunt," said Chase. "I don't know why he left me anything."
"He didn't explain it to me," said Kale, reaching into a desk drawer. "Mr. Hunt was a strange man. There's no telling why he picked you."
Kale handed over a box with a sealed envelope taped to its top. The box was the size of a jewelry container. It had been sealed with duct tape. Chase weighed the box in the palm of his hand before taking the envelope off and dropping it in his pocket.
Mr. Kale stood up, proving to be as wide as he was tall. He held out his hand. Chase shook it, noticing the dryness of his skin.
"Best wishes with your inheritance, Mr. Chase," Kale said, face turned down in somberness.
"Thanks," said Chase, before he turned and left the office.
Cory opened the box in the elevator. A dark ring rested in the cushion. A red jewel glittered in the middle of twelve empty settings. He took the ring out and placed it on his ring finger. The jewel glowed momentarily under the overhead light.
Cory opened the sealed envelope as the elevator headed for the ground floor. He was struck by the crabbed writing on the unlined paper.
"Dear Mr. Chase,
We have never met, and since you are reading this, we never will. The ring needed to be passed on to my next of kin. After an exhaustive search, you are my only choice. Hopefully you will be able to locate the other stones and assemble them in time. Someone will come for the ring. Do not let him, or her, have it if you value your life.
Oliver Hunt."
Cory frowned at the warning. What good was a ring with its jewels missing? If someone did come for the ring, he might just let him have the hunk of junk.
4
Wally Garret paused at the door to the Cutter Bay National Bank. Men in masks held the customers at gun point, while urging the tellers to fill up cloth sacks with money from their tills. Wally changed clothes in a second.
He had an image to maintain as the son of the city's first defender, The Blinker.
Sometimes he wondered what his life would be like if his dad had not stumbled on the accelerant that gave him his speed powers.
It sure wouldn't be as much fun.
Wally appeared in front of the robber pointing his weapon at the customers. The man registered the brief image before his submachine gun fell apart in his hands. Then the sound of breaking bone told him to go to sleep.
Wally moved across the open lobby before his first victim hit the floor. A hard shove sent the second man into the counter face first. A cupping palm slammed the man's face into the hard wood again.
The last man had a moment to register that he was alone before the barrel of his weapon slammed into his face. He dropped to the floor in surprise before he passed out.
Wally came to a stop.
"I just came by to deposit this," he said, smiling, holding a check up in his hand. "If you're busy, I can come back."
5
Cory Chase stood on the deck of his boat. The water pushed the boat side to side gently as he looked out over the ocean. Cutter Bay, and his reason for visiting, was far behind him. He glanced to his right. Another boat glided pass, riding the small surf as it beat on the boat's wide hull.
The ring on Chase's hand glowed under the morning sun as he let the boat take him where it wanted. The autopilot would take care of that. He didn't pay attention to the glow. The open sea was calling him more than the tingling in his hand and wrist.
Chase let his own craft follow the other boat, reveling in his freedom.
He had no idea his destiny had already locked in place.
Wally Garret and Jean Kelly stood amidships on Gunther Reinhold's 'SEA PRINCESS'. They noticed the smaller cruiser coasting to their left as they headed for the ALMAGORDO wreck, but their minds were on the job ahead.
Diving down to the sunken ship would start in the morning once they dropped anchor over the site. Wally and Jean would be the main divers for the expedition. Gunther was their marine archaeologist, and would evaluate their pictures and film of the sunken merchantmen.
Things should be smooth as silk.
Another team of divers would be added when something worthwhile was found. They might be able to raise the wreck with a dredge if Gunther thought it was possible.
Chase dropped anchor a mile away from the other boat. The ring on his hand itched as it glowed under the Sun. He tried to pull it off once, but it wouldn't budge.
The thing tried to tug him into the ocean water but he resisted it. There weren't any air tanks on board for him to wear in a diving expedition. He grabbed a folding chair and set up on deck with a beer and a plate of sandwiches to watch the other boat.
When he became bored with his voyeurism, he would get out the bottle of aloe vera he kept for burns and try to remove the offending jewelry again.
He wasn't in a hurry despite the discomfort.
Chase watched as the couple prepared to dive over the side of the other boat. He sipped at his can as he took a bite from his sandwich. They were under for a few minutes before surfacing. The man grabbed the woman and tossed her on deck. He clambered up the short boarding ladder on the rear of the boat. What he said was muted by distance, but Chase guessed it was something like "Get out of here," because the other boat started it's engine and raised its anchor.
A large serpentine head broke the surface of the water. It roared at the other boat, with a tooth filled maw as big as the boat itself.
You don't see something like that every day, Chase thought as he put his beer and plate down and went to the wheel of his own boat. Time to get out of here.
6
Wally Garret had led the way to the wreck on the bottom of the ocean. He and Jean had to confirm the identity of the sunken ship before they could explore it. They swam to the nearly intact stern to check the for a sign board. Jean used a small trowel to dig at the barnacles on the wood.
The buried hull shifted as Wally hovered off to one side. A cloud of debris and sand floated up and out. The decrepit wood disintegrated under the explosive movement that pushed a watery wall against the divers.
Then the elephantine head appeared out of the obscuring mist. Wide yellow eyes glared at the trespassers, as a long tongue flickered to taste the waters.
Wally grabbed Jean's arm. He pumped his legs, carrying the both of them to the surface. He lifted her over the side of Gunther's boat, practically dancing on the surface of the water as he shouted at the marine archaeologist to start his engine.
It would be easier to confront the sudden menace on his own, if he didn't have to worry about Jean being in harm's way.
The giant head crested the waves, riding a long, serpentine neck. It glared down on the boat. It plunged down on Wally's boat as Gunther poured on the throttle.
7
Chase's hand reached for the rail as he directed his boat away from the fight. He couldn't see the rest of the thing from below the neck. He wasn't sure he wanted to. The head fell towards the other boat. The male diver's arms spun in place until they vanished at the end of twin tornadoes. The upper end of the funnels struck the sea monster's flattened snout. The serpent was deflected by the wall of air to one side. The ocean dropped on Gunther's boat as the creature vanished under the Atlantic. Some of the wave fed into the slowing arms, and turned into a spout of water that rained back on the sea.
Chase's hand pulled him away from the wheel. He stared at it as he tripped to the stern of his cruiser. He grabbed his wrist with his other hand. He pulled back from the edge of the rail.
He controlled his hand, not the other way around.
The other boat broke in half as a colossal battering ram struck it from the bottom. Chase paused in his struggle to watch the speedster catch his companions and vanish in front of a wave.
This might be a problem, Chase thought. I'm all alone out here.
Then Chase's glowing hand dragged him overboard. The water closed over his head gently as he sank. He tried to paddle upward with his working arm and legs. The ring, Hunt's ring, dragged him down toward the shattered hulk on the bottom despite his efforts.
Chase's lungs burned as he tried to pull away from the ring's course. A pinpoint flashed through the dark water. His hand jerked forward. A line of light connected his hand to the tiny spark, which became a small bonfire.
What am I getting into?
Cory Chase looked at the line of fire connecting him to a small flare on the ocean bottom. He could keep resisting, and maybe drown, or follow the light and whatever was causing it.
Chase swam forward, helped by the pull on his hand from the ring. He floated to a stop just beyond the cold fire. A minuscule stone pulsed in the sand, calling to its place on the ring. Chase picked it up with his free hand. He brought it forward. The stone slipped from his fingers. The line from his ring pulled the jewel into one of the empty settings. The glare died down until it was gone altogether.
Strength filled Chase. He was drowning, but he knew adding the stone to its place had freed him. He pushed against the sea floor. He headed straight up like a rocket.
He was a lot stronger than he should be.
Cory flew out of the water, still heading straight up. Gravity pulled him back gently to the ocean's waves.
Now to get the heck out of here, thought Chase.
Chase took a moment to get his bearings. He was alone in the middle of the Atlantic. Shore was in sight, but a long way away if he had to swim. Between safety and him, a giant sea snake raised its head with needle teeth exposed.
That could be a small problem, Chase thought. Where's the Leaguer when you needed him?
The Blinker returned, speed lending the illusion of a small army of the same man pounding on the neck of the serpent with his fists. He paused in his onslaught a few feet away, treading water by jogging in place. The thousands of blows seemed to have stunned the monster for a moment.
Chase kicked with his newly powerful legs. He flew out of the water as the triangular head tried to line up on Cutter Bay's champion. He swung both fists together in a hammer. The blow cracked the monster's skull as he bounced away from impact.
The two waited for several long moments for the monster to realize the head blow had killed it. Then it fell into the water, shrinking to nothing as the ocean rippled from the impact.
8
Cory Chase sat on the dock, looking out on the ocean. Wally Garret and Jean Kelly stood on one side, following his gaze. Chase's boat had been sunk by the sea serpent as he struggled with the ring underwater.
"Sorry about your boat," Wally said, arm around Jean's shoulders. "At least your insurance will help you replace it."
"It's not the boat," Chase said. "It's this ring. I shouldn't have put it on in the first place. It's nothing but trouble"
"Take it off and give it to someone else," Wally said. "No one would know."
"Can't do that now," Chase said, standing. "This guy Hunt gave it to me to hold, because someone was looking for it. His note said he didn't want that someone to get the ring no matter what. I have never been good at making a living, but I have always been good at telling people to get lost. So I'll keep it. That thing out there could have been after me, and not your little diving expedition."
"You need any help?," Wally asked.
"Not yet," Chase said. "Maybe when I know who."
Chase turned, and headed towards the bus lines into the city. The insurance would let him live without working for a while. Maybe that would be enough to let him find the other eleven jewels before something really happened.
"See you around," Wally said.
Chase just held up his hand in a small wave.
epilogue
A boat rode on its anchor at sea. A man stood on deck, watching the departing heroes through binoculars with a grimace. He let the glasses fall to his chest on the strap around his neck.
He had tried to get the ring from Kale, but the man had kept it hidden until he could pass it on. The lawyer's mind had remained blank to any sending he had used. Now this other man had the ring, and one of the jewels that powered it.
He was so sure that the serpent he had called up from his card would do the job. That hero had gotten involved and ruined that.
He sat down on a deck chair, trying to think of his next move.