The Peregrine Omnibus, Volume Two (99 page)

The Peregrine nodded, seeing the fear in Fritz’s eyes.

“I know that you are promising to do what I have asked of you,” Mueller continued, “But I cannot trust you to not simply run to freedom when we drop you off. If you do not return to me, with The Fourth Nail in hand, I will have Fritz raped with batons and then shot in the head.”

The Peregrine rose unsteadily to his feet. “You’re a real bastard, Mueller.”

“So I have been told. Consider this added security that you will keep your end of the bargain. Take a good look at him, please… and remember his face should you decide to betray me.”

The Peregrine tried to silently project good thoughts to the poor boy but he knew that the only way Fritz would feel better was to be free of this ship. “Where is The Nail?” he asked.

Mueller’s face shifted a bit. “Ah. Well, that’s what makes this mission so dangerous…”

* * *

The atomic plane flew low over the Arctic landscape, Elsa Mayen’s young hands moving confidently over the controls. She was attractive enough for a sixteen year old, though she was far from a classic beauty. Her blonde hair was curly and somewhat unkempt, a gift from her mother’s side, and she had mismatched eyes: one green and one blue. She was also whippet-thin, with barely discernible breasts and hips. Still, her face was remarkably well structured and she had full lips, granting her more femininity than her body would have normally allowed. She wore a leather bomber jacket over a white shirt and khaki slacks, aviator goggles perched over her leather pilot’s cap.

She had never been to this part of the world before but nothing could have prepared her for the devastation that greeted her. The terrain looked like it had been blown apart by some terrible attack and Elsa could pick out the shattered remains of human beings amongst the rubble.

The emerald dome that stood a little past the horror had two men standing outside it. The first was obviously Sun Koh—the man looked like he’d stepped out of a Nazi schoolbook on genetics. He was as perfect a man as anyone Elsa had ever seen. She felt a quickening in her breath as she looked down at him and a heat that spread from her loins to the rest of her body. The other man with him was tall and thin, looking like a schoolteacher or orchestra conductor.

Elsa set her plane down with the skill of a pilot three times her age. The atomic-powered aircraft came to a rest less than a hundred feet past Sun Koh’s sanctum and by the time Elsa was descending to the icy terrain, the two men awaiting her were already closing in.

“From the way you handled that airship, I would have sworn that your father was at the controls,” Sun Koh said. The intensity of his gaze made Elsa blush and she stammered a bit in reply.

“Thank you, my prince.”

Sun Koh gestured towards Arthur Grin, introducing him without further explanation. As he boarded the plane, he took Elsa into his confidence. “We are about to embark on something that could prove very dangerous to all three of us—but if successful, should assure the Axis powers of victory.”

“I’m willing to serve you in any way,” Elsa responded, hoping that he didn’t take her words as anything improper. Though, truth be told, she was willing to serve in a sexual capacity, as well.

Sun Koh sat down in the copilot’s seat, his eyes roving over the dials and buttons. “Your father was a genius.”

“He was,” Elsa agreed. “I hope to honor him… I only wish I could purge the Jewish blood from my veins.” She took the controls in her hand, sitting beside Sun Koh. Her face was drawn tight in self-loathing. “I swear I will be loyal to you, despite my heritage.”

“The Jews are one of the servant races,” Sun Koh said consolingly. “There are good Jews and bad Jews. They simply do not have the higher capacity that a true Aryan does. Because of your father, you will be able to attain things that no full-blooded Jew could ever hope for. You should be proud of that and strive to do your best. I shall never hold the race of your mother against you.”

“Thank you. That… really does mean a lot to me.”

Sun Koh reached out and clasped her hand tightly. “Are you ready to help pave the way for Aryan supremacy?” he asked with a knowing smile.

“Oh, yes,” she laughed.

* * *

“I’m worried about Max.” Evelyn Davies looked a bit sheepish as she said those words, washing them down with a shot of whiskey. She winced as the burning liquid washed down her throat but she recovered quickly, pushing her shot glass across the table for a refill.

Will McKenzie poured another drink for his friend and then gave himself another, as well. One of the youngest police chiefs in the country, Will had stood beside Max and Evelyn against vampires, werewolves and things he didn’t even what to call. It had changed his outlook on life, to be sure, turning him from a handsome and dedicated law enforcement official into someone who recognized that the world was far stranger than he could ever hope to understand. “He can handle himself. You know that.”

“Sometimes I think he tries too hard to do it all by himself,” Evelyn answered. They were in the kitchen of the Davies’ home, which was quiet as a tomb. Little William, named after Will, was in bed, along with their housekeeper, Nettie.

Will cracked a grin. “He thinks he’s protecting us.”

“I know.” Evelyn leaned forward and smiled. Her auburn hair was hanging loose about her shoulders and Will couldn’t help but notice how lovely she was. She was beautiful but it was an approachable sort of beauty… a healthy dash of girl-next-door was mixed in with the glamour. “I was wondering if I should call one of his friends and ask them to check on him.”

“He told you he’d call and let you know he was okay?”

“Yes. And I haven’t heard a peep out of him.”

Will stood up and ran a hand through his dark hair. “Who were you thinking about? Kaslov?”

“Or maybe Ascott Keane,” Evelyn answered. “I thought Keane might be able to figure out where he is.”

Will nodded. Keane was a ‘psychic detective,’ one who was famous for sparring with the crimson-garbed Doctor Satan. Both Keane and Satan had crossed paths with The Peregrine on more than one occasion. Will found Keane somewhat unnerving and he was about to say so when a knock came at the back door. Both Will and Evelyn jumped at the unexpected sound. “You’re not expecting anyone?”

“Will, it’s almost 11 p.m. I don’t usually have visitors this late at night.” Evelyn walked towards one of the cabinets, opened it up and reached deep inside. Her hand came back with a small handgun.

Will grinned, taking a few steps to the door. He opened it slowly, peering around the corner. When he saw the lovely woman standing there, he relaxed somewhat. It was Violet Cambridge, one of Atlanta’s top private investigators. She had jet-black hair and a trim figure that filled out her dark dress in all the right places. She was also one of Will’s former lovers, though their temperaments had proven too different for long-term happiness together.

Violet was smart enough that she’d eventually put two-and-two together to figure out Max’s dual identity as The Peregrine. Evelyn had been concerned about this at first but she’d come to trust Violet, even though they had little in common.

“Hello, Will,” Violet said. “How’s life with the Nazi going?”

Will winced. Violet hadn’t been shy about voicing her opinion of his involvement with the former Iron Maiden. He held the door open for her and took a step back to allow her in. “Things are peachy. What brings you by?”

Violet nodded at Evelyn, her ruby red lips parting in a grin as she saw the other woman’s handgun. “Expecting trouble, are we?”

“Always,” Evelyn admitted. She set the gun down on the kitchen counter. “Get you something to wet your whistle?”

“No thanks. I just came by to tell you that your boy might be in trouble.”

Evelyn and Will exchanged glances. “What makes you say that?” Evelyn asked.

“I was paying a visit to an informer of mine—name’s Glumm—and he told me that The Peregrine had been by recently, asking about a German superman named Sun Koh. Glumm says he’s heard since through the grapevine that Sun Koh is back and has been jetting around… and get this, there was a top-secret communiqué sent back to Germany that said The Peregrine was in German custody.”

“Must not have been very top secret if you know about it,” Will pointed out.

“Glumm has resources. That’s what makes him so valuable.”

Evelyn let out a deep breath that she’d been holding. “If Max has been captured, I have to do something.” She moved towards the phone and paused for a moment with her hand on the receiver. “I’m calling Ascott Keane.”

* * *

The Peregrine wasn’t happy about this at all. He felt slightly rejuvenated after a bath and a hearty meal but his body still ached in a dozen different places and his midsection was tightly bound to prevent him further injuring his ribs.

But worst of all was the fact that he was about to break into the private offices of a man who, under other circumstances, would have been a close friend.

The Peregrine was in Manhattan, having been snuck onto the island after being transferred from the zeppelin to a private plane belonging to a Fifth Columnist. The entire affair had taken over 24 hours and made The Peregrine wonder just how far behind Sun Koh he truly was now.

The area of Manhattan in which he was now moving was known as The Battery, which was located on the southernmost point of the island. Battery Park lay on The Peregrine’s right, a disreputable looking place if Max had ever seen one. Bums slept on park benches and trash littered the thick grass. Facing the park was a series of office buildings, most of them fairly recent. But the one that was The Peregrine’s target was an ancient thing, the bronze work on the front doors green with age.

The Peregrine looked up to see that the stars were bright in the sky. He estimated that it was nearly ten o’clock, though he couldn’t be sure. Mueller’s men had taken everything that they didn’t consider essential, which meant that aside from his weapons, his pockets were nearly empty. He didn’t even have his long-range radio to call Evelyn.

Max hurried across the street, having watched the six-story building long enough to assure him that no one was inside. All the windows were pitch-black.

The front doors were unlocked and the lobby was clean, if somewhat barren. A directory on the wall indicated that the bottom two floors had no tenants. The fifth floor had a single occupant listed: Adventurers, Inc. The Peregrine glanced over at the elevator cage nearby. It was the old-fashioned kind, where the interior was visible through the grillwork. An old man in a overalls sat in the cage, resting his weary bones on the single chair within. His head was tilted back and he was snoring loudly.

The Peregrine crept over as quietly as a mouse, retrieving a small capsule from one of his pockets. He broke it open under the man’s nose, holding his own breath in the process. The old man snorted loudly and then slipped into an even deeper slumber. The Peregrine relaxed, resuming his own breathing. The gas capsule worked very fast, putting a full-grown man into an unconsciousness that would last for up to six hours.

After taking the elevator to the fifth floor, The Peregrine found himself facing a locked office. He knelt in front of the lock and expertly picked it. It was a challenging affair and took him nearly ten minutes, far longer than was usual. Before entering the office, Max took a moment to insert specialized lenses over each eye. Specially treated to enhance The Peregrine’s night vision, the lenses were just one more example of the vigilante’s mastery of the sciences.

When he stepped inside, he found himself in one of the most unusual offices he’d ever seen: it was cluttered from floor to ceiling with oddities. A bronze Chinese figurine was perched in the window, while an Oriental rug that looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in years lay on the floor. Hunting riles were mounted on the wall, a diving bell was in the corner and every chair and couch was bent under the weight of books and magazines. A framed diploma from M.I.T. was on the wall nearest The Peregrine and beside it was a photograph of a young blond man, standing with hands on hips. This was Rush Randall and Adventurers, Inc. was his brainchild.

A child prodigy with interests ranging from physics to aviation to mountain climbing, Rush Randall had grown up to become a veritable superman. With his partners in adventure Buzz Casey and Malcolm Dean, he had formed Adventurers, Inc. to help those in need. He had become a minor celebrity and The Peregrine knew that he was a potent addition to the arsenal of justice… but The Peregrine was crossing his fingers that their first meeting would not come tonight.

The Peregrine moved through the crowded room until he came to a second door, one that led to a much better ordered office. This one contained two small chairs arranged in front of a desk. A photograph of Rush Randall was on the wall behind the desk, depicting the powerfully built man holding an elephant gun and standing with one foot on the leg of a fallen bull elephant.

Max glanced about until he saw what he wanted: a small safe secreted against the corner of the back wall. Mueller had described it perfectly, having seen it shown in a photograph.
Life Magazine
had profiled Randall a few months ago and during the piece there had been an image of Randall posing in front of the open safe. The article had mentioned in passing how Randall kept the most valuable or dangerous of his acquisitions in his safe. One of the objects that could be clearly seen was an old battered nail. Though it didn’t look particularly valuable in the photo, Mueller had recognized it for what it was: the spiritual equivalent of a get-out-of-jail free card.

The Peregrine moved to examine the safe and noted that the lock was, if anything, far more complex than the one on the front door. He broke three of his four remaining picks on the lock before he finally heard the tumblers click into place. When the door swung open, he found himself staring at quite a few unusual items. Given the time, he would have loved to spend time with each of them, puzzling out their purpose, but given that he was in a hurry to end his association with Mueller, he snatched up The Fourth Nail.