“Apparently, the DiTraS has been working only by remote control by the Watchers for some time,” I opined.
“But why, Daniel?” replied my companion, Miss Millie Drake. “We have always been loyal agents of the Kosmikos. Don’t they trust us after all that?”
“Well, my dear Mills,” I rejoined, “you know that our people are a rather suspicious lot as it is, hmmm? They are distrustful and apprehensive about anything that is not completely within their vision. That being the case, it makes sense that the Absolute Convention would decide that even the activities of a government-approved espionage organisation should be monitored and covertly controlled.”
We are at our secret headquarters, located as it is in an hidden chamber within the golden trapezoidal rooftop of the Gateway Hotel Atlantic City (this following our move from a similar location in a certain other American east coast metropolis). In addition to our computer equipment, and the DiTraS itself (which is pronounced “DYE-tress” and stands for Dimensional Transport Sphere) -- its outer “Roman column” appearance disguising its true nature as a combination Spaceship/Time-machine -- the HQ houses numerous relics and books that have been collected during our career as investigators of bizarre phenomenon upon Earth and elsewhere.
I was clad in my usual finery, including a frilled poet shirt, purple velvet suit, and jungle boots. My panama hat and one of my favourite opera capes hung from a near by hallstand.
Millie Drake is an exquisitely beautiful young lady; petite and perfect with luxurious chestnut hair, lovely violet eyes, and sun kissed skin. The royal blue dress she wore only served to highlight her slender adolescent figure.
Also with us was Kit-10, our mobile personal computer that resembles nothing more or less than a small robotic cat. At the moment, she was busy monitoring some information from one of the computer consoles.
I continued to look at the readout of my transonic turnscrew, itself an highly sophisticated scientific instrument resembling in physical form a writing pen.
“According to the transonic,” I continued, returning the instrument to my jacket pocket, “the DiTraS will not now function as a travel vehicle except when the powers of the Watchers of Algol activate its Temporal-Spatial engines.”
[DiTraS ("DYE-tress"): Dimensional Transport Sphere; a Spaceship/Time-machine of our people, the Watchers of Algol.]
“So we’re stranded on Earth?” queried Millie.
“More or less,” I replied. “At least until the Kosmikos or the Convention needs our expertise elsewhere, hmmm? I would imagine that the Universal Overseer has a control mechanism as well, and…”
“Information has been received s--,” suddenly interrupted Kit-10 in her simulated yet pleasantly-feminine voice. “It concerns the theft from the AC Bookshop.”
(It should be noted here that Kit-10, along with her other catlike characteristics, is completely incapable of openly showing respect for anyone. In point of fact, the closest she ever comes to it is by addressing me by a slight “s--” sound -- for “sir” -- and Millie by “m--” -- for “ma’am”.)
“Oh yes,” said Millie. “That antique occult book that was stolen from the shop downtown. Kit-10 was getting the information we needed on its exact description. So what was it, Kit-10?”
“The book has been positively identified, m--,” rejoined the mechanical kitten, “as the exceedingly rare text known as The Houdini Codex.”
“By the Daemonian Spires!” I swore. “The Houdini Codex! It appears our forced ‘exile’ on this planet is going to be interesting at least, hmmm?” …
My name is Doctor Daniel Rumanos. I carry within my blood the vastly superior genes of the mysterious Watchers of Algol, the most intellectually advanced race in all of the known galaxies, whose technology is so sophisticated it appears as magic to lesser beings.
Whilst most Algolites live in elitist seclusion from the rest of the Universe, I am an operative for an organisation known as the KOSMIKOS. Assisted by the beautiful Miss Millie Drake, I protect Earth from all manner of menace. I am -- The Daemon-Star!!! …
“The Houdini Codex?” repeated Millie Drake. “As in Harry Houdini? The famous magician Houdini? Really?”
“Quite so,” I affirmed. “The late great illusionist and escape artist himself. He was born 1874 in Appleton, Wisconsin, of Hungarian-Jewish descend, his birth name being Erik Weizs. His father was a rabbi, you know, and did some research into Kabala and other forms of Jewish mysticism. Harry Houdini later found the notes the old man had left on the subject and had them privately printed into a book, which he termed The Houdini Codex. His purpose in this was to use it as a prop in some of his stage routines, but he found that to not be a wise idea, hmmm?”
“Why? What happened?”
“Well, my dear Mills, it seems the Cabalistic words assembled in the book had some true occult powers, and that they could be utilised to evoke certain ancient forces, most likely of the type known from the Solomonic Magics; forsooth the so-called cacodemonic entities which we know to be the psychic remnants of certain eldritch extraterrestrial beings. Even the very presence of The Houdini Codex is said to have caused weird manifestations. Houdini put the book away in his private collection at his New York City townhouse, and it seems to have disappeared after his death in 1926. Apparently, it found its way into the antique books market and eventually ended up in that shop here in Atlantic City!”
“So now it’s been stolen,” Millie pondered. “Who would do that, and why?”
“The book’s monetary value,” I answered, “although considerable, is no more than many other rare volumes -- so it is likely someone who believes they can utilise The Houdini Codex to conjure preternatural forces, hmmm? Someone who believes they have the ability to utilise those forces for their own gain; someone who finds the added act of villainy in stealing the book to assist in the moral outrage useful in summoning forth the powers of darkness.”
“Oh my gosh! Do you think it could be… ?”
“Now now, Millie’” I admonished. “Let us not attempt to theorise without more evidence. Unfortunately, the book shop had no security cameras, so for now we have very little in clues as to the identity of the thief.”
“So what can we do?” worried the young lady.
“We can at least do a scan of the entire area and find out if anyone is accessing such powers. Then perhaps we can…”
Kit-10 suddenly interrupted, “Danger, s--. Systems detecting unusual energy surges entering the premises.”
“Daniel, look!” added Millie Drake.
I whirled around to see what had upset my friend, and beheld an horror indeed. Forming in the air above us, right there in that chamber of our headquarters, was what appeared as a swirling mass of ebony black energy -- in truth a darksome conglomeration of horrid occult powers. As we watched, it grew larger and larger, and began to hover closer to us. As it approached, its true nature became more apparent, as we saw flashes of numerous horrifying entities, eldritch shapes as of things otherworldly; things with tentacles and antennae and hideous glowing eyes along with other supernatural terrors beyond description -- indeed things beyond any sane imaginings.
I pulled out my transonic device and tried several settings against the darkling horror, and Kit-10 fired several shots of her nose-laser at it; but all this was to no avail. It continued to approach closer and closer to us, its appearance now being augmented with an hellish howling sound like unto that of thousands of infernal curs.
With this, I heard Millie Drake scream as the demoniacal terror reached us. …
Little did we know that, at that very same time, a quite odd event was transpiring at a near by street corner. For at this location, an apparent “busker” or street performer had set up his show. It was obviously a stage magic act, and the performer himself was dressed accordingly in a shiny black silk suit and matching full-length cape. He stood before what appeared to be a Victorian-era gaslight lamppost, which was several metres behind him and look strangely out-of-place in the modern street setting.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he announced, his voice with a tinge of mocking madness, “welcome to the most amazing presentation you shall ever experience! Yes, right here today, on the streets of Atlantic City, I -- The New Houdini -- with the help of my assistant, Elmer, shall conjure forth the very forces of eternal darkness!”
The magician was a man seemingly of middle years, his face still showing signs of handsome distinction despite being marked with the influence of lifetimes of extreme unhallowed evil. His hair was long and dark, and his countenance decorated with a thin moustache and goatee. Most of all, his pale eyes shone with an irresistibly hypnotic glare.
It was then that the magician’s “assistant” loped out to stand beside him. This was what appeared at first to be a large and strangely deformed man, but a closer look at him revealed his true hybrid nature. His dark skin was covered with coarse orange-brown hair, his arms reached to his knees, and his visage was an absolute simian horror. Incongruously, he was clad in a pair of colourful Bermuda shorts.
“This, my friends, is The Houdini Codex,” continued the magician, indicating a large antique book that he had set up on a lectern, “and it is from this volume that I shall utter the ancient words to summon forth the most amazing and incredible sights to ever meet human eyes!”
Whilst the magician was speaking, the apelike Elmer loped off down the street, his hands dragging the pavement, as if on some sudden mission. …
Millie Drake, Kit-10 and I were driving down the city street in my specially-modified canary-yellow Edwardian roadster (affectionately known as “Lizzie”).
“That dark force that attacked our headquarters dispersed quickly,” I said. “It was only meant as a warning, and the full power of what is being evoked will be far more dangerous.”
“So the transonic was able to trace from whence the thing came?” asked Millie.
“Quite so,” I affirmed. “It was emanating from the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Ohio Avenue, hmmm? Let us stop the car a couple of blocks away and approach that location with caution.”
We did so, alighting from the car and beginning to walk down the street.
“Millie, Kit-10, be vigilant,” I warned. “Whomever is doing this must be a practitioner of some power, and…”
“Oh my gosh, Daniel!” suddenly cried Millie. “Look out!!”
Before I could even react, what had so frightened the young lady was upon me. It was a large apelike man clad in a pair of incongruous Bermuda shorts. His incredible strength sent me hurtling to the ground.
I quickly reacted, utilising my mastery of Daemonian jujitsu in order the throw the creature from me.
“Kit-10!” I called. “Stun him!”
With this, the robotic cat shot a blast of her nose laser, causing the ape-man to fall unconscious to the pavement.
“Daniel, are you all right?” worried Millie Drake. “What is that thing?”
“I am unharmed, love,’ I assured her. “My attacker appears to be a native of a certain village of Borneo that is known for its orang-utan prostitutes. An ape-human hybrid, in other words. Hideous, hmmm?”
“But what is it doing here?”
“Likely our foe is using it for protection, hmmm? We have seen such use of similar creatures by Spectral Paranormal agents in the past.”
My companions and I then continued with our mission, approaching the street corner. We soon enough beheld the magician, still announcing his intentions to the small audience that had gathered, standing as he was before the strange lamppost and beside the lectern on which was The Houdini Codex.
Of course, I recognised the magician immediately. I recognised him as my oldest and most deadly enemy -- the renegade Algolite who has become the most dangerous criminal in all of Time and Space.
“Don Wingus!” I said his name as we approached. “I should have known. So you did escape from Muskelon.”
“Greetings, Rumanos and Miss Drake,” he sneered. “You are just in time. I hope you did not harm my assistant Elmer too much. He has such a fine hairy hole.”
“Wingus, you ungodly fiend!” I charged. “Even you cannot control the powers of The Houdini Codex. The are demonic forces beyond imagining.”
“Oh, but you are wrong in that, Rumanos,” chuckled the villain. “You are wrong, as you shall now see!”
With this, the evil Don Wingus waved his hands and an huge conglomeration of darksome demoniacal terrors suddenly appeared, racing directly to-wards my friends and me.
“Now, Doctor Daniel Rumanos,” continued Wingus. “You shall die! I shall use the powers of The Houdini Codex in order to establish myself as ruler of this world, but first -- you shall die!”
I wonder, my dear friends and most appreciated readers, if you can even commence to comprehend the unspeakable and unheard-of horror, forsooth the complete and utter screaming terror of the situation in which we then found ourselves. There we were; the beautiful Miss Millie Drake, the robotic Kit-10, and me -- Doctor Daniel Rumanos. There we were, the only thing standing in the way of that obscene intergalactic villain in his latest scheme to establish himself as supreme ruler of planet Earth. There we were -- with the full force of the awesome and legendary powers of The Houdini Codex, under the command of the infamous Algolite criminal known to eternal damnation as Magister Don Wingus, racing directly to-wards us!!
“This is your end, Rumanos!” repeated the evil Don Wingus. “You shall die, and I shall go on to rule this world!”
Then, just as the horrid conglomeration of demonic powers was about to reach my companions and me, a quite odd thing occurred. The ape-man assistant known as Elmer suddenly loped back onto the scene, having recovered from Kit-10’s stun blast. He went up to Don Wingus with a look as of strange supplication, and then began muttering what amounted to an heartfelt apology for failing in his mission against us.
“Millie,” I said, “the distraction will cause Wingus to lose control of the powers. Look! They are reversing!”
As the darksome terror barrelled down on them, Don Wingus suddenly ran behind Elmer the ape-man. The entire force of the eldritch black conglomeration surrounded the primitive creature, and within a split second consumed him before itself vanishing into nothingness.
Just then, we saw Wingus approaching the strange lamppost. As he did, a type of porthole-like opening appeared in it and the villain stepped through it. The opening quickly closed behind him.
“Daniel, that’s his DiTraS!” cried Millie. “He’s escaping!”
With the strange gasping and moaning sound of its activated engine, Magister Don Wingus’s Time-Spaceship began to fade from view. I quickly pulled the transonic turnscrew from my jacket and pointed it at the supposed lamppost. The disguised machine then made noise a like something had burst in its insides, before it finally vanished entirely.
“Daniel,” said Millie, “what did you do?”
“I simply transferred the information stored in my transonic concerning how the Watchers disabled the engine of our DiTraS, hmmm?” said I whilst returning the device to my pocket. “If Wingus manages to re-materialise his own ship from the inter-dimensional vortex, it will be somewhere on Earth, and he will find himself unable to activate the dematerialisation circuitry again.”
“So he will be stranded here the same as we are?” asked Millie Drake, who glanced over to verify that Kit-10 was unharmed as well.
“Quite so,” I affirmed, “and as unfortunate as it is to have to curse the Earthlings with his presence, at least we will be able to keep an eye on him, hmmm? Indeed, we will have to keep a vigilant lookout for his possible return.”
“And what about the book?”
I walked over and removed the volume from the lectern. “I will immediately inform the AC Bookshop that we have located it, hmmm? Then I shall also pay its full retail value, along with some extra, to the proprietor there. The Houdini Codex will then become a fitting addition to our own library of texts on black magic and the occult.”
***** DANIEL RUMANOS AND MILLIE DRAKE SHALL RETURN
