Saxon spent the rest of Sunday relaxing at home. He had spent some money on a

diner after picking up his car, and then settled in for the night to listen to the radio.

He had thought about going to see a movie, but had discarded the idea after thinking

about sitting in a place with a bunch of strangers.

He thought about just flying until he got tired. He discarded that idea because of the

refueling he would have to do after an extensive flight. He didn’t want to stuff

himself before rolling into bed and getting ready for work in the morning.

And he didn’t want to be around people enough to go to the local saloon, or dance

hall.

His camping trip had been ruined, but he had been given something in return. He

didn’t know how to use it to his advantage, but he was sure something would come

up and give him some kind of inspiration. Something always did.

He decided that if he wanted to keep his identity concealed, he needed a mask to

cover his face. The last thing he needed was newshounds chasing him around while

he was trying to work, or heading out from the city on his own.

He wanted to enjoy what he had. Becoming a celebrity would ruin that.

Saxon thought he could range across the Southwest with no problem, and reach into

Canada in a couple of jumps. There were some places up there unseen by humans,

where the Indian hunters didn’t go.

His ability meant he could camp up there, and then head south for supplies without

worrying about the weather blocking him in.

What would he do above the Arctic Circle? He thought he would be bored after the

first week.

The radio hissed. He looked at it. Naturally, it would develop a problem when his

favorite show was on. He stood. Maybe the antenna needed to be adjusted.

“This is Len Flynn, Kay Cee Eee ESS news,” said the radio. “Something

extraordinary is going on downtown. We’re seeing a flying ship over Los Angeles.

No one has any idea what’s going on. Fear of a Japanese attack is running high. City

government has no comment.”

Saxon cut off the radio. He frowned. The Mark would be on the way. What if he

doesn’t show? What if this is something serious?

He needed a disguise so he could look things over himself without showing his face

to the world.

Flanagan would love to know how someone had built a plane big enough to frighten

the city. It would help the company if they could do that.

If it was bad guys, and the Mark didn’t show up, something had to be done to help the

police deal with the problem.

And he was the only flying man around who could get close enough to take a look.

And he admitted to himself, it wouldn’t be the first time he had done something

stupid just because he could.

Saxon pulled on tan overalls, an old pair of boots he found in his closet, his goggles,

and a scarf to cover his face like an old bandit. He grabbed gloves last in case he had

to touch something. He didn’t want the police finding his fingerprints and holding on

to them until they figured out who he was.

Los Angeles should be on his map. He had been there several times for the company.

He wondered if the map would give him an address in the general area if he hadn’t

been there. He hadn’t tried that one out.

He decided to take it slow and easy lifting off from his neighborhood. He could pour

on the speed when he was sure he wasn’t going to break windows.

He activated his flight and headed straight up out of the neighborhood from his yard.

He kept the speed down so he wouldn’t cause any more booms against the windows.

When he thought he was high enough, he marked out a space for Los Angeles and

poured on the speed.

His arrow pointed the way to the city as he roared along.

He wondered how anyone could build an airship big enough to be a threat to a city.

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Shouldn’t there be years of testing going on? The press should have heard of

something like this and published it.

He wondered what he could do when he did arrive.

Saxon flew over Los Angeles with plenty of time to spare on his clock. He spotted the

giant ship drifting in from the ocean. It looked like a carrier supported by some of the

biggest fans he had ever seen.

He couldn’t think of any way he could bring that down without hitting the center of

the city. This was definitely something for the Mark to handle.

He circled the flying craft. If he wanted to bring it down, he would have to take out

the rotors. Once he had done that, he could let the thing crash. If he took them out one

at a time, he could lower the thing to the ground with minimum injury to people on

the street.

The other way could lead to a giant explosion, certainly a high speed crash into the

local buildings.

The world was at war and some nutjob wanted to spread terror and misery.

Saxon needed something he could use to damage the rotors. Once he had that, he

could go ahead with the rest of his plan.

The upper deck spread apart. Machinery rose in the air. What was this about?

Saxon circled in closer as the machine started powering up. What did it do? Did he

want to be flying around when it activated. He had a few minutes still on the clock

if he wanted to land somewhere and wait to launch again. He heard a loud hum in the

air.

He flew in closer to get a look at the thing. He needed something to do damage with

if he wanted to be a hero. His hands weren’t going to cut it.

He felt a change in the air pressure as he flew in above the deck. He looked around.

Something had interposed between the ship and rest of the air around it. He was in

a bubble with the ship.

This wasn’t good at all.

“Citizens of Los Angeles,” said a high pitched voice in the air. “I have just cut you

off from the rest of the world with my latest invention, the Electrostatic Force Wall.

You can’t leave unless I say you can. There will be no help from anyone on the

outside of the Wall. You are at my mercy. And Doctor Rainey Sybil has no mercy. In

a few days, I am going to conduct experiments on the city’s population. Those that

survive will be allowed to leave my new home. Those that don’t will be left where

they failed the tests. That is all.”

Saxon hovered over the deck. He had to stop this. How did he get inside to shut the

force field off? There had to be a way.

He definitely should have armed himself before he came up here to look into this. A

pistol might do wonders on the machinery powering the bubble around the ship.

So how did he break it?

Saxon had some change in his pocket. He unzipped the coverall and reached in to get

a quarter. He threw it at the machine. It bounced away with a clink.

He wasn’t going to shut it down from the deck. He needed to get inside the air ship

and look for a power switch.

Something hit the bubble. Saxon looked around. He spotted a flying man punching

the wall around the city. He looked frustrated. It was one of the lesser Marks from the

looks of things.

He waved at the hero from where he stood. Then he pointed at himself and then the

ship. He floated along the deck, looking for a way inside.

Hopefully the junior Mark had gotten the message. If he distracted Sybil, that would

be even better.

Saxon couldn’t find a hatch in the deck. He checked his clock. He still had a little bit

of time. He went over the side and looked for a hatch on the side of the flying ship.

There had to be something there. How else did the guy get on deck to fix his machine

if he couldn’t lower it down inside the boat.

He refused to believe the ship had been built without a way to get inside.

He found a hatch next to a ladder leading back up to the upper deck. He grabbed on

the ladder. His power failed. He hung there for a second before getting his feet under

him.

He had a couple of minutes before he could use the buttons again. He needed to get

off the ladder and inside.

He grabbed hold of the wheel and spun it with both hands, using his feet and weight

to stay on the ladder. He exerted himself against the stubborn mechanism. Finally it

spun for him. He opened the door and slipped inside.

Saxon decided that the motors for the power would be at the rear of the ship. If he

could find the controls, he could shut everything down and let the Mark handle it.

Shutting down the wall would allow the hero to get inside. Could he push the carrier

away from the city? That would be the optimal solution.

Two metal men stepped in the corridor. They froze when they saw the intruder. They

clanked toward him with a determined stride.

Of course there would be some kind of security. He should have seen that coming.

Saxon decided to run the other way. They clanked behind him like mad drummers in

a jazz band. He activated two of the buttons and turned. He held up his hands and

hoped he had enough juice to knock the metal men over.

His vision marked out where he should hit the metal men in the legs to trip them up.

Jets formed at the ends of his fingers as he pointed at the guards. Sudden force

slammed against what would be kneecaps in normal humans. He adjusted his aim as

his markers showed him the actual impact compared to the impact he wanted.

The legs bent under the impact of the jets, crippling the steel sentries. They tried to

drag themselves toward the rocket man with their knobby hands.

He took aim and fired jets into what looked like battery packs at the small of their

backs. The rectangular boxes crushed down under the impact. Sparks shot up from

the wounds. He fired again and again until he had nearly hammered the containers

into bent up horseshoes.

The metal men stopped moving.

Saxon checked his clock before moving on. That had gone better than he had thought

it would.