Chapter No.37. Incongruent.

Janet held out the landline phone to her husband. "NASA wants to talk to you."

He took the phone. "Yes?" After a short conversation, Robert handed the phone back to his wife.

"Now what?"

"They want to discuss the Moon situation."

James came into the kitchen. "What's up?"

"NASA wants to discuss our Moon discovery."

"Why? Did we do something wrong?"

Robert shrugged. "I don't know. Let's go find out."

They teleported to the JPL Mission room dressed in their superhero outfits.

Jason and Vickey were there when they arrived.

Vickey looked at them for a moment before saying anything. "We have a problem with this Moon discovery of yours. We sent a mission along with the European Space agency there and what they found doesn't suggest that it's an alien installation. The ion drive engine was identified as a Chimes unit."

"That's one of the top space exploration companies," Robert said. "Why would they be involved in this?"

"That's what we would like to know," Jason said. "We've contacted the company, but they claim they are at a loss about it. However, the founder, Kang Chimes, is no longer connected to the company. He's an eccentric who has crazy ideas about how the world should be run,"

"Do you know where he is now?"

"No. He's been out of the limelight for five years." Vickey replied.

"there's a rumor running around that he went to Antarctica," Jason said.

"Maybe we should go there and see if we can locate him." Robert said.

"I don't know if that will solve the problem, but it's worth a try," Jason said.

The superheroes vanished and appeared over the East Antarctica sky near the South Pole.

"This is just a bunch of ice," James said. "Why would Kang come here to live?"

"He wouldn't have very many nosey neighbors," Robert retorted.

"Look at those mountains over there," Janes said, pointing at an icy mound.

They flew over the mounds but didn't see anything that indicated a habitat existed there.

"Wait a minute!" Robert said. "I sense that there's radiation coming from that mound." He pointed to a large mound sitting in a frozen landscape.

They flew over the mountain without incident. Then, Robert sensed a danger. "I think there's a nuclear weapon under that mound."

"I'm sensing open areas under there," Janet said.

"I think we should see who's home in there."

They appeared in a large cavity inside the icy mountain. What they saw was not what they expected.

"Holy hell!" James said, pointing to a large object standing in what looked like a launch pad. "That's one huge rocket!"

"This doesn't make sense," Janet said. "Why would they launch rockets from the South Pole? It's the worse location to do that."

"You're right," her husband replied. "This might be where the stuff we saw on the Moon came from."

"I'm sensing radiation," Janes said. "I think it's coming from under this cave."

"Yes," Robert said. "It has the radiation signature of a thermonuclear device. I think it best that I deactivate the trigger mechanism."

"This is ridiculous!" Janet said. "The Antarctica treaty forbids military weapons and facilities."

"Obviously, someone has violated that treaty big time," Robert said.

Janet pointed to a doorway. "I think that someone is inside there."

"Yes," Robert said. "Let's go see who it is."

They appeared inside what looked like a well-appointed living room. An older male with scraggly gray hair sat in an easy chair near a desk in a room that had classical accouterments.

"Kang Chimes, I presume," Robert said.

"You are fools to come here," he said with a smug grin. He held up a device with a button on it. "I can blow you to kingdom come with a simple press of this."

"If you're referring to your thermonuclear device, you're out of luck," Robert said. "I deactivated it."

Kang laughed derisively. "That device is buried a thousand meters into solid ice. There's no way you could access it."

"Don't have to. It doesn't matter how deep it is."

Kang smiled as he pressed the button. But nothing happened, so he continued to press it with no effect.

"You are fools!" he yelled.

Robert turned to his wife and son. "Why do our adversaries always say that?"

"I assume that's a rhetorical question," James said with a smile.

His father gave him a mocking smirk.

Kang swallowed a pill that he had hidden in his suit pocket.

"I think that's strychnine," Janet said.

"Are you going to save me?" Kang asked in a sarcastic tone. "Isn't that what you super dopes do?"

"Yes, but we are not required to save anyone. We will not stop you from meeting your fate."

Kang began to convulse before his head jerked to the side and he slumped into his chair. Robert waited until he no longer moved before going over to check for a pulse.

"He's gone."

"Are we going to just leave him here?" Janet asked.

"Yes. I think that it's up to the CIA to investigate this place so that they can be satisfied that it was Kang who built the rocket device on the Moon."

"I guess that means that we're done here then," Janet said.

"Yes. Let's go back and tell them what we found."

They appeared back in the JPL Mission room. Jason and Vicky were there anxiously waiting for their report.

"Kang created a large complex in a mountain in Eastern Antarctica. It contained a rocket launching facility."

"No wonder we didn't detect any rockets from Earth going to the Moon," Vicky said. "Who would expect a rocket to launch from the South Pole."

"Was Kang there?" Jason asked.

"Yes, but he decided to check out of this life by poisoning himself. Fortunately, we were able to deactivate a thermonuclear device hidden under the ice."

"Oh my God!" Vicky exclaimed. "If that had gone off it could have caused a crack in the ice shields and probably melted tons of ice. The result to shoreline areas would have been devastating."

"I think it would be wise for an expedition to go there and verify everything we've reported, especially since Kang's facility would have violated the Antarctic Treaty."

"Yes, that's true," Jason said. "However, I'll need to run that past my superiors."

"Well, if you need us, just give us a call," Robert said.

The Steris family teleported back home.

"I feel like something a bit on the wild side," Robert said, grinning.

"Oh, No!" James reacted. "Here we go again."

Just then the Vestal Virgins appeared. They stood in a group with the head Vestal in front. After a period of staring, the head Vestal spoke. "We are satisfied with your progress. You have achieved success with phase one of your test. Normally, this would be sufficient, but we have decided to allow you to continue your work. It appears that mankind needs your help."

Before the superheroes could respond, the Vestals had vanished.

"Well," James said. "It looks like we're going to be around for a while."

Janet gave him an amusing frown. "You are beginning to sound like your father."

They laughed.

"I wonder what she meant by phase one," Janet said.

"Good question," Robert replied. "But it suggests that we are in a true experimental trial."

That was a sobering thought, one that they were not prepared to fully appreciate.