Chapter No.81. Diplomacy in motion.

Robert received the call from President Hollis, and it wasn't what he expected. "We want you to go to China and solve a major problem."

"What sort of problem?" Robert asked.

"It has something to do with the Three Gorges Dam, which is their essential hydroelectric asset."

"Where should we go there?"

"Just go to the Dam itself. You'll find Sun Shang, the chief of engineering there."

"As I recall that dam spans the Yangtze River at Sandouping."

"Yes."

"Okay, we'll be there shortly."

Robert summoned his family and told them about the mission.

"Why are we helping China? Sylvia asked. "Aren't they an enemy?"

"We have no human enemies," Robert said. "Our enemies are devils."

That statement would turn out to be the bitter truth.

With that settled, the Steris family teleported to above the dam. They flew around until they noticed a group of men standing on the top of the dam near the middle. The men didn't react to seeing the superheroes land near them.

A man dressed in a suit stepped forward and did a quick bow. "I am Sun Shang, chief engineer."

Robert reciprocated the gesture. "What seems to be the problem here?"

"This dam sits on a seismic fault and a recent event has weakened the dam's structure," he said in carefully spoken English. "We have detected cracks in the rock base and in several fractures in the walls."

"Does that suggest a possible breach?"

"We are not sure, but it is possible."

"We'll check it out, and if we find any problems, we'll repair them."

"How could you do that?" Sun asked.

"We can see everything down to the quantum level and have power over nature."

Sun reacted with a bow. Evidently, he was accustomed to accepting the impossible.

The superheroes flew up into the air and began their inspection of the dam. James, Sylvia and Amy used their x-ray vision to scope out the base of the dam, while Robert and Janet began a careful scan of the dam's walls. What they found was disturbing. They gathered above the dam to discuss what they were going to do to repair the damage.

"The dam is sitting on a rather precarious base that's being eroded," James said. "We could add material to it and bulk it up."

"We found several serious cracks in the walls," Robert said. "We can just fuse them to make the walls more solid. We'll also have to repair damage to pipes and electrical facilities. I think we should try these ideas and see if they bolster the structure."

The superheroes split up and began a precisely timed repair of the dam to bring it back to structural health, after which they landed back at the top near the chief engineer Sun and his assistants.

"We repaired the damage. The dam should be stable for quite some time. We bolstered the base it's setting on and repaired all of the cracks and equipment damage we could find."

Sun squinted. "You did all of this in a half hour?"

"Yeah, we're efficient."

Sun bowed. "We are grateful."

Robert bowed and he and his family flew away and then teleported back home.

It wasn't until the next day that the President called to thank them. "We are considering sending you out to other countries to help them with serious problems. Is that acceptable?"

"Yes," Robert replied. "We are dedicated to serving all mankind."

"Your repairs to the dam saved a lot of people. If it had been breached, the death toll would have been horrible."

"Yes, we were aware of that."

"We'll be in contact," the president said after a pause before he ended the call.

"Do you think It's a good idea for us to be helping countries like China?" Janet asked her husband.

"I believe that what we can accomplish by helping our so-called enemies is to bring about the end of the specter of war by showing that we don't discriminate. We might be able to convince the world that we're here to help not conquer."

James smiled. "Father knows best, you know."

"He's probably right," Amy said. "I'd rather live in a peaceful world than in the Mad Max scenario we're in."

Robert struggled to keep his cool. "By the way, I made some improvements to the pool. I added a wave machine."

"Why'd you do that?" Janet asked.

"Because I could."

James laughed. "Way to go, Dad!"

Janet stood up. "Well, I think we should go check it out." She made her clothes vanish. Sylvia and Amy stood up and did the same before they strolled off to the pool, provocatively swinging their cabooses.

James pointed at his father. "I think you like teasing them."

"I think they're reciprocating my gesture with interest."

Janes laughed, but he settled down to a more serious demure. "Do you think that the world will tolerate us indefinitely?"

"If you mean that they might tire of our antics, that's a question we can't really answer. If what we're doing is an experiment, the outcome is not clear. No one has done what we're doing. Our actions should make people more optimistic about the future, but you never know. Humans are unpredictable because of the ability to think in abstract theoretical terms. Animals act instinctively, Humans act emotionally. Hopefully, our subjective image is one of cooperation not conflict."

James didn't know what to think about all of that. It sounded like sociology theory that he had to endure in his college classes. He had something to reveal that might make his father think differently.

"Are you aware that the dog is showing Baby Jack how to use his combative skills?"

Robert's eyes grew large for an instant before they settled to a squint. "Really?"

"Yes. Baby Jack now knows how to clone and use his eyes to blast stuff."

Robert rubbed his jaw. "Interesting. I wonder what that portends?"

"Maybe the dog realizes that we're about to be involved in a cosmic battle."

"That would be contrary to the peaceful gestures we've recently been involved in."

"Maybe old Sparky is more cognitive than we are," James said. "Maybe that's the reason he's part of us."

Robert sighed. "If that's the case, I hope Baby Jack's training is completed before we have to go to war." He took another swig of beer.

James realized that his father was concerned about their future, but he felt compelled to keep him abreast of any changes that occur in the present.

The women came back and sat down in the patio area of the pool where Robert and James were.

"We love the new addition to the pool, dear," Janet said almost in singing vocal.

"Yeah, it's lots of fun," Sylvia added.

Robert turned to them. "James told me that Sparky is training Baby Jack how to do combat."

Janet guffawed. "The dog is training Baby Jack?"

"Yes, mother," James said. "We believe it's because he realizes that we're going to be involved in a conflict."

"What, the dog's a seer?" Amy asked.

"We don't really know, but something weird like this has to indicate that we're coming into a new phase of the experiment."

That caused them to realize that they were not really in control of their destiny.