Dr. Adam Brashear, Ph.D. let himself into the Deputy National Security Advisor’s office. The NSA was in the process of replacing his current cigar stub. Brashear strode across the room and seated himself opposite the man.
Adam Brashear looked the Deputy Advisor from across the desk. “Does this summons mean what I think it means?”
The black-suited man returned the gaze and grabbed a Zippo lighter from his desk and began to hold the flame to the end of his new cigar. “No, Adam it doesn’t. You cannot be a superhero.”
“So you mean to tell me that even though there are black heroes on the street right now, fighting crime, that I can’t do anything? I can’t be what God made me? What about the Falcon? What about the Black Panther?! Christ! Even his name smacks of racial tension!”
“That’s true Adam,” the Deputy said, conceding the point, he started lighting the cigar, rolling the tip in the flame, “but Falcon couldn’t burn them all to cinders with a thought if he fancied it.”
Brashear cocked his head and squinted slightly “But I would never…”
The deputy advisor continued. “That’s not the point though; these people go out and attack people when a colored man sits in the front seat of a car with a white woman. What do you think is going to happen when they see there is a black man so far above them, so superior in every way, that they couldn’t even hope to compare. They’ll crack, they’ll riot. They would kill every colored man they could find. What would they do when they discover his wife is a white woman? You know what would happen? Chaos, riots, lynching. Mr. Brashear, when that happens, what the hell do I have that could stop you from razing this entire nation?”
“So why am I here then?”
“Because the current administration wants you to help out again, just away from the spotlight.”
“Doing what?”
“Saving the world from the Communist, Dr. Brashear.”
“I did my time fighting them in Korea; I refuse to get involved over there. Besides, you don’t need me to burn down grass huts in the jungle, it seems like Stark is giving you hardware that does that just fine.”
“Say what you want about it, I know you are a patriot, I know you’re a Marine. We’re not asking you to fight this war. The President wants us out of there in fact.”
Brashear lifted a skeptical eyebrow “Really? Then what is the problem?”
The Deputy NSA finished lighting his cigar before he continued, “Escalation, the Soviets don’t want us out. They see what it is doing to us. They intend to begin using high powered individuals in the war, knowing that we would be forced to respond in kind or face a real retreat. There is no ‘Peace with Honor’ when Marines are running for their lives from a guy shooting nuclear fire from his eyes.”
“Why not get the Avengers then?”
“You don’t think we tried? Pinko Pym wouldn’t have any of it, besides, Thor can’t be contacted and without him, frankly, the Avengers are out of their league.”
“What exactly is going on then?”
With his cigar finally lit, the government man reached into his drawer and pulled out a folder and pulled out a picture of an Asian man and showed it to Adam, as Adam held the photo, he began:
“This is Chinese scientist Dr. Chen Lu, better known as Radioactive Man. He’s a self-made super, dosed himself with specialty radiation to give him powers. He was a member of the Masters of Evil before they were defeated and now he has aligned himself with the Soviets for resources—much to his home nation’s chagrin, I might add.”
“One guy, is he really that bad?”
“All alone, he is pretty bad. However, with Soviet backing now, he is working on something far worse.” The NSA said, handing over another photo. “He has taken up residence on a small island in the South China Sea. We had an agent on the island that said Chen Lu was there with Russian speaking personnel setting up a lab of some sort. U-2 flights snapped these photos a week ago after the agent failed to report.”
Adam appraised the photo, “Looks like a military formation, but nothing massive. However, comparing the men in it to the surroundings these men are all gigantic.”
“Exactly, we think Chen Lu is creating an army of atomic super-soldiers using the same process that he used to give himself his powers. We believe he is planning to invade Vietnam as soon as we begin our drawdown. Either trapping us there, forcing us to concede defeat, or try to find some way to draft an army of —President Nixon!?!” The NSA stood up with his eyes locked on the doorway.
Adam looked behind him to see the President, flanked by secret service agents. He looked stoically at the Commander in Chief as he addressed him, “Mr. President.”
Nixon extended his hand, “Dr. Brashear, I just wanted to stop by and see how this was going. I need you to know how dire this situation is, and how much your government needs you. And remember, I was VP when you were active, it was the other guy who stood you down”
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