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Freedom Fighters
Times Past, 1943
The Space-Time Gambit
Book Two
Continued from The Space-Time Gambit: Book One
Chapter 4
Machine gun fire ripped through the dawn air, and the rising sun painted a grim scene of battle in a world beset by the Axis. It seemed as if the Nazi forces were poised to win this alternate world's long-running second world war, and only one group had the power to fight them head on.
"Sandy, honey, Condor's surrounded!" said a colorful old man. "Can you put out the lights for him?"
A sexy woman in a revealing costume laughed as she kicked a Nazi in the face like a Rockette. "No problem, Sam. Consider it done!" said the Phantom Lady as she aimed her blackout beam at the Nazi troops fighting the muscled and mighty Black Condor.
He crashed into them with a renewed vigor as they muttered curses and stumbled in the carefully localized darkness generated by the girl's wrist weapon. "Thanks!" said the Condor as he punched them with skill and great strength. "Now I'll put out their lights my own way!"
The Ray shot across the sky as the sun rose higher and filled his energized form with new power. "Ah, like a hot shower on a Monday morning!" he quipped, then flew lower to shatter the machine gun with concentrated energy.
A tiny figure darted among the fighters and grew larger in front of several startled Nazi troopers. "That diminutive swine! He enrages me with his antics!" cried a Nazi general.
Doll Man grinned. "That is the plan, Hans!" He ducked a swung rifle and caught the Nazi with a right hook that was anything but diminutive.
The colorful Firebrand and explosive Human Bomb soldiered on in their own ways. Roy Lincoln, alias the Human Bomb, was bright and quite in spite of his combustible power. Rod Reilly, the original Firebrand, was more of a daredevil who relished the thrill of swashbuckling adventure.
"You know, we've already been here a few months now, and the thrill of knocking Nazis flat never leaves me!" he said.
Uncle Sam was proud of his team, and he wondered at times if these brave souls could have saved Earth Two on their own as well. The Nazi forces were less dominant there, and these Freedom Fighters had held their own on Earth X, as he called it, without any JSA to be found. Still, they were outnumbered and he worried. He had a paternal feeling for all patriots, and he hated the thought of losing another figurative son or daughter.
A gleam then signaled the arrival of the time craft of Doome and his partners.
"What the--? A new Nazi deviltry!" said Sam.
Doll Man said, "That looks like a space craft or... a time machine! Imagine the possibilities of having one of those. We could stop the Axis before they even got started!" said the scientist excitedly.
Phantom Lady, alias Sandra Knight, knew her cousin Ted Knight loved science as well, but even he didn't get so passionately involved in theory during the midst of battle. "Say, Doll Man, maybe we should fight first and calculate later!" she said with a grin.
Black Condor flew closer. His keen eyes marked the passengers. "They are not friendly!"
Chapter 5
The Black Condor's handsome features suddenly contorted with rage as he looked at the equally angry visage of Psycho Pirate. He quickly turned to charge his own team with a passionate hatred. "You'll all pay!" he shrieked. "You are all humans, and your kind has ever been the killers of the Flock!"
Uncle Sam frowned. "Son, fight it! He's driven you mad!"
Condor crashed down and knocked the agile Firebrand cold with one punch. "Rod!" cried Sandra Knight as she ran to the fallen Firebrand.
The Ray streaked down to block his friend, but the fleet Condor darted around the Ray and slammed both feet into Uncle Sam.
Then the Human Bomb slammed his fist down in their midst at the command of Halfdane, who had quietly enslaved Roy Lincoln's mind. The blast knocked Phantom Lady, Doll Man, and even the Ray cold.
Uncle Sam gazed at his fallen friends and faced the charging Human Bomb and swooping Black Condor. "I reckon you boys ain't right in the head, but I gotta stop you. Heaven help me, I do!"
Doome grinned and pushed a buttom. The ray beam hit Uncle Sam, but nothing happened. "Why that's odd. I assumed my chronal ray would trn him into an infant... just how old is this guy?"
Sam wrestled the Condor across the field while the Bomb warily waited for his chance. "I'm not a day over 167, and that means I'm spry enough to whup you polecats!" he said. Then the blast from the Human Bomn hit home, and he fell at Black Condor's feet.
"Excellent!" said Doome. "You sapped his will too, eh, Halfdane?"
"Yes, and now we gather them up as with all the others from all those Earths?" he asked.
Doome grinned. "Yes, we are done! These strapping youths called the Freedom Fighters shall give my hated foes the Seven Soldiers of Victory true freedom -- the freedom of the grave! Now, put them with all the other Earth X heroes."
He was a very smug fat man at that moment; things looked very good for him. He would see the end of his foes, and then with Hayden's aid, he would punish Luthor for his treatment of a man of such refinement and genius. Yes, he would...