Noon EDT
--NBC News has learned that Pact forces have initiated the use of nerve gas against NATO troops in four areas within the European theater: central Norway; Denmark; the German front outside Stuttgart; and the Austrian capitol Vienna--
--UN Radio is reporting the Cubans have bombed Santo Domingo—
--numerous explosions throughout Ottawa at this hour, with casualties in the dozens being reported even with much of the city being empty—
--Radio Nebraska is reporting that Tyler Tyles, a former U.S. Army pilot turned Soviet collaborator, has been shot and killed this morning at his compound outside of Fremont, Nebraska. A spokesman for Governor Heineman told Radio Nebraska that Tyles was killed by a federal agent. Federal agencies and Nebraska State Police cooperated on the attack on the compound, which was said to be supplying ‘aid and comfort’ to KGB agents and Soviet Spetsnaz operating inside the state—
--all civil order has collapsed in Atlanta—
--more people are fleeing INTO Dallas and Fort Worth than are leaving—
--the Pope refuses to leave the Vatican, despite pleas for him to flee at this late hour to north Africa or Brazil or even to Geneva—
Washington, D.C.
“My dad’s unreachable,” Tony said to Kate.
Tony was doing a good job in keeping his emotions in check, but Kate could read his expression closely enough to tell he was down. Tony had not been able to reach his father since speaking to him briefly a few days ago. According to the clerk who answered at the New York hotel that Anthony DiNozzo Sr. had stayed at, the elder DiNozzo had left with members of the Saudi Arabian Consulate. At that point, Tony knew he wouldn’t be able to reach his dad ever again.
Kate understood. She wouldn’t be able to talk with her parents, either.
She looked around the living room. McGee and his sister, Sarah, had likely lost their parents, Abby her brother, and Palmer his entire family. On the other hand, Ducky had his mother, and Fornell had his ex-wife and their daughter at the house. Kate thought of Franks, who had no one; Burley, whose parents and siblings were at some theme park in southern Illinois; and Gibbs, who had every living person he cared about inside this house.
She thought briefly about the first time they met, during that case aboard Air Force One, when he harshly interrogated her. How dare he accuse her of murder? Of working for the KGB? Nothing like that would enter her mind – she and her family were loyal Americans (as Gibbs had learned before his interrogation) – and Kate had served NCIS as loyally as she had the Secret Service, and then-President Broome.
In fact, Kate was grateful that God, or fate, had led her to NCIS – she didn’t know how she would’ve handled Indianapolis while working on Boehner’s detail. For all she knew, she might have left the Secret Service by now and been in Indianapolis when the bomb detonated.
Instead, Kate was in Washington, and had dealt with the tragedy by dealing with her emotions as privately as possible, reaching out to Gibbs, Ducky and the rest of the team when necessary, and throwing herself into her job. Now, she figured she could at least offer some comfort to her NCIS family, and let them know what they all had tried to tell her: they are loved, and they still have a family, here.
Abby came over and, without permission or speaking a word, reached out and hugged Tony. Kate saw both of them would be okay for the moment, so she made her way downstairs into the basement, where Gibbs was on the phone. He saw her, and flipped his phone shut. “Making your rounds, Kate?”, he asked.
“Checking on everybody,” she said. “You okay?”
“Fine,” he said, and she thought that he was. “Remember the little girl from that case a while back; the one those Spetsnaz agents left alone?”
“Yes! Have you gotten in touch with her?”
“With her aunt. I told her we have a way out of here if things get worse. The aunt and the girl are coming with some of their relatives. We’re putting them up across the street.”
“In that house?”
“Yep,” Gibbs said with a smile. “The Marshes. They’re long gone, you know.”
“Tony told us some stories about them. I would never let my life be turned into a foul-mouthed cartoon comedy.”
“The important thing is that girl has a shot, just like we do,” Gibbs said.
“Have you spoken with the director lately?”, Kate asked.
“He’s been unreachable. So have the deputy directors, and the other SACs.”
“I can’t believe that! Who is he talking to that he can’t touch base with you, even for a minute?”
“I’m sure he’ll surface. Mike’s been helping me take calls from other people from the Navy Yard. They’re asking us what’s going on, and what to do.”
“What are you telling them?”
“Same thing I told everyone here: have your go bags prepared, be ready to move in a second, and meet us near the old Pentagon mall.”
“Ohmigod…you told them about the ring? Can’t they arrest you for that?”
“That doesn’t matter, now.”
12:37 p.m.
Arlington, Virginia
The Ring complex underneath the old Pentagon City Mall
“This is it, Diana,” Trevor told the Amazon Princess of Themyscria. The dozens of civilian, government and military personnel working on the floor around the ring had noticed her. Some people couldn’t help but stare; they didn’t do so for very long. There was important work to be done, to prepare for the thousands of people Trevor expected to begin making their way here within hours.
There were four large doors at the back of the vast auditorium holding the Ring and the people working around it. Those doors contained elevators that would hold up to 500 people at a time. It was thought that one might be able to get up to 4,000 people per hour, and Trevor wanted to get things started as soon as possible.
Already, there were buses of people heading towards the facility from some of the poorer sections of the District of Columbia, people who couldn’t get out and people who stubbornly stayed. These were the people Trevor and his ‘evangelists’ were able to convince. Others weren’t budging, placing their faith in their gods, or resigning themselves to fate.
“TWO MINUTES TO ACTIVATION,” boomed the public address system. Diana saw lights on the ring light up, and the ring itself begin to spin.
“Two minutes from now, we’re going to see another universe,” Trevor told Diana. “It’s one of the friendly worlds we’ve managed to reach an accord with—”
Instantaneously, the lights in the facility went dark, replaced moments later by hundreds of red lights. A loud siren was then heard, and Diana noticed none of the workers were panicking or fleeing.
“Is this a test?”, she asked Trevor, yelling over the siren.
“Hell no,” Trevor yelled back, as the ring rotated more and more quickly. “Something’s coming through.”
“ALL PERSONNEL MOVE TO SECURE LOCATIONS IMMEDIATELY,” blared the public address system, and anyone not wearing a military uniform headed towards the back, or into one of the safe rooms along the sides of the auditorium. The message continued to repeat, even as Army and Marine personnel took up positions around the ring, all bearing arms. Diana wondered what she should do, then saw Trevor aiming his Beretta M9 semi-automatic pistol at the ring, now spinning faster than she imagined possible.
The open area within the ring radius turned white, obscuring the front wall, and the white smoke – or whatever was in the radius -- began to spin. Seventy-one seconds later, the ring itself slowed, and the bright white smoke dissipated. As the ring spun down, everyone looking at it saw a wall appear behind the ring. It was not the wall behind the ring, but similar to it – it showed a 52-star United States flag hanging vertically. The actual wall behind the ring had no flag hanging on it.
However, Diana and Trevor’s attention, and that of the military, had turned from the 52-star American flag to the brightly garbed men and women calmly walking onto the platform.
“We come in peace,” Trevor and Diana both heard in their heads. Trevor kept his weapon aimed towards the ring; the professional Army and Marine personnel did the same.
Diana wondered who these people were – and then saw her own double looking outwards, then catching her eye.
“Stand down! Repeat, stand down,” said someone at the front of the ring. Trevor couldn’t tell if the older man was Army or Marine Corps, but the men and women under his command listened. He noticed that he was putting his M9 weapon into its holster, then wondered what in the hell was going on.
“We come from what some of your people call The Second Earth, others call Earth-2,” said the leader, a tall, blonde, strong man dressed in red, green and purple. To Trevor, he looked like one of the so-called mystery men from the pulp comics of his youth, complete with mask and cape. Trevor knew somehow, this man was the real deal, and far more powerful than anyone there.
Come to think of it, he thought, each of those people on the platform are more powerful than anyone here, maybe except for Diana.
He turned to her, to ask what she thought about her chances against these people who appeared as if they stepped out of a comic-book movie. He saw Diana staring, looked towards the platform, and saw her exact double making her way down the stairs onto the floor. The soldiers parted – willingly or otherwise – and a half-minute later, Diana’s double stood before them.
“Do not fear, Diana, and Colonel Trevor. We come in peace,” she said, her smile putting them both more at ease than they were. “We come on a mission.”
Trevor looked over her shoulder and saw the blonde red-and-green man talking to the commanding officer. “Who are you?”, he said to the other Diana.
“Friends,” she said, addressing Trevor briefly, and somehow putting him completely at ease, before his military training kicked in. He glanced at the soldiers nearby, and noticed they had their weapons down but ready for use, a credit to their training.
“Diana. I am sorry for your loss,” the other Diana said to his Diana. “I know you have allies,” the other Diana looked at Trevor, “here, and nearby.”
“How did you know of…who are you?”, Diana replied. Trevor judged that she was torn between curiosity and suspicion. Only then did he notice his mind being flooded with information, and judging by his Diana’s own reaction, she was going through the same experience.
Trevor grabbed his head, then took a knee; so much was going through his mind he was having difficulty processing it all. It was as if someone was jamming weeks of intelligence into his mind.
His thoughts began to settle down, and he began reviewing what had been jammed into his mind.
We are from Earth-2. We are a group of crimefighters and metahumans, sometimes known as ‘superheroes’ or ‘wonders’ named the Justice Society of America. We lived through our own Third World War, over three decades ago. Our calendar is more than a decade ahead of your own; we emerged in our mid-1980s. Our world survived and is at peace, although we help fight those who would cause harm and chaos.
More intel poured into his mind…or was he processing it?
Diana, here, has been known as Wonder Woman, and was one of the first of our kind to emerge forty years ago. Our leader, Green Lantern, took the mantle of a great man killed by men inspired by a despot, who lashed out in fear. Some of us are here: Wildcat, Flash, Power Woman, Nightwing, Huntress, Mister Terrific, Hawkgirl, Starman, Jade, Obsidian, Doctor Midnight, Doctor Fate, Amazing Man, and Stargirl. The rest of us are on our own world, helping the authorities keep the peace.
“We are doing what you thought your own metahumans could have done: working with the authorities to protect and serve the people, and keep the peace,” the other Diana said to Trevor.
“My God,” Trevor whispered. “Who…who’s talking to me? Who’s in my head?”
“Doctor Fate or, if you prefer, Khalid,” she said. “He is the latest in the line of some amazing men and women who have held his mantle.” Trevor looked to his right, and saw a man, in a blue-and-yellow uniform, wearing a bright golden helmet and gold-and-yellow cape, floating above the soldiers. Trevor was as amazed that no one was aiming a weapon at the man, as the fact the man was hovering in mid-air.
“We mean you no harm; we are here as civilian ambassadors,” said the man whom Trevor, Diana and everyone else on the floor now knew as Green Lantern. “We would like to speak to your leaders.”
“That depends,” said the ranking officer on the floor. Trevor figured the man might have been in the service going back as far as Vietnam, and had either stayed in the service all this time or been one of the retired officers reactivated and assigned to domestic duty. In any case, Trevor judged this man as someone who wouldn’t back down to anyone, no matter how powerful or fantastic. “You want to tell me why you showed up here?”
“It was the easiest way to get to your world,” the Green Lantern said. “We are here in part as a last-ditch attempt to talk the leaders of the two sides into backing down from their disagreements. Some of our...fellow compatriots are in Moscow, talking to the Soviet leadership. We would like to talk to President Broome.”
“Broome’s dead,” the sergeant replied.
“Gardner’s in charge?”, asked the man Trevor knew to be the Wildcat.
“Soviets got to him through his family.”
“Who is the President right now?”, the Green Lantern asked, firmly and with a tad of impatience.
“John Boehner. Former House Speaker.”
Trevor and Diana noted the ‘heroes’ looking at each other, confused. “The Governor of Michigan?”, said the man who called himself Nightwing.
“He’s the damn President of the United States,” the sergeant said. “I suppose you could just go there yourselves and just knock on the front door of the White House.”
“That would cause more problems,” the Green Lantern replied. “We’re trying to dial things back, not escalate them. Consider us being here asking permission to ask to speak to your President.”
“And if I don’t give it?”
“Then we’ll leave and go knock on his front door,” interjected the Wildcat, who seemed to be on edge. Instantly, the Flash and the Power Woman appeared in front of the Wildcat, either calming him down or urging him to back down.
“We know you have a…hotline to the White House,” the Green Lantern said. “I urge you to use it, quickly. The more time passes, the less time we have to talk your leaders into backing down.”
“Dammit,” the sergeant swore. He walked a short distance away and picked up a phone hanging on a side wall. Two minutes later, the sergeant returned, and informed the visitors they’ll get what they asked for.
It took 15 more minutes before the Vice-President of the United States arrived, flanked by a dozen Secret Service agents. “Where is John Boehner?”, the Green Lantern asked him.
“Running the war,” said Mitch McConnell, his Kentucky drawl accentuated somewhat by his fatigue. No one in the White House had gotten much rest in recent days. “You want to talk, you’ll talk to me.”
Trevor didn’t always agree with the VP’s politics, but he was impressed by the man’s refusal to be impressed or scared by the costumed men and women before him. Trevor trusted McConnell to do the right thing for the country – and hoped that if it meant backing away from the abyss, if the Russians would do the same. The Green Lantern and some of the other heroes followed McConnell into a side room, leaving the other heroes on the platform, stared at by soldiers and civilians who still weren’t sure how to regard them.
“I’m good,” Trevor suddenly yelled at, at a couple of Marines and three scientists near him, Diana, and Diana’s doppelganger. He turned to Diana-2. “Is there anything you people are leaving out that you’d like to tell me, as the ranking officer on the floor – no offense to the fellow over there.”
“None taken, Sir. Sgt. Harrison Scott, United States Army. Commanding officer assigned here,” he said. “It’s been a few years since I wore the uniform. Had my commission reactivated, then was assigned here.”
“Good to see you, Sergeant,” Trevor said. “Maintain your position. I’m going to have a talk with the lady—”
Before he and Diana knew it, the man named Doctor Fate hovered above he and both Dianas. “Do not start a fight you cannot finish,” Diana said to Fate.
“Doctor Fate is a master of the mystical arts and a formidable fighter. Do not underestimate him,” Diana-2 said. “But we are not here to fight.”
“We would prefer to talk with you,” Diana said, unholstering the lasso from her clear and barely visible belt.
“Hold,” Diana-2 said to her compatriots, before turning to Trevor to see if he would do the same. “Stand down,” Trevor said to Sgt. Scott and his people. “Princess…can I call you that?”
“I am a Princess on my world, so yes, you may,” Diana-2 said. “We call our island Paradise Island, although Themyscria is the official designation. I would like to talk with you as well, and perhaps, put your minds at ease…with my colleague’s help, of course.”
Trevor looked at Diana, who nodded. “I trust her, Steven.”
He looked up at Fate. “I’m Christian, Princess…lapsed, but I never really stopped believing.”
“I am familiar with the faith,” Diana-2 said. “We have some followers on Paradise Island, and some who have left our island to marry men, or pursue missionary work.”
“That…guy floating above us. He used telepathy earlier, didn’t he?”
“I did,” Fate said. “I am not your enemy, Colonel.”
“You have an ankh on your uniform, pal. Not something I saw in church growing up.”
“It is an Egyptian symbol, meaning ‘life’. Which we are trying to save on this planet, if you would only listen—”
“Doctor Fate,” Diana-2 interjected, “please.”
Fate looked back at the Wildcat, who stood on the platform and gave a curt nod. “I am sorry, Wonder Woman, but this man and your alternate must at least know,” Fate said, with deference and respect to the woman he hovered near; with a wave of his hand, a bright light briefly blinded Trevor and Diana.
Both reopened their eyes, and saw themselves in the back of a large auditorium, filled with costumed heroes. Fate stood next to Trevor, Diana-2 next to Diana. Seemingly ignoring Diana-2’s glare (although, Trevor thought, the man could be blushing underneath that gold helmet), Fate gestured towards the crowd with a wave of his arm.
“Days ago, there was a gathering of heroes from across the multiverse,” Fate began. “Earth-17 – your world – was not represented. Other universes, with heroes from Earth and other worlds, were represented.”
Fate pointed to the platform, and a man in red, blue and yellow standing, arguing passionately for intervention. Trevor realized the man was talking about intervention on his world. “You judge correctly, Colonel Trevor. That is one of the versions of a hero who has inspired us all, known throughout the multiverse as Superman. He is from the First Earth.”
“Also known as Earth-1,” Diana-2 said. “The Superman I know is…was…there. Third from the left.” Except for the ‘S’ symbol on the man’s chest, he would’ve passed him and the speaker off as identical twins. “Doctor. Is there a reason for this simulation?”
“Yes, Wonder Woman,” Fate continued. Superman-1 argued for intervention in Earth-17’s affairs, noting the Indianapolis bomb. Several dozens of the heroes seemed swayed by Superman-1’s speech, several dozen others seemed set against what Superman-1 was advocating, and much of the crowd was undecided.
Another Superman – older, and someone who Trevor suspected may have seen his share of war – got up and argued against intervention. “I’ve seen what happens when we do nothing, and what happens when we intervene. If Earth-17 was ruled by villains – like Earths-177 and -178 – I would argue for intervention. No one’s talked about confrontation on those worlds. Why Earth-17?”
“Neither world is about to destroy itself,” said a man dressed in a bat suit. Batman of Earth-54 popped into Trevor’s head. I don’t like this occult crap, Fate. “If the Confederates and the Soviet Russians and Chinese had overrun the Industrial Republic and the Great Plains and the rest of North America, Europe and Asia, I’d be asking this body for intervention.”
“They haven’t because of the Alliance and Guardians,” said a man in blue, red and white with a shield. Captain America of Earth-54. “Our delegation’s point stands. They don’t have heroes to intervene. They killed their heroes.”
“Not all of them,” said a man, dressed in a black overcoat, turtleneck and pants, a black patch over his right eye. Nicholas Fury, Earth-MC. “They’re not operating openly – not like on 616, or other Earths – but they’re doing what they can.”
“They’re hunted down,” said a youngish British woman. “We should intervene, now.” Jenny Sparks, Earth-W.
“And make things worse?”, said another Diana doppelganger. Earth-86. “If we interfere, I fear we will complete what their Ares has been attempting to accomplish for decades.”
“If we don’t interfere, ‘sister’, Ares will finish what he started." Diana, Earth-52.
Diana grabbed Trevor’s arm. “All this is Ares’s doing,” she said in a near-whisper. “How could I have been so blind?”
“Who, Diana?”, he replied. “Who’s Ares?”
“A Grecian god,” Fate interjected. “Princess, you are partially correct. There are others, humans and metahumans included, who bear equal responsibility. The Eternal Man, for one.”
“The what?”, Trevor said. “Buddy, you brought us here for a reason. Now you’re inviting more questions. I want answers.”
“And you will have them, Steven,” Diana-2 interjected, before looking up at Fate. “How much more of this does Wildcat insist you show them?”
“It is not at Wildcat’s behest I do this, Wonder Woman, but Green Lantern’s,” Fate said. Before Diana-2 could respond, he gestured towards the platform. “Behold. The final speaker.”
Trevor and Diana saw a man dressed much like the other Supermen on the platform and floor, except he appeared to be of African descent (unlike the other men and women, most of whom appeared to be Caucasian).
“Superman of Earth-23,” Fate said. “He reminds me of the man who was President of the United States in my world, before the current holder in Earth-2’s timeline. He appears to remind you both of someone. A politician?”
“Congressman Obama,” Diana replied. “He’s not Barack, but…like him.”
“Kalel is a good, good man…and a politician,” Diana-2 said, with a hint of disappointment. “He was on the floor during the convention, trying to sway the unconvinced and the opposition, and encouraging those on his side. He apologized when I called him out on it; Kalel said his alter-ego had just appeared at a campaign rally.”
“Alter-ego…campaign rally?”, Diana asked.
“Kalel, in his civilian guise, is President of the United States on his world,” Diana-2 replied. “Doctor, can you ‘fast-forward’ to the point where he used the Legion’s futuristic technology to show the audience what would happen if nothing or something was done?”
“The results are based on hundreds of scientific and mystical inquiries into alternate timelines,” Fate interjected. “They are the most likely scenarios. Behold.”
Trevor mouthed ‘behold?!?’; Diana-2 smiled, apologetically. “We can be…dramatic on occasion,” she said. “Watch.”
Trevor and Diana saw the first scenario: a global nuclear war, with pockets of survivors. Superman-23 noted the importance of the world-wide Ring network, and Trevor noticed that both Dianas and Fate were looking at him.
Then the second scenario was shown.
It begins with all instruments of war besides individual weapons – tanks, jets, ships, satellites, aircraft carriers, nuclear weapons – disappearing, and the superheroes of multiple worlds spreading throughout Earth-17. Every country is visited, every government given the same ultimatium: pursue peace, now, or pay the consequences.
Several nations, including the U.S. and USSR, choose to fight. And pay the consequences.
With new governments in place, Earth-17 initially is at peace. However, resistance to the occupying superheroes quickly arises, and escalates into guerrilla warfare and terrorist actions (armed by ‘supervillains’ eager to take advantage of the situation), and within decades the entire planet is united against their superhero oppressors.
Then, the Dark Man moves in, to take advantage of the situation. His forces take control; the majority of superheroes, weary of decades of war, pull out. The small remnant of heroes – now fighting alongside those who had recently opposed them – cannot overcome the Dark Man’s forces.
In 2058, Earth again is at peace, the survivors having had the life taken from them, all chanting a single phrase of praise to their new god:
Darkseid Is.
Superman-23 reappeared at the podium.
“Actions have consequences,” Trevor and Diana heard him say. “In my…civilian occupation, I have had the opportunity to see first-hand what happens when powerful forces intervene in other peoples’ affairs. I have had to make choices, to clean up the messes my adopted country has created by its presence, and to send my country’s forces into places where they were needed, to clean up other peoples’ messes. These are often difficult choices, made after much consultation and much more reflection, and they often have had unforeseen results.
“Even now, my country has been unable to fully extract itself from places some of you may be familiar with: Qurac, Khandaq, Pakistan, Honduras, Moldavia. Some of my top military leaders were convinced that if we dropped enough bombs, sent in enough soldiers, showed enough force that it would solve all of the problems we were facing in that region and time has shown us it has not. My experiences, as unique as they are amongst our kind, I think speak as clearly to this situation as is possible.
“As a politician, a diplomat, a commander-in chief, a leader, I have been taught lessons I never could have learned merely as a superhero. I offer the benefit of my experience, now. I showed you these scenarios not to scare you or to ‘politick’ for my convictions. I showed them, and speak of them and of my past experiences, to urge you to make the best of two difficult choices. As much as I respect my good friend from Earth-1, he is wrong. If we intervene, now, we will doom this planet to a hellish fate far worse than the one that Kal-El, and many of you, wish to spare it from. We must allow these people to make their own decisions, and to give their survivors the best chance of survival before and after they go to war.”
The crowd erupted, pro- and anti-intervention sides shouting at each other. Trevor was amazed no one ever thought to attack the other; he was convinced the combined power in this vast auditorium could destroy the galaxy. He then saw the same man in red, green and purple who had just asked to speak to the President approach the podium. “Please, please, please,” he said, as a large green gavel suddenly jumped from his hand and pounded the podium. “I may have a solution. Please hear me out.”
As the crowd quieted down, the Green Lantern began to speak, and the scene of the vast auditorium – and the colorfully-garbed supermen, women, animals and aliens populating it – gave way to the smaller auditorium beneath the old Pentagon mall on Earth-17, and the giant Ring in it, surrounded by dozens of civilians and military personnel, plus several members of the Justice Society.
“Green Lantern’s motion carried the day,” Diana-2 said. “The Society of Earth-2 is here, in the United States. A similar, United Nations-backed group from Earth-1, is in Moscow right now. Both groups are attempting one last attempt at diplomacy, to stop the war, now.”
“Neither wide would listen to the Chinese or the Indians and the Soviets see the UN as their enemy,” Trevor replied. “I hope McConnell will listen to you. but the hawks are firmly in control, now. As far as Khalinin? You want him to listen to you? Whomever you sent over there will have to beat him into the ground, and that might not be enough.”
“I fear you are correct, Colonel,” Diana-2 said.
Washington
Gibbs’s house
2:21 p.m. EDT
“Spoke with the director, Agent Gibbs. And the White House. The VP cleared them.”
Roscoe – the suit that Gibbs had come to trust the most amongst the agents assigned to them by Director McCallister – looked like he wanted to apologize for the intrusion. “Agent Gibbs. They say they want to speak to Agent Todd.”
“They can talk to me first,” Gibbs said, walking past Roscoe, and the agents guarding the door, to talk to the three colorfully garbed people standing on his front porch.
“You must be Leroy Jethro Gibbs,” said the oldest of the trio, a man in his mid-fifties dressed in red and blue, wearing a helmet that was reminiscent of the Roman god Mercury. “I’m the Flash. I’ve…heard of your exploits before.”
“Haven’t heard of you, or your friends,” Gibbs said. “You from the other side.”
“You could say that,” said a tall, muscular, blond woman in a white, turtleneck leotard; blue boots; and a red cape. “Power Woman, in case you’re wondering. We don’t have a lot of time.”
“Neither do we,” said Gibbs. “War’s going on. You got business here?”
“Yes,” said the third person, a man dressed in jet black head to toe, wearing only white gloves. Gibbs noticed the black mask completely covering his head and face, and then noticed that every inch of the black portion of his costume appeared to have stars, and constellations, on them.
On a third glance Gibbs noticed the stars on the uniform seemed to be moving.
“You can call me Starman,” the man replied. “I’m from the other side, from one planet, living temporarily on a second planet after being sent from a 22nd planet. Which makes no sense. Just say I’m not from around here, and it’s funny how being on this planet has cleared my head like nothing else—”
“Thom,” Power Woman interjected.
“Sorry, Kara,” Starman said. “We know time is short, and if things were to get hot we could get you to the ring quick. But time is of the essence. I’d like to speak to Agent Todd.”
“Why?”, Gibbs said, annoyed. He had more important things on his mind than to talk to…circus freaks?...and wasn’t going to put any of his people in harm’s way unnecessarily, even with Riley McCallister and Mitch McConnell’s approval.
“I’ve seen her future. There is something she needs to know, now—”
“We’re done,” Gibbs said, turning to leave and lock the door behind him.
He turned, and saw Kate, standing in front of the door, her arms folded. “Gibbs.”
“Agent Todd. Go inside.”
“Gibbs. I can decide for myself.”
Gibbs started to admonish her for disobeying a direct order, then sighed. He looked at Kate, then turned to Starman. “One minute.”
“That’s all I need,” he said. He stopped himself when he saw Kate gawk at Power Woman for just a moment; Kara smiled as Kate head slapped herself. “That’s what I get for hanging around Tony too much,” she muttered. “Who are you,” she said more loudly.
“I’m Starman. She’s Power Woman” – Kara waved and grinned – “and he’s Flash.” Flash tipped his hat. “I’m running out of minute. So here goes…You’re important.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re…you were important. You’ve been important to, and valued by, your loved ones. You’re important, now, to your loved ones here, and in Indiana. And you will be even more important.”
“What…what are you talking about?”
“I’ve seen your future, Caitlin Rose Todd. It’s vital you and everyone in there get through to the other side. Your team has a lot of adventures ahead of it. It’s what you do in the future that’s important.”
“I’m sorry…but what are you talking about?”
“Keep fighting. Make a better world. In my distant past, my universe’s Earth lost you and got a gift it didn’t know it was given when you crossed over. What you do…what your family and friends do…help make my world, my family, my other friends and their worlds possible. To some of us…you’re as much of an inspiration as anybody. And I wanted to thank you since I might never get the chance to do so again.”
Starman stuck his hand out. Kate didn’t know what to do.
“Miss Todd,” said the Flash, “Starman may be a bit….unique, but he has a good heart.”
“I’d call him crazy,” Power Woman added with a wink, pointing at him with her thumb. “But he’s also a good judge of character. If he says you’re good, that’s good enough for me.”
What the heck, Kate thought, and shook Starman’s hand.
“Thank you,” he said. “You’ve got a lot of good ahead of you. Gibbs, I’d shake your hand, but I know you’ll see me again. I’ve seen you before. You, and Agent DiNozzo, and Dr. Isles.”
Gibbs looked at Flash, who shrugged his shoulders. Power Woman smirked.
Before Gibbs could respond, a large circular portal opened 12 feet above the front yard, and Doctor Fate levitated outward from it. “It is time to leave,” Fate said, his voice booming throughout the neighborhood.
“Could you maybe speak a little lower?”, Power Woman said. “Starman, are we done here?”
“Yes,” he replied, taking one last look at Kate and Gibbs. “Thank you both.” Power Woman picked up Flash and Starman, and all three followed Fate through the portal, which quickly vanished as if it was never there.
“What on Earth was all that about?”, Kate said.
“Not on Earth,” Gibbs answered. “Not this Earth, anyway.”
“You can say that again…hey, that guy meant Ducky, right?”
“Sure. Makes as much sense as anything.”
Both turned to go inside, and noticed everyone else gawking at them through the door and front windows. Kate shrugged her shoulders and looked at Gibbs.
“Do I have to do everything, Agent Todd?”, he grumbled without a hint of aggravation. They went inside, If Starman was right, Gibbs still had to get Kate and everyone else to the Pentagon mall ring, and his gut was telling him time was running out.
--Pentagon sources tell ABC News that a Soviet submarine has attacked the USS Carl Vinson near Guam. Those sources would not say if there were any casualties, citing the Rock Act and the importance of military operations in the Pacific Theater—
--the BBC broke from its Protect and Survive programme to report that a ‘massive explosion’ has destroyed Buckingham Palace—
--looters have turned St. Louis into anarchy—
--Israeli fighters have bombed Pact forces trying to attack Israel from Syria—
--NBC News can confirm what ZNN and NHK are reporting: China has entered the war on the side of the Allied Nations. Beijing declared war on the USSR and the World Pact minutes ago—
--Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman has implemented a plan from a professor, E.D. Rochelle, that would protect the state’s food and fuel reserves and allow it to aid neighboring states—
--Yellowstone National Park is flooded with refugees—
--refugees are pouring over the Montana state border into Canada—
--White House sources now tell CNN President Boehner is aboard Air Force One—
--the sign outside the First Baptist Church in Atlanta – one of the only places in the city where any semblance of law and order still stand – is reminiscent of a line from Stephen King’s The Stand. The sign reads ‘ACCEPT JESUS NOW. SEE YOU IN HEAVEN’--
5:10 p.m. EDT
“Those people who came to your front door were legit, Jethro,” Trevor said to Gibbs on a very secure phone line. “After they left your place, they came to the Pentagon, and took Diana and I to Novamerika. We haven’t found your agent here, yet, but we know she’s here, and we’ll find her.”
“You have to be a target, Colonel,” Gibbs said.
“Probably not in the first wave, and Diana’s people think they can protect the immediate area. But that’s all they can do. The Russians are going to launch everything, and even with the shield, most of their missiles are going to get through.”
“And ours, through to Russia. You stay safe, you hear me?”
“And you do the same. Remember. Get to the Ring, no matter what. And Godspeed.”
“Likewise, Colonel.”
The click on the other end was the last time he might ever hear from Trevor, Diana and Paula Cassidy anytime soon, if ever. He had begun to mull over the possibility of using whatever resources he could find on the other side to mount a post-war rescue operation when his NCIS-issued cell phone rang.
It was McCallister.
“The shit’s hit the fan, Jethro. Soviets just detonated some nukes in West Germany. We detonated three of our nukes in East Germany. Get your people to the Pentagon Mall now.”
McCallister disconnected. Gibbs shoved his phone in his pocket, ran to the workbench to grab his go bag, and ran up the stairs – ignoring the sudden, jarring pain in his knee – as fast as he could.
“Grab your gear NOW people,” Gibbs yelled. “We go in five. Roscoe. Get the vehicles ready.”
Roscoe stared at him, as Palmer, Diane, Sarah and Abby looked up from the television set.
“You heard me, Agent Monroe? We go in FIVE. EVERYONE. WE’RE MOVING OUT.”
The house emptied in four minutes. As Tony and Ziva carried Mrs. Mallard down the stairs and one of the suits carried all three of their go bags (with the agent’s own go bag strapped to her back), Ducky stopped Gibbs. “This is it, Jethro?”
“Afraid so, Duck. McCallister said to go, now. Not gonna argue with him.”
“We have time,” Ducky said with much uncertainty.
“I hope,” Gibbs said. “There's no going back, Duck. The end’s in sight. I'm getting us all to safety."
