The Sunkiller Affair: Doc Vandal Adventures, #5

By Dave Robinson

When Vic Frank is arrested on trumped up charges while Doc Vandal and the team are searching for a kidnapped scientist, explaining it to her mother is the least of Doc's problems. 
He's also got to deal with… Vic's irate girlfriend Ming… Nazis infiltrating the NYPD… and whoever just broke into the 87th floor of the Republic State Building and stole the plans for a device that can blow up the Sun! 
Join Doc Vandal and the team in a fight against the Technarchy's flying commandos, the German American Bund, and the vacuum of space itself! 
Enjoy a complete pulp adventure with Nazis, talking gorillas, and Zeppelins in Spaaaace!

• Language: English
• Publisher: KEH Publishing
• Release date: Apr 23, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223914952

Dave Robinson

I’m Dave, and I write. I’m also a father, a reader, gamer, a comic fan, and a hockey fan. Unfortunately, there is a problem with those terms; they don’t so much describe me as label me, and the map is not the territory. Calling me a father says nothing about my relationship with my daughter and how she thinks I’m silly. It ignores the essence of the relationship for convenience. It’s the same with my love of books, comics, role-playing games, and hockey; labels only say what, not how or why. They miss all the good parts. If you want more of a biography: I was born in the UK, grew up in Canada, and have spent time in the US. I’ve been freelancing for the last seven years. Before that, and in no particular order, I’ve managed a bookstore, worked in a pawnshop, been a telephone customer service rep, and even cleaned carpets for a living. As a freelancer, I’ve done everything from simple web content, to ghostwritten novels. I’ve even written a course on trading forex online. I’ve also edited everything from whitepapers to a science fiction anthology. Right now, I'm working on the next Doc Vandal adventure.

Book preview

DOC VANDAL

in

The Sunkiller Affair

by Dave Robinson

A Doc Vandal Publication

Copyright 2018 by Dave Robinson

Cover Illustration by Carlos Balarezo

Cover Design by Queen Graphics

This is a work of fiction. All similarities to any persons living or dead is purely coincidental. All events, locales, and incidents are either purely the product of the author’s imagination or used for fictitious purposes.

The Doc Vandal Series

Against the Eldest Flame

Air Pirates of Krakatoa

Attacked Beneath Antarctica

Giant Robots of Tunguska

The Sunkiller Affair

The Ziggurat of Doom (forthcoming)

Collections

The Doc Vandal Omnibus: Volume One

This work is dedicated to the memory of Kim, sadly gone all too soon, without whom I would never have written a word; to Kyrie, and to my brother Neil, who always believed I was a writer even when I didn’t. Also thanks to the memory of my parents, Lyn and Clive Robinson.

I would also like to thank everyone who has helped me on this writing journey from the moment I first decided I wanted to create my own pulp heroes to the last word I typed; especially those who have read my works and given the kind of feedback you need to get the best out of a story: Brittany Maresh, Mike Headley, Jules Ironside, S.L. Huang, Vincent Collins, Jaap Geluk, and Ian Gill.

Any errors are mine alone.

Table of Contents

Enter Sunkiller

Behind Bars

On the Road

Walking on Starshine

The Retreat

Goddess of Death

Afterword

Cast of Characters

Doc Vandal

James Clark Vandal, born January 1st, 1901 in a 43rd Archonate observation post on the near side of the Moon. Raised by alien AIs, Doc has been enhanced well beyond normal human capabilities. One side effect of his upbringing is that he has difficulty understanding some elements of human motivations. He arrived on Earth on January 1st, 1919. In the eighteen years since then, he has become the foremost scientific adventurer in the world. His most famous invention is an artificial aerogel called lyftrium which has made safe lighter-than-air travel a worldwide phenomenon. He lives with the rest of the team on the 87th floor of the Republic State Building in New York.

Victoria Vic Frank

Countess Victoria Catherine Elizabeth Marie Frank, born March 23rd (March 10th according to the Julian calendar), 1909 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Conceived aboard an airship flying over Siberia at the precise moment of the Tunguska Event, she is the youngest of the core four. After her parents vanished during the Revolution she escaped to England by way of China with her grandmother. Taken in by Doc after her grandmother’s death, she’s a daredevil who serves as the team’s pilot. She’s very much an act first, think later, kind of person. What wasn’t known until very recently was that Vic is not really human, but actually the product of genetic engineering by an alien invasion by a race known as the Tralthans. Despite this she was able to break free of her programming and help defeat the invasion force.

Augustus Gus Q. Ponchartrain

Gustar was on born October 1st, 1901 in Pongo City West Africa. He walked out of the rainforest after the War and made his way to the United States where he met Doc Vandal at Arkham College in 1921. A polymath, Gus jokes that he has more doctorates than he can count, though in actuality it’s only twelve, and is an expert on hundreds of subjects. In addition to his intelligence and education, Gus also possesses the tremendous strength of full-grown silverback gorilla. He is known to be fond of Earl Grey tea.

Gilbert Gilly Chanter

Gilbert Chanter, born December 17, 1903 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The son of a Baptist preacher, Gilly is Doc and the team’s driver, mechanic, and photographer. He’s also a huge fan of pulp magazines like The Shadow. For the most part he tends to sit back and quietly do his job.

Kehla Ponchartrain

Kehla was born on June 22nd 1906 in Pongo City West Africa. Raised to be the First Hand of Vel, a sacrificial priestess of the Eldest Flame, she was also Gus’s childhood sweetheart. After Gus escaped from Pongo City, she rebelled against her fate and joined a guerilla movement, quickly rising to the position of leader. Following the destruction of Pongo City in Against the Eldest Flame, she finally married Gus and relocated to New York.

Li Ming

Li Ming, M.D., born February 10th, 1910 in Semarang, Java, Dutch East Indies. The daughter of a revolutionary known only as Tigress, Ming graduated from Batavia’s GHS medical school in 1933, the first Chinese woman to do so. Trained in both Western and Chinese medicine, she acts as the team’s primary physician, taking the role from Doc. She joined the team after Vic was forced to take refuge from attacking robots in her store. The store was ruined, she wanted to be paid back, and eventually fell in love with Vic.

CHAPTER ONE

Enter Sunkiller

Vic held Ming’s hand as they came up the steps from the subway station, bulling her way through the crowd. They had just come from an early dinner at Delmonico’s; Vic’s treat because she didn’t have a hope of keeping up with Ming in the kitchen. She had traded a little on her title to get reservations on short notice, but the smile on Ming’s face was worth an evening of having to listen to the waiters call her Countess.

The wind had a bit of an edge, but after spending the summer in Antarctica and the fall in Siberia anything above freezing was a Godsend. That didn’t stop her from rolling up her collar to take the brunt of the wind.

Cold, honey? Ming asked. You know you shouldn’t be pushing yourself too hard. We still don’t know if you’ll have any lasting effects from the Tunguskite.

Vic sighed; Tunguskite was an extra-terrestrial mineral she had been exposed to on their last adventure. While she had almost died several times, she was better now. If anything she was stronger than before. Not that anything like that mattered to Ming; Vic was pretty sure that deep down, Ming thought she was significantly more fragile than a blown glass ornament.

I’m fine; remember, I was a little girl in Siberia before the Revolution.

And you were almost a little corpse in Siberia less than three weeks ago, Ming shot back. Would it kill you to take it easy? Don’t answer that.

Vic squeezed Ming’s hand; she knew she wasn’t easy to live with even at the best of times. Ming had stuck with her through an awful lot though. I can try; but I don’t promise anything.

How about a nice peaceful walk back to the Republic State Building; holding my hand.

Vic grinned. I think I can manage that.

She strode forwards, swinging their linked hands together.

They had made it about halfway up the block when a commotion caught Vic's attention. Two men in brown suits were trying to hustle a young woman into the back of a yellow sedan. They were parked between street lamps so it was hard to make out much detail, but it didn’t look like she wanted to go with them. Vic squeezed Ming's hand as they continued towards the group. Just then, Vic heard the sound of a slap as one of the men's head rocked back.

Go on, Ming said. She needs you.

No sooner had the words reached her ears than Vic had dropped Ming's hand and sprinted towards the young woman. She might not be able to beat an airship cross country anymore, but she could still shave over three seconds off Jesse Owens' best in the hundred. Vic bounced the first man's head off the roof of the car before anyone but Ming knew she had moved. The second man reached into his coat only to catch Vic's foot in the side of his head and crumple like a sack of potatoes.

Are you alright, Miss? Vic asked, keeping one eye on the car.

Goodwin, Lyn Goodwin, the young woman answered; her eyes wide behind her glasses. Yes, I think I’m alright now.

Vic looked at the two men who were still lying on the sidewalk. Both looked to be still breathing, though the bruises they were raising were almost as bright as the matching tie-pins they wore. Featuring a gold sun over a red and white monad they were bright and almost gaudy, looking totally out of place against the brown suits.

They won’t be getting up soon, will they? Miss Goodwin asked, looking from side to side.

Vic laughed. I don’t think so; they landed pretty hard.

Do you really want to hang around here? Ming had finally caught up with them.

Well, they might wake up, and then I could hit them again Vic said hopefully.

That’s exactly why we shouldn’t stick around. Ming slipped her left arm through Miss Goodwin’s right, and gestured for Vic to take the other. I’m sure you’ll find plenty of other people who need hitting; you always do.

Yes, dear. Vic did as Ming suggested and took the young woman’s other arm as they continued down the street.

Do you know what those men wanted, or was it just a random attack? Ming asked once they were a few yards away.

I…I’m not sure.

Vic glanced over her shoulder; neither man had gotten up yet. Here, I’m Vic and her name is Ming. We only live a couple of blocks away. Why don’t you come home with us and Ming can take a look at you, she’s a doctor.

All right, Miss Goodwin frowned, but I was looking for Doc Vandal.

That’s fine; with any luck he should have finished his chess game by the time we get there.

Check; and mate. Augustus Q. Ponchartrain reached out and tipped Doc Vandal’s King with a thick black finger. A silverback gorilla with multiple doctorates, Gus was one of Doc’s best friends and his most common chess partner. Tonight’s game had been their first in almost a week; no sooner had they returned from the Soviet Union than Doc had dived into a research paper he was due to present in next month’s Solar Power Symposium.

Sorry, Gus, I was thinking. Doc said, reaching for the pitcher of iced tea and pouring himself another glass.

You’re always thinking, Doc. Gus shook his head and took a loud slurp of his Earl Grey tea. Usually you’re better able to focus on your chess game.

I’ve just been preoccupied lately. Doc took a swallow of his tea.

Gus grunted. I’ve noticed. If you were a pet person I’d think someone had killed your dog.

Doc pushed his glass off to one side. I’ve never had a dog.

I know. Gus took a break from straightening up the chessboard. As far as I know you’ve never had anything: dog, cat, turtle; not even a parrot.

Doc shrugged as he handed some pieces back to Gus. I’ve never felt the need. He sighed deeply. Is there something wrong with me?

You were old enough to vote before you met another human being and it’s taken you almost twenty years to ask that question? Gus met Doc’s gray eyes with his own brown ones.

It never seemed important before.

Now it was the gorilla’s turn to sigh. For all you know about everything else under the Sun, you really aren’t very self-aware are you? Explains why you get along so well with Vic.

What do you mean? Doc wasn’t sure what the gorilla was getting at. Vic lived entirely for the thrill of the moment. She didn’t plan anything if she could avoid it; her girlfriend Ming was definitely the adult in that couple.

Vic doesn’t think very deeply about things; her thoughts are always on the surface, the gorilla explained. You think more deeply about things, but you always start from the position you’re an objective observer.

Aren’t I? Doc raised an eyebrow.

Gus rolled his head back and let out a full-throated laugh that filled the lounge. Heads turned from the corner where Gilbert Gilly Chanter and the alien entity known as Shard were reading pulp magazines, but Doc didn’t pay them any attention.

Aren’t you? Gus asked. Unlike the minds that raised you, you have a fully functioning endocrine system. You’re a human being, not a glorified Babbage Engine. You have emotions, not a collection of unfeeling gears in your head.

Doc shook his head. Artificial minds aren’t mechanical….

That’s not the point; it’s not the mechanism behind it—it’s the fact that they’re different from ours.

A mind’s a mind. It’s all ones and zeroes.

Gus laughed. Thoughts may be ones and zeroes, but human minds aren’t entirely logical. Humans are too emotional to duplicate the thoughts of emotionless artificial minds. Your brain is the result of millions of years of evolution, not programming on a blank slate.

Well, the programming is millions of years old, Doc said mildly.

And it’s spent most of that time frozen, Gus replied. It’s not a fair comparison.

You may be right, Doc said. Want another game?

No, I don’t think you’re up for it; wouldn’t want to beat you twice in a row.

I doubt that would happen. Doc reached for the pieces.

Glass shattered as half a dozen figures came swinging through the windows and into the lounge. Clad in black leather outfits with golden goggles over their flight helmets they looked like some kind of pulp serial sky commandos out of Flash Gordon. Golden wings collapsed into their backpacks as they raised strange double-coil-barreled guns towards Doc and Gus.

Doc took all this in in an instant, processing the information in less than a second. Even as Gus dived for cover Doc grabbed the heavy stone chessboard and spun it toward the leading attacker.

Oil switches in the attackers guns crashed loudly enough for Doc to hear, as steel darts sliced towards him trailing wires in their wake. Two darts hit Doc square in the chest, completing a circuit with the weapon. Electric fire arced down the conductors carrying a wave of blinding pain. All his muscles convulsed at once as his nerves fought the rogue signals from the weapon.

A lesser man would have collapsed from the shock the moments the darts hit, but Doc wasn’t a lesser man. The artificial minds that had raised him on that Archonate moonbase had done more than just raise a human child; they had enhanced him. Conductive webs built into his nervous system sprang into action, diverting the energy away from his motor nerves and dissipating it harmlessly into his skin. Woven from room temperature superconductors, they formed a self-healing mesh between muscles and skin.

Roaring in response to the stimulus, Doc leaped toward the nearest attacker, his skin wreathed in sparks. Ducking to avoid the chessboard, the man missed Doc’s leap completely. Goggled eyes went wide as Doc drove his fist into his attackers’ solar plexus.

Pain faded as the man released the trigger, giving Doc the opportunity to take a look around the lounge. Gilly and Shard had flipped the couch they were sitting on to serve as a shield. Gus had taken advantage of his greater mass and followed Doc in a charge. Two broken wires dangled from his chest, but the weapon didn’t seem to have slowed the gorilla in the slightest. If anything, it had only made him angry.

Doc grabbed his opponent’s weapon and jammed it into the man’s stomach. Squeezing the trigger, he felt the oil switch crash as a second burst of energy hammered down the wires. Acrid smoke rose from the man’s backpack as the electric discharge sent him into convulsions.

Another wave of pain reminded Doc there were more attackers to deal with.

Spinning rapidly, he snapped the wires and caught his next attacker with a snap-kick to the chest that sent the man staggering backwards through the same window he had broken just seconds before. That gave Doc enough of a breather to check on the others. A pair of darts rose from the dark skin of Gilly’s shoulder, putting him out of the fight for the moment, Gus was holding his own, and Shard was a revelation.

About five and a half feet tall with pearl gray skin, Shard stood on two tentacles with a pair of slimmer ones growing from each shoulder. Her head resembled an octopus with a lamprey’s mouth instead of a beak. Despite the alien appearance, she moved more gracefully than any dancer. Her whole body undulated with each step as if she was listening to rhythms no human could detect. Three sets of wires hung from her rubbery skin but she barely seemed to notice. Instead, she danced closer to her three attackers, and gently extended a tentacle towards each one in what looked like a simple caress.

All three convulsed and fell over as if struck by their own weapons.

Gus growled as his opponent got off a lucky shot, then bent down and threw the man bodily out the same window Doc had accidentally kicked his compatriot through. The gorilla ripped the two darts from his body and looked around the lounge.

Doc headed towards the next nearest opponent, one of the three that Shard had dropped. Before Doc could reach the man a set of golden wings extended from his backpack and two shafts of golden light launched him out of the lounge and back into the sky. In seconds, the other two had followed their leader out the window leaving Doc and company in the cold wind.

Doc took a deep breath and walked over to where his original attacker lay on the carpet. Two blank brown eyes stared upwards from behind the golden goggles. Kneeling beside the man, Doc felt for a pulse. It was weak, but seemed stable.

Help me get this suit off him; he needs to be in the infirmary.

Gus stepped forward and picked up the man. We can do it there.

Once out of the suit and on the bed the man looked relatively normal. He was caucasian, with brown hair and eyes and a deep tan. Doc gently pulled back an eyelid and took another look at the man’s eye. Even when he shined a light directly in the man’s eye, it didn’t react.

No point questioning him, I suppose, Gus said.

Not that I can see. Doc sighed. We can hope that he comes out of his coma soon, but there’s no way to tell for sure. It’s a waiting game.

They had almost reached the Republic State Building when Vic caught sight of something odd up ahead. Golden lights speared down from above like giant columns; supporting an airship high above. Four giant searchlights beamed giant legs down onto the street.

What is that? Ming breathed.

I don't know, but it's way too close to the eighty-seventh floor, Vic muttered.

The airship