Chapter 3
"Good morning, Colonel. The chief is waiting for you in the
conference room."

The colonel, a tall, well-built man with brown hair, gave the
receptionist a wink and a smile, then started down the brightly
illuminated, almost sterile looking, hallway. She pursed her lips and
lightly touched her cheek as the man with the rugged good looks
walked away.

She blinked, and the colonel's brown suede jacket was suddenly
slung across his shoulder. She blinked a second time, and his white
turtleneck vanished to reveal a strong, muscular back. The
receptionist blinked a third time, and the colonel's brown slacks…
stayed right where they were as a ringing telephone drew the young
woman from her fantasy and back to reality. She glanced down the hall
once more as she answered the telephone, just in time to see the
colonel, fully-clothed, blow her a kiss and push open the conference
room door.

"Steve."

A well-dressed man in a dark blue suit with a receding hairline
motioned for him to take a seat.

The colonel did as he was instructed, nodding a silent greeting
to the others seated around the table.

"Now that everyone's here," the chief said, "I'll turn it over
to Dr. Maskess."

Dr. Maskess, a small built man with coke-bottle glasses, pulled
a device from the pocket of his lab coat and pointed it over his
shoulder. At the click of a button, the lights began to dim and a
white screen descended from its holding place in the ceiling. The
doctor tapped a second button, and an image appeared on the screen.
It was a satellite picture of something entering the earth's
atmosphere.

"Last night, one of our satellites picked up something roughly
man-sized entering the earth's atmosphere. We have accounted for the
whereabouts of Captain Atom, as well as the whereabouts of all of the
other aero-capable action heroes from across the globe, so we believe
we are dealing with a possible extra-terrestrial incursion."

Maskess tapped the button again, and a second image replaced the
first. "As you can see here, we have projected the trajectory, and,
based on our calculations, the alien came down in northern Ohio."

"Cleveland, to be exact," a female voice to the left of Steve
added. " The AP reported this morning that the old Empire Hotel
sustained serious damage after being struck by something that fell
from the sky late last night."

Dr. Maskess brought up a third image. "Although the alien
entered our atmosphere at such an unbelievable rate of speed, one of
our satellites did manage to capture this image."

A blurry image of what appeared to be a man clad in a red
bodysuit, with brown trunks and black boots and bracers, surrounded
by a nimbus of re-entry fire dominated the screen until the lights
came up.

"I guess this explains why I am here," the colonel said. "Well,
I've always wanted to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, so I guess
this is my chance."

His comment drew chuckles from the others, including the chief.

"You had better plan on buying two tickets, then," the chief
said, "because, you are going to have a partner on this trip."

"A partner?" Steve asked. "Jamie?"

"No. It's not Jamie," the chief replied. "You'll be travelling
with one of the O.S.I.'s new recruits."

Steve cocked his head to the left slightly. "By "recruit", do
you mean someone like Jamie or myself?"

"Not quite."

"If this recruit isn't like us," Steve said, "then are you sure
it will be safe? I don't want to spend my time playing babysitter."

"Don't worry, Colonel. I am fully capable of taking care of
myself."

Steve swiveled his seat around towards the source of the strange
voice. A tall, well-built man dressed from head to toe in black was
pulling the door shut behind him.

The chief smiled. "Steve, this is Brett Carson. Brett did a
stint as an action hero, so I'm sure you won't have to worry about
him."

"An action hero?" Steve asked, as he stood and looked the man
over. "Hmm. You've got a face, so the Question is out; and you're too
big to be the Blue Beetle. You're built pretty good, but not as good
as Nightshade…"

Brett raised his hand to stop the man's good-natured ribbing. "I
know I'm going to regret telling you this, but I went by the name…Mr.
Muscles."

This caused more than a few chuckles in the room.

Brett held his arms out and tilted his head forward. "Yeah,
yeah. Go ahead and laugh. I had thought about calling
myself "Superman", but the comics already had dibs on the name."

Everyone began to laugh. The chief allowed it to go on for
several seconds, before clearing his throat.

"Let's concentrate on the business at hand, shall we?" he said.
He turned his attention back to his two agents. "Like I was saying.
Steve, this is Brett Carson. Brett, this is Colonel Steve Austin.
Now, let's get you two to Cleveland before the alien disappears."