"Leading the news this morning, an unusual theft occurred last night at the Tharka Museum in Micropoliz. The original magno-tape recording of the First Woman of the Future's visit to the distant planet Earth, and her encounter with that planet's leading hero Superman, has been stolen. Exerts say this tape would have value only to a collector; the Museum has many copies and the video display in the Earth exhibit of the 'Life on Other Planets' display will not be affected. There is nothing recorded on the surveillance video, and Micropoliz police have discovered no clues and currently have no suspects."

Tharka, the premier hero of the planet Zor, was watching the morning newscast while eating breakfast in her Floating Fortress, and the lead story about the theft from the Tharka Museum in Micropoliz caught her attention. She had donated that particular historical magno-tape to the Museum herself, to commemorate her invention of the instavisor that had led to the discovery of life on other planets. "I think I'll see what I can find out," she mused curiously to herself. The trimly-built blonde beauty in the orange one piece mini-dress with green cape set the autopilot to lift the Floating Fortress almost into orbit and then exited via the airlock, streaking through the sky towards Micropoliz at hypersonic velocity.

Tharka was good friends with most of the staff at the Museum honoring her, and the jovial elderly Director Jom Hembrock greeted her sheepishly. "We don't usually have your original tape on display," he told her. "But yesterday was a special occasion. You might not have realized that Zor is just about 19 light years (Zor years, about 14 in Earth years) away from the planet Earth, and yesterday, Lois Lane's original television broadcast of your super feats on Earth was finally received and recorded by the Museum's radio telescope. After traveling that many light years, it was faint and full of static, but it was strong enough to recognize. We were planning a display which showed three repeats of the broadcast; the unenhanced recording we made yesterday with the radio telescope, the original recording that you captured using your marvelous invention, the instavisor, at the time you visited Earth, and a computer-enhanced version combining the two recordings."

He smiled warmly; the 'Life on Other Planets' exhibit was one of the Museum's most popular and profitable. "In addition, the astronomy group is thrilled by the research possibilities - they can analyze how the original signals have changed during their long journey through space, maybe teaching us more about the origin of the universe. For example, they can now measure to much higher precision the exact distance between Zor and Earth, and the red shift between the two worlds, which might allow us to more precisely calculate the value for the expansion of the universe!" His enthusiasm dampened as he remembered the theft. "Well, if you can recover it, anyway."

She did a careful investigation, using her delicate telekinetic power to check for tiny clues invisible to human eyes, and straining her telepathy for any strong emotional impressions that might remain in the room. Though she found nothing which had been overlooked by the police, she found the total lack of clues to be strongly indicative.

"I'm convinced this is the work of my arch enemy, Dr. Computeer," she told Hembrock and the police detective assigned to the case when she had finished her inspection. "She's so obsessive in her planning that she never leaves any traces behind. Still, I wonder why she waited until you added the original magno-tape to the exhibit? You've used a copy of that tape in the Earth display for years." She headed out on her regular morning patrol, still pondering the mystery, smiling ruefully to herself has she recalled her adventure on Earth so early in her career. "I sure was naïve back then!"

Flashback

Tharka began her public career as a super hero on her 18th birthday, in Zorian years (around 13 Earth years). She then used her great powers of super strength, super speed, flight, invulnerability and super intelligence in a virtually around-the-clock (she didn't need sleep) two year-long crusade against crime. Confronted by a super-powered champion of justice for the first time in Zor's history, the criminally-inclined temporarily suspended their activities until they could develop strategy and tactics to deal with a super being.

The temporary dearth of criminal activity allowed Tharka to turn her efforts to science. Investigating her own powers, she discovered and announced to the world that she was a mutant, born 100,000 years ahead of her time, with powers that would be commonplace among residents of Zor in the far future. On her 23rd birthday (around 16.5 Earth years) she announced that her latest invention, the instavisor, had revealed the presence of life on other worlds. Using hyperspace technology to circumvent speed of light limitations, the instavisor could tune in on television broadcasts on other planets, even those light years away.

The first broadcast Tharka intercepted shows a city of people seemingly identical to those of Zor, under siege by a criminal gang run by mobster 'Bowtie' Barris. The gang had stolen an experimental futuristic super tank, under development for the army, and were using that unstoppable engine of destruction to loot the banks in the city of Metropolis on Earth. As Earth's civilian authorities were seemingly unable to deal with this threat, Yion Lugschnozzle, the senior member of Zor's ruling Council of Superiors, suggested that as a gesture of interstellar goodwill, Tharka should immediately go to Earth and aid the authorities in ending the threat. The young and supremely self-confident blonde beauty smugly agreed. She headed to Earth in a spaceship of her own design.

"People of Earth, I have come from Zor to help you in your hour of need. I am Tharka, the Superwoman!" she announced as she stepped from her rocket shortly afterwards. She was greeted with skepticism; Lois Lane challenged her to prove her powers, which she did, lifting her rocket overhead. She then met Superman, and proceeded to track the Barris gang to their layer, an abandoned lead mine, where she and Superman teamed up to capture the criminals and recover the super tank prototype. Certain then that Earth's criminal element was now properly cowed, she took her leave and returned to Zor.

Unknown to Tharka, Lois had continued to suspect that Tharka was a fraud. She and a Daily Planet cameraman secretly shot movies of all Tharka's super feats and had discovered that in fact, she hadn't don't anything super. Earthly conditions apparently negated Tharka's powers of flight, super speed and super strength. In order to preserve her reputation on Zor, where they were watching her Earth efforts live via instavisor, Superman had secretly assisted her. After Tharka returned to Zor, several Metropolis TV news stations had broadcast Lois's film in which she had tried to prove that Tharka was a 'fraud', but Superman had used his X-ray vision to fog the areas on the film that showed his assistance before it could be broadcast.

You can read the full story of Tharka's encounter with Superman and Lois in Superman #81, published in April, 1953.

Tharka had soon visited another planet, with conditions similar to those of Earth, on a second crime fighting mission. The results had been almost disastrous; the planet had no super hero equivalent to Superman to help her simulate super powers, and she had almost died. Fortunately, the conditions had less effect on her invulnerability and she had survived. Eventually, she had used her super intelligence to help the native police develop a plan that led to the capture of the criminals. Her home world hadn't seen her disgrace; one component of the instavisor required a rare element to operate. It had burned out, and there wasn't enough left to fabricate a replacement, so her failure remained a secret. She had returned in triumph, though she knew better.

The experience left her sadder and wiser, and she afterwards concerned herself with the affairs of Zor, rather than other planets. And Zor kept her busy; crime returned, the criminals better prepared to deal with her powers than they had been originally. Tharka occasionally remembered Earth, and sometimes wished she'd stayed longer and become better acquainted with Superman, but her self-imposed duties on Zor had always kept her too busy to return.

Back in 1967, a strange-looking flier slowed to a halt, and descended vertically into a swamp in a remote region of Zor, far from Micropoliz. A pair of giant trap doors set into the surface of a small island swung upwards, and the futuristic vehicle disappeared inside. The doors swung down again and when they had closed, the entire island sank slowly beneath the muddy waters of the swamp. In less than a minute, there was no indication of the flier or the secret entrance to whatever lay under the swamp.

A short time later, Dr. Kylandy Urungas, also known as Dr. Computeer, entered her advanced electronics lab. She threaded the stolen magno-tape into a viewer, and started it, watching it herself as the contents were also scanned by her super sophisticated, self-designed computer. In a few minutes, she was nodding in satisfaction. "I knew it! They doctored the copy they use in the Museum display!" Indeed, in the original, when the movie taken by Lois's cameraman was displayed, the fogged areas of the film were obvious; in the copy that the Museum played every day, someone had retouched the images. "I've always thought that something was interfering with Tharka's powers on Earth. Several times she attempted to use her powers, and appeared to fail, and then tried again, and succeeded. Perhaps computer-enhancement of the blurred spots will reveal something I can use against her!"

The beautiful black-clad master villainess turned to her keyboard and got to work. If there was anything in this movie that would reveal a weapon she could use against Tharka, she would find it!

Chapter 1

Jumping forward to 1969, still on Zor…

Two soldiers casually walked patrol on the battlement atop the western wall of Castle Ianus, on the Isle of Pheriadhrania in the Bay of Carate. They guarded the Hall of Nations, the meeting place of Zor's ruling body, the Council of Superiors. The council was composed of 17 members, one from each of the nations of Zor.

"Geez, Sarge! This place is defended by the most advanced weapons and technology on the planet. Radar, sonar in the bay, all kinds of sensors on the grounds, planes, submarines, divers, sentries. What the heck do they need us for? Nobody could possibly get in here!"

"Nobody might not, but Captain Challenge sure can!" The sneering voice was the last thing they heard before two flying men in costumes and wearing helmets knocked them senseless as they rocketed over the wall and into the courtyard.

"Geez, boss, lookit me! I'm Superman!" the larger of the two men yelled in exuberance, in a language neither of the guards would have understood. He had thinning blonde hair, the face of a heavyweight fighter who had lost a lot more than he'd won, and the physique of a prize bodybuilder, and wore a skin-tight blue bodysuit with red shorts and red glider wings that stretched between his arms and legs. He landed and stumbled, and then shouted in pain as small arms fire from other guards struck him, and bounced off. "Hey! That smarts!"

"Hurry, you idiot!" his brown-costumed companion yelled angrily. "Handgun fire is one thing, but the Doc says bigger guns can hurt us." He hit an armored door at full speed and it exploded inwards, devastating the men drawn up on the other side. The other man smashed into the brick wall next to the door and crashed through it, and the falling debris only added to the confusion. Carrying collapsible transparent riot shields in front of them, the two men stormed through the corridor, brushing aside any soldiers still standing as easily as Marcia Brady brushed her blonde hair from her face. The many automatic weapons hidden along the corridor failed to fire, and as they came to each secret manned weapons emplacement, one or the other of the men demolished it with a tremendous punch into the walls.

"Cheez, boss, dis place's made'a cardboard!" 'Superman' laughed. "Watch dis!" he leaped, shattering the floor underneath him and tearing through the ceiling above. Captain Challenge hurried ahead, and when his partner smashed back through the ceiling behind him, he only laughed. Part of their mission was to wreak as much destruction to Castle Ianus as possible. The devastated fortress, the most powerfully-armed and armored location on Zor, so easily shattered by only two men, would bear mute witness to the whole world of their terrifying power. Still, their new confederate had warned them earlier that the inner chambers would not be breeched so easily.

"Bear!" Challenge warned his colleague "Did you hear what Computeer said about the inner walls?"

"Sumpin' 'bout 'nchanted dest'ny?" the big man struggled to recall. "N we gotta work together".

If the surroundings hadn't been so chaotic, Challenge might have wondered about Bear's answer. Dr. Computeer had warned them that the building materials used in the Hall of Nations had specially enhanced density to make them many times stronger than was normal on Zor, but Challenge would normally have expected Bear to have totally forgotten the briefing by now.

As it was, the two of them soon battered through the much stronger giant doors of the Hall. The various members of the Council of Superiors faced the challenge according to their natures, some hiding in terror, a few standing defiantly, and several, lead by Senior Superior Yion Lugschnozzle, already trying to make a deal. As it turned out, the deal was simple. The entire Council could cooperate and unanimously name Dr. Computeer as the Empress of Zor, or the ones that didn't would die.

Not long afterward, Dr. Computeer strode into the Hall of Nations like an Empress. And indeed, that's how she was announced, Her Royal Majesty Kylandy Urungas the First, Empress of Zor.

Chapter 2

The Hall of Nations was quickly cleaned up, then decorated for a celebration. Over 50 television stations from every nation on Zor had news crews on site, to broadcast live 'an event of historical significance', though no one was quite sure what that event would be. The 17 Councilors had already filed in. Some of the more astute observers among the news teams noted that several Superiors were being represented by their Seconds, and in one case, even a Third. There were two new figures standing arrogantly at ease on the Speaker's Podium of the Hall, big, dangerous-looking men in colorful uniforms, with helmets held under their left arms. A part of the hall was blocked off with purple curtains. Senior Superior Yion Lugschnozzle hesitantly approached the podium, and the buzz coming from the news teams dropped to total silence.

"I'd like to introduce two new heroic Champions of Zor." Yion said into the microphone. "Captain Champion" the man in the brown costume with white trim bowed deeply "and Muscleman!" The larger man, in a blue costume with red and yellow trim and a stylized letter 'M' blazoned on his chest, waved at the audience.

Whatever else Lugschnozzle was about to say would have to wait. A human meteor exploded through the wall behind the curtains, tearing them aside to reveal a regally dressed black-haired beauty lounging on a magnificent golden bejeweled throne. Before the costumed men on the dais could move, the flying heroine draped them in the curtains she was dragging.

"It's Tharka!" one of the reporters yelled. There was mass confusion as the Councilors raced towards the door, followed by a lot of crew members from the TV teams, while others stayed at their cameras. This could be the scoop of a lifetime - IF they survived! But they needn't have worried.

Using the draperies as a scoop, Tharka swept up the two villains and flew back through the hole she'd made in the wall. 'I'll see if I can keep this fight away from people!' she thought to herself. Meanwhile, Computeer had scrambled behind the heavy throne for protection.

"Put your helmet on, quick!" Captain Challenge ordered his partner, who had chosen the silly name of Muscleman. Zor's air was very thin, and while it would barely sustain the two, in order to fight, they needed the additional trickle of oxygen supplied by their helmets. It was a frustrating experience, trying to locate his helmet while being tumbled and swung around in the curtain sack, and Challenge was roaring with anger and feeling the effects of oxygen starvation before he was finally able to don his cowl. Straining, he managed to grab a handful of cloth and used his grip to stabilize himself, then tore a gaping hole in the thick fabric. He tumbled loose into free-fall, and quickly released the glider wings on his costume. Nearby, he saw his partner, Muscleman, helmet secured, similarly releasing his wings.

'Never thought he'd figure that out on his own!' Challenge thought contemptuously. Years ago, Bear had been involved in a serious accident which had caused major damage to his head, and severely impaired his cognitive abilities. He usually needed someone to tell him what to do, which made him a perfect 'partner'. 'Well, good for him, it means I can concentrate on fighting!' Challenge approved of his partner's initiative.

He swooped through a giant back loop, searching for his opponent, meanwhile pulling his blaster. When he spotted her, above them and diving fast, he fired. A yellow laser beam flashed out, ionizing the air between them and then a powerful capacitor dumped an electric charge into the ionized path. The laser, and then a lightning bolt, struck Tharka in the head and chest. She was dazzled but not injured.

Tharka didn't need to see to know pretty much where her opponents were. As she had matured, she had developed new mutant powers, mental powers instead of physical powers such as her super strength, speed and stamina. She couldn't read minds, but she had a kind of telepathy that functioned like radar, allowing her to sense the location of nearby minds, and her telekinetic ability gave her something like super sensitive touch. She hovered in the air, sensing the flight of her foes. She quickly realized that they were gliding, as she had deduced from the video she'd watched showing their original assault on the Hall of Nations. And they weren't very good at gliding. Good, she had chosen their battleground well. Captain Challenge managed to hit her with several more charged laser shots, but they didn't bother her further. When her eyes cleared, both her foes had landed on the beach below.

Muscleman immediately sprang into the air with a mighty leap! Or at least he tried to, but the sand wouldn't support him and he didn't get a foot off the ground, overbalanced, and fell on his face. Tharka swept low, raced across the beach, and slammed Challenge with a two handed blow. When he realized he wasn't going to be able to avoid her, he relaxed and rode with the blow, then slammed both fists down on her back and twisted free when they were over the rocky terrain back off the beach. She crashed to the rocks and rolled. He followed quickly.

"Fool!" he taunted her. "You've just thrown away your advantage!" Before she could get to her feet, he kicked her head like a soccer ball. She flew into the air and tumbled backward, bouncing off several rocks before she smashed into a bigger one and fell to the ground. Challenge raced forward as she staggered to her feet and smashed into her with a bear hug, driving her into the ground. She realized he weighed several times what a normal Zorian man of similar size would weigh; his body must be more dense that hers. But Tharka was at least as strong as he was, and she arched her back and kicked her legs into a back flip and as they were spinning, she broke free. They rose again and faced off.

"I don't need any advantages to beat you!" she sneered at him contemptuously. "Or any cheap attacks like kicking you when you're down."

Calling on all her speed, Tharka stepped in and landed her most powerful one-two combination before Challenge could react. Finally he got his arms in front of his face to block, and she lowered her attack to his unprotected abdomen. It was a brutal fight. Challenge was not as strong or as fast, and also wasn't invulnerable, but he was larger, and much more massive and his denser skin deflected a lot of damage. He kept pressing forward, and she danced in and out, hitting him wherever he wasn't covering. She'd managed to cut him in several places, and he was starting to wear down, becoming more sluggish, and she was sure this fight was just about over, when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

She instinctively turned, and a tremendous roundhouse right from Muscleman caught her on the point of the chin. She flew through the air and fell to the rocky ground unconscious.

Captain Challenge staggered to the side of his fallen foe, and savagely stomped on one of her hands. Sparks flew and the rock underneath shattered. He turned, and once again kicked her in the head, sending her limp body tumbling through the rocks. He stalked after her, and lifted a huge bolder high, planning to smash her head flat. But the boulder was shattered by a powerful blow from Muscleman, and the bigger man stepped between Challenge and the battered body of Tharka.

"You don't have to kill her, Boss. She's not going to bother us any more," the bigger man said coldly. "Also, Dr. Computeer said to capture her alive."

Challenge was too astonished by his henchman's actions to notice his improved grammar. "I don't give a damn what that bitch said. She didn't help us a bit in this fight, did she? Get out of the damn way!" he ordered, trying to push Muscleman aside. But the big man didn't budge - and Challenge was suddenly aware of just how much stronger than he his partner was. "Yeah, sorry, you're right. I got a little carried away. I'm sort of tired of getting beat up by heroes." He turned away, getting ready to spring into the air. "Bring her with us!" he ordered, testing his authority. He would need Muscleman later, when he defied Computeer' authority and named himself Dictator of Zor. To his relief, Muscleman did as ordered, and the two men launched themselves into the air with tremendous leaps, then glided back towards the Hall of Nations.

Interlude

Tharka had very little experience with pain in her life. She had certainly never awakened in agony before! Her left hand felt like it was on fire, and her jaw ached. She would have been writhing in anguish, but she was strapped to a soft surface. And she was screaming, though making little noise, as there was something covering her mouth. She fought both pain and panic; she was still alive! Her powerful mutant mind fought back; her photographic memory showed her several mental pain control techniques she'd read about but never needed before. She gradually accepted the pain, and she forced her thinking mind to dissociate from the agony. Carefully, she used her telekinetic ability to probe her body and realized that the bones in her left hand had been shattered and her jaw had been broken, though the bone in the jaw had already knit. Her hand was healing rapidly; she estimated it would be better in a couple of hours. Being a mutant born 100,000 years ahead of her time had its advantages! Meanwhile, she was feeling another sensation she wasn't used to, she was tired. And she was starving; the urgent repairs her body was performing used a lot of energy.

Her limited telepathic powers told her that the only person nearby was the villain known as Muscleman. She forced her eyes open. She was in a hospital room, strapped to a bed. The lower half of her face was covered in some kind of cast, as was her left hand and Muscleman was sitting nearby. One of the instruments monitoring her beeped and he looked over at her. When he saw her eyes open, he smiled sheepishly. She glared back at him in deadly anger; she wasn't about to smile at someone who'd helped put her in a hospital!

"It's good to see you're awake. The doctors tell me you're healing amazingly quickly," he said in perfect Zorish. "Hold on, they said I can remove the cast from your jaw. But don't bother screaming; you, me and the doctors are the only ones around, and there's nothing they can do to help you get free." He touched a control which caused the cast on her face to split open and he pulled it away. "They said it had a magnetic clamp in it. You sure got some great medical equipment here on Zor. Say, is there anything I can get for you?"

Might as well eat, if she could! "I need food and water - LOTS of food!" she said. He left, came back quickly with a pair of trays. He very carefully loosed her right arm, and then sat well away from the table, silently watching her eat. After she finished one tray, she decided the silence had continued long enough. His costume was almost identical to Superman's, so she asked. "Are you from Earth?"

"Sure am! Dr. Computeer brought me here, and my partner Captain Challenge."

"Why are you wearing Superman's costume? He's the Earth's greatest hero, and you're nothing but a thug!" she sneered at him.

"Umm, that's a long story" he said uncomfortably. "When I was growing up, Superman was my hero. So when Dr. Computeer told me coming here would give me super powers, I decided I wanted a costume like his."

"So, you honor your hero by beating up other heroes?" she asked, with biting sarcasm dripping venomously from her voice.

"I guess that seems strange," he agreed, speaking slowly. "Funny, I never before really realized that I'm one of the bad guys." She was impressed with his diction and grammar, in a language not his own. He paused, and his forehead creased in concentration. "Somehow I've changed a lot recently, ever since I've put on this costume..."

Her interest was whetted; she sensed that she might benefit from learning more about him. "Why don't you tell me more about you?" she asked. After a little coaxing, he was willing, almost desperate to talk. She was starting to realize that it had been years since anyone had taken the time to actually listen to this man.

Flashback

He had been born Fergus O'Dwyer, in South Boston. He'd been a large baby, and he'd grown up into a giant of a man, nicknamed Bear. A friendly, shy sort of giant with a fascination and a talent for languages. By the time he reached 20, he could communicate fluently in all the languages found in the various communities in and around Boston; Italian, Chinese, Polish, Wompanoag, Spanish, Portuguese, German and English, and he'd won a scholarship to study languages at the prestigious Hahvahd University in nearby Cambridge. But World War II interfered with his life, and he'd joined the Army. He'd been the strongman in an elite infantry unit know as 'Iron Company' where he'd picked up another nickname, Muscleman. Unfortunately, midway through the war, he'd taken some shrapnel in the head, and though he soon recovered physically from his injuries, his mental facilities had been permanently severely impaired and he received a medical discharge from the Army. No longer able to support himself, barely able to think for himself, he'd fallen in with bad company, and had spent most of the rest of his life since then either in prison or on the run from the law. Recently, his luck seemed to have changed.

It was exercise time in the yard at the Federal Penitentiary of Maryland. Bear O'Dwyer was at the weightlifting station again, as usual. A lot of cons used the weights on a regular basis, but nobody could lift as much as the Bear. There was a commotion in the crowd waiting their turn; someone was pushing through, trying to cut to the head of the waiting line. Usually that wasn't very smart; priority in most prison lines was determined by how willing you were to fight for your spot - and how deadly you were. Someone from the back of the line would have to face a lot of fights to get closer to the front. And the loser of this kind of fight usually didn't survive, or at least spent months in the infirmary afterward.

Bear was warming up on the bench press with about 400 pounds, when he recognized one of the voices. "Hey, it's CAP!" He threw the barbells from him casually and waded into the crowd. The lucky ones had time to get out of his way; the unlucky ones were knocked flying. He quickly reached a knot of men and started pulling them apart. "Offa 'im!" the big man shouted. "Dat's Captain Challenge. Offa 'im or I'll rip yuze ta pieces!" The last two men were knocked flying by their intended victim, a powerfully built bald man with a mustache and goatee. Bear grabbed the man in a bear hug. "Cap! You're back!"

The bald man winced and pushed free. "It's nothin' to be thrilled about, you big jerk! Some of us don't like living in jail!" The bigger man looked hurt; before he could get mad, Challenge continued. "I guess I wasn't quite ready to face both Green Lanterns at the same time. They got lucky. But I'll be ready for them the next time I break out of here, I swear!"

"Shoulda took me wit'ya!" Bear groused. "Hey, yuze gotta spot me! I'm up anudda 50 from when yuze busted out," he said proudly. For anything other than weightlifting, Bear had the attention span of a 6 month old baby.

A couple of nights later, Captain Challenge was jerked away by a strong jolt of electricity. There was something on his bunk with him; it resembled a model airplane. And it was… talking? "Captain Challenge, can you hear me?" it said softly in a woman's voice.

No stranger to advanced technology, Challenge realized this device included a radio transceiver. "Who the hell are you?"

"You can call me Dr. Computeer" the plane answered. "I have need of a strong, ambitions man. I have an offer for you." An offer he couldn't refuse.

Computer enhancement of the partially fogged movies shown taken by Lois Lane 26 years ago revealed that Superman had aided Tharka in performing all of her super feats on Earth. Somehow, her powers were not effective on Earth. Computeer's computer simulations showed that the higher gravity and atmospheric conditions on Earth had somehow negated her powers, and she had been equivalent to a normal Earth human. Computeer reasoned that the reverse might also be true. Take a Zorian super being to Earth and that super being becomes normal; take a normal Earth being to Zor and that being should become super.

She offered Captain Challenge super powers, and a chance to rule as the Prime Minister of Zor, if he would help her take over the current government and become Empress of Zor. Tomorrow, during exercise period, she would bomb the prison with knockout gas. He and a trusted associate would be protected from the gas by special pills, in a small compartment in the plane. She would land, they would board the rocket, and then away to Zor. Once she was the Empress, he would be rewarded richly with the office of Prime Minister.

The next day, Challenge had given Bear a pill. When everyone in the yard fell unconscious, he ordered the larger man to follow him up the ladder and into Computeer's rocket. What happened next was unexpected, apparently to Dr. Computeer as well as the two Earthmen. They fell unconscious during the take off, due to the combination of acceleration and the thin air in the rocket. When they had awakened, Dr. Computeer was fitting them with quickly built helmets that would provide them with a constant flow of pure oxygen. On the trip back to Zor she'd explained her plan - and so far, it had been a success.

As he'd told his story, Tharka used her telekinesis to probe his head. "Fergus, scar tissue from your accident is restricting blood flow to some parts of your brain, resulting in permanent oxygen starvation, which has impaired your thinking. The oxygen trickle supplied by your helmet is supersaturating your blood, and as long as you have that extra O2 in your system, those parts of your brain are getting a normal supply, and your brain is working correctly." She paused, and he could see sympathy for his condition in her sad eyes. "It would be a difficult operation, but I think a good surgeon here on Zor, with my guidance, could clear that up for you permanently. Meanwhile, you should try to keep that helmet on as much as possible."

She reflected for a second, unsure about telling him something. "I found something else, too. There's some kind of tiny electronic device imbedded in your jaw, just under your ear." She stopped as an unpleasant thought struck her, concentrated for a few seconds. "I've got one too. Computeer must have put them in when we were unconscious. I wonder what it does?"

"I think I know, now," the big man spoke up. "I couldn't figure it out before, but when we first landed, the Doc gave an order and Cap didn't do want to do what she said. And then all of a sudden, he did what she wanted anyway. That's not like him."

"She's going to be surprised when she tries mind control on me!" Tharka laughed, then became more serious. "You know I have to stop Dr. Computeer and Captain Challenge. I hope I'm not going to have to fight you, too?"

"I might not have any choice. You may be able to resist her orders, but if she can control Cap, she can control me, too," he said sadly. "The doctors are under Computeer's control, so they can't take this thing out. In fact, if she even finds out we're talking, she'll turn it on." Then he brightened. "I've an idea. Smite me!"

"What?" she was stunned.

"Smite: to strike or hit hard, with the hand, a stick, or other weapon," He quoted the definition.

"I know the meaning of the word!" she snapped. "Nobody's ever asked me to smite them before, though."

"Do I need to be more formal?" he asked with a grin. "Thou must surely smite me!"

She laughed. "Why did you choose such an archaic word?"

"I lost the word hit - just couldn't think of it. So I used a… another word that means the same thing. Crap, I just lost that word too!" He wasn't smiling any longer. "I don't want to go back to being unable to think. What if she makes me take the helmet off?" There was definite fear in his voice.

"Look" she said sympathetically. "Take the restraints off me, and let me use them on you. Then, as soon as I've defeated Computeer, I'll see that you get the surgery you need."

"You might not be able to beat both Computeer and Captain Challenge. You need me on your side. And to be sure I'm on your side, you need to destroy this thing in my head. Therefore, needs must thou smite me!" he demanded.

She wasn't sure when she'd realized that she trusted him. "If we had time, I'd find another way, but we don't…" she sighed. "Release me, and I will indeed 'smite thou'."

Chapter 3

He pressed a button, releasing her, and she stood. He took his helmet off and stood before her, breathing deeply, waiting. Without warning, at super speed, she slammed a powerhouse punch at the side of his head, precisely aimed, and he tumbled into the wall.

"I'm sorry, Fergus!" she cried as she rushed to help him up. "Whatever it was, it's smashed. Are you OK?"

"Man, can you HIT!" he whispered, admiringly, through the pain. "My head'll be ringing for a week!" He stood up slowly, his hands on the sides of his head. "Don't call me Fergus!" he ordered weakly. 'Though' he thought to himself at the same time 'it really doesn't sound so bad when _you_ say it!'

He waited in silence for several seconds, then put his helmet on. "Well and fairly smote!" he smiled again, took several more deep breaths. He shuddered in horror. "I could actually feel my mind slipping away! But it's back now. Let's take care of Computeer and Captain Challenge, fast, so your doctors can help me!"

"Just to be certain, Fergus" she winked at him "why don't you smite me as well? No use taking chances; besides, it only seems fair. Remember, I'm invulnerable." She wasn't as certain as she sounded. Her invulnerability was a mental power; it depended partly on her will power and self-confidence. And he was awfully strong. "Besides, you already walloped me once and I survived."

It took a little convincing, but smite her he did, destroying her implant as well. He was astonished at how quickly she recovered this time.

"This time I was ready," she smiled. "Didn't feel a thing!" Her slight wobble as she took her first few steps belied her words.

As they had flown from the hospital to the Hall of Nations, Tharka was enraged to see her own personal spaceship parked in the courtyard. Computeer had found some way to get to the small asteroid where Tharka normally left the ship, then override all her safety codes to steal it! Though she hated what she had to do, Tharka burst through the super tough glass of the control room viewport and smashed the control panel, then continued on her mission. 'Nobody is going to fly MY ship again for a while, especially my arch nemesis!' she snarled to herself in satisfaction.

"I can't fight Cap, even though he's one of the bad guys! He's the only con in prison I never had to fight," Muscleman was speaking softly but urgently as the two heroes surveyed the vast Hall of Nations from a secret sniper emplacement high up in one of the walls of the room. The two snipers were snoring quietly in the corridor outside. "I know I wasn't really his partner, but he brought me along when the Doc busted him loose." His quiet voice was sad; Challenge had been the closest thing he'd had to a friend in many years.

The new Prime Minister of Zor, Captain Challenge, was speaking to the heads of state from around Zor as the Empress lounged in her throne. "The Conflux of Nations still exists. And the Council of Superiors will remain in place as advisors to the Empress. As for you, the current heads of state…"

He was offering them a good deal, the same deal he'd made with the Council of Superiors. Acknowledge the rule of Dr. Urungas, insure that her orders were carried out, and they could remain as her privileged lieutenants, continuing to rule their own nations (as long as they pleased her) - and they would get to keep their lives. In a large TV monitor behind him, videos from security cameras in the Hall were showing what had happened to the missing members of the Council of Superiors who had refused to accept the deal.

"With Tharka neutralized, think carefully before you turn down the generous offer made by your Empress," Challenge was warning the former rulers, blissfully unaware of the observation of the 'neutralized' Tharka and his former partner. Next to Tharka, Muscleman was struggling not to retch as they watched mind-controlled elite guardsmen kill the very people they had been assigned to protect.

"Sure, I'm really looking forward to a rematch with Challenge. Watch out for her gadgets," Tharka whispered back to the big man. "I'll take out the guards in the other sniper nests. Fergus?" At he questioning tone, he turned towards her, and she surprised him with a quick peck on the cheek. Before he could blink in astonishment, she vanished at super speed, leaving behind a whispered "Good luck!"

A couple of seconds later, there was a sonic boom in the Hall of Nations. Simultaneously, Captain Challenge vanished and the landward wall exploded violently outward as Tharka crashed through it, using Challenge as a battering ram.

Meanwhile, Muscleman had burst out of the sniper nest and leaped to the floor, landing near the new throne. As he landed, Computeer touched a switch on the arm of the grandiose chair and the floor close to the base of the throne started to crackle with electricity. Several members of the various government parties were thrown backwards and clear, but a couple fell straight to the floor, where they helplessly jerked, spasmed and twitched painfully. Moving as fast as he could, Muscleman got them clear of the deadly danger.

"You've forgotten, you designed this costume yourself, you computerized crook! It protects me from any weapons you can bring to bear!" he yelled in triumph as he sprang towards her again. She confidently pressed a big green button, but nothing happened. Almost in panic, she jabbed for another button and a trap door opened beneath him, and she sighed in relief as he started to fall. He barely caught the rim of the hole and quickly pulled himself out.

"Your mind control device didn't work, did it?" he sneered at her. "Now I suggest you give up, quietly, so you don't get hurt."

"Don't come any closer!" she warned, with a finger over a big red button. "This button will fill the Hall with poisonous gas!" Before he could recover, she put something in her mouth. "But it won't affect me," she continued flatly. He remembered the sleeping gas and the pill he had taken on Earth, and stood very still.

"I'll bet I can reach you before the gas gets me, and you'll go with the rest of us." He warned. "If you think I'm bluffing, remember where you found me. I know Cap told you that everyone in that place was afraid of me!" The Maryland Federal Pen was home to some of the most violent and dangerous criminals in the US Federal Penitentiary system, and there were very few of them indeed who would dare to rouse Bear's anger. Of course, he was now Fergus again, and no longer Bear, but Computeer didn't know that.

"It's a stalemate, then." Computeer conceded. "I'll take my leave, but I warn you - you haven't seen the last of me!" Another button, and the skylight in the room's ceiling slid aside, and with a burst of rockets, the throne lifted from the floor. Let him think she was fleeing in humiliation! In the ship parked outside, she knew that the cockpit hatch had slid open and another hatch in the floor was sliding aside to reveal a 'socket' that exactly matched the base of the throne. She would fly in and land, the controls in the throne would be instantly meshed with the controls of the ship, and with the weapons she'd built into that ship in the past two years, she'd be back in control before he could even start after her!

As soon as her flying throne was out the door in the roof, Muscleman dropped into the hole it had left from and smashed all of the machinery, instrumentation, electronics and mechanisms he could find. By now, the room was clear; he felt reasonably certain that the Hall was now safe, even if her button had some kind of radio transmitter attached to the poison gas trap. He squatted, leaped into the air with all the power of his mighty legs. As he passed through the trapdoors in the ceiling, he snapped open his glider wings, and scanned the skies for any trace of his foe.

Captain Challenge was draped over Tharka's shoulder as the Woman of the Future flew forward at top speed. As soon as they were outside the battlements of Castle Ianus, she stopped short - and Challenge continued to fly forward, fell to the ground, rolled backward for a while and finally came to a stop. He was on his feet before she landed, which surprised her; she'd expected to take him out instantly by battering him through that wall. They were near the rocky landward shore of the Bay of Carate, a sandy beach scattered with boulders of all sizes. There were a few people on the beach; they scattered in panic.

"I've been looking forward to a rematch!" she said as she landed. "This time, there's nobody to sucker punch me and save your can!"

"Well, you know me. I love a challenge!" he laughed confidently. "I hope you don't make things easy by surrendering too soon!"

The Girl of Destiny stepped forward and delivered a roundhouse right. She hit into something that pushed back at her; the closer her fist came to her, the more resistance she felt. Her fist slowed to a halt a good half inch from his face, and he didn't seem to have felt the impact at all.

"Force field!" she exclaimed. "Inverse cube?" even in a fight, she retained her interest in the nature of the universe. She hadn't asked the question on purpose, just in her thoughts, but it slipped out anyway. She certainly didn't expect Challenge to answer her. Yet he did.

"Yes, an inverse cube force field." He boasted. "That fool Urungas let me use her electronics lab to recreate the force field I used against the Green Lanterns. Her technology is more advanced than ours on Earth, so I was able to make the generator smaller and more powerful than my original."

"I suppose it's governed by the inverse cube law because your device creates a virtual "mass dipole" to generate artificial gravitic repulsion?" Her scientific curiosity was more powerful than her urge to fight.

"Why… you're absolutely correct." He was stunned at how quickly she'd figured out the principal behind his invention. "No scientist on Earth has even worked out the theory behind this device, much less built one. Nobody here on Zor, either, according to Urungas," Challenge was almost smug in his pride.

"She's right," Tharka conceded. "You could make millions off an invention like that. Why bother with being a villain?"

"I've made my millions already," he replied, "and it was much too easy. I needed a bigger challenge, so I decided to rule the world. The two Green Lanterns stopped me, but once I'm ruler of Zor, I'll go back and take over Earth as well!"

"It's not going to be that easy. Computeer has imbedded a mind-control chip in your head!" she warned. She decided not to tell him about Muscleman's change of allegiance. Always good to have a surprise or two on your side!

"That's why she's a fool - she never expected my force field to block her mind controller!" Challenge crowed. "Perhaps you would be interested in ruling at my side? Our combined powers and genius would be unstoppable!"

"If I really wanted to rule this world, I'd already be doing so, don't you think?" As she spoke, she lunged forward and punched again, using her super speed to add power to her punch.

His shield didn't quite deflect the blow entirely; he took a step backward to keep his balance, then launched a powerful combination of his own. Unfortunately, his own blows were also slowed by own force field, and Woman of the Future felt them more as a shove backwards than as punches.

"Crap!" he swore vehemently. He obviously hadn't thought this out. 'I never used the field to attack the Lanterns, just to defend myself' he thought. If they couldn't hit each other effectively, this wouldn't be much of a fight! Tharka was also figuring this out, and she thought much faster than he did. She disappeared for a second, and then was back, wielding a girder pulled from the rubble of the collapsed wall.

"I've seen baseball on TV, and it always looked like fun!" she quipped. "Batter up!" She swung the girder, and caught Captain Challenge in the midsection. "Going… going… going… gone for a home run!" she laughed as she knocked him high into the air.

He recovered more quickly than she expected, popped out his glider wings and stopped the tumble, then dove on her like a hawk on a rabbit. "Nobody plays with me like a children's toy!" he yelled at the top of his voice. "And I mean, nobody!"

She shuffled to one side to avoid him, but he guessed correctly and managed to slam into her, knocking her backwards into a large boulder. Chips of rock flew like shrapnel from where she hit. She raced forward, grabbed the front of his uniform, and drove him to the ground as she did a handspring off his chest. She retained her grip and as she spun forward, she threw him with both hands, and he smashed into the outside wall of the castle.

At that instant, Doctor Computeer's throne roared up from the castle and flew towards Tharka's rocket. The Woman of the Future was momentarily distracted, and Challenge smashed into her, using his shoulder as a battering ram, and she tumbled backward, ending in the shallow water just a few feet from the beach. When she recovered, she launched herself into the sky. He picked up the largest boulder he could find. As Tharka continued to rise, Challenge threw the boulder towards her with all his strength.

Dr. Computeer sped towards the waiting rocket. But as she got closer, she could see that something was wrong. The hatch was not sliding open to admit her, and the view window of the control room was smashed open. The instruments in the throne were reporting that there were no acknowledging signals coming from the ship.

"Damn that bitch! She and that traitor may have won for now, but Dr. Computeer is never without resources. Time for plan C," Dr. Computer swore to herself as her throne swooped up to the side of the rocket. The would-be Empress touched another button on the arm of the throne. A section of hull, hinged at the bottom, swung open, until it was almost horizontal, forming a launching ramp for a one-person flier, already mounted to the ramp. "Fortunately I made the emergency systems independent of the main controls!" she crowed. She slipped off the throne and into the open cockpit of the miniature flier. Flames roared from the back and the flier rocketed away, just as Muscleman soared up from the Hall of Nations. He watched helplessly as the speedy flier rapidly vanished into the cloudless sky.

The speeding boulder was going to miss her, so the Girl of Destiny turned her attention back to her foe. This battle had gone on long enough; it was time to use her super brain and put an end to it! 'He can't fly,' she reasoned. 'If I dropped him into the Bay, he'd be relatively helpless, with no place to stand and nothing to throw.' Acting as she thought, she swooped around and approached him from behind. Before he could turn, she picked him up under the shoulders and carried him a half mile out to sea and then dropped him.

He came back to the surface, gasping desperately. "The gear on my costume makes me too heavy to float! You have to help me!" he pleaded.

"Dump the gear" she responded calmly.

"The water's too cold. Even if I could float, I'll die of exposure," he insisted, closer to panic with every second.

"I'm not so sure," she responded matter-of-factly. "I'm not an expert on Earth human physiology, but I suspect that if you dump the extra weight and start swimming, you'll make it to shore well before you die of exposure. But, you won't be in much of a mood to fight any more. I'll be waiting for you." She flew off towards shore. He had a moment of hope as he saw Bear standing on shore, but instead of fighting her or trying to help him, they two of them just watched him! His allies had both abandoned him; his hope of rescue was shattered.

'C'mon, Cap! You're the guy who wants new challenges, aren't you?' Challenge thought to himself in anger. 'Damned if I'm going to drown on an alien planet within sight of shore - under the eyes of enemies!" He dropped his equipment belt and ditched the glider wings, kicked off his boots and started swimming to shore. After a while he realized that his costume worked well as a wet suit; he was no longer chilly and in fact, he was almost getting overheated. But it wasn't as easy to swim as he'd expected in the light gravity of Zor and he hadn't swum in years; before long he was exhausted.

Just at that time, Tharka flew towards him, carrying something bulky. There was nothing he could do to prevent her from scooping him up in a net, and strain though he might, he was unable to break the strands. "The Conflux of Nations created this material to restrain me." Tharka told him, smiling as she watched his unsuccessful attempts to escape. "And they supposedly have a Tharka-proof cell somewhere in Castle Ianus; I guess we'll find out." She paused, he said nothing. "OK, then - and as soon as I get my spaceship fixed, it's back to Earth for you."

It took Tharka a week before she could leave for Earth, which gave her time to take care of the loose ends. With Muscleman's help, she restored Castle Ianus and the Hall of Nations. The deceased Seniors were given burials worth of the Planetary Heroes they had become. Senior Superior Yion Lugschnozzle and the few other Councilors who had actively assisted were charged with treason, but they had the best lawyer on the planet and the circumstances were murky.

And directed by Tharka, whose delicate telekinetic power allowed her to discover where they could safely cut, a team of physicians performed the extremely difficult surgery on Fergus, clearing scar tissue from his partially-blocked arteries. When he had awakened, and retained his intelligence in an Earth-normal environment, they surgeons had pronounced him cured. He would be recuperating for several more weeks, during which time Tharka would deliver Captain Challenge back to Earth. Fergus had made a formal request to be allowed to stay on Zor permanently as a 'Citizen of the Confluence of Nations'. A hearing would be held to rule on his request when he left the hospital; with Tharka on his side, it appeared likely that his request would be approved.

Thus, everything was under control and going smoothly. Until Tharka's spaceship dropped out of hyperspace about 50 AU from the Sun, and she discovered that the planet Earth was missing!