by Doc Quantum, partially adapted from Action Comics #255 by Otto Binder and Jim Mooney
Nearby, the blond schoolboy who had deflected the satellite with an air-gun of his own invention was walking into the woods with a friend of his.
“I could’ve sworn it fell somewhere nearby here,” said the schoolboy, who had an American accent.
“That was really cool, Tommy!” said his friend, an African boy with a French accent who obviously admired him. “Your inventions are amazing!”
“Thanks, Jacques,” said Tommy with a grin. “Though I didn’t really invent it all from scratch. My dad seized a lot of really weird weapons by mad scientists and such, back in the ’50s and ’60s, when he worked for Military Intelligence. He let me take some of them apart. That was how I was able to figure out how to build that air-gun. Wanna see something else I invented?”
“Yeah!” said Jacques.
Tommy pulled out another device that looked like a toy gun. “Watch how my new changer ray works, Jacques!” he said. “Just watch…”
The boy aimed the device at a tree stump and pulled the trigger, and an invisible ray shot out, which caused the air around the stump to shimmer before liquifying and becoming metallic.
“Sacre bleu!” said Jacques. “You changed it into metal, Tommy!”
“Not exactly, Jacques,” replied Tommy. “Come over here.” He motioned his friend over to the seemingly transformed stump. Picking at it with a branch, he scraped off some of the cooling metal. “Y’see, it’s just coated with metal. My changer ray changed the air around it into molten lead.”
“Is it hot?” asked Jacques, peering closer.
“Nope. It just starts in a liquified state and slowly turns into a solid. I haven’t really figured out why it does that, though. Weird, huh? I based it off something invented by Doctor Doog. He was an old Starman foe. Starman’s my favorite hero.”
“I like Superman,” said Jacques.
“You an’ everyone else,” said Tommy, laughing.
“No, I-I like the Green Lantern as well,” protested Jacques. “I always wished I could create things out of thin air.”
“Green Lantern’s my second favorite, too,” agreed Tommy as they resumed their search for the fallen satellite.
“Hey, there it is! I see it!” cried Jacques a few moments later.
“Don’t go too close!” warned Tommy. “I heard it’s radioactive! That’s why I brought my changer ray. Just watch…”
Tommy aimed the device at the debris of the satellite and adjusted the range to cover a wider area. As before, the air around the debris became liquified and slowly began to coat the satellite debris with molten lead.
Power Girl, hidden from view in the bushes a few feet away, opened her eyes and came to as she began to regain her strength. Looking up, she saw the same blond schoolboy she’d seen earlier. What a… a miracle that boy genius came along! she thought. He saved my life without knowing it!
As the two schoolboys kept walking, talking all the while as they headed deeper into the woods, Kara slowly regained her super-powers, and she rose to her feet and began following them. I can’t go back home without repaying my debt to that kid, Tommy, she thought.
Tommy and Jacques kept walking until they reached the other end of the path through the woods, where they climbed through a low, broken fence and walked to the edge of a stream. Then they started walking along a trail by the stream.
Hmm… they’re going to run into trouble soon, Kara realized as she picked up a fallen sign next to the damaged fence; although it was written in French, Kara knew it spelled danger thanks to her cursory studies of Earth languages. They didn’t see that warning sign that was blown down.
Sure enough, while the two boys were animatedly chatting with each other, they didn’t notice that a part of the trail built with wooden planks was covered with slippery green slime, and they both slipped and fell into the water when the rotting planks gave way.
“Help!” cried Jacques as he flailed around in the water, trying to keep his head above ground but getting caught up in the weeds. “The weeds! They’re pulling me down, Tommy!”
Here’s my chance to save Tommy’s life as he saved mine! thought Power Girl, springing forward.
“We’ll be out in a moment, Jacques!” said Tommy, reaching for another device in his belt. It was a simple nylon cord with a hook attached at the end. Swinging it up, he threw it up and snagged a sturdy tree branch on his first try. “Here’s where my grappling hook comes in handy!”
Kara watched as Tommy pulled at the cord, but the boy didn’t seem to have the upper-body strength yet to pull both himself and his friend out of the muck. I’d better pull them up by that cord without letting them see me, she thought.
But miraculously, the cord began pulling Tommy out slowly by itself. “Grab on to my legs, Jacques!” said Tommy as the motor in the grappling hook began to retract the cord. Soon enough, the two schoolboys were able to leap onto the shore, safely away from the murky water. Their clothes were left soiled, but the boys were out of danger.
I don’t believe this kid! thought Power Girl. He’s incredible! But won’t I ever get a chance to save Tommy and repay my debt?
Kara watched as the two boys made their way straight back to the boarding school without mishap. She lost track of them as they went back to their dorms to change, but as she looked in at the headmaster’s office, she saw that Tommy had gone into the office to tell the headmaster about the fallen satellite. She listened closely as the headmaster had some news of his own for the boy.
“Tommy, your father and mother have decided to cut short their current mission and plan to retire back in America,” said the headmaster. “Naturally, they’re on their way from the Canary Islands now to pick you up. They should be here before dark.”
“Oh, boy!” said Tommy with excitement. “I can’t wait to see my folks!”
I’m happy for Tommy, really I am, Kara thought, a hint of sadness as she thought of her own parents. But I still owe the kid my life! I hate to leave without doing anything for him. But it looks like I don’t have much choice.
***
Power Girl decided to return to America by swimming underwater instead of running, since she needed the practice. She couldn’t hold her breath indefinitely like Kal could, but she could hold it for a long time if she was prepared.
She set off, swimming underwater and holding her breath for a long while before surfacing. When she did so, she could see that a storm was quickly brewing, and she decided it would be better to stay near the surface to keep an eye out for passing ships. If she couldn’t help Tommy, then she’d find at least one good deed to perform in secret that would make her training session worthwhile.
Power Girl saw several ships, and all of them seemed to be doing well, until the storm became worse, and she spotted one particular ship that seemed to be dead in the water. It wasn’t moving at all, and was instead battered back and forth by the waves in the storm. As she came closer, she read its name on the side: the S.S. Mooney.
Listening carefully, she could hear the call of “Mayday, mayday,” within. It was obvious that this ship was in trouble. As she swam around the ship in search of a problem, she spotted what it was very quickly. The ship’s propeller was busted. She could tell that the crew was trying again and again to get the ship going, but nothing was going to happen.
Well, here goes, thought Power Girl as she gripped the underside of the ship in her hands and began to kick her legs, propelling herself and the ship forward. Hopefully they won’t suspect my super-trick.
Power Girl provided the ship with enough power to make it all the way to its destination, which she learned was none other than the place from which she’d come: the port city of Bordeaux. That’s a weird coincidence, she concluded. And, on a hunch, she decided to watch as the passengers disembarked.
As she was watching the passengers head out of Customs and toward the waiting area, she gasped as she recognized one of the family members waiting. It was Tommy with the headmaster.
There’s no way, she thought to herself in disbelief. Could that have been the very same ship…?
She spotted a tall red-haired man who looked to be in his early forties and who wore the silver eagle of a colonel on his dark green military dress uniform. Next to him was a beautiful young blonde woman in a purple dress who was several months pregnant. They both looked very familiar. Sure enough, as the married couple strode forward into the waiting area, Tommy rushed forward into their arms, crying, “Mom! Dad!”
Power Girl, watching from afar, laughed to herself as she thought, Well, I guess that squares me with Tommy. Without even knowing it, I helped his parents get here faster for their reunion with the boy! I can see why Cousin Kal loves this hero gig so much. It feels good — really good — to help people like this. Now back to the old mountain fortress and write it all down for posterity. What was that kid’s strange last name, again? I’ll have to make sure to make a note of it.
***
Back at the Secret Citadel that evening, Kara Zor-L sat at the computer console typing in the details of her training mission for Superman.
That boy’s name is Tommy Tomorrow, Jr. It’s a strange one, I know, but given how smart that kid is, Cousin Kal, let’s hope he’s on the side of the angels. I’d hate to see him grow up to be another evil genius like Luthor or the Ultra-Humanite.
End of training mission across the Atlantic Ocean and back.
It wasn’t until she went back to watch some more television that she realized Superman had left a note behind for her. She read it once, then read it again, and was astonished. No, Superman wasn’t ready for her to go public just yet, but he was ready for her to get out of this stuffy Secret Citadel for a while.
In the note, Superman told her that she’d been invited by one of his peers to visit a very special island that was hidden away from the rest of the world. On that island, Kara would be free to be herself and use her powers openly. She would even receive some training from the inhabitants of that island, as well as Superman’s friend.
She’d never heard of the place before, but from its name, she was looking forward to visiting it. As Superman explained, next week his ally Wonder Woman would arrive via her invisible robot plane to pick up Kara and bring her to this place called Paradise Island. Power Girl couldn’t wait.
***
Author’s note: This Earth-Two story is an adaptation and retelling of an Earth-One Supergirl story called “Supergirl Visits the 21st Century,” Action Comics #255 (August, 1959), in which Supergirl meets the young Tommy Tomorrow in the mid-twenty-first century.
When Tommy Tomorrow, one of DC Comics’ early science fiction heroes, first appeared in Real Fact Comics #6 (January, 1947), his original four adventures were actually set from 1953 to 1988. This is the original Tommy Tomorrow who became an astronaut by 1960 and was older with a wife and children by 1988.
In the next series of stories beginning in Action Comics #127, Tommy Tomorrow is depicted as a young graduate from Space Port West Point in 1988, with subsequent adventures as a Planeteer taking place in 1989 and 1990. This is the second Tommy Tomorrow (Tommy, Jr.) whom we identify as the son of the original Tommy. With Action Comics #149, Tommy Tomorrow’s adventures are placed in the year 2050. We place Tommy’s twentieth-century adventures on an alternate timeline of Earth-Two, while his twenty-first century stories all take place on Earth-One.
Since Tommy Tomorrow, Jr. is in his early twenties in 1988 on an alternate timeline of Earth-Two, his same-aged counterpart could also exist in the main Earth-Two timeline with the same age. It’s a happy coincidence that he would be a child at the same time that Kara Zor-L is still acting as the Earth-Two Superman’s secret weapon. In the main timeline of Earth-Two, the career of the original Tommy Tomorrow (father of Tommy, Jr.) took a different path, as he became part of a crack team in U.S. Military Intelligence protecting America and the world from dangerous futuristic weapons and unusual threats typical for Earth-Two, although it is likely that his secret missions also took him into outer space and possibly even to other planets. It is likely that Tommy, Jr. will grow up to become a similar kind of adventurer by our “present-day” of the late 1980s, and he is sure to appear in such a capacity in an upcoming story!
The End