DEAD
BEAT IN KHUSRA
Dillon,
spending a few days in Khusra after his latest adventure, reluctantly
teams up with Sly Gantlet when his old flame and Sly’s current
lover, Princess Sathyra of Tosegio, is kidnapped. Appearing or
mentioned are: a member of the Khusran royal family who achieved some
notoriety adventuring around the world back in the 1930s and ’40s;
a Forrester tux; U.N.C.L.E.; F.L.A.G.; Globex; Thema Sidibe (aka
Tracy); the “Long Noodle” plague; Jekyll Island beer; Madeline
Scocco; the Otwani tribe; Cry,
Cry Again;
See
You Next Wednesday;
Comanapracil; Al-Julhara; and the Willis-Brennan JJ/59 aircraft, aka
the Skyspear.
Novella
by Joel Jenkins and Derrick Ferguson in The
Specialists,
PulpWork Press, 2015. Dillon is the protagonist of a series of novels
and short stories by Ferguson, while Sly Gantlet and his brothers,
rock stars who double as mercenaries, appear in books by Jenkins.
This story takes place immediately after Ferguson’s novel Dillon
and the Last Rail to Khusra.
Dillon and Sly first met in Jenkins and Ferguson’s story “Dead
Beat in La Esca.” The member of the Khusran royal family who
achieved some notoriety adventuring around the world back in the
1930s and ’40s is Fortune McCall, the hero of another series of
stories by Ferguson. Thema Sidibe, Fortune’s cousin, used the name
Tracy Scott in that era during her adventures alongside him. The
“Long Noodle” plague and the Otwani tribe are also from the
Fortune McCall tales. Madeline Scocco is the granddaughter of Ronald
Scocco, one of Fortune’s aides. The Forrester tux is a reference to
the Forrester family that owns the fashion house Forrester Creations
on the soap opera The
Bold and the Beautiful.
U.N.C.L.E. is from the television series The
Man from U.N.C.L.E.,
of course. F.L.A.G. is from the TV series Knight
Rider.
Globex is from “You Only Move Twice,” an episode of the
long-running animated sitcom The
Simpsons.
Since that show is too overtly absurd in its events to be
incorporated into CU continuity, Globex must exist in both the CU and
the Simpsons’ native universe. Jekyll Island beer has appeared in
several TV series, including Burn
Notice,
Dexter,
and Lost.
Cry,
Cry Again is
a fictional movie from the Seinfeld
episode
“The Little Kicks.” See
You Next Wednesday is
a film that appears or is mentioned in several of John Landis’
films, including An
American Werewolf in London,
The
Blues Brothers,
and Trading
Places.
Comanapracil is a drug seen in “Believe in the Stars,” an episode
of the sitcom 30
Rock.
Al-Julhara is from the movie The
Jewel of the Nile,
a sequel to Romancing
the Stone.
The Willis-Brennan JJ/59 aircraft is a reference to Willis Aircraft
Company owner Leland Willis and his employee Lt. Col. Matt Brennan
from the film Chain
Lightning.
Matt must have become a partner in the company after the movie’s
events.
