1857
THE
NEXT OMEGA
An
old man seeking a younger fellow who claims to be Doctor Omega
remarks, “A Morlock would feel right at home in this neighborhood.”
The older man, who is also known as Doctor Omega, carries a robot
head in a hatbox that he acquired in the future, in the city of
Metropolis. His companion Fred is mentioned. The two Doctors’
carriage is driven by Eugene Papillon. The duo discovers a card
bearing the name Maupertuis. The older Omega refers to Lecoq and
“that Marple woman.” The Omegas find themselves pursued by robed
men that appear to be followers of the Ubasti. The elder Omega tells
the younger how a wave of radioactive turbulence separated him and
his traveling companions, and asks if he has been to Quinnis in the
fourth universe. The apparent Ubasti cultists work for Baron Oscar
Maupertuis. Omega refers to a suppressed account by Watson. They are
attacked by the robed men, who turn out to actually be Red Lectroids.
The younger Omega shows his elder namesake a crystal, which the
latter identifies as from Metebelis-Three. The young Omega regains
his memory of traveling to the Moon, where he met one of the Lunian
Immortals, and realizes that he is really balloonist Antoine Gerpré.
Omega recognizes Maupertuis as Ozer, one of many immortals claiming
to be the Wandering Jew. Omega departs with Helvetius, his fellow
traveler in space and time.
Short
story by Travis Hiltz in Tales
of the Shadowmen Volume 10: Esprit de Corps,
Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, eds., Black Coat Press, 2013;
reprinted in French in Les
Compagnons de l’Ombre (Tome 16),
Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, eds., Rivière Blanche, 2015.
Doctor Omega is from Arnould Galopin’s novel of the same name, as
are Fred and Helvetius. The Lofficiers’ translation and adaptation
of Galopin’s book implied that the Doctor was the Crossover
Universe counterpart of the time and-space-traveling Doctor from the
television series Doctor
Who.
Quinnis in the fourth universe is mentioned in the Doctor
Who serial
“The Edge of Destruction,” while Metebelis-Three is from the
serials “The Green Death” and “Planet of the Spiders.” The
Morlocks are from H.G. Wells’ The
Time Machine.
The robot and the city of Metropolis are from Fritz Lang’s film
Metropolis.
Doctor Omega visited Metropolis in Hiltz’s story “The Robots of
Metropolis” (Tales
of the Shadowmen Volume 7: Femmes Fatales,
2011.) Lecoq is Emile Gaboriau’s sleuth. Eugene Papillon is from
Gaboriau’s novel Monsieur
Lecoq.
Baron Maupertuis is mentioned in the Sherlock Holmes story “The
Adventure of the Reigate Squire”; here, he is conflated with Ozer
from Paul Féval’s novel The
Wandering Jew’s Daughter.
“That Marple woman” is Agatha Christie’s detective Miss Jane
Marple. The Cult of Ubasti is from the serial The
Return of Chandu,
and has also appeared in Hiltz’s stories “The Treasure of the
Ubasti” (Tales
of the Shadowmen Volume 6: Grand Guignol,
2009) and “In the Caves of the Serpent” (Tales
of the Shadowmen Volume 8: Agents Provocateurs,
2011.) The serial was based on the radio series Chandu
the Magician,
which spawned a spin-off, Omar
the Mystic.
After being separated from Omega, Fred found himself in the year
1776, where he also encountered Red Lectroids, as seen in Hiltz’s
tale “What Lurks in Romney Marsh?” (Tales
of the Shadowmen Volume 9: La Vie En Noir,
2012.) The Lunian Immortals and Antoine Gerpré are from Alfred
Driou’s book The
Adventures of a Parisian Aeronaut in the Unknown Worlds,
which has been translated by Brian Stableford for Black Coat Press.
