As in most of the Numa tales this one begins back in the past. We join with a pilot in a small WW I single wing aircraft as he is chased by four double wing German fighters. His plane is much more maneuverable and he has the advantage managing to shoot down two of his pursuers before he is finally shot down himself. He grabs a small strongbox and a medieval knight’s helmet with ornate carvings on it before parachuting from the stricken plane. But, he is shot and killed as he glides to earth.
Another exciting adventure in the Numa Files this tale has Kurt Austin challenged with the dilemma of savage mutant monsters with superhuman strength, the spread of a new mutant algae with the potential to cover all the oceans of the earth choking out all life in the seas, and diabolical plans by wealthy European arms merchant families to take over the world. Sound like it is all in a day’s work for the Numa crew.
Numa happens to be on a Northern French lake doing an underwater survey project when Kurt is called over to a glacier to help with the finding of a body under the ice. It is our pilot friend from the beginning of the story. Just when the team finally frees the man from the ice and takes possession of the strong box and helmet one of the reporters on the scene pulls a gun and forcibly takes the strong box. As he escapes from them he blows a tunnel door flooding the tunnel the exploration team are in trapping them. Kurt comes up with a daring plan to rescue them by taking his little submersible submarine into the tunnel. But this is only the beginning of this exciting story.
Lost City is an area in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean where tall volcanic mounts spew forth steam and nutrients to bacteria and enzymes living 2,500 feet under the sea. When Numa dives to explore here they are met by a huge underwater vehicle on tracks like a bulldozer only 30 feet wide. The thing simply gobbles up the little sub with the three Numa crew, capturing them and taking them back to their island laboratory. Here they are met by the military mercenaries working for the French arms family and the scientists who are developing a chemical that will stop and even reverse aging. This chemical is the result of the activities of the enzymes and bacteria in the Lost City and is a closely guarded secret which the family is willing to kill to protect. They plan to spread the mutant algae over the oceans and while chaos is taking place all over the world they will take their elixir, becoming immortal. At the appropriate time they will step in and destroy the algae becoming heroes or even Gods to the people who are beneath them and doomed to die at the end of their normal life span.
Kurt and his team stumble and fall as they investigate. They are captured and they escape. They are almost killed but manage to kill instead and escape. Finally they are able to stop the mad scientists and the mad French family and save the world.
I guess I probably make it sound really melodramatic and in some ways it is, but it is still very much in the mold of ‘James Bond’. The good guys win in the end and the world is safe ---- until next time. Stay tuned…
I give “Lost City” an 8 of 10 on the Weaver meter.
