Breaking the Earthly Bond

Thunder cracked and rain continued to fall as the mud slowly covered Batman, Batwoman, and Batgirl. The Triumphant Trio, vigorously turning their heads to keep both rain and mud out of their faces, could hear the evil trio of Eivol Ekdal, Toddi Thelms, and Larry Stannel laughing about their plight.

"Larry, it is about time you did something right!" Ekdal beamed as he commended his male assistant.

"Why, thank you, Boss!" Larry answered, bearing the biggest grin any of the people present have ever seen. "I told you that you wouldn't be sorry when you hired me."

"And you better make sure that I never am!" Ekdal warned Larry.

Toddi looked down upon the struggling heroes. By now, mud was covering all of the heroes' bodies except for their faces. At the fast rate that the mud was pouring out of the trucks, she figured that it wouldn't be long before the crimefighters were covered completely, causing them to swallow mud and choke to death. "Let's leave these fools to drown in this mess. I don't want to watch them spit the stuff up," the laughing female assistant told the men.

"But I do!" exclaimed Larry.

"Enough!" Ekdal said to him. "She's right. We better go in to dry ourselves out. I want to test out my Zombie Control Electrostatic Beams in the morning. By dawn, these costumed clowns should be dead and they can be our first test subjects!"

The evil trio ran toward the garage as the mud started to encircle the heads of the heroes. Batman heard the garage door close in the distance. "Are you ladies alright?" he yelled out as he tried to lift his head a little.

"I'm surviving!" Batwoman yelled as she, too, tried to raise her head.

"And I'll be alright once we get out of this dump!" Batgirl chimed in as she swallowed some rainwater.

"I hope we do!" Batwoman answered.

Hoping to either break the shackles or slip out of them, Batman tried desperately to lift his arms and legs. He could only lift them about an inch off of the slab, and he could not wiggle them because the weight of the mud on top of them was too great.

"I can barely move my arms and legs to try to get free from these bonds! Are either of you making any progress?" Batman asked the women.

"No progress here!" Batwoman reported.

"None here, either!" Batgirl added.

"Keep trying, Batgirl, Batwoman!" Batman encouraged them. "I'll see what I can do over here."

This time, using all of his strength, Batman lifted only his legs. To his surprise, his left foot got caught in something long and thin that ran horizontally underground. Batman wiggled his foot to get a better feel for the object. It feel like some type of thick cord.

"I've found something in the ground!" Batman cried out to the ladies. "It feels like a thick wire, perhaps one of those old-fashioned underground electrical lines!"

Batwoman tried to wiggle her feet. She was only able to move her right foot about an inch. Nevertheless, her toes hit the wire. "I feel it, too!" she yelled out.

Batgirl, being the shortest of the three, could not stretch her legs down any farther. "I can't reach it!" she hollered.

Batman used his foot to jerk on the line. He noticed that each time he did so, the trucks would slow down a bit.

Batman quickly thought of a way to at least stop the trucks. "Ladies, this is indeed an electrical line, and it is somehow connecting the trucks to the generator," he started. "They are old and almost worn out. If I can fiddle around with the line, I could knock it out and stop the trucks."

"But I didn't think that a generator would require underground lines," Batgirl mentioned. "I thought it would use above-ground wires."

"Eivol probably used underground lines so we couldn't just cut them," Batman answered, "and his assistants probably didn't know where the lines were, so they dug the holes too close to them."

"This is no time to worry about where the line is!" Batwoman hollered frantically. "Batman, if you try to jerk or rip the line in this pouring rain, you could get electrocuted!"

"And if I don't do it, we will all die of suffocation!" Batman responded. "It is better if I die and you two live rather than all three of us perish!"

The women were spooked speechless.

Batman tried to take several deep breathes without inhaling any rain water. "Ladies, keep your feet away from the edges of your plots. I'm going to try to pull out this wire with my boot. I hope this works!"

"I hope so, too!" Batgirl responded.

With what strength he had left, Batman slipped both of his feet between the wire and the earthen wall of his grave. Slowly, he bent his knees and pulled them toward his chest. He pulled the line with him. The old line could not stretch much, so it snapped quickly. A loud pop was heard from his plot, and light poured out from it.

At the exact same time, lightning struck near the plots.

The trucks immediately stopped pouring.

Simultaneously, the ladies gave a sigh of relief. Only silence came out of Batman's grave plot. The heroines' feelings of relief didn't last long.

"Well now the mud stopped pouring," Batgirl started, "but we still have to get out of these shackles and dig our way out of the mud."

Batwoman took a few deep breathes while thinking. "I think I can get out of mine," she answered. "I have a small diamond-edged blade in each of my gloves. I'm wiggling them out now. In about fifteen to twenty minutes, I should have myself free. Then I'll come and get you out."

At first, Batgirl thought that once again Batwoman was trying to upstage her, but quickly she thought back to that talk in her father's office. She realized that if she wanted to make it out of this alive, she would have to trust Batwoman.

Batwoman got herself free in eighteen minutes. The cutting of the hand shackles took about five minutes. It took her ten minutes to lift herself out of the mud and push it to the side, and it took her only three minutes to cut the foot restraints. She unhooked the Bathook she had connected to her belt and threw it onto the gravestone above her plot. She tried to climb up the wet rope, but her hands slipped. The same thing happened the second time she attempted to climb the rope. She was successful on the third try.

Finally free, Batwoman's first intention was saving the rest of the Triumphant Trio. As she unhooked her rope from the gravestone, she quickly looked over the area to see where the other holes and the trucks were. She saw that Batman's grave was next to her now vacant hole, and Batgirl's was next to his. In the distance, she could hear Batgirl trying to break free of her wrist shackles. She still could not hear anything from Batman's grave.

At first, she wanted to get Batman out of his grave as quickly as she could. As she started walking toward his plot, she reconsidered. 'What if the line is still alive?' she mentally asked herself. 'I wouldn't be able to tell since it is buried in the mud, along with most of Batman's body. If that line is touching Batman, his body, along with the metal shackles and the falling rain, could serve as conductors of electricity. If I try to rescue him, I could wind up completing the curcuit and possibly getting killed myself. The risk is too great. I better rescue Batgirl first.'

Batwoman quickly dashed over to Batgirl's plot. She hooked the rope to Batgirl's tombstone and threw the rope's other end into the grave. She climbed down the rope, watching not to step on Batgirl. Within minutes, she sawed off the shackles on Batgirl's wrists and ankles.

"That was incredible!" Batgirl thanked Batwoman as the other woman helped her to her feet. "I thought for sure that we met our doom!"

"My pleasure!" Batwoman responded as she put the rope in Batgirl's hands. "I just hope Batman may have survived."

Using the rope, Batgirl climbed out of the grave. Batwoman followed her. To return part of the favor, Batgirl lent her hands to Batwoman as she neared the top. She helped pull Batwoman out of the hole.

As the rain cleaned some of the mud off of the women, they approached the hole in the middle. They could smell a burnt type of odor, although there was no smoke or fire coming from the plot. No sounds came from it either.

"I don't hear anything, not even any breathing." Batgirl noted. "Maybe our worst nightmare that Batman was killed came true!"

Batwoman made her way to the right side of Batman's grave while Batgirl stayed to the left. Slowly and carefully, each woman stepped closer to the hole. When both were close enough, they looked down upon him. What they saw saddened them. He lied with his eyes closed, still and silent. The women detected no signs of life.

"It appears that you are right," Batwoman said to Batgirl as her voice started to tremble with grief. "It looks like we will have to go on without him."

Still looking at Batman, Batgirl shed a few tears as she thought about the talk she and Batwoman had earlier. She thought about the irony of thinking both she and Batwoman wanted Batman, only to lose him later that night. It appeared that in the end, neither one got him. She looked over at Batwoman, who was also staring at Batman. She, too, was crying, but because of the rain neither could see the other's tears.

Batgirl lost it. Her crying turned into sobbing. Under the pressure, Batwoman followed suit.

"I'm really going to miss him!" Batgirl sobbed. "Crimefighting just won't be the same without him, and once poor Robin gets this news, I know he'll be devastated."

"I'll miss him, too!" Batwoman started. "You're right. Things won't be the same!"

The masked women continued to cry as they looked down. All that could be heard was the falling rain. Suddenly, Batman opened his eyes and hollered "Boo!"

Each woman gasped as she jumped backwards. Fortunately, neither fell back into their holes.

Batgirl, who fell on her butt, got up and approached the hole first. Batwoman, who was still on her feet, followed. Embarrassed by the stunt Batman pulled, they peered down upon the now laughing man.

"That was not funny!" Batgirl yelled. "You had us scared to death!"

"Careful!" Batwoman cautioned Batgirl. "He could be under Eivol's control!"

"Wouldn't we see other bodies, too?" Batgirl questioned.

"You have a point," Batwoman answered.

Batman finally spoke. "No need to fear, ladies! I was alive the whole time. I was never under Eivol's wicked will!"

"Thank God!" Batgirl said, "but why didn't you get electrocuted when you broke the line?"

"Simple, Batgirl," Batman responded. "I always make it a point to wear rubber-insulated boots. I never leave home without them!"

Batwoman went over to unhook the rope from Batgirl's tombstone and brought it to Batman's grave. She hooked it on his stone. In the same manner she freed Batgirl, she sawed off Batman's shackles. She climbed the rope first, followed by him.

The freed Triumphant Trio took the rope off of the stone. Next, they looked around for shelter from the rain. Farther in the cemetery, they spotted a canopy over an open grave. They quickly dashed toward it.

Once they were there, they saw that the canopy covered the grave of Amelia Marie Paxton. Her husband had already died. She was going to be buried tomorrow. Chairs were already set for the relatives beside the plot. The trio sat on them as they talked about the situation.

"I see that Eivol hasn't started his heinous plan yet!" Batgirl started.

"Maybe he did, but it may have failed," Batwoman added.

"I think Batgirl may be right," Batman noted. "Had he implemented his crazy scheme, he probably would have had one of his assistants check on us."

"Speaking of assistants," Batgirl started to ask. "What puzzles me is the holograms. According to Commissioner Gordon, it was the holograms doing the stealing. How can light images steal, let alone handle, solid objects? Energy can't handle matter!"

"I thought about that while you two were freeing yourselves," Batman answered. " In all of the cases, there were two 'ghosts'. Everyone involved only reported that one of them could walk through walls and other objects. They just assumed that the other 'ghost' was the same. My theory is that along with holograms, there were also crooks disguised like the holograms. They created the holograms long before the robberies and somehow got the hologram projectors in the places they planned to rob. Whlie the holograms were frightening the intended victims, the living crooks committed the robberies. They got away before anyone recovered from their scares."

"That makes sense!" Batwoman complimented Batman's explanation.

"That's great!" Batgirl also complimented, "but how are we going to stop Eivol and his gang?"

"I have a plan," Batman answered. The three of them gathered close as he explained his plan to them. They nodded in agreement. They got up from the chairs and started dashing to the Batmobile.

It was now close to midnight. Things were now much more settled down at the Wayne Manor. The guests were gone. Mrs. Cooper, in a nightgown and a robe, and Alfred, in pajamas and a robe, watched television in the living room.

Just as they finished watching Jay Leno read off this week's "Headlines", the living room door opened. In walked Dick, who had just parked his car in the indoor garage and taken his books to his room.

"Where were you?!" Mrs. Cooper frantically asked him before he had a chance to greet them. "You know how I get scared when you come home late! You know things aren't safe with those masked criminals around! And all of those drugs at those parties! You weren't at a party, were you?!"

"No!" her nephew answered. "I was studying with Wally and the gang. We have a test in Intro Psychology this Thursday. Besides, no one holds parties on Monday nights!"

"What a relief!" Mrs. Cooper rejoiced. "I'm glad you didn't get into any trouble. It scares me when you are out by yourself!"

"Aunt Harriet! I'm 18! I can take care of myself!" Dick said.

"I know!" Mrs Cooper explained. "But I still worry about you. You are the only nephew I have!"

Dick looked around for Bruce. He didn't see him. He figured that Bruce was on a case as Batman. Pretending he was tired, he let out a fake yawn. "Good night, Aunt Harriet! I'm hitting the sack."

Alfred knew what Dick was thinking. "I left my duster in your room, Master Dick. Let me get it out for you." the butler said to his young employer as he followed him into the side room.

Alfred closed the door behind him. "As you can tell, Batman is out on assignment tonight." Alfred told Dick as he approached him. "He's been gone since before eight. He should be back shortly."

"What happened?" Dick asked.

Alfred told Dick of what happened at the Wayne Manor a few hours earlier. He also filled Dick in on the details of the case Batman gave him before he left.

Dick walked over to the bust of Shakespeare. "I better go up to the cemetery to help him." he said as he lifted the head.

"Master Bruce wishes you would stay home and get some rest," Alfred informed Dick before the teen turned the switch.

"He's been gone over four hours. He might be in trouble," Dick pleaded with Alfred, "and besides, I can't get to sleep anyway. I might as well go out!"

Although Alfred didn't agree with Dick, he was in no position to stop him. "Please do be careful!" Alfred told him as Dick exposed the Batpoles and slid down his, "and try to keep dry!"

At the same time, a senior friend of Betty dropped off the tennis champ in front of her mansion.

"That was an incredible tournament!" the friend complimented Betty before she got out of the car. "You easily beat Metropolis' #1 player and gained us the championship! You'll be a hero for months!"

"It was nothing, really!" Betty blushed as she opened car door and stepped out. "I was just doing what I love--playing tennis!"

"See you in the morning!" the friend said to Betty before she drove away.

"Bye!" Betty said before darting to the mansion.

Betty entered the mansion. "Is anybody here?" she cried out. All she heard was the echo of her call.

'Aunt Kathy must not be home,' Betty thought. She knew that her aunt would normally be home at this hour. She quickly figured that Batwoman was probably out on the town. Betty ran down to the Bat Cavern to check what information she could dig up on the latest caper, whatever it was.

After changing into Flamebird, she searched the computer to find that Batwoman left around six to meet with the Commissioner and Batgirl regarding Eivol Ekdal. She had now been gone for over six hours. Flamebird figured that Batwoman and Batgirl were in trouble.

Flamebird was about to get her Bat-Gyro, ready to take off, but soon she remembered Batwoman telling her never to use the gyros in inclement weather. She could put herself in great danger if she disobeyed. With this option dead, she had no other form of transportation other than walking, but the cemetery was eight miles from the mansion. It would take her about two hours to get there. She needed a faster way. She saw nothing in the report about the Dynamic Duo. Taking a long shot, she decided to call the Commssioner's office to try to have him connect her to them.

She called. Fortunately, someone on the other end answered. "Hello?" she spoke into the phone. "Is this Commissioner Gordon?"

"This is he!" he answered.

"This is Flamebird," she told him. "I'm calling about my mentor Batwoman. Has she reported to you recently?" she asked, figuring that Batwoman was not in his office.

"I was going to ask you the same question. I've been here waiting for her, Batgirl, and Batman. Nobody has been in touch with me since eight!"

Flamebird now knew that Batman was with them. "Did Robin go with them?" she asked.

"Not as far as I know," the Commissioner responded.

"Great!" Flamebird rejoiced. "Maybe he is in the Batcave right now. I'd like to get through to him on the Batphone."

"It's worth a shot!" the Commissioner said as he used the new phone system to connect her line with Batman's so the two teens could speak to one another.

Robin was lifting the convertible roof over the Redbird when the Batphone beeped. He quickly tightened the latches in the front of the car before he went to answer the phone.

"Hello?' he asked.

"This is Flamebird," the girl on the far end answered. "You are probably aware that Batman, Batgirl, and Batwoman went out after Eivol Ekdal and his gang. I just spoke with the Commissioner, and he has heard nothing from them since eight. I feel they might be in danger, and we probably should go to the cemetery to help them."

"I was just thinking the same thing!" Robin said. He knew that Flamebird didn't drive yet. "Do you need a lift?" he asked.

"Yeah," she answered. She paused for a moment to think where he should pick her up, for she would compromise the Distaff Duo's secret identities if he picked her up at the mansion. "Pick me up at the corner at Linden and Vine." she said.

"OK," he said. "It will be about 15 minutes. I'll pick you up in in the Redbird."

"That's great!" she answered. "I'll meet you there. Bye!" she said before hanging up the phone. Linden and Vine was about a mile away from the mansion. In her good physical condition, she could make it there in about fifteen minutes. She picked up an umbrella, turned off the Bat Cavern lights, and went on her way.

Meanwhile, back in the garage, Eivol put the finishing touches on his latest creation. He stepped back to gaze upon his "baby" and with adoration, he cracked a huge smile as he vigorously rubbed his hands together and slightly wiggled his upper body.

"Gather around, all!" he exclaimed to his assistants. "I'm soon ready to put my great plan into action!"

Larry and Toddi, who were both cleaning, immediately dropped what they were doing and ran to Eivol's side. "Ooh, I can't wait!" Larry bounced with excitement.

Toddi coolly walked up to Eivol's left. "I'm ready when you are," she said to him as she put her hands on his shoulder.

Eivol's smile grew larger at this gesture. Quickly, though, his mind returned to business. "In a moment I will start my Zombie Mind Control Machine. With the flip of a few switches, I'll have all of Gotham's newly dead under my control!"

Toddi took her hands off her boss so she could clap along with Larry. Eivol bowed in response.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Eivol returned their kind gesture. "And now, to begin!" He flipped up six switches, one for each satellite dish on the observatory. Each antenna pointed in a different direction from the others. A soft humming noise came from the machinery.

"Ah, it's working!" Eivol cried out.

Larry looked out the window toward the cemetery. "Funny, I don't see any zombies." Larry noted.

"Give it time, you dolt!" Eivol scolded his assistant. "You have to remember that their brains have been dead for a bit. It will take about 10 minutes for them to start up!"

"Ohh!" was all Larry could answer.

Ten minutes later, The evil trio heard pounding at the back garage door.

Both assistants looked at Eivol. "Well, answer it!" Eivol said in reference to the door.

Toddi went to the door and slowly opened it. In staggered the Triumphant Trio, wearing makeup that made them look like they just rose from the dead.

"Marvelous!" Eivol exclaimed with a smile that almost reached his ears. "Everything is working according to plan! Wait 'til Gotham sees that I have the Triumphant Trio under my thumb! I'll easily have control of the city and its assets! Nobody stands a chance, not even those wimpy sidekicks these zombies left behind!"

"We are at your bidding!" Batwoman said in a stretched-out, monotone voice typical of zombie voices in horror movies.

"What do you want us to do?" Batgirl said in a similar manner.

"Excellent!" Eivol gleamed as he saw he had control over the heroes. "Here is what I want you to do. I want you three to greet the other zombies outside. Then, I want you to lead them down to City Hall and take it over. Feel free to kill the living if you think you need reinforcement."

"Yes, master," Batman responded in the zombie voice.

The Triumphant Trio turned around and with their arms held out in front of them as if they were sleepwalking, they staggered toward the front door.

"Um, the cemetery is out the back door," Larry said to them.

The heroes turned around and headed toward the back door. On the way, Batgirl had an idea. She approached Larry. "Thank you, sir!" she complemented him as she put her hands on his shoulders.

Batwoman thought she knew what Batgirl was trying to do. Immediately, she staggered over to Eivol. "You did a magnificent job bringing us back from the dead," she said in her zombie voice as she put her hands over his shoulders. "I didn't like being dead. It was so cold, dark and lonely. I don't like being lonely. Let me thank you by giving you the time of your life!" She put her body against his. She licked his cheek.

Eivol shrieked.

Batman also got the same impression from Batgirl. He stumbled toward Toddi. He grabbed her briskly and placed her in his arms so that he was leaning over her upper body. He put all of her weight in his left arm so he could pet her hair with his right arm. "I like tall women," he said to her. "I like them slender, too, just like you, my delicious apple! Let me take a few bites of you!"

She screamed and nearly fainted.

Batgirl only wanted to scare the thugs. She actually had no intentions of flirting with them. When she saw the effect it was having on Eivol and Toddi, though, she decided to join in on the game. She put her body up against Larry's as her hands moved to the back of his head. Without saying a word, she pushed Larry's head into her face and gave him a huge French kiss.

Larry screamed as he spat mud and a bug out of his mouth.

Suddenly, the front door flew open. In charged the Driven Duo--Robin and Flamebird.

"Hold it right-" Robin started to shout to the criminals, but fell silent in surprise at the sight of the Triumphant Trio embracing the thugs, and the thugs not liking it one bit. "Holy Lovefest! What's going on here?!" he hollered in confusion.

"Yeah, just what is going on?!" Flamebird backed him up. She made her way to Batwoman, who was kissing Eivol. She grabbed Batwoman's left shoulder and turned her mentor's body toward hers. Flamebird gasped at what she saw.

Batwoman's white face, limp hair and costume were covered with mud. Blood seemed to trickle from her nose. Bugs were crawling on her face and in her hair. She smelled like rotten meat.

"Flamebird!" Batwoman greeted her sidekick with her zombie voice. As she spoke, some mud and two earthworms fell from her bloodied mouth.

Like Toddi moments earlier, Flamebird screamed and nearly collapsed. She quickly ran toward Robin, who was with Batman and Toddi.

"It's good to see you, Robin," Batman said to his helper. Mud and worms fell out of his mouth as well, and they landed on Toddi's face. She shrieked and passed out in his arms.

Robin let out a yell. He and Flamebird stepped back some feet. Both fearing what they saw, they found themselves in each other's arms. They held on tightly. In their moment of fright, they peeked into each other's eyes. There, they found not just comfort, but admiration for one another. As scary as this situation was, a side of each was hoping that this moment would never end.

Batgirl gave Larry another kiss. He panicked as three bugs crawled into his mouth. He spat them out and then dropped to the floor, unconscious.

Eivol started hollering for help. "Kids, get this zombie woman off of me!" he yelled over to the hugging Driven Duo. "I promise, if you get me free, I'll turn off the Zombie Mind Control Machine before any other zombies come in here! I promise!"

Neither youth said anything. Both turned their heads toward Eivol. Paralyzed with horror and disbelief, all they could do was cling on to each other as they trembled in fear.

"Please?" Eivol pleaded with them. "I'll even turn myself in if you help me!"

Robin was starting to pull himself back together. He let one arm off of Flamebird. Before he could remove the other, another group of people entered the front door. Fearing it may be zombies, Robin once again put his arms around Flamebird.

"Stop where you are, lawbreakers!" a familiar male voice shouted from the group. To Robin's relief, it was Commissioner Gordon, surrounded by the Gotham City police.

Upon hearing that familiar voice, the Triumphant Trio immediately ceased their charade. Batman gently laid the unconscious Toddi on the floor while Batwoman led Eivol to his machine. "Turn it off," she ordered him in her normal voice.

He flipped the six switches as the police picked up the assistants, handcuffed them, and took them into the cruisers. Shocked and greatly disappointed that his scheme didn't work, he asked the heroes, "The whole time you were not zombies?"

"No, we weren't," Batman answered. "You thought you could trick us by powering the generator with an underground electric line. We found that line and snapped it. After freeing ourselves, we went to the Batmobile where I keep a makeup kit. We painted ourselves in white and red to make us look dead and bloody. We also coated ourselves in mud and insects to add to the effect. Finally, I spayed each of us with some Bat Dead-Odor Spray for the finishing touch. As I predicted, you fell for the ruse."

"Rats!" Eivol cried as the police handcuffed him and put in a patrol car. "I came close this time! There will be a next time!"

"And we'll be ready!" Batgirl yelled to him as the police closed the cruiser door.

The Commissioner came up to the Driven Duo, who were no longer holding on to each other. "What great timing you had!" he complemented the sidekicks. " You couldn't have called us at a better time! This scheme really scared the socks off of those thugs! Job well done!"

"Thanks, but no thanks," Flamebird responded. "We actually had no knowledge of this charade."

Robin approached Batman. "It seems like you were free for a while. Why didn't you let us know about this? You had me scared to death!"

"You and Flamebird weren't supposed to be here," Batman started, "and besides, even if you did come, I thought that you would pick up on what was going on. I thought you would see through our make-up."

"It's been a long day!" Robin told his mentor. "I've been so busy that I couldn't tell which way was up. I didn't get any sleep since last night!"

"Same here!" Flamebird added.

As the police drove off, Batgirl glanced down at her watch. It was close to 2:00 am. "I agree that it is time to turn in," Batgirl noted.

The Triumphant Trio got into the Batmobile, while the Driven Duo got into the Redbird. All of the heroines were dropped off at Linden and Vine Streets. They went their separate ways home.

It was now 7:00 am on Tuesday morning. Barbara just finished taking her fourth shower. Earlier, before going to sleep, she took three showers just to get rid of the dead smell.

'So he likes tall women! Humph!' Barbara griped to herself about Batman as she got dressed for work. 'So, that is why he seems to favor Batwoman. He likes that she is about 6 inches taller than I am!' she continued.

Before she could add to that thought, the phone rang.

"Hello?" she answered it.

"Good morning, my dear Barbara! How are you?" her father said on the other end.

"I'm doing great, Daddy!" she told him.

"Same here!" he started. "I was wondering. Tonight, a bunch of us from the station are going over to Chief O'Hara's house to watch Plan Nine From Outer Space. Would you like to come?"

She paused for a moment. "No, thanks, Daddy!" she responded. "I'm not up to horror movies right now. I might stay here and watch Titanic instead."

"That's great, dear!" he answered. "You have a good day at the library, and enjoy your movie tonight!"

"Thank you, Daddy. You do the same!" she told him.

They said goodbye to each other, then hung up. Barbara finished dressing and got things ready for work. The last thing she did was feed Charlie.

"No, no horror movies for me for a long while," she told him. "I had my share of bad sci-fi schemes for a while."

He chirped as she turned off the apartment lights and left for work.