[Dennis Power, author of The Secret History of the Wold Newton Universe, isn't the only Wold Newton chronicler who gets unusual mail.]

[This actually came to me through snail-mail. I've always had my suspicions about Canada Post; that their system involves extra-dimensional delivery doesn't surprise me in the least. (Their slowness can't be explained any other way.) I do wonder which letter addressed to me was received by my WNU counterpart, though ...]

Dear Mr. Davies,

I am not entirely sure that I want to know how you found my address. I do not appreciate receiving mail that could possibly indicate that my cover had been blown, even if it does come from a source which has been partially cleared, as you have.

While I appreciate your wish to have more information about me, so as to lend your writing greater verisimilitude, I'm also fairly certain that, in the contract you signed with UNSTA when you were hired to take over the Masefield books, there's an article which describes what we can and will do to you if you tell too much. I'd advise you to carefully consider that article before using any of this information carelessly.

To begin with, I am an only child. I'm not sure why Mr. Byrne saw fit to give me a younger sister, especially not one who was blonde. From my admittedly limited knowledge of my mother's family, it doesn't have any blondes, and I don't think it's likely that there were many blondes on my father's side either.

My parents were wise enough to realize that the difficulties of raising me in ignorance of my father's heritage would be even greater if I had a sibling who might develop superhuman capabilities. They were also much more certain of methods which could completely prevent pregnancy than of methods to prevent a child from gaining powers, short of further exposure to a certain mineral. (Again, I have no idea where Mr. Byrne got the idea of a "stone which emits red sun radiation"; it doesn't really sound plausible to me, but I'm not a scientist.)

Unfortunately, L-- L-----, an old enemy of my father, found out where we were living and told me the secret my parents had been keeping from me (without, of course, mentioning his role in the affair.) This happened a little after my tenth birthday. I don't recall if my father ever mentioned teaming up with Mr. W---- around that time to deal with a pair of extradimensional trouble-makers, but I suppose that part of the story is plausible.

Needless to say, I confronted my parents with L-----'s revlation, and was very hurt when they confirmed it. No child likes to find out that his parents have been lying to him. The years after this weren't particularly happy ones for me, or for my parents. I caused my mother and father a great deal of grief in my adolescence, even more than you'd expect of a child growing up in the Sixties. Even my closest friend before the revelation, K---, found me impossible a lot of the time.

But it wasn't all bad. In my determination to show that I could be as much of a hero as my father, I wound up studying the martial arts under Mr. W----'s guidance. Later, S---- R----- became my mentor, and I'm proud to say that I became one of his first real friends after his awakening. For some reason, the publishers of the fictionalized versions of his latter-day adventures confused me with one "Rick Jones" (I'm not sure of his real name) perhaps deliberately, in order to avoid a legal battle. I'd like to think that I acquitted myself honorably as S----'s sidekick before I enlisted in the Army, ignoring everything he'd ever told me about real war.

I hope that if nothing else, I communicate my shock and disgust at the way that I was portrayed in the 1969 section of Mr. Byrne's story. While I won't deny that I was somewhat prejudiced and bigoted against the Vietnamese at that time -- I'm not proud of it, and I've learned better -- I never ordered any massacres. NEVER. Nor was I injured and left for dead after a mutiny. If it weren't for the necessity of protecting my cover, this section of the story would have tempted me to sue Byrne and his publisher for defamation of character.

I won't go into what actually did happen in 1969. Since you're aware of my real name, it shouldn't be too hard to look through declassified documents about the affair and get the details from them. What the reports won't tell you is that, while I did escape from the POW camp on my own, I did not make it back through several hundred miles of enemy territory without help. After that initial escape, I was assisted by K---, S---- and several of their associates. I was incredibly lucky, and I thank the Lord that I had better friends than I deserved in those days.

As to the rest fo the events depicted in that chapter, they are (with the exception of those which refer to my "sister") sadly accurate. I don't know whether the Society had a discussion with President Nixon on the matter Byrne depicts, but I do know that the rift between the government and its former paranormal operatives widened even more in those days. And unfortunately, Mr. G------ was killed in action, and the younger Mr. W---- took up his role. I decline to violate certain confidences by discussing that matter any further.

As for me, I was quickly sent home shortly after my return to base. I was being hailed by a hero. I felt like a worm. I think the sight of my mother crying when she met me at the airport made it clear to me what an idiot I'd been, even more than K---'s harsh words to me after my rescue. I finally reconciled with my father. He forgave me at once. It took a bit longer to forgive myself.

Between 1970 and 1977, I found myself at loose ends. I tried my hand at the old family trade of journalism, but I don't really have the temperment to be a good reporter of events. But then, neither did either of my parents, so I guess I just didn't have some other element of the vocation. I studied, went through a bit of therapy, travelled, had a few adventures -- during one such I met my future wife for the first time -- and finally hooked up with UNSTA around the same time K--- did. We made a pretty good team.

Needless to say, if much of the first two volumes of Byrne's account is fictionalized, the latter two are blatantly untrue. I do not know why he cast me as L-----'s pawn. I do not know why he thought that L----- or U----- could pull off a scheme as complicated as the one the story describes, since every prior encounter that either of them had had with my father ended in their abject defeat. (As far as I know, L----- and U----- are not the same person.) If I didn't know better, I'd almost suspect that Byrne has some sort of grudge against my family.

While my father did leave Earth a few years ago, almost immediately after my mother finally succumbed to her lung cancer, he does still visit from time to time. I hope that he'll be by to visit his grand- daughter soon. I'm not going to speculate about the "future" scenario depicted by Byrne, since I thought it was silly beyond belief.

Oddly, though, I do recall hearing Mr. W---- mention that he first met my father when they were both teenagers, before either of them assumed a costumed identity. While L----- would have been in his early twenties, it's otherwise not implausible that something like the 1929 story took place. But I'm afraid that I don't know any details.

I do hope that this information will be of some use to you. I can't claim to be a fan of your work -- although my wife would like to pass on her compliments regarding the "Magical Soldiers" books -- but you have done fairly well since succeeding Mr. Stephens as the author of K---'s authorized biography, and I hope that you'll be able to continue.

One further detail in closing. My favorite film of all time is not Rocky; it is Goodbye Mr. Chips. I'd appreciate it if you could insert a mention of this into the next story, along with an explanation for why "Joel" claimed the former in The Earthquake Dragon.

Yours Sincerely,
J--- K---