CHAPTER THREE: A Summer of Adventure


Anyone watching Tony Cassadine's encounter with Alex in the hall before the auction, would have guessed they were more than mere business acquaintances. Robert, who had been stringing Tony along to learn his plans, now warned Luke that the Ice Princess must not fall into the wrong hands or it would cause horrendous world problems. Under no circumstances was Luke to turn the statue over to Alex—provided he got it first. Luke wasn't sure what or who to believe but Robert's cryptic warning created doubts. The bidding was brisk as the Ice Princess was put on the block, but suddenly the lights went out and when they came on again, both Luke and the ugly black sculpture were missing. Laura was sure Luke had gone to collect his bonus from Alex and she waited for him in her apartment with a bottle of iced champagne to celebrate. However, the only guest who showed up was Robert Scorpio with a warning that Luke was in way over his head and in deadly danger. Alex waited in vain for Luke at the appointed spot and was instead confronted by Tony Cassadine who threatened her if she did not turn over Spencer and the diamond. Alex had no answers for him—or Edward. Luke seemed to have disappeared completely. Luke sent three telegrams, one to Alex, one to Robert, and one to Cassadine, setting up three appointments. When both Alex and Robert refused to tell him the truth about that black sculpture, he had only Cassadine left—and Cassadine had no patience for negotiating for what he claimed was his own property. Luke was to deliver it within forty-eight hours or he would be a dead man. Luke's luck was thinning out and he knew it. Luke's cabbie pal Slick Jones was surprised to find Luke hiding out in his cab in the taxi barn. Luke revealed to Slick that he didnt have the statute and never had. He had to hide! Slick came up with the perfect place—a seedy mission on the waterfront. Unshaven, dressed in bum's rags. ("Don't come too close—I'm not alone in these clothes!") Luke tried to blend in with the winos and delerects, singing hymns, repairing bibles. Meanwhile Laura had nearly panicked in her concern for Luke and had gone to Beechers Corners to look for him, thinking he might go there to hide. While she was gone. Alex and Edward hatched a plot to frame Laura and smoke Luke out. They planting damning evidence of company embezzlement all over her apartment. Unknown to anyone else concerned, Tony Cassadine had met Alex on the docks in the fog and rekindled their once-flaming romance. Alex promised to help Tony recover the Ice Princess —and the formula that was contained in the sculpture's base. Her plan to frame Laura would do the trick. "Luke will do anything to protect that girl," Alex told Tony. Once back in Pt. Charles, Laura found Slick and made him take her to Luke, though Luke had given strict orders to Slick to keep her away—for her own safety. Laura put on her black Lucy wig for disguise and when Luke saw her before him, he scooped her up in his arms, tears in his eyes. At last he opened up and told her the whole story—about the enormous diamond, about missing it at the auction, about the very dangerous Cassadine who was after him. She told him about the scientist who might be the man named James Duvall whom Robert had said was involved with Alex. Thrilled to be a part of his life again, Laura promised to find out what she could. Alex had followed Slick and Laura to the mission and in short order, Luke was picked up by Cassadine's men and hauled off to the yacht. Under torture, Luke was unable to give Cassadine the right Information, but he heard Cassadine refer to a formula and he realized that could be the clue to the IP's exalted value. Scorpio, still pretending an alliance with Tony, listened to Luke's ravings under the drugs and believed Luke's protest of never having had the statue. With his spritely partner O'Reilly, Robert managed to outsmart Tony and spirit Luke off the boat to safety. Together they headed for Laura's apartment to remove the frame evidence Tony had revealed was there. Shortly after this, they learned from slick that it had been Charlie Lutz who had snatched the IP at the auction and now his dumb wife Emma had handed it over to Alex as a charity donation! Meanwhile, Alex and Duvall had a meeting at Laura's place. They had quarreled bitterly over the formula and Alex had ended up hitting Duval with the statute, killing him. Distraught, Alex stole Duvall's copy of the formula and ran out, leaving the body Iying on the hearth. That was where Laura found it, and she went into hysterics. The sight of the dead Duvall had trlggered memories of the David Hamilton affair and she collapsed into Luke's arms as he walked in. Sobbing, she told him of that earlier tragedy. "I was so young and I thought he loved me... Everybody knew about me and they called me a tramp. That's why when we got home last fall I..." This recitation explained two years of Laura to Luke, why she had to cry rape, why she couldn't make love to him all summer, why she broke down in the police station. She had been made to look like a scarlet woman at age sixteen and had been trying to live it down ever since. Luke held her close, reassuring her of his devotion. Luke, Slick and Scorpio managed to dump Duvall's body into the harbor, making sure Laura wouldn't be questioned. Robert then informed Luke and Laura that he was an agent with the World Security Bureau, an organization designed to protect world peace. The Cassadine's seemingly harmless diamond making formula was actually the formula for a powerful weapon that could give the Cassadine's the power to rule the world. Tony had been joined on his yacht by his brother Victor and with Alex, they were preparing to sail off to join their older brother Mikkos who was in charge of the operation. Robert's and O'Reilly's mission was to stop them! While Robert was explaining all of this and showing Luke and Laura his radio room. ("Comicbook City!" Luke exclaimed, "I love it!") O'Reilly phoned from the docks. She had been spotted and the Cassadines were after her. Robert heard gunfire, then silence. O'Reilly had fallen. With the death of his beloved O'Reilly, Robert needed help to finish his mission and Luke insisted on going with him. Their plan was to stowaway on the yacht and try to steal the formulas. Laura tried to talk Luke out to going, but he was adamant and bade her a tearful farewell. Boarding the yacht proved difficult for the two men, but no problem at all for the pretty maid in the black wig who greeted them in the ship's hold. Luke was horrified by Laura's daring and he argued and yelled, trying to get her to go ashore. Robert has his first taste of what it was like to be around these two pig-headed, unruly lovers who were so close, they even bickered in harmony. As usual, Laura won and when the engines started up, she was already settling down in the storage hold. Even Luke's sea sickness did not put her off; she sat with his head in her lap, soothing him until he murmured. "You really know how to make a guy not want to upchuck." Laura was now a courageous, cunning and loving girl, willing to take changes as a real member of the team. She put on a maid's uniform and searched staterooms and even managed to steal a full course dinner for three from the galley. Whether dallying on deck in the moonlight or snuggling in the ship's sauna, she made it clear she was wildly, deeply in love with Luke and ready to do anything for him. Along the way the three were picking up information about the ship's guests: a movie actress who was bedding down with Victor, a brass-minded general who had a blonde in tow, a harmless seeming, dithering Englishman, and a world leader and his brilliant, beautiful wife. All seemed to have been gathered together for some master plan, some scheme they all shared. Robert's attempts to sneak into the radio room and send a message to the WBS failed, but on the their last night, he did manage to pick Victor's pocket and obtain a copy of the formula. In the hold, the three friends toasted their success with stolen champagne, but each knew the ship was soon to arrive at its destination and they had no idea where that was or what tomorrow held in store. . .

In the underbrush on the island, Laura clung to Luke while he kept firm hold on a large stick and the unfamiliar sounds of the jungle played on their city-bred nerves. "I—I want to make love to you," Laura whispered. "I want to make love to you, too," Luke soothed. "Now." "Now?" Luke's mild laugh wavered as he looked at her. "You got to be kidding. Right here on the ground, on a deserted island, here, now? My God, Laura—there could be wild animals around, snakes—" "So what? They're going to be there, regardless." Determinedly, Laura drew her face closer to his, causing his blood to pound even faster than fear had accelerated it moments before. "Now come on, Laura, this could be dangerous," he protested half-heartedly as she kissed him. "Baby, don't . . . you're gettin' me all excited. . ." But he was kissing her back before he could stop. "Hi there!" Robert's voice rang out cheerfully as he entered the clearing. "Am I interrupting a romantic interlude or anything?" Instantly Luke and Laura broke apart, both looking faintly uncomfortable and chagrined. This style of interruption was to become the pattern during the lover's stay on the unknown island. Several days passed before the three could learn what had happened to the Cassadines and their party of guests after they landed. Luke, Laura and Robert had swam ashore, only to find the island seemingly deserted. They found a small oasis of beauty, a clearing with a pool and waterfall and there they set up camp, Laura doing her best to make it homey and comfortable. Robert was obsessed with the mission while Luke and Laura were obsessed with each other, enjoying the tropical beauty around them. Directly beneath their pool, however, was an entire underground complex, elaborate in its facilities and designed as the headquarters for Mikkos Cassadine's plan to take over the world. In the coldly beautiful crystal room, Mikkos gathered together his guests for a demonstration of his powers. He would force the world to surrender by freezing a sample city—and to show this could be done, he sprinkled some of the formula's diamond dust into the champagne fountain and it froze. The rest of the room was plunged into a bone-chilling cold as well. Above ground, Luke, Laura and Robert were shivering and wondering what could possibly turn a hot, humid night so cool as to freeze their bouillabaisse stew. Mikkos outlined his plan to the assembled party: once the world capitulated, he would rule, assisted by his General, Kaluga, political leader Max Van Stadt, engineer Nigel Pennysmith, and the other Cassadine brothers, Victor and Tony. Poverty, sickness would become a thing of the past under his rule, Mikkos insisted, a maniacal gleam in his eyes, because he could now control the weather anywhere. He had chosen the perfect city for setting an example: Alex's home town of Pt. Charles, New York! Victor's playmate Tiffany Hill, watched Mikkos pull the lever that set off rockets of diamond dust over Pt. Charles and for once she agreed with Alex—Mikkos was stark, raving mad! When she accidently ran into Robert while sunbathing, she formed a quick alliance—maybe he could stop Mikkos. Laura, meanwhile, had delighted Luke by creating her own Dorothy Lamour-style sarong and proposing that they have a private, intimate night in their newly constructed bamboo hut. Luke asked Robert to take the first watch and to take it far away from the hut. For months Luke had played it cool, embarrassed to let the worldly Robert see just how thoroughly the tough slum kid was hung up on one lovely blonde teenager. With each new danger Luke came closer to revealing himself, but until that night, when Laura came down with a jungle fever, Scorpio had no real idea of the intensity of Luke's love for the girl. Frantic when Laura fell unconcious and delirious, Luke tried to shove past Robert, shouting that he was going below to seek help and medication from the Cassadine's. Horrified, Robert reminded they had a mission. "Laura comes before any mission!" Luke stated, letting Robert know once and for all what was the single most important priority in Luke Spencer's life. To Luke's immense relief, Laura recovered and by then Tiffany was sneaking out of the compound to bring them information. Mikkos had to be stopped—he was freezing Pt. Charles and trying to get the WSB to turn over world power to him. With each hour it grew colder in their hometown. All was not going smoothly below ground for Mikkos. Finding Max and his wife disagreed with his tactics, he froze them; later when a concerned Alex talked Tony into checking into the secrets of the plant, they, too, were frozen. When Victor discovered his brother was missing, he began to have a few doubts as well, though he stayed loyal to Mikkos. Meanwhile Tiffany was betraying him by taking a guard's uniform to Robert so that Robert could steal below with her. Waiting untiI Luke and Laura were out of sight because he wanted to leave them behind in relative safety, Robert disguised himself and took the elevator inside the rock down, with Tiffany leading the way. He planned to hide her in her room until he could get into the control room undetected. Luke and Laura were aghast to find Robert had gone without them. They broke camp and attempted to follow him, finally finding an air vent in the ground that led down into the vast plant. Stealing white coveralls to blend in with the workers, Luke and Laura tried to find their way to Robert. When they opened one door, the discovered four bodies, Alex, Tony, Max and Noel—all frozen stiff. A moment later they were captured and led to the control room to face Mikkos. Mikkos was in a cat-and-mouse mood. He dressed his new "guests" in dinner clothes, fed them well and espoused his philosophy. Luke pretended to be convinced, impressing Mikkos, and was invited into the control room. However, as he stepped through the door, Luke grabbed the guard's guns and tossed them at Robert and Laura. It was a standoff. Mikkos had a gun on Luke and Robert and Laura had guns on the guards. Pleading cooperation, Luke got Mikkos to allow him to speak on the radio to Pt. Charles and managed to slip in a last word on the island's location. The fight that followed was a desperate one with Mikkos opening the ice chamber door in order to push Luke inside, only to have Luke duck and himself go hurtling into the frigid room. Through the glass, Luke saw Mikkos screaming, but none of the buttons he pushed would reopen the door. After some false tries, Luke punched out the words—Ice Princess—that unlocked the lever of the computer and the freeze was off. Pt. Charles—and the world—was saved!

CHAPTER FOUR
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