[Johnny1A.2]

LATER.

The extraction operation in 1922 had been carried out, of course, by the Seven
Aces. This newly organized group had been in existence since 1918, and
formally in service since the end of 1919. In practice, of course, they had not
been thrown directly into the game immediately. The first few operations of
the Seven Aces had been carried out in partnership with their counterparts in
the British Empire, the secret group known as SG-7. There was much to learn
and for some lessons, experience is the only teacher.

It was not until 1921 that the Seven Aces began to operate on their own, and it
was not until 1922 that they were really up and running as their founders had
intended. The extraction operation in Petrograd had been the second major
operation the Seven Aces for the Seven Aces in 1922, and both missions had
been successful. The first major mission of 1922 had involved a simple snatch
and grab operation in Venezuela, the second was the Petrograd extraction.

These two successes were followed by a failure, an operation in the Dutch East
Indies in early 1923 was badly botched. Still, it was botched in such a way as
to be salvageable, and the Seven Aces survived the failure and began to take a
hold and grow as an organization. By the start of 1925, the Aces were seen,
among those very few in the U.S. Government who knew about them, as being
a mostly successful experiment, and their responsibilities were increasing.

The leader of the Seven Aces, Nathaniel Conners, for his part had recognized
the man he had fought in Petrograd as the same man he had seen in 1918 during
the Great War, though he still had no idea of his name. Their encounter with
him in Petrograd had also confirmed that the man possessed psychic powers.
Conners had permanent (if not very noticeable) scars on his face and arm from
the hot coals and ashes that had been thrown at him by no visible hand.

The simple existence of such apparently supernatural abilities was not a
new thing for Conners or the other members of the core leadership of the
Seven Aces, of course. Conners and his fellows had been exposed to such a
think at their first meeting, when Robert McLaird was first recruiting for his
new team. Conners had seen ‘psychokinesis’ in action on a few occasions over
the years since, usually used by the head of SG-7, Donald William Barrington-
Shaw. Still, it was one thing to see it demonstrated and another to have it used
against him, without warning, in actual combat!

The Aces retained their connections to their British counterparts in SG-7, and
they were able to supply some information about the mysterious figure that
Conners had now encountered twice. The British had no idea of his real name,
and they did not know very much else about him either, other than that he had
been extensively active in the Great War and was known to use multiple aliases
and legends. Conners were quite well aware that the British did know at least
somewhat more than they were saying, however.

This was not surprising or disturbing in itself, of course. Nobody in that game
ever could be expected to willingly reveal everything they knew about
anything. Information was too precious, and too valuable a commodity, for
such things to happen. In this case, however, Conners had a distinct impression
that the members of SG-7 were holding back because they wanted the Seven
Aces and their American compatriots to discover certain things ‘on their own’.

Why that would be the case, or what the advantage would be for SG-7 and the
British, Conners could not imagine. Still, the Seven Aces did begin the work
of gathering everything they could about the mysterious figure that had met
and fought in Petrograd. This proved to be both easier and more difficult than
they had initially expected. There was much information to find...but most of
it was not particularly revealing or useful.

The Seven Aces encountered the mystery man again, this time not in a far-off
country such as Russia or Germany, but in Chicago in 1925. They were
involved because there was an exhibition at a museum, an exhibition which
included some valuable items from foreign countries ‘on loan’. The Federal
authorities had caught wind of rumors that someone was planning to try and
steal or damage some of the exhibits, which would have led to some serious
international repercussions if successful. At the very least, it would have been
expensive for the United States to compensate the owners of the missing or
damaged items, and it would have been seriously embarrassing for America as
well. At worst, it might well have precipitated a serious international incident.

As a result, the museum itself was heavily guarded, and the police and FBI
were on the watch for anything out of the ordinary. Additionally, since the
rumors touched on international matters and some of them seemed particularly
odd, they came to the attention of Major Robert McLaird, the ‘go to man’ at
Army Intelligence for such matters. He, in turn, did what had become his wont
when faced with situations where nothing was certain, nothing seemed to be
clear, and nobody had any concept of what was going on: he sent in the Aces.

What followed would be known for decades afterward among the Seven Aces
and some few others as the ‘Chicago Affair’.

MORE LATER.