Chapter No, 28. Top of the World.

James smiled. "I know a place where no one would recognize us."

Both Robert and Janet waited impatiently for him to reveal his choice.

"We could go to Mount Everest."

Robert glanced at his wife, who simply presented a nonplussed look. He turned back to James. "Ok, I'm game, but as I recall it's very cold there, not to mention that it's high enough to cause low oxygen blood levels."

"We can easily endure those conditions."

"I thought that there are many climbing expeditions to Mount Everest," Janet said. "We might run into a lot of people."

"I don't think so," James said. "It's the late winter season and not as many climbers try the summit."

"Okay," Robert said. "Let's do it."

They changed into their superhero outfits and transported to the summit of the highest mountain on Earth. No one was there to greet them.

"This is great!" James exclaimed. "We're standing on the top of the world."

"Yes, so to speak," Robert said. "We've flown much higher than this."

"Yeah, but not by standing on solid ground."

"Someone's coming," Janet said, turning to watch a group of climbers ascending from the South Col Route.

Five men were attired in heavy fur coats with face coverings as well as oxygen tanks. They stopped to gawk at the superheroes.

"What the hell!" One of them blurted. "How did you get up here?"

"We were out for a morning walk," Robert said, suppressing a grin. "We wanted to see what the hoopla is all about." He looked around at the mountain peaks bathed in puffy clouds. "I must admit that it's a great view."

James snickered, and his mother gave him a rebuking frown.

Robert, Janet and James vacated the very top of Mount Everest's peak. Robert gestured to it. "Have fun, gentlemen."

Just then the mountain suffered a vibration and then a frightening rumble.

"What the hell was that?" James asked, her eyes wide with concern.

"I think that was an earthquake and it caused an avalanche," Robert said, looking down the mountain's south side.

"There's another team coming from that route," one of the men said.

"Oh, oh!" Robert said. "Looks like we have a job to do."

"What could you do?" the man said. "It would take hours to descend to where they are."

Robert smiled. "I think we could do better than that." He gestured to Janet and James. "Let's go."

The men watched the three superheroes run down the mountain on the snow at an unbelievable pace. They were completely amazed by the astounding demonstration of superhuman powers.

The Steris family reached the Camp 2 level where a climbing team had become trapped in an avalanche. They used their powers to make the snow split and flow away to reveal the men that were trapped in their tents. Some of them had been killed. Others were in bad shape with broken bones and frozen bodies. The superheroes went to work repairing the damage and resurrecting those that had died.

"Who are you?" the leader of the climbing team asked as he rubbed his eyes.

"We were out on a morning walk to the top of this mountain and noted the earthquake and subsequent avalanche that trapped you, so we came down here to save you."

"You were on the peak and came down here?"

"Yeah, it wasn't bad coming down."

The men just stared at them.

"Have a nice day," Robert said as he and his family began walking away down the trail.

James waited until they were out of hearing distance before he laughed. "You definitely should have been a comedian, Dad."

He smiled. "Hey, what else was I going to say. No one would believe what we did here."

"Do you get the feeling that our decisions are not really ours?" Janet said.

"Yes," Robert reacted. "We seem to be where we're needed on many occasions."

"We forgot to take a selfie," James said.

Robert frowned. "I think we'd be better off not allowing these photos to get on the internet. They're only causing more problems. We need to be more undercover."

"I think that the genie is already out of the bottle."

Robert had to agree with that. He knew that their notoriety was becoming too provocative.

They teleported home to enjoy a peaceful time before the storm, which came as a phone call.

Janet answered it and then held it out to her husband. "It's the FBI."

Robert took the phone. "Yes?"

Janet and James watched him listening and then hang up. He didn't say anything,

"What?" James asked.

"They sound desperate," Robert said. "I believe it has something to do with the President's grandchildren being abducted."

"That doesn't sound good," Janet said. "We could be involved with some anarchist gang."

Robert rubbed his jaw. "Well, we aren't going to solve it by hanging around here."

They appeared in Mark and Joe's FBI office.

"What's up?" Robert asked.

"This is a touchy situation. Apparently, some gang has kidnapped President Hollis' grandchildren. They're threatening to cut off their fingers and toes if the president doesn't make concessions involving Iranian dissidents."

"We can replace fingers and toes, but if they kill them there is a limited window of opportunity as to whether we can resurrect them."

"Do you have any idea where they're being held?" Janet asked.

"It has to be somewhere near here," Mark said. "They've delivered letters to us, and the time between letters was only a day."

"I assume that they mailed them from a Postal box," Robert said.

"Yes, but they're not from the same location."

"May I see the last letter?"

Joe handed it to him, and he sniffed it close to his nose. "I'm detecting a hint of garlic. Have either one of you had anything with garlic?"

They both shook their heads.

"Odors have distinct profiles. It's the reason that dogs can detect insignificant odors that a human could not. However, our powers allow us to possess a smelling power even better than a dog. I think I might be able to determine a restaurant where the culprit last visited, and I would be willing to bet that the restaurant is near here."

"What makes you believe that?" Mark asked.

"Because this caper sounds to me like a trap for us."

He stared at Robert for a moment before replying. "So, how do you intend to find them?"

"I think we'll just take a walk around the area and sniff out the culprits."

There wasn't much that either Mark or Joe could say. They had no idea where the grandchildren were being held.

Robert, Janet and James walked out of the FBI headquarters and took a turn up Second Street, which passed culinary rich restaurants that business types liked to frequent. The sun was shining, and the wind was tepid, just the way that Robert wanted it.

"Even if you do pick up the scent, how will we know it it's coming from the kidnappers?" Janet asked.

"I don't know for certain, but maybe we'll get lucky."

"I wonder why they chose to go this route to force the president to give concessions," James said.

"I don't think this is what it seems. This is a trap set up for us."

"I think I see what you mean," Janes said. "They're in the basement of this restaurant and it's wired to explode if we just bust in there."

"Exactly," Robert said. "There's only one way to deal with this."

"We're going to stop time, except for us," Janet said.

Robert pointed at her. "Precisely, but we'll have to be careful where we materialized because the place is set up to detect any disturbance."

"How do we do that?"

"We must float in midair and not touch anything until we determine how it's booby trapped."

Both Janet and James agreed.

They stopped time and appeared inside a basement room. A twelve-year-old boy and a thirteen-year-old girl were chained to the wall, their faces frozen with fear.

"The explosive is over there under them," James said, pointing to a large crate directly under the two children.

"Yes, and there's the laser beam that would detonate the explosive if blocked."

"Are we going to make the explosive disappear?" Janet asked.

"That would be what they expected us to do," Robert said. "I suspect that there's more to this than that."

"I think I see what it is," James said. "There are pointed rods behind the two children, and if we move them the rods are set to penetrate through their chests."

"Okay," Robert said. "This will require precise timing. I will make the explosive disappear." He pointed to James. "You will deactivate the rods." He turned to his wife. "You will release the two children. However, we must do it at precisely the same time, so I'll start time up at a much slower pace."

After thinking about it, Robert decided to start the process. "Okay, On the count of three."

"One, two, three!"

The two children were lying on the floor unharmed.

"Get them out of here," he ordered.

"Aren't you going?" his wife asked.

"No. I'm going to stay here and handle the idiots who did this."

"I can help, Dad," James said.

"Nope, the children are more important. Make sure they're okay."

Both Janet and James nodded their approval. They and the two children vanished,

Robert waited on the perpetrators. They came into the room from a back room and immediately began shooting at him with AK-47's.

"I don't think that will work, gentlemen," Robert said.

They stared at him.

"You are a fool," One of them said.

"No, you are the fools."

The head Vestal Virgin appeared. "You have done well, Robert. I will handle them."

Robert bowed and vanished. When he appeared outside the restaurant, he saw a brilliant flash of light emanating from the basement window.

When he appeared back at the FBI office, he found Janet and James there with Mark and John.

"What happened?" James said.

"They tried to shoot me, but the head Vestal Virgin appeared and dismissed me. I think she vaporized them." He looked around. "How are the children?"

"Believe it or not, but those bastards did cut their thumbs off," James said. "We grew them new ones."

"I suppose we should get them back to where they belong." He turned to Mark. "Have you informed the president?"

"We were waiting to find out what happened to you."

"Okay," Robert said. "Let's transport the kids back to the White House."

Mark gestured to Joe and his assistant left the room. He turned to Robert. "We weren't sure what was going to happen. This case was hushed up on orders from the President,"

"It doesn't matter," Robert said. "We'll just tell him what happened."

Mark nodded and the three superheroes and the children appeared in the Oval Office. The President's son, Evan, and his wife were there with the President. When they saw that their children were alive and well, they cried out and hugged them.

"We took care of the idiots that did this," Robert said. "Well, actually the head Vestal Virgin did."

"Thank you," the president said without showing emotion.

"If you need any help, we're ready to do the job," Robert said.

"Actually, NASA has a serious problem you might be able to help solve."

"Okay, we'll go check it out."

The Steris family transported to the JPL mission room, and what they saw amazed even them.