🚀 go-pugleaf

     The store bell jangled as the young man pushed open the
door.  The even younger woman behind the counter looked up
tiredly from the paper she was scribbling on.
     "Oh, hi, Leon," she said, stifling a yawn.
     "Hey, Maxine," said Leon Gurkley, the urban vigilante
known as Lampshade Man.  "Boy, you look beat."
     "Yeah."  Maxine Destruction let the yawn out this time.
"I am kind of tired."
     "It's no wonder," said Leon.  "You've been running
yourself ragged."
     "I've got a lot to do," she replied.  "Between the
shop, and the legal mess surrounding dad's trial, and the
usual nocturnal activities I really don't have time for much
sleep."
     "You could give up the lurking on rooftops," suggested
Leon.
     Maxine gave him a serious look.  "Would you give it up?
You're one of the most compulsive rooftop-lurkers I've ever
met."
     Leon sighed.  "No, I suppose not.  Still, I think you
need a break from all of this."
     "A break?" Maxine asked.  "How am I supposed to do
that?"
     Leon smiled.
     "What?"
     "You, my dear," he said, "are going to take a
vacation."
     "I am?"
     "Yes.  I am inviting you on a trip to Europe."
     "You what?"
     "I am inviting you on a--"
     "I heard.  How am I going to afford a trip to Europe?"
     "You won't have to."
     Maxine stared suspiciously at the smiling vigilante.
     "Why will I not have to?  It's not like you have all
that much money."
     "No, I don't.  At least not until my grant clears."
     "So how?"
     "My aunt  won a trip to Europe in a raffle and gave me
two tickets.  Would you like to go?"
     Maxine looked at he friend in what started out as a
suspicious glare, then gradually turned into a slight smile,
followed by a quiet chuckle.
     "Just friends," said Leon, holding up his hands.
     "What's the deal on the trip?" she asked.
     "A two week cruise of the capitals of Europe."
     "Cruise?"
     "That's what it says."
     "Er, excuse me if I'm confused, but as I remember, a
significant number of the capitals of Europe are nowhere
near the ocean."
     "Yep," Leon smiled.
     "So what kind of cruise is it?"

[Musical Cue: Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, second movement
(andante con moto).  Over this music is shown old footage of
zeppelins being taken out of barns, put through their paces,
and such, while the opening credits are shown.]

                    The Bob City Chronicles, Episode 29

                    R & R, Part One

                    by Ben Brown

Friedrichshafen, Federal Republic of Germany:

     The chilly morning wind whipped across the surface of
the Bodensee, ruffling the hair of the two young Americans
who stood, watching the ground crew maneuver the giant
zeppelin out of its barn.  As the crewmen cautiously pulled
the mooring lines, turning the leviathan of the air to the
left, the two could finally see its full length, stretched
out majestically before them.  The skin of the monstrous
airship bulged
slightly under the pressure of the gas within.
     "The Airship Dr. Hugo Eckner:  a monument to days gone
by."
     "What?"
     "That's what the pamphlet says," said Leon, shrugging
his shoulders.  "Looks fairly accurate, too."
     They stood and watched in silence as the crew turned
the great zeppelin 90 degrees to the left
     "Impressive, isn't she?" said Leon at last.
     Maxine merely nodded, looking amazedly at the immense
gasbag.
     "It's not as large as some of the old ones, according
to the pamphlet, but it's apparently pretty lush."
     "Just think what we could do with that," Maxine said,
excitement in her eyes.
     "We?  Oh, world conquest, right?"
     The would-be ruler of the Earth nodded again.
     "So, shall we get aboard?"
---------------

     It was actually half an hour before the airship was in
position and they were allowed to board.  Leon and Maxine
were the first on, but there was a small group of others who
boarded at the same time.  After being shown to their cabin-
-small, but with two berths and a private bathroom--Leon and
Maxine headed forward to the lounge, where the other
passengers seemed to be congregating also.
     The lounge stood at the front of the gondola, and had
wide, forward facing windows which doubtless would give a
commanding view of the terrain once the ship was airborne.
Leon sat down at a small table near the front, and Maxine
sat opposite him.  An efficient-looking waiter was at their
table almost immediately, ready to take their orders for
drinks.  It being early in the day, and he not being much of
a drinker anyway, Leon just ordered a Coca-Cola.  His
companion likewise declined anything alcoholic, opting
instead for a lemonade.  The waiter disappeared, and then
returned with the drinks with all of the speed and
efficiency his uniform suggested.
     Leon and Maxine swiveled their chairs around and looked
over the rest of the passengers.
     "So, which one's the spy?"
     "Eh?" Leon looked askance at his companion.
     "Which one do you think's the spy?"
     "You've been reading too many of your dad's conspiracy
books," he said.
     "Oh, come on, Leon," Maxine said.  "I'm kidding.  It's
just that this is the sort of place where you'd expect to
find spies wandering around.  It's so 1930s."
     "That's the point, isn't it?"  He motioned up at the
ornate walls of the dining room, decorated with various
photographs of inter-war year activities.
     Maxine shrugged.  "I guess.  Still, am I wrong?"
     Leon looked at the people filing slowly into the
lounge.  They were well dressed, for the most part, but
varied in style, ranging from what was practically a ball
gown on a tall, angular woman, to the sharply tailored suits
of a pair of Germanic looking businessmen to a more casual
shirt and slacks on a rather impressed looking touristy
type.
     "No, you're not wrong.  This is definitely the right
setting for intrigue and stuff like that."
     "So which one's the spy?"
     "Could be any one of them, really.  That's the whole
point of spying--to blend in.  Take the guy with the camera
over there.  On the one hand he could be an ordinary
businessman from Peoria or Kansas City.  But he _could_ be
in reality a top agent of the French Government, on deep
cover duty inside the U.S., and now sent here as an assassin
to knock off the president of Hungary or something."
     Maxine chuckled.  "You're definitely getting into the
spirit."
     "My turn," Leon said, searching the room.  "How `bout
that one."  He motioned towards an attractive woman in a red
sun dress and straw hat.
     "Oh, _that_ one," Maxine said knowingly.  "That one's
no fair.  I know who she is."
     "Do you?"
     "She's a singer," Maxine replied.  "Broadway.  Her
name's Andrea Jennings.  She's good, too."
     Leon stared at her.  "How _do_ you know this stuff?"
     Maxine smiled in reply.  "Trade secret."
     Leon rolled his eyes a little.
     "Actually, I overheard the crew talking about her as we
were getting on board."
     "Aaaah.  So who's the woman with her?"
     "Her secretary," she paused for a second, "who is,
naturally, a top agent of the K.G.B., who has signed on as
la Jennings's secretary in order to sneak unnoticed..."
     "Er, Maxine..."
     "...into one of the countries on our itinerary,
probably one of the..."
     "Maxine..."
     "...smaller ones, where she'll engage..."
     "Yo, Max!"
     Maxine stopped.
     "She's looking at us."
     "Oh."
     The woman in question looked at them indignantly.
     "Um..." Leon began.
     "So," the woman said, revealing a somewhat thick Slavic
accent, "You think I am a spy?"
     "I..."
     "I suppose you think that because I am Russian that I
am naturally a spy."
     "No, no, I didn't..."
     "You have seen too many of these movies."
     "No, miss?"
     "Semyonova.  Anna Semyonova."
     "Miss Semyonova, my friend and I are just playing a
little game.  We're... help me out here, Maxine."
     "You're doing okay," Maxine replied.
     "Thanks   a bunch," Leon grumbled, then turned back to
Anna Semyonova.  "It's just a little game we were playing to
pass the time, making up stories about people.  We just
figured... well, you're a beautiful woman, and we thought
you looked like the femme fatale sort.  I don't mean
anything about your personality.  I don't know you, of
course.  We've never met before.  Probably haven't even met
people who've met before although you never can..."
     "Ahem," Maxine cut him off.  "What my friend is
attempting to say through all of that rambling is that we
were just talking.  We don't mean anything by it, and we'd
like to apologize."
     "Uh," Leon attempted to catch up.  "Yes.  We're really
sorry.  We honestly had no idea you were Russian, even."
     Anna Semyonova looked thoughtfully at them.  "Do you
really think I look like a beautiful femme fatale?" she
asked, and not angrily.
     "Er, yeah," Leon replied.
     "Hmm," she said.  "I believe I am flattered."
     "Really, we didn't mean to imply that you were actually
a spy or anything."
     "Oh, I suppose it is all right," Semyonova replied,
slightly wistfully.
     "We're sorry about the whole thing.  It's just a game."
     "Oh, you do not need to apologize for this.  I
understand."
     Leon attempted to find a way to continue comfortably.
There wasn't one.  Luckily for him, the need to go on was
eliminated by the entrance of the airship's captain.
     "Ladies and gentlemen," the captain announced in
English.  "Welcome aboard the airship Dr. Hugo Eckner.  I am
Captain Friedrich von Hausen.  This," he motioned to a man
standing to his right, "Is my first officer, Heinrich
Mueller.  My officers and crew are here to make this journey
as pleasant as possible for all of you.  Please inform us of
any concerns you may have.  We will be underway shortly."
     As the captain repeated his introduction, next in
French and finally in German, Leon turned quietly back to
his companion.
     "Well I'm excited, for one," he said in tone barely
above a whisper.
     Maxine nodded.  "I don't think I've really thanked you
for inviting me on this yet."
     "It's no problem," Leon. "It was free, and I certainly
didn't want to go alone."
     "You think the city can survive without you?"
     "Well, considering that one of the most dangerous
people in the city is here along with me, I'd say there's a
fair chance."
     "You're too kind."
     "I'm more than half serious."
     Maxine smiled.  "I know."
     There was a flurry of activity outside the windows, as
ground crewmen hustled into position on the mooring lines.
A few shouted commands from the cockpit, and the airship
lurched slightly as the lines were untied.  From their
vantage point, Leon and Maxine could see a long string of
crewmen holding fast to the line in a tug-of-war with the
buoyant helium that filled the airship's gas bags.  Then, as
the huge propellers that moved and maneuvered the ship rose
from idle speed, the crewmen lightly let go of their lines,
and the huge dirigible lifted gently into the sky.
     "Ladies and gentlemen," the captain's voice crackled
from the loudspeaker, "We are under way."

WHAT EXCITING ADVENTURES AWAIT IN THE SKIES OF EUROPE?

WILL THE CITY BE SAFE WITHOUT LAMPSHADE MAN TO GUARD IT?

WILL EUROPE BE SAFE WITH MAXINE AROUND?

Be sure to keep reading future episodes as the Bob City
Chronicles leaves Bob City behind, and
takes to the skies!

SUPERGUY!  It's not a balloon, it's an airship!