Chapter 192: Gamma Rays (1) (Bonus Chapter 3)

A DC-3 passenger plane slowly landed in Los Angeles.

Jarvis stood at the exit point, holding a sunshade umbrella, carefully watching the passengers stepping off the plane.

His gaze soon fell on a tall woman with black hair and sunglasses. His expression immediately twisted slightly.

"Oh, dear Mr. Jarvis, you don't look happy to see me," the woman teased with a smile as she approached him.

"No, I'm very happy. Welcome to Los Angeles, Ada Palmer... No, I should say Miss Dottie Underwood. I never expected the CIA to send you here," Jarvis greeted her, but his tone was clearly laced with sarcasm, contradicting his words.

Yes, the woman getting off the plane was once a Leviathan agent, Dottie. But now she was a senior CIA operative, reporting directly to Ophelia.

This time she had come to Los Angeles as Josh's representative to contact Howard Stark.

"Oh, dear Mr. Jarvis, are you still holding a grudge over what happened?" Dottie smiled, unfazed by Jarvis' sarcastic tone.

Jarvis' dislike for her was understandable, and the reason was tied to that name—Ada Palmer.

Over a year ago, when Dottie was still a Leviathan agent, she used that identity to get close to Howard Stark and extract a great deal of information from both him and Jarvis. She and her fellow Leviathan agents even stole from Howard Stark's private vault, setting off a series of Leviathan-related incidents and framing Stark as a traitor.

Eventually, however, she was recruited by the CIA and became a key witness in clearing Howard's name.

Of course, Howard still lost several inventions—and a small vial of Captain America's blood in the process. But in the end, he had no choice but to swallow his frustration... After all, it was his inability to control his lust that started it all.

Josh had sent Dottie to deal with Howard, not only because he couldn't meet him in person, but also because they knew each other well enough to handle the situation effectively.

"Heh, I wouldn't dare. Miss Underwood, please follow me," Jarvis said, motioning to the convertible behind him.

"Uh... Mr. Jarvis, I know Howard came to Los Angeles for a defense contract and plans to build a space launch center here. You're probably here to manage his properties... but..." Dottie looked at the car, a little confused.

Yes, Howard's presence in Los Angeles had a lot to do with Josh.

Josh's companies had secured several military contracts, especially in aviation and space projects through Boeing. While this hadn't caused much of a commercial disruption, it did spark Howard's competitive nature.

For example, he had recently partnered with Trans World Airlines, Lockheed, and the newly formed Air Force to build a new space launch center north of Los Angeles in Santa Barbara County. His goal was to enter the aerospace industry and compete with Josh's Boeing.

In 1947, the U.S. Army Air Forces officially separated from the Army and became the U.S. Air Force.

The new Air Force didn't want most of its contracts to remain under Josh's Boeing.

In addition, the Air Force was eager to expand into the space industry—after all, they felt that anything that flew should be under their control.

The Navy and the Army, however, being long-established branches, didn't agree.

Josh, for his part, wasn't about to give up his strong relationship with the Army to work with the Air Force. The scale of U.S. military contracts was too great—he couldn't afford to play both sides, nor did he want to.

So the Air Force turned to Howard Stark, who had been its trusted partner before Boeing's rise.

Both sides quickly reached an agreement.

The proposed launch site was none other than Vandenberg Air Force Base-the only other major launch site besides the Truman Space Center, which Josh had already reserved.

A project of this magnitude couldn't be kept secret from the CIA...not that they were trying to hide it.

So it wasn't surprising that Dottie knew what Howard was up to.

But what surprised her wasn't that.

"Yes, I know what you're going to say. It's about the flamingo, isn't it?" Jarvis sighed with a hint of helplessness.

"Yes... a flamingo..." Dottie stared speechlessly at the large transparent display case in the back seat of the car containing a bright pink flamingo.

And yes, it was alive.

"I'm sorry to say that you're not the only guest Mr. Stark is expecting... Meet the newest member of the Stark Mansion zoo. His name is Bernard," Jarvis introduced with a deadpan expression. (TL/N: Lol, this had me cracking)

"Maybe this is just a common quirk among them..." Dottie muttered with a twitch of her lips.

"Them?" Jarvis raised an eyebrow at her remark.

"Yes, my current boss, Mr. Josh Kahn, has a white lion and a silverback gorilla in his backyard..." Dottie said with a sigh.

Actually, that was just the tip of the iceberg. She didn't want to tell Jarvis that Josh had dinosaurs on one of his estates...

But honestly, even without mentioning dinosaurs, the lion and the gorilla were enough to make Jarvis' face freeze.

Who in their right mind keeps a lion and a gorilla in their backyard?

By comparison, his own boss keeping a flamingo suddenly seemed... very tame.

"Lions and gorillas? Oh, Kahn's even more eccentric than I thought. Jarvis, remind me—on my next vacation I'm going to Africa. Hmm, since Kahn has a white lion, I can't get one of those... but maybe some cheetahs or leopards. Some zebras too... But no rhinos or elephants. Maybe some hornbills, ostriches... Yeah, that sounds perfect!" Howard muttered to himself half an hour later.

Meanwhile, Jarvis looked like he was about to faint. Why had he ever thought that his boss was the sane one?

"Ahem... Mr. Stark, shouldn't we discuss the main topic first?" Dottie asked, looking sympathetically at Jarvis as she interrupted Howard's enthusiasm.

"Ah, right. Never mind... Dottie, there's no need for formalities between us. Just call me Howard!" Unlike Jarvis, Howard had always been more tolerant of women. In fact, he seemed quite happy to see Dottie again.

As to why... well, some things didn't need to be said.

"All right, Howard," Dottie replied, fully aware of his little thoughts, but choosing not to confront him with them.

"Great! Now, what does the CIA want to know about Zero Matter?" Howard asked with a thumbs up.

____________________________

Join Patreon.com/AHumanMadeMOFO to read 60+ Chapter Ahead.