Murray Cucci stepped from the private jet at Dulles International airport outside of Washington, DC. A black SUV was waiting on the tarmac, accompanied by men wearing dark suits and dark sunglasses.

Murray had received the call from the boys at the agency - and now he was in DC and on his way to Langley to discuss Mr. Amazing - The Chosen One.

Murray Cucci had been Mr. Amazing’s manager for 30 years - through the good times, and through the bad times, and there had been plenty of both. But this was definitely on the bad times side - this was even in the worst of times. Even worse than the “incident” in South Africa. Between Murray and the boys at the agency they had managed to keep a lid on the “incident” - and they had managed to keep Mr. Amazing’s name out of the papers, even with that scumbag Evan’s from The Post sniffing around.

And then there were the other worst times - the pregnancies. Murray tried to think how many there had been. He wasn’t sure if it was 12 or 13. 12 or 13 mistakes to take care of and to keep out the papers. 12 or 13 hush payments and 12 or 13 abortions and then 12 or 13 loose ends that needed snipping off.

And then there were the other “incidents” - not as big as South Africa, but every one of them requiring cleaning up and putting away and hiding from sight. Witnesses that needed dealing with.

But this was the worst. The fucking chosen one. Murray shook his head as the SUV drove along the highway. The boys at the agency had told Murray they would let the dust settle, and then they would arrange a “strategy session” to deal with the aftermath of Mr. Amazing’s appearance on Tonight with Chuck Greene.

The headline in The Post the day after the appearance on Chuck Greene’s show stated - “UNACCOUNTABLE AND DANGEROUS ‘SUPERHERO’ CLAIMS TO BE CHOSEN BY GOD”

The polling during the aftermath was split pretty evenly - 38% of respondents said they agreed that Mr. Amazing was chosen by God, with 39% saying they didn’t agree that he was chosen by God, and 23% unsure.

The Pope had released a statement saying that all of God’s children are chosen by God - and that the only way to the kingdom of heaven was through Jesus Christ, not Mr. Amazing. The head of the Russian Orthodox church claimed that Mr. Amazing was an American puppet and was NOT chosen by God. Leaders in the Muslim world claimed that Mr. Amazing was an incarnation of the Great Satan, and must be destroyed before he consumed the world in a fiery maelstrom.

The Church of New America - a fundamentalist Christian breakaway group from the Southern Baptist Church accepted Mr. Amazing as God’s chosen one - and their leader, Reverend Booth commanded his congregation to pray for Mr. Amazing, and for the New America Mr. Amazing would usher in - a New America where there was an eye for an eye, and that the enemies of New American Christian values would be smited.

Murray thought of the Reverend Booth’s long sermons about evil of abortions and homosexuality - and how Mr. Amazing would lead the American people to New America, just as Ezra had led the Isralites from Babylon to Palestine - and defeat the cancer of liberalism. And then Murray thought of the 12 or 13 abortions he had arranged for Mr. Amazing, and he thought about all the transexual prostitutes that Mr. Amazing had been entwined with over the years. And Murray thought about all the loose ends that had needed snipping off, and he sighed.

The SUV arrived at Langley - and headed to an underground parking garage. The car stopped at a row of elevators and Murray climbed from the car and a man wearing a dark suit and sunglasses was holding open the door to one of the elevators. Murray gave a polite smile at the man, and stepped into the elevator and the man joined him. The lift descended several floors and then the doors opened and the man in the dark suit gestured for Murray to step out. Another man was waiting in the hallway, wearing a dress shirt with the sleeve rolled up, with a dark tie pulled down and the top shirt button open.

‘Hello Murray’ - it was the man who had been watching Mr. Amazing on the TV.

Murray smiled - ‘Hello Mitch, how are you today?’

‘How am I doing today?’ - said Mitch - ‘Thanks to your fucking client, Murray, I am doing absolutely fucking terrible today, and I was doing absolutely terrible yesterday, and I will be doing abso-fucking-lutely terrible tomorrow! But thanks for fucking asking, Murray, you godamn son-of-a-fucking-bitch!’

Murray shrugged. Mitch angrily stared at him for a moment, and then turned and walked down the hallway. Murray followed. They came to a conference room that had the following notice on the door - “SECURE ROOM - NO CELLULAR DEVICES, AUDIO RECORDING DEVICES, PHOTOGRAPHIC EQUIPMENT, OR ELECTRONICS OF ANY KIND.” There was a small table outside of the room with a wire tray sitting on it. Murray knew the procedure, and he placed his phone in the wire tray and then he followed Mitch into the room.

There were two other people in the room - a woman and another man.

Mitch closed the door, and sat down at the long table. Murray sat down at the head of the table.

‘Murray, you know Reede’ - said Mitch, and Murray smiled at the other man, forgoing asking him how he was doing today.

‘And this is Dr. Janus’ - said Mitch - ‘Who created this whole amazing fucking problem…’

Dr. Janus smiled insincerely at Mitch.

Murray smiled at Dr. Janus.

They sat in silence for a moment.

‘Now I probably don't have to tell you all - but I am going to anyways - how fucking pissed off the folks are over at the Whitehouse’ - said Mitch, grinning - ‘But they are sooooo fucking pissed off by this little performance by Mister-fucking-Amazing, that I almost don’t have words to express it’

Reede nodded. Reede was the man Mitch had been speaking to on the phone the night of Mr. Amazing’s interview on the Chuck Greene show.

‘And now it fall to us - to come up with a plan to try and stuff this fucking genie back in the fucking bottle’

Reede nodded. Murray looked concerned. Dr. Janus was expressionless. Mitch looked furious.

‘So - let’s hear the ideas…’ - said Mitch.

There was silence for a while. And then Murray spoke up.

‘Maybe Mr. Amazing could…’ - the other three stared at him, waiting to hear what he would say - ‘Maybe Mr. Amazing could…could take a vacation…’

The other three continued to stare at him.

‘A vacation, Murray?’ - said Mitch, his face looking pained and contorted as he said the words.

‘Yes - a vacation. You know - like a sabbatical’ - said Murray, his face hopeful.

‘Like a sabbatical…’ - said Mitch, his face even more pained, and even more contorted.

‘Yes - a sabbatical. Until this whole thing just, you know, blows over…’ - said Murray, now looking hopeful and cheerful.

Mitch stared at Murray for a while, and then he turned to the other two.

‘Okay - so any other ideas…?’

Reede puffed out his cheeks, and then tightened his lips.

Dr. Janus stared at Mitch.

They sat in silence.

‘What about this…’ - said Reede, after what seemed like an eternity - ‘Now I am just thinking outside the box now…’

Everyone was staring at Reede.

‘Mr. Amazing get’s sent on a mission to the stars - to look for extraterrestrial life…’ - said Reede

‘Okay, and…?’ - said Mitch.

‘And that’s it’ - said Reede.

‘So it’s a one way trip?’ - said Mitch.

‘Sure’ - said Reede.

‘What about if he figures out a way to get back?’ - said Dr. Janus.

‘Well - the way I figure it’ - said Reede, now leaning forward - ‘By the time he figures out a way to get back back - I will probably be dead, and won’t have to deal with the problem’

‘You think he will buy it?’ - said Mitch, turning to Murray.

‘Buy it?’ - said Murray.

“Yeah - we tell him that we have discovered signs of life on a nearby planet. We send him on a mission to the planet to investigate - and that is that. End of fucking story’

Murray scratched his chin - ‘He doesn’t like flying for too long. He gets claustrophobic’

‘Claustrophobic…?’ - said Mitch, incredulously.

‘Yes - and I think the food would be a problem as well’ - said Murray.

‘What about the food?’ - said Mitch.

‘He wouldn’t eat the space rations - he has very strict dietary requirements’

‘Such as…?’ - said Mitch, his face pained again.

‘Well - he insists on farm fresh duck eggs for breakfast everyday. Scrambled with creme fraiche - and served on sourdough bread buttered with Normandy butter…’

‘Normandy butter…’ - said Mitch.

‘Yes, and served with maple cured bacon, and wild chanterelle mushrooms - hand picked, he says he can taste the difference - sauteed in…’

‘Let me guess - Normandy butter’ - said Mitch, smiling.

Murray smiled back - ‘Yes - sauteed in Normandy butter.’

‘Sound lovely’ - said Mitch - ‘And anything else…?’

‘And Perrier Jouet grand brut champagne’ - said Murray, his smile fading.

‘And this would be non-negotiable?’

‘I don’t think so’ - said Murray.

‘So if we told Mister-fucking-Amazing that we need him to investigate extraterrestrial life on a near by planet - he would say no because he cannot have the breakfast he wants?’

Murray shrugged - ‘And the claustrophobia’

‘Of course - and the claustrophobia. How silly of me to forget the fucking claustrophobia’ - said Mitch, slowly turning to Dr. Janus - ‘Any ideas, doc?’

‘Like I told you before, Mitch’ - said Dr. Janus - ‘My job was just to make him. He was sold as seen. He is your problem now’

‘No returns or exchanges?’ - said Mitch, an ironic smile on his face.

‘No returns or exchanges’ - said Dr. Janus.

Mitch lifted his head and stared at the ceiling - ‘Any other ideas?’

There was silence. Murray studied his fingers. Reede furrowed his brow, and then unfurrowed it. Mitch continued to stare at the ceiling. Dr. Janus was watching the second hand of the clock on the wall opposite her move around the dial.

‘What about’ - said Reede - ‘We send Mr. Amazing on a mission, to say the North Pole - and when he gets there it is a trap, and we capture Mr. Amazing and we freeze him in something - like Darth Vader did with Han Solo - in the Empire Strikes Back. And we just say that Mr. Amazing has vanished!’

Mitch stared at Reede. After a while he spoke, calmly - ‘Shall we also keep Mr. Amazing hanging on the wall in the palace of some alien gangster?’

Reede shrugged - ‘It's just an idea…’

They all sat in silence.

After a painfully long pause, Mitch said - ‘So - where would Mr. Amazing go on this little sabbatical?’