Four Aces (Wild Cards)

The Four Aces (or The Exotics for Democracy) are a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in the Wild Cards anthology series, first appearing in the story "Witness" by Walter Jon Williams in the first book of the series, Wild Cards.

Overview

The Four Aces are:

• The Envoy whose real name is David Harstein
• The Black Eagle whose real name is Earl Sanderson, Jr.
• Brain Trust whose real name is Blythe Stanhope Van Renssaeler
• Golden Boy whose real name is Jack Braun

with Archibald Holmes, who is their government liaison.

Description

Forming the team

Geneticists from the planet Takis from the royal house of Ilkazam developed what human doctors called "Xenovirus Takis-A"—the Wild Card virus. The first outbreak of virus occurred on September 15, 1946, which granted the Four Aces their powers. Soon after the outbreak, Jack Braun who became "Golden Boy" discovered he had superstrength and volunteered to aid the army and hospitals in relief work. It was there he met Archibald Holmes, a close ally of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who indicated he would have a job for Braun. The second member Mr. Holmes recruited was Earl Sanderson, Jr. who became "The Black Eagle" with the power of flight. Next to join was a family friend of Mr. Holmes, Blythe Stanhope Van Renssaeler, who was called "Brain Trust" with the power to absorb memories, and finally David Harstein ("The Envoy") talked his way onto the team, using his superpheromones.

Active years

During 1946-48 the Four Aces helped capture Nazi war criminals and topple tyrants; The Black Eagle saved Gandhi from a fanatic's bullet, the Envoy was secretly attending international summits and making everyone get along just long enough to sign peace treaties; Brain Trust was sent around the country to copy the minds of some of the world's greatest scientists, such as Albert Einstein, Jonas Salk, J. Robert Oppenheimer and Wernher von Braun, so that there would be "back-up" copies of all their knowledge.

Breakdown

Unfortunately, the climate of the United States grew harsher, and the Four Aces were called before the HUAC Committee, who demanded to know the names of any Aces they had dealt with. Archibald Holmes was accused of being a communist and was forced to retire. The Envoy got the HUAC to agree to disband the hearings using his pheromones, but once the effects wore off, they accused him of using Stalinist mind control powers, and sent him to jail. The Black Eagle took the fifth, but Golden Boy revealed that Brain Trust had absorbed a copy of Dr. Tachyon's memories, which meant she knew all the Aces Tachyon had treated, the Committee browbeat her until her mind was shattered.^[1]

Aftermath

Because Golden Boy co-operated with the committee, he was allowed to return to work as an actor, and had an unsuccessful movie career, followed by a few successful years as a television actor, and moving onto a career in real estate. The Black Eagle left and remained out of America for the rest of his life, despite receiving a pardon from President John F. Kennedy. Brain Trust was placed in a mental institution, where she eventually died of neglect. After The Envoy was released from jail, he disappeared for several years, and later returned to America under an assumed name and started a moderately successful career as a stage actor.

References

External links

• Wild-cards-online fan site
• Official Tor Books Wild Cards Site
• International Hero: Wild Cards page