Ultraman - Ultraseven

by Pat Cadigan

Genres: Superheroes; General Fiction; Science Fiction; Sci-fi Action & Adventure; Space Opera

Synopsis

A modern adaptation of the hit 1960s series Ultraseven, bringing the foundational era of the iconic Japanese superhero to established fans and newcomers alike.

In the not-too-distant future, Earth’s tentative steps into the wider universe see the planet besieged by aliens. Faced with seemingly insurmountable threats, the mysterious Dan Moroboshi comes to the defense of humanity, transforming into his true form—the mighty Ultraseven—to fight the gargantuan monstrosities no one else can.

Alongside his allies, the elite officers of the Terrestrial Defense Force, Ultraseven will give everything he has to stop the myriad of foes who are prepared to bring ruin and destruction to the people of Earth.

Experience the iconic and epic saga of battle and sacrifice in the second novel of the Scribe Award-winning adaptations of the classic Ultraman series by science fiction legend Pat Cadigan.

Release date: July 8, 2025

Publisher: Titan Books

Print pages: 336

Sample

PROLOGUE

The Being of Light known as Agent 340 was in the midst of his latest assignment when a small, unassuming, but high-energy world called Earth caught his eye.

Not that he’d been looking for distractions. He’d drawn a real plum of a job—viz, mapping the Milky Way. Because of the dynamic nature of the galaxy, mapping and remapping had to be done periodically, and the Ultra Beings of the M78 Nebula chose the best and brightest among them for the task. There was no shortage of brilliance to choose from but Agent 340’s active curiosity and relentless desire to learn made him perfect for the job. All the Ultras were eager to see what he would make of the information he gathered.

As with most galaxies, the Milky Way’s greatest changes began at the outskirts and moved inward at varying rates toward the crowded center. It had always been thus, and Agent 340 found it curious. What this meant for him personally, his elders explained, was that he had to remain inconspicuous, if not virtually invisible, especially on the galactic fringe.

Unlike the teeming center, few of the populated planets were accustomed to alien visitors. In fact, most of those worlds had no direct knowledge or experience of any intelligent lifeforms other than their own, and it was policy not to engage if it could possibly be avoided.

Sometimes, of course, it was unavoidable, in which case, encryption had to be employed—not always easy, even for the wisest and most experienced of Ultras. Life on the galactic fringe was more unpredictable than it was anywhere else.

*   *   *

The standard procedure for mapping assignments was to start in the crowded middle and spiral outward, moving counter to galactic spin. As Agent 340 discovered, the areas where stars were most densely packed together practically mapped themselves. These were also the places with the least amount of change from the previous mapping.

Not that there weren’t a few surprises—the odd, unexpected novae here and there. Agent 340 also found that, thanks to increased turbulence in the Orion Nebula, the Ultras had underestimated the number of new stars that had emerged.

As he moved outward and the main galactic arms became more defined and discrete, Agent 340 decided to map each of them in turn rather than continue moving in a widening spiral. There were few stars in the arms but more planetary systems, and therefore a greater percentage of inhabited planets. A good many of these had developed carbon-based lifeforms not terribly unlike the original form of his own people before the Plasma Spark had transformed and elevated their existence.

Some of these fringe worlds were pastoral, with no tool-using species that walked upright. Others had advanced just far enough to have the potential to destroy themselves; some already had, leaving only rubble for him to

catalog. But most hadn’t, and Agent 340 catalogued, annotated, speculated (personal observations were encouraged), recorded, and interpreted.

All the while, he dutifully kept his distance, until he  didn’t.

 

CHAPTER

People were disappearing.

In a crowded world where people passed in and out of each other’s lives as a matter of course, it wasn’t always taken as anything more than normal, or at least expected, human movement. But in the area to the south of Tokyo, along the coast and several kilometers inward, the increasing number of disappearances acquired a new twist. Reports came in from witnesses claiming to have seen someone vanish right in front of them, like a magic trick or a special effect in a movie.

At first, the police dismissed the first few calls. But calls kept coming in, the authorities finally realized that something was going on and it was definitely out of the ordinary. The police set up checkpoints in areas where disappearances seemed to be more frequent. There were a few complaints from drivers who didn’t like having their commute or roadtrip interrupted, but most people took it in stride. Hey, that was life—if it wasn’t one thing, it was another, and next week it would probably be something else, so what the hell.

Then everything changed.

*   *   *

Officer Hiroshi Saijo had been a traffic cop for five years and he was bored; he’d been bored for some time now. Before his shift, he had another talk with his supervisor about making a change. His supervisor had said it looked like there’d be an opportunity for a transfer very soon, which was encouraging enough to make tonight’s checkpoint duty seem less tedious.

Working a checkpoint wasn’t difficult. Officers took it in teams so they could back each other up if drivers and/or passengers were difficult, belligerent, or under the influence. And if nothing happened at all, which was usually the case, they could take turns checking their email or playing the latest hot game, or just hang out and talk. Of course, some cops were better company than others.

The guys Officer Saijo was working with tonight were all dependable, stand-up guys, but their conversation did leave something to be desired. Not one of them had any good gossip or rumors. But then, Saijo thought as he watched another pair of headlights approach, he hadn’t heard any good ones lately, either. Except for the unexplained disappearances, it seemed like nothing much was happening in Greater Tokyo, or possibly anywhere on Honshu Island.

Two officers waved the car into the breakdown lane where Saijo and his partner for the evening, a slightly older guy named Ken Hachisuka, were waiting. Saijo aimed his flashlight carefully so he could see the driver’s face without blinding him.

The driver was obviously familiar with the routine—she already had her license out for inspection. Saijo looked it over, intending to hand it back to the woman and send her on her way, when some impulse made him ask for

 the car registration. The driver didn’t get huffy or complain; she simply leaned over to get it out of the glovebox while Hachisuka watched for any concealed weapons or suspicious-looking packages.

The driver held out the registration politely, but when Saijo touched it, he saw the woman suddenly stiffen. Before Saijo could ask if she was all right, the car was suffused with a blinding white light. Then it was gone, and so was the driver.

Saijo let out a shocked cry that brought the other two officers rushing to his side. ‘The driver—she just disappeared! Like, flash of light and bang! Car’s empty!’ He backed away, letting the other three search it for a trap door or a hidden panel. Despite his training and his record as a conscientious officer, Saijo couldn’t bring himself to get within a meter of the vehicle.

It wasn’t simply the woman disappearing—it was the way it had felt when the registration had vanished while he’d been touching it. The certificate hadn’t been yanked or snatched away, he had felt it dematerialize. As Saijo told everyone later, he had never felt anything more disturbing, more… unnatural.

*   *   *

Several kilometers away and a few hundred meters underground in the Terrestrial Defense Force, Captain Kaoru Kiriyama of the Ultra Guard took one more look at the latest incident reports before heading over to Overwatch, where the TDF Joint Commanders were waiting for him. Six of them were on the premises today, including Commander Edwin Bogarde from North America, which was highly unusual.

The main headquarters of the TDF was in Paris; besides Tokyo, there were branches in Washington, DC, London, Berlin, Moscow, Rome, Cairo, Johannesburg, and the Arctic, as well as a host of other major cities. In Kiriyama’s

sixteen years of service, he had seen the original organization expand not only globally but beyond, to Lagrange point space stations and the moon.

Kiriyama was a bit on edge as he walked through the base, nodding at various TDF personnel. He still knew a lot of them by name, although new faces popped up all the time. The TDF numbered some three hundred souls, many more than when Kiriyama had been a shiny new recruit. Back then, he hadn’t decided how long he was going to stay in. He’d never imagined he’d end up in command of an elite squad within the TDF, but here he was.

Minister Yamaoka had chosen him for his extensive experience with alien encounters. The four people under his command weren’t as experienced but Yamaoka had chosen them as having exceptional potential. At first, Kiriyama had been dubious—he’d have preferred to choose his own personnel. But he had to admit that Yamaoka had a good eye and a talent for finding the right combination of people.

Two of them Kiriyama had already been acquainted with; the other two were new. One of the former had seven years of service, the others only two or three. According to Commander Manabe, this meant they had fewer bad habits to unlearn. They had gelled quickly as a team, to Kiriyama’s great relief, and now he couldn’t imagine swapping any of them out for someone else. Although he did wonder if Yamaoka planned to add to their number; five seemed to be a small group for something called the Ultra Guard, no matter how elite they were. But when Kiriyama had broached the subject with him, Yamaoka had dismissed it and Kiriyama decided not to push it. He’d made Yamaoka aware of his feelings. Now he simply had to wait and see if anything came of it.

The TDF guard outside Overwatch announced him via the intercom before opening the door. As Kiriyama went in, he saw the commanders gathered at a wall monitor displaying a topographical map of an area not far from

the base.

‘Glad you’re here, Captain,’ Yamaoka said. He turned to Kiriyama with a tense, uncertain expression. ‘You’re aware we’ve had another disappearance?’

‘I am.’ Kiriyama nodded to the other Joint Chiefs, some of whom he’d only seen onscreen until now.

‘We have a difficult job for the Ultra Guard,’ Yamaoka went on. ‘Commander Takenaka can fill you in.’

Takenaka stepped forward holding a file folder. He was one of the old-school types who had to have hardcopy printouts.

‘In the past week, we’ve had people vanish from parks, hotels, shops, restaurants, sports arenas, universities—anywhere and everywhere. And as far as we can tell, there’s no pattern. Students, office workers, manual laborers, engineers—anyone can disappear from any place at any time and we still don’t know why it’s happening, let alone how.’

‘And there’s nothing left behind?’ Kiriyama asked, although he knew the answer. ‘No dust or residue?’

‘Witnesses have reported a blinding white light, followed by nothing. Whoever’s doing this has technology far beyond our own.’ He looked around at the other commanders. ‘After careful analysis and much discussion, we feel the phenomenon is… not of this Earth.’

Kiriyama nodded; he’d had come to the same conclusion, albeit very reluctantly. But if any country or organized group on Earth had developed the ability to pop people out of existence, it seemed highly improbable they’d have kept it so completely secret. Humans loved to show off, take credit, or worst of all, threaten.

‘Witnesses have all described people just—’ Yamaoka snapped his fingers. ‘And you know what Sir Arthur C. Clarke said: any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.’ 

We’d like the Ultra Guard to take point and investigate this more…’ he hesitated, ‘…aggressively. You yourself have more experience with aliens than most of the people in the TDF—certainly more than any of us.’

‘I’ll assemble my team.’ Kiriyama activated his wristcomm as he left.

*   *   *

Soga was at the target range, showing off his sharpshooting skills by way of demonstrating the latest model of the Ultra Gun for a new class of TDF recruits. The training officer was sorry to see him go—she’d already won a bundle from newbies who didn’t know better than to bet Soga wouldn’t miss even one target, and she’d been hoping to clean up with the next group of trainees.

Soga met up with Shigeru Furuhashi, fresh from a flexibility workout on the trampoline. At twenty-nine, Furuhashi was the most senior member on the team after Kiriyama, with seven years in. As the strongest member of the team, he had to make an effort to keep himself limber.

The third member of the team was poring over data in Planning and Scheduling when Kiriyama’s summons reached him. Amagi was in his early twenties: tall, skinny, and gawky, which made him seem even younger. Nonetheless, Kiriyama had never met anyone with a better head for strategy.

Anne Yuri had joined the TDF at around the same time as Amagi, coming in with twin degrees in medicine and communications. Kiriyama’s call found her in the clinic, wrapping a singed forearm and telling her patient to give the medication in the wrap enough time to regenerate new skin. She pretended not to notice the guy’s disappointment at her having to leave as she gave him some mild analgesics. Under other circumstances, she might have been a bit disappointed herself—Mr. Second-Degree Burns was pretty cute. But the world was full of good-looking guys—there was only one Ultra Guard, and getting to work with Kiriyama was a dream come true.

She reminded her patient not to over-medicate, then ran to change out of her scrubs and into her Ultra Guard uniform.

*   *   *

All four arrived within seconds of each other in Overwatch. The room was full of TDF officers keeping a close eye on the surveillance feeds.

‘Whatever entity or force that’s been spiriting people away has upped their game,’ Kiriyama said by way of hello. ‘We’ve just received a report that two TDF officers on patrol have vanished on the same road where a woman disappeared at a checkpoint last night. Unlike the incident with the woman, however, their car disappeared with them. I don’t have to tell you that’s a brand-new wrinkle. We’re still questioning witnesses, but so far, the car hasn’t turned up and I don’t think it’s going to.’

‘Where exactly was this?’ Furuhashi asked.

‘About fifty kilometers from Point V,’ replied Kiriyama. ‘Out in the hills. We’re lucky to have any witnesses at all, as it’s rather remote. I’ve sent all of you a map with the coordinates clearly marked.’

Soga’s eyebrows went up as he checked the map on his wristcomm. ‘That’s closer to the base than any of the other incidents.’

Kiriyama nodded. ‘I want you and Furuhashi to go to the scene. Amagi and Anne, you’re with me—we’ll keep an eye out for any more

 activity from here.’

Amagi was already bent over a monitor. Anne joined him; Kiriyama could tell by her expression that she was disappointed she hadn’t been sent into the field.

*   *   *

One of the great things about being in the Ultra Guard, in Furuhashi’s opinion, was driving the Pointer. Its official designation was TDF/Ultra Guard Pointer-1, and it had been designed for the kind of extraordinary situations the Ultra Guard had been established to handle. Among its many features, it had an energy barrier to repel weapons fire, puncture-proof tires, and a top speed of 365 kph. As much as Furuhashi enjoyed that last feature, this particular section of road through the countryside was twisty and narrow. The local police had closed the route to regular traffic, but Furuhashi kept the P-1 to a relatively sedate 100 kph.

When he saw the police car parked on the dirt shoulder, he slowed down, and as he did he heard Soga chuckle. ‘Thank you, Lead Foot. I really like it when we don’t crash and burn first thing in the morning.’

‘I live to serve. And we weren’t going that fast,’ Furuhashi added under his breath.

They saw only one officer sitting in the driver’s seat as they passed.

Furuhashi frowned. ‘Don’t the locals always work in pairs? Where do you suppose his partner is?’

‘Napping in the back seat?’ Soga guessed. ‘Although satnav says this is only one and a half kilometers from the spot where the TDF guys disappeared.’

Furuhashi eased off the accelerator a little more as the fields and brush gave way to hills and rock walls, and the road became curvier. They were rounding a bend along a broken rockface when Soga suddenly yelled, ‘Stop!’ 

The guy standing in the middle of the road certainly was easy to see in a bright yellow jacket over t-shirt and jeans. If he was a hitchhiker, his last ride had dropped him off in the middle of nowhere. Furuhashi wondered if that had been at his request or the driver’s insistence. He waited for the guy to move or ask for directions, or even a lift, but he only stood there.

Annoyed, Furuhashi leaned out the driver’s-side window. ‘Hey, you mind moving out of the way? You shouldn’t be here anyway.’

The guy didn’t answer, didn’t even change expression. He was young—Furuhashi thought he was about Soga’s age but something about his posture suggested he might be a bit older. The Pointer had automatically taken his photo several times and Furuhashi decided to take a closer look later.

Soga stuck his head out of the passenger-side window. ‘If you keep going that way—’ he pointed back the way they had come, ‘—you’ll find a police officer parked on the shoulder. He can probably help you get wherever you want to go. But you can’t be here right now.’

The guy still said nothing, although Furuhashi thought he detected a hint of a smile on his face, which took his irritation up a couple of notches. Apparently, the guy was one of those people who felt compelled to defy authority. Furuhashi knew the type: some people believed that in a free society, they had a duty to give anyone in uniform a hard time.

Sighing, he turned to Soga. ‘Looks like we’ll have to smoke him out. Hit it.’

Soga opened a panel on the console between them and flipped a switch. Clouds of white smoke poured out of the Pointer’s grille, enveloping the man in the road until he had disappeared completely.

Most people gave ground immediately, thinking the smoke was tear gas or worse. In fact, it was only harmless vapor, and Soga had triggered a very short blast. When the cloud dissipated, however, the man was gone.

Furuhashi had a flash of anxiety that the fog might have covered another disappearance, then decided that would have been far too neat a coincidence. Besides, whoever (or whatever) was behind the vanishing acts didn’t do it under cover of anything but right out in the open, possibly for maximum shock effect.

He shifted gears and pressed on the accelerator. The engine revved and he heard the tires spinning, but the P-1 didn’t move.

‘Oh, for crying—what now?’ Furuhashi fumed.

Soga opened his door and looked at the rear wheel. ‘I don’t see anything over here. Try it again, and really step on it.’

‘I am stepping on it, I always step on it,’ Furuhashi snapped as the engine continued to rev and the tires spun to no avail. He put on the parking brake and got out of the Pointer, then heard someone laughing. Anger surged in him; whoever was messing with them was going to be very sorry.

Then he looked up to find the guy in the yellow jacket was now sitting cross-legged on the roof of the Pointer and laughing like he’d never seen anything so funny.

‘You get down from there!’ Soga ordered, reaching for him. ‘You should know better than to interfere with us when we’re on duty!’

The guy was still laughing as he evaded both Soga and Furuhashi, sliding down the windshield to the hood, then jumping to the ground.

‘You’ve got it backward, Officer Soga,’ the guy said, laughing even harder at Soga’s surprise. ‘I’m not in your way.’

‘How do you know my name?’ Soga demanded.

turning to him and grinning at his reaction. ‘You’re the strongest person in the Ultra Guard, if not the entire TDF.’

Furuhashi put a hand on the sidearm attached to his belt, even as his instincts were telling him he wasn’t in danger. ‘Who are you and what do you want?’

The stranger never stopped grinning. ‘Well, I’ve been waiting around here for hours, hoping to save your lives.’

Furuhashi and Soga looked at each other, then burst into laughter. The Ultra Guard was always getting messages through the TDF website from cranks and fantasists claiming they had special secret knowledge, or super-powers, or some kind of device that would protect everyone from harm or bring about world peace or reveal the secret of life. Saving the lives of two members of the Ultra Guard was pretty tame by comparison, but the guy made it sound earth-shaking.

‘Well, that’s great, it really is,’ said Soga. ‘If you walk back to the police officer parked on the road, he can get all the details from you—’

‘I’m not joking and I’m not crazy.’ The guy spoke quite calmly but something about his face gave Furuhashi pause; he kept his hand on his weapon.

‘That’s considerate of you, but we protect other people, not just ourselves,’ Soga was saying.

‘If you keep going along this road, you won’t be able to protect anyone,’ the guy said.

‘Listen carefully, fella,’ Furuhashi said. ‘Right now, we’ve got something we need to take care of. If you’re here when we come back, we’ll take you in.’

He and Soga were about to get back into the Pointer when they heard a vehicle approaching from behind. It was the police car they’d passed a few minutes earlier, now with two officers in the front seat. The driver pulled around them and stopped.

‘Everything okay here?’ the cop asked Furuhashi.

The stranger suddenly materialized at Furuhashi’s elbow. ‘Don’t go any farther, there’s danger ahead.’

The driver looked him up and down, as if he were something both unusual and ridiculous before turning back to Furuhashi. ‘We’ve been patrolling the area since before dawn, including the forest. So far, there’s nothing to report. Except maybe…’ He jerked his head at the stranger.

Furuhashi stepped back from the car, pulling the guy with him by his sleeve. ‘Okay. Stay safe, keep in touch.’

‘Will do.’ The driver released the brake and drove on.

To Furuhashi’s surprise, the guy ran after the car, calling for them to stop, they were in danger. The driver responded by speeding up, leaving him in a small cloud of dust.

‘And that’s all the time we have for cranks, wackos, and weirdos today,’ Furuhashi said, motioning for Soga to get back into the Pointer. As he opened his own door, he heard a sound very similar to a plasma rifle, only much fuller and louder, more like a plasma cannon, from somewhere overhead. He looked up and saw a bright ball of energy zoom downward to make a direct hit on the police car.

Before he could yell to Soga, a second blast hit, making the car glow brightly for a second before it melted out of existence.

‘I tried to warn them.’ The stranger shook his head, looking deeply unhappy.

Furuhashi pounced on him. ‘Who are you? What do you know about this? Who’s behind it?’

‘You’re facing a deadly alien menace,’ the guy said. ‘I’m here to help.’

He was serious, Furuhashi thought, and in a better, more benign world, it might even have been true. 

preparing for an invasion and I guess they’re stepping things up. Why do you suppose that is?’

Furuhashi blinked at him, looked at Soga, then back at the guy. ‘You got a theory?’

‘It’s because the Ultra Guard are responding now, investigating the disappearances. They’ve moved on to the next phase and things are gonna get a lot worse.’

‘And just who in the world are you that you have this special knowledge?’ Furuhashi asked.

‘In this world?’ The guy actually seemed to be thinking that one over. ‘I’m only a traveler. Just passing through.’

‘You got a name?’ Soga said.

The guy hesitated; his expression gave Furuhashi the impression he was glad Soga had asked. ‘You can call me Dan. I’m Dan Moroboshi.’

Soga opened his mouth to respond when Furuhashi heard the plasma-weapon sound again, still overhead but now much closer. He looked around wildly, but Dan Moroboshi was shoving him and Soga roughly away from the Pointer and across the road toward a pile of broken rock just as something punched a crater in the center of the road, spraying them with stones, dirt, and chunks of asphalt.

Furuhashi looked up and saw another ball of plasma materialize out of thin air some fifteen meters above them. It hurtled down and hit only centimeters from his foot. The ground exploded and something sliced into Furuhashi’s knee. He clapped both hands over it, feeling blood pouring out between his fingers.

‘Something up there’s firing on us!’ Soga yelled. ‘We gotta get outta—’

The rocks in front of them blew apart, leaving them completely exposed.

‘Come on!’ The guy dragged both of them back across the road, shoving them into the back seat of the Pointer so quickly that it didn’t occur to Furuhashi until later how strong the guy was—easily as strong as himself. In the moment, all he could think of was how bolts of plasma were congealing out of nothing. ...