sergebroom | "Clockworks"

I've been catching up on my reading, which is why I'm only now going thru Asimov's April/May 2011 issue. I'm not done with it yet, but I just finished reading William Preston's novelette "Clockworks", another story about his homage to Clark Savage Jr, a character only referred to as the Man, whose Work since the early 1930s has been to protect Humankind. This story is set in 1962, and is told from the point of view of Doctor Blacklight after he wakes up from the surgery that has taken away his criminal tendencies, but also his own knowledge of where his ticking Doomsday Device is.

"So what's your weakness? What tempts you?"
He answers immediately. "Pride. The belief that I can do the Work on my own." He bounces his legs like pistons, then grabs the children. He stands abruptly, hoisting them high. He puts his massive head between theirs and they kiss him.

Recommended.
And let it not be told that I enjoyed the story because one of the man's aides is a musclebound chemist named Serge.