Helios infuriated and delighted his tutors, who were trying to focus him on being a master spy. But he loathed the silliness of clandestine operations. To waste his intellect in an American prison if caught would be a supreme loss. He offered a compromise: let him travel to America to learn medicine, and he would return to the despairing envy of the Americans. Only after much discussion was Helios allowed to do this; to insure his return his family was placed under the direct protection of Castro's intelligence service. The message was clear: come back to us or they die. Helios had no intention of defecting anyway, and he agreed.

Breezing through the pre-med programs and training at Johns Hopkins before interning in Baltimore's worst hospitals, Helios made his name as a surgical wunderkind. Remembering the horror of his childhood, Dr. Helios went farther for his youngest patients. During this internship, Helios treated an abused girl, barely 5 years old. The fierce side of his Cuban heritage clouded his mind after treating her; the abuser, an uncle of the girl, was found floating in the water near Fells Point a week later. His death was ruled a drowning, with mitigating circumstances of alcohol poisoning. Helios had committed his first murder.

Under similar circumstances, seven more people died seemingly accidental deaths after children in their care were attended to by Dr Helios for an assortment of injuries. Just as Baltimore Homicide was exploring the hospital visitation link, Helios completed his intern duties and departed for Cuba. It was New Years Eve, the end of 1999.

The flight was extremely uncomfortable for Helios. He was in a continuous sweat, and alternated between feverish and chilled; he thought he was going to die. Looking out the west side of the airplane, Helios watched the final rays of the setting sun. He saw the purity of the light, and felt himself slipping into death. But he did not pass on, only slept so soundly that the flight crew had to have him removed by paramedics.

The next morning, New Years Day, Helios felt entirely normal again. He conducted some tests on himself, but found no trace of infection or illness. Dismissing the weird illness as some sort of travel sickness, Helios made plans to report to El Presidente. Then, something stopped him. He spent the day in contemplative thought, and what he contemplated was Cuba's place in the world. Castro had been in power for too long; the country was dying. Helios could do a better job running the country. Oh yes. Much better. The evening passed slowly as Helios drafted a new constitution and plans for a new government, answerable to him.

Helios spent the next month working as a diligent physician. He married a local woman he knew from his tutored days and planned a family, because this is what men are expected to do. During this time, Helios experienced what might be called satori by a Zen-trained observer. He traveled to the east, and as the sun rose he felt a power welling within him. Soon, Helios felt supremely powerful, as if he could fly, and with an exultant shout he rose to the skies. In the warmth of a Cuban sunrise, Dr. Helios achieved self-awareness; his powers were ingrained as if they had alwaysexisted.

When Dr. Helios visited El Presidente for a dinner engagement, for Helios was a vastly entertaining guest, there was more than conch chowder served as an opening course. Helios declared the Castro regime over; his hosts felt it was a great joke until the good Doctor blasted a few guards and other witnesses with powerful blasts of laser energy. What became of Castro still remains a mystery; when Helios announced to the media and the world that he was in charge, he politely declined to answer questions about his predecessor.

Any qualms held by political rivals and the world community quieted very quickly. Dr. Helios directed an oil drilling company to explore previously untouched areas in Cuba's southern waters. Certain parties in world oil production were horrified; satellite analysis had detected a massive oil field under those waters. They had no idea how Helios knew where to send the wildcatters, but they soon tapped the field. American oil lobbyists descended on Congress, urging the government to suspend the long-time American embargo against Cuba, and to normalize relations with the new government there. So what if Castro disappeared? Times change, especially with the prospect of huge oil reserves up for grabs.