“So who else was in the mix? Apart from me that is?”
“Only you I’m afraid,” Paul said.
“Damn I thought so. Oh well I better go get changed and see what the old man has to say. I’ll see ya in a bit,” she said then started walking to the lift.
“Save time and get into your fatigues. We’ll be leaving in forty-five minutes,” he shouted after her.
“Aye, aye Sir, she said and mock saluted while keeping her back to him. Then she was gone.
Chapter 17
Paul and Jane hovered over the outskirts of Berlin in a shuttle, waiting to hear from Dexter the route the convoy carrying the plutonium is heading in. They were both wearing camouflage fatigues with a lightweight AMM helmet with built in communications and a MARPAT cover. They also had a disruptor sidearm, a knife, and several stun grenades attached to a belt.
“Fox-three to fox-one, the target is leaving Berlin now. You should be receiving telemetry from the drone we have following them,” Dexter said over the intercom.
“Affirmative fox-three, we have the feed. Do you know the route yet?” Paul asked.
“Yes, they’re turning off the main highway at a town called Linthe, and proceeding southeast. The best place to intercept them is ten kilometers before Eisenhammer, in the Duebener Heide Nature Park. The woodland will give you some cover if you need it, so set your camouflage fatigues to woodland-F.”
They fiddled inside their collars for a moment and the camouflage on their fatigues changed to woodland-F.
“Confirmed, we’ll proceed to the rendezvous point and wait for the convoy to arrive.”
“Confirmed, fox-three, the attack drones are en route and should be at the rendezvous point in thirty minutes. The convoy though, will take three-hours and twenty-five minutes.”
“Received and understood, Fox-three, Fox-one out,” Paul said.
“Three hours? If this wasn’t a trap they’d be using those GFM-trucks we saw flying around,” Jane complained.
“Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread eh?” Paul said, looking over at Jane with a wry expression.
“That pretty much sums up the last three months.”
Paul’s eyes narrowed. “Battlefield humor? You’re becoming a real grunt, Captain Barrett.”
“Just another fine day in the Corps, Major!” She followed up by saluting, and making Paul laugh.
*****
Three hours go slowly when you’re waiting inside a shuttle, but at least it gave Paul a chance to do some reconnaissance of the area. He didn’t like the location Dexter had decided, because the cover the woods provided could also hide an army. Especially if the Vaman had given them technology to make the stun wave and the Y-field useless. After what felt like an age, the German military convoy approached the area they planned to strike. The Y-field stopped all the vehicles in their tracks, and an attack drone released a stun wave that covered fifty square kilometers causing all living things to collapse into a deep sleep. The shuttle landed on the road near the trucks after their sweeps had determined plutonium present. At least the traps set with the right bait, Paul thought.
The Shuttle had its camouflage activated, so as Paul stepped out weapon in hand, it would’ve seemed to the unwary as though he appeared out of thin air. He proceeded to the truck and vaporized the lock on the back of the trailer. As he opened the door, several soldiers fell out on the road making him jump back. They were unconscious from the stun wave, and had been leaning on the trailer doors. Grabbing their arms, he dragged them aside one by one. He climbed inside, pulling out his palmcorder, and started to hit some buttons. The palmcorder indicated several lead lined cases had plutonium rods inside them so he went in, and began pulling them toward the exit.
“Fox-one to fox-two, I have the chickens you may proceed,” Paul said into the communicator on his helmet.
“Affirmative fox-one,” Jane replied. Jane had a GFM-platform ready, and walked out of the back of the shuttle. She held in one hand, her weapon, and in the other the remote for the platform that caused the platform to follow her at her waste height. She met Paul outside the truck, covering her from behind the trailer.
“Good work, let’s hurry now,” Paul said as they grabbed either side of a box and hauled it on the GFM-platform. Paul climbed into the truck and pushed the second box to the edge and jumped out. They lifted that one on top as well, making the GFM platform sink, then self-adjust. Paul climbed into the truck again, and started pushing the third and final box to the edge. As they lifted it on the platform, Jane spotted something in the corner of her eye.
The sound of a rocket grew louder, and Jane yelled, “Incoming!”
They hit the ground crawling under the platform just as the rocket passed over them. It travelled into the back of the shuttle exploding violently, the camouflage instantly deactivating revealing the black tear-shaped shuttle.
Paul said into his helmets communicator, “Fox-one to Fox-three, the Shuttle has been hit by incendiaries. Proceed to the alternate plan.”
“Fox-three to Fox-one, we’ve traced the enemy fire, and its close. I suggest you get moving. Drones are now engaging them,” Colonel Nadir responded sounding anxious.
“Received, and understood Fox-three,” Paul said to Nadir. Turning back to Jane he said, “Come on, let’s get the fuck outta here!”
They stood and as Jane activated the camouflage on the platform, they ran into the woods off the side of the road to the sound of plasma fire coming from a drone.
“How the hell did they get past the stun wave and the Y-Field?” Jane said but Paul didn’t answer because he didn’t know.
*****
In the woods of Duebener Heide Nature Park, Marcus and Richard waited with a platoon of German soldiers. They’d been there since the night before getting several platoon’s into position around the most likely spot they could spring their trap. After putting up with the cold weather, and the sheer boredom of waiting while having nothing to do, spotters reported the convoy of trucks had finally reached the area they suspected the aliens to attack.
The German Captain shouted, “Soldaten, nehmen sie ihre plätze!” He turned to Richard and Marcus saying, “I hope sis works, Herr Professor.”
Richard shrugged, saying, “If it doesn’t then we’ll have a nice sleep for the next eight hours.”
The troops had dug out trenches and placed over them a special mat that Richard had designed. The top of the mat was camouflaged to appear like the forest floor. Men scrambled to the trenches, and with the protective mat sealed over them, they waited. Outside they could hear the whining of a dog they had tied up to a tree. Marcus shifted uncomfortably inside the trench thinking bitterly, I’m too old to be involved in combat.
“How long are we going to be stuck in this hole?” he whispered to Richard.
“Until they fire the stun wave, Marcus, old bean,” Richard said with a smile enjoying Marcus’s discomfort.
They waited another forty minutes until finally they heard a loud crackling sound, and the dog fell silent outside.
“Is that it?” Marcus asked, making all the soldiers turn and look at Richard.
“Captain, check it out,” Richard said.
The Captain nodded to a soldier at the end of the trench and he pulled the mat aside and poked his head out.
Ducking back into the trench he said, “Kapitän, der hund bewusstlos.”
The Captain looked at Richard and nodded, he then shouted to his men, “Ordnung alle aus!”
The troops climbed out of the trench taking positions of cover by the road.
“Now we just have to pinpoint where they’ve attacked the convoy,” Richard said.
They walked to the side of the road, behind a tree, and looked up the road with binoculars. Cars and trucks were scattered either side of the road, the drivers and passengers all asleep. Given that the Y-field activated first, no vehicle had been in danger of causing an accident after the passengers got stunned.
&
nbsp; “It’s so quiet now,” Marcus commented with a shiver.
“The stun wave affects everything, Marcus. Birds, animals, and even insects,” Richard said looking through his binoculars.
“Amazing technology when you think about it, especially this device that stops machines working,” Marcus said looking down the road.
Richard looked at Marcus for a moment shaking his head with a screwed-up nose, “Simple technology really, when you understand it, and easy to get around. These aliens are in for a shock, that’s for sure.”
A soldier came running to them and said to the Captain, “Sir, der Konvoi wurde zwei Kilometer nördlich von hier gesichtet. Die Aliens stehlen das Plutonium, wie wir sprechen.”
“What did he say?” Marcus said looking confused.
The German Captain turned and said, “We’ve spotted the target two kilometers from here, and they’re taking the plutonium.”
Richard smiled broadly. “Good, remember Octavian wants prisoners.”
The Captain had a conversation with the soldier in German for a moment. He turned to Richard and said, “We have a platoon near them. They’ve targeted the space vessel, and are ready to fire. I’ve given the order to proceed. Now, if you’ll follow me, we must get to that area quickly.”
They hurriedly walked to the trucks hidden off the road and climbed aboard. The trucks started no problems, and drove out of the woods heading up the road. As the truck quickly drove around disabled vehicles on the road, Marcus turned green prompting Richard to laugh at him again. They’re coming your way, he thought. In Richard’s mind the Vaman said, Good Rishard, I’ll be waiting for him.
*****
“Jesus, so much for the Y-field,” Paul said as he ran.
“How much further?” Jane puffed.
“About nine-hundred meters up that hill,” Paul said looking back at her briefly. An explosion boomed from above them, and wreckage fell from the sky.
“I took out a helicopter closing in on your position,” Nadir reported in their headsets.
“Helicopters flying through the Y-field. What next?” Jane asked in frustration.
“They’ve had some help, that’s for sure. Come on Jane, let’s hustle,” Paul ordered.
They continued to run toward the clearing where the backup shuttle stood waiting for them. Not knowing what forced were closing in on them.
*****
As the trucks approached the disabled shuttle, it violently exploded as the IEH protocols had activated the self-destruct. As a result, the truck heading the convoy swerved violently off the road, down a bank through the brush, and hit a tree head on. The men in the back of the truck went flying forward into each other, and lay stunned for a moment. The Captain started shouting at his soldiers to get out of the truck, and before long a bruised and disheveled looking pair of Australians were helped down. The Captain stood with his radioman listening and nodding.
“They have air cover, so we’ll need to be careful. But the targets heading east into the woods, and are not far from us. The plutonium has gone, so they must have it,” he told Richard.
“Well let’s get moving, we should be able to outflank them with the other platoon north of us,” Richard said.
Marcus looked over the troops they were with, a couple got injured with obvious broken legs. The medics worked at stabilizing them. The soldiers driving the truck didn’t fare so well, shrapnel from the explosion had killed them. Looking at their bodies made him feel queasy at the realization that he got lucky. The German Captain yelled at his troops, and they formed ranks around him. Leaving the injured with medics, they headed into the woods to confront the aliens.
*****
“Fox-three to Fox-one, soldiers are closing in on you from several directions. The trees are making it hard for the drones to get engage them, but their getting close to your position,” Nadir said into their headsets.
“Received and understood, Fox-three, we’re almost at the evacuation point,” Paul replied panting, as they climbed the steep hill.
They finally reached the clearing where they knew a shuttle stood waiting for them. The clearing looked empty due to the camouflage the shuttle used. However, before proceeding they stopped, and stopped behind a tree. They got beneath the GFM-platform, and began crawling toward the Shuttle, using the platforms camouflage to hide them. As they approached the back of the Shuttle, Jane whispered, “Fox-two to Fox-three, we’re close to the shuttle, open the back hatch.”
Nadir replied, “Confirmed, Fox-two.”
They watched the backdoor of the shuttle began to silently slide open. A thin wedge of darkness appearing to hover above the ground, then gradually as it grew larger, revealing the inside of the shuttle.
“Looks like we made it,” Jane whispered.
Suddenly, a grenade went off near the GFM-platform. While the electronic shields of the platform protected them from the explosion, Jane got a fright and bumped her helmet on the platform hard. The remote for the platform bounced from her hand and fell outside, the platform began to move in that direction, leaving them suddenly exposed.
“Get in the shuttle,” Paul yelled at her as he dove for the remote. As he hit the ground, machinegun fire passed close to him. So close he could feel the backdraft of the bullets. With the remote now in his hand, he rolled behind a log just in time. The log took a spray of gunfire. To his relief, a sudden roar of plasma fire from drones above them took out the soldiers firing on him. He threw the remote into the back of the shuttle, knowing the platform will now follow it inside.
Jumping to his feet, he ran toward the shuttle but stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of Jane standing at the door. She looked as if she were trying to speak but couldn’t, her face ashen white and sweaty, and her hands grappled with something at her neck. Jane kicked and stomped but something held her tight. Emerging from the shadows, the unmistakable form of a Vaman stood bearing its black sticky teeth in a frightful display of strength. One of its clawed hands wrapped around Jane’s neck choking her, the other held a cutchla blade at her side. The drones had stopped firing, so silence filled the clearing.
Vaman’s are hideous looking creatures by human standards of beauty. An upright bipedal race around two meters tall, with black skin, black hair, black teeth, and no eyes. Their skin is coarse and tough. Their hide shines in some light, however, sometimes their blackness makes it difficult to make out any features in certain conditions. Their heads are shaped similar to that of a dog without ears, and they have a row of black horns that go from the snout, over the forehead, and down the back of the head, neck and spine in a straight line ending at the buttocks. It’s like a horned Mohawk, where the horns start small and get bigger on the head, growing smaller again as the horns ran down its back. Their bodies also have some thick black fur in places, and the only thing they wore is a type of black codpiece to cover what’s presumed to be their genitalia. No human had ever got close enough to one to see if there were any differences between male and female Vaman.
Paul stepped forward and shouted, “You want me, not her. Let her go and you can have me.”
The Vaman hissed at him like a deranged animal, nodding at his helmet.
So Paul took it off making Jane scream, “Noooooo!”
A great pain wracked his body from his head to his toes. Paul fell to his knees in the torment of agony, grasping his head in his hands as if it were about to explode. Jane, watching Paul spasm and froth at the mouth as the Vaman attacked his brain, felt next to her and pulled open a drawer pulling out a wrench. She held it tightly, and with all her strength, hit the Vaman in the face. The act stunned the Vaman enough to take his mind off Paul, whom dropped to the ground panting in the reprieve. The Vaman lifted Jane high by one hand, as if she were a rag doll, and plunged his poisonous blade into her abdomen in one foul stroke. She coughed blood as the knife tore her open, her face contorted in pain. The Vaman threw her back into the Shuttle with such force, Paul heard a sickening crunch as sh
e hit the seats behind the cockpit. The Vaman looked down on the panting Paul with triumph.
“Your life is mine, Schleeman,” it hissed in his mind. “Just as I killed your Sheena, now I’ll kill you.”
Paul climbed to his feet and took a fighting stance. “Come on,” he shouted. “Stop hiding behind your tricks, and fight me like a real soldier. Come on, you fucking Vaman cunt!”
The Vaman hissed at Paul again, bearing its frightening teeth, and threw its blade down in answer to Paul’s challenge. It leapt at Paul, who stood waiting. However, the invisible GFM-platform stacked with plutonium had just made its way up the entrance of the shuttle, and the Vaman hit the platform as he lunged. The stunned Vaman rolled off to the side, and Paul reached behind his back and pulled out his own knife.
He leapt for the Vaman screaming, “Sheeeeeena.” ramming his knife into its abdomen.
The Vaman howled the horrible roar of a wounded animal, but swept Paul aside with its tremendous strength. Paul managed to keep hold of his knife, and rolled on his feet. The Vaman jumped up too, with greenish blood running from the open wound in its gut.
“Not so tough without your mind tricks, are you?” Paul shouted.
The roaring sound of air force jets flying overhead suddenly filled the clearing, and the two drones covering Paul in the clearing exploded. Soldiers could be heard shouting from close by. The Vaman knew if it wanted to kill Paul it had to act now. Paul went to lunge at the Vaman, but the pain returned in his head and he fell grasping at it, screaming in agony. His body went into convulsions as the Vaman limped to the shuttle and grabbed its blade and limped to Paul. The Vaman straddled him, sitting on Paul’s stomach, leaning over him roaring defiance right into his face. Its saliva dripping all over Paul’s face.
Paul knew his time had finally come, he is going to die. As the Vaman leaned back to raise its blade high for the final death plunge, Paul felt a rush of wind that signified the shuttle had left in a hurry. Paul felt peace, knowing that the plutonium would at least reach Ship, and maybe the rest of them would get home. The Vaman roared again as it prepared to perform the final act on Paul’s life. He noticed the bushes moving to his left, and to his great surprise Sheena walked out dressed in a flowery summer dress. Strands of her blond hair floating as they always did on Bolaris. She smiled at him, and he reached out a hand for her. His Sheena had come for him at the last, to take him home. With one last smile from her, she dissipated, revealing a horrified looking German Soldier.