Shadow Warrior: Destiny of a Mutant (32 page)

Two Miles West of the
Eyrie

Schultz had found a small cave in which to hide. After setting up his equipment, he activated the device to block any incoming calls. Now he waited for an outgoing call that might never come. Schultz had just taken a slug of water from his canteen, when suddenly the communication interception device that Will had given him started to ring.

Unbeknownst to Schultz, the device was actually alien technology that was designed to look like a 1940s field phone. Will had also given him a device that would be used to disguise his voice so he could replicate the voices of the people who worked in Himmler’s office as needed, a list of which was attached to the phone with a matching number as to whose voice Schultz was imitating.

Schultz picked up the headset and answered it in the voice of a female operator.

“Heil Hitler!” said Schultz.

“Heil Hitler! This is Lieutenant Hans Reinhard. I am calling on behalf of Colonel Hoffman. I need to speak with someone in
Reichsführer
Himmler’s office at once.”

“
Jawohl, Lieutenant. Ein moment, Bitte.
I will transfer you.”

Schultz then placed the device on “hold” while he set up the voice-altering device to duplicate one of Himmler’s aides.

“
Reichsführer
Himmler’s office. Heil Hitler,” said Schultz in a male voice.

“Heil Hitler! This is Lieutenant Reinhard. I’m calling on behalf of Colonel Hoffman at the
Eyrie.
Who am I speaking with please?”

“This is Colonel Von Draper, Lieutenant. What can I do for you and Colonel Hoffman?” Von Draper was one of Himmler’s senior officers.

“Sorry to disturb you, Colonel, but there are two SS officers, a General Hoffmeier and a Colonel Miller here at our facility. They claim they are here to pick up thirteen prisoners to transfer to Berlin for interrogation. They have orders that appear to have been signed by the
Führer
and
Reichsführer
Himmler personally.”

“So what is the problem, Lieutenant? Does Colonel Hoffman think a general of the Third Reich would be lying to him?” asked Schultz as seriously as he could.

“No sir! He…he just wanted to be thorough and confirm that the orders were legitimate, sir. The Colonel had been told previously that the prisoners would not be transferred for another month.”

“The
Reichsführer
did not tell Colonel Hoffman for security reasons. I’m sure he can appreciate that, Lieutenant. It was the
Führer’s
decision to move up the timetable. If you or the Colonel would care to debate that with the
Führer
or the
Reichsführer,
I’m sure that could be arranged
.
In fact, the
Reichsführer
is available if you would care to speak with him yourself.”

“No sir! That will not be necessary, sir!”

“Good. Then tell your Colonel that the orders are accurate and legitimate, and are to be carried out immediately. I will bring his thoroughness to the attention of the
Führer
and
Reichsführer
personally. Heil Hitler!”

“Yes, sir! Thank you, Colonel. Heil Hitler!”

Schultz then disconnected the headset and packed his gear.

Damn, I ought to get an Academy Award for that performance
, he said to himself with a smile.

***

Thomas Schultz had grown up the polar opposite of Brunner. His family was poor and lived in housing projects for most of his childhood near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father was an out of work alcoholic who beat his German mother regularly, and when he tired of hitting her, he started on Thomas and his younger brother, Anthony. His father died of alcohol poisoning when Thomas was eleven. Thomas became a behavior problem at school and started getting in trouble with the law when he was twelve. His life of crime started with shoplifting and petty theft, but quickly evolved into car theft and burglary.

At seventeen he was arrested only a few minutes after stealing a car that belonged to a wealthy shop owner. The judge gave him the choice of going to jail, or joining the Army. Thomas opted for the Army, which was the best decision he had ever made. His life needed the order and stability that the military provided. He volunteered for the Rangers two years after getting out of boot camp, had excelled in this outfit, and had gone on to become one of the best snipers in his Ranger battalion. He wondered what the judge who had given him the choice of jail or the military would say if he could see him now.

The
Eyrie

Will, Schechter, and Hoffman’s armed guards entered the elevator and descended to the fifth level where they would observe the group of seven aliens. Will continued with his air of smug superiority, as he felt a Nazi general would act around subordinates.

The elevator arrived at its destination and everyone disembarked from the elevator. The lieutenant in charge of the detail proceeded down a short corridor and came to a locked door with his group close behind him. The door was well constructed with at least six inches of solid concrete reinforced steel, which was opened remotely by a guard in a control center who was viewing the entrance through a state of the art camera. Using his ability to see through solid objects, Will located the control center on the second level. He saw that it was secured with a similar looking door with several armed SS soldiers protecting it.

The door opened with a sophisticated system of hydraulics that allowed it to travel up and down on a rail system set several inches inside of both sides of the door frame. In case of an emergency, thick steel rods would project out of the wall and enter five equidistant holes on both sides of the door, making it virtually impossible to open without a large amount of explosives, a large torch, and several minutes to use either one - or both.

Will saw, with his heightened vision powers, there were a total of five such doors in the corridor. Only one door could be opened at a time by the person in the control center. Will commented how secure the facility was to the lieutenant who was escorting Schechter and him and how impressed he was with the security measures that had been instituted. The lieutenant thanked the general for the compliment.

Hoffman’s men took Will through the remaining four doors. Finally, as they stepped through the last entrance, Will saw the doors behind which the Krelians were being held as prisoners. Each was a standard size steel reinforced door with a thick Plexiglas window about six inches square at eye level.

These doors had a strong magnetic lock as well as a key lock - both of which were required to open each door. Once whoever was opening the door with the key had completed this task, someone in the control center then disengaged the magnetic portion of the lock as a redundant security measure.

Will walked down the corridor, looking through the small Plexiglas window at each of the Krelians. They all looked tired and scared, but none of them appeared too severely injured. Will was aware that one of the reasons they had such a long life cycle was that if they were injured their bodies healed very rapidly.

As Will peered into each window he feigned revulsion at seeing the aliens.

“
Mein Gott
,” he exclaimed to the guards. “They are hideous creatures aren’t they, Lieutenant?”

“
Jawohl, Herr General
,” said the lieutenant in charge of the detail.

“Which one is their leader, Lieutenant?”

“He is in cell number six
,
sir.”

“It is my understanding that one of these creatures speaks German,
ja
?”

“Yes, sir. She is in cell number four.”

“Excellent. Bring her out and down to the leader’s cell. I wish to speak with him and let him know what is going to happen to him and his crew of…whatever the hell these things are.”

“At once, sir.”

The lieutenant snapped his fingers and one of his men went to cell number four and brought out Tah’soon. She was a beautiful Krelian female, but Will again feigned revulsion. Schechter was shocked at seeing a live alien in front of him, and Will and the lieutenant were amused at his startled reaction.

Tah’soon looked distant and resigned to her fate.

Will then spoke to her.

“I understand that you speak German. Is that correct?” asked Will gruffly in German.

Tah’soon simply nodded.

The lieutenant drew back his hand to strike her. “You will speak when spoken to, bitch!” Will intervened.

“No need to put any marks on her, Lieutenant. She’ll receive enough of them when we arrive in Berlin for interrogation,” Will said with a feigned evil grin.

“As you wish,
Herr General
.”

“What is your name?” asked Will.

She hesitated for a moment before answering, “Tah’soon.”

“Here is what is going to happen right now. We are going to talk to your leader, and you will translate everything I say to him word-for-word. Do you understand me?”

“Yes,” she answered, her head dipping even lower onto her chest.

“Lieutenant, open the door to their leader’s cell,” Will ordered. “You and your men may wait down at the end of the hallway. If I need you, I will bang on the door. I’m assuming that the prisoner is secured in his cell, correct?”

“
Jawohl
. He will give you no problems, Herr General.”

The lieutenant then opened the door of Tal’pun’s cell. Tal’pun was laying on his bunk, his feet shackled and his hands cuffed. Upon hearing the door open, he sat up as best as he could.
When Will saw him, he immediately noticed the resemblance between Tal’pun and his great-grandfather, Volnar, who was Will’s friend hundreds of years ago.

“Thank you, Lieutenant. We will only be a few minutes.”

The lieutenant nodded his head and then closed the door. As soon as the lieutenant shut the door and had walked to the end of the hallway, Will initiated the formal Krelian greeting with Tal’pun, in perfect Krelian, much to the shock of everyone in the small room.

“Greetings, Tal’pun, descendant of Noltran and Volnar. I am here to assist you and your fellow travelers with your journey home.”

Will then displayed the Krelian hand greeting, which consisted of the pinky of his right hand hooking the thumb of his left hand and then placing them in a vertical position in front of his chin, and then giving a slight bow of the head and brief closing of the eyes.

25, 000 Feet Above and 250 Miles West of the
Eyrie

The crew of the B-29 bomber was still in shock at discovering they were actually preparing to drop an atomic bomb on the enemy. Their briefing had been simple and to the point - they were to bomb the secret munitions factory where the Germans were mass-producing the strange blue-light weapon that had destroyed Allied ships, planes, and tanks.

They were still approximately 250 miles west of their location. So far, they had not encountered any enemy planes in the area. At their current speed, they should reach their target, a secret facility in the Bavarian mountains, in approximately one hour and fifteen minutes.

They had not been informed that Will and his crew were already inside of the facility trying to perform their mission.

East Side of the
Eyrie

In the last hour each of Brunner’s team had taken out one more sentry/sniper as they made their way to the front entrance, for a total of six kills. A few minutes later Brunner came across a small anti-aircraft battery with three men manning the guns. The cannon was covered with a thick camouflage netting that made it impossible to see from the air.

Brunner radioed his other teammates of its location. Wakefield was within seventy-five yards of the location and said he would make his way there to help Brunner out.

Several minutes later, Wakefield was in position and Brunner gave the order to fire. They quickly and silently eliminated all three of the gunners simultaneously. Wakefield then approached the cannon, disabled it by removing the firing pin and burying it in the woods.

They continued pushing forward.

The
Eyrie

Schechter was in shock at hearing the Colonel speak to the alien commander in his own language. And from the look on the alien’s faces, they were just as shocked as he was. Before Schechter could say anything, the alien commander spoke to Will in his language.

“Wh-who are you, and how do you speak our language?”

“I don’t have time for a lengthy explanation, but I am the Guardian assigned to your star sector known as the Shadow Warrior. My men and I are here to help you and your crew get out of here and back to Krelios.”

“Are they Guardians as well, disguised as a human like you?” asked Tal’pun. The relief on his face and in his voice was obvious.

“No. They are Terrans. They are not aware of who or what I am.”

Tal’pun noticed the look of shock on Schechter’s face.

“I think he may have just figured out that you’re not a Terran either.”

“Actually, I am a Terran, I was friends with your great-grandfather, Volnar; he knew me as Kaltran.”

“But, how?” asked Tal’pun.

“There is no time for explanations now. We need to get you and your crew out of here as quickly as possible.”

“I heard my great-grandfather speak of you several times.”

At this point, Schechter chimed in, “Colonel, what the hell is going on here? How in the hell are you able to talk to that…alien?”

“Lieutenant, do you remember what I told you at the beginning of this mission about seeing things you may find unbelievable, but to not ask any questions?”

“Yes, sir. But...”

“This is another one of those times. We have a mission to complete, Lieutenant. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Because things are going to get more interesting here in a few minutes.”

Will then told Tal’pun to turn his head and hold his handcuffs out in front of him. As soon as he complied, Will used his laser vision to melt the inner mechanism of the handcuffs and ankle cuffs. He then told him to put them back on so it looked like he was still shackled, just in case the Nazis came back before it was time to make their move.

Will explained his plan to Tal’pun, and he asked Tah’soon as soon as she could to advise the others of the escape plan.

“What about our ship and weapons?” Tal’pun asked.

Will explained that the Nazis had been using the weapons to attack the Allied forces. He then asked if there was a way to locate the weapons remotely, to which Tal’pun replied affirmatively.

“What about our ship?” inquired Tal’pun.

“How badly was it damaged in the crash?” asked Will.

“Bad enough that it can’t fly without major repairs. There was a rupture of the ionic propulsion tubules and the mother board that controls them, which caused the crash in the first place. I’m sure the hyper drive and power core were damaged as well prior to impact, and there was smoke coming from the engine before the crash. There are some spare parts on board but not enough to repair everything that needs to be repaired, and even if we had what was needed to complete the repairs, it would take several days to complete them. I‘m afraid the only alternative is to destroy the ship.”

“Leave the ship to me. Here’s what we are going to do,” said Will.

Will then spent a few minutes outlining his plan to Tal’pun, to which Tal’pun agreed. Afterwards, Will knocked on the cell door to be let out by the guards.

When the lieutenant in charge of the detail arrived at the cell door and let Will and Schechter out, Will said, “Lieutenant, take me back to where my men are stationed. Have your men prepare the aliens for transfer to my men on the transport truck.”

“
Jawohl, Herr General
.”

25, 000 Feet Above and 200 Miles West of the
Eyrie

The pilot of the B-29 advised his men over the intercom that they were approximately one hour from the target. The pilot would have them arm the bomb when they were a half-hour from the target.

East Side of the
Eyrie

By this time, Brunner and his crew had crested the top of the mountain, and were well on their way to the west side towards the front entrance. Becker had taken out one more sniper as they made their descent into the heavy foliage.

Just as Brunner was about to call Wakefield for a status check, he heard someone cough softly about twenty feet straight ahead of his position. He looked through his thermal vision imager, but he saw nothing - at first. He slowly started low crawling towards the sound, and when he was within ten feet of where he had heard it, he heard another soft cough from the same place. This time, he saw the sniper looking through his sights, and it looked as if he had found something.

Brunner looked in the direction the sniper had his weapon aimed and saw Becker coming into his line of sight. There was no time to warn Becker via the radio as he was close enough that the German sniper might hear his transmission. Brunner continued low crawling closer, and he pulled out his pistol as he was too close to use the rifle. As he edged to within ten feet of the sniper’s position, he softly asked the sniper something in German. The sniper whipped his head around to see who had asked for a cigarette and a turkey sandwich.

That was his last mistake as a bullet from Brunner’s silenced .45 entered his brain from between his eyes. Brunner called and reported this to Becker, who promised him a beer when they were done.

Colonel Hoffman’s Office

The
Eyrie

Lieutenant Reinhard had informed Colonel Hoffman a few minutes earlier of his contact with Berlin and that the orders regarding the transfer of the aliens was legitimate and were to be carried out immediately. Hoffman had ordered his men to prepare the prisoners for release to the general and his men.

Several minutes later, Reinhard received a call, and after hanging up with the caller, immediately went to advise Hoffman of the urgent information that had just been provided to him.

“Colonel, I just received a phone call from the Gestapo. Apparently they conducted a roundup of suspected Underground sympathizers and spies yesterday and captured several people.”

“That is fascinating I’m sure, Lieutenant, but what’s that got to do with me or this facility?”

“One of the Underground agents was a man named Schmidt from the town of Füssen. He was one of the people that regularly made deliveries of fresh milk and produce to our facility.”

“What?” Now Hoffman was interested.

“Apparently during the Gestapo’s interrogation Herr Schmidt gave up the name of a spy working for the Underground inside of this facility.”

“
Scheisse!
Who is it?”

Reinhard gave him her name.

“Have her brought to me immediately!”

“
Jawohl! Herr Colonel
.”

On a hunch, Hoffman picked up the phone and called Berlin again. However, this time Schultz was not available to intercept the phone call.