The International

by Christopher Vale

  “You sure about this?” Tom asked giving Axel and Brygida one last opportunity to back out. “What if she’s not there?”

  “She’s there,” Axel said. “Based on the possibilities Sava gave me, it’s the only logical location for the U-boat to have sailed to.”

  “Alright,” Tom said. “It’s your skins.”

  Axel patted Tom on the shoulder. “I do appreciate the concern, Tom,” Axel smiled.

  “I am very concerned Axel,” Tom said. “For one, you’re like a brother to me.” He then turned to look at Brygida. She stared out the window at the ocean below. Tom smiled. She was beautiful even with her hair pulled back haphazardly and wearing a wet suit. “And for another thing, I had promised myself that if we ever found your mother alive I was going to ask her out.”

  “Ask her out?” Axel asked as he turned to stare at his friend.

  “Oh come on, Axel,” Tom said. “I know she’s your mother, but it’s not like she raised you from the time you were a baby. You met her the same time I did.”

  “Yeah, but,” Axel paused for a moment trying to think of how to put it. “I thought you were…you know.”

  “What?” Tom asked as he looked at Axel.

  “Gay,” Axel said.

  “What?” Tom asked. “Who told you that?”

  “Dawn,” Axel said.

  Tom threw back his head and laughed. “Oh you kids today. Always wanting someone to be gay.”

  Axel shrugged. “Well, I mean I’ve known you for years and I’ve never seen you date.”

  “I date Axel,” Tom said. “I’ve just never met anyone worth bringing around to meet the family.”

  Axel slapped him on the shoulder. “Well, if we somehow make it back alive, you have my blessing to date my mother.”

  “Thanks old boy,” Tom smiled. He then checked the coordinates. “Get ready,” Tom said. “You’ll be jumping soon.”

  A few minutes later, Axel and Brygida leapt from the small airplane into the darkness of the night, parachuting down to the ocean below.

  Axel hit the water with a splash quickly unclipping his chute and swimming away. Brygida was close by and had already popped the inflatable raft they had brought with them. A pull of a string and the raft self-inflated. The two climbed aboard and Brygida removed her compass from a waterproof baggie.

  “That way,” she said pointing off into the darkness. Axel nodded and handed his mother a small paddle. Soon they were paddling in the direction of the platform. It did not take long before the platform’s lights came into view and before the night was gone, they had reached it and climbed the ladder to the top still under the cover of darkness.

  Chapter 5

  Moscow

  1955

  “Good!” Mikhail shouted to a teenaged Alena as she zipped past him, punching the padded glove he held up as she passed. “Faster!” Alena nodded and sped toward him to punch it again, but this time he lifted his knee and caught her in the stomach.

  Alena fell to the concrete floor, gasping for air. “You can move faster than that,” Mikhail admonished her. “You need to move so fast that I can’t possibly hit you.”

  Alena nodded as she rolled away from him. She had been trained by Mikhail for years and she knew that he was waiting to attack her again as she stood. Her realizing this and rolling away from him before standing made him smile. “You’re learning, comrade. Good.”

  Alena pushed herself to her feet and turned to face Mikhail again. She hated training with Mikhail. He was brutal, but he was also thought to be the best, because he never pulled any punches. He treated trainees like they would be treated by the enemy. She did not mind that so much, even though it hurt like crazy, but it was the glee she saw in his eyes as he did it that bothered her. She knew he enjoyed hurting her.

  Alena and Alexi had once witnessed Mikhail torturing someone, a dissident, a terrorist against the state they had been told. Alena felt like the person must have deserved it, but Mikhail had clearly enjoyed the horrific pain he had inflicted. It had been so bad that Alexi had been removed from the room as he had begun to scream as if the torture were being done to him. Alena still had nightmares about it herself.

  Alena charged Mikhail again, punching the padded glove. She whipped around and flashed back by, hitting it again as she passed. She turned again and dashed back, but this time Mikhail caught her in the jaw with a fist, knocking her to the ground.

  “You were doing so well, Alena, but then you became too predictable,” he said as she spit out a stream of blood. “Do you understand?”

  “Yes, comrade,” she said, but just as the words left her lips a boot landed in her ribs and she let out a scream of pain.

  “Why didn’t you block that?” he demanded and kicked her again. “Alena, you are fast enough to block anything I throw at you.” He dropped the padded glove and reached down and lifted her off of the floor. He stood her up, but did not release her. Instead he punched her in the mouth knocking her back down.

  “Stop me Alena!” he shouted. “Do you want me to take it easy on you simply because you are a woman?” He squatted down behind her and lifted her backside off of the floor. “Do you think the enemy will take it easy on you simply because you are a woman?” he asked as he removed a knife from a sheath on the back of his belt.

  “Stop!” she shouted.

  “If you want me to stop then stop me!” he replied as he sliced the back of her belt. He then yanked down her pants. “I’m going to show you exactly what the enemy will do to you if you won’t defend yourself.”

  “No!” she screamed. He chuckled a laugh that terrified her. This was more than instruction and training. This was something he wanted to do. Probably for a very long time. She screamed a blood curdling scream, but that only seemed to excite him more.

  Suddenly Alena heard the door open and turned to see Brygida standing in the doorway, hands clasped behind her back.

  “What is going on comrade?” Brygida asked calmly.

  Mikhail pushed himself to his feet and released Alena, leaving her to sob on the floor. “Comrade Valkyrie,” he said nervously. There weren’t many that made Mikhail nervous, but he knew Brygida’s strength first hand. He knew he could not defeat her. “As you can clearly see, I am training the cadet.”

  Brygida nodded and then presented a white envelope. “I wish to offer my condolences on the passing of your father, comrade,” she said.

  Mikhail narrowed his eyes. His father—a very powerful man—had died just a few days earlier, but Mikhail knew that Brygida had not come to offer condolences.

  “But I do have some good news,” Brygida said. “It seems congratulations are in order, comrade.”

  “Congratulations? For what?” Mikhail asked, the confusion etched on his face.

  “You’ve received a promotion,” Brygida informed him.

  “Promotion?” Mikhail asked as he moved toward her and accepted the envelope.

  “Yes, you are ordered to Indochina immediately to begin training guerrillas to fight the colonial aristocracy that rules the region,” Brygida said.

  “But…” he began. He had no desire to go to Indochina. He opened the envelope and stared at his orders. The Valkyrie was right. He glanced up from the paper to catch her eyes, staring at him coldly. “You did this?”

  “Did what, comrade?” Brygida asked.

  “You had me transferred,” he snarled through clenched teeth.

  “Me?” she asked. “I mean perhaps. I have given you glowing recommendations any time a promotion far from Moscow has come up. After all of your hard work, you certainly deserve it.”

  Mikhail stepped toward her. He wanted to slam his fist into that pretty face of hers, and almost lost control and did so. He stopped himself, however, realizing that such a move would be a huge mistake. Valkyrie was much stronger than he. In fact, she was stronger than any man he’d ever met.

  “You should report, comrade,” Brygida said coolly. “I shall take over the child’s training.”<
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  Mikhail glanced back over his shoulder at Alena, still lying on the floor sobbing, and then back at Brygida. He stormed past her and out of the room.

  Brygida closed the door and then rushed to Alena, falling to the floor beside her and scooping her up in her arms. She held her tight. “It’s alright, my darling,” she said soothingly as Alena wept onto her shoulder. “He’s gone. He will never hurt you again.”

  ***

  Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean

  1966

  The water was cold, frigidly cold, and when it was thrown on Alena, she woke immediately. She shivered as she attempted to focus her eyes on the figure back-lit through the cell door. Alena was chained to the wall of a cell on an oil platform in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean which was serving as a base for Dr. Volker and his Nazi refugees since the Antarctic base had been destroyed.

  “Time to wake up sleepy head,” Alena heard Freyja’s voice say in German. “I hope you slept well,” she cackled. Of course Alena had not slept well. It was nearly impossible to sleep with her back to a cold metal wall, her hands cuffed above her head and the guards continually waking her up whenever she was able to finally drift off from pure exhaustion. Sleep deprivation was a cruel form of torment. The technique was used globally for interrogation and Freyja apparently enjoyed inflicting it.

  “It was lovely,” Alena replied in German.

  Freyja stepped forward and squatted down in front of Alena, looking her in the eyes. “Well we cannot have that, can we? Tonight, I’ll make sure the guards beat you all night to keep you awake.” Freyja stood and motioned for two guards. “Uncuff her,” she snapped. She then turned back to Alena. “Dr. Volker wants to see you.”

  The guards stepped around Freyja and bent down to unlock the manacles around Alena’s wrists. They lifted her up off of the floor and snapped cuffs on her wrists behind her back. They left the cuffs on her ankles forcing her to shuffle along, unable to move too quickly. Everyone knew what Alena was capable of. She moved so fast, that if she was able to get free the guards would be dead before they could blink.

  Freyja led the way from the cell and down a long hall. She eventually came to another door, turned and stepped inside. Alena was forced through behind her. There they found Dr. Volker, leaning casually, almost lazily against a table.

  Alena was shoved down into a metal chair and Dr. Volker stepped forward. “Here we are again, my dear,” he said somberly. “I really hate to have this happen yet again. All you have to do is ask me to stop Freyja from hurting you and I will.”

  Alena glanced at Freyja who stood sneering at her. Then her eyes flashed back to Volker. She knew the mad scientist’s game. He was to appear her savior. She was to be tortured and tortured, knowing that only he could save her. If she caved and asked for him to stop the torture, Alena would eventually grow to love him, adore him as her protector.

  “It’s really not that bad,” Alena replied.

  Volker shrugged then turned to Freyja. “You may commence,” he said.

  Freyja’s sneer turned into a frightening grin as she stepped forward, pulling gloves on over the hands. When the gloves were secured she reared back and punched Alena across the cheek. Alena spit out a stream of blood.

  “I really hate to see this Alena,” Volker said. “Just ask me to stop it and I will.”

  Alena began to laugh, then she turned her face to Freyja. “You hit like a girl,” she smiled through bloody teeth.

  Freyja’s face turned red with rage and she pulled her hand back to punch Alena again, when suddenly she was halted as a shrill alarm began to sound. Freyja turned to Volker and she noticed his face was ghastly white.

  “Go see what is happening,” Volker shouted at Freyja. The Aryan left the room and Alena began to laugh. Volker turned to look at her.

  “Oh no, Doctor,” she giggled with faux concern. “Looks like you’re in trouble.”

  Volker turned to the two guards. “Bring her,” he spat as he stormed from the room.

  Chapter 6

  “Well so much for the element of surprise!” Axel shouted above the piercing sounds of rife fire. He and Brygida huddled behind a crane atop the oil platform as Nazi soldiers took shots at them.

  “Could be worse,” Brygida said before peeking around the crane and firing her automatic rifle, hitting a soldier in the chest. She ducked back behind cover and turned to look at her son. “At least this time we haven’t rigged the place to blow,” she said.

  “Fair point,” Axel agreed, remembering the last time they were fighting these same Nazis they had to escape before the entire Antarctic base exploded. Axel peeked around the crane to catch a glimpse at the SS troops attacking them. He pulled his head back around to safety. “What do you think?” Axel asked. “About eight?”

  Brygida nodded. “Sounds about right,” she agreed.

  Axel suddenly leapt out from behind the crane and released several bolts of lightning which struck three of the Nazis and caused the others to duck for cover as electricity boomed around them.

  Brygida took the opportunity to charge out from behind her cover, rifle raised. She fired two rounds taking out the first man she saw. Another shot killed the second. She dove behind a hand cart as the other SS soldiers trained their sights on her.

  Two quick bolts of energy leapt from Axel’s finger tips knocking the Nazis down. He stepped out in full view his hands still raised. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his mother rise from behind the handcart.

  “Was that all of them?” she asked.

  “Don’t know,” he replied. “I lost count.”

  Suddenly a bullet whizzed past Axel’s head and ricocheted off of the crane causing him to duck down as he searched for the source. He saw a Nazi soldier peering at him from behind what appeared to be a generator of some sort. Axel was about to take a shot when he saw the soldier’s head jerk backward in a spray of blood.

  “Got him!” Brygida shouted.

  Axel slowly stood as his eyes scanned the rig platform for any other soldiers. “Are we clear?” he shouted to his mother.

  “I think so,” she replied as she glanced about the rig, her rifle still raised to her shoulder.

  Axel stepped cautiously forward. He didn’t see anyone else. The platform appeared to be empty. “Let’s go!” he shouted and he and Brygida sprinted for the elevator.

  They reached the elevator quickly and the doors opened just as they did.

  “Oh crap!” Axel exclaimed when he saw Freyja standing before them.

  Freyja stood still for the briefest of moments, staring at them through narrow, angry eyes. Her face displayed the fury she felt. She was ready to kill both of them. To tear each of them limb from limb and she fully intended to do so.

  Brygida and Axel backed up warily as Freyja stepped out of the elevator. The super Aryan drew a pistol from the holster on her hip. Axel and Brygida continued to back away.

  “Which one of you would like to die first?” Freyja asked in German.

  Brygida swallowed hard. “Axel, go save Alena,” she said. “I’ll deal with Freyja.”

  Axel glanced at Freyja, then his mother, then back to Freyja. “No thanks,” he said and suddenly a burst of blue energy shot out of his chest, slamming into Freyja with such force that it blew the Aryan super soldier over the side of the platform into the water far below.

  Brygida turned to Axel who just shrugged. She smiled at her son. “Let’s go get Alena,” she said.

  Axel nodded and the two rushed to the elevator and climbed aboard. The doors closed and they began the long descent to the bottom. Brygida removed the magazine from her rifle and loaded a fresh one in its place. Axel watched her, then smiling, raised his hands up as if he were holding pistols with his pointer fingers acting as barrels. He pulled back each of his thumbs while making a clicking sound with his mouth as if he were cocking the hammers.

  Brygida began to chuckle at his joke and he gave her a little wink. Her smile quickly disappeared as she readied herself
for the elevator to stop. “When these doors open, be prepared for a war,” she said. Axel nodded as he began to glow blue. Brygida aimed her rifle at the doors while Axel aimed his two pistol shaped hands.

  The elevator came to a stop and the doors slowly slid open. Axel prepared to discharge his energy buildup as Brygida dropped to a knee to fire. To their surprise however, there were no soldiers waiting for them. In fact, there was no one there at all. They appeared to be staring into the depths of the ocean. Axel turned to look at his mother as the blue aura around him faded away. The confusion on Brygida’s face reflected the confusion he felt.

  The two stepped cautiously out of the elevator. Axel glanced down to see a steel floor below his feet, but when he looked back up it was clear to the ocean. It was as if they were standing on the ocean floor. He raised his head to look at the ceiling and could see water above them. Clearly the walls and ceiling were made of glass. It was as if they were in a reverse aquarium.

  “How the…?” Axel began, but then heard a gasp and turned to see a man in a white lab coat holding a clip board staring at them, his eyes reflecting the panic he felt. The man glanced about frantically as if searching for somewhere to run and hide, but there was nowhere to go.

  Brygida raised her rifle to her shoulder and aimed it at his head.

  “What is this place?” she demanded in German as she marched toward him.

  The man didn’t say anything, but simply stood still his mouth hung open, looking as if he were about to cry. Brygida reached him, grabbed him by his lab coat and placed the barrel of the rifle against his forehead.

  “What do you people do here?” she demanded in German, through clinched teeth.

  The man swallowed hard. “G-genetic experiments,” he stuttered in German.

  “What kind of…” Brygida began, but stopped when she heard something tap against the glass wall.

  “Um, Mom,” Axel said and Brygida could hear the nervousness in his voice. She turned to see him pointing at something. Something swimming in the ocean on the other side of the glass wall.