Rescue Or Recovery

by Dave Hazel

  Mykal remained invisible and snuck to the next room where he was very surprised and understood why the colonel didn’t want to be disturbed. There was a Curtis Mathis console television with the frozen screen shot of a TV show stuck on pause. The VCR on top of the TV had the blinking 12:00 showing the time still hadn’t been set. The frozen scene on the TV was of David Hasselhoff standing before a black car that Mykal remembered was a talking car. Mykal never watched Knight Rider but he remembered many people talking about the show.

  On the stand beside the TV and VCR were several VCR tapes of various shows and movies that Colonel Fisher brought to this new assignment with him. On the round table near the large sofa were three wine glasses and a bottle of wine. The most interesting fixtures in the room were the two women sitting at the table who were drinking from two of the wine glasses. They were both topless with large breasts and they appeared to be women from the local area. They whispered to each other and giggled. They wore clothing on their lower half that assured Mykal they were townspeople looking to take advantage of the situation as much as Colonel Fisher was looking to take advantage of the situation.

  ‘The friggin scumbag is married too, damn it. He doesn’t have time for us but he’s got time to play grab ass with two young women,’ Mykal chuckled in thought and wondered if he should reveal himself to all three of them, but then if things took a turn for the worse they would be witnesses if he killed Fisher. ‘Or I could kill the two women and make it look like Fisher did it, but then these two innocent women would get hurt for no reason other than Fisher pissed me off.’

  “I will be there shortly ladies,” Fisher said from the other room. “I just have to make sure he leaves,” he added and clearly Fisher referred to Towbar.

  The two women started to giggle and Mykal wondered how old they were. They looked fairly young, but he wasn’t sure if Fisher would be so foolish as to have underage girls come to him with the intentions of using them as sexual playthings. ‘I’m not gonna pursue that unless it becomes clear they’re underage. If I had a camera or video camera right now I could get this idiot to change his mind,’ he chuckled at the thought of blackmailing the senior officer in a compromising position. It would be even more embarrassing since Fisher happened to be married.

  “Drink up ladies. We will have a wonderful time after everything quiets down,” Fisher said from the other room. “Drink up until I get there and we will watch some movies and have some fun just like I explained earlier,” he said with an encouraging tone like he was trying to convince them of a great time. He clearly clapped his hands and rubbed them together to express his excitement and eagerness to join the young ladies.

  The two young women giggled and shook their breasts at each other as if they knew what the older man wanted from them. It angered Mykal that these two young women, or girls, were someone’s daughters. Mykal hoped he would be able to take control quietly. He flashed himself visible and placed his finger to his lips to tell them to remain silent. Their startled faces looked as if Mykal nearly scared them to death. They knew who he was because he was Lord Towbar’s very close friend. He made an angry face while they quickly used their arms to cover their exposed breasts. He moved closer to whisper to them and held the dagger ready in a threatening manner.

  “I will only say this once,” he hissed quietly. “You need to get up and leave no matter what he says. You are in danger,” he whispered and turned invisible.

  They looked at each other as if to confirm what they saw was witnessed by the other. Their wide eyed stares confirmed they didn’t know what to do. They looked all around to see where Mykal could have gone to. Their glares to each other were as if they were asking if Mykal was still there watching them.

  Suddenly Mykal became visible again. “I said to leave now,” Mykal whispered and quickly swung his sword which flashed into a flaming red blade. He held his finger to his lips and ordered their silence. He turned invisible again and couldn’t help but laugh when he saw how fast they retrieved their tops and covered themselves as they rushed away from the table motivated by terror.

  “Where are you ladies going?” Fisher moaned as he tried to stop them.

  “We must leave. We must leave,” one of the girls said and sounded panicky.

  “But why? We’re just getting ready to have some fun,” he moaned like a disappointed teenager who had his date leave before the night got started.”

  “We must leave,” the second girl repeated. “I must return to my home.”

  “Will I see you later?” He asked as if he was trying to be careful not to hold them against their will.

  “Yes, we will see you at a later time,” the first said as they made their way to the tent door.

  “Please be sure to come back to me later and I will give you the gifts I spoke of earlier,” Fisher said as they were leaving.

  “We will. We must leave,” the second said.

  “All-ri-ight. I’ll be waaaait -ting for youuuu,” Fisher replied playfully and sounded like he already had a couple of drinks in him. He came across as disappointed but he wasn’t going to force anyone to stay against their will. As the commanding officer he didn’t need those ‘kinds of problems’ and he definitely didn’t want anything to get back to the real world from men speaking of rumors and supposed rumors. “Damn it,” he grumbled with a frustrated moan when they left his quarters.

  Mykal stood there invisible and waited for Fisher to enter this room. He was amazed that the ‘sick colonel under a doctor’s care’ was dressed only in his silk robe and a pair of night slippers. Colonel Fisher sat at the table and picked up one of the three glasses of wine to take a drink. He grabbed the VCR remote to continue watching the TV show by himself.

  Colonel Fisher hesitated and stared at the frozen scene of KITT the talking car and Michael Knight played by David Hasselhoff. He sipped on his drink and seemed to pout like a disappointed child. “Damn. I was already for both of them,” he whispered sorrowfully.

  Suddenly Mykal became visible. He sat on a chair that one of the bare chested ladies had been sitting on. “You’ll have plenty of other times to play with the little girls,” he said casually while he slowly lowered his Glock 17 onto the table top. The Glock 17 with the sound suppressor attached looked intimidating and implied ‘stealth of the crime’ should he be forced to use it.

  Colonel Fisher jolted so hard that he spilled some of his wine onto his silk robe. The colonel looked like he was going to fall over and the startled expression he made almost forced Mykal to burst out with laughter. “Ooh ah ooh you. How did you get in here?”

  “It doesn’t matter. Our talk is going to be short and sweet,” Mykal answered and deliberately tightened his grip on the handgun. “I’m not in the friggin mood for any games. We’re not gonna get into what the ages of those two young girls are and whether or not we should make it known to the other commanders what you’re doing with them. And I’m sure if those two girls do happen to be of age, knowing that Towbar is Lord of their people around here, it’s quite possible they might also remember there were a couple of thirteen year olds in here with them, or maybe a couple of nine year olds were in here also,” Mykal said as a threat to bring false charges against the man. “They would surely say the really young girls were also undressed as well. I’m sure if it came down to it, being people of Lord Towbar, these people would say anything that needed to be said depending on how this situation here turns out,” Mykal threatened with a smirk and pointed to the table in reference to how their conversation would go.

  “What the hell do you think you’re trying to pull here?” Colonel Fisher rose up and stiffened his back. “You’re not going to blackmail me.”

  “Sit your dumb ass down before you step into an area you won’t recover from,” Mykal threaten and fought hard not to snarl his hatred. “I told you before not to screw with me.”

  “How am I screwing with you?” Fisher asked and slowly sat down at the table. He picked up his glass of wine and started to
drink from it again.

  “You really should stop drinking cuz I think that’s what may have helped you to make some foolish choices recently.”

  “Don’t you threaten me,” Colonel Fisher snapped as if he had nothing to fear.

  “See, that’s what I’m talking about. You make foolish choices at times.”

  “What do you want? And how did you get in here?” Fisher asked and drank from the wine glass in his hand.

  “What’s going on with us returning back to the other side of the world?” Mykal replied and cut to the chase. He wasn’t going to admit to breaking into Fisher’s quarters, but would rather let the colonel find his entry point on his own.

  “Well, for the safety of the men I put an order in place that there will be no more trips to the others side of this world. It’s for the safety of the men.”

  “Don’t gimme that crap.”

  “During this last excursion which lasted a mere four days you lost twelve men under your command,” Fisher declared and jammed his index finger onto the table top. “Fifteen if you count the foreigners you took along with you. And what was it you lost prior to that? Was it thirty men?”

  Mykal hesitated in order to compose himself because he didn’t want his fiery emotions to get the best of him, though the truth was they lost thirty-two men prior. “We are in a war, and we are in a very dangerous place. There are going to be losses. As a military commander you know that.”

  “That is totally unacceptable,” Fisher barked.

  “Do you realize how many losses there are going to be when the forces of the Sosos and, the real bad guy, Zizmon-Tarl and all his strange creatures come storming in here? We will lose far more than that just during the first wave of their attacks. And if we don’t leave to go back there to rescue the princess today, Towbar’s first order of business is going to be, to go straight to King Loankore the Third and personally tell King Loankore that you are the one who prevented us from going back there to rescue his daughter, Princess Doninka. I promise you, our military will no longer be welcomed here,” Mykal declared and jammed his index finger onto the table top to match Fisher’s act of outrage. “King Loankore will look at us as enemies equal to the hated Sosos.”

  “You won’t do that,” Fisher challenged.

  “Watch me and if that happens there will be no more trips back and forth to our world. But I want you to know, me and Towbar just made contact with Doninka a little bit ago through Towbar’s Mind Talk. She is the princess that all this is revolving around,” he added sarcastically as if Fisher didn’t know. “So I know we’ll be able to get to her and rescue her from the hands of the bad guys and get her back here before the deadline. This way there won’t have to be a trade or fake trade or any of that stuff we’re all playing games trying to plan and work out. In King Loankore’s eyes you will either be the great hero or the big friggin zero who left his daughter to suffer and die at the hands of the enemy.”

  Colonel Fisher stared at the top of the tent and thought over his situation. “I just don’t want to put any more men at risk.”

  “I’m trying my best not to lose my cool, but you’re full of shit. We’re going to lose more men in the first hour of the big battle when it hits than all the people we’ve lost in all our trips combined,” he repeated his previous point.

  Fisher looked at Mykal and took a drink to finish his glass and then grabbed one of the two glasses that belonged to the girls. “This is my operation,” Fisher said and sounded like there could be the start of a slight slur. “You have no right to come in here and demand anything of me. I’m a colonel in the Marine Corps.”

  “Sir,” Mykal replied sarcastically. “I really don’t care at all about your position. I’m not trying to step on anyone’s toes and I’m not trying to take over or take control or whatever you’re afraid of. But I promise you this, and this is not a threat, but I promise you, you will be outta here before the day is over if you don’t lift that order. The men are afraid of being disobedient and I don’t giva shit. Me and Towbar are going back today. I want my men to go with me and they all want to go back. So, I will get your ass outta here permanently if you don’t lift the ban, and you will go back to the real world either in handcuffs, on a medical gurney or in a body bag. I don’t care. But you will leave today and I know the next commander will agree to allow us to go back. The only thing that is really pissing me off the most about all this, is the delay that is taking place right now,” he added and jammed his finger on the table top to make his point.

  “Are you threatening to kill me?” Colonel Fisher asked with a tipsy bravado. He knew Mykal wouldn’t kill him.

  “That would be the quickest way,” Mykal chuckled while he slipped his Glock 17 under the table. “Or maybe we’ll have an accident and your balls will get blown off and you’ll have to go back to the real world for medical treatment. Then what would happen to your next meeting with the two little girls that were in here?”

  “They’re not underage,” Fisher fired back defensively and looked down.

  “You said that kinda quick. Almost like you have something to be worried about,” Mykal taunted and snickered as if Fisher should be embarrassed.

  “No I didn’t. No I didn’t. I’m lonely here and I just needed--”

  “I don’t wanna friggin hear it,” Mykal hissed. “While you’re playing grab ass behind your wife’s back, trying to get laid with some of the local girls, some very, very young looking local girls at that,” he continued to deride the slightly embarrassed senior commander. “The princess is being held against her will with the threat of being killed getting closer and closer the longer we screw around talking about your feelings.”

  “I don’t want to lose my command,” Fisher said and quickly downed the rest of the glass of wine.

  “You’re going to lose your command and much more if you continue to screw with me,” Mykal said calmly. “If we don’t leave here with my men and the team that I have that wants to go back, I promise you, me and Towbar will go back by ourselves if we have to and the King will know you, and you alone, Colonel Fisher, was the road block that kept trying to prevent us from rescuing his beloved daughter. And if, God forbid, that girl dies I will hold you personally responsible and I will make such a big stink about it, you will have to leave and that’s if King Loankore decides to keep our military here. Then you can explain to Percy and the President how you, and you alone, screwed up such a wonderful opportunity for our nation, all because you tried to play grab ass with some of the local girls, some of the very young girls, instead of doing your friggin job, I might add,” Mykal said with a nasty snarl that clearly implied a vicious threat.

  “You wouldn’t do that,” Colonel Fisher huffed and grabbed the last glass of wine and downed it quickly and reached for the open bottle.

  “Watch me, cuz if you don’t care about that girl then I don’t give a friggin rat’s ass about you and your little position as king of the new world you’re setting up here.”

  “You can’t do that to me. I’m the commanding officer here,” he snapped and poured wine into his glass.

  “You better stop with the booze, Sir,” Mykal said with a sarcastic bite on the title. “I think it’s affecting your thinking. I’m not trying to screw with your command. I’m actually trying to help your command you friggin idiot,” Mykal growled and felt his emotions growing beyond his ability to remain civil. “I think you have a problem with pride if you think I’m trying to screw with you or take over your command. Do you know that without me and Towbar you’re finished anyway?”

  “How? What do you mean?” He asked and took a swig straight from the bottle.

  “Without me and Towbar there will be no more trips back to the real world except to take everyone home. And you can take your smart ass over to the White House and tell the President how you alone, yes you alone, screwed up this entire operation because of your selfish reasoning,” he repeated in the hopes it would sink in and make sense to Fisher.

&
nbsp; “You can’t do that,” Fisher gasped with a moan as if he knew he was on the hot seat.

  “Screw you Colonel Fisher,” Mykal snarled. “You don’t have a damn clue what I’m capable of doing. Me taking everyone back to the real world is me just being nice,” he said and stopped. He wanted to let loose with several vulgar names to get the building anger off his chest, but he knew name calling wouldn’t get him anywhere.

  “I will not be bullied. I will not be pushed around by someone I don’t consider my equal.”

  “I don’t care if you consider me your equal or not but I will bury you if you don’t lift the ban and I will get you outta here today one way or another. I’m gonna ask you for the final damn time, whatta ya gonna do about this dumb ass order you laid down? The men all want to go back to do a respectable and important job to help save this nation, but all the men are afraid of breaking the rules. You’re damned rules!” He barked angrily. “This is mind boggling to me. Our men want to go back and finish what we started and you’re the one who is gonna end up getting all the credit for this rescue. And not one of these brave men are out there trying to play grab ass with some of the local young, probably underage, girls,” he snipped just to get another dig in.

  “What? What are you saying?” Fisher asked and didn’t look like he would allow the accusatory swipe to get to him. Fisher poured more wine into his glass and then took a big drink straight from the bottle.

  As much as Mykal wanted to use force and twist Fisher’s arm into submission, he knew he had to take another approach. “When we rescue Princess Doninka, who do you think is gonna get the credit in the King’s eyes?”

  “Who, me?” Fisher asked and sipped from his glass while thinking through the possibilities. He entertained the idea of gaining feathers in his cap with King Loankore.

  “Yeah you, cuz you’re the one who sent us to go rescue his daughter from the real bad guy, Zizmon-Tarl, on the other side of the world. You’re the one who risked all the men we lost to help save his nation. Then, to be honest I won’t have to break your legs, shoot you in the head or make it known you’re messing with underage girls. Yes, I just said all that cuz I’m friggin pissed off. Now what’s it gonna be? Cuz honestly, in the past six months I’ve killed so many friggin people that I don’t giva shit if I accidently kill someone who wasn’t really a bad guy. We’re in a war and things happen. The ball is in your court, Colonel.”