A Gift from the Gods

by Martin Gunn

  Pacing up and down in his confines, Slater was getting anxious. He looked at his watch, it was 1617 hours and Delta Force were nowhere in sight. Then the faint sound of helicopters reached his ears and he braced himself for the onslaught. Two Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters approached low and fired two air to ground missiles at the gates and perimeter fencing. The house, alerted by the choppers and the explosions, moved into action. At each end of the house, a panel of roofing was jettisoned, to reveal two anti-aircraft guns. Immediately they began firing at their attackers. Both choppers peeled off to avoid the fire, but one took a hit to its engine and began to rapidly lose height. The other helicopter crew watched, as it crashed into the trees in a ball of flames, then the second chopper came around and fired another missile at one of the gun installations. The right-hand end of the house’s roof was blasted off, putting the gun out of action.

  Slater hit the floor as the building seemed to rock on its very foundations. Minutes later it happened again, as the Black Hawk took out the second gun installation on the left-hand side of the roof. The timing was perfect, Major Hannon and his men had just arrived at the perimeter to see the destruction first- hand. They filed through the breached fencing and spread out, the front line throwing smoke grenades. Nazi soldiers smashed the glass of the windows and began firing through the clouds of white smoke. Hannon’s men had covered two-thirds of the distance to the house before they encountered enemy fire. Several men were killed or wounded, before the rest hit the ground. From this position about a dozen men used the grenade launcher on their M4 carbines. As the grenades exploded close to wall of the house, Delta Force stormed the building, lobbing grenades into the windows to neutralise the enemy fire. In no time at all the main door was blown in and the US troops were entering the building.

  Looking up at the ceiling, Kolbeck could hear the commotion in the house above. Without hesitation, he marshalled the guards into creating a sandbag barrier from which they could defend the six time machines. Panicking, Liesel ran up to him.

  “Erich, we must get out of here,” she implored.

  “There’s an emergency door over there,” shouted Kolbeck over the din.

  His only concern, however, was to make sure the Führer and the other five time machines could take-off successfully. He glanced behind him and could see Hitler and Bormann behind the glass, being readied for the launch.

  As the Special Forces moved through the ground floor securing each room at a time, Major Hannon took some men upstairs to secure the first floor. Slater braced himself, expecting the door to be kicked open any second. When it finally happened, two soldiers were about to shoot.

  “Wait, Liam Slater – CIA,” shouted the agent.

  The soldiers grabbed him and began to usher him out of the room.

  “Where’s Major Hannon?” queried Slater.

  “Here,” confirmed the major, recognising Slater.

  “Look Sir,” urged Slater, “there is an underground bunker with five nuclear weapons, ready to launch. We must destroy them.”

  “How do we gain access?”

  “Follow me,” he declared.

  After being handed an MP5 submachine-gun, Slater led them down to the metal door. By now the house had been secured, which only left the storming of the bunker.

  Kolbeck took cover as the metal door was blown off its hinges and Delta Force began to pour in. He turned to Luki who had joined him behind the sandbags.

  “Use the emergency exit and try and get Liesel out of here,” he shouted over the gunfire, “we won’t hold on here for long – I’ll try and follow.”

  Grabbing Liesel, Luki did as he was ordered, while Liesel protested that Kolbeck wasn’t coming with them.

  Frustrated at the lack of progress, Slater grabbed Major Hannon’s attention.

  “There may be another way to get at these bombs,” he bellowed over the din.

  “How?”

  “Bring some men and follow me,” shouted the agent.

  Hannon and four soldiers, followed Slater upstairs again, and he led them along the landing to the left-hand end of the house. They had to pick their way to a door through rubble and debris. One of the soldiers shot the lock off and Slater prayed that the bridge over to the parapet, which he had noticed earlier, was still intact. Luckily it was, so they ran across onto the parapet. One of their group was hit, as they encountered gunfire from three guards. All five returned fire, neutralising the enemy instantly. Slater’s gun ran out of ammunition, and he discarded it. The five men ran down the parapet until Slater stopped dead and pointed.

  “Look down there!” he exclaimed, “Hitler and Martin Bormann are going to escape from that silo; the other five are going to launch nuclear bombs.”

  “Hitler!” exclaimed Hannon, “he’s here?”

  “There’s no time to explain,” shouted Slater, “radio the chopper to be ready to destroy them.”

  “I’ll get it to come and pick you up,” agreed Hannon, “that way you can direct them.”

  No sooner had he said this, when the silos began to open. Hannon got onto his radio to order more choppers. The one available wasn’t going to be enough.

  From the ground Luki looked up and saw five men on the parapet. He climbed some side access steps, with Liesel following close behind. Near the top he gave a burst from his submachine-gun, killing the three remaining soldiers outright, before they knew what hit them. Hannon spun round only to get a bullet in the head.

  The situation in the bunker was looking desperate, US troops were close to subduing the German defences. Kolbeck had fled from the emergency exit and heard the gunfire above him. He looked up to see Luki and Liesel near the top of the steps. Suddenly everyone’s attention was drawn to the sound of two time machines rising into the air, from silos one and four. It was as if everything was for a moment, frozen in time as they watched the objects lift off in a spinning blur and disappear with a thunder-like crack.

  Luki brought his machinegun to bear on Slater and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened, the gun had jammed. Luki threw the weapon away in frustration and produced a handgun, just as Kolbeck reached the top.

  “Wait,” pleaded Slater, “think what you are doing.”

  “What do you mean?” sneered Luki.

  “You ever wondered how you’ve aged, and these two haven’t?”

  Luki turned and looked at Kolbeck and Liesel. Of course, he had noticed, but never questioned it. Now he was forced to confront this anomaly.

  “They took a drug to keep them young,” continued Slater, “they deliberately left you to age.”

  “We couldn’t give you the serum,” reasoned Liesel, “our supplies were limited. You weren’t considered important enough.”

  “Not important!” cried Luki, “I have given my life, my loyalty to the cause, for all these years. Isn’t that important enough?”

  Slater turned his head slightly, he had heard a helicopter descend about one hundred feet behind him.

  “We have all given our life to the cause,” snarled Kolbeck, “just kill him, we’re wasting time. Shoot, you stupid bastard.”

  Luki was shaking with rage, still pointing the gun at Slater, then he shouted out at the top of his voice in anguish and swung round, pulling the trigger. Kolbeck stood in shock as the bullet entered his forehead and exited the rear in a spray of red. Liesel looked on with horror, as she saw the love of her life teeter, then collapse to the ground. With a banshee-like cry, Liesel pounced on Luki before he could react, grabbed his right hand and ripped the gun away, breaking his wrist in the process. While he screamed in pain, she wrestled him to the ground, his strength no match for hers. Looking behind him, Slater saw the chopper hovering over the parapet with a ladder swinging. He began to run towards it. Liesel grabbed Luki’s shoulders and slammed the back of his head down on the concrete as hard as she could, fracturing his skull and render
ing him unconscious. Raising his head up a second time, Liesel smashed it down even harder. The back of Luki’s skull shattered like an eggshell, spilling blood and brain onto the concrete. As she knelt panting with rage, she looked up to see Slater running for the helicopter. She picked up Luki’s pistol and fired. Slater felt an impact in his left shoulder, just as he started to climb the ladder. Taking aim again, Liesel steadied herself to get a better shot, as her target was swinging on the ladder. She began to squeeze the trigger but was blown backwards as a dozen or more bullets hit her in the chest. Slater jumped out of his skin as the three-barrelled Gatlin gun above his head roared out its deadly rain of fire. He looked back to see the dead bodies of Kolbeck, Liesel, Luki and his comrades as he was pulled on board.

  By now two backup Black Hawk choppers had arrived, just as two more time machines began to rise up from silos two and five.

  “We must destroy those things,” shouted Slater to the pilot, who nodded and got straight onto his radio.

  The time machines had reached their optimum height and were spinning ever faster. Slater and the chopper crew flew out of harm’s way, as the other two choppers let off a salvo of missiles. The two Glockes exploded in mid-air, with large chunks of metal and debris plummeting into the compound and the silos below.

  As the choppers hovered, they didn’t have long to wait before the final two vessels appeared, spinning upwards from silos three and six. Without hesitation, one chopper sent off another salvo of missiles, destroying one. The second chopper didn’t get a chance; one of the last remaining Nazi soldiers fired a hand-held rocket launcher from the opposite parapet and achieved a direct hit. The badly-injured pilot could see that his crew were dead, as his aircraft began to spin out of control. The stricken Black Hawk careened towards the last Glocke and the pilot braced himself, knowing that there was nothing he could do. The impact created a huge fireball, as both vessels plummeted to the ground in a tangled mess. The man who saved Slater’s life dealt with the remaining Nazi with a quick burst from his Gatlin gun, and the two remaining choppers flew over the smoking remnants of the house, to settle on the front lawn.

  Alighting from the Black Hawk, Slater walked over to a group of US troops who were escorting at gunpoint ten technicians in dusty white overcoats. Pulling a soldier to one side Slater asked,

  “Where’s your captain?”

  “Over there, Sir,” replied the trooper pointing back at the house.

  Slater approached the captain.

  “What are your casualties like?”

  “About fifty percent,” replied the captain, “we lost a lot of men in the bunker itself.”

  “I’m afraid Major Hannon didn’t make it,” proclaimed Slater glumly, “his body is up on the parapet.”

  The captain nodded, thanked the CIA agent and walked off. Slater sat down on the lawn and put his head in his hands. He was alive; he didn’t know how, but he had made it through. The peace and quiet was eventually broken by the three Chinook helicopters arriving to retrieve the survivors.

  As he rose into the air, Slater looked out of the window to see the smouldering house and the debris around it. He was troubled: two time machines had escaped, one with Hitler and Bormann on board and one heading for Washington. All they could do was sit tight and wait for the repercussions.

  ***

  Kindred General Hospital – Los Angeles

  27th August 1985

  Guilt can be a debilitating emotion, and when you combine that with the outrage, fear and embarrassment which Laura felt with regards to her recent depredation, it all amounted to a reluctance to visit David in hospital. It took over a week for Laura to pluck up the courage to visit him. Now she stood just inside the hospital main entrance; her heart pounding.

  David on the other hand was expecting someone else that morning, so when Laura sheepishly put her head round the door, he was genuinely surprised.

  “Laura!” he exclaimed. He was pleased, relieved and slightly annoyed that she had taken so long to put in an appearance, “hey stranger, what kept you?”

  Smiling wanly, Laura walked in, pulled up a chair close to David and sat down. He was sitting in a wheelchair next to his bed, his left leg out straight and supported by a brace. Laura could clearly see the bandage on his knee, where he had been operated on, just below his shorts,

  “How is your leg?” she enquired.

  “Sore,” winced David, “the joint is shattered. They say I will need a stick when I get out. I guess we should all be lucky to be alive though.”

  “It’s all my fault,” muttered Laura, looking down at the floor.

  “Your fault?” frowned David, “why do you say that?”

  “Well, it was me who introduced von Brandt to you and Scott,” she insisted, “if it wasn’t for my stupid infatuation…”

  “You weren’t to know,” placated David.

  “He raped me!” cried Laura, bursting into tears.

  Taking her hand in his, David tried to comfort her. He had been informed about the rape by the police, so it came as no surprise to him.

  “I didn’t have any protection,” she wept, “what if I am pregnant. I don’t think I could handle that.”

  “Whatever the outcome,” soothed David, “you know I will always look after you.”

  His feelings for her were such that he would take her whatever the circumstances.

  Laura nodded, wiping her eyes with a tissue.

  “You are a good friend,” she smiled through the tears, “I don’t deserve it.”

  Looking at his watch, David suddenly remembered his appointment.

  “I’m expecting a visitor any time soon,” he announced.

  “Oh, I’d better leave you to it then” replied Laura, rising from her chair.

  “No,” insisted David, placing a hand on her arm, “please stay. This concerns you too.”

  Twenty minutes later, a slightly stocky man, with his left arm in a sling and of average height, knocked on the door, then entered the room. He walked over and introduced himself.

  “Liam Slater – CIA,” he smiled, “I believe you’ve been expecting me.”

  Ignoring medical advice to rest his shoulder, Slater was keen to follow up on a police report of a strange vessel taking off and disappearing.

  They both shook hands with him, and Slater pulled up a chair to sit down.

  “I’m guessing you are Laura Ellis?” proffered Slater, “that’s good, I can kill two birds with one stone.”

  “So, you witnessed a strange aircraft take off,” he continued, getting straight down to business.

  “The time machine, yes,” corrected David who wanted to make it crystal clear that they knew exactly what was going on, “Laura wasn’t there, but I saw it.”

  “And is it correct that you reverse engineered a drug for this man – von Brandt,” frowned Slater, “and you helped him with the… err… time machine?”

  “Yes, my cousin Scott helped him,” confirmed Laura.

  “I have tried to speak with Scott,” replied Slater pensively, “extraordinary boy. Doesn’t say much though.”

  “Since that day he has become more reclusive than ever,” explained Laura.

  “Did von Brandt tell you where he was going?”

  “Yes, he did,” affirmed David, “Germany – 1920.”

  This tallied with what Slater had been told in the bunker, and a cloud of foreboding fell over him.

  “Oh, speaking of Scott,” remembered David, “there is something else that might be of interest. Laura, in the top drawer of my nightstand, there is a piece of paper.”

  Opening the drawer, Laura found the paper and offered it to David, who duly passed it to Slater.

  The agent read it and reread it again.

  “What does it mean,” he uttered, completely flummoxed, “looks like some sort of equation.”

/>   “Let me see,” insisted Laura.

  She took the note off Slater and read it out loud: “Times Ten to the Power of Five.”

  Laura thought for a moment, then her eyes lit up.

  “It’s quite simple really,” she smiled, “this is a multiplication factor of one hundred thousand. Basically, it will add five zeros to any number.”

  “My God,” uttered David as it dawned on him, “Scott seemed very pleased with himself when he gave me that note. Do you think it’s possible he sabotaged the timers?”

  “That would mean,” remarked Laura doing the calculation in her head, “that instead of 1920, the date would be 192 million. Some 192 million years into the past.”

  “But that’s pre-historic,” blurted out Slater.

  He also did some mental arithmetic and realised that the nuclear bombs bound for 1944 would materialise 194.4 million years in the past, and Hitler would be sent 100 million years into the future. Slater burst out laughing, as much out of relief as jest.

  The room went silent as they pondered on this hypothesis. None of them could know for sure, but it was as good an explanation as any.

  Time will tell, thought Slater, time will tell.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  All Exits Are Final

  Western Pangaea – Sinemurian Period, Early Jurassic

  Circa 192 Million Years BC

  With bullets hitting the outer shell of the Glocke, von Brandt switched on the holographic controls then began tapping in the date and coordinates. He could hear the futile metallic ringing, as police rounds ricocheted off. Placing the goggles over his eyes, he pressed the button and immediately the time machine began to rotate. The spinning became faster and faster until von Brandt felt the vessel rise up, the interior glowing with an intense white light. Something was different though. Previously, the jump had been almost instantaneous, but this time the trip took just over a minute. As the rotation began to slow down, the time machine’s ability to defy gravity dissipated and at about twenty feet off the ground, it dropped like a stone onto a jagged rocky outcrop. Something was wrong, but what, reflected a slightly dazed von Brandt. The time machine was listing at twenty degrees from vertical. Opening the hatch, he stood up and backed his way out. The landing had jarred his spine; he felt the need to stretch, and as he did so, von Brandt cast his eyes around. He couldn’t believe what he saw. To his right was a lake, at least he assumed it was a lake, though it was so big, he couldn’t see the shore on the other side. Water from the lake was gently lapping up onto a sandy beach littered with jagged rocks of various sizes. To his left von Brandt could see a vast forest of massive conifers, reaching up to the blue sky and sweeping round the lake which was shimmering in the sunlight. The ground was mostly covered in ferns plus sparser, large wide-leaf plants which looked completely alien to the time traveller. Everywhere looked green and lush; the air was warm and humid.