Heavier Than Air

by T. E. Vario (t_e_vario@yahoo. com)

  Eric waited for the right moment, and then crept over to the end of the mule train and hid behind the animals. He worked his way from one mule to the next, trying to keep out of sight while still keeping an eye on the three men. The men were all dressed in rough clothing, made of skins. However, their boots looked like military issue, and they were certainly well armed. One of the men was holding Anne-Marie’s arms from the back, while the others stood in front of her pointing at her breasts. Eric could not hear what they were saying, but he could imagine.

  Eric moved closer and checked his weapon. It was now or never. He crouched just to the side of one mule, got into firing position, and then gave the mule a strong push to the side. As the mule took two steps away, Eric’s view opened to expose one of the men. He aimed at the man’s chest and fired a quick burst. He saw he had a hit, but his view was almost immediately obscured by the mules, who bolted from the surprise of the gunfire. Eric was knocked over by the flank of one mule, and had to grab onto the mule’s harness to avoid being trampled. His gun hung loosely behind him on its sling while he held on to the bucking mule with both hands.

  Claude had reached the edge of the house when he heard Eric’s shots. Claude crouched around the edge of the house, pointing his rifle barrel just over the level of the porch. It was mass confusion. One of the men was dragging Anne-Marie away from the house, while the other seemed to be wrestling for control of a machinegun with Henry. Claude sited the second man’s head, waited for Henry’s head to move to the side, and then fired. The bullet penetrated the man’s skull at the right temple. Henry grabbed the weapon and fired another shot into the man’s torso as he fell backwards.

  Claude could see that Eric had killed the first man next to the cabin, which just left the man who had grabbed Anne-Marie. Claude ran out onto the porch looking for a target. The bucking mules had kicked up a huge cloud of dust. He saw the head of the horse above the level of the mules. It looked like Anne-Marie was draped over the horse’s back while someone on the far side of the horse pulled the reigns towards the path downhill. The house and Anne-Marie shielded the man from a direct shot.

  Claude ran to the far side of the clearing, away from the mules, hoping for an angle. The dust obscured his vision, and the horse was already out of range. Claude knew he had to get to the trail at a lower level, but this meant crossing the clearing full of bucking mules. He ran for the far end of the mule train near where Eric had been, and vaulted the rope between two of the animals. He made it to the trail’s side of the clearing and aimed his rifle down the next leg of the path.

  It was too late. Claude saw that the man had mounted the horse and was already turning the next bend of the trail, galloping rapidly downhill. Anne-Marie drooped over the man’s lap like a sack of vegetables. They were out of sight in seconds.

  * * *

  “He took my sister.” Claude looked stunned as he walked over to the others. Shahkar was just getting up and had a bleeding gash on the size of his head. Kami had gone inside to get some water and dressings. Eric and Henry looked OK, and were moving the latest two bodies out of sight. They would need to open up a funeral parlor soon.

  Eric came back to Claude. “We need to pack and get moving after your sister as fast as we can. If we are lucky we can catch the bastard this evening before he links up with anyone else.”

  “Shahkar. Are you able to keep the transmissions going and let Outpost base know what just happened?”

  “Yes Eric. I’ll be OK.

  Henry returned to the group and introduced himself to Eric and Claude. “I’m Henry Silva. I’m so very sorry to have brought you all this trouble. They had a gun at my back, and I had no idea it would get this bad. I’m sorry to say this, but I’m glad you killed two of them. Too bad the third one got my horse.”

  “We understand Henry, and no one blames you. Shahkar told us how much you have done for them in the past.” Eric held the man’s arm as a physical demonstration of trust. I do need your help though. Can you stay here with Shahkar and Kami until we get back?”

  “It’s the least I can do. You boys better get on going if you are going to catch that bastard. You can take two mules if you think that will help.”

  Eric looked at Claude, who shook his head. “We’re better off on foot, as long as we travel light. Dog is the only animal we need.”

  Eric let out the straps on Anne-Marie’s backpack, as it was the lightest. The rushed into the cabin to grab a few items and then started down the path. “Better post watch all night. We’ll whistle four times as we come up so you know it is us returning.”

  “God’s speed to you” Henry yelled after them.

  * * *

  “Major Walters, I just got the latest transmission from the station on T12. It sounds like three men attacked them. They killed two, but the third one took a woman hostage.”

  Barbara filled in the rest of the details she had learned from the most recent transmission. Things were happening so fast, that she had started keeping a detailed log book of the information she received that was not weather related, just to keep it all straight.

  “Damn. I wish we knew whether the men had tracked Eric, or were just up to no good and happen on him.” Walters was thinking hard. “Barbara, get John and JP up here, while I get Section 12 on the secure terminal. It’s time we formed a plan instead of just reacting to everything the Gengon are throwing at us.”

  John Young was back from a sort training flight, and JP was doing repairs. There had not been much flying due to the increasing winds from the west. Barbara brought them both up to the major’s office. Major Walters was busy sending the latest information back to Largos in Section 12. Largos had Sara Young and Chad DeForrest in his office, so everyone who had been cleared on the information except Chad’s boss was present either physically or electronically.

  Reading over the Major’s shoulder, John, JP, and Barbara were able to see the messages pass back and forth. Walters had just briefed Largos on the news from Outpost Base and T12. Largos responded.

  INTERESTING DEVELOPMENTS AT T12. YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT THE MAN WITH THE MULE TEAM, HENRY SILVA, IS ONE OF OUR OPERATIVES. HE HAS BEEN DEEP COVER FOR TEN YEARS AND IS TOTALLY TRUSTWORTHY. HE MAKES SUPPLY RUNS FROM TRINTNEY TO ALL OF THE LOCATIONS SOUTH OF THAT TOWN, INCLUDING T12.

  Walters asked for an update from Section 12 as to what they had learned.

  WE HAVE HAD A SIGNIFICANT INTELLIGENCE BREAKTHROUGH THAT I CANNOT DIVULGE. THE RESULT IS THAT WE NOW BELIEVE THAT OUR ENEMIES TO THE NORTH ARE CREATING BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS IN A PHARMACEUTICAL PLANT IN THE CITY OF TRINTNEY. WE NOW KNOW FOR CERTAIN THAT THE INFORMATION ABOUT A POSSIBLE DIRTY BOMB RUN WAS PLANTED ON OUR SYSTEM AS A FALSE INTELLIGENCE FILE THAT WE UNFORTUNATELY TRANSMITTED TO YOU. IT IS LIKELY THAT THE ENTIRE COMPLEX PLOT OVER FALSE WEATHER REPORTS, FALSE BOMBING RUNS, AND FALSE INTELLIGENCE WAS DESIGNED TO DISTRACT US FROM THE BIOLOGICAL ATTACK.

  Barbara made the connection. “So that is what those canisters Eric stumbled on were all about. They were planning to take those down to our population centers and open up the valves.”

  Walters went back to typing.

  IT SOUNDS THAT WE HAVE TWO PRIORITIES. 1) DESTROY THE BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS FACTORY AS FAST AS POSSIBLE. 2) FIND OUT HOW MANY OTHER SQUADS ARE BRINGING BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS TOWARDS US AND INTERCEPT THEM.

  CORRECT. I BELIEVE SECTION 12 HAS THE MEANS IN SECTION 12 TO WORK ON LOCATING THE OTHER SQUADS. PERHAPS YOU CAN COME UP WITH A PROPOSAL ON THE ATTACK PLAN. SUGGEST WE RECONNECT IN FOUR HOURS TO COMPARE NOTES.

  AGREED. NEXT MEETING WILL BE AT 20:00 HOURS.

  The group in Captain Walter’s office sat back down around the table and got to work. JP’s mind was already humming.

  “Moving an attack team all the way to Trinity on the ground would take over a week, even on horseback. We can’t wait that long. We need to fly men up there now and blow that factory.”

  “I’m thinking the same thing JP, but we need the element of surprise. If we drop them during the day, their chu
tes are almost certain to be spotted. Our planes don’t do much except glide downhill at night, so I don’t see how we can be fast and have the element of surprise at the same time.”

  Barbara spoke up. “John, if the planes could stay up at night, could the soldiers jump safely?”

  “Sure, if there were a beacon on the ground to aim for. The parachute can’t tell whether it’s dark or not, but the jumper has to avoid flying into trees or rocks.” John did not know why Barbara was asking the question.

  “What’s going through your mind?” Major Walters asked Barbara.

  “I think I know how to get the planes down there tonight, but only tonight. We have a stationary front off to the north, which is forcing the winds to blow from almost exactly due west. There should be standing waves all the way up the mountain range, which extends well past Trintney. But the waves will only be there while this unusual weather condition exists. I think wave conditions will hold all night, but can be expected to change back to the more normal weather pattern tomorrow.”

  “Pardon my ignorance Barbara, but what kind of wave are you talking about.” Major Walters had not done much flying.

  John interrupted and explained. “When you have strong winds flowing straight over the mountains, the air downstream tends to form waves. It is like the ripples in a stream downstream of a rock. We can ride the rising side of those waves to very high altitude. The only trick is that our planes are not set up for night flying.”

  “I can take care of that in an hour John.” JP was rubbing his hands. “All I need to do is to put in a gyro and give you a flashlight to watch it by.”

  “Are you sure you can do this John?” The Major was ready to make a decision.

  “Yes sir. If you can get a drop location set up with some sort of beacon, I can fly four or five men to that location tonight. We need to get our skates on, but I know we can do it.”

  “OK, let’s do it. I’ll get four commandos up from Williams as fast as possible. JP, get four planes set up for night flying. Barbara, get on the link with T12 and figure out a safe place for our boys to drop, and some way to make a beacon the jumpers can aim for. John, pull together three other pilots and start planning the course. I’ll also let Section 12 know what we are doing, and see if they can enlist their man Henry Silva to help the commandos into Trinity. Let’s shoot for a 0-hour launch. Everyone set?”

  “Yes Sir!” They all raced to get their work done.

  * * *

  The four commandos had barely gotten off their horses when they were tried for size in the rear seat of the four night-equipped planes. The men were travelling heavy, with a considerable amount of extra explosives, so it took a lot of adjusting to get everything in so that the canopies would close.

  “Give all four of them an extra sized barf bag JP. It’s going to be very rough as we work up through the rotor. After that it should be smooth as glass, but they’ll have tossed all their cookies long before.”

  “OK, John. Make sure both of your flashlights work. You won’t be able to see a damn thing without light, and if you can’t see the gyro you won’t be able to stay upright for more than 30 seconds. You understand that part, right?”

  “Right JP. No flashlight and I bail.”

  “We’ll light fires beside the runway before you get back, so you know where to land. Do a high landing pattern tonight. Don’t want to scrape you off the side of that hill.”

  “You worry too much JP.”

  Barbara came running towards them. “I’ve got the jump beacon and landing zone worked out with T12. There is a plateau close to T12, about two miles west. Henry Silva is going to build a fire starting three hours from now, with enough screening around it so that the flames will not be directly visible except from above. He will keep the fire burning until dawn, or until he collects four commandos. The trick is that your men will be jumping in a 30-knot wind, in the dark, and in the mountains. You need to be well upwind before they jump, or they will end up missing the plateau and landing in the trees.”

  “Thanks Barbara. These guys pull the cord pretty low, so I don’t think they will miss. Still, we’ll make sure we are upwind.”

  John took Barbara’s map over to the lead commando, Mark Kauf, and explained the situation. Mark and his squad talked over the best approach.

  “I think the safest bet is for you to drop us roughly here, but at 2000 feet AGL. We have a lot of control during free fall, and can delay pulling the chord until we are close to the ground. With this much wind we want to have as little time blowing in the silk as possible.”

  “OK. It sounds like you are comfortable with the mission corporal?”

  “Yes Sir. All four of us were upcountry just a week ago, and killed a few of the bastards. We were briefed as to what is in that factory, and know the Gengon would not hesitate to use those weapons. We know what needs to be done.”

  “Good. Be prepared for some pretty rough air right after we launch. We can’t get into the smooth air without going through a turbulent zone call the “rotor” first. After we get through that, the air should be glassy smooth all the way north.”

  “We can deal with a few bumps Sir. Clauson, Hirotomi, and Menard were all grining.”

  John knew these men had a right to be cocky, but they had no idea how rough ‘rough’ could get in wave flying. Oh well, they’ll soon find out.

  “JP, we are ready to launch.”

  * * *

  Back in Section 12, Chad and Sara had been given the task of figuring out how to make it look as if Hanna was still duping them.

  “We need to write data on a chip and use Hanna’s drop location to transmit it. Otherwise they will know Hanna has been found out. What do you think should be on the chip Sara?”

  “It needs to be verifiable, so that they confirm what we are feeding them from other sources of data. If we want them to think we are still chasing dirty bombs, then we need to act like we are.”

  “OK, let’s run with that. What if we set up some fake air and ground missions that look like we are addressing the dirty bomb threat? We know from one of the intercepts you decoded that they have been looking at getting radioactive materials out of one of those old reactor shells in the Great Valley. Our Madrin generals could decide to take over those reactors to thwart the Gengon dirty-bomb plan.”

  “Chad, that’s good. We can put the outline of the plan, plus some fake intercepts into a chip, just as Hanna might have done. Then we need to get a few air and ground forces to make a lot of noise to the east for the next few days, so that the Gengon think we are charging right towards those reactor remains.”

  “You make up the fake data for the chip and load it. I’ve got to brief Captain Giovani about what we are doing and get the OK to keep Hanna’s channel open with fake data. We don’t usually do nasty tricks like that, as I’m sure you are aware…”

  “Right, I believe you Chad. Get out of here while I cook up a bunch of fake transmissions.”

  * * *

  Lagos handled the secure communications to both the ground forces in Camp Williams, and the Air Corps at Outpost base. Both groups were given precise locations and times when they should make “mistakes”, such as showing smoke from a campfire, or using the radio in the air. It was past 1:00 when Captain Walters and JP quit working the next day’s mission.

  “These pilots are going to think I have completely lost my marbles. They need to fly to difficult locations, engage no one, and toot their radios for every Gengon bastard in 100 miles radius to hear. What’s worse, I can’t tell them why.”

  “Word of advise Captain,” said JP. “Tell them that you can’t explain why we are doing these things, but that doing them will be a big help in getting Eric Young home. The rumor mill will then figure out some completely ridiculous explanation that they will all believe.”

  Captain Walters smiled. “You are wise beyond your years JP.”

  Eric and Claude were running down the path following Dog. It was late afternoon, and much of t
he path was in deep shadows. Numerous rocks protruding through the soft volcanic soil made it treacherous to run on, but the horse’s tracks were easy to follow. The mule train’s prints all went up-mountain, so the lone horse horseshoe marks going down slope stood out even to Eric’s untrained eyes.

  They reached the valley floor after about an hour. The tracks abruptly ended and the rounded granite stones of the streambed gave no clues to where the horse had gone. The trail continued up the opposite slope, but no horse tracks were visible there. The horse could have been ridden any distance up or down the stream without leaving a trace. It was up to Dog to show the way.

  Dog jumped across the stones to reach the opposite side of the stream. He sniffed the path and then started exploring downstream. After a few minutes Dog returned and disappeared upstream. Eric and Claude followed slowly, moving to the opposite side of the stream to see if they could find any trace of the horse. A lush carpet of ferns grew along the edge of the stream, which covered the ground beneath. Combined with the dimming daylight, there was little chance of finding the trail.

  Finally Dog ran back to them, waited for Claude to follow, and then went upstream again. Eric and Claude followed while Dog took them about a quarter mile upstream and then back to the same side of the stream they had come from. Dog bounded up the soft slope and started uphill. About twenty feet up Claude got down on his knees and looked at the ground. He pointed out clear traces of horseshoes in dry patch of soil. Dog sniffed the patch of ground and was about to continue when Claude hugged the animal around the neck. If they saved his sister, it was Dog who deserved the credit.

  Off they went again, uphill, but at an angle to the path they had taken to the cabin. They could make out that they were on what had once been an ancient road. Small bits of flat concrete remained in some areas where erosion had not yet done its work. At one point Eric thought he saw the remains of a small bridge as they crossed another stream, but he might be imagining things. It was very dark.

  They smelled smoke long before they saw the flames. Someone had built a campfire. Eric took point and walked soundlessly behind dog, while Eric held back about twenty paces. Fifty feet later the flicker of the orange flames upon the branches was visible ahead. Claude gestured for Eric to continue along the path while Claude made his way to the left, so as to approach the flames from two sides.