Heavier Than Air

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

  “Great to have you back Claude. How did the mission go?”

  “I don’t know. We were being followed, so I left the squad to come back here. I found a band of men on the path coming this way. They will be here a few hours after daybreak.”

  Eric looked at his watch. The sun would be coming up in fifteen minutes.

  “Thanks for coming back, and for the warning. We have time to get set up. Let me show you how I placed the explosives that Clawson left behind. Anne-Marie, can you get Shahkar and Kami up. We will need everyone.”

  Eric looked down and saw Dog wagging his tail. Eric patted him on the head. “That includes you Dog.”

  Eric took Claude on a quick tour, pointing out the locations where the trip-wires were set for the bouncers, and the numbering system for the strings controlling rippers. They then worked out positions with Anne-Marie, Shahkar and Kami. Although there were now five of them, it still looked as if the best approach was to man just the two positions where Anne-Marie and Eric had set the string controls on the rippers. Both positions had good range of fire, and they could shoot and fire the rippers at the same time.

  “How many men do you think are coming?” asked Shahkar.

  “I saw ten, but it could be a few more. They look like outlaws. I heard them talking about coming here to steal your food. One of the men had seen Henry’s mule train go by.”

  Everyone realized that this was a fight to the death. Death was much better than being captured by the outlaws. Claude looked at his sister and shuddered when he thought of how close she had already come to being tortured and killed.

  Eric got everyone moving. “Lets get our ammunition where we can reach it at the two locations. Kami, if you could do some breakfast, that would be great. We need to keep watch from now on. Let’s use a signal of three whistles if you see something.”

  Claude and Anne-Marie decided to separate. Their rifles were the best long-range weapons, compared with the machine guns and pistols the others had. Claude would take the back position with Shahkar and Kami, while Eric and Anne-Marie took the front position overlooking the road. They had a lot of ammunition, most of it from the packs of the soldiers they had killed before. Shahkar and Kami were both given captured pistols, and an extra machinegun was placed at both locations in case one of the primary guns jammed.

  Once everything was in place, Kami went back in the cabin and brought food and water to everyone at their station. No one felt hungry initially because their nerves were on edge, but the smell of Kami’s cooking overcame the nervousness. Warm food was a welcome luxury while they waited. Dog got his usual share.

  Dog sensed that something important was happening, and moved back and forth between the two locations. He was standing on a rock in front of Anne-Marie when his ears shot forward. Dog started an almost inaudible growl.

  “He sees something.” Eric whistled three times and saw that Claude heard him. Eric and Anne-Marie crept to the edge of their position and looked down toward the path. After a few minutes they saw a man working his way from shadow to shadow, climbing the path.

  “That is their scout. Let’s let him get as close as possible. Plan to pick him off with your rife when he comes around the last boulder. I don’t want to use the rippers until we have more men in sight.”

  Anne-Marie nodded and pulled Dog back down next to her. Dog stretched out his forepaws in front of him and took a low profile, although his ears remained at attention.

  The scout continued working forward. They could see him wave his arm, gesturing for the rest of the outlaws to follow. A moment later a number of men appeared from behind a large boulder and started walking up the trail. They did not make any effort to hide themselves, but simply hiked up the middle of the trail with their guns drawn.

  Eric looked at the map he had sketched, showing the locations of the rippers. He carefully took two of the strings into his right hand, and then whispered to Anne-Marie.

  “Shoot the scout the next time he becomes visible.”

  Anne-Marie’s breathing became very shallow. She had the point where he expected the scout to appear sighted and waited for his image to fill the sights. Eric saw the man’s gun peek around the stone first, and then his head and right shoulder. Anne-Marie’s bullet went through the top of the man’s forehead.

  Eric pulled on both strings. The rippers sounded like a huge board snapping in two. The four men at the front of the line collapsed. The remainder turned and ran back down the hill. Eric looked at his map, grabbed another string and pulled. This one shot high along the path, but did not hit anyone.

  One of the four injured men was trying to move off the path, while the other three were motionless. Anne-Marie’s second shot stopped the crawling man. Rivulets of blood began to drain downhill from under all four bodies.

  “Keep an eye out. I want to tell the others what happened.”

  Eric ran over to the other position and filled them in. He explained that he expected the outlaws to come back, but not directly up the trail. They needed everyone to be vigilant.

  Back with Anne-Marie, Eric lay down and watched. Minutes ticked by without anything happening. Dog continued to look down the trail, but even dog’s attention began to wander.

  “I wonder if they gave up?” asked Anne-Marie.

  “It’s possible, but I doubt it. The will need food, and steeling from us is probably the only possibility for another ten to fifteen miles in any direction.”

  The wait continued. Dog got up and ran over to Claude, who was walking to the steep easterly edge of the clearing. Claud cautiously looked over the edge from behind a large rock, while Dog simply poked his nose over the edge and smelled.

  Claud moved back and whistled three times. He was pointing over the edge.

  “It looks like they are coming up the back side. Anne-Marie, you stay here and cover the path. I’ll move behind us so that I have a shot at anyone doing rock climbing.”

  “Be careful Eric.”

  “I will. Yell if you see anyone on your side.”

  Before Eric could get to the other side he heard the bank of a bouncer going off below them. Someone had tripped one of the threads. He peered down the slope, but could not tell which one had gone off or if anyone had been hit.

  Suddenly the rock beside him began exploding into fragments, as bullets crashed into the stone. Eric rolled over twice and squeezed into a low spot. He tried to calculate where the bullets had come from. Someone must be at his level, but where? He peeked out of his new location and scanned the area. Claude and Dog had vanished, but the shooter was not in that direction. The bastard must be in the hill over the path, shooting down at them. That meant Anne-Marie was in danger.

  Eric moved around the rock and looked for a man with a machinegun on the hill. The shooter had camouflaged himself too well to be seen until he fired again. Eric waited until he saw muzzle flashes. The shooter was aiming at Anne-Marie’s position, and was only about thirty yards away. Eric sighted carefully, and fired three rounds into the spot where he had seen the flash. A man burst out of the bush and ran back towards the path.

  Eric scrambled up, just as Anne-Marie was taking a shot at the runner. She might have hit him, but it would not be fatal. Eric couched next to the strings, selected another one and pulled. The area around the runner was raked in shot, but it was impossible to tell whether they had killed anyone.

  Anne-Marie pulled on Eric’s sleeve and pointed to the other station. Shahkar was standing frozen, shaking from head to toe, but Kami was busy firing her pistol down the slope.

  Anne-Marie was pointing towards Kami. “They must be coming up that slope. Claude is on the other side, and Kami does not know how to work the rippers. I’d better get over there.”

  “Let’s both get over there, but first let’s fire the rest of this set of rippers.” Eric took half of the strings while Anne-Marie took the rest. The pulled on all of them simultaneously, which made a sound like huge fireworks going off very close. Eric and Anne-Marie t
ook advantage of the noise to run across the open area to Kami’s position.

  “Shahkar, get down!” Eric could not see any response from the man, so he knocked Shahkar over to get him below the rock line. Eric then joined Kami and Anne-Marie, who were looking down the mountain.

  “Where have you seen men Kami.” Anne-Marie got her to point to two locations. Anne-Marie then checked the map and pulled one of the numbered strings. They could hear a man screaming after the noise of the ripper faded.

  “Help Kami reload Anne-Marie. I’m going to find Claude and see if he needs help. Eric heard another bouncer going off from the other side of the peak as he ran past the cabin towards the boulders. He found Claude between the boulders, looking down the slope.

  “There are too many places for them to hide. I killed one, but there are several more men down there. I think they will make it up to our level soon.”

  “We had better pull back and retreat up towards the peak. There is too much chance of being shot at from behind, particularly from where Kami and Shahkar are.”

  “OK, let’s go.”

  Eric and Claude ran back to the second defensive position, and explained what they were going to do. Anne-Marie fired all of the rippers. Eric then the pulled Shahkar to his feet and drug him and the bags of ammo past the cabin and started up the narrow trail to the peak. Kami helped keep her husband moving.

  “Claude, why don’t you and Anne-Marie take Kami and Shahkar up the hill and set up a defensive position near the peak. I’ll stay here and slow them down with the remaining rippers.”

  Claude nodded and moved everyone else up the path. Eric hid himself in a bush just above the path, having taken the next ripper string with him. It did not take long for two men to show up. Eric waited until they were right in front of the ripper, and then pulled the string. The men were shredded. Eric then hopped down and backed up behind the next ripper and hid again.

  A deadly calm settled over the peak. He could hear the men breaking into the cabin, but no other soldiers came up the path. After a half an hour Eric realized that the outlaws were not coming up the hill. They had all the food and water in the cabin. They could take their time, and ambush Eric’s group whenever they felt like it.

  * * *

  Mark Kauf and Menard were at the bottom of path to T12 when the first rippers were fired. Even from their distance the sound was quite loud.

  “Damn, that must be Eric setting off anti-personnel charges. Clawson left him a bag full. They must be under attack. I’d guess Claude is probably up there by now too.”

  Menard nodded. “That could explain all these tracks on the path. It must be either a group of soldiers or a band of outlaws. We’d better hustle up this hill.”

  They did their best, but there was just no way they could run up the steep grade carrying their packs, weapons, and ammo. They climbed as fast as they could, and stopped to catch their breath occasionally. The sounds of more explosives going off continued for another ten minutes, and then stopped. They had no idea what was happening.

  About two hours later Mark and Menard recognized that they were nearing the level of the weather station’s cabin. Looking around a large rock, Menard spotted the bodies of four outlaws spread along the path.

  “Looks like they took out four of them right in front of us. I don’t think we’d better take the path any further.”

  Menard pointed at the up-slope side of the path. “Looks like someone else went up the face right here. At least two sets of boots, probably more.” Heavy feet had damaged a number of the ferns growing on the edge.

  “Let’s see where they went.” Mark went first, and followed the tracks as they climbed towards the top of a small hill that overlooked the cabin. They walked slowly, listing for any sound that did not belong to nature. The trees were close together, with a number of elms drooping their limbs to eye level. They could only see twenty to thirty feet, and less in some areas.

  Menard held up his hand, and then pointed to the right. A man’s boots were visible. Closer examination showed that he had a number of small wounds. Ripper blast from Eric. “I just hope they don’t fire at us. We are dressed just like these outlaw bastards.”

  After another 75 yards, they were near the crest of the hill. Menard again signaled to stop, and then pointed to a single man sitting on a log, facing away from them. He seemed to be looking at the cabin, or possibly at the peak of the cabin behind the mountain.

  Menard set down his pack and his gun, and pulled out his knife. He whispered in Mark’s ear: “Shoot the bastard if he sees me. I’m going to try to kill him quietly.”

  Mark nodded and set up in a shaded position with a clear shot at the man through a break in the ferns. He kept his machinegun trained on the man’s back while he watched Menard inch forward. Menard moved incredibly slowly, testing each footstep gently before placing his full weight on it, and then moving to the next step. Several times the man looked around, but showed no sigh of having seen Menard. Mark’s trigger finger was itchy, but he did not want to make that much noise.

  Mark was amazed, but Menard was able to move up to directly behind the man. Menard grasped his knife in his right hand, with the blade pointing to the left and the sharp side towards himself. In one swift movement he pulled back on the man’s hair with his left hand, while slicing through his neck with the knife. The man fell backwards clutching his neck, and tried to scream. Blood spurted from both his neck wound and his mouth as he died.

  Menard took two clips from the corpse, and also found two grenades.

  Mark walked up behind him and whispered “How the hell did you do that?”

  “Just like hunting, only the game here is a lot stupider.” Menard was smiling.

  “Let’s see what he was looking at.”

  They moved forward a few feet, and got a clear view of the cabin. Two men were sorting through stores that appeared to have been brought out through the broken door of the cabin. Another man was to the side of the cabin, keeping a close look at the path that led up to the peak. The fourth man was guarding the approach up the path where they had seen the four bodies.

  “Got any ideas Menard?”

  “I figure we have five to kill, cause there is probably at least one more in the cabin. I don’t see any sign of Claude or the others, so I’ll bet they are up by the peak. That would explain why they are guarding the path on both ends. One of us has to kill that man guarding the main path down. Lucky this stiff had some grenades with him.”

  “OK, why don’t you work down towards the cabin, while I get closer to the guard.” Mark was pointing at the man guarding the path down. “I’ll kill the guard when I hear your first grenade go off, and then come back and join you. If we are lucking, Claude and Eric can help us from above – I’m assuming that they aren’t dead.”

  “Let’s do this.” Menard started down the hill, while Eric doubled back to get into a position where he had a clear shot at the guard.

  Eric steadied his machinegun against a tree and took careful aim at the guard. The guard was partially hidden behind some rocks, so it was not an ideal shot. Fortunately, the noise of the grenade going off surprised the guard, who stood up to get a better view. Eric put two bullets into his chest, and then ran back towards Menard’s position.

  The grenade had killed the man watching the smaller trail, but the two men who had been working in front of the cabin were now exchanging fire with Menard from behind some rocks. Another barrel was poking out of the cabin doorway, and firing into the bushes. Mark took aim at the side of the house next to the door and fired into the wall, hoping his bullets would penetrate the wood. It did work, as the gun continued to fire at Menard.

  “I’m hit!” It was Menard crying out, but Mark could not see him. Mark realized that it was just himself against three outlaws, and they had a better position.

  * * *

  Claude and Anne-Marie heard the gunfire, but it did not make sense. Eric should be guarding the path, not fighting from the area a
round the cabin.

  Anne-Marie thought she understood. “Eric must have gone back down to fight them. Let’s see if we can help him from the other side of this peak.”

  They left Kami and Shakar and crept around the rocky surface of the peak. It was solid granite, and offered few footholds. The narrow ledge they were walking along disappeared into the rounded shape of the peak as they inched around its edge. Claude was in front, and had progressed to the point where he could see the cabin.

  “I see two men below us in the rocks. If you can keep me from falling I may be able to shoot them.”

  Anne-Marie nodded. With one hand she held on to a narrow crack above her, while her other hand pressed her brother’s back towards the rock. Claude only had one foothold, and would need to use both hands to sight the rifle. He carefully moved the rifle butt to his right shoulder and then took aim.

  “Hurry Claude. I can’t hold this position for long.” Anne-Marie’s grasp of the ledge was slipping, and she had no way to get a better hold while steadying Claude.

  Claude’s first shot went through the back of one man’s skill. The other man took a moment to comprehend what had happened and then spotted them on the peak. Anne-Marie pulled back on Claude as bullets crashed into the rocks above them. Claude hugged the stone with both hands, allowing Anne-Marie to take a step back and then pull Claude back in with her.

  They heard more gunfire below them.

  “Let’s go down the path and see if we can get to Eric that way” gasped Claude as he recovered from the shock of being fired upon. They ran down the path and found Eric shooting around the corner of the cabin. Someone else was firing down on the rocks from the hill opposite the cabin.

  They ran up to Eric’s position and asked for an explanation.

  “It must be Henry or the squad on the hill. I think there are two outlaws left, but both of them are behind those rocks. There may be one in the cabin too, I can’t tell.”