“I think the two of you are expert with such weapons,” said Wittman with a laugh. “Though I don’t expect you to fight off all of our enemies by yourselves. Not saying you are not capable of such. The General also has some ideas about that, if we can decimate the local forces enough to keep them off of us for a year or so. He is thinking of using our discipline against them, as the locals don’t seem to use any kind of military formations more organized than the European Dark Ages.”
“Mongol, Roman or Spartan,” said Levine with a grunt. He looked up at the two men looking at him, their eyes begging an explanation.
“Three of the most disciplined military forces of antiquity,” said the immortal. “Able to handle anything short of gunpowder forces. I don’t think Mongol will work very well, because it requires men who were born in the saddle and could fire a bow from a moving horse. Spartans were also born warriors. It would take us longer than a year to raise those kinds of forces. But the Romans were a different story. They took men who had been raised in cities, and didn’t know one end of a Gladius from the other. And in less than a year trained them to be professional soldiers whose discipline allowed them to conquer the known world. Including a run in with the Spartans in which those worthies came out second best.”
“We used some Mongol tactics against the Russians,” said Kurt. “The Russian’s ancestors had fought the Mongols, and still fell for the old tricks. I wonder if they might work against people who have never heard of the Mongols.”
“That is why we need you,” said the Oberst, smiling. “Oh, it’s nice to have some strong head breakers to throw at the opponent. But you two have practical experience that we need. I am sure that the General will give you some military rank commiserate with that experience. I can’t give you anything above light colonel, which I really think is too low a rank for your abilities. But I can make you senior civilian advisors, and maybe colonels in the citizen’s militia we are going to form.”
“I will take any rank offered and do anything necessary to protect the people of the Fatherland,” said Kurt, placing his hand over his heart.
“And you, Herr Levine?” asked the Oberst.
“I have to admit that the word Fatherland sends a chill up my spine,” said the Jewish immortal. “And not from any positive feelings for the word. But you are humans from my planet. My close heritage. And you are not your grandfathers and fathers. Though my friend Kurt here actually is of your grandfathers. But he is repentant, and I will forgive him. So I will throw my lot in with the Germans and their American allies. And do all I can to ensure that we survive on this planet. Nay, that we prosper.”
The Oberst gestured with a hand and an orderly appeared out of the night. Glasses of red liquid were held by the orderly on a silver tray. The men each grabbed one of the glasses of wine and held them to their front while the orderly withdrew.
“A toast gentlemen,” said the Oberst, holding his glass up. The firelight shown through the red liquid and lent the tent behind them a red glow. “Confusion to our enemies.”
“Confusion to our enemies,” echoed the two immortals.
Kurt took a sip of his wine. It was sweeter than he normally liked, but pleasant tasting otherwise. The place might be right out of the middle ages in some respects, he thought, but they could still make a pleasant life here if the locals stopped trying to kill them.
* * *
A couple of barking dogs startled Beate out of her stupor. She looked up to see a pair of big Alsatians running toward her, a man running after.
“Thor, Odin,” he yelled at the dogs. “Leave that nice young woman alone.”
The dogs shuffled up and both stuck their noses in the box, sniffing wildly, then sitting back with smiles on their faces. Gertrude looked up without concern, while the kittens continued to root around.
“I am so sorry, young lady,” said the middle aged man, running up and grabbing both dogs by the collars. He looked over into the box and smiled. “These two lugs grew up around cats, and wouldn’t harm them for the world. But they can still be intimidating.”
“That’s OK, she said, patting one of the dogs on the head. “They’re beautiful. And where are their kitty companions.”
“I don’t have a clue,” said the man, a sad look on his face. “With the wife I would guess. Back on whatever is left of the Earth. Unless I can find her here.”
Beate felt her heart go out to the man as a tear rolled down his cheek. “I hope that you find her.”
“I’m going to keep looking,” he said, sniffling. “And Odin and Thor will help me. And you take good care of those little ones. I think they will be more valuable than you could believe.”
“The only cats on the planet you mean?” said Gerhardt, walking up to stand beside the man, then going still to let the dogs get his scent. He then moved over to stand beside his woman.
“Not the only cats,” said the man. “I saw some others today, along with their caregivers.” The man looked down at the ground for a second, then back up at the pair. “You two have a good night. I’ve some more to do before I’m to bed.” The man moved off into the night with the two dogs at his heels.
“Are you OK, leibchen,” said Gerhardt, sitting down beside Beate on the log they had claimed.
She glanced at the man, then back at the fire they had both vacated. It had seemed too hot to her, and she preferred some cool temperatures after what she had been through today. She smiled as she heard a meow, and she ruffled the fur on Gertrude, the mamma cat. The mother was lying on her side in the box, her four kittens doing what they did best, drinking from her fountain of nourishment.
“I’m not sure how I am,” she said, looking over at her lover. “I am happy we are alive, that we didn’t die when my home went up in nuclear fire. I am sad that my home was taken, and with it so many of the people I grew up with. And I am terrified to be on this world.”
“It will be OK,” said Gerhardt, putting an arm around her. “It will be OK.”
She sat there shaking her head for a moment. “Did you see those things, Gerhardt? Did you really look at them? They were monstrous. Like creatures of nightmare. And the people who led them were just as bad.”
“I thought the Elves were beautiful,” said Gerhardt with a tight smile.
“Physically yes,” agreed Beate, nodding her head. “But not inside. They were not the creatures of beauty I thought they would be. They were evil. They were worse than us. If not for those brave soldiers.”
“And don’t forget the Demigods,” he said, nodding.
“Yes,” she said, feeling her heart rising. “They were magnificent.”
“I heard that one is a Jew,” said Gerhardt, staring into the night.
“And what of it,” said Beate with a frown. “We definitely don’t need that kind of prejudice in this place and time.”
“No prejudice,” said Gerhardt, putting his hand over his heart. “I had an Israeli friend at the University. Ben. You must have remembered him?”
“I thought he was American. He was from Israel?”
“Well, by way of Miami,” said Gerhardt with a laugh. “He might be here. On this world I mean. Last I heard he was still at the University, and couldn’t get a flight home in the crisis.”
“Then I hope he is here,” said Beate in a soft voice. “And not burned to death in Hamburg.”
“We are here,” said Gerhardt, kissing her softly on the neck. “We are alive, and as long as we keep the faith and work with the soldiers we will stay alive.”
“How are we on fuel,” she asked, looking back at the battered looking car.
“That is not so good,” he said, shaking his head, then taking a swig of the ale he had in his hand. “Maybe an eighth of a tank. And we still have hundreds of kilometers to go to get to this so called sanctuary.”
“Where did it all go?”
“The track is rough, leibchen,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. “And it is all stop and go, all day long. Now I underst
and what my grand pappa was talking about when he told of us his days with Rommel, in Africa.”
“And when we run out of gas?”
“Then we hitch a ride,” he said with another shrug. “Or we walk.”
“I’m not leaving Gertrude and the kittens,” she said, feeling a new bit of fear at having to walk carrying the box and her other things.
“I don’t think you have to worry about that,” said Gerhardt, nodding toward the man who was walking away. “As he said, they will be worth their weight in gold. Did you notice that farming village earlier today? When we weren’t trying to keep our heads low, that is?”
“Well yes. What about it?”
“No cats,” said the man with a smile. “And from what I heard they have a real rodent problem here. Like swarms of plague carrying rats, just like our homeland had five hundred years ago. So Gertrude and her children will be prized ratters. I see a population explosion of cats in the near future, and a serious reduction in the rat population.”
“That’s fantastic,” she said, ruffling Gertrude’s fur.
“Are there any scientists or engineers within the sound of my voice,” came a shout through the night, coming closer. “Scientists or engineers, please answer.”
“Don’t answer,” said Beate, putting a hand on Gerhardt’s arm.
“It might be important,” said Gerhardt. “I’m a geologist,” he yelled, waving his hand.
A man in uniform came walking out of the dark, another man following with a clipboard in his hand. Beate noted that the officer, for he had to be such, had a medical Caduceus on his collar.
“And how long were you in your studies, Mein Herr?” the officer asked. “And from which University?”
“I was working on my professional certificate, with one semester to go before my boards. At Hamburg.”
The man nodded his head and looked impressed. Beate knew that Gerhardt would be considered a PhD working on a postdoc in an American school.
“Any professional experience?”
“I have done field research and prospecting in the American Rockies and in South Africa,” said Gerhardt, almost puffing out his chest.
“Then you are what we are looking for,” said the officer. “If you would please come with us.”
“For what purpose?” said Gerhardt, his face now suspicious.
“You have of course heard of the sanctuary the Americans are securing for us to the south,” said the officer, a smile stretching his face. “The refuge I think they are calling it.”
“It has flown through the local area like a photon,” said Gerhardt, his face still suspicious. “But what does that have to do with me?”
“We want to assemble all of our scientists there,” said the officer, nodding at Gerhardt. “Our brain trust. To work out the problems that will need to be solved if we are to survive and prosper on this world.”
“And when would I leave?”
“As soon as we can arrange transport. Come morning.”
“Do you hear that, Beate?” said Gerhardt, looking over at her with a smile on his face. “We can get to the Sanctuary in a day or two. Isn’t that wonderful?”
Beate hadn’t heard it put that way by the officer, and she looked up to see him shaking his head.
“Do you have a specialty, Fraulein?” asked the medical officer.
“I had a year of nursing school,” she replied, feeling her heart sink again as she saw the negative on that face.
“We cannot use you, Fraulein,” said the man. “And we only have room to move essential personnel at this time.”
“Then you don’t have room for me either,” said Gerhardt, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Please, professor,” said the man, holding out his hands.
“I am not one yet,” said Gerhardt, pouting out his lip.
“As far as we’re concerned you are,” said the officer. “And you are needed.”
“So you will force me to go against my will?”
“No, Mein Herr,” said the officer, shaking his head vigorously. “I have no orders to force a free citizen of Germany to go against his will. And I will not do so. But as I said, the people need you. It may not seem that important at the moment, but who knows. You may have one of the insights that save us. But if it is your final decision, I will wish you a good night.”
Beate could look into Gerhardt’s face and tell that he was warring with himself. He looked at her with a wounded look on his face. She knew he was a good citizen, and would do anything to help others. She also knew that he felt responsible for her, maybe even loved her.
“I want you to go,” she said, putting her hand on his arm. “You need to go and be with the great minds that will save us. I will be fine. After all, I’ve got all these soldiers around to protect me. And the Demigods.”
Gerhardt’s war with himself went on for a moment, she could read it on his face. Then he looked over at the men who were almost out of sight.
“Wait,” he said, waving at the men, who hurried back over at a run.
“If I go with you,” he said as the officer came to a stop. “What can you do for my girlfriend here?”
The officer thought for a moment, then looked back at his man and nodded. He looked over at Beate, then at Gerhardt. “I can promise a full tank of fuel for your vehicle, if she agrees to take on passengers tomorrow.”
Beate nodded her head. There was no way she would drive alone while others walked,
“And she will have the protection of my battalion,” said the officer, clicking his heels together. “I hope that will be enough.”
“That will be good enough, sir,” said Beate with a smile.
“When do I have to leave?” asked Gerhardt, a frown on his face.
“Not till morning, Mein Herr Professor,” said the doctor, giving an abbreviated salute. “Enjoy your night.”
With that the man was gone into the night, and Beate was left alone with her boyfriend, and her thoughts.
* * *
First Lieutenant Jacquelyn Smith sat around another fire not more than ten kilometers further down the road, or what they called a road in these here parts. She had missed out on the action today, being too far back down the line. She had heard more stories of the magic of this world, and was not sure how much of it she believed. As they said, seeing was believing, and she had yet to see it with her own eyes. She had also heard the tale of the two Demigods. She was not unsure about that story. She thought it had to be BS, passed along by people who were looking for any possible sign of hope.
I wonder if momma and daddy made it, she thought, wincing at the memories of home. They had lived in rural Alabama. They were unlikely to be near any nuclear explosions, and she wasn’t sure whether that was good news or bad either. If they had been near to a blast they might have come over as well, and she had to hope that the Southern United States was not connected to such a dark land as this. Maybe it was a land of cheerful little farmers, with none of the other murderous races that peopled this region. Yeah, and maybe they have Santa Claus living there as well, ready to pass out gifts to all the little survivors. She chuckled at the thought, then went sober as she played the rest of the tape. They could have died in the blast. Or, as she first thought, they might be too far from any blast to have been affected either way. In which case they would die of radiation sickness, unless they made it to safety.
Daddy’s smart, she thought, picturing her stern looking father’s face. He had been a Navy chief petty officer, in the nuclear navy. He knew the score, and would know what to do to get his family to a safe place. If there was such a thing.
“May I sit here, Fraulien?” asked a familiar voice, and Jackie looked up to the face of Hauptman Karl Meklis, commander of the panzergrenadier company she had been riding with. The man held two steaming plates of food, and another officer, a leutnant, came behind him with his hands full of bottles of beer.
“Of course you may, sir,” said Smith, smiling at the man. “You su
re do have the appetite though, don’t you?”
“One of these is for you,” said the officer, handing her the plate, which was heaped with roast pork and vegetables. “My Chief Mess Sergeant said he did not think you came through the line. And we have to be burning a lot of calories with the work we are doing.”
“I sat in a jeep all day,” she said with a laugh. “Or the German equivalent of one. Made by Mercedes.”
“Nervous tension will burn calories,” said the Leutnant, Fenstermaker, the first platoon leader. “And we all have nervous tension.”
“True,” said Jackie, picking up a piece of meat and taking a bite. “This is delicious.”
“And have a beer to wash this down,” said the Leutnant, handing over a bottle.
“I always thought your Army was more civilized than ours,” she said with a laugh, then took a swig of the good German brew. “You always bring a beer ration to the field.”
“We don’t know how long that will last,” said Meklis, sitting down on the log next to the American. “Then we will have to establish some breweries to make more.”
“And such a positive attitude,” said Smith, looking down at the ground.
“You have people back in the States?” asked Meklis, looking over at her. “Fraulein Smith.”
“Call me Jackie,” she said with a tight smile. “That’s short for Jacquelyn.”
“Such a beautiful name for a warrior woman,” said the Leutnant, taking a seat next to his company commander.
“My dad, the senior chief petty officer, named me after a famous actress of his time,” she said, thinking again of her family. “She wasn’t the greatest actress of her day, but she was honest to God beautiful.”
“And you chose the Army as a career?” asked Mekles, raising an eyebrow.
“I get seasick on boats,” she said with a smile. “And what about you two? Are you missing anyone?”
“My wife and son were in Koln,” said the Hauptman, bowing his head. “Maybe I will see them here someday. Or maybe that time will be in Heaven.”
Refuge: The Arrival: Book 1 Page 17