by Leo Nix
“Damn it's hot tonight, and my hands are shaking. Look, all that firing, I can hardly hold my pistols anymore. I need another drink,” she said.
“Yeah right, as if the lieutenant cares,” continued the loudmouth private who was pouring himself another bourbon and coke. He thoroughly enjoyed killing as much as he enjoyed sex. “Milk Tits has already humped everyone in the platoon bar you, Tiny. If you had bigger tits I'm sure she'd hump you too.”
“If I had bigger tits I'd fall over,” laughed Tiny, her face was red from the whiskey, the exertion of throwing firebombs through shop-front windows and firing her pistols. She poured herself another drink, her third.
“If I had a bigger dick I'd fall over too,” called Corporal Mandy, an older, non-commissioned officer who always tried to fit in with the younger members.
“Girls don't have dicks, Mandy, but if you want one I've got mine here.” Tall and good-looking with his black hair and tanned skin, Sammy grabbed at his crotch and pretended to open his trousers to release his manhood.
“The corporal said bigger, not smaller, Sammy,” joked Ivan. The tall, well-built ex-infantry private, swept his gaze back to the front door of the hotel. Ivan knew that some of the spy base staff frequented this particular hotel on the beach front. Despite their initial success and zero opposition, he was certain that they'd eventually need to confront armed survivors. He wanted to be ready.
“Hey, Corporal Mandy, did our team finish poisoning the water treatment plant in Perth? And what's happening with the rest of the world? Any news?” Ivan asked as he accepted a cold beer from the loudmouth at the bar.
“Yes, they've poisoned the water, it should have hit the city reservoirs by now. When everyone wakes up to make their morning cuppa, they'll have to drink it, and… bingo! We've had to start the apocalypse early so we won't find out what's happening world-wide until later. Just give it time.” Mandy replied as she tossed off a triple bourbon and coke.
While the terrorists drank and laughed, Obi-Wan and Soldier of Fortune had crept from the darkened corners through the maze of bar stools and tables tossed loosely around the room. They emerged, knives in hand, at the back of the bar behind the two terrorists serving up the free liquor. On the other side of the bar Skip and Burger manoeuvred to the kitchen entrance, positioning themselves to take out the guard at the front door. They were also in a position to take out the girls now sitting at a nearby table drinking.
Skip waited for Obi's signal then threw a coffee mug through the broken glass window. It smashed five metres beyond the ex-infantry guard at the entrance. All eyes turned disinterestedly to see what the noise was.
Obi-Wan was now within striking distance to take down the first soldier, the foul-mouth passing out liquor. He stood and put him in a stranglehold cutting off his airway. He snapped the youth's neck as he dropped back down to a crouch easing the body to the floor.
While Obi-Wan took care of victim one, Soldier of Fortune had grabbed Sammy by his long greasy hair as he too looked to see what the noise was. Sammy found himself spinning to the floor paralysed from a crushing karate palm strike to his neck. The terrorist's larynx was crushed, it's delicate cartilage and tendons a pulp of blood and tissue. As he fell, Fortune grabbed and eased him to the floor. Sammy died quietly with Fortune's hand over his gaping mouth.
Within seconds two of the five terrorists were down. Now both Obi-Wan and Fortune were armed with AK47's and pistols. Obi-Wan nodded to Fortune, together they rose from behind the bar to put two bullets into each of the surviving terrorist's foreheads.
No-one spoke as they stripped the enemy bodies of weapons, knives and ammunition. Anything of use was taken, even down to their webbing, backpacks and water bottles. They might not have a chance to gather supplies like this again. Skip and Burger were now armed and they had a spare AK47 for Murphy and a pistol for Pipeline.
From listening to the terrorist's conversation all four knew that something very serious was happening. It wasn't just local it seemed to be world-wide. The four soldiers dragged the bodies into one of the rooms off to the side of the drinker's lounge. It was unlikely they'd be discovered unless someone deliberately went through each room.
“What's this say, Obi? It looks like it's written in Arabic.” Skip held up one of the terrorist's bandannas, it was black with white writing on the front.
Obi-Wan snatched it out of the air as Skip tossed it to him. He studied it for a moment then threw it to the floor.
“It's ancient Aramaic, it says 'Apocalypse',” replied Obi-Wan disgustedly.
Skip handed the spare weapons to Murphy and Pipeline when they got to the back of the building. They were waiting there with the four girls. The other patrons had disappeared.
“Guys, this sounds like the Revelationists have started the apocalypse like they've been praying for these past few years. One of them said that they had poisoned the water in Perth and that the rest of the world is also under attack, probably much like this. Something started the firefight early but I don't know what that was. Maybe their plan was discovered, I don't know.” Skip spoke softly, urgently.
“Obi, from what we've seen, this city is dying, there's explosions, fires, smoke… I think we need to contact base and head back to Pine Gap, what do you reckon?” said Murphy scratching at a mosquito bite on his exposed ankle.
There were the six, off-duty Pine Gap special operatives, and the four girls they were drinking with. The girls were calm but clearly afraid and confused. They didn't want to be separated from their rescuers, they stuck close to Murphy and Pipeline in particular.
“I think we should head to Kollarena, meet up with the AFP at the base there. They'll have weapons and intelligence. We should be able to contact Pine Gap base from there too,” suggested Soldier of Fortune.
“Yeah, good idea,” agreed Obi-Wan, “but how do we get there? They've got, what did the news say, five thousand Revelationists here in Geraldton? We can't just hijack a car and drive out, they'll have the roads blocked and manned with automatics and heavy weapons by now.”
One of the girls, Emily, spoke up quickly, her breath labouring with tension. “My dad's got a boat… it's moored just around the corner… I know where the key is.” She took a deep breath then continued. “It's going to be a lot safer if we go to Kollarena by boat.”
Murphy, an avid yachtsman in his hometown near San Francisco, replied, “Great idea, I'll take the helm first and get us away from the wharf.”
Emily led them through a series of back alleys and then through a park on the beachfront. At one point they saw terrorists firing on a group of revellers hiding on the water's edge. The terrorists walked into the waves and continued to fire, it was a bloody slaughter. Some of the civilians dived under the waves trying to swim to safety. The terrorists just waited until they surfaced for air, then killed them.
The group held back in horror hidden by a screen of bushes. The sounds of screaming still in their ears.
“Obi-Wan, no, we've got to get to the base,” said Pipeline softly, putting his hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder. They all knew they could take this group out but the whole city was swarming with laughing, drinking and murdering terrorists. On every corner there were groups of them dressed in black shirts and bandannas covered in white Aramaic writing. “Our priority is survival, we have a duty and right now that is to get back to our base.”
Obi-Wan nodded but inside he shuddered. He'd seen wanton murder before but this was different, this was pure evil.
“It's that one, there,” the pretty blond pointed out her father's launch. It looked solid enough and should easily hold the group of ten survivors. “I'll get the key and unlock the disabler dad put on.”
Murphy was already checking the launch driving compartment. The broad-shouldered SEAL took the keys from Emily's outstretched hand and started the motor.
“Cast off, Pipeline. Skip, get that rope off, yeah, that one,” he pointed to a small line holding the bow to the wharf. “OK, hold on and take stat
ion everyone.” The two sailors were members of the US Navy SEAL Team Six, the team that had killed Osama bin Laden over a decade earlier.
The boat roared into life and shot forward. The group of terrorists on the beach heard them and ran forward, some crouched and opened fire. At that distance it was unlikely they'd take any hits, but Burger escorted the girls below decks anyway.
Once they'd escaped the beach and put some distance between them and the city, Emily slipped behind Murphy and hugged him tightly.
She shivered in the cool breeze. “Murph, you are my hero.” Emily kissed his neck then went to check that all was as it should be on her father's boat. She too was an experienced sailor.
Like Murphy, Pipeline had handled boats all his life too, even captaining a racing yacht for his uncle while still in college. He set about securing the launch and checked the fuel and battery. These were essential to their successful escape to the Kollarena spy base roughly twenty kilometres away.
“Don't worry, Pipeline, we'll get to Kollarena without running out of fuel. We've done that trip heaps of times,” called Emily as she curled up in one of the wet-weather jackets she'd brought out for the girls to wear.
“Emily, can you please give me your radio unlock code. I'll try to raise the base from here. I might be able to listen in on the chatter from the terrorists too.” Emily walked him through the radio setup, it was a standard marine-style CB. Obi-Wan nodded as he keyed in and tried to contact Pine Gap or Kollarena base - without success.
Skip sat down to join his friend, Obi-Wan. Together they listened to the chatter from the terrorists. It appeared they were having a great time. They'd met no opposition from civilians or police. They laughingly described how they had hit the police station earlier, they took no prisoners.
“Idiots, they don't have secure radio protocols,” said Skip, “they must think they'll get away with all of this.”
“Skip, I'm worried that they just might. If this is worldwide and they've poisoned the drinking water; and if they've exposed whole populations to something deadly like the SARS virus; they just might destroy enough of civilisation to make things impossible to come back from.” Obi-Wan was clearly upset at what he'd seen at the beach, it stuck inside his head.
“Bud, we're in it deep you know. If they planned to take out the police station I bet they've done the same with Kollarena base, maybe even Pine Gap.” His head dropped. “If they've hit America too those ass-holes may have even taken out my hometown…” He didn't finish what was on his mind, it hurt too much.
“I'm sorry, Obi-Wan, I know what you're thinking, mate.” Skip stopped for a moment, he recalled an image of his ex-wife and their children in Victoria. “Once we regroup at Kollarena we can then contact Pine Gap. The Commander will want to fly us back as soon as possible. We can think of other things then.”
Chapter 3 – Ocean Escape
“Look, that's a firefight. There's a shit-load happening up there too,” called Skip straining to make out who was firing on whom around the spy-base wharf.
The lighting from the weapons could be seen reflecting off the ocean surface. Then the noise came to them, light crackling at first, then, as they approached closer they could make out individual cracks of automatic rifle fire. There was also the distinctive 'pop' of a Blaser sniper rifle.
Fortune said softly, “Well, we now know that Kollarena is in the thick of it. I hope they have the terrorists by the throat and not the other way around.”
Skip leaned forward and readied his weapon, he paused a moment to wipe the sea-spray from its sights. The rifle fire at the wharf started up again. He yelled to his comrades, “I have a feeling we'll be needed, folks.”
“Burger, what can you see through those glasses?” asked Obi-Wan. He needed to know what they were approaching. He already felt the motor launch slow as Murphy backed off the revs, waiting for Obi-Wan to decide what they should do next.
Just then there came the vision, followed by a thunderclap of sound, as the Bearcat exploded in a sheet of flames illuminating the battleground around the wharf. Within seconds a second detonation rent the air as the self-destruct explosives inside the Kollarena base detonated. All firing ceased as everyone stopped to stare in wonder as the twin-spires of flame and smoke lit the night sky.
Burger spoke slowly but clearly. “Obi, we've got a group of police in the boat at the wharf. They're firing at what looks like terrorists approaching from three directions. They're surrounding the wharf and firing on the launch.”
“Murph!” called Obi-Wan, “can you get us in close enough to fire on those terrorists on the shore?” He paused, thinking, “we'll need to get in and out, fast.”
“Sure can, boss, just keep me posted when to get the hell out of there,” replied Murphy pushing the revs up to top speed.
Their launch picked up speed like a thoroughbred racehorse. Burger sent the girls back down for their protection and the five soldiers waited to get within comfortable range then opened fire on the muzzle flashes on the shore.
“They're firing, Sergeant! They're firing at the terrorists!” cried Constable Danielle Ahmet, tears formed at the corners of her eyes, “they're ours.”
The joy and surprise in her voice gave the small group of police officers hope as their own motor launch pulled away from the wharf. It skirted the yachts protecting them momentarily from the terrorist's incoming fire.
“Hooky, get us out to sea and meet up with this other boat,” called Dyson as he organised Brad and his men to get the prisoners and wounded below. The others were preparing to fire their automatic weapons on the enemy once they cleared the cover of the yachts.
It was a busy few minutes as both motor launches pulled strongly to get beyond the range of enemy fire. They slowed as Hooky set course to take them north to one of their stations in Shark Bay, three hundred kilometres away.
Once well out of range Murphy motored closer to the base launch. They both slowed to a crawl as Obi-Wan and Pipeline leapt across the gap to join Senior Sergeants Dyson and Hopkins. The two newcomers noted the stressed state of the officers and the damage taken by the launch in their escape.
“Hi Brad, hi Wayne,” said Obi-Wan, shaking hands with his two friends. “I didn't think to meet you guys under these circumstances.”
“Yeah, it's pretty shit-house isn't it,” replied Brad. He handed Obi-Wan a hot cup of coffee then went below to make another for Pipeline.
“We've got four civilians with us and six operatives. I can see you've got a bit of a mess here too, how are your wounded? Do you need any help?” offered Obi-Wan, noting the two surviving wounded propped up on the floor of the cabin.
“We're OK for now, Obi. It was perfect timing for you to come and help us out back there. We were up shit-creek with only the one paddle.” Dyson paused, his shoulders sagged momentarily. Obi-Wan and Pipeline knew the senior sergeant was exhausted as he struggling to decide what to do next, as they all were.
Dyson lifted his head to continue speaking, “We're heading to a secret training base up the coast, Shark Bay. We'll need to drop into some of the caravan parks for fuel on our way there. We'll decide what to do next once we get to the bay.”
“Wayne, we saw Kollarena base go up, was it that bad?” asked Pipeline quietly as one of the wounded men on the cabin floor groaned and began to wreath in pain.
“I spoke to Super before the end, he said they had terrorist infiltration within their staff. It sounded like they didn't stand a chance. I'd say there were no survivors on either side. We lost Frenchy, too, did you know?” asked Dyson.
Pipeline was good friends with Senior Sergeant Frenchy Wahib, they both served together at Pine Gap on his first deployment a few years ago. They were firm friends, often spending time at each other's homes during their holidays.
“I liked Frenchy, he always made me laugh.” The tough SEAL closed down after that.
“I'm sorry too, Pipeline, he was a brave man. He held them off us while we got to the boat. Frenchy k
new he'd be staying behind.” Brad coughed to disguise his own sadness. The shock of the assault, the violence of the terrorist incoming fire, the smell of blood and guts… He wasn't the only one in shock though, no-one was prepared for the apocalypse, except the Revelationists.
“What do we do when we get to this training base?” asked Obi-Wan, he wanted to build a picture in his mind that he could go back and work on later. His capacity to take information and step into it, like he was walking through a garden or a park, was what made him such an exceptional analyst as well as a first-class team leader. His mind-palace was perfectly formed for intelligence analysis. He specialised in solving complex problems in his head, he didn't need computers though he certainly knew how to use them.
Dyson groaned softly, “I'm sorry, Obi, I'm shattered. I've lost nearly half my team to those bastards. I've got two spies in custody that I just want to throw overboard, but I can't. I guess without them we might have been caught up at Kollarena and be dead by now. And no-one knows what's happened to our families back home either.”
Brad decided to swing the conversation away from family, it was too dangerous for them all.
“The place in Shark Bay has camping gear and supplies, but that's about it. We're trying to contact Pine Gap for instructions but we've had no luck.” Brad paused and thought for a moment, his eyes lit up. “You're the Pine Gap communications expert, you and Skip know more about that than our boys, what say you give it a try?”
Obi-Wan smiled. “I was just about to ask you, Brad. I tried to get our launch's CB onto our frequency but it would take a hell of a lot of modification. Give me a half hour with your radio, I think I'll have those instructions for you.”
Within the half hour Staff Sergeant Ben Kennedy, 'Obi-Wan' to his friends, called Senior Sergeants Wayne Dyson and Brad Hopkins to join him.