Another Force

by D. J. Rockland

  “Yes...yes...sir,” Colton said, with a whispered voice driven more by a crushed larynx than personal caution. He rubbed his throat repeatedly as if the rubbing could reverse the direction of his words and eliminate what had just happened.

  The reaction seemed much too much over the top - even for Dunston, Joniver thought. But with a wry smile and a hint of sarcasm, he whispered to Beetle, “I’m striking No shit, Sherlock from my vocabulary!”

  Beetle smiled and even in this grungy, gritty foul-smelling place, his wide grin and bright white teeth made Joniver feel like all would be ok. His head cleared and a sense of purpose grew back into his heart. Beetle’s simple smile energized him. How strange, he thought, and he trekked on, determined not to let another human wall ever be built again.

  ***

  They backed through the alleyway, moving quickly but quietly. The Angriff watched each step to avoid the potentially noisy trash and debris scattered everywhere they looked. Jacob was on point with Joniver and Beetle five meters behind him.

  Jacob held his arm out to his side, and the unit came to a stop. He turned and looked at Beetle and Joniver. He pointed two fingers at them and one at himself, then at his eyes and then to a point just outside of the alleyway. All nodded understanding.

  The three moved to a group of burned out vehicles sitting against a curb. Jacob indicated he wanted Beetle to look left down the street for threats. Joniver had the center section and he would cover right. On his signal, the Angriff would move, three at a time, out from the alley to a building across the street. The structure provided excellent cover, with high walls around a courtyard where they could set up a perimeter and maintain a good view of all directions.

  The three kneeled, catching their breath. In the cool night air, white wisps curled from their mouths and nostrils as Jacob signaled the men across to their destination. The Angriff would rest tonight and move out tomorrow.

  They all made it across the street without incident, save the disturbance of one cat. Although the mangy thing was malnourished and cried continually for food, Beetle scooped it up, cradling it like a baby as he ran. As soon as he tucked it up, the thing stopped its wailing.

  The street was completely quiet.

  “Things are too quiet,” Dunston said softly.

  “What’s that, Boss?” Peters whispered, as he crab walked along beside the kneeling captain.

  “Peters, get a perimeter setup and quick.”

  “Right, Boss!”

  “And Peters,” Dunston said. “Oh, never mind…”

  Peters was off. Something bothered Dunston. He was tempted to tell Peters to use Beetle and Joniver for perimeter. I trust Beetle and the Blueberry, he thought. But don’t I trust them all?

  The truth was Dunston didn’t trust them all. He thought back to all the missions he had with Jones and now to see Jones turn, and he turned in such a cowardly fashion! Was Jones a plant? Was he a solid soldier and then someone bought him?

  Dunston wasn’t sure.

  I can’t believe all of it was fake, Dunston thought. No one is so good an actor they can go through all of what we went through and not mean it - at least some!

  Head in the game, Dunston, he reminded himself. Dunston thought about all the times he had seen soldiers shot because their mind drifted. He refocused and looked around at his men.

  Why did Beetle pick up a stray cat? In the moonlight stretching through the cloudy windows, Dunston saw the gray and white stripes running across the animal’s back. He also saw it had not been fed in a very long time.

  No mice, no bugs, Dunston thought. That means there are people. But people who don’t feed cats, and that means Guardsmen or company employees…

  His thoughts trailed off and he grew very concerned for his men and their environment. He no longer believed this was a safe place to hole up tonight.

  A sound came from nearby.

  All the Angriff heard it and weapons came to ready. Beetle was feeding the cat with an IV bag and tubing from the med kit, but he dropped the animal immediately and reached for his weapon. The moment he did so, the cat cried out with that ghostly feline sound of hunger and loneliness.

  “Beetle!” Dunston said, staring at the soldier.

  Beetle scooped the animal up and it stopped, licking its paws and lips for some excess nourishment.

  All eyes and weapons were trained. Dunston looked at Jacob, held up two fingers. He pointed at his eyes and pointed his index finger at the north wall.

  Jacob touched Joniver’s arm and the two went to look through the windows. Although he had experienced periods of silence before, Joniver thought this quiet was like a blanket over the Angriff, like someone unexpectedly hit the Mute button. It was spooky.

  Joniver saw that Jacob was clear headed and focused, and so he tried to be, attempting to put all thoughts out of his mind except the job immediately in front of him.

  This is what Jacob would do, he thought.

  In the stillness, in the muteness, there came a call on their communication pods. Peters shouted and he did not care as much about staying quiet as he did about warning the unit.

  “Cover! Take cover!”

  Overhead a bright yellow stream marked the sky like old chalk on a blackboard, and the screeching was just as cutting as the proverbial nails on the same blackboard. Joniver covered his ears at the scraping, screaming sound of an incoming rocket. The missile struck in the middle of the building almost exactly half way between the brothers and the Angriff.

  One of the soldiers on the perimeter, Joniver thought his name was Wang, died instantly. The rest were only dazed and immediately disorganized. Other than Wang, no one was seriously injured.

  The reality of their situation hit Dunston. The alleyway was a trap; it was a trap designed to turn them into this perfectly defensible building. They had to move and now!

  Dunston hit his comm-pod. “Everyone move! Exit plan beta, go now!”

  All the Angriff moved as a unit to the alternate rear exit, which had been mapped out as soon as the perimeter was set.

  Once out the back exit, Dunston looked for Jacob to take point, but Jacob was absent. In his comm-pod he said, “Beetle, Peters on point.” The two moved out looking for threats, but knowing they were already compromised. Beetle continued to carry the mangy cat in his back pack.

  “Get rid of the cat, Beetle!” Dunston ordered.

  “Boss, if I put Lewis down, he’ll cry out and give us away!”

  “Lewis? You named the cat, Lewis?”

  Beetle nodded and grinned. He turned to join point with Peters, who also gave him - and the cat - the stink eye.

  Dunston just shook his head as they moved away from their previous location and further east.

  The building behind them continued to be hit, and Dunston could only wonder about the brothers. Until he could regroup, he must keep the men he had moving. They must find safety before dawn.

  ***

  When the rocket attack initiated, Joniver and Jacob were thrown back against a reinforced concrete wall at the back of the building. Jacob, like Dunston, immediately realized his mistake in selecting this location. He took no time to reprimand himself however, since the current circumstance was much more severe than mental demerits could improve.

  Both brothers had the wind knocked out of them when they hit the wall, but other than a possible broken rib, both could move well enough. Jacob grabbed Joniver by the arm. “Let’s go!” he screamed over the obstreperous explosions that now seemed everywhere. He could see through the resultant ash and smoke of the rocket barrage, Guardsmen enter the building and spread out in a search pattern. Jacob and Joniver were trapped.

  Then through the haze, he saw it. “Follow me and stay close,” he told Joniver. “Do not discharge your weapon unless I do. Understand?” Joniver nodded.

  They moved along the back wall, keeping low with one hand against its concrete surface so as not to inadvertently walk into the murky smoke engulfing them.

  �
��Where are we going?” Joniver asked.

  “Quiet!” Jacob said and stopped. Joniver, following too close, bumped him.

  Jacob motioned to Joniver and then pointed up. He looked and saw a set of stairs.

  Once on the second floor, the air was clearer, although twisted metal stood where once an office floor had been. They glimpsed through a hole in the floor, Guardsmen moving hurriedly toward the back of the building.

  “Come on,” Jacob said, “we go up one or two more flights.”

  “Then what?”

  “We jump.”

  “Oh…I wish I hadn’t asked…”

  ***

  Joniver and Jacob wound up the stairs for two more flights, reaching what would have been the fifth floor. They clung to the structural steel girders, which had been twisted like spaghetti by the bombs’ blasts. Jacob moved so as to stay out of the sight line of the Guardsmen below. He worked toward the building’s south side.

  If the metal beams had been straight, movement would have been difficult but manageable. With the curls and inline rotational twists, movement in some places was impossible. After a few re-routes and near misses, the brothers reached the south wall without being spotted. Dawn approached, and in order to have a chance, they both knew they needed to be in a defensible position before sunrise.

  Joniver looked down the forty-five meters to the street below. He felt exposed, almost naked here. The darkness and shadows hid them, but he and Jacob could not stay here forever. The sun was about to make its daily grand entrance. Joniver normally looked forward to dawn. He enjoyed the stillness of it, and the hushed silence just before first light followed by the sudden rush of sound from the birds and movement of the animals.

  “There!” Jacob said. “That’s what I’m looking for!” He pointed at a dumpster about fifteen meters further east, parked on the street below.

  “What’s in it?” Joniver asked.

  “Doesn’t matter. Whatever it is, it’s garbage and it’ll be enough to break our fall. Do you see the building two blocks over south and east?”

  “I see it.”

  “After we jump, go there. We can hole up for a while and get some rest. I’ll go first. Don’t scream when you jump.”

  “Right,” Joniver said. “Wait, is that a fire escape there? Can’t we just use that?”

  A fire escape ladder was indeed mounted to the side of the building west of their position, and the brothers took advantage. Jacob tensed with embarrassment at not seeing the fire escape, but Joniver could not have cared less. Jumping five stories into a dumpster of who-knows-what was not how he wanted to get his Airborne patch.

  They advanced with caution to Jacob’s building and worked their way inside. The cover the place provided was not what Jacob first hoped. Evidence indicated Guardsmen had recently used the building and that meant they would probably be back. But the first rays of dawn’s light colored the eastern sky, so moving again was unwise.

  “Joniver, let’s get some of this furniture and set up in that southeast corner.” Jacob picked up one end of a desk and waited for his brother.

  “Let’s get enough of this stuff to create some cover and then we’ll rest in shifts. I’ll take the first watch and you rest. Then we’ll switch,” Jacob said.

  Joniver nodded as he lifted his end of the desk.

  Just then, the brothers heard the sound of boots and voices outside. Joniver looked at Jacob with disappointment and surprise.

  They would need to move faster than they planned.

  Chapter 29

  She screamed at the monitor on the wall before her. “I gave you the girl!”

  The beautiful tones in Elizabeth’s face were now the angry colors of a morning storm sitting on the horizon. Her short black hair stood on end, like the bowed back of a black cat.

  “I don’t have the girl, Elizabeth, as I told you before,” Hunter said. His response was calm and arrogant. The lilt in Hunter’s voice sounded both condescending and victorious. He laughed at the inability of his sister.

  “Why are you so upset Elizabeth? Is there something I can help you with?”

  “Oh, fuck you, Stephen! Fuck you and fuck your condescending tone and your continuous line of condescending bullshit!”

  Did he know? She wondered, working to keep her face from revealing her doubt. Why would he lie about the girl? They had agreed he would take her, and there is no doubt about her being gone. If not Hunter, who else?

  Then like a lightning bolt appearing from the hidden folds of storm clouds, the reason for his deception came to her. A thin crooked smile crossed her lips, and the light of suspicion bounced in her eye.

  “You are working with the Pole aren’t you?” she asked, referring to the resistance group in Antarctica.

  Whereas the North Command was organized and attempted a civilization, the group in Antarctica remained an unfocused ragtag collection of mercenaries and terrorists. The Antarctica group was dubbed the Pole. Rumors swirled that the Pole had a terrorist organization and ran small operations from time to time. However, when compared to North Command, the Pole was like a thorn bush beside a sequoia.

  “Oh, come on, Elizabeth,” Hunter said. “Are you so daft? Why would I do such a thing? What possible motive could I have for-"

  “So they can do your dirty work,” Elizabeth cut him off. “I know what they’re good for, and I know what you’re good for - you piece of shit!”

  “Elizabeth,” Hunter’s tone was more serious, “you are the one I am working with. There is no one else. The North Command is the last real threat of terrorism to the rest of the world. You and I working together are about to eliminate the threat represented by the North. The Pole is nothing but a small group of thugs. They are nothing! We’ll get to them in time, but the real problem remaining is in the North. You must follow through with your part of the plan, then you and I will rule-uh, lead, together as we have always planned.

  “Elizabeth, this is what we’ve worked for, what we have talked about for years. Are you still up for your part?”

  “Oh, Stephen, forget about all the, what-we’ve-worked-for bullshit! Yes, we have worked for this, and yes we agreed, and still agree. But what happened has happened, and you know why. The past has little or nothing to do with today!”

  “Well, Elizabeth, you then have little or nothing to worry about. Do your job!”

  The screen went blank.

  “Damn it!” she said. She had sacrificed so much! She had worked so hard to have it all snatched away by her arrogant brother. She would not allow it! If he is working with the Pole, well, two can play that game!

  Elizabeth calmed herself and regained control. Her breathing became more regular and she sat back down in her chair and drew in a deep breath.

  I can’t lose control of my emotions, not in front of him, she told herself. In the end I have the real power because I have the codes.

  Once the codes are deployed, the North Command forces will be exposed. They will die bravely, having fought to free the world of tyranny. Their defeat will mean the defeat of the North Command.

  I will surrender and then, when appropriate, I will join Stephen, she thought. Then, my dear brother, in the coming weeks you will suffer an unfortunate car accident.

  Car accidents are easy enough to arrange.

  She smiled.

  ***

  Hunter paused after his discussion with Elizabeth. He turned his chair toward the window and looked out on a beautiful sunny day. “She is becoming unstable. We may need to move forward without her. Things have progressed, and I don’t really need her.”

  Hunter’s calm and calculating exterior belied a cluster of nervous energy and doubt on the inside. At one time he had loved his sister, and his mother as well, but that time had passed. Now he had other…concerns.

  He swung his chair back toward the communication screen. He touched a simulated button on a heads-up display and the screen went active. This time a man’s face appeared. The face on the screen was
weathered, scarred from a knife fight as well as exposure to the cold. The effects of a calloused, stone heart were reflected in his eyes. His heavy hooded coat and the tight knit cap on his head spoke of the harsh environment.

  “Andre, my friend! How are you?” Hunter asked the screen.

  “I am fine,” the face said, in a heavily accented voice. He sounded as though he had his tongue in his throat.

  “Andre,” Hunter continued, “I have to ask you, my friend, about the girl. Do you have her and if not, where is she? You know, I might add, she is key to us luring the brothers where we need them to go. Once we do, we can get the information we need and you can get out of that miserable place you’re in.”

  “Blah, blah, blah,” Andre said. “I do not have the girl, as you know very well. My man reported in two days ago, and the plane was en route, but something happened. We do not know what. We do not have your magnificent resources. If I did I would know.”

  There was a pause.

  “Why don’t you know?” Andre asked Hunter.

  “Oh, this is bad news, Andre,” Hunter said. “How can you lose a plane?” This is such incompetence, Hunter thought. Must I do everything myself? I spoon feed these people with instructions and they cannot carry out a simple kidnapping! Hunter shook his head. “What are we to do?”

  “I have my men looking for the Jones fellow and his men and the girl,” Andre said. “If they are alive, we will find them. My sources are everywhere.”

  “As are mine,” Hunter said. “Keep me informed.”

  Once the screen was clear of a picture, Hunter swiveled back around in his chair.

  “This is a setback, to be sure,” he said to no one. “We will continue. We can still use the friend as a lure. That attraction will be less powerful, but just as effective. I’ve accomplished much more difficult things, after all."

  A smile crept to one corner of his mouth.

  “First, however, my sister has turned into a bit of a whiny bitch, hasn’t she?”

  Chapter 30

  The morning sun broke through the clouds and shot streaks of light through the shattered windows of the abandoned building. The light bounced off broken glass and created a rainbow effect in otherwise dark corners. In other places, it highlighted the dust floating in the air, and the tiny individual dust pieces reminded Joniver of the tiny gnat Dunston used in the terminal to free him from Hunter. Had three months gone by? No, it was more like five or six months now.