“Because the Khadrae are dangerous for God’s sake woman! You’ll be caught in the middle of some huge fight and while Riley and Scott play soldiers you’ll get killed!”
“Piffle. I’m the leading Atlantean researcher in MI7. I have a role to play too.”
Murdoch saw Jane’s chin jut and her teeth set in defiance. He may as well argue with a brick wall for all the good it would do. He was feeling tired now, his eyes heavy. Struggling to keep them open, he asked Jane again when the mission was.
“Two weeks. And you will not be going,” Jane said softly but firmly.
“Jane, I saw far too many people slaughtered on New Atlantis. I saw a mother and child mercilessly cut down in front of me. I hate these Khadrae. I will not stand aside and let Riley and Scott balls the mission up. I will be there to make sure all that filth is destroyed.”
He could feel the anger rise in him and fade away just as swiftly leaving him drained and weak.
“We’ll see,” said Jane as Murdoch slipped again into a dreamless sleep.
Murdoch recognised the moustache before he recognised the red cheeked face of Sir Walter Grimes.
“Evening, Murdoch dear boy! Touch of déjà vu, what?”
Murdoch smiled wearily. He felt better as his head wasn’t as woolly as it had been. He could have done without Grimes being there though.
Grimes ploughed on, “Yes, déjà vu! Ha ha! So ermm…” Grimes coughed uncomfortably before continuing. “How are you feeling old bean?”
Forced joviality. Grimes wanted him to do something. “I don’t know to be honest. I think I’ve been asleep most of the time,” Murdoch admitted.
“You have been. It’s been a week since you went down to New Atlantis.”
A week! As long as that? That was a surprise.
“So how am I then?” queried Murdoch.
“Not quite one hundred percent, let’s just say that. However for a chap as badly mauled as what you were you’re making a remarkable recovery. Doctors are astonished at your progress, what!”
Murdoch lay there on the bed without moving. He was far too weak to even think about sitting up. He was going to have to start eating solids very soon if he wanted to go on this mission of Janes.
Grimes wasn’t going to break the silence for a change so Murdoch enquired how things were in the world.
“Not bad, could be worse and all that. The King is out on a tour of the Raj before heading onto Hong Kong and Australia,” Grimes said. “Bloody stupid time to be going on a tour of the Empire if you ask me,” he added pre-empting Murdoch’s own words exactly.
“There’s also been a few more run ins at New Atlantis with those Khadrae chaps. Governor Mitchell’s boys found a tunnel they were coming into New Atlantis by. Blew the dashed thing up before we could explore any further.”
Probably just as well. Murdoch didn’t think Grimes quite understood how lethal the Khadrae were.
“What else…,” muttered Grimes, stroking his moustache thoughtfully. “Oh yes, some of our boys are heading to America to destroy the Khadrae breeding colony.”
“Yes, I’d heard,” said Murdoch trying not to sound too smug.
“You’ve heard?” asked a surprised Grimes.
“Yes. A little bird told me.”
Grimes eyes narrowed and his moustache bristled. “I bet I know what little bird. I’ll be having words with her.”
Jane was more than capable of handling Grimes. Murdoch pitied the man more than anything.
“I want to go on the mission. What’s it called by the way?”
Grimes smiled triumphantly. “Don’t know everything do you?”
“Just tell me, will you?” Murdoch was losing patience with the man.
Grimes scowled at Murdoch's tone but responded to the question. “Operation Gale Force is the code name. I want you to be on it.”
Now that was a surprise. Murdoch and Grimes didn’t see eye to eye at the best of times…Ahhh… Grimes was trying to get him out of the way! It might even be a suicide mission and he would be permanently out of the way!
He must have looked puzzled because Grimes clarified. “Now Murdoch,” he said before he cleared his throat, “We’ve got Newton in charge of the mission. Captain Riley and Colonel Scott are also on board. Newton is going to have a hell of a time keeping those two fellows under control as I’m sure you well know, dear chap. You know Riley well and you’re acquainted with Colonel Scott. You fellows will get on admirably and you can forward MI6’s mission goals in a positive way without antagonising the Army gentlemen.”
Smiling inwardly, Murdoch wondered what Jane was going to think of this. She’d probably be as mad as a hatter. She’d be the loose cannon on this mission. Damn it though, helping those American coffee drinkers out of a mess they got themselves into. It sticks in a man’s craw so it does.
“Have to make sure you’re one hundred percent fit. Doctor Mayhew says you’ve had quite a beating,” said Grimes, “Trying to rescue that woman and child was a damned stupid thing to do. You must have known there was no chance she would survive. You’re too important to the Empire to waste your life on futile attempts to be a hero.”
“It wouldn’t have been futile if I’d reached her in time,” shot back Murdoch. “What a bloody waste of a two lives. Gone, just like that because I wasn’t fast enough. If the Americans did release those Khadrae and I find out, then God help them, because I’m going after them.”
“Now then dear boy, calm yourself,” said Grimes gruffly but not unkindly. He knew what Murdoch was going through, having had a similar situation himself while up against the fuzzie wuzzies in the Sudan.
Murdoch breathed deeply feeling all the aches and pains as he did so. He would be on Operation Gale Force. No one was going to stop him.
“Sir Walter, I thought I told you no more than ten minutes?” said the extremely formidable voice of the matron. “That has been more than half an hour. I am extremely displeased with you. Mr Murdoch is still in an uncomfortable condition and cannot be disturbed any further.” And with that the stout woman stood next to the bed arms folded giving Grimes a disapproving look.
“Ah, yes. Forgot the time, what!” said Grimes uncomfortably, moustache drooping as he rose from his seat. “I’ll be sending some people round to fill Mr Murdoch in over the next few days.”
“I’m sure you will Sir Walter, meanwhile you will have the civility to leave Mr Murdoch in peace,” said matron.
As Grimes strode away, matron plumped Murdoch’s pillows and smoothed his bed sheets.
“There we are Mr Murdoch,” she said kindly. “I’ll make sure you don’t receive any more visitors. You’ve had too many today and they both outstayed their welcome,” she added disapprovingly.
Murdoch agreed wearily. “I have to be fit and ship shape within two weeks, you do realise,” he added.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it Mr Murdoch. And that’s my final word on it.”
And with that Murdoch dozed off again, his mind awhirl with strategies, plans and questions.
16 Land of Mine Enemy
The three Manchester bombers flew a long lonely trip from the Air Arm base outside Calgary deep inside the British protectorate of Canada. The three aeroplanes followed the foothills of the Rocky Mountains south into the American state of Montana, over the beginnings of the mighty Missouri into the deep wide open plains of Wyoming before navigating through the peaks of the Bighorn Mountains east in to Utah, passing close to Salt Lake City and then finally, after many hours of flying, entering the bleak desert state of Nevada. The Khadrae breeding ground was located near a place called Groom Lake right in the middle of nowhere, where the winds powered down from the Rockies blowing tumbleweed across the pockmarked ground and spinning dust devils over the dusty brown earth. The three planes landed one after the other at Ellis Airbase, the small but well manned United States Air Force base a scant mile from the breeding ground. Even at this distance, the men that filed out of the planes could
hear the unearthly screams and cries cutting through the chill afternoon air, sending shivers down the spines of them all.
The air smelled different some how. The summer breeze from the mountains was clean and fresh but now and then it shifted direction and the soft, feral stench of an alien race drifted across the fenced off open space between Ellis and the breeding ground.
The British soldiers were all directed by a tough looking American major to an empty aircraft hanger where they quickly settled down, laying out their sleeping bags and cooking up the bully beef rations they’d been supplied with.
With clipped tones and restrained hostility the major informed Riley, Scott and Murdoch that they would be moving out the next morning. Jane wasn’t at all pleased at being ignored but she let it go for the time being.
Murdoch, Riley and Colonel Scott sat around a makeshift table of several piled wooden boxes, a plan of the breeding ground spread out before them. The complex was as simple as they come – a large square about a quarter of mile on each side, surrounded by walls with a double gate at one end. Backed up against the walls were the breeding pens, concrete bunkers that opened out into a large dirt courtyard. Some of the pens supported bland rooms for the occasional American observers. The ground underneath the pens was a mirror image of the buildings above the surface except that they were connected by long corridors apparently filled with the pipes, tubing and power cables necessary to support what they had been informed was a node of the Core, an extension of the Core's psyche that some how controlled the Khadrae. This Node was the reason that the Military Intelligence agencies were involved and that the simple concept of carpet bombing the breeding ground was not being utilised. The Core, and by extension the Node, could not be allowed to survive as it was now deemed a major threat to the Empire. Additionally MI6 certainly did not want the Americans getting their hands on any new technology so Murdoch was to ensure that the Node was destroyed beyond all doubt after briefly investigating it.
“We could mine the buildings and collapse them on the Khadrae,” Colonel Scott was saying. Scott was a small man with a sharp crew cut. His green Commandos beret was stuffed through the shoulder lapel of his olive green uniform and he gave the impression he was untidy. He was anything but. Colonel Scott was second only to Riley in Murdoch’s opinion. For once the Whitehall mandarins had chosen the right man for the job.
“That’s what I was thinking as well,” agreed Murdoch as Riley nodded. “We want to get in and out as fast as possible. We take absolutely no risks on this mission at all. Riley has filled you in on the Khadrae tactics, Colonel?”
“He has indeed, Mr Murdoch. Massed attacks seem to be the order of the day. Shouldn’t have any problem. All my boys have Bren guns to deal with such like massed attacks. No problem, no problem!” Scott smiled.
Murdoch nodded, satisfied. “We will receive no help from the coffee drinkers on this at all. We stand alone.”
Riley laughed. “As if it would make any difference. The American troops would get in our way.” More seriously, he asked, tapping the tabletop. “Can this blueprint be trusted?”
Murdoch nodded, “Yes. The Americans had a big fright on New Atlantis. They want rid of the Khadrae as much as we do.”
“So why aren’t they helping? That’s a bit strange if you ask me,” said Scott.
“It is, I do agree. It wouldn’t surprise me if the US does turn up with something but just quite what I don’t know. I’ve a suspicion that there is at least one more breeding ground elsewhere and the Americans don’t want this Core machine that controls the Khadrae to think they’re turning on it.” Murdoch shrugged. “Meanwhile, we just get on with the job at hand.”
“Colonel, can your Commandos rig up the explosives without being seen?”
Colonel Scott paused for a few seconds, thinking the question over, his lips pursed with concentration.
“If we were up against a human enemy then no problem, my boys would manage fine. You could consider the job done. But these Khadrae are like bats, blind, you know? So it’s not a matter of not being seen, it’s a matter of not being picked up by their echo location, you know?” Scott looked at the plan of the base again studying it, trying to gain a further insight.
“Our American friends say the Khadrae seem to mill about fighting each other. Sort of like duels,” said Riley.
“Establishing a pecking order,” interrupted Jane.
“I’m sorry?” said Riley standing back to avoid looming over the comparatively diminutive form of the female MI7 agent.
“Like lions and wolves, the Khadrae will fight each other to establish who’s in charge,” explained Jane.
“But I thought the Core controlled the Khadrae,” queried Colonel Scott. A trifle old fashioned, he wasn’t used to dealing with females with such authority but if Murdoch and Riley didn’t have a problem, then he was damned if he had one.
“I’ve been looking into this control aspect and I think the Core only takes over when it needs them. At other times the Core retreats from their minds and leaves the Khadrae in their natural state. It can’t retreat completely with these Khadrae as it has to stop them breaking out of the stockade surrounding the breeding ground.”
“So the Core will always be aware of anything affecting the Khadrae,” said Murdoch half to himself. “Bugger. Could have done without that.”
Colonel Scott also muttered a curse. If the Core was aware it was under attack then it would take steps to protect itself in Greenland which would make a mess of Operation Grandslam, which was the attack on the Core itself. “What’s worse?” he asked. “Having the Core in command of the Khadrae or the Khadrae in their natural state of awareness?”
“With the Core in command, they will operate in a controlled and tactical manner. With the Core out of the equation they will revert to their naturally vicious state. They will remain lethal but are more likely to try to escape especially if they are receiving a beating. I think you should cut an escape route for them. The Americans will be able to deal with the escapees easily from the air.”
“That’s where the Core’s Node is,” said Murdoch pointing to a large chamber on the plan in the underground section. “My team will be going straight down those stairs, down that corridor and that should be us. We only have to deal with two security doors as far as we’ve been told.”
“Do you think there could be more protecting the Node?” asked Riley concernedly. Murdoch’s team was the smallest and most lightly armed of them all by quite a margin but had the most important mission. Murdoch himself was barely out of hospital. If Murdoch failed, the mission would be severely jeopardised.
“Common sense, Riley old man,” smiled Murdoch. “If your only way of controlling your soldiers was through one man wouldn’t you do your utmost to protect him? And before you say anything, no. We’re fine. We won’t need any assistance.”
Riley shrugged. Murdoch knew what he was doing.
“What’s the diversion going to be?” asked Jane.
“Nightshade Division jump straight into the middle of the compound and start shooting,” said Riley. “Simple and efficient.”
“And typically stupid,” retorted Jane. “Just because Nightshade is given suicidal missions doesn’t mean to say that you have to do your best to fulfil that obligation.”
Riley turned red. “My men are very important to me. They are highly trained soldiers who give their all for King and Country. I will not place them in a situation they cannot win.”
“For God’s sake Riley! There must be about five thousand Khadrae in there! You’ve been made mincemeat of by the Khadrae twice already”
“My team will manage,” Riley said, reddening by the second.
Murdoch grinned. “Calm down Riley. We’re more worried you won’t leave anything for the Americans to waste their ammunition on.”
Colonel Scott laughed at that and returned to the plan. “And my boys will climb over the wall while the Captain is having a whale of a time, plant the charg
es in the buildings, get out, detonate them, hopefully taking out a couple of thousand of those vile creatures and then help Mr Riley out.”
“Just make sure you don’t blow the buildings while I’m still down there,” said Murdoch showing fake concern.
“You’ve got twenty minutes as you well know, Mr Murdoch. Any longer and you’ll get squashed.”
“Oh thank you very much Colonel.”
“No problem, no problem!”
Jane sighed. Men!
Dawn broke the next day, the yellow rays of sunlight lancing across the desert plains bathing everything in a painfully clear and cold light leaving behind sharp shadows. The wind was clean and chilly easing its icy fingers through Riley’s tight fitting power armour. Riley resisted the urge to shiver as the armour would rattle as it tried to keep up with the motions and it was really annoying. Riley hefted the heavy gatling cannon he held in his right hand. The multiple barrels were slick with the oil and grease that Riley had spent most of the night rubbing into the gun and its workings. It wouldn’t do for the gun to jam because if it did, as sods law dictated, it would be at a crucial moment. In his left hand Riley held the new lengthened, sword like version of the motorised chainsaw. The diamond tipped blades would slice through anything.
The Nightshade Division was ready. The ten men loomed over the Commandos by a good foot and a half, and were at least three times as wide. They filled the hanger with greasy steam as their armours servo motors whined into action burning off the excess lubricants, the similarly armed men walking heavily and menacingly towards the hanger exit, heavy brutal looking gatling cannons held in their right hands, their left hands holding chainsaws whose motors puttered dutifully away waiting to be engaged in anger.
Outside the hanger the men’s breath crystallised in the cool air. Several trucks stood waiting, engines turning over, belching out pungent diesel fumes. The American drivers watched the huge figures with suspicion and not without a tremor of fear.
An Atlantean Triumvirate Page 21