That was how the two team members had been injured with only luck accounting for a lack of worse injuries or fatalities. One moment they’d been moving quietly and they thought invisibly toward their target observation point, the next moment the quiet had been shattered by two grenades going off only a few yards away.
From that moment everything had gone to hell. All thoughts of attempting to sneak out were now considered pointless as the sound of Tangie’s rag tag army in pursuit made it plain their position, at least in general which was bad enough to be fatal, was now well known.
How an extraction could be made was another good if not impossible question.
The jungle was not all that heavy but it was thick enough to make the going slow plus it was dark and the night vision goggles did not help much with the thousands of sticks and other things strewn around seemingly designed to trip them up. Small trails through the jungle were not uncommon but that meant it most likely someone had been using them and equally likely was waiting for them. They avoided the trails, so they had to seek the deepest areas where observation would be difficult so as to reduce the risk of discovery but that just made the going tougher.
It was a no win situation as their pursuers knew the jungle and used the faster trails whilst they avoided them and tried to blend into the jungle, yet make good time to get some distance.
They were losing ground. The noise behind the was getting closer.
---oOo---
Running as quickly as they could it came as a surprise when a small clearing opened up right in front of them. They moved to skirt it when they saw standing square in the middle of the clearing the last person on earth they expected to be there.
"Evening gentlemen," she said loudly in a cheery voice that stopped them cold.
"You know", she continued loudly cutting through the semi quiet of the jungle, "in some countries its quite legal to kill armed intruders. For you lot, I should think it's mandatory."
A few seconds later the whole team had arrived looking wildly around the small clearing, "RUN," was all Freddie could say between gasps. As team leader he was responsible, and finding this girl here, he suddenly felt he had an extra responsibility. Dammit.
---oOo---
Freddie remembered that night years ago when he, Wedge and Taco had done a night drop onto an island in the middle of nowhere, the goal to gather Intel from a house that was supposed to be deserted. They hadn’t even been armed.
The upshot was the house probably wasn’t inhabited as she’d ambushed them, driven them to the sea then sitting by a bonfire reamed them out for a half hour then sent them back to the landing strip.
The temptation to use the tasers they’d been carrying was overwhelming but she was packing a panther that looked like he would eat them.
It had been a worst-night for them all and it only got worse as the night wore on. A Pave Low, a Combat Talon and a LCAC all got caught up in the fiasco so their performance against a teenage girl wasn’t seen as being outstandingly bad.
There were rumors that USS Bataan had been caught up in the same cluster foobar but no one was talking or at least not talking officially. After a lot of discussion, some of which was on-shore and involved a lot of alcohol, it was decided that anything to do with this Kate Smith person was to be treated with the greatest of suspicion.
---oOo---
Freddie was feeling frantic with the noise increasing second by second. "Most of Tangie’s army is after us, run girl or you'll be in deep shit!"
He started to run through the small clearing with the other team members when suddenly everything went pitch black, even the dim starlight gone, but much more scary was that all noise in the jungle stopped instantly. No sound of gunfire, no trees swishing in the wind, no night animal and insect sounds. It was dead silent and pitch black.
To a suspicious mind it was scary dark and silent, the darkness and silence of something special, perhaps terrible, had suddenly enveloped them.
That only lasted for a few seconds thankfully, then with a sharp snap the area was bathed in stark white light from something a few yards off the ground sitting in the air shining brightly.
It was still eerily silent but being able to see helped but there was a problem. As the team looked around it was apparent that where the clearing ended and the jungle began, now all around them, was a black wall sealing them in.
"Shit, whats happened now," Fred gasped, close to a moan of despair. The others were looking around madly at what had happened. Speed and evasion were life now, stuck in a clearing made them an easy target but the clearing had changed dramatically. Lit by the stark white light was sure to attract even the most stupid of Tangie’s army but the black walls made it surreal, like they had been transported somewhere else, somehow.
"Gentlemen!" she said loudly and sharply, getting most of their attention a fraction of the time. Nothing could stop their eyes from flicking to the trees looking for Tangie’s army to appear. Nothing could stop them from paying attention to their surroundings, nothing could stop them from gripping their weapons tightly moving them in small arcs covering the edge of the clearing.
"There is no way you were going to make it to the extraction point so I've created this small safe area. You are safe here, nothing can get in or out, not even your radio will work."
"Where the hell are we," Freddie gasped, feeling disoriented even more, "what trick have you pulled now?" It came out strongly to start with but ended on a whinging complaining tone. He just couldn't help it.
She smiled but Freddie felt not one fraction better. If anything her smile just made his belly sink a little, drawing him down into a near primal fear. He could remember smiles just like that on the faces of his drill instructors when he was in basic.
Looking right into his eyes, seeming to bore into his brain, "Right now you are nowhere, pretty much literally. Over the next hour or two you can look after your wounded, eat, sleep, relax or whatever you like and no one and nothing can affect you here."
"But how and why? What about Tangie’s army?" This was crazy.
She shrugged "They are probably all around us running through the jungle searching. To them, this place just doesn't exist, they'll pass right through it without noticing. It occupies zero space in their universe and so it's not really there to them. Neat trick hey?"
Freddie looked around, the black walls hiding the jungle, then the pin-prick stark white light above them, then down at the girl, Kate, standing watching them. His team was panting and the two wounded were slumped slightly.
"You sure we're safe?" He just had to ask. What she had said made little sense to him then he glanced around; what he saw made even less.
"Freddie you are going to have to trust me on this, we are safe from anything and everything here. Honestly, nothing can touch us. You've got extraction set for oh three hundred hours? We need to push that back by two hours and to do that you need to use your radio and to do that I need to collapse the stasis. We'll do that in maybe an hours time for just a few minutes. Should be safe by then. For now I'll help with your wounded then snooze for a half hour."
Freddie looked around the clearing. Phil and Don, the two wounded team members were laying on the ground being attended.
As he watched, Kate went and gave assistance. He walked to the edge of the clearing then sat down quietly as he watched. He saw her assisting and if anything taking the lead. Phil had a piece of shrapnel in the back of his leg which would have made walking and running painful whereas Don had pieces of grenade in his shoulder and ribs. He saw Kate extract a piece from the back of Phil’s leg then bandage him up. She looked pretty handy with a first aid kit, seeming to know exactly what she was doing and doing it quickly.
After that it was boring. The team checked and cleaned their weapons, ate a lite meal then took up defensive positions around the clearing.
As for Kate, he saw her find a comfy spot then sit. In seconds he saw her head tilt to one side then she was obviously asleep.
---oOo---
'unnguuukkkaaahhh...awwwww...fuuuucckk' the guttural grunt escaped his throat then his lips when he realized he’d drifted off. His head snapped up barely an inch so tight was his control, his eyes scanned the area; every single person was asleep. As his eyes flicked around he saw that Kate’s eyes had also snapped open, she was watching him with a slight smile.
"Time to get moving I think," she said with that half smile still on her face. It was a smile he was starting to think might have more behind it, like someone with a winning something they were about to uncover.
"Time for you to call in and for me to make Tangie an offer he really shouldn't refuse."
His mouth opened, "You're meeting with Tangie? You?" Tangie was a barking-mad baying at the moon homicidal lunatic. She’d be a treat for him, eaten and devoured.
She nodded slowly, "I've got my own agenda. I'll help you as much as I can and keep you safe but I've got my own game running here."
That left him shaking his head slowly from side to side. This was about the most dangerous place he could imagine. Tangie’s army of thousands were probably beating the bushes with machetes looking for them right now. One glimpse of Kate and they'd go into a frenzy then hack her to bits.
He got the rest of the team ready which, according to her, meant they should take as low a profile as possible but be ready to run if the clearing was occupied.
"I just can't tell if anyone is out there. Worst case is fifty of Tangie’s army are having a pow-wow right beside us. That would be very interesting," she grinned hugely. He gripped his gun.
"Ready?" she asked.
He looked around. The team were all facing out, weapons at the ready looking for threat, he had the radio handset in his hand."Go," he whispered loud enough for her to hear.
A blink of the eye later the jungle returned with dimly lit trees visible in the quarter light, the humidity ramping up instantly and the jungle noises invaded again. In the distance they could hear shouting and the occasional gunshot. The jungle was alive with noise but none of it close.
"No one close, I can't feel anyone within a few hundred yards," which made him feel better. "One small thing," she said making him look at her. She had a demand? "No mention of me please. I want this to be our little secret and we've got a way to go yet before you're sitting on the chopper on the way out."
He understood the threat. If she abandoned them it was not likely they'd make it out alive with Tangie’s army surrounding them, the sounds in the jungle everywhere. He nodded.
Taking up the radio he made the call, explained their mission was blown, they were in deep hiding and that pickup needed to be at oh-five-hundred hours and they'd confirm a half hour before. He looked at Kate as he said that, she nodded.
To the question, "Say mission status," he could only respond, "negative, negative on all goals. Two members wounded but walking, safely hidden, acknowledge," and the acknowledgment came. He signed out then shutdown the sat link. It was directional and highly encrypted so he doubted its burst transmissions would have been intercepted but you should never take a chance.
"OK Kate, looks like we're behind where they're looking for us but I presume they'll be back. What’s your plan?" He hated saying that, normally he and his team would be in charge on a mission like this.
She walked quietly to the edge of the jungle and listened quietly, almost like she was sniffing the air. "I think they'll be back in maybe half an hour, an hour absolute tops unless they get distracted by something or someone. Tangie’s whole army is looking for you, can't say I blame him considering that monster rifle Phil is carrying." Her head swiveled around a little more as she looked into the jungle.
"Tell you what. How about I cause a little diversion and draw them out, should take the heat off, then I'll have time to have a quiet word with Tangie plus have time enough to get back here. Should take about an hour and a bit, hour and a half tops. Then we can hole up till oh four hundred and make for your extraction point with a little time to spare. Sound OK?"
To him it sounded terrible. "Kate, with respect, you’re insane! Tangie’s army's beating the bushes shooting at shadows. One glimpse of you and you'll draw them all down on you and end up in little bits after they have their fun. Seriously, that’s not a good option."
He saw her shrug. "Fair point but I have a few advantages and you've got no idea how good I am at hide and seek. And being annoying!" She smiled at that.
"You boys hunker down in the bushes and keep quiet, maybe get a little shut eye or listen to the fun." With that she walked forward then after just a few strides she disappeared into the jungle, hidden by the dense undergrowth and the low star light.
"You heard the lady,” he said to the team. The team took only a couple of minutes to police the clearing of any sign of them having been there and then to take cover a few yards into the jungle then lay on the ground concealed against even close inspection. They stayed as quiet as they could listening to the sounds of the jungle.
Ten minutes was all it took before all hell broke loose. Distance in the jungle can be hard to estimate with any accuracy and especially at night, but it sounded at least a mile away, maybe double that. What it lacked in proximity, it made up for in intensity.
It started with indistinct shouting then rose quickly to a few dozen machine guns, pistols, even some heavy explosions of grenades.
"Shit," he whispered. She'd drawn a monster amount of fire down on her head and it only took one bullet to end her game of hide and seek. Only one small bullet among the thousands they could hear that were being shot at her. Then the sharp loud grenade explosions meant she was close enough for someone to at least try. One piece of shrapnel was enough, just one to slow her down and it was game over.
As they listened it sounded like the whole jungle was shooting at her. Then over a few minutes it became obvious the shooting was moving away from them. "You are kidding," he whispered, "she's drawing them away. Unbelievable."
Then over the next hour or more it became the kind of dull that is wearying as you can only keep total attention for so long, quickly it becomes mind numbing boring. The shooting continued for quite a while before it faded into the distance. Now the normal jungle sounds were the only sounds of the night.
He glanced at his watch, oh two hundred, three hours till extraction. He looked up then nearly had a heart attack, she was back and only a few yards from him at most. Standing very still with a large black plastic bag in her hand, holding something heavy by the look. She was hard to read as it was still quite dark, but she looked annoyed.
"All right, I think it might be best if we go back to the no-place and just sit it out for the next two hours then a leisurely stroll to the landing zone?" She looked at him as if the suggestion were a question.
He listened carefully, the jungle was quiet, just the sounds of the insects and frogs which were never still.
As he listened a strange thing happened. The insects started to ease their racket. The frogs stopped their cacophony. All the little sounds in the jungle quietened down over a minute till it was dead quiet.
"Right now, quickly!" she said loudly, mindless of any hint of stealth.
"If you're not inside the barrier in a minute you'll be dead!" She sounded stressed to him and it was even more strange with the total absence of sound. He decided to follow her lead.
---oOo---
Time in the dark zone, the stasis as Kate called it passed predictably slowly. They’d sat and just waited it out. He’d tried sounding Kate out on what she was doing, but got nothing from her. Likewise, the bag she now carried she declined to show him. It looked like she’d probably stolen something was his guess. Something that would annoy Tangie if what she�
�d said was true.
"Right," Kate said bringing everyone to readiness, "we can close this down then move to your extraction point."
With that the light snapped off then simultaneously the black walls that hid the jungle disappeared but there was no consideration of stealth from her, she just did it. He was instantly worried, snapping his rifle up the same as the team but she didn’t look concerned at all.
Instantly the noises of the jungle returned, the small sounds, the insects and the frogs making their customary racket. Everyone listened carefully but there were no other sounds to be heard.
"All good," Kate said as she started to move, clutching the plastic bag beside her, "lets head on out."
He couldn't help but ask, "Kate, what about Tangie?" That was the real concern. He had thousands of followers and a goodly number of them would still be looking for the invaders, wanting to gain favor by bringing Tangie a severed head. Or two. If he were Tangie, he’d be putting more of his army into grenade throwing positions, the last time had worked pretty damned well.
She wasn’t interested. "Forget Tangie for now. I doubt he is interested in us at all." She was very positive about it also.
---oOo---
At the extraction point they waited just inside the jungle, staying concealed, standing watching the clearing.
Eventually the sound of the helicopter’s immediate arrival increased up from nothing till it was in front of them. "Come on Kate," he said, "rides here. We can take you back to Kinshasa?"
He was surprised when she shook her head, "Thanks but no thanks. I'm spending a few days here talking to some of the local villagers, having a meeting or two, basically schmoozing the region. Oh. One thing!" She flashed him a smile.
He looked at her boggle eyed, "You're staying here? You? Here? One thing?"
She turned to him. Previously she’d been looking into the landing zone but now she was looking at him, her gaze steely and hard.
"Sure, it’s an easy place for me to work and staying here is no hardship at all. Now, when you get back, I need you to debrief to the DDO, the deputy director of operations at Langley only about me. Don’t tell anyone else about me, just tell the DDO please."
The Camper: First Contact and the Planet Tamer (The Stellar Universe Book 0) Page 14