Shadow Warrior: Destiny of a Mutant

by Larry Townley

  Normally, a Sherman tank crew consisted of five personnel: a commander, driver, co-driver, gunner and a loader. However, all of Walker’s tanks only had a crew of four, with the loader and co-driver being the same person.

  “Damn!” said Walker with his smooth Tennessee-tinged drawl, “I know them sonsabitches are ‘round here somewhere, Sarge.” Walker had a pair of binoculars and was standing in the open canopy of his tank to look for his enemy.

  “Sarge” was First Sergeant Tommy Darby, Walker’s gunner. The tank’s driver was Corporal Paul Xavier Kelly, known better as “PX.” The co-driver/loader was Private First Class Douglas Carter, known as “DC.”

  “You’re right. They gotta be here somewhere, Cap’n,” replied Darby with his heavy Brooklyn-Irish accent. “But, where the hell is somewhere?”

  As they came up over the next sand dune, Walker spotted the twelve tanks they had been pursuing approximately 1,500 meters to the south of their location through his binoculars.

  “I got ‘em, Sarge,” Walker called out. “Have the unit stop where they are, and shut down their tanks. They haven‘t seen us yet, and their backsides are facing us.”

  Sarge gave the order and Walker’s unit stopped as commanded.

  “I think we done caught ‘em with their britches down, Sarge. Them fuckers look like they’re still asleep. I guess they didn’t expect us to catch up with ‘em in the dark.”

  Dawn was still about twenty minutes away. Walker knew they would lose their advantage if the sun came up before they could pounce on their prey.

  “Sarge, have the boys move to within 650 meters but hold their fire until I give the word. DC, load ‘er up!”

  “Yes, sir,” said DC, who was the youngest crew member at nineteen and was on his first mission with Walker’s unit. He loaded a round in the cannon as ordered.

  Walker knew the maximum effective range of the Panzer’s main gun was about 600 meters. Theirs was a little more than that, but not by much. However, with the element of surprise on their side, Walker planned on striking fast and then moving back to draw them into an ambush.

  “Have the boys move up slowly and keep as quiet as possible until it’s time to unleash hell on them assholes.”

  “Yes, Cap’n,” said Sarge, and he relayed the message to the rest of the unit.

  Slowly Walker’s unit edged forward until they were within about 650 meters of the enemy.

  “Fire! Fire at will!” Walker commanded, and he and his unit let loose a deadly barrage of 76 mm cannon fire.

  Walker was watching as the cannons delivered their deadly packages. He watched several of the tanks blow apart in a million pieces. At first, he could not see anything because of all of the smoke.

  As he was preparing to give the order to continue firing, he looked through his binoculars again. The turrets of the tanks that had not been hit were still facing away from his unit, and they had not opened fire yet.

  “What the hell!” Walker looked through his binos again and noticed for the first time that one of the tanks that had been hit had been completely destroyed. His guns were good - but not that good. Part of the armored body of the enemy tanks should have been there and on fire. Then he realized that the tanks he had been shooting at were made of wood!

  “Sonofabitch! It’s a trap! Turn around and let’s get the fuck out of here!” Walker yelled into his microphone.

  As his unit started to obey his command, Walker saw what appeared to be three blue lights coming from the same direction more than a thousand meters away.

  All three of the blue lights hit the tank next to Walkers’, and as soon as it hit it, the tank just disappeared like it had never been there.

  “Holy Jesus! What the hell was that?” screamed Sarge.

  Before he could answer, two more tanks suffered the same fate.

  “Get us the fuck out of here, PX!” bellowed Walker.

  As his unit continued their retreat, Walker watched eight more of his tanks simply disappear after being struck by the mysterious blue lights.

  PX was pushing the M-4 Sherman as fast as it could go, as were the drivers of the other tanks. He was moving the tank from side to side to make it harder for the Nazis to hit him. He knew the drivers of the other tanks were doing the same. Just as he zigged to the right, he saw the blue light strike a boulder next to where he would have been going if he had zagged instead, and the boulder simply disappeared.

  “Shit! That was too damn close!” exclaimed Sarge to PX.

  “What the fuck are they shootin’ at us with!” screamed PX, with his nasally Midwestern accent.

  “No idea,” said Sarge, “and I don’t wanna find out da hard way!”

  With uncanny precision, the blue lights kept finding their targets as Walker’s unit continued their hasty retreat. Four more of the tanks and their crew disappeared as if they had never existed.

  After a half-hour of hard running, no more shots were seen being fired from the mysterious Nazi weapon. By the time they made it back to their base of operations a couple of hours later, only four of his nineteen tanks had made it back safely.

  Upon making it back to their base, Walker immediately exited his tank and ran to the command tent to report what had happened.

  When Walker entered the tent, he interrupted a meeting in progress his colonel was having with a one-star general, a couple of majors, and three captains. He stopped, snapped to attention, saluted, and apologized for his brash entrance.

  “Captain! What the hell is the meaning of this?” asked Colonel Melvin Jarvis, Third U.S. Army.

  “Beggin’ the Colonel’s pardon, sir, but the information I have couldn’t wait. An’ the general there needs to hear this as well, sir.”

  Walker then explained what had happened to him and his unit. At first they thought he was crazy with his story of some new Nazi weapon that could destroy a tank with a blue light and not leave any trace of it, but the general who was attending the meeting had been briefed on the bombers that had been destroyed a few weeks earlier.

  “I need to contact General Patton. This information needs to get to the president as soon as possible!” said the general.

  Chapter 38

  The White House

  Oval Office

  “Mr. President,” said Henry Stimson as he sat in the chair directly in front of the president’s desk, “what secret mission are you talking about?”

  The president had ordered Stimson to report to the White House as soon as Will had left. He arrived promptly an hour later.

  “It’s a sabotage mission behind enemy lines. That’s all I can tell you at this time, Henry. The man running the operation will be Colonel William Clark. I‘ll give you updates when I have them. He‘s still putting a plan together.”

  “Clark? Never heard of him. What branch of service is he with?”

  “The Army, Henry. For Heaven’s sake, even you can’t know every colonel in the Army.”

  “I suppose not. Still…”

  “Henry, I don’t have time to argue with you. Consider this an order. Have the men whose names are on that list contacted and have them report to their field headquarters on the double. Colonel Clark will contact them personally.”

  “Wait a minute, how is Colonel Clark going to contact these men personally when there are thousands of miles away from each other?”

  The president realized that he had overplayed his hand. He stared at Stimson for a few seconds before answering.

  “By the field phone, Henry. By the field phone at their field headquarters. How else? I don’t care how it’s done, just do it. Now get a move on with this.”

  Stimson stood up. “Yes, Mr. President. I’ll take care of it personally.”

  “Thank you, Henry. Say hello to your wife for me.”

  “Thank you, sir. The same to your wife as well.”

  The president nodded and kept the smile on his face until Stimson left the Oval Office. As soon as he left, he let out a huge sigh, as if he had been holding his
breath forever.

  Damn, I need a drink!

  Just then the president’s private line rang. It was General George C. Marshall, Roosevelt’s Chief of Staff.

  “Good morning, George. What can I do for you?” inquired the president.

  President Roosevelt listened as Marshall laid out what had happened to the tank unit and the Nazi attack with the mysterious blue light weapon. He turned pale as a sheet upon hearing about the latest use of alien technology against American troops.

  “Thank you, George. Keep me posted with any further developments.”

  Roosevelt put both hands on his forehead. He had a headache that he knew would not be helped by aspirin.

  He prayed that Clark, or whoever he was, knew what he was doing.

  Chapter 39

  Wormhole

  1480 A.D.

  The moment Will entered the wormhole, time and space became non-existent. The walls of the wormhole’s vertex were a whirling mass of yellow-white energy that spun in a clockwise direction. The length of the wormhole was indeterminate because it was not a straight line but was instead like being on a cosmic roller coaster with hills and valleys that went up and down in varying angles of degrees, sharp turns, and loop after loop.

  Will was in a freefall and panic started to set in. Will knew that he needed to get in control of himself. He closed his eyes, slowed his breathing, and found his center. Slowly he began to calm down and focus. He then gained control of his body and stopped his freefall, and almost had the feeling that he was flying.

  Will was in awe of the technology that had created this miracle. Will wondered what other marvels of technology the beings that had produced this had also created. Although the wormhole was a swirling mass of energy, he was able to see outside of the vortex’s walls. He was in deep space, and planets, suns, moons, asteroids and other heavenly bodies were passing by him at blinding speed.

  This spectacle went on for what seemed like eternity, but in reality only several Terran minutes had passed. After several more minutes, Will felt himself slowing down slightly. Ahead he could see the vortex starting to dissipate slowly.

  Suddenly, everything went black for the briefest time, and then Will found himself in a highly advanced scientific laboratory. Will fell to the ground on his knees as soon as he came out of the wormhole, which he assumed was an aftereffect of traveling through the portal. He stayed there for a few seconds until he got his bearings and his legs were steady again.

  Slowly he stood up and looked around. He was surrounded by several tall, thin grey-skinned beings - some with facial hair, some obviously older than others - all wearing various colored robes. Some of the robes had different colored piping around the sleeves and collars, and others did not, which indicated their position or rank.

  As Will started to speak, one of the older beings took a step forward towards him to help him up. Will recognized him as he started to talk.

  “Welcome to the planet Altrusia, Will Essex of Earth. It is an honor to meet you in person at last,” Portak stated in introduction, bowing slightly towards Will. The other beings with Portak bowed in a similar fashion. Will returned the courtesy, and then simply smiled.

  Chapter 40

  Altrusia

  Introductions were made to the other Elders, and then Portak took Will on a tour of a small part of the facility, which served as a command center, training academy, scientific laboratory, and medical facility. Afterwards, he escorted Will to his chambers, opened the door by passing his hand over a key portal, and showed him the features of his room.

  “This place. This…everything is so overwhelming. I have so many questions to ask,” said Will.

  “I am sure that you do, but for now you should get your rest. Tomorrow will be a busy day. I have some business to attend to. Until tomorrow,” replied Portak. Portak stopped in mid-turn and then said, “There is one more thing. This is an identification bracelet that will grant you access to and from this facility and will identify you as someone who has access to the entire complex. Wear it at all times.” Portak then handed Will the black bracelet, which had the Guardians symbol on a small medallion in the center of it.

  As Portak left and the chamber door shut, Will sat down on his bed - which hovered a few feet above the ground - looking at the bracelet.

  I always knew my destiny wasn’t in England, but I never expected…this, thought Will as he looked in awe at his surroundings.

  Will got up from his bed and walked around the room, marveling at the alien artifacts, furniture and decorations. Portions of the room, Portak had informed him, such as lights, water and the ambient temperature, were voice controlled and activated.

  “Lights,” Will said in the language of Portak’s race, and the lights instantly came on. They were a little too bright, so Will dimmed them with another voice command. Will checked the wound on his arm; it had completely healed. Will then showered and dressed in the sleepwear, a pair of pastel yellow pants and loose-fitting short-sleeve shirt that had been left out for him. The clothes were very light and silky to the touch, but appeared very durable.

  After changing into the new clothes, Will placed his old clothes in a machine located next to a large walk-in closet. The machine, Portak had told him, would clean and repair his clothes for him, as well as make them more durable than they originally were. Will placed the clothing in the machine and finished getting dressed. Less than a minute later a voice on the machine informed him the clothes were ready.

  Will removed the clothes, and they were clean and repaired and looked better than the day his mother had made them for him. He folded and placed them in the closet; he wondered if he‘d ever wear them again.

  Will laid down on the floating bed, and within a couple of minutes he was fast asleep.

  ***

  Will awoke the next morning fully rested and eager to start the day. Will dressed in the clothing that had been left for him in the closet, which consisted of a pair of pale-gray pants, a pale-gray short sleeve tunic, and a pair of slipper style, form-fitting shoes with a firm sole. All were made out of a strong, silky cotton-like material.

  Will exited his chambers and found his way to the dining hall. He passed several beings that appeared to be of Portak’s species, as well as a few other races and species, who gave him a look of surprise at seeing a human in their facility. A few were wearing a black uniform, and he surmised they were the Guardians that Portak had mentioned the night before.

  When he arrived, he was the only person in the dining hall. To his right there was an odd looking machine that Portak had shown him during the tour the night before that could produce almost any type of food. Portak did warn him that the selection of Terran cuisine was pretty limited, so he suggested some alternate foods that would be comparable.

  Will kept it simple and ordered two eggs, an assortment of fruit, bread, and milk to drink. Within seconds of selecting his food from the machine, it was ready. The eggs were rather odd looking, with a blue yolk and orange whites. However, they had a delicious flavor to them. The fruit was also very exotic looking, but was very sweet and juicy. The bread was hot and oval shaped, and tasted faintly of vanilla. The milk was a pale yellow, and had a sweet pleasant taste to it as well.

  As Will was finishing his breakfast, Portak joined him at his table.

  “Good morning, Will.”

  “Good morning.”

  “Did you sleep well?” Portak inquired.

  “Like a rock,” Will answered with a smile.

  Portak looked confused by this statement. “How could you sleep like a rock? It is a piece of igneous matter and has no need for rest.”

  Will laughed. “It is merely a Terran way of saying I slept well.”

  “Ah! I understand. You were speaking euphemistically,” Portak said with a nod.

  “Correct.”

  “It may take me awhile to understand your grammatical patterns.”

  “There is no hurry, my friend.” Will replied. “Also, speaking
of grammatical patterns, the alien writing that I was able to read is different than your written language. Can you explain what language it is?”

  “Due to the myriad and disparate languages that are spoken throughout the universe, the linguists of the Universal Council created a language that could be used by all sentient beings to communicate with each other. Therefore, all member planets under the jurisdiction of the Universal Council speak this language, known as Interlac, to conduct business or communicate with most other sentient beings,” Portak explained.

  “That is most sensible.”

  “Well, down to the matter at hand,” Portak stated. “We have much to do. Soon you will begin your Guardian training. However, before you begin I wanted to further discuss the enhancement procedure that we talked about earlier.”

  “Yes, I must admit that I am very curious about that.”

  “Quite frankly, so are we,” Portak said with an edge of concern in his voice.

  “Why is that? It sounded to me that the enhancement procedure simply enhanced the natural abilities of a new Guardian so that he or she would be better equipped to carry out his or her duties.” Will stated.

  “You are correct in what you say. However, as I told you earlier, the problem is that we have never conducted an enhancement on a Terran before, so there is no way to accurately predict what it will do to you.” Portak replied. “There are numerous humanoid-like beings that we have conducted this procedure on over the millennia but none with your exact physiology.”

  “Is it a potentially dangerous procedure?”

  “No, but the procedure is irreversible, so whatever happens to you will be permanent.”

  “I’m still willing to go through with it,” Will said confidently.

  Portak nodded his head, and continued. “There is one last thing you should know. It is my belief that in addition to simply being a mutant, that you are also a nephak-tan.”