The face mask was designed so that it did not permit anyone to see Will’s eyes, but he could see through the mask with a completely unobstructed view. The face mask and suit also featured a shielding system which prevented anyone from using any type of x-ray device or powers to penetrate it and look at Will’s face or body. The face mask also disguised Will’s voice as needed - giving it a raspy, ominous sound and tone.
Another feature of the suit was its extreme malleability - enough so that if Will needed to morph into a different alien life form or species, it would also take whatever shape he needed it to. Most importantly, it was capable of becoming invisible and intangible so Will did not have to ever take it off, but it was always there when he wanted or needed it.
***
The starship cruiser was an engineering marvel even before Will made his modifications to it. The black starship cruiser could accommodate a pilot and co-pilot seated next to each other, or it could convert to a single-seater with a single command from Will’s voice, but only Will’s voice. The master controls were made a part of two control panel bracelets that Will wore around his wrists, which were also part of his Guardian uniform.
Will had invented and installed a next generation Altrusian artificial intelligence system into the ship’s navigational and computer systems. It could perform numerous functions at one time and had the most advanced propulsion system ever designed. It was even capable of traveling at ultra-light speed! Its advanced armament and weapons systems could destroy a planet with only a few blasts, or pinpoint a target the size of a quarter from several miles away!
The cruiser’s propulsion system was self-sustaining and self-generating that produced absolutely no heat, radiation, or fuel signature, and was totally invisible from even the most advanced tracking system. Will also installed a shielding system and a cloaking device that was unrivaled anywhere in the universe.
The cruiser also had the capability to morph into almost any form of mechanical or electrical mode of transportation that Will anticipated he could encounter. For those he could not foresee, it had an advanced mimic program that allowed it to adapt to anything he might possibly come across.
However, one of the most important design features that Will had added was in the miniaturization and installation of the Altrusian wormhole device to the starship. The starship itself was now capable of producing a wormhole for when Will needed to travel great distances in a short amount of time, and it allowed him to travel both backwards and forward in time!
***
The Elders provided Will with precious jewels and metals, such as diamonds, rubies, gold and platinum, so he could conduct commerce with the different worlds he would be protecting. Diamonds, including rare colored diamonds, were so common on Altrusia they were not considered a precious stone at all. Gold and platinum were the same.
However, although considered commonplace on Altrusia, they were considered precious commodities on almost every other planet for which Will had responsibility. So much so that Will would be considered a very wealthy man on all of the worlds he protected.
Everything was now in place; Will was ready to begin his career as a Guardian.
Chapter 53
Guardian
Over the next seventeen years, Will became a legend among the Guardians, the planets in his sector of space, and in other star sectors as well. His powers had increased as well. Although seventeen years had passed, Will had not aged a single day, and he still looked no older than eighteen or nineteen.
In order to learn more about each species he was protecting, he would often live among them for several years, both in his role as a Guardian and in disguise as one of them as needed.
Although he had learned about the culture, history, and language of the planets in his star sector in his early training days through the utilization of the sleep learning chamber, it was nothing compared to actually experiencing it firsthand.
As a Guardian responsible for protecting many sentient beings, there were some things he was forbidden from doing. Will was not allowed to introduce any new technology to the planets he was responsible for unless it was first approved by the Elders, which was rare for them to do. He could not interfere in the politics of their world or make decisions for them that affected their world. His responsibilities did include preventing, if possible, of natural disasters, helping in the rescue or recovery efforts as needed, and assisting law enforcement authorities as needed with extremely dangerous criminals.
He was also responsible for making sure that the more hostile beings from various planets did not try to conquer those beings on more peaceful worlds - as he had done on Antares IV soon after he began his career as a Guardian.
***
The fearsome warrior race of Galtraxia was well-known for their propensity for violently enslaving the inhabitants of peaceful worlds so they could steal the planet’s natural resources for use on their barren, desolate planet. They had been victorious in every campaign, and decided to conquer the peace loving people of Antares IV, make slaves of them, and pillage their planetary resources.
As their armada of powerful spacecraft began to invade Antares IV, their commander ordered the first strike to be against the capitol city of Palminia. As the barrage of laser cannon fire was loosed upon its target, Will appeared out of nowhere and blocked all of the incoming shots with his body!
The Galtraxians were totally unprepared for the sight of a humanoid in a black uniform blocking their powerful laser blasts in such a manner. The Galtraxians quickly recognized the uniform and symbol as belonging to a Guardian. As the commanding general turned to give an order to the rest of the armada to destroy the Guardian with everything in their arsenal, he reacted a little too late - not that it would have done any good anyway.
Will then destroyed two of the Galtraxian command vessels with a few well placed blasts of his laser vision and super strength. Two more were destroyed by Will’s starship cruiser, which appeared out of nowhere as suddenly as Will had in front of the command vessels.
With several of their commanding generals killed, the remainder of the fleet was about to finish the job when Will materialized on the bridge of the remaining command vessel and told them, in perfect Galtraxian, to cease their hostile actions immediately or face the same fate as their comrades.
The sight of a black-clad Guardian materializing out of nowhere on their bridge, through their so-called impenetrable shield no less, was enough to discourage them from continuing their attack, especially after Will destroyed their weapons console with a blast of laser vision to further make his point. The surviving commanders ordered the remainder of the armada to return to their planet.
Will, however, was not convinced of their sincerity and followed them to their planet and promptly neutralized all of their weapons systems on board every ship in their fleet. He also modified their ships so that they could fly no further than one quadrant from their home planet, and only at sub-light speed.
Will learned from the Galtraxian leaders of the plight of their planet and, after obtaining permission from the Elders, used Altrusian technology to reconstitute the natural resources on their world so they would never have to resort to the drastic measures they had been using to obtain resources from other planets.
***
It did not take long before word of the new Guardian with the incredible powers in their star sector got around to all of the planets under his protection. Will also made it a point to contact the leaders of each of the worlds in his area of responsibility and let them know he was available whenever he was needed, as well as to provide them with a way to contact him.
Will did his best to keep a low profile. He did not seek the adulation that the grateful people of the worlds he protected tried to heap upon him. After completing an assignment, mission, or preventing disaster, he usually left without receiving recognition for it, or accomplished his work with no one being the wiser that he had done it.
Because of Will’s tendency
to blend into the shadows, or complete a mission without his presence becoming known, he became known as the Shadow Warrior.
Chapter 54
Nazi Occupied Germany
The Eyrie
1943 A.D.
The closest town to the Eyrie was Füssen, which was located approximately thirty miles west of its location and only a few miles from the Austrian border on the banks of the Lech River. The town, sitting at 808 meters above sea level, was the highest town in Bavaria. It was renowned for the beautiful castles that surrounded it, and infamous for being a sub-camp of the Dachau concentration camp.
The construction of the secret facility had been somewhat of a boon to the town as commerce was established with some of the local farmers to provide fresh vegetables, milk, poultry, eggs, and other food items, as well as with various merchants to provide whatever sundry items were needed by the seventy-five personnel assigned to the Eyrie.
“Guten morgen, Herr Schmidt,” said Erika Getman to Gerhardt Schmidt, one of the locals that delivered fresh food to the Eyrie three times per week, as she helped him unload his supply of fresh milk and vegetables. She checked off the unloaded items from a list provided to her by Schmidt so he could get paid for his supplies. This was all done under the scrutiny of three German Army soldiers.
“Guten morgen, Fraülein Getman. How are you this morning?”
“I’m doing well, thank you,” she replied. “I have several empty milk containers for you as well. Twenty-two exactly,” she said, handing him his payment in cash as she made eye contact with him.
“Bitte, Fraülein Getman, may the rest of your day be uneventful,” he said, giving her the countersign to let her know he understood her message.
Upon hearing the word exactly Schmidt knew that the twenty-second container he would load contained an encrypted message in a hidden compartment at the bottom of the container. It would also be marked with a special ink that only became visible when exposed to ammonia and heat in case he lost count or they got mixed up. Schmidt would then smuggle this message to his contact in the Underground, where it would make its way through other couriers until it landed on the desk of Colonel William Donovan of the American OSS.
Although Schmidt knew that Getman was some sort of spy he did not know what kind of information she had been passing to the OSS via the Underground, nor did he want to know. The less he knew, the less he could tell the Gestapo if he was ever captured by them and subjected to their unique forms of Sonderbehandlunga to persuade him to talking. He would die before giving them any information, even if he was tortured.
Schmidt had been part of the Underground since Hitler started his reign of terror. He would love nothing better than to see the Austrian Corporal meet his demise at the hands of the Americans or British so this damn war could come to an end and Germany could once again hold its head up high. He was willing to do anything he could do to make sure that happened. He knew that many of his people considered the members of the Underground as Veräter or Franktireure, but he didn’t care. To him, Hitler was the traitor and terrorist.
The Gestapo had killed his only son when he had tried to stop four of them from raping a Jewish girl who happened to be walking in the wrong place at the wrong time in Munich in 1938. Schmidt knew why he hated the Nazis. He was not, however, sure what Getman’s motivation was, nor did he really care one way or another. She had a job to do and knew the risks involved just as well as he did.
***
Erika Wagner was twenty-six years old, tall, slim, and blonde. She was incredibly attractive with an intelligence to match her beauty. She had a body that made her instantly desirable by any male with a heartbeat, but also made them think of her only as a dumb blonde - which suited her just fine. It made the Nazis seriously underestimate her. She also knew how to turn on her “dumb blonde” persona when the need arose in her role as a spy.
Her father, Johann Wagner, had been a professor of German and Gothic literature at the University of Heidelberg before the war started. Her mother, Hilda Rosenthal Wagner, was a professor of history there as well. Erika had been rewarded for her hard work and good grades in high school with a full scholarship to the same university to study chemistry and physics - two subjects in which she excelled.
After the Nazis came to power, they systematically began purging the schools and universities of the Jewish teachers and professors. Her mother, a German Jew, was one of them. She was shipped off to a concentration camp and was never heard from again. Her father, after his wife was taken by the Nazis, drank himself to death within a year.
Erika was full of pent up rage and hatred and she was consumed with thoughts of revenge. However, she knew she could do nothing alone. Discreetly, she made some inquiries and was put in contact with some members of the Underground. Thus began her clandestine life as a spy and saboteur.
After the Underground and the American OSS became aware of the construction of the Eyrie, Erika was assigned the mission of infiltrating this facility.
It had taken her six months to accomplish it, but finally she was able to infiltrate the organization, securing a position as an administrative assistant. She had been given an alias, Erika Getman, and an impressive résumé and references to obtain the position.
She had successfully worked her way into a position of trust within the Nazi hierarchy at the Eyrie, and she could move about the facility with unfettered access. That was true until they had captured the aliens and their ship and brought them to the facility. Since then, it had been impossible to move about the lower levels as she once had without an escort, if at all, but she had found other ways to accomplish her mission.
As much as she hated herself for doing it, she had often had sex with whomever she felt could give her information she could pass to her Underground contact, Gerhardt Schmidt, or could escort her to the parts of the facility that were now off limits to her. She had secretly been Donovan’s eyes and ears for almost a year now. To Donovan she was better known as ‘Condor.’
Chapter 55
Allied Convoy
North Sea
The U.S. Coast Guard cutters Armitage, Hermitage and Fortnight had been leading the convoy of six Allied freighters, and seven destroyers across the Atlantic Ocean for more than a week now. The primary job of the cutters’ crew was to look for the dreaded Nazi U-boats that were notorious for sinking Allied ships in this section of the North Sea and destroy them before they could destroy the convoy carrying much needed supplies, troops and firepower to Europe.
So far it had been a smooth trip, and they were only hours away from their destination in Scotland where the cutters would turn patrol duty over to the British and their crews could return home. There was some early morning fog which made looking for a submarine’s conning tower a little more difficult, but it was nothing they couldn’t handle.
“How’s it looking, Jamison?” asked Lieutenant Commander John Slidell, commander of the Coast Guard cutter Armitage, as well as the entire cutter contingent on this mission, to Petty Officer 3rd Class, Todd Jamison, who was on his first transatlantic crossing.
“Fine, sir. Nothing to report,” said Jamison.
“Excellent. Let’s keep it that way, shall we?” replied Slidell.
“Aye, aye, Skipper.”
A few minutes later, Jamison was shocked to see a Nazi submarine surfacing to their ship’s starboard bow.
“Skipper, a Nazi sub just surfaced fifteen degrees starboard! Distance, approximately 2,500 meters!”
“What!” Slidell lifted his heavy duty binoculars and into focus came a large German U-boat. “Are there any fish in the water yet?” he asked, referring to the torpedoes used by the subs to sink their targets.
“Negative, sir! She’s just sittin’ there for now.”
“Battle stations!” Slidell called out. His crew then took their battle station positions, waiting for the sub to come into range of their 88 mm cannons. “Notify those ships and the other cutters we got a sub fifteen degrees starboar
d! Alright, let’s see what that son of a bitch is going to do. Prepare depth charges in case she dives.”
“Aye, aye, sir,” said one of the yeomen on the bridge.
This went on for several tense minutes. The Nazi sub just continued to sit still in the water, seemingly oblivious that the convoy was there.
“Sir, with this fog, do you think it’s possible they don’t see the convoy?” asked Jamison. Nervous perspiration had formed on his lip and brow. His heart was pounding inside of his chest so hard his ribs were about to break. This was his first encounter with an enemy sub, and he was about to shit his pants.
“Not very damn likely, son,” said Slidell. Slidell exuded a calm exterior to his crew. He had been in this position before and had successfully faced and destroyed several enemy subs. But, he was still just as scared as the rest of his crew, he just couldn‘t show it.
“Then what the hell is he waiting for, sir?” asked Jamison.
“Not sure what he’s doing. Let’s just…wait a minute, we’ve got some movement!”
Through his binoculars, Jamison watched the top hatch of the sub open and three men appeared on the deck. In one of the men’s hands was what appeared to be some type of long weapon or rifle. He relayed this information to Slidell.
“What the hell…what’s he going to do try and take out the whole convoy with a damn rifle?” asked Jamison.
Immediately, Slidell remembered a secret communiqué he had received regarding some new Nazi weapon that had taken out several bombers and tanks recently, and he had a bad feeling that he was looking at one of them now.
“Oh, shit! Open fire! Fire at will! Aim your weapons and try to get some altitude on those shells before he opens up with the rifle.”
Shadow Warrior: Destiny of a Mutant Page 21