by Don Drewniak
Before anyone could respond, the General walked in, “Get your gear together, we are taking a trip. Pezeshki will man the van.”
Ten minutes later, the five of them, along with two MPs and a pilot, were in a helicopter on their way to inspect what little was left of what once was a bear. While en route, the General detailed what he had been told by Morgan, specifically Westerlind’s description to Williams, Morgan and Fowler of the decimated bear.
“Looks like coyotes had a feast,” said Cyclo as he looked over the few shards of bone which were left.
“If it weren’t for the description of what he saw that the horseback rider gave to Bill, we wouldn’t be giving this a second thought,” added Henderson.
Ling thought to himself, “Why did she mention only Williams and not Morgan and Fowler?”
“It certainly is disappointing, but maybe we will come up with something when we bring it back,” said Saunders.
Henderson and Saunders had just started to collect samples when Cyclo yelled, “Get down!” Immediately, he began firing into the distance. The General and the MPs joined him.
After several rounds had been expended, the General called for a cease fire. Whatever it was had disappeared into the trees. “Everybody in the chopper, now!” He then ordered the pilot to lift off and try to follow the “bloody thing.”
The bloody thing, as the General called it, appeared to be a normal bear in every respect except one. It was covered with what seemed to be tarantula bristles.
Next was a call to Rappaport, who was told to bring everything he had. Finally, he contacted Mitchell and asked him to let Morgan know what was happening.
Three hours later with darkness approaching, a fleet of helicopters, a drone and satellite imagery had yielded nothing.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“WE ARE MISSING OUT ON THE FUN.”
“I can’t disagree with that, Art,” replied Morgan.
“Morgan,” said Williams, “any objections if Art and I see if we can find it? We’ll give it three days and then rejoin you. Meanwhile, you can continue the search here.”
“I’d prefer to go after it, but it’s your call and the two of you have more experience with this sort of thing. Just make sure you take some scotch with you.”
“Thanks. I’ll have the General send out a chopper and drop us off near where the remains of the bear were found. That will leave you with the Pathfinder.”
The plan was roughly a shortened version of the first one which resulted in the killing of Assassin. They planned to start near the site where the bear-like Assassin had been spotted and move on foot in the direction it had fled when fired upon. Williams requested that no helicopters fly in the area during the search.
Starting at six in the morning, Williams and Fowler moved slowly through the thickly wooded area. They were focused on looking for evidence of a trail that may have been created by the fleeing beast. Two hundred feet or so into the woods, they spotted a fresh trail which gave every indication of being that of a bear. Unfortunately, the trail disappeared a little less than two miles later at a clearing. During the trek, Williams received two calls from Morgan who stated each time that he had come up with nothing new, either from his area search or from the drone and the satellite.
As the two were searching the perimeter of the clearing looking for a continuation of the trail, Fowler pulled field glasses out of his backpack and peered through them looking low in the horizon toward the north.
“Bill, when is the only time you’ll see golden eagles flying in a pack?”
“When they are migrating. Why?”
Handing the field glasses to Williams, Fowler said, “Take a look at this,” while pointing in the direction he had been looking. “Also, look at the size of them. The wingspans must be at least ten feet.”
“Trouble,” said Williams as he watched four of them circling slowly together no more than two hundred feet off the ground. “They are moving in our direction. Looks like you may have asked the right question when you asked what would happen if an Assassin nailed an eagle.”
“What’s the plan?”
“If they get close enough, shoot them down.”
“You want me to commit a felony?” laughed Fowler. “If so, you owe me fifty for every one I drop.”
“You’re on. Also, bring one down alive and I’ll double the fifty.”
“Pay me up front and I’ll give you a ten percent discount.”
“Payment on delivery. They are almost within range. Get under cover. Don’t fire until you see me start to raise my rifle. I want to see if they’ll come after me when they spot me.”
“Maybe they’ve already spotted us.”
“They wouldn’t be circling. Get under cover now.”
Fowler dashed under the nearest trees, while Williams sat down with his rifle at his side. The eagles ceased circling two minutes later and headed toward Williams while simultaneously gaining altitude. Williams continued to watch and wait. Finally, when he estimated they were about five hundred feet away both in height and lateral distance, all four went into a dive aimed directly at him. The second Williams grabbed his rifle, Fowler opened fire. Two were hit. The other two reversed direction moving rapidly up and away.
One of the two plummeted downward, while the other went into a spiral struggling to stay in flight. Shortly after the first one smashed into the ground, the second landed some three hundred feet away. Its right wing was damaged.
“Got my hundred fifty?”
Ling was alone in the van – agonizing. He had been agonizing ever since Cyclo had yelled out, “Get down.”
Over and over he replayed in his mind what had happened. He could vividly see the General and the MPs reacting by drawing and firing their weapons, while he dropped to the ground with Alice and Saunders. No one who was there said a word to him about it, but he knew what all of them, especially Alice, must be thinking. And then he pictured what Williams would have done. He imagined him not only firing, but also giving chase.
Just when he thought the comparison between Williams and him couldn’t get any worse, the General bolted into the van. Addressing Ling, he said, “You, Alice and Saunders are going back to Texas. Bill and Arthur have just downed two oversized golden eagles. They are sure the eagles are the products of Assassin. One is alive.”
Ling was stunned and speechless.
“Mitchell and Cyclo are going with me to get the eagles to send to the lab in Texas. Jim and McBride are already on their way there.”
Before Ling could respond, the General turned and left.
Seconds may have passed, or minutes may have passed, before Ling’s mind cleared enough to allow him to ask, “What do I tell Alice?”
“You should have seem him, General! Tells me to hide behind some trees and then sits down waiting for the eagles to attack.”
Williams looked at Fowler and then at the General. “The crook just took me for a hundred fifty.”
The General shook his head.
A group of fifteen armed men had formed a circle about thirty feet from the wounded eagle. Two others were approaching the circle with a large metal cage.
“Don’t use that cage,” yelled Cyclo. “It will probably kill itself trying to get out of it.”
“Then what are we supposed to use?” asked Rappaport.
Cyclo was holding two large blankets. Both of his hands and lower arms were protected with thick gloves.
“That’s being taken care of,” said the General. “Before we left, Cyclo asked if we could get the type of cardboard box used for new refrigerators or stoves. We should have one here in half-an-hour. Cyclo, would you explain?”
“Even if it has Assassin’s thinking ability, it will probably have an eagle’s instinct. In this case, the instinct to escape. We need to get it in a totally dark environment and one in which it can’t further damage itself. Those types of boxes are strong enough to hold it. We’ll wrap it in the blankets. Once we get it inside the box and close it,
it should become docile.”
“If anybody would know about this, it’s Cyclo,” said Mitchell.
A few minutes passed and what had been a group in which no sounds louder than whispers could be heard became totally quiet. Williams slowly walked toward the eagle taking one step at a time – pausing ten to twenty seconds in between steps. He stopped five feet away. Absent from him were any weapons. The eagle became totally still as Williams gradually brought himself to a sitting position. Wounded as it was, had the eagle chosen to attack Williams, it might have inflicted severe damage. Worse yet, if it were to pierce his skin with its beak, would it have passed on its virus?
For the next fifteen minutes, Williams and the eagle stared at one another until the sound of an incoming helicopter could be heard in the distance. Williams stood up and walked up to the eagle and extended his right hand. Minutes passed until what was unquestionably an Eagle Assassin extended its left wing and briefly touched Williams’ hand with the tip of its wing.
Williams turned around and slowly walked to the General. “Have someone bring me the box.” Turning to Cyclo, he said, “Give me the blankets.”
The General quietly ordered two soldiers to get the box as Cyclo turned over the blankets. The box – a large refrigerator box – was handed over to Williams. First he brought the blankets to within a few feet of the eagle. Then he carried out the box. Placing it on its side, he removed the top and put the blankets inside. Sitting next to the opening, he looked at the eagle and then at the opening. The eagle slowly made its way into the box.
Once the eagle was inside the box, Williams gave the eagle a salute and proceeded to slide the cover into place. Walking back to the General, he said, “Have them secure the box. Make sure whoever is in charge of transporting Assassin does it with care.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
RAPPAPORT AND MCBRIDE TOOK CHARGE of getting the two eagles to the Texas lab. Most of the troops departed at the same time. Left behind were the General, Williams, Fowler, Mitchell, Cyclo, two MPs and a pilot. The MPs were ordered to watch for unusual movement, while the pilot remained seated in the lone remaining helicopter.
“Morgan is on the way here in a chopper,” announced the General. “We need to figure out just what the hell we do next. Meanwhile, Arthur, where’s your scotch?”
“The eagle drank it all before you got here, General.”
“Again, Arthur, what am I going to do with you?”
Without replying, Fowler walked over to his backpack, pulled out a bottle and two glasses – the only two he had. He gave one to the General, the other to Williams and filled both of them.
“Thank you, Arthur.”
“You are welcome, General.”
The General held up his glass to Williams. I don’t know how the hell you communicated with the eagle, but that was one of the most unbelievable things I have ever seen.”
Williams touched his glass to the General’s and then passed it to Fowler. “Art, you deserve it.”
The General instructed one of the MPs to get his black case which was in the helicopter. The MP quickly retrieved the case. The General pulled out four shot glasses and passed three of them to Williams, Mitchell and Cyclo. Holding up the fourth glass, he said, “This one is for Morgan. Until he gets here, let’s try to relax.”
Morgan arrived by helicopter forty-five minutes later, looked at the five who were sitting in a grassy area, each with a glass in their hand, and said, “What the hell is this?”
Mitchell handed him a near full glass and a cell phone. “The General would like you to look at this.” It was a video of everything which happened from the moment Williams began to approach the eagle until it entered the box. One of Mitchell’s men had recorded it.
When Morgan finished the viewing, Fowler filled in the details starting with the spotting of the eagles.
“So, there are at least two Eagle Assassin’s out there and a Bear Assassin,” said Morgan.
“At least,” said the General.
“Not to mention the possibility of humanoids,” added Morgan.
“To put it in the simplest of terms,” said Fowler, “we are in deep shit.”
“That we are, Arthur.” Looking at the entire group, the General asked, “Any suggestions?”
Williams stood up. “Let’s go back to the original plan. One, use as much force as possible to obliterate any and all animal life in the area that is even remotely suspected to be alien. Two, Morgan, Art and I go back to searching for humanoids.” Looking directly at Morgan, he said, “I’d like Cyclo to join us.”
Morgan beamed. “You know?”
“It wasn’t too difficult to figure out.”
The General looked puzzled for a moment before asking Morgan, “Your son?”
“Yes.” Morgan walked over to Cyclo and gave him a hug.
“You brought him up right,” said the General.
“Not me, his mother, God rest her soul.”
“How long ago?” asked the General.
“Seven years. Cyclo has been with me ever since.”
“The four of you better get going. You’ve got work to do.”
The General began to walk away. As he did so, he motioned to Williams to follow him. Once the two were alone, he asked, “What the hell were you thinking when you went over to that bird?” Do realize how easily it could have attacked you?”
“Bear with me as this is going to be difficult to put into words. While we were waiting for the box to arrive, I sensed he recognized me just the way the original Assassin recognized me. We know that after it got away from us, not counting the decoy, the original Assassin replicated at least once. At that moment, there were two identical Assassins, each with exactly the same memory. If those two replicated before experiencing anything different from one another, then there would have been four Assassins, all with the same memory. However, that most likely was not the case. The first two most likely went their separate ways before replicating. I figured that one of the four Eagle Assassins was the result of a golden being taken over by one of the iterations of the first Assassin. It then replicated and those two subsequently replicated. All four of the eagle Assassins would have remembered me in the same way the original Assassin did.”
“You still took one helluva chance.”
“I don’t think so. When the original Assassin found me, he held all the cards. This one didn’t. Without question, he knew that if he attacked me, he would immediately be ended.”
“Did you communicate with it?”
“Not verbally, but I think that by sitting down next to him and exposing myself to attack, he came to understand that I did not want to see him ended. These are intelligent beings in a hostile environment. When I brought out the box and put the blankets in it, he knew that the only alternative to entering it voluntarily was to resist and be forced into it or ended. He took the best option.”
“Whether you were right or not in your assessment, there aren’t many others who would have done the same thing.”
“As smart as he is, I couldn’t let Morgan’s kid try to do it. Enough about me, I don’t want to see the Eagle Assassin mistreated.”
“I’m leaving for Texas within the hour. Mitchell will run the show. I’ve ordered Ling and Henderson to return to Texas and Saunders to go with them. I will make certain they and the other scientists who are there know exactly what they can and cannot do. I should return here tomorrow with Jim and McBride. We will do what we have to do. Now, what do you need?”
“Money added to my account and an SUV for Morgan. I’ll work with Fowler. Morgan will team with his son.”
The General called a 7:00AM meeting the following morning in a conference room in the underground Texas complex. Present, in addition to the General, were Rappaport, McBride, Stanton, McDonald, Patel, Ling, Henderson and Saunders. Rappaport was asked to give a status update.
“The dead alien eagle is ready to be examined as soon as you give the okay. The other is in a secure room.”
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“Any problems?” asked the General.
“No, the room is one that can be used for interrogation, so we have a clear view of the alien. We also have a camcorder in place. McBride and I personally carried the box into the room, cut the ropes and then left as quickly as we could. It took about an hour before it came out of the box. It has plenty of food, but hasn’t eaten as of yet.”
“Before we go any further,” said the General, “I want you all to view what led up to our getting the Eagle Assassin into the box. Perhaps, I should say what led up to Major Williams getting it into the box.”
“Oh no!” thought Ling. Rappaport had described to the group how Williams and Fowler had managed to bring down the two birds, but he had made no mention of anything else done by Williams.
Before leaving the scene of the capture of the Eagle Assassin, the General had the video in question transferred to his laptop. The laptop was now hooked up to a large screen monitor. Flashing up on the monitor was a view of Williams a few seconds after he began his stop-and-go walk.
“So that is Major Williams,” said Stanton.
“Yes,” replied the General.
Those were the last words spoken until the video ended with the Eagle Assassin being carried away in the box.
During the viewing, Ling repeatedly glanced at Henderson. She was obviously transfixed. “Why shouldn’t she be,” he thought, “especially after seeing me drop to ground?”
“As unbelievable as was Major Williams’ killing of the Assassin, it can be understood by his training. However, this was something quite different.”
“Not as different as you might think, Dr. Stanton,” said the General.
“How so?” asked Stanton.
Rappaport laughed.
The General proceeded to describe how Williams had previously used a bottle of scotch as part of his weaponry.