‘Geez Rach, what am I going to do without you? How will I raise Sophia? How will I ever be able to go on?’ he thought as he sat down and reached out and took her hand in his. After all they had been through together. To have even survived at all was amazing, and now this. It was just so wrong. Nothing good could possible come out of Rachel’s death.
Rachel stirred and her eyes flickered a few time and finally opened.
“Rachel. Rachel. I’m here baby.”
“I know. I felt you near me all the time. I sorry I messed things up,” she whispered.
“Oh God Rachel. You haven’t messed up anything. I should have been here with you instead of trying to play the big shot.”
“Randy. It wouldn’t have mattered. You were here with me. You are always here with me. I love you Randy.”
“I love you Rach. I...I can’t lose you. I just can’t”
“Randy, it is not our decision. God has sent for me and I am ready to go. I can’t fight this any longer.”
“Please Rachel. I’m not ready to let you go. Damn it, I don’t understand. Why you?” he said, tears rolling down his cheeks.
“It is my time. Don’t be mad Randy. I hurt everywhere and I’m tired of the pain. I am suffering Randy. I want to quit hurting. I know you are hurting now but it will pass. In time I will be nothing but memory. Promise me you will make sure Sophia knows how much I love her. Randy you are young. Promise me you will marry again at some point. You are too good a man to be alone and Sophia needs a mother." Rachel whispered.
“Don’t Rachel. Please don’t even talk like that. You are what I want.”
“I love you,” she said and squeezed his hand. She took a breath, closed her eyes and was gone.
“Rachel. Rachel. Please. Oh God don’t do this,” he said but nothing but the flat-line sound on the monitor answered him.
Two nurses and a doctor rushed into the room. He could hear then calling for the crash cart but he knew it wouldn’t do any good.
“Forget it doctor. She wouldn’t want you to try to resuscitate her.”
“Alright Randy. I’m so sorry for your loss. We have all lost a wonderful co-worker, friend and lovely woman,” the doctor said as Randy walked down the hall.
He stepped outside into the late afternoon sun and wondered what he would do with his life now.
* * * *
“Randy are you sure you want to be here?” Margaret asked.
“Where else would I go? It isn’t like I have something else to do.”
“Take some time off. Go for a drive in the country. Play with your daughter. Just let yourself grieve,” she said.
“I need to keep busy. I don’t want to let my mind be free. I get enough of that at night.”
She sighed, “I wish there was something more we could do.”
“I appreciate that but there is nothing anyone can do any longer. So what’s on the agenda today?”
With most of the military still in Germany they only had Dan Pierson, Margaret Olson, Kevin Shore, Angie Dunn the newest member and of course Randy.
“We heard from Russia late last night. Berlin is now in our hands again and Schenck has been removed. The problem is he sent the majority of his troops to Austria during the takeover so that has yet to play out.
“What are the plans?” Randy asked.
“They are sending a messenger to see if they can resolve them leaving Austria peacefully. In the meantime they will be getting troops ready to remove them by force if necessary.”
“Losses?”
“So far only three. Some wounded but all and all very amazingly light causalities,” Dan told him.
“Unless you happen to be one of the three,” Randy replied sarcastically.
No one said anything. Everyone knew that they were not seeing the real Randy. He was bitter and essentially mad at the whole world.
“It should all be over by the end of the week one way or the other,” Margaret finally said.
“Fine. What else?”
“We have an operation going to take care of the Utah problem. We are just in the initial stages but so far it looks good,” Kevin informed him.
“What kind of operation? When was that decided?”
“A week or so ago. We got information that the Utah Freemen were going to try to attack us while our people are overseas.”
“How did you find this out?”
“They have a spy in Colorado Springs. We have been watching her for some time now. She has been giving them information about our strengths and weaknesses. She was with them a week ago and we’re sure she passed along our military strength.”
“Why haven’t you had her arrested and put a stop to this nonsense?” Randy asked.
“We are going to use her without her knowing it. We’re going to feed her disinformation that will work to our advantage.”
“That sounds dangerous. I think we should just apprehend her and then banish her like the others in the past.”
“Look Randy. We know that at some point the Utah Freemen will attempt to overrun us. Rather than waiting for the other shoe to fall we can feed false information to them and then set a trap that will end this once and for all,” Kevin said.
“How do you know it will work?”
“Because she has a partner helping her or so she thinks.”
“Meaning?”
“We have a person close to her that will make sure she gets only what we want her to have.”
“How do you know she isn’t a double agent? Acting like she is helping us but really helping the Freemen?”
“Well, she is sitting right across from you. Angie, why don’t you tell Randy about it?”
“Okay, a young woman came up to me while I was checking on an inventory crew. She started chatting and asking me how I felt about this and that. It seemed innocent enough at first but later I saw her writing down information about our lookout posts. I wasn’t sure at first but finally got close enough for good look and sure enough she had seven or eight locations marked,” she told him.
“Okay, so how was that going to help her?” Randy asked.
“Later I saw her talking to one of the military men that evidently didn’t volunteer to go to Germany. She was asking him all about how many went, what were they going to do, and when were they coming back. She is a real knock-out as far as looks go so it was fairly easy for her to get way more information than she should have. I started keeping an eye on her. Every time a military guy was around she would strike up a conversation, bat her eyes and flirt with them just enough to get what she wanted.”
“You’re sure she just didn’t have a boyfriend that went as a volunteer?”
“Yeah. I’m sure. We have become fairly good acquaintances and she thinks I am just another worker. She has no idea that I am a member of the league.”
“Okay, say this is true, how do you plan to use this person?” Randy asked, still skeptical.
“If its okay with you, I would rather have Lieutenant Swanson give you the details. He is the one that came up with the plan and I don’t want to give you inaccurate information,” Angie replied.
“Lieutenant Swanson? He is one that stayed behind I take it?”
“Yes, but for a different reason. He was asked to stay by Major Miller. He wanted someone he could trust to stay on top of the military here if something came up.”
“All right. When can you have Swanson here?”
“I’m sure he can come tomorrow. I’ll see what his schedule is and then let you know.”
“Then let’s move on with the rest of the agenda.”
“The census is coming along faster than expected. We are a fairly diverse group from the looks at the initial data,” Dan told him.
“Any big anomalies?” Margaret asked.
“A couple of things caught my eye. So far no Native Americans have been counted yet. Men seem to be about fifty-five percent of the population here in Colorado Springs.”
“But it doesn’t include the
military men and women overseas does it?” Margaret said.
“No. Like I said, this is just the initial data. One thing I didn’t expect, and am not sure why I didn’t, is religious affiliations.”
“Religious?” Randy said, picking up interest in the discussion.
“Yeah. We have almost eighty-two percent saying they are affiliated with one religious group or another. I didn’t realize that we have seven churches here that are in operation,” Dan said.
“Seven churches? You’re sure about that?” Randy asked.
“Seven that we know of so far.”
“That doesn’t seem possible. A mean after all that has happened, people still believe in a divine entity?” Randy asked.
“Apparently so. I mean, eighty-two percent is a heck of a large number.”
“You’re sure that data is correct? Not worded wrong on the census?”
“It’s correct at this point Randy, what can I say?”
“I think it’s a lot of crap,” he said, slamming his hand on the table. He stood up and walked out of the room without another word.
“Geez,” Kevin said.
“Look, give the guy a break. He’s hurting. He just needs some time. He’s pretty mad at God right now,” Margaret said.
“Randy needs to take some time off. I mean he comes back from the conference in Portugal and wham, he’s hit with Rachel’s death. We need to get him away from here for a while.”
“Several of us have talked to him about that but he won’t listen,” Margaret replied.
“I haven’t. Maybe I should try to talk to him. I could talk about what I plan to do to get the disinformation to Laura and if the chance comes, talk about him taking some time to re-focus.”
“Re-focus? Is that like getting his act together?”
Dan turned and looked at Kevin and said, “You’re an ass sometimes; you know that?
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
- Innsbruck, Austria –
General Nitikin had led his army around to the east side of Innsbruck. Since it was mostly farm and dairy land, it was the least populated part. It was also the quickest way to the airport. He was certain, knowing how they thought, that it would be guarded by the German troops.
Even though few planes could even fly, it was still something the Germans would do. Once they had captured the airfield he would interrogate the survivors and find out where the rest of the troops were.
The plan was simple. The Americans, Spanish, and Italians would take up position on the west and south side and his troops would come in from the north and east. Since the Flughafen Kranebitten Innsbruck Airport was a several kilometers from the city, he doubted the other Germans would know what was going on until it was too late.
At 06:00 they started their attack. It was over almost before it started. The battle, while pitched at times, only lasted twenty minutes. The Germans were quick to lay down their weapons and surrender. Twenty-six Germans were killed and another forty-four injured. No American, Spanish or Italian casualties and only six were reported wounded. The Russians lost only one man and had five wounded.
“I doubt the next part will be so easy,” Nikitin said to Major Miller.
“I suspect you are right. We need to get some very accurate information from the German prisoners if we are going to minimize our losses.”
“Yes, I have been thinking about that. You have what your television shows call a good police and bad police act you use to get criminals to talk.”
“Good cop, bad cop. But yeah, they really do that sometimes.”
“Well, I am thinking that since the Russians are very good at being the bad guys, why not use that to our advantage? My people will start the interrogation process and after a while you can come in and be the good guy.”
“Sure. I’ll tell them it is their only chance to get out of this alive. If they don’t talk to me I will turn them back over to you and it will be out of my hands,” Miller said.
“I think that should work very nicely. We will start with the officers and then some of the administrative personnel to make sure they are all on the same tune.”
“Same page, but you’re getting it,” Miller said smiling.
“Same page, same tune, whatever you say. I will admit this. You Americans have some unusual sayings.”
“Yes we do. Even I don’t know what half of them mean.”
Nikitin just shook his head, “Shall we get started?”
“The sooner the better.”
* * * *
“I am General Nikitin. I want to know how many men are still left in Austria and where they are located.”
“I am Orbergefreiter Brauer. Z12-12-678H.”
“Yes, I know your rank Sergeant Brauer. What I want to know is where the rest of your troops are and how many,” Nikitin repeated.
“I am Orberge...” a fist smashed in to his kidney from behind. He tensed but did not utter a word.
“Orbergefreiter Brauer you have only two choices. You can give me the information now or give it to me later after you have suffered a great deal of pain. It is stupid to take punishment when it is unnecessary.”
“I am Orb...” again a fist slammed into his kidney. A small sound escaped this time.
“Sergeant Brauer it is going to get very much worse from this point on. I will only ask you one more time and then I will turn you over to Starshiná Biliniski. He is not a very nice man. Believe me when I say you will suffer greatly.”
“That is against the Geneva Convention,” Brauer said.
“What Geneva? The Geneva Convention no longer exists. Did you let the Austrians you murdered have protection under the Geneva Convention? No. I think not. You do not get to violate decency when it suits you. Now sergeant. Where and how many?”
“I am...” He was hit in the back of the head and fell to his knees.
Another fist was driven into the side of his head knocking him over. He lay on the floor as a boot smashed down on his hand. Bones cracked and he let out a scream. More kicking and stomping followed until the door suddenly crashed open.
“What is going on here?” Major Miller shouted.
“None of your business. He is our prisoner and this does not concern you.”
“The hell it doesn’t. This is a joint operation. What you do reflects on us as well.”
“Then I suggest you go now because we are just starting on Sergeant Brauer. It is going to get ugly very quickly unless he talks. So I suggest you leave immediately,” Nikitin said, nodding to his man who immediately kicked the German in the ribs.
“Stop it. I will not be a party to this,” Miller yelled.
“Then get out or shut up and watch how information is extracted. You Americans with all your rules. We will get what we want one way or the other. If this one dies we have plenty more to interrogate. One of them will talk, especially after the bodies start to pile up.”
“You are barbaric. This is wrong,” Miller replied.
“I will give you ten minutes with the prisoner. If you can get the information then fine, if not...”
“Alright but leave us alone and take this thug with you,” Miller said pointing at the Russian Master Sergeant.
“Ten minutes. Not one minute more,” Nikitin said as they left the room.
Miller leaned down and said, “How badly are you hurt?”
“I think they broke my ribs.”
“They always want to kill people to get information. I do not understand their mentality. Can I get you something?”
“Please, help me sit up,” Brauer wheezed out.
Miller helped him sit up with his back against the wall. He was holding his hand and blood ran down his chin.
“Look sergeant, the Russians are in charge. We are not in command. The General out ranks me. If he wants to come back and beat you until you are dead, I can do nothing to stop him. In some ways he is right. He has a good many prisoners and eventually one of them will talk. Are you willing to die even though you know in the en
d it will make no difference?” Miller asked.
“It will make a difference to me.”
“Yes, I understand that, but it is a horrible way to die. I have seen what the Russians can do. You will die very slowly. They are experts at killing a man piece at a time.”
There was a loud bang on the door.
“Five minutes and we are coming back in,” Nikitin’s voice drifted into the room.
“You don’t have much more time. Tell me whatever it is he wants to know and I will see that you get medical attention.”
“I cannot. I am a German soldier. I have my orders.”
“I am sorry for you Sergeant Brauer. You seem like a decent man. I’m sure your loved ones will miss you very much,” Miller said and stood up.
He walked to the door, turned back and said, “God be with your soul Sergeant Brauer.”
He started to open the door when the sergeant said, “Wait. You are right. Someone will talk. I will tell you what you want to know.”
“Then you have just saved your life,” Miller said.
* * * *
“That went very well, Mr. Good Cop,” Nitikin said when Miller came out of the room.
“You are very convincing at being the bad cop,” Miller replied.
“Ah, he is young. He is not really injured.”
“So, now we are going to Vienna?”
“Yes. That is where the rest of the Germans are.”
“That’s quite a ways from here,” Miller said.
“Not so far. You must remember this is Europe. It is not like in your country. We can get from here to Vienna in only a few hours,” Nitikin told him.
“No way.”
“Truly. By car it is maybe five hours or so. With us it will be a little slower but we will certainly be there by tomorrow if we leave soon.”
“I’ll get my group ready but what is this Flakturm the German mentioned?”
“It is a monster of a defense position the Germans built during World War II, a huge tower built like a small city. The one the Germans are in is Flakturm VII G-tower. It housed massive anti-aircraft guns and even some navel guns. It was attacked many, many times but nothing could bring it down.”
THE REVELATION - Book 3 (THE EVENT) Page 12