by Dave Hazel
“That is correct and very clever my friend.”
“But the only thing I’m a little leery of, and please don’t laugh, but I don’t know if there is any danger in using the green fog too many times. I don’t know if it’ll cause cancer or something wrong with our bodies,” he stopped and laughed at Towbar’s confused expression. “See where I live it turns out that everything causes cancer and makes people sick. Every week they’re telling us all the time that tests have shown this causes cancer and that is gonna kill you and this is bad for you and so on.”
Towbar looked confused but didn’t say anything.
“Ah, don’t worry about it,” Mykal laughed. “I really think it’s the little white mice that cause cancer,” he joked because it was always white mice that showed up as getting cancer. “I’m kidding and I’m making a big deal outta nothing I guess. What we need to do is talk to Major Chick, tell him what we just found out and see what he thinks. Then if he thinks it’s something to act upon we’ll have to get some volunteers to go with us. I gotta tell you Towbar, it was rough when we were lost on the other side of the world. There were a lot of strange creatures and later when we met up with Nordad, his men and the three Elves, they said that Zizmon-Tarl was responsible for most of the strange stuff we saw. Is Nidious around here?”
“No my friend. He returned to Beramus to help the King. Why do you ask?”
“I just thought he might be able to give us some perspective or ideas.”
“I will try to make contact through Mind Talk. He may have some helpful ideas. Nidious is originally from that side of the world. I know he had vowed never to go back there, yet he may have some great insights and may be able to give us wise advice.”
“Towbar, do you think it’s a good idea that both of us go? If we do go that is?”
Towbar paused to give it thought. “Why do you ask my friend?”
“I don’t know,” Mykal said and shrugged. “I guess I’m kinda worried that something could go wrong and there would be no way of help getting to us if we’re both there with the magic powder.”
“I think we should first put our plans together before we dwell on such matters.”
“You’re right. You’re right. I’m just so anxious to get Doninka back that I have a million things going through my mind all at once. And damn, now that I think about it, I don’t even know if any of my men would volunteer to go back to that side of the world after all that we went through when we were stuck over there. I would honestly be grateful if just one man from the Lost Patrol would volunteer to go back there. That’s how bad it was.”
CHAPTER FOUR 01/07/1984
1. Saturday, January 7th 1984
0855 hours, Inside the Pass, Briefing with Military
“Hey Mykal, they’re all ready for you Sir,” a Marine stuck his head into Mykal’s tent. “I’m sorry if I interrupted you but Major Chick wanted me to come and get you and to tell you that they’re already for you Sir,” he said apologetically for interrupting Mykal and Towbar’s conversation.
“Thank you Marine,” Mykal said and waved from his seat. He looked at his watch. “We’ll be there in just a second. Well, are you ready?”
“Yes my friend.”
“I don’t know if any would be willing to go, especially after the stuff we went through as the Lost Patrol,” Mykal sighed. He was more concerned with having to address the group as a whole more than he was fearful of being turned down. He could understand the expected rejection, but he couldn’t understand his anxiety at speaking before larger crowds. “I hate this kinda stuff. I always hated this kinda stuff. Even when me and you were doing that dog and pony show crap for the Air Force after the story broke,” Mykal scoffed and shook his head to express his dislike.
“You will do fine, my friend. All these men look up to you. They admire you as a leader. You will do fine,” Towbar said and gave a forced smile. “Besides I will stand at your side and Major Chick will be there as well. Remember, you are asking for help and these men want to hear what you have to say.”
“Alright, let’s go,” Mykal said and took a deep breath.
They walked to the large assembly of Mykal’s people. Almost the entirety of the people from Mykal’s world were gathered around a make shift stage that stood about thirty-six inches from the ground. On the stage, made from wooden transporting pallets, were Colonel Fisher and Major Chick seated on folding chairs.
“Come on up here Mykal and Towbar,” Chick greeted them with a warm smile.
Colonel Fisher remained seated and looked disinterested. Being the commanding officer Mykal believed Fisher felt he had to be present for the face time if nothing else. He turned away to look at the men when Mykal looked at him.
“Good morning men,” Mykal greeted them with a fake, uncomfortable smile. He wasn’t sure how the men would receive his request. The feelings he sensed from Colonel Fisher made him doubt he would get any support. “I really appreciate all of you coming here this early in the morning. I know this is the time when most of you will get your chow so I will make this brief.”
“Breakfast will still be there,” Private First Class Anka shouted.
“Thanks,” Mykal said and winked at the Marine he met during the arrival of the first Towbar One. “We have a serious situation we’re facing men. I will briefly explain for those who don’t know. If you haven’t heard of the events of yesterday, two men who had been captured on New Year’s Eve were sent back here by the Sosos. They were Towbar’s soldiers who were a part of the detail that was guarding the Princess Doninka. She is the daughter of King Loankore III. If you don’t know, King Loankore III is the king of this land and of this people. The two who were sent back were sent back with a purpose or they would have been killed. As a side note, you do not want to be captured by the Sosos. They are cruel to their prisoners and normally they torture prisoners to death. These two men who returned yesterday had both their eyes gouged out, one had his tongue cut off and they were beaten mercilessly, and one had his hands cut off.
“They were let go only to send a message to Towbar’s people. They said they will exchange the Princess for the King,” Mykal continued after the gasps of those present. “As you know, back in our world we don’t negotiate with terrorists or bad guys cuz it will never end well. Towbar’s people are not our people and we fear the King will voluntarily give himself up to save his daughter. That is why we are gonna try to keep the information from the King. My goal is to try to find the Princess and rescue her before the deadline which is thirty-one days from today. February 7th to be exact. It happens to be a High Holy Day in their foul religion. If the King doesn’t give himself up for her they vowed they will sacrifice her to their gods and send her head to us to show they killed her. Our fear is if he surrenders himself to them, they will kill them both.
“His first born son, Locod will assume the throne if this happens. That is why the King wouldn’t have a problem giving himself up for his daughter. The problem there is, there is evidence to suggest, strong evidence to suggest,” he reiterated, “that Locod has a secret alliance with the Sosos and all the bad guys, which will cause the kingdom to fall into the hands of the Sosos, thus the land of Labins will fall to the real bad guy behind all this, the Supreme Ruler of the world as they call him, Zizmon-Tarl,” Mykal said and paused. “Not only would that be horrific for Towbar and all his people, but also for the Dwarven people and the Elvin people who are moving to this land from what I understand.”
“That is not confirmed as of yet,” Towbar whispered to correct Mykal.
“Okay, the Elves may not be moving here. It’s not confirmed yet, but the bottom line is for those who live here it will be the beginning of their end. Which means the last of the free world will fall to an evil tyrant. What does that mean for us? President Edmonds has an agreement with King Loankore to allow us to set up a base here,” Mykal said though he was stretching the truth. “The base we would establish here would have many benefits for both Towbar’s people
and our people,” he said and he noticed some of the Russian soldiers suddenly start whispering among themselves. He knew they didn’t like what they heard, but he didn’t care. “I said all that to say that with the mission the President has sent me and Colonel Fisher on,” he said and turned to acknowledge the senior man. “We can’t allow this place to fall into the hands of the bad guys. The main thing we need to do now is find and rescue Princess Doninka.
“For many of you who came here with the first part of Towbar One, the 1983 group, you may have met her. She has stayed in this area to assist in any way possible. When the dragons and the riders came flying into the Pass either New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day they knew she was here and they knew who they were looking for,” Mykal said and suddenly paused as a fearful thought hit his brain. ‘William Roberts. Captain William Roberts could have let them know she was here,’ he thought in reference to the man he allowed the Goblins to capture back when the Lost Patrol was trapped on the other side of the world, under a mountain. Captain Roberts killed one of his best friends Robert ‘Boris’ Traginsky and Captain Roberts planned to kill Mykal, but he escaped through the use of his magic ring and allowed the Goblins into the room and they took Captain William Roberts prisoner. He feared William was still alive and he could possibly have his hand in this.
When the silence became uncomfortable Major Chick cleared his throat. It seemed clear Mykal’s thoughts suddenly seemed somewhere different.
“I’m sorry, I was just thinking what that poor girl could be going through,” he said and wished he would have said something else. “My reason for assembling all of you here today is to ask for your help in finding and rescuing the Princess Doninka before the King is going to be made aware of the Sosos demand.”
“We’re with you Myk,” Anka shouted which generated many more shouts of support and allegiance.
Mykal had to use his hands to push the noise down. He had to laugh with joy, because the men all knew of the success of the Silent Killers sneaking into Soso occupied territory to rescue the prisoners who were held by the Sosos just a month ago. But they had no idea what he was going to ask of them. “You don’t know how much I appreciate all of you when you say that. But it’s not gonna be that simple. I’m afraid to bring up what I have to bring up. Me and Towbar have to ask a great deal of you, if you are willing, to help us rescue her,” he said and suddenly it became silent. “For those who were with us on the attack into the Soso occupied territory yesterday, you know we captured three Sosos. One of the three happen to be a high ranking officer in the Soso army and he told us Princess Doninka was taken to the other side of the world. She was taken to Zizmon-Tarl’s own palace to be held there until the time of the trade with her father.
“For those of you who know anything about the Lost Patrol, it was bad on the other side of the world. We lost almost half of our people when we were missing over there. But to be fair, we were suddenly thrown to that side of the world with no idea where we were or what we were up against. We weren’t prepared for the things we faced, but now we understand that,” he said and released a sigh to pause.
“I’m asking for volunteers to travel with me and Towbar to the other side of the world to go to Zizmon-Tarl’s palace and rescue the girl which will save countless lives,” he said with another slight pause and noticed the deafening silence. He suddenly feared he would face total rejection based on the silence thrown back at him. “We have an advantage this time that we didn’t have the last time. We will have Towbar with us, we will be better equipped and supplied and we will not be walking in the dark. We know what to expect. Not that it will make it less dangerous for us, but we won’t be in such a desperate situation as we were then blindly trying to find our way back to the Pass. Plus, since we will have Towbar the giant with us, we will have the ability to use the green fog to go back and forth to bring the injured here and get resupplied if that is needed.
“To me, this is so important that I will go if it is only me and Towbar. It is something that needs to be done for so many reasons so I am asking for volunteers only. Not one person will be tasked to go there and I don’t want anyone to feel any kind of pressure to go. As a matter of fact I want you to be doubly sure you want to go. I know the dangers so I will also try to talk you out of going cuz I don’t want anyone to get hurt but it will be dangerous and then when we get to Zizmon-Tarl’s palace, I don’t know what we’re gonna find. It may be an impenetrable fortress so we may waste all that time only to be denied entry. I don’t know, but I gotta try. So I am asking for volunteers,” he added and seemed to hold his breath in anticipation of the onslaught of boos and hisses followed by outright verbal repudiation of such a suggestion.
“When do you plan to leave Myk?” Chick asked before anyone else could say anything.
“I think we’re leaving tomorrow,” Mykal answered quickly and looked to Towbar to see if he objected.
“I’m with you Myk,” Anka shouted. Private First Class Anka was a young Marine looking for adventure.
“So am I,” another yelled and suddenly the air filled with hundreds and then thousands of voices who volunteered to go on the dangerous mission into the unknown. The noise of support and agreement was loud and awe-inspiring.
Mykal fought to keep from showing his emotions that overwhelmed him as much as the noised overwhelmed the gathering of military personnel. He knew many of the men were good men and wanted to help the people of Towbar’s world, but it clearly showed they were in support of him. Emotionally, he needed such a show of confidence in him and glanced over to Colonel Fisher who looked dumbfounded by what he saw. In the group of US Army personnel gathered Mykal caught sight of Lieutenant Johnson who didn’t share in the same enthusiastic support. Johnson slightly shook his head as if he couldn’t understand why everyone was so enamored with Mykal Graves.
Mykal didn’t care what Fisher or Johnson thought. It mattered to him what the rest of the men of Towbar One thought of him. The soldiers of Towbar One 1983 knew Mykal much longer than the soldiers of Towbar One 1984. Nevertheless both groups of Towbar One gave a rousing applause and cheers with shouts of support and encouragement. Mykal let the raucous celebratory cheers go on for a little bit and then he started to silence them.
“You men don’t know how much I appreciate that,” Mykal said and humbly looked down as if he had been touch by their display of encouraging support. “I really do,” he added and looked at the brave men who volunteered to be a part of Operation: Towbar’s Sword. “Well, like I said I will only take volunteers, cuz this mission and this adventure is going to be dangerous. Maybe more dangerous than even I can imagine. I don’t want anyone to feel they have to come along. The fact that all of you volunteered to come here to Towbar’s world in the middle of a war is fantastic enough, but if you really want to go, let your company commanders know if you would like to go along. I think I’m going to take a group about the size of a company. We will be returning several times, so if you don’t get to come along this first time around, when I come back to resupply, I don’t have a problem swapping people out who have had enough, or who have been injured, or as much as I hate to say it, but I must be honest, to replace those who could potentially be killed,” he said and there was a definite hushed silence. “I just have to be honest and be real with you. This is not going to be a joy ride or a school trip to the museum. This is going to be very dangerous just based on what we encountered our last time with the Lost Patrol. But what you do here will be so rewarding in the fact that you are playing a part in saving Towbar’s people from the evil that is trying to crush them.
“With all that being said, please think about it and don’t think lightly, but dwell on it hard and if you really want to go, let your company commanders know and they will get your names to Major Chick or Major Innes or Captain Taylor and we will put a list together. If everything goes the way I desire, we should be leaving in the morning. Any questions before we disperse?”
After a momentary pause, a Ma
rine sergeant raised his hand. Mykal pointed to him. “Do we have any idea where the journey will start over on the other side of the world?” Sergeant McTaggert asked. He was part of the original Lost Patrol.
“How are you doing Sergeant McTaggert?” Mykal asked to show he definitely recognized one of the survivors.
“Great Sir. Do you know where our starting position will be over there?”
“It most assuredly will not be where we left from,” he answered with a laugh. “For those of you who don’t know, we were trapped inside the underbelly of the mountain with Goblins on one side of us and evil Elves on the other side. If it wouldn’t have been for Towbar we would still have been trapped there and we’d probably all be dead right now. But to answer your question Sergeant McTaggert, we’re hoping to get Nordad or the three Elves who were with us, Starling, Leeno and Blair to come back with us so they can show where to go from their home land. If we can’t get them to come back with us we’re going to try to get some Elves who know the area to assist us. Either way though we would start off in a much better location than when we first got lost. Did that answer your question?”
“Yes Sir, and I want to be the first to say I want to come along with you,” McTaggert shouted.
Suddenly there were hundreds of “me too,” some “count me in,” and “I wanna go too,” from all those gathered.
“I am truly humbled by all the support,” Mykal said and shook his head. He looked to Towbar who looked just as impressed.
“I have a question Myk,” a voice yelled over the din.
“Yeah, go ahead with your question Captain Landis,” Mykal said when he caught sight of the Marine Corps captain. Mykal used his hands to help tamp down the crowd noise.
“I know you have to do planning behind the scenes so to speak,” Captain Landis said. “But have you given thought as to where you will leave and return from?”