Blitzkrieg: Origins of the Prime: A Superhero Spy Thriller (17 page)

“Welcome to sci/tech development,” Steven said. “Or as we like to call it down here, STD.”

“Oh,” Dawn said as she tried to suppress a chuckle.

“Is that what we’re calling it?” Axel asked with a smirk.

“No,
we’re
certainly not calling it that,” Tom said.

Steven laughed nervously at their joke, but it was clear he did not understand it. “I am Dr. Steven Quakenboss,” he said. “Please let me show you around.”

They followed Steven through the lab as he excitedly explained how they were building a state-of-the-art facility from scratch and fully intended to develop exciting new weapons and other devices to be used in the war against the Communist menace.

Axel smiled at him. “Do you mind if I call you ‘Q’?” he asked.

Steven smiled broadly. “Because I’m like Q in the
007
movies?” he asked.

“Actually, it’s because Dr. Quakenboss doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue,” Axel said matter-of-factly.

“Oh,” Steven said, the disappointment evident in his voice. “You can call me Steve.”

Dawn slapped Axel on the arm with the back of her hand causing him to turn and look at her. “Be nice,” she whispered, but Axel only shrugged.

“Steve, could you show them the suits?” Ian asked. “That’s really what we’re down here for.”

“Yes sir, of course,” Steve said.

“Suits?” Axel asked, his curiosity piqued.

Steve led them through the lab and down a hall to a room where they found Rolf already inside, being fitted with a suit by two men in lab coats.

“Hey, guys,” Rolf smiled when they came in.

“I sent Rolf down before I came to get you,” Ian smiled at them.

Steve presented the suits with a flourishing hand. “Here they are,” he smiled.

Axel, Tom, and Dawn stepped forward to look at their new uniforms, which were fitted to three mannequins. The suits were black and dark blue, with a lighter blue lightning bolt in the center of the chest. Axel glanced over at Steve who was beaming proudly.

“They are insulated, to solve that wet lightning problem,” he smiled. “After Siberia, Ian had me make some for Mr. Flemming and Miss Williams as well. So next time you decide to electrocute the entire room, they’ll be protected, at least somewhat.”

“So I can use my powers while in water?” Axel asked excitedly.

“Oh, no,” Steve smiled. “If you are submerged you’ll still fry yourself and anyone else close by. But if you get wet, like you certainly will in the jungles of Vietnam…”

That caused Axel and Dawn to shoot a look at Ian.

“Vietnam?” Axel interrupted.

Steve tried to cover his tracks. “Or wherever you go, this should insulate you so that you shouldn’t be afraid to use them.”

Axel smiled. “Should?” Axel asked.

“Well, you’re the only lightning man we know and you haven’t tested it yet so…”

Axel turned to Ian. “Alright Ian, what’s up with Vietnam?”

“Axel just listen to Steve for a moment would you?” Tom asked, as annoyed as Ian that Steve had thrown things out of order.

“What’s up with the lightning bolt?” Dawn asked as she pointed to the blue insignia adorning the chest of the uniforms.

“That was my idea,” Tom smiled proudly. “If the Russians are going to dress their super humans like comic book heroes, why can’t we?”

“Check me out, Axel,” Rolf said as he moved toward them, now fully clothed. He wore what appeared to be a bulkier, armored version of the same uniform.

“Rolf’s suit is special,” Steve said. “It’s a new lighter-weight body armor. It’ll be easier to wear, but still tough enough to slam into concrete walls if necessary.”

“Can’t we get some of that?” Dawn asked, memories of being shot at by Soviet soldiers in Siberia still fresh on her mind.

“Well, it’s not
that
light yet. Someone of normal strength like you or I will still be severely weighed down, but we are currently working on lighter bullet proof materials.” Steve stepped away and over to the wall, where he pointed to a large shield, also imprinted with the blue lightning bolt. “We’ve built this for Rolf as well. The next time someone swings a hammer at him, he can protect himself.”

Rolf lifted the massive shield and held it out for all of them to see. He posed with it like a knight readying for a dragon’s flame.

“Lookin’ good, buddy,” Axel said with a smile.

“Quite dashing,” Dawn smiled causing Rolf to blush. He returned the shield to the stand on the wall.

Axel turned to Ian. “This is all great, Ian. Really it is.” Ian smiled proudly. “But what’s this mission? What’s in the jungles of Vietnam?”

Ian’s eyes leapt to Tom’s. “Let’s talk in the conference room,” he said. “We’ve installed electromagnetic interference that prevents bugging. That way we can be certain no one else is listening in on our conversations. And this will be the most highly sensitive conversation we’ve ever had.”

***

Ian and Tom sat on one side of the conference table and Dawn and Axel sat opposite them. Ian glanced at Tom and then back at Axel and Dawn. He leaned forward, placing his elbows upon the table and spoke with animated hand gestures.

“Alright, what I’m going to tell you is going to take some faith on your part.”

“Faith?” Axel asked. That was an interesting term.

“Yes, I need you to have faith in me and in Tom and the rest of the government, because this is big. Shockingly big.”

Axel glanced at Dawn, then back at Ian.

“Colonel Arnulf has told us the location of an extra terrestrial base, hidden in the jungles of Vietnam.” Axel and Dawn sat still, staring across the table at Ian for a long moment as the director paused to let it sink in and expecting questions or comments. “Aren’t you going to say something?”

“Extra terrestrial?” Axel asked. “You mean like, aliens?”

“Yes, aliens,” Tom said. “Beings from other planets.”

Dawn smiled. “That is so cool. You know, I’ve always believed in aliens.”

“Axel?” Ian asked.

“What?” Axel said.

“I expected some reluctance on your part in accepting this.”

“I’ve recently learned not to dismiss things too quickly.” As he said that he reached under the table and took Dawn’s hand, giving it a little squeeze. She smiled at him, but quickly looked away, not wanting to draw attention to it.

Ian smiled, too. Now he was excited, like a child telling his little brother about Santa Claus for the first time.

“Tom, could you do the slides?” he asked and Tom nodded as he flipped on the slide projector. “We’ve strongly suspected that there was an alien base in Vietnam for some time, but no one has been able to determine the exact location. Colonel Arnulf told us where it was and our satellite photos corroborate his story.”

As he said this, a black and white photograph of something that appeared to be a stone building deep in the jungles appeared on the projector screed.

“Too bad it’s a war zone,” Dawn said as she shook her head.

“Actually it’s the real reason we’re there,” Ian said. He received doubtful looks from all three of them. “What? Do you really think we or the Soviets give a care about Vietnam? It’s nothing but jungles and rice paddies.” Axel looked at Tom, but he only shrugged.

Ian turned and pointed to the projection screen. “The place you’re going appears to be an ancient temple that has been reclaimed by the jungle on the outside. Arnulf claims to know how to get inside, but once in there be on your guard.”

“Wait, he’s coming with us?” Axel asked.

“Yes,” Ian proclaimed without further explanation. “If this place is what we think it is and what Arnulf claims it is, it will be very old alien technology. You won’t know how to access it, so don’t try. Your job is to confirm its existence and secure it so that we can get some scientists with greater expertise in there.”

“You want the four of us to secure this place?” Dawn asked.

“You’ll be going in with a platoon of Marines,” Ian explained.

“Wait a minute, what side of the border is this thing on?” Axel asked.

Ian smirked. “The northern side.”

“Great,” Dawn replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Don’t worry, it won’t be any more dangerous than Siberia and you survived that,” Ian said confidently.

“Barely,” Dawn countered.

“Well, these Marines are the best we’ve got,” Ian assured her. “They’re out of Fox Company.”

“Absolute bad-asses,” Tom added with a wink as he lit a cigarette.

“Alright,” Axel said. “So we’re just going to go in, confirm this temple is what Arnulf claims it is, secure it and then…?”

“Well, once you confirm it we’ll have the calvary come in. Look this is the type of thing world wars get started over. This could change everything. If it is what Arnulf claims it is, it
will
change everything.”

“And if it isn’t?” Axel asked. “If Arnulf is full of crap?”

Ian stared across the table at him. “Then I’ll fly him back to Siberia and hand him over to the Soviets myself.”

Chapter 17

Vietnam

The helicopters whizzed over the jungle just above the treetops. Staying low made it more difficult for the enemy to track their movements. The helicopters carried Axel, Rolf, Dawn, Tom, and Arnulf as well as a platoon of U.S. Marines. Rolf smiled excitedly. He and Axel had been well trained by the CSOS and this was hardly their first time in a chopper, but Rolf still enjoyed it.

The Marines were all relatively calm. Many even slept, accustomed to the drum drum drum of the helicopter blades chopping through the air. A couple of them stared at Rolf, astonished at his size and unable to stop marveling at him. More of them stared at Dawn. The men didn’t see many American women here and of those they did see, few were as attractive as Dawn. She would occasionally glance up, catch the eyes of the gawkers, raise her eyebrows questioningly and they would quickly look away. Then she would attempt to suppress a smile.

The crew chief made his way down the center aisle, between the rows of Marines and came to stop in front of Tom. He leaned down, shouting into his ear above the whir of the blades. “We’ll be at the drop zone in five, sir,” he said and Tom nodded then leaned forward and held up five fingers to Team Blitzkrieg.

Five minutes later the helicopters hovered over a small patch of open ground, the one hole in the thick canopy just barely on the southern side of the border. Long Ropes were lowered out of the helicopters and one by one the Marines exited by a process known as fast roping—sliding down the ropes to the ground below. As he landed, each Marine quickly moved to the perimeter to secure the drop zone and out of the way so that the next Marine could slide down.

Tom pointed at Axel, indicating that he should go first. He nodded, gripped the rope, wrapped his leg around and slid down, dashing quickly out of the way upon landing on the ground. Tom then pointed at Rolf who did the same, with Arnulf attached to a harness on his back. “Ladies first,” Tom smiled at Dawn once Rolf had gone. She returned his smile, but he could see the nervousness in her eyes. “It will be alright,” he said. “It’s just like doing it off the training tower.”

That was only partially true of course. The tower stood still instead of bouncing up and down like the helicopter. As Dawn began to slide down the rope, the helicopter suddenly jerked up with an air current and she slipped, sliding down the rope much faster than she had intended. She let out a scream, certain she would soon hit the ground, but was surprised to find herself in Rolf’s enormous arms.

“I’ve got you,” he smiled at her. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Thank you, Rolf,” she smiled and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. He blushed as he gently set her feet on the ground.

Tom followed and was the last man on the ground. Everyone watched as the crew chiefs of each helicopter pulled the ropes back inside. Soon the helicopters flew away and they were left in the middle of the Vietnamese jungle.

Lieutenant Lance was soon at Tom’s elbow speaking into his ear. “We should get moving, sir,” he said. “The longer we stay in the drop zone, the better the chance we’ll be discovered.”

“Roger that, Lieutenant,” Tom said. He turned to his team. “Is everyone ready?” he asked to nods. “Good.” He gave Lt. Lance a thumbs up and the Lieutenant dashed away to get his men on their feet. Soon the Marines had formed a long column with Team Blitzkrieg plus Arnulf in the center, where they could be more easily protected.

The jungle was thick and hot and the movement was slow and deliberate. A fire team of four Marines was sent ahead of the platoon to ensure they did not walk into an ambush or stumble into half of the North Vietnamese Army. They were crossing into North Vietnam after all and nerves were high.

Traversing the jungle was misery and Dawn’s sympathy for the men and women fighting the war grew exponentially. The plant growth seemed almost impenetrable, the air was thick with heat and humidity and the bugs were worse than anything Dawn had ever experienced. She swatted at mosquitoes that she amusingly thought might be mistaken for small crows back in Washington.

After walking for what seemed to Dawn like an eternity, the signal finally came from the front to halt. The signal was passed down the column for Lt. Lance to go to the front. He asked Tom to join him and they moved to the front of the column while the others took a break.

Dawn sat down on the dead leaves, twisted the top off her canteen, and brought it to her lips drinking deeply. She smiled at Rolf. The big guy was having a much harder time than she was moving through the jungle and the bugs were driving him crazy. He kept swatting his gigantic palm at them all the while shouting at them to leave him alone. Axel had to keep trying to calm and silence him. Axel applied more bug spray to his brother’s clothes.

“Drink some water, Rolf,” Axel said. “It’s hot, you need it.” Rolf nodded and did as instructed. Axel then turned to Dawn and squatted down beside her. “How are you holding up?” he asked in a low voice.