Charger the Soldier (23 page)

She yelled something in German, then walked
into the tent for the procedure. Charger and Mac looked dazed and
confused and a passing German doctor translated what Hanna had
said. "She said she hopes to be the one who gets to kill you, you
bastard, after this is all over."

Mac smiled broadly at the threat, baring
shattered and dirty teeth. Taking great pleasure in making a new
enemy, he licked the blood from his head like a kid eating ice
cream.

I
van had been given the rank of sergeant and was now in
command of a small corps of fifty fighters, including the few
remaining undead reds of his once powerful home country of Russia.
Command, under General Harris, had given this small group an
impossible task to complete. They were to fight their way into a
newly developed small alien base approximately sixty miles due
south of their current position. The task was considered impossible
because the last group sent into this small base had disappeared
within only five minutes, as had the two groups sent before them.
Ivan knew the odds were stacked against them, but he was determined
not to fail.

"Gear up, monkeys, we scrub in ten minutes.
Got us a transport pilot crazy enough to try and drop us on top of
this base," Ivan shouted with youthful gusto. "This time, Natasha,
you're going to the entrance gate on the left side with Charger,
Mac and Jill. The rest of us are going to the entrance gate on the
right. The plan is to bring a full force to bear on the right side
gate, while you four slip around back and get behind the defenders.
A small group should be able to go undetected if we put up enough
of a fuss to keep the aliens busy."

Ivan was good as a sergeant, thinking out
plans clearly and logically. "We'll build a shield wall at the
right side entrance with our gear, which should hold the attention
of the aliens. Once you four get behind the defenders, set charges
and get out. The blast should turn them around long enough for the
rest of us to push inside."

"Really? Do I have to go with Mac again?"
whined Natasha. "This is the third time this week I've had to go
with that dog. I think he really hates me; he pissed on my pack
again last night, and I really stink now."

"Well, stop trying to light his fur on fire
and maybe he will stop pissing on your gear," snapped Ivan, for
what felt like the hundredth time.

"No, really, I mean smell this." Natasha
shoved her pack into Ivan's face. Ivan recoiled at the stench.

"You two need to grow up!"

Mac seemed to be laughing as he stood behind
Charger, whose bulky, muscular height dominated the group. Jill
sauntered over to Natasha to sniff her pack and also recoiled at
the smell.

"See, even the girl dog hates the smell!"
Natasha reached over with her disposable lighter to again try
igniting Mac's fur.

Ivan threw up his hands and, shaking his
head, stormed off.

The scrawny, balding pilot of the transport
did sound insane; his mumbling conversation as he stood at the door
of the plane worried the fifty fighters as they boarded. "I got
this," he chortled. "Look sharp! If I got to, I'll smack this
transport into the top of that alien base to get you close. Piece
of cake. We got air bags. Most of you should live!" The pilot
laughed hysterically, the long flyaway hair growing from the back
of his head blowing in the wind, while the fighters eyed him and
grumbled among themselves.

As Charger began to board, the pilot babbled,
"Hey buddy, you gotta ride in the trailer, you're too big for my
transport. I'll get a couple of kennels for your pups, too!" He
snickered. Charger just passed him by. The transport creaked under
his weight.

"We need some duct tape and another
transport. I'll tape them together and get both birds into the
air," the pilot sang out. He slapped Jill's ass as she passed. She
turned, snarling, the look on her face saying she was going to kill
him, but Charger was quick. He grabbed Jill and tossed her onto the
transport.

Mikhail was laughing as he approached the
transporter entrance after witnessing the pilot slap Jill's ass.
"That was too funny," he said to the pilot.

As he boarded, the pilot slapped Mikhail's
ass, too. "Up, up now, princess, we got beers and nuts for everyone
on this flight, just sit back and relax. Papa pilot will get you
all to your grave lickety-split."

The flight to the small alien base was a
nightmare, the plane zigzagging to avoid gunfire. But it gave the
American and Russian soldiers time to hurl insults at each other.
Mikhail shouted over the drone of the transport's engines, "You
Americans, you think you know suffering, but all you really know is
Hollywood action hero shit."

A few of the American combat specialists
snapped back, unhappy with the Russian's comments, but Mikhail
rambled on. It kept his mind off the impending action as the plane
staggered on through hostile skies. "We Russians know suffering.
You Americans run an obstacle course or two, lose some sleep for a
few days, go without supper and coffee, then bitch and moan about
the whole ordeal."

The American troops tried to match Mikhail's
taunts with insults of their own, but Mikhail's powerful voice
drowned them out. "I tell you, Russians know suffering. We lose a
million troops fighting the Germans, then a million more fighting
our government, and still we press on. Russians suffer as our women
die, our children die, and our comrades die and still we fight on!
You Americans run home to your mommy when things get bad!" Mikhail
laughed loudly.

Everyone was surprised when Mac spoke. "Seems
to me, the last time we checked, Russia was a wasteland of the dead
and dying. Looks like the only thing the Russians know how to do
well is suffer!"

Mikhail stopped laughing and his face went
cold and hard. Natasha, realizing the threat Mac presented, reached
out and gripped Mikhail's arm tight, stopping the conversation
dead. Charger glared at Mac. On occasion, Mac could not resist
saying what was on his mind. The outcome was never favorable.

The pilot continued bobbing and weaving
through the skies, dodging alien gunfire from below. The transport
was hit repeatedly by projectiles, yet flew straight on. Suddenly
it dove and a minute later slammed across the ground right to the
alien base. The pilot had already left the cockpit before the
transport hit the base perimeter and headed for the exit doors,
shouting, "Come on, everyone, follow me. I say we crap on these
bastards today!"

Jill stuck one foot into the aisle and
tripped the lunatic pilot as he ran past, sending him tumbling to
the floor of the transport. The soldiers quickly jumped out and set
up a defensive line, with twenty of them turning their backs on the
aliens to create a shield wall. The remainder began engaging the
enemy with heavy weapons. The crazy pilot had regained his footing
and was running wildly in front of the shield wall, back and forth,
like a plastic duck in a carnival shooting game, taunting the
aliens.

In the confusion, Charger, Mac, Jill, and
Natasha slipped out of the enemy's field of vision and entered the
base. They did as they had planned, setting explosives, getting
out, then detonating them. As the aliens rushed to fight what they
thought was behind them, the troops under Ivan's command pushed
into the base in force.

"We're in! Push, you monkeys! Let's get this
done!" shouted Ivan. The aliens were scattering and retreating.
Ivan was jubilant; achieving the goal should be a snap. Away from
their huge war machines, the aliens hardly looked like a threat at
all. They were short and slight, not more than five feet tall. But
they moved so fast, they almost blurred.

In the confusion, the transport pilot had
slipped through the ranks and was leading the charge, screaming,
"Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go, with a bang bang here, and a
bang bang there, you die, you die!"

"Somebody stop that lunatic before he gets us
all killed!" shouted Mikhail.

Mac launched himself forward with blazing
speed, clearing the heads of the soldiers in one great leap. He
landed on the pilot, driving him face first into the dirt and
splitting his lip. Blood gushed forth. The soldiers were stunned
with Mac's power and strength.

The pilot squirmed under Mac's paws and
turned himself over. His face was cut up badly and bleeding. He
shouted, "Down, Fido, down, stop humping my leg! Bad dog! Bad!"

Mac simply punched him in the head, knocking
him out cold. The soldiers stormed past the two and pressed hard on
the retreating aliens. The aliens were withdrawing downward, into
their main structure, which was set almost underground. Ivan was in
time to see them rushing into a room at the end of a hallway where
they would be able to command a strong defensive position.

"We got them pinned down in there. Any
ideas?" Thad asked Ivan.

"Nope, I'm fresh out. Anyone?" Ivan
replied.

"Jill says she can get close," Charger
growled. No one had heard Jill say a word.

Ivan replied. "I don't think anyone can
safely get down that hallway; it's set up like a kill zone."

Charger just looked at Ivan and snorted. Jill
started moving, seeming to defy gravity. With an explosive in her
mouth, her long nails began digging into the reddish walls and
ceiling of the alien base, and she crawled flat along the ceiling
upside down. Her stealthy movements made the bizarre event seem
almost dreamlike. Her soft orangey fur blended in with the reddish
color of the walls and ceiling. Without the aliens even noticing,
Jill planted the explosive on the door at the end of the hall and
crept back, unscathed.

"Wow, I mean just wow!" spouted the pilot,
who had returned to consciousness and made his way to the group.
"Can I date your daughter?" he asked Charger.

Mac growled at the pilot.

"Oh, you can come, too, pup," the pilot said
to Mac. "I think she's too damn sexy for me alone anyways."

Jill turned away, seemingly embarrassed. Ivan
thought that if somebody peeled all that fur off her, they'd be
able to see her blushing.

There was a great explosion and the group
rushed into the room at the end of the hall. They killed the
remaining alien defenders, except for a lone alien hiding in one of
the back rooms. It was not a defender, since it was unarmed, but it
seemed important. "I say we tie this one and our pilot friend
together and pack them out of here fast. We don't know if this
thing called for reinforcements," Thad said.

"I got duct tape," the pilot offered.

The group moved quickly, retracing their
steps back to the right hand gate. But there, they emerged into a
barrage of alien weapon fire that nearly wiped them all out.
Natasha and Mikhail fell, then Ivan, as he tried to reach his
friends. The pilot grabbed Jill by the arm and whispered, "This
way, honey, tell your friends to follow us. I got this."

Thad and Mac, with Charger carrying the
captive alien, began moving downhill, away from the defenders. At
the bottom of the hill was a small transport craft.

The pilot said. "See, I jettisoned the
survival pod just before impact. We can use it to get the hell out
of here." The small band entered the craft with regret, knowing
that all was lost for the humans left behind. They returned to the
command base.

>>>

Dart speaks to Reader:

Yes, Reader, General Harris was pleased with
Thad and the returnees, and of course he never gave a thought to
all the soldiers who were killed. He promoted Thad, ignoring
entirely what the Hyborgs had contributed.

Did they get the alien back to headquarters?
Oh, yes, and the general intended to subject it to prolonged
torture. He wanted information, naturally, but he enjoyed causing
pain during the process. So he was angry and disgusted when he
discovered that the alien had died en route to headquarters.

"Dump it in a freezer," he said to his aides.
"Tell the lab guys about it if they turn up. Maybe they'll figure
out what makes these suckers tick."

In spite of his annoyance, the general gave
the pilot a medal for bravery in the face of hostile opposition,
which the pilot promptly tried to trade to Jill for sexual
favors.

Did she go for it? Well, certainly not then.
Mac had reached his breaking point and, before the group of
officers, lashed out and broke the pilot's jaw. Mac was sentenced
to two months in solitary lockup.

Yes, I think Mac was jealous, though I never
did find out whether he regarded her as his daughter or his
mate.

I had to give Jill credit, though. She felt
sorry for the pilot. He was definitely odd, but so was she. When
she had down time, Jill would sneak off to visit him in the
hospital.

Did Charger know what was happening? Of
course, but he blocked the thoughts out of his mind to prevent Mac
from learning.

T
hat's what they were – an unexpected army. No one
would ever have imagined such a crazy move. Maybe that's why it
worked. Maybe it was just enough to tip the balance, since by this
time German and American soldiers had blended into disciplined
fighting units, and the aliens seemed stalled along most of their
front lines.

Back at headquarters, the generals had other
things on their minds.

"Okay, Fritz, you got my attention. What's so
important it can't wait till I've had a coffee?" General Harris
demanded. It was morning and the German general, who had been the
first to notice the strategy the aliens were using, hovered,
impatiently trying to speak with his American counterpart.

"You Americans and your sense of humor!"
Dieter said. "That is possibly why we Germans were kicking your
troops around so badly at the beginning of the second world war."
He paused. "I have come all the way from my home to help save your
asses, and still you can't get my name right! It's Dieter, General
Dieter A'Ochay, and I expect you should remember it."