Authors: S D Taylor
Gaby’s hand was still on Peter’s shoulder. For some reason she didn’t understand, she leaned forward and kissed him. She had no idea what to expect but Peter simply put his arm around her and drew her towards him as he kissed her back. It was as close an embrace as you could have when one person is holding an assault rifle against their chest. They both sat back and Peter kept his arm around her as they looked out toward the camp and the fields beyond. Neither of them said anything for several minutes as they savored the brief, unexpected moment of intimacy. Even if it was a very strange intimacy. Then they both saw the light from a flashlight bobbing up and down on the far side of the field. It spared them from having to decide what to say next and they sprung into action.
Peter stayed with the machine gun while Gaby hurried to the camp to warn the others. Peter wondered if this was an attack or just a stray pirate or pirates coming back to camp, oblivious of the events of the last twenty-four hours. There were virtually no lights on in the camp so Gaby figured it was fifty/fifty if she would manage to avoid falling over a tent rope or stepping on one of the many individuals who didn’t manage to fit into the tents. Only the wounded had the luxury of that experience.
Gaby headed for the only tent that appeared to have a light inside. She poked her head into the flap and saw Erin and Doug sitting next to one of the patients while the Haida Chief stood nearby. All three of them glanced up as Gaby entered. “We have visitors approaching from the west. We saw a flashlight but we can’t tell anything more about them.”
Doug sprang to life like he had been shocked by a high voltage line. “Come on, Erin. Grab your weapon. Please stay here Chief and keep an eye on your nephew.”
The Chief grabbed Doug by the shoulder with his iron grip. “My warriors may have an advantage in this case. We are used to moving silently in the dark. These enemies won’t be expecting that.”
Doug paused and that was not his normal mode. It was important that they survive this attack, if that was what it turned out to be. For all he knew, it could be Arny and his Vikings or it could even be another version of some of them that had been created by the vortex events. Starting a firefight in the dark would be a bad idea if it resulted in shooting innocent people.
“Ok, but we have to try to capture them. They may not be enemies. If we can get close and surround them, we can turn on a light before we attack. Tom and I will go with you and your warriors. Together, we will be stronger.”
The Chief was skeptical about that last bit, but he admired their pluck. “I will get five men and meet you here.” He was gone quickly. Doug was going to turn out the light, but thought better of it. “Let’s leave the light alone for now. If they are on, leave them on. That way they won’t suspect that we noticed them. Gaby, you should go tell Peter what we are going to do. I don’t want him to shoot us by accident.” The blond German woman turned quickly and was gone before he could say anything more.
“What should I do?” Erin stood there holding the machine pistol and feeling pretty useless in this new plan.
Doug turned to her as he was leaving the tent. Seeing the look of fear on her face, he went back to her and kissed her. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. I want you and Megan to guard the camp and protect these people if anyone shows up that we don’t expect. Peter had the machine gun set up to cover either side so you guys should be ok. Tom and I will go with the Chief and his men and see what we can find out.”
“Be careful, Doug. I have a bad feeling about this.”
Doug said nothing but he was thinking the same thing.
Chapter 7
Flying Raven was a warrior with a widely-known reputation among the coastal tribes and he was much feared by his enemies. His men were fearless and well trained, and it only took a few whispered words from the big guy and the attack squad was waiting outside the tent where Tom and Doug were standing. There were several concerned comments from the warriors about having to take Tom and Doug along but the Chief quickly silenced them. He spoke to his men, “We looked towards the sunset and could see a light moving through the trees. We will travel in two wings towards the light. Single file. Quiet. Doug and Tom will be at the rear, one with each wing. We will capture the attackers if we can.” Doug noticed that all the men carried knives and a short club that had a round rock securely attached to the end. Good weapons for a quiet fight in the dark. Tom and Doug had machine pistols with silencers as well as knives and large, heavy flashlights that could be weapons in a pinch.
They were off on this new adventure without further comment. Tom was amazed at the speed of the warriors, especially in the total darkness and on unfamiliar ground. But then he remembered that these guys went to this island regularly to hunt birds and gather eggs. Maybe it wasn’t so much of a stretch to think they knew their way around this island pretty well. Even in the dark.
Doug could now see the light in the distance and wondered if it was a trap. It had been moving steadily towards them, but now it seemed stationary. He noticed that the two ‘wings’ had spread pretty wide as the Haida warriors advanced towards the light in the trees. They were about fifty yards from the light when it suddenly went out. A single sound that resembled a bird call came from the general direction of the Chief. Everyone froze and knelt down in place.
It took a couple of minutes but then Doug could hear footsteps coming towards them. It appeared the attackers were advancing towards the camp right between the two wings of warriors. Doug was at the rear of the right wing so when the first of the advancing pirates appeared to be even with him, Doug jumped forward and turned on his flashlight. The light illuminated ten of the Korean pirates marching in single file towards the camp. They had their rifles slung over their shoulders and were not expecting an attack.
Flying Raven let out a tremendous yell and his men moved as one. They were immediately on top of the pirates and driving them to the ground with hammer blows and knife thrusts. Doug’s suggestion of capturing them was meant to allow for the possibility that they might not be evil pirates bent on killing everyone. Once the Haida recognized them to be members of the same tribe that attacked them with the helicopter, they took matters into their own hands. All the pirates were dead within two minutes. Doug walked over to Tom who also held a flashlight that illuminated the scene of carnage. “I hope these guys and the Vikings don’t run into each other. Or if they do, I hope I am not in the immediate vicinity.” Tom stared down at the massively deformed head of the lead pirate after the man had taken two blows from one of the Haida war clubs.
Doug started to comment when he was cut off by the sound of small arms fire from the direction of the camp, followed by the staccato sound of Peter’s machine gun. Every third round in the machine gun ammunition was a tracer bullet so Doug could see that Peter was firing up the hill to the west of the camp, right along the tree line. A second squad of pirates must be attacking from there, firing randomly into the camp in the dark as they advanced towards it. Doug and Tom each grabbed AK-47s from the dead pirates and began firing towards the spot where Peter’s tracer bullets were pointing to. Without a target in the dark, they just fired random patterns up and down and right and left. They were trying to get the pirates to break off the attack and fire in their direction rather than at the camp where Erin, Megan and the wounded Haida people were sitting ducks. With fire coming at them from two directions, the pirates began to fire at random towards the camp and at the raiding party. Doug could see their muzzle flashes and knew that they were pretty confused by the attack that had been turned around on them. They would have likely retreated but there was a sudden orange flash that lit up the entire area with the brightness of daytime. A fireball erupted at the spot that Doug and Tom had been shooting at and there was a large, fiery explosion that knocked over a couple of trees and certainly killed any pirates that were within a hundred yards of its center.
Doug instinctively hit the ground, but as he glanced up he again saw the hover vehicle above them, just as it had been that afternoon. It had put an end to the pirates both times. But what was next. He felt a sense of terror he had seldom experienced in his life. It was as if he was in the presence of a force beyond his capacity to deal with or even understand. And it seemed to be evil, despite the fact that the last two explosions took out some particularly nasty people that were a thorn in Doug’s side. He knew that he and his friends could be scheduled for the next fireball.
The burning foliage near the explosion provided a flickering and ghostlike illumination for the scene as the hover vehicle descended silently and landed between the camp and the machine gun manned by Peter and Gaby. As the door on the side opened, Doug began to run as fast as he could toward it.
What emerged from this flying saucer did nothing to dispel the impression of an alien invasion. It had roughly human form, but did not move like a human with its rapid and jerky motions. It had unusually long legs and arms gave it an otherworldly appearance that caused Doug to have a visceral fear of it. He thought “it” in his mind rather than “him” since it didn’t look quite human. It walked quickly towards Peter and Gaby, and was undeterred by a warning burst of machine gun fire. Erin was approaching from the camp as well, keeping her weapon trained on the alien-like stranger but not firing. They were all transfixed by the unreality of the situation.
The thing walked with rapid, insect-like motions. Pausing for a second, then making three or four very rapid steps. Turning its head rapidly in stop and go motions as it looked around. Doug thought it looked like a metallic bug and he felt fear at trying to fight it. It had to be seven feet tall and with the very long arms would have easily subdued any human it ran into.
The thing quickly reached out and grabbed Peter and Gaby by their arms. It had a vice-like metal grip that was firm without damaging their muscles or skin. Peter was fascinated by it, even as he was trying to decide how to kill it. The bullets they fired at it seemed to be deflected by some form of protective shielding. The insect-like man pulled him and Gaby up out of their trench and carried them to the hover vehicle. It tossed them into the open door and turned around to confront Erin, who had followed it all the way back to its craft. She started to fire her machine pistol, but the insect man knocked it out of her hands with its long metallic arm. It than grabbed her shoulder and turned back to its vehicle. By now, the raiding party was closing fast and Doug standing between the thing dragging Erin towards him and the hover vehicle door.
“Doug, run before it gets you too!” Erin screamed as it was dragging her forward.
Doug raised the AK-47 to fire, but he hesitated with Erin so close to his target. It was a big mistake since the insect man saw him as a threat and activated its defense capability. Holding Erin in its left hand, it held up its right hand, palm facing out and fired an orange pulse of energy that hit Doug in the face and neck, dropping him to the ground where he stood. As he hit the ground, violent spasms shook his body. Erin screamed at the sight as the insect-like monster pulled her right past Doug and into the open door of the craft. The door closed and the craft rose silently and rapidly above the trees, heading west at high speed. It was gone before they could blink twice. Running forward and seeing this, Tom yelled “No! No! No!” as loud as his voice would allow as he ran towards Doug, who lay there immobilized and seemingly near death from the stunpulse charge that passed through him. Erin, Peter and Gaby had been abducted and Tom had no idea where they had been taken or if he would ever see them again. He cradled Doug’s head in his lap as Flying Raven and Megan arrived on the scene. For the first time, Tom felt his faith in himself slipping away. For all their sakes, he would have to find it again soon.
Chapter 8
Peter, Erin and Gaby sat on the metal floor inside the hover vehicle, held gently in place by an unseen force they didn’t understand. They were not feeling any pressure but they could not lift their legs off the floor or move around in any way. A feeling that could be described as a mixture of claustrophobia, fear and awe gripped them as they looked around the inside of the small craft. The strange creature that had abducted them and injured or killed Doug was kneeling next to them and watching them carefully. The light inside the craft was subdued but they could now clearly see this was no alien. It was a man who had been enhanced with long metallic arms and legs that reminded them of the limbs you would find on a Praying Mantis. He stared at them each in turn but said nothing. He looked like the love child of a large metal insect and a human.
The craft was divided into sections on the inside and they were in a wedge-shaped room. There was light in the room but no obvious source that provided it. It was as if the walls were luminescent. The walls had an opaque silver-colored metal coating that went from floor to ceiling and there was a single closed door near the center of the craft. Erin assumed that whoever piloted the craft was in there. She decided to break the ice and try to get some information.
“What are you and why did you abduct us?” She stared at their strange jailer, not really expecting an answer.
He turned to face Erin and spoke calmly and clearly. “You should remain quiet until your interrogation.” He had an emotionless stare that sent a shiver of fear through Erin.