Annihilation Prequel - Psychic Beginnings (18 page)

“Two, the American patrol was caught out in the open and fired at by a squad of Vietcong Special Forces. Why were no Americans hit?” The Witch’s sneer disappeared.

“And lastly, why did your daughter’s chest come out of the door first with both arms around her baby. I think you can figure it out from there.”

The Witch saw the recording in her mind. It had been burned in where she couldn’t forget any detail and she thought about it and saw that this creature was right. Then she heard Major Huang say, “You will drop that sword and back away from the Witch.”

AG looked over and saw the Chinese Major with a line of North Vietnam regular troops aiming their weapons at him. AG had the sword in his left hand and was holding the M60 that had the ammo belt trailing out of it in his right. The witch turned and said to AG, “Why?”

AG nodded toward Huang, “Ask him; he knows. It was Colonel Pham-van Bao that did it.”

The witch looked at Major Huang and he saw she now knew the truth. She saw it in his expression. She said, “Why?”

Huang took a deep breath and said, “I have never been able to understand the evil our leaders do to save our people. It brings me great sorrow.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“If I allowed you to learn the truth, my family will be murdered very slowly.”

AG said, “Pham reported to General Zheng. Is he the one that ordered it?”

Huang slowly shook his head ignoring Ag and said, “Witch, I cannot say anything. My family will die.” Huang turned back to AG and said, “Now drop the weapons on you will die.”

AG said, “Major, I really don’t want to kill any more of your men; so if you will all just drop your weapons, I’ll allow you to live. You have come into my valley uninvited taking life and I will not allow you to continue.”

“Who are you?”

The witch said, “He is a White Demon.”

Huang glared at the witch and said, “You know I can’t do that.” He paused and ordered, “Kill him.”

Before the word kill was out of his mouth there was a ripping noise that sounded like a screech of metal against an iron plate. Huang and the witch stood there waiting for the hundred and fifty troops to fire on the bloody white creature but nothing happened. Huang turned and looked at his troops as everyone one fell to the earth with a hole through the center of their forehead. He snapped his head back to the white creature and saw smoke coming out of the M60’s barrel. There was no possible way that gun could have fired a single shot into all his troops that fast. The machine gun was not designed to fire at that rate and the accuracy was impossible.

Huang looked at the White Demon and heard, “I am going to allow the two of you to live.” It turned to the witch and said, “You because you were an unwitting tool and you have done your evil because of love for your family. However, if you kill here again, I will come after your other three children and their children. When I’m done with them, I’ll come for you.” The witch heard him, looked at his face, and felt her fear.

AG turned back to Huang, “I’m not killing you because there will come a time in the future where you will have the opportunity to try and persuade your leaders not to attack my domain. If you don’t make them listen; they will pay a price that will make what happened to your men in this jungle pale in comparison.”

Huang said, “How did you get through my men to the south?”

“Go ask them. However, your leaders will pay a price that will be unimaginable if you are unable to get them to change their plans. Do not forget this night, Colonel.”

Huang and the witch stared at the Demon and suddenly it disappeared before their eyes. The Witch said, “I will not kill you, Huang. I believe the Demon will do that for me one day. Take me back to Hanoi. I have a message for General Zheng that only I can deliver.”

“If you do, they will kill you.”

““It will be worth it.”

Huang and the witch went into the jungle and found the one hundred and sixty eight dead soldiers. Most of them had lost their heads. Huang looked at all the snipers in the trees and saw the blades sticking out of their eyes. When the two of them left, Huang had no doubt; the White Demon was not a creature to be ignored.

• • •

Charlie waited and finally knew that he could not wait any longer. He pulled the flare and started to ignite it when he felt a hand on his shoulder, “Let’s set it off half way up the hill.”

Charlie handed the flare to AG and said, “You do the honors.”

Sgt. Slade followed AG up the hill and knew he was going to start knife training the next day. Lt. Bingham moaned as they carried him up the hill and AG said, “Hold on.”

The group stopped and AG bent down where Bingham could see him, “Lieutenant, you’re going to be alright. We’ve managed to rescue you so I need you to be quiet; can you do it?”

Bingham looked up and saw Gardner standing over him. He nodded and quickly put a hand on Garner’s arm, “Thank you.” AG nodded and the group continued up the hill. Four hundred yards from the camp they set off the flare and they saw men rushing down the hill to help them. AG finally arrived and as he was pulled over the wall by Sgt. Gomez, he collapsed from exhaustion. The men he saved carried him to his bunker and put him on his cot. The company that went into the jungle the next morning was shocked at what they found and had no way to explain what had happened. Captain Green came to talk with AG but he slept for another eighteen hours. Sgt. Slade told them he didn’t do anything but follow Gardner and carry the weapons. The Major wanted a report on what happened and Captain Green knew he could not tell the truth. The story he told was not too far from the truth and AG was given the Medal of Honor for his actions, but in the new version he was assisted by twenty very well trained soldiers and the rest of D Company. The men heard the official report but they knew what had really happened. The Legend started that day and soon was known by both sides of the war being raged in South Vietnam.

• • •

Captain Green sat next to Lt. Bingham’s bed before he was airlifted out. Bingham had a morphine drip going and was able to bear the incredible pain. He looked at Captain Green and said, “I was pretty stupid, wasn’t I?”

“You were.”

“I should be dead. Thank you for saving me.”

“I didn’t.”

Bingham stared at Green, “It was Gardner.”

“I ordered him not to go but he informed me that I would have to shoot him to stop him. He went after you with Sgt. Slade carrying his weapons. He saved you.”

Bingham said, “Well, with the battlefield promotion you gave him, he will be my replacement, won’t he?”

Green opened his mouth and stopped. He smiled and Bingham said, “The men deserve him to lead them. They didn’t deserve someone like me.”

Green smiled, “Some lessons come hard, Lieutenant. I think you’ve learned yours. By the way, you were involved in the attack to save our captured soldiers. Make sure your story jives with the official report. I’m putting a copy in your bag.”

“I don’t deserve that.”

“Well, you were the only one injured and with the scrapes and bruises we’ve been able to muster, HQ might believe our story. You need to do your part to keep their attention away from Gardner.”

Bingham nodded slowly, “I’ll do what I can.”

“Good luck, Edward.”

“Thanks, Captain.” The Corpsmen lifted the stretcher and carried Bingham out.

• • •

Omaha said, “This report is horse manure and you know it. There’s no way this could have happened without major casualties.”

Captain Green blew out a breath and said, “Omaha, Gardner went into the jungle with his knives and a M60 machine gun and killed the entire Vietcong battalion alone.”

Omaha was silent and then said, “I’ll keep it to myself. That other stuff is just not believable.”

“And Gardner doing it alone is?”

“That’s the only way it could have been done without massive casualties. I notice he’s been recommended.”

“He has and I gave him a battlefield promotion. Do you anticipate any problems with that?”

“Not at all; it’s already been processed. I doubt anyone will notice for a while. It’s tacked in the middle of a list of high priority promotions the brass has been pushing so they aren’t going to slow it down by questioning anything.”

“That’s good.”

“One other thing, Brian.”

“What is that?”

“Major Ketchum is being moved to Intel and you are going to be promoted in his place to run the battalion. You’re going to need to promote someone to take your place.”

There was silence on the line and finally Green said, “Just what date is that promotion for Gardner listed?”

“It’s dated back to the first action where he stopped the ambush.”

“Omaha, can I get away with promoting him to Captain over D Company?”

“Brian, the thing about an Army this big is that no one can really keep track of everything that’s going on.”

“Other than you.”

“That’s correct; but I have submitted the paperwork attached with your promotion and had General Westmoreland sign it without reading it. You should let the new captain know.”

“What about a Lieutenant?”

“I believe there was a Sergeant named Slade that had the courage to go with him.”

“Omaha, you are absolutely unbelievable. Thank you.”

“Keep it up, Captain. You’re one of the few bright spots in this war.”

“I’ll do what I can.”

• • •

AG stood in front of Major Green’s desk and didn’t like what he was hearing. “Major, I’m not sure I’m ready to command anyone.”

“Gardner, you are going to have to look at this as an acceleration of your training. I don’t understand how all of this happened, but it appears that circumstances have caught you up in a wave and is forcing you to do this. You are now the youngest Captain in the Army and I expect you to lead my former company and make sure they are as safe as possible. I need you and you know there is no one here that can do a better job.”

“I’m still inclined to refuse this, Sir.”

“Why?”

“There aren’t enough warriors in the company to make it effective. I’ve only been able to train six in the skills needed to be effective. Most of the company is just not up to the task at hand.”

“What if I get you the men you need to make that happen?”

AG narrowed his eyes, “Just how will you do that?”

“You know there are soldiers in the other platoons that have requested to take part in your knife training. I can transfer them into two of your platoons and you can start their training immediately. I’m sure there will be others that will want to join you once the battalion sees what you’re doing. You should have enough for your company before long.”

“I’ll be the junior captain, Sir. The others won’t be willing to see their best men moved.”

“They will if I tell them your company will be doing all the patrols.”

“Is that fair, Sir? My men will be placed in the most dangerous situations.”

“No, it’s not fair; but who would be best at doing it? That’s the only way for this to happen. The other companies would jump at the chance of not having to go out and face Charlie in the jungles.”

AG thought a moment and said, “I need Weston, Slade, and Gomez as Lieutenants.”

Green smiled; he had already received the promotions for them. “You will have to keep Lt. Ashton.”

AG slowly shook his head, “He’s not much better than Bingham.”

“I know but I’m sure you can keep his platoon occupied supporting the other three. Come on, Gardner, you’ve got to do this.”

“What happens if you’re moved or not here? The other Captains have seniority and I could be forced into another John Wayne attack.”

“I’ll have a discussion with them about their roles in any future planning.”

“Will you allow me to address the company?”

“I will.”

AG smiled and saluted, “Then I’m your man.”

“Good, start organizing your company and we’ll start the transfers as soon as you let me know you’re ready. Dismissed, Captain.”

AG went back to the bunker and found his platoon waiting for him. Gomez said, “What’s up?”

AG shrugged and said, “It looks like they have drafted me to be D company’s CO.”

The platoon cheered and AG held up his hand, “It’s not all good news.”

Slade said, “Well the first part is.”

“We will be doing all of the patrols.”

There was silence and Charlie asked, “Why?”

“It’s the only way the Major would give me the right men to make the company effective. Gomez, Slade, and Charlie are promoted to Lieutenants and I expect you to do a good job of training your platoons in our skills.” AG looked at the rest of the platoon and said, “The rest of you will be moved into their platoons and help them get the new soldiers ready. If any of your troops don’t want to take the training, don’t force them. Only train those that want it. I’ll be meeting with the platoon sergeants tonight.”

“What about Lt. Ashton?”

“He will serve a role. You let me worry about him. I’m concentrating on your three platoons first.”

Slade looked at Gomez and said, “How do you want to start?”

“I’ve received a shipment of knife vests and I need you to start your platoons training. Jackson, are you sure you won’t accept a promotion?”

“I’ll take a squad, Sir. I do not want to be an officer.”

“I’ll go along with you for now but if it comes down to the safety of my men, you will accept it if I need you.”

Jackson stared at AG and then slowly nodded, “Try to avoid it if you can, Sir.”

AG smiled, “I’ll do what I can. Now go to your platoons and start finding out which ones are warriors.”

• • •

A week later six helicopter gunships arrived at the camp with a patrol of six jets overhead. The Huey they were escorting landed and Major Green went out to greet the man stepping out the door. The man said, “Major, I need to see Gardner.”

Brian nodded and said, “Come with me. Santos, go get Gardner and bring him to my bunker.”

AG arrived and saw Major Green standing off to the side of a middle aged man sitting at his desk. He came to attention and saluted. “You don’t need to salute, I’m a civilian. Sit down and take it easy.” AG looked at Brian and he nodded. Who was this man?