Blitzkrieg: Origins of the Prime: A Superhero Spy Thriller (23 page)

Rolf leapt on top of Alexi, pinning Alexi’s right arm and war hammer beneath his shield. He then began punching Alexi in the face, over and over, with his massive right fist. Alexi grunted with each punch. Rolf grew angrier and angrier. He was angry that his old friend, Gerd, had attacked them again. He was angry that Gerd had tried to kill Tom. He was angry that Gerd accused them of hurting Kristel. Eventually, the feelings he had twenty years ago, when it was Gerd pounding on him bubbled to the surface. Gerd had made him so sad. So afraid. So hurt. He wanted Gerd to feel that pain now. He beat him harder and harder.

“Rolf, stop,” Tom’s voice called. “You’re going to kill him.”

Rolf ignored him. He kept pounding and pounding. Then he felt gentle fingers on the back of his neck.

“Rolf,” Dawn’s voice said, “stop hurting him.”

Rolf did stop. He spun around, excited that Dawn was okay, but she was not standing near him. In fact, when he turned he saw her still lying unconscious in Tom’s lap. Rolf stepped away from Alexi and walked over to Dawn and Tom. “Did she speak?” he asked. Tom shook his head. “But I heard her,” Rolf said, clearly confused.

Tom gently laid Dawn’s head on the floor and stood. He walked over to stand over Alexi. He then knelt down beside him and placed his hand gently on the big man’s chest. “Are you alright?” he asked. Alexi wiped blood from his face, saw it on his hand and then began to cry. “It’s alright, Alexi.”

“Don’t hurt Alena,” he said between sobs. “Please don’t hurt her.”

“Arnulf was lying Alexi. We don’t have your sister. I promise you that.”

Alexi believed him and that made him feel worse. He liked Tom. Tom had been with him when the lights went out. Otherwise he would have been very scared. Now he felt terrible that he almost killed Tom. He turned over, buried his face, and began to sob harder.

“It is alright, Alexi,” Tom said soothingly.

Alexi crying made Rolf sad and he suddenly felt horrible that he had hurt his old friend so badly. He walked over to Alexi and knelt down beside him. “Please don’t cry, Gerd,” he said. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m sorry.”

Alexi sat up. He wiped his eyes and nose. “I don’t like being called Gerd anymore,” he said.

“Okay,” Rolf said. “I’m sorry, I forgot.”

“Call me Alexi,” he said. “Or you can call me Hammer. Hammer is my superhero name.”

“I have a superhero name, too,” Rolf said with a big toothy grin. “I’m Krieg. And Axel is Blitz.”

Alexi looked at Tom. “Do you have a superhero name?”

Tom shook his head. “No, I’m not…” he began, but Rolf cut him off.

“He’s Canary,” Rolf said excitedly. He then pointed to Dawn. “And she is Psion.”

Alexi smiled. “Those are good superhero names.”

Tom nodded. “They are, aren’t they?” Rolf and Alexi nodded smiling. Tom patted both giants on the shoulder. “Come on Hammer and Krieg. Let’s go find Blitz and Sickle.”

Tom and Rolf stood and then Rolf offered a hand to Alexi. Alexi accepted and Rolf pulled him to his feet. “Krieg, carry Psion,” Tom said.

“Alright Canary,” Rolf smiled.

Tom retrieved his rifle and then walked over to the fallen Arnulf and the other Nazibots. He knelt down and examined them. “They aren’t human,” he explained. “They are some sort of robot, though they do contain organic material.”

“So that wasn’t really Colonel Arnulf?” Alexi asked.

Tom shook his head. “Though exactly what it is or where it came from, I don’t know.” He stood. “Come on. Let’s go.” Tom took the lead as they walked away down the corridor.

***

Alena was in in the middle of a horde of Nazibots, stabbing and slashing. She moved too fast for them, but more and more were joining the fray. That meant that soon she might simply become overwhelmed, despite her speed advantage.

Alena felt a hand grab her bicep. She jerked her arm away and then spun, slicing the hand off of the Nazibot’s wrist. She spun back around, swinging the sword in her left hand, chopping off the head of another bot. She heard a Nazibot fire an energy bolt at her, but was quick enough to duck it. She then charged the bot and shoved a sword into its chest, the blade protruding from the other side.

Alena spun and chopped another hand off at the wrist, this one holding a pistol pointed at her head. More bolts of energy flew at her. She ducked and dodged. More and more came. Then one found its mark, hitting Alena in the center of the back. It stunned her and she fell to the floor.

Alena looked up as the Nazibots closed in around her. They took her swords away and then grabbed her, their fingers feeling like actual flesh. She screamed out. She fought frantically against the hands holding her, but it was all in vain. There were just too many of them. Was this the end? Suddenly all of the bots around her exploded as bolts of lightning surged through them.

Alena had begun to recover from the jolt and pushed herself to her feet. She saw a determined Axel making his way toward her, electrocuting any bot that got near him. Lightning leapt from his fingertips, frying the Nazibots where they stood. Soon, none stood at all.

“Are you alright?” Axel asked and Alena nodded.

“You disappeared! Where were you?” Alena asked in reply.

“Down below,” Axel said pointing to the floor. Alena stared at him, an unspoken question in her eyes. “There’s like this giant cavern down there.”

“That’s odd,” she replied.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “What’s important is I’ve figured out how to use the ‘elevators’.”

“How?” she asked.

Axel tapped a finger to his temple. “The power of the mind,” he grinned.

“What?”

“Somehow this place can read our minds. At least, it can act on what we want. You want a door to open, you need to think about it opening.” Alena narrowed her eyes at him in disbelief. “Look this place isn’t just an extension of Arnulf. It’s an extension of everyone in here. I’m just not sure why he can control everything and we can’t.”

“Because he’s in the central brain,” Alena said. “If this place was set up so that everyone could control everything, then there would be chaos. But everyone does need to be able to open doors, work elevators and so forth.”

“Well, let’s go work an elevator,” he said with a wink.

“Alright,” she replied and turned to walk away, but Axel caught her by the hand. She turned back to face him. “I did not intend to leave you behind in Berlin. I’m very sorry it happened. I won’t leave you alone in Arnulf’s hands this time—I promise.”

Alena nodded and then threw her arms around Axel’s neck. He returned the embrace and they held each other for a long moment before she finally released him. “Let’s go find the others and figure out a way to kill Arnulf.”

Axel smiled broadly. “And this time we’ll make sure he stays dead.”

Alena gave his hand a squeeze. “Well, let’s go.” She turned and they ran along the corridor. To their surprise, the way was unimpeded by Nazibots and they made good time. Soon they arrived at the room with the “elevators.”

“Ready?” Axel asked. Alena nodded with a smile. Axel stepped inside the tube and Alena joined him like before, face-to-face. “Focus on going to the floor with the others. He watched as Alena squeezed her eyes tight. She was so cute he could not help but smile. They began to move upward.

“It’s working,” Alena said as she opened her eyes.

Axel nodded. “I told you,” he said with a smile.

Suddenly they stopped moving upward.

“What’s happening?” Alena asked.

“I don’t know.” With a whoosh they began to fall at free fall speed. They held each other tightly as they fell, screams caught in their throats. They jerked to a stop in the middle of the tube not near any opening.

“That was fun,” came Arnulf’s amused voice from all around them. “Do you really think I will bend to your whims, your mental desires?”

“What do you mean,
you
?” Axel asked.

“I am the base now. We are one. If I do not want the doors to open, they do not. If I want to drop you into nothingness, I will.” With that Axel and Alena began to fall again, but were suddenly stopped. “The only way that you get what you want is if I allow it. You are alive by my good graces. It is time you recognized that.” They flew upward again, but this time they stopped on the level they had started at. Both jumped out of the tube before Arnulf could send them falling again.

Alena turned to Axel. “What do we do now?” she asked.

“I can take you to the others,” came Arnulf’s voice and they spun around to once again see a young Arnulf standing before them. “Simply fall to your knees and ask,” it said with a wolfish grin. In a flash, Axel blasted the Nazibot with a bolt of blue energy, destroying it instantly.

“Well, it’s clear we can’t get out of here until he’s no longer in control,” Axel said. “So that leaves only one thing for us to do.”

“Kill the son of a bitch,” Alena answered.

Chapter 24

Tom led the way, moving quickly along the corridor, with Rolf trotting behind carrying a still unconscious Dawn. Alexi brought up the rear, gripping his war hammer tightly, prepared to crush any Nazibot or incarnation of Arnulf he saw. It wasn’t long before Tom realized that the corridor ended up ahead. “Crap,” he said to himself. It just stopped at a wall with nowhere else to go.

“Keep going,” he heard Dawn’s voice say. He stopped suddenly in his tracks and spun around to look at Dawn, but she was still unconscious lying in Rolf’s arms. Tom watched her for a long moment, before his eyes met Rolf’s.

“Did Dawn just say something?” Tom asked. Rolf shook his head. “I thought I…” Tom began, but stopped. He shook his own head to clear it from whatever was in there and then turned back around.

“Keep going, Tom,” Dawn’s voice said again.

Tom turned back around and stepped over to Dawn, staring down at her unconscious body. “You’re not going crazy, my body is not conscious,” Tom heard Dawn’s voice say, but this time he clearly saw that her lips did not move. He glanced up at Rolf, then to Alexi. Both men just stared at him. He turned back around. “I need you to trust me, Tom,” Dawn’s voice came again.

“Okay, Dawn” Tom said as he began to walk. “This is weird, but okay. I’ll trust you.” He kept walking, straight to the dead end in front of them. Suddenly, a hatch opened, seemingly appearing from nowhere and Tom stopped and stared in amazement.

“Go through and take a right,” Dawn’s voice instructed.

“If you say so,” Tom replied and then obeyed. He stepped through the hatch and turned to his right with Rolf and Alexi following close behind. “How do you know this?” Tom asked the air, assuming Dawn could hear him.

“I am inside the base,” returned Dawn’s voice in his head.

“Aren’t we all?” Tom asked, clearly not understanding what she meant.

“Not like me. My consciousness is inside what can only be described as the brain of the base,” Dawn explained.

“Your consciousness?” Tom asked.

“Yes. I can see everything in the ship. Right now Axel and Sickle are in trouble.”

“In trouble how?”

“Arnulf is in control of the base.”

“Ah. Yes, that is bad,” Tom agreed.

“Now, quiet for a moment, I need to concentrate.”

Eventually they came to the “elevator” tubes. Tom walked up to the tube in the center and peered down seeing that it dropped into nothingness. “Step inside,” Dawn’s voice rang in his head. Tom whipped around and stared at her unconscious body. He then glanced up at Rolf and Alexi. “She wants us to get inside the tube, but it just falls straight down. I mean I’m willing to trust Dawn, but I’m unwilling to trust that I’m not hallucinating.”

Rolf ignored Tom walking past him and squeezing into the tube. Clearly he had complete faith not only in Dawn, but that Tom was sane. To Tom’s surprise Rolf did not fall, but rather floated.

“Trust me,” came Dawn’s voice.

“Alexi, get inside the other tube,” Rolf said. Alexi nodded, deciding to trust his old friend and squeezed inside the tube situated beside Rolf’s.

Tom took a deep breath and then did likewise, stepping into the tube on the opposite side of Rolf. To his relief, he also floated. All of them began to descend into the darkness. They soon came to a stop and Tom heard Dawn’s voice tell him to exit the tube. He leapt out, happy that he had not plunged to his death. He turned to see Rolf and Alexi doing likewise.

“Well, that was interesting,” he said with a nervous smile. Rolf and Alexi smiled back.

“It’s like we were flying,” Alexi said as Rolf nodded vigorously.

Tom smiled at their good humor, but then pulled their attention back to the matter at hand. “Let’s go find Blitz and Sickle.”

***

Dawn floated through what could only be described as infinite space. At least it felt like floating. She knew that in reality her physical body was being carried by Rolf through the halls of the base. However, her consciousness floated through the “brain” of the base. It was a very strange sensation and though she knew she had no physical form here, she could still feel it. She could still move her hands and toes. An illusion created by her mind she assumed.

The strangest sensation of all, however, was her ability to “see” and control everything anywhere inside the base, but without actually looking at it or touching it. It was almost as if she could feel what was happening. It got jumbled in her mind though. There was so much to take in. When she concentrated on one particular area, she sometimes ignored others.

There was something else too. She wasn’t alone here. Arnulf was also in the space. She could feel his presence and wondered if he could feel hers. That thought sent a nervous, sick feeling through her. She had not seen his cruelty up close like Rolf and Axel, nor had she witnessed the effects of the Nazi’s reign of terror like Tom, but she was not a fool. She knew what the Nazis had done, what Arnulf had done. She always felt sick to her stomach in his presence and that sick feeling existed even here, where she had no stomach.