Blitzkrieg: Origins of the Prime: A Superhero Spy Thriller (26 page)

“Yes, let us hurry,” she said.

Axel led the way along the corridor, running as fast as he could, continuously glancing over his shoulder to ensure everyone was behind him. They reached the “elevator” tubes quickly and Axel turned to the others.

“Go! Go! Go!” he shouted as everyone chose a tube. Axel chose one of the remaining tubes and stepped inside, floating like before. “Let’s go Psion!” he shouted at Dawn and felt his body begin to lift up into the air. They soon reached the correct floor and stopped, everyone leaping out.

Alena’s speed was recovering and she led the way, sprinting quickly, though all the while conscious of the others so as not to leave them far behind. The others sprinted as fast as they could manage in an attempt to keep up with her. A couple of turns and they were in the temple again. They quickly ran through the stone corridor and out into the daylight, momentarily blinded by the brightness of the sun.

“Halt!” they heard and squinted through the sunlight to see several Marines aiming rifles at them. Two helicopters set nearby, as men loaded the bodies of their fallen aboard.

“It’s alright!” Tom said as the dashed to the front, blocking them from shooting Alena. He looked at the crew chief. “We’ve got to get the hell out of here, this place is about to blow. The chief nodded and gave the command for everyone to load up. Everyone climbed aboard the choppers as the blades began to whir to life. Realizing the explosion could happen any second, the pilots did not wait for the others to strap themselves in, but began lifting off the ground as soon as the helicopters were ready.

The helicopters flew away over the jungle canopy as fast as they could manage, but were rocked as the temple exploded in an enormous flash of light. Just as the sound of the explosion reached his ears, Axel saw Dawn sit straight up as if she were coming out of a nightmare. She glanced around uncertain of her surroundings. Axel moved over to her and threw an arm over her shoulder. “You alright kid?” he asked. “I thought we’d lost you.”

Dawn began to laugh, leaning over and burying her face in Axel’s chest. The laughter was contagious. Soon everyone, even Alena and Alexi were laughing—laughing from the relief they felt at having escaped with their lives.

Axel’s eyes fell on Alena and Alexi. “I guess you two are coming with us,” he smiled. “You know, the six of us could make one hell of a team.”

Alena returned his smile. “We would Axel,” she said as she stood and crossed the helicopter to where Axel still knelt beside Dawn. Alena leaned over and kissed Axel on the lips causing Dawn to become visibly irritated. Alena pulled away and smiled as she stared into his eyes. “If you, any of you,” she said as her eyes took in the entirety of Team Blitzkrieg, “ever wish to join the right side, I promise you, Moscow will welcome you with open arms. But we have no desire to serve the fascists.” She then stood and walked back to the other side of the helicopter and stood close to Alexi. “Take care,” she said.

“Take care? You’re leaving?” Tom asked with a chuckle. “Where are you going to go?”

Alena smiled at him. “Say good-bye Alexi,” she said.

“Bye Rolf, bye everybody.”

“Bye,” Rolf replied.

Suddenly Alexi snatched Alena around the waist and leapt out of the helicopter.

The others quickly jumped over to the side staring down into the jungle below, but Alexi and Alena had disappeared beneath the trees. Tom shook his head in amazement before glancing up at Rolf. “Can you do that?” he asked. Rolf only shrugged and then went back and sat down, enjoying the ride and the relative safety of the helicopter.

Tom glanced out of the chopper door one more time before finding his seat. “Well, we’ve got a lot to explain when we get back,” Tom said to the others. “Dawn, what happened in there?” Dawn stared blankly into nothing. “Dawn,” Tom said, snapping her out of it.

“Yes?” she asked.

“Are you alright?”

“I think so,” she said forcing a smile, but then returned to her blank gaze.

“Let it go,” Axel said. “We’ll have plenty of time to talk later. Back in the States.”

The helicopters flew back over the border into South Vietnam.

Chapter 26

Washington, D.C.

Axel, Rolf, Dawn, and Tom walked into the conference room at CSOS headquarters, having returned from Vietnam the evening before. They were surprised to not only see Ian, but CIA Deputy Director for Special Projects Cleveland Durst, General Rance Maguire of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and NASA Deputy Director for Extra-Terrestrial Defense, Dr. Alphonso Lehman. There was another man in the room, with dark eyes matching his dark suit, who was not introduced to them. As usual, Martha was there to take notes and minutes as needed. This time she operated a tape recorder as well.

Ian motioned for everyone to sit and the debriefing began. Everyone sat except the mystery man who stood near the window peering out. Ian and the others sat across the table from Team Blitzkreig. Ian smiled at them. “Alright, let’s begin,” he said and then pointed to the tape recorder, “Martha, if you would be so kind…” Martha nodded and began recording the meeting.

“First, I’d like to say that we’re all relieved that you made it back alive,” Ian said, “and that…” but he was cut off by the General.

“What happened to all those Marines?” General Maguire asked.

“They were killed by Soviet agents, sir,” Tom said.

“And the Soviet agents?” the General asked.

“They escaped.”

“Why did you let them escape?” the General asked pointedly, his eyebrows arched menacingly.

Tom opened his mouth to explain that Alexi and Alena had leapt out of a moving helicopter into the jungles of North Vietnam, but before he could, the mystery man spoke.

“No one gives a crap, General,” he snapped as he turned to face them. “Drop it.”

The General swallowed hard, and looked away. The mystery man turned back to the window.

“You understand that the President is not thrilled that you lost the asset,” the CIA man said referring to the alien base.

“Yes, sir, we do realize that,” Tom said.

“You were sent to Vietnam to find and secure an extremely important facility. Not only did you not do so, you let it be destroyed and an entire platoon of America’s finest were killed in the process. If you ask me, I think this entire operation was a complete failure and demonstrates the ineptitude of not only your team, but this entire office,” the CIA man continued. “In fact, I am going to recommend that Agent Williams be reassigned back to CIA where we can put her talents to better use.” He sat back in his chair, his arms crossed over his chest.

“Dawn is a vital member of our team, and none of us would have survived without her,” Axel snapped at the CIA Deputy Director. Dawn laid a calming hand on his knee under the table and smiled pleasantly at Durst.

“I think I’ll stay here at the CSOS,” she said.

“That’s not really up to you, Agent,” Durst snapped. “The CIA spent a lot of money on you. Sending you to college, and…other things.”

“Would you like to discuss those other things?” Dawn asked him, her voice still friendly, but firm. “Would you like to discuss how I first became involved with the CIA? What y’all did to me?”

“Agent, I don’t think this is…” he began, but she cut him off.

“I’m staying at the CSOS. At the CIA I’m nothing but a freak. Here I can make a difference.”

“Well, I’ll have to discuss that with the Director and the President,” Durst said.

“You are all grating on my nerves,” the mystery man said with an exasperated sigh. “Get out, I’ll speak to them alone.” Everyone looked at him quizzically. “Director Johnson, you and your assistant may stay, but the rest of you leave,” he said much more firmly this time.

Everyone not a part of the CSOS stood and reluctantly left the room. The mystery man then finally left the window and walked over to them, flipping off the tape recorder as he passed. He sat at the head of the table and looked down both sides.

“All those men are concerned with is the politics of the situation. They play games while the real world advances in spite of them. They are all fighting for scraps beneath the masters’ table.”

“I’m sorry, who are you?” Tom asked.

The man in black smiled. “Who I am is not important. Who I represent is.”

“And who do you represent?” asked Axel.

The man chuckled. “The masters,” he said with a smile. His answer was unnerving and everyone’s eyes shot to Ian, but Ian offered no further explanation, only nodded confirmation to them.

The man in black’s eyes then fell on Dawn. “Agent Williams, have no concerns. You are much too valuable to give back to the CIA to run failed missions with erroneous purposes. That is just smoke and mirrors,” he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Keeps everyone guessing at our real purposes. Our real enemies.”

“Thank you,” she said. “I think.”

“Despite what Deputy Director Durst thinks, your mission was not a complete failure. You found, located, infiltrated, confirmed and controlled, at least for a moment, an extra terrestrial station. Furthermore, you encountered a threat by one who wishes to upset the established order of things for his own selfish purposes. You stopped him. You saved our civilization from an arrogant barbarian playing with things he could not possibly comprehend.”

“And you comprehend them?” Axel asked somewhat skeptically.

“Not as well as I’d like to,” he replied. “Certainly not as well as Agent Williams does.” He turned to look at Dawn. “Wouldn’t you agree, Agent?” he asked her.

Dawn shrugged and let her eyes drop down to the table.

“Ladies and gentlemen the world is changing. It’s not about nation states anymore. We as a planet face common, global threats from within and without. The people I represent understand this. They want to build a safe and secure world. An advanced world of order with fully evolved species in control. That is why the President has agreed to relinquish control of the CSOS. You are no longer going to be under the thumb of the United States government, though Director Johnson will still meet with and give status updates to the President.”

“Relinquish control to who?” Tom asked.

“To the people I represent.”

“And the President is okay with this?” Tom asked Ian.

“Yes, the President is fully on board,” Ian replied.

The man in black smiled. “Let me be clear. We will do a lot of good. You will be funded like you’ve never seen before. We are heading into a new era.”

Everyone glanced at one another. The man in black leaned forward onto the table. “Martha, kindly start the recorder.” Martha clicked it on once again. “Now, I’d like you to tell me everything that happened from the time you touched down in North Vietnam to the time you returned to South Vietnam.” They glanced at Ian, who nodded for them to go ahead.

***

It wasn’t long after the man in black left that Ian sent Martha out to purchase champagne. “We’re celebrating,” he said. Two hours later the office was alive with excitement at the prospect of what was to come. Most of the employees didn’t know anymore than that they had received more funding, but that prospect alone meant more opportunity for raises and advancements, so the atmosphere was quite jovial.

Tom took Ian into his office closing the door behind them, saying he wanted to clear up some concerns that he had with the new arrangement. Axel took his glass of champagne and left Rolf to regale the paper pushers with stories of their exploits in Vietnam while sipping from a gallon of chocolate milk through a very long straw.

Axel found Dawn alone outside on the balcony overlooking the city. She was leaning on the rails and smoking a cigarette. Her still full glass of champagne stood on the ground at her feet. He walked up behind her.

“Hi,” he said, startling her.

She spun around with a shout, but laughed when she realized it was only him. “You scared the stew out of me, Axel!”

“Sorry,” he said with a smile. “I didn’t know you smoked.”

She looked down at her cigarette. “I don’t. I mean I didn’t. Well I quit, but…” she said and then took a drag and blew the smoke from her pursed lips.

Axel held out his hand for the cigarette and she handed it to him. He brought it to his lips and inhaled deeply, then blew the smoke from his nose before handing it back to Dawn. “You alright?” he asked. Dawn shrugged and then took another drag. Axel joined her by the rail and leaned over onto it, staring out over the city. Dawn turned back around and did likewise.

“So, what did you mean in there when you said ‘what the CIA did to you’?” Axel asked.

Dawn finished the cigarette and dropped the butt on the ground, stomping it out under the toe of her navy blue pump. She looked up and smiled at Axel. “Ask me another time, okay?” she said as she gently laid a hand on his forearm.

Axel nodded. “Yeah, alright,” he said picking up on her discomfort. He smiled broadly then bent down and picked up her glass of champagne from the ground and handed it to her. He presented his glass to toast. “To making it back alive, again,” he said. Dawn smiled and clinked his glass. She sipped her champagne, but Axel threw back his head, draining his entire glass.

“You need more,” she laughed. Axel was happy to see her smile again.

He leaned forward and kissed her. She returned the kiss. “Would you like to pick up where we left off on our first date?”

Dawn smiled as she leaned against him. “Perhaps,” she said. “If we can avoid any interruptions this time.”

As if on cue the doors swung open and Tom and Rolf stepped out onto the balcony. “Here you are!” Tom said as he strode toward them carrying a glass and bottle of champagne. “Finish that,” he said pointing to Dawn’s glass of champagne. As she obliged, he popped the cork on the new bottle sending it flying through the air. He then filled his, Axel’s, and Dawn’s glasses. Rolf continued with his chocolate milk. Tom held his glass up. “To a new beginning,” he said and everyone clinked glasses.