by Dave Hazel
“Well good. I’m sorry, I just don’t understand why I can’t remember that man’s name,” Diaz said with a shrug and smiled. “I knew they have been putting their lives on the line by helping us and I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity because we did discuss the curse they are under a couple of times and they all said they would like to have the curse removed from them though they don’t think it is possible. Obviously I told them that I serve a mighty God and anything is possible with my God. I will pray that God will use Nidious to remove the curse they are under or I will ask Almighty God to take the curse from them. To say they were confused is an understatement,” Diaz said and snickered. “I do not believe in the use of magic. However I have to be honest and admit I see the results of it all around me. With that being the case, and the fact that we are in your world Towbar, I will believe that a curse was put on them, then I will trust it could possibly be taken off of them. I will pray about it and if God tells me to view it differently then I will deal with the situation differently.”
Mykal caught sight of Lieutenant Finley. Finley had rolled his eyes and then shook his head out of disappointment more than disgust. Finley walked away before he joined them to be a part of their discussion. Mykal wasn’t sure where Finley stood with Diaz’s Christian faith, but he knew Finley was truly frustrated and on edge because of what had happened to his Green Berets.
“Sir, I’m not real big on my faith like I was when I was a kid,” Sergeant Barry said and seemed to hesitate as if not sure how to ask his question or whether he should ask his question at all. “I grew up a Catholic and went through catechism and all that, but I have to be honest and say when I left the Catholic school I kind of left all that learning back there,” he chortled and tried to make a joke of his lack of serious understanding pertaining to his faith. “My parents couldn’t afford to send us four kids to the Catholic school any longer and I had to go through the public school system,” he chuckled nervously and hoped he didn’t offend Diaz because of Diaz’s strong Christian faith. “Anyway, I’m sorry Sir, I got off track there,” he snickered to cover his embarrassment. “I wanted to ask, do you think the Elves even have a soul? Or do they have a spirit? Whatever it is that would make them so they could know and understand God. Do they even have the ability to be right with God?”
Unpredictably, Diaz had a strange look wash over his face as he thought through Sergeant Barry’s question.
“I mean, don’t get me wrong Sir,” Barry chuckled nervously, unsure of the odd look on Diaz’s face. “I’m the last one to try and be judgmental, but they’re not human. Would God even want anything to do with them? Thus could they ever be called on by God to become church going people?”
“You mean born again and saved?” Diaz asked and pin pointed Barry’s meaning after his astute observation.
“Yeah, yeah, that’s what I meant,” Barry quickly answered to show he wasn’t up on the terminology, or ‘church talk’. “But could they be saved if they don’t have a soul?”
The look on Diaz’s face was one that expressed twenty plus questions hit his mind all at once. “I’ve wondered about something along these lines here recently. I have to be completely honest and say I don’t know. However, since they are not mindless beasts, they are not animals, I would have to treat them with the same respect I would treat any other human and I guess I would have to present the truth to them the same way I would present the truth of the Gospel to any other person. I definitely need to pray about this. Whew,” Diaz said and blew a sigh as if slightly confused. “If I look at them like they can never be saved, then I’m playing God and being judgmental. If they can never be saved because they are not human then all I’m doing is wasting time. So I guess I will treat the situation as if they can be born again and the worst I will be doing is wasting time. But if I choose to say they can’t be saved so I’m not going to try, then I may be in the wrong and I will have to answer to God for that. Until I get clear understanding from Almighty God I will play it safe and share the truth with them,” he added and grabbed his forehead as if the deep thinking suddenly caused an ache in his head.”
“Well, I didn’t mean to throw a monkey wrench into the works, but I--”
“No. No no no,” Diaz laughed when he cut off Barry. “I’m so glad you brought that up because I didn’t give it the heartfelt thought I needed to. So now I really need to pray about this and seek sincere guidance from my God.”
Mykal and Towbar looked at each other and then looked at the two of them. They both looked confused and didn’t understand the depths of their conversation. Mykal understood where Diaz was coming from, from the point of view that Diaz, like Ski back at the Pass, wanted to share their faith with Mykal and convince him to become a Christian like them, but he didn’t understand how that played out with the humanoid people like the Elves, the Dwarves and the Hawkmen. ‘I don’t have a friggin clue,’ Mykal thought and laughed. He was so glad that he didn’t have to know what the truth of the matter was.
“Hey Mykal, can you come here a minute?” Vick Daring asked. Ben Milnar, with his video camera, and Mathis stood with him. “That’s if we’re not interrupting anything.”
“Oh no no, that’s fine,” Diaz said with a wave of his hand. “I need to go take care of some things right now. Sergeant Barry, you have given me a great deal to think about,” Diaz said and turned away.
“Thank you Sir,” Barry replied but he wasn’t sure if that was meant as a compliment or a complaint.
“Can Towbar come along?” Mykal asked as he started to walk away with Vick, Benjamin and Mathis.
“Sure. Please, I wish he would. I just wanted to get your opinion and Towbar’s opinion as well for that matter, before we bring this up to the others,” Vick replied and waved for Towbar to follow along with them. “Towbar’s opinion would be vitally important and added support.”
“That’s if we bring it up,” Benjamin Milnar said almost as a harsh whisper. “Lieutenant Finley is still very upset and I don’t want to make him more upset,” he added as they made their way back to the vehicle.
“Whadda ya talking about?” Mykal asked.
“When we were fighting the Kachjens,” Vick whispered because he didn’t want others to hear them. “Benny recorded as much of the battle as he could. Benny did a great job and got some very special shots. Some scenes would have to be edited because he clearly caught the end of Kachjensim when her head went flying a mile away,” Vick exaggerated with a laugh and slapped Benjamin on the shoulder but his Australian accent made him enjoyable to listen to.
“But Mykal, it’s not really the battle that I captured that we want to bring to your attention,” the older cameraman said and looked around to ensure no one could hear them.
“I don’t get it,” Mykal said when they reached the back of their transport vehicle.
Set up inside the vehicle was a small little TV monitor connected to the video cassette player. Benny rewound part of the video tape and pressed play. Some of the battle scenes played by and the yelling along with the gun fire could clearly be heard. Benny turned the volume down so as to not draw attention and have others come by to see what they were viewing. Benny pointed to a couple of scenes and pointed away from the actual battle, the ‘bad guys’ the Kachjens or even Mykal’s men.
Mykal and Towbar watched intently but Mykal didn’t know what he was looking for. He watched many of the bloated blonde haired creatures being killed. He heard the battle rage, he heard grunting and screams and watched the frantic filming of Benjamin Milnar during hectic fire while they were outnumbered.
“Did you see it?” Vick asked.
“See what? The battle?” Mykal scoffed. “I was in it and that’s what I saw.”
“Here, look again,” Benny whispered and played back only a few minutes of the tape. “Did you see it?”
“See what?” Mykal asked and sounded frustrated. He hated puzzles and trick questions and felt like he was being set up to be made fun of.
&nb
sp; “I am not sure what you are trying to show us,” Towbar replied.
“Remember when the two Green Berets disappeared?” Vick asked quietly as if not to be heard by others. “Nuckhorn was the only Dwarf who possibly saw anything and that was after the little dude was whacked in the head, right?”
“Yeah. Now I’m more confused,” Mykal said with a little more irritation in his words. He wanted them to plainly make it clear what they were trying to show him. He didn’t know if they were trying to show him the remains of the two missing Green Berets, or something that would point to clues to their whereabouts.
“Nuckhorn said he saw big dark furry things near where the two Green Berets disappeared, right?” Vick asked. “He said they were big dark and furry. Here, look at this again Myk, but don’t look at the battle.”
“Yeah Myk, look at the trees behind where the battle is raging,” Benny said and pointed to some dark shadowy forms moving behind the trees off the road. We counted at least seven in this thirty seconds or so of tape. They moved quickly and I don’t think it was just shadows. They’re farther back in the trees and if they are something of substance, they look like they could be a pretty big size.”
“Like possibly a bear,” Vick added while he pointed out the hidden darker objects on the film.
“Oh wow,” Mykal gasped and he stared at the slowed down replay. “They definitely look black or very dark and not like the lighter blonde haired type creatures we fought.”
“Ahhhh yes, I see,” Towbar said when he realized what they were trying to point out.
“These things stayed behind in the trees,” Vick said and pointed to the movements. “We’re confident it is not just shadows. These are beings of some kind but this is the best we have of them.”
“We don’t know if they were working with Roy Jr.’s ex-girlfriend or not,” Mathis said comically to get everyone to laugh. “But when they pointed it out to me Myk, I have to tell you I never saw the movement while the battle was going on. I was busy calling for help on the radio and I honestly didn’t think anything of it until they pulled this tape out and showed me this. While I was on the radio I thought they were a part of the creatures we were fighting and I thought they all came out of the trees and we killed them all. But clearly you can see the dark forms move behind the trees and they never came out of the trees.”
“Oh my goodness,” Mykal said and gave a light whistle. “Do you think they are the ones who took the two Green Berets? Do you think they have the two Green Berets with them?”
“We don’t know,” Benny answered. “And there is more footage. If we had the time and better equipment we might be able to get more information that may help us to know. And they do fit the vague description that the Dwarf Nuckhorn gave us. But we have to be honest and say he was hit in the head pretty hard. So there is only so much and I don’t want to bring it up because of the anguish you can see in Lieutenant Finley’s face every time he talks about his men being missing.”
“Yet at the same time,” Vick quickly jumped in when Benny stopped. “We don’t want to hide this from him either.”
“But what good is it going to do?” Mathis asked. “We can’t go back and try to go into the forest to see if those big dark furry things are the same ones that Nuckhorn possibly saw. What if they were the same ones who took the Green Berets but killed them right after they captured them? Then we’re going into a maze that may never resolve our problem. And what if they’re not even related to the situation of the two missing men? We don’t want to go off on a wild goose chase when time is so important to this mission.”
“Wow. Oh freakin’ wow,” Mykal sighed and looked straight up while he tried to massage his neck.
“Mykal, do you think we should bring it up to Captain Diaz and see what he says?” Mathis asked.
“I hate this whole stinkin’ thing,” Mykal said and sighed heavily. “Because if we don’t say anything to Lieutenant Finley and he finds out later he will think we hid it and kept it from him. I would never do that to him. I think we should bring it up to Diaz and see what he thinks and if we bring it up to Finley we have to let him know there’s nothing that we can do about it right now. Awh man, shit this sucks,” Mykal said with an angry huff. “But we don’t know what the hell they are. I don’t want this to become a big distraction from what we have to do.”
“I agree with you my friend,” Towbar said and nodded. “I would not want to disrespect Lieutenant Finley in any way. I know he is invested emotionally and I can see it has taken an emotional toll on him. I would agree that we should present this information to Captain Diaz and then bring it to the attention of Lieutenant Finley.”
“You’re right buddy,” Mykal said and sighed. “I just hope this doesn’t create a problem where he wants to go back and make a big deal about something we can’t fix. Alright, let’s go talk to Captain Diaz. Please keep this stuff ready and I’ll get him to come back here to take a look at what you have.”
4.
“So what do you think of this, Sir?” Vick daring asked after they played back the video tape.
“Wow. Oh my. Wow,” he repeated. “This is very compelling,” Captain Diaz replied and stared at the snow of the static blank screen. “I want to be careful that we are not reading into it more than what our emotions and our hopes and our desires wish there to be. Nonetheless, I can’t deny what I’m seeing here. I just can not deny what I saw with my own eyes,” he added slowly while he formulated his ideas. “There may be no ties to the supposed beings, beasts or people who captured or killed two of our missing men,” he said and paused. He let out a heavy sigh.
“I think we should let Lieutenant Finley know, just to be open and honest,” Mykal said. “What do you think Sir?”
“With the little that we do know, this is truly heart wrenching. I whole heartedly agree that we must inform Lieutenant Finley. Whether there are legitimate ties to our missing men or it is just wishful thinking on our part, we must make him aware of what you found. We don’t want to be perceived as withholding information that could be tied to his missing Green Berets.”
“Good, cuz that’s exactly what I was thinking,” Mykal said and nodded happily that Diaz agreed. “Even if there’s not a connection whatsoever, we don’t want it to look like we’re hiding anything from him to spare his feelings. And as great as he has been I would never do that to him. I just wanted to make sure you saw this first cuz I know how much his heart is torn by the fact we had to leave those two Green Berets behind.”
“Sir, would you like me to go get Lieutenant Finley?” Mathis asked.
“Yes. But first,” Diaz replied and turned to Benny Milnar. “There isn’t a possibility that there is a glitch in the machine or that something is wrong with the tape or any type of malfunction, is there?”
“No Sir,” Benny replied with confidence. “If it had been only one dark shadow or just one dark form we thought we saw move behind the trees we could make an argument for such a disagreement. There were just far too many to blow it off as a malfunction, a fluke or a mistake of any kind Sir.”
“Okay,” Captain Diaz said with an approving nod and turned to Mathis. “Sergeant Mathis, please go and ask Lieutenant Finley to come here. I would ask that you bring Gunny Ratner and Sergeant Lemon with him.”
“I would also ask to have Nuckhorn the Dwarf to come here as well,” Mykal added. “He might be able to verify if it was the same type of dark furry things he saw. So have both Nuckhorn and Norg come here. Norg is a whole lot easier to understand,” Mykal added with a laugh.
“I agree,” Mathis snorted with him. “I will be back here shortly.”
“Sir, you don’t think Lieutenant Finley will be angry, do you?” Benny asked while he rewound the tape to the starting point.
“Angry? No. Lieutenant Finley is a professional soldier,” Diaz replied but his face seemed to be questioning his own words.
“Sir, I only ask,” Benny hesitated and looked concerned. “I only ask because I
know how attached to his men he is,” Benny explained without looking at Captain Diaz. “I am just the messenger. I don’t want him to be angry with us for bringing this to his attention.”
“Besides that, he’s a big dude,” Mykal laughed to make light of Benny’s concern. “He looks like that New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms. We don’t want him to blitz Benny for showing him what he found,” he added and they all laughed except for Towbar who didn’t understand his reference.
Suddenly Lieutenant Finley, Gunnery Sergeant Ratner, Sergeant First Class Lemon and the Dosch brothers came running toward them. Mathis slowly brought up the rear with all four Dwarfs.
“Do we have good information that may be helpful?” Finley asked excitedly before he stopped.
“No. No, no we don’t know what we have,” Diaz answered for Benny while he used his upheld hands to stop Finley. “But we want you to see what they caught on tape. They caught this on tape quite accidently.”
“Me and Towbar will come back later,” Mykal said. “I need to go check on a couple of things before we head out,” he added but the little group gathered around the small TV monitor and barely acknowledged his departure.
“Do you have any suggestions to what those dark shapes were my friend?” Towbar asked as they made their way through their small camp.
“No. I’m totally clueless to what those things could be. I just wanted to get away from there cuz I don’t know how Finley is gonna react. I know he’s gonna wanna try to go looking for his men again and I don’t wanna have to be the bad guy who says we can’t do it. I’ll leave that to Captain Diaz,” he chuckled playfully. “I’m taking the coward’s way out.”
“That would not be a coward’s way,” Towbar said with a confused expression. He didn’t understand Mykal was joking with him.
“I’m kidding. I really don’t wanna see Finley get any more upset than he is. I really like the guy and I know this is killing him. Let’s talk to Hidtotim,” he changed direction when he saw the three ex-soldiers of Zizmon-Tarl with the wizard Nordad and a handful of others.
