Rescue Or Recovery

by Dave Hazel

  “What the hell?” Mykal whispered and snickered. “They don’t seem to be afraid of us. It’s a good thing they ain’t armed.”

  “They look like gibbons,” Army Ranger Sergeant Delgado whispered to Mykal and pointed to those up in the trees. “They are a lesser ape, but they look just like gibbons back in our world. They may be just a little bit bigger than what I remember back in our world, but they look and act just like gibbons.”

  “Do you think they will attack?” Captain Diaz asked.

  “I really don’t think so Sir,” Delgado replied. “I guess if we violate their space, their area, they might. But we’re in Towbar’s world so I really don’t know how to answer that Sir.”

  “Did you hear that?” Mykal gasped when he heard Jackson’s cry, and then he heard the same exact call for help from a different spot opposite of where he was looking. “Are you friggin kidding me?”

  “Sir, I think we have a problem,” Marine Sergeant Baines said. “I think I just saw one of those monkeys calling out in Jackson’s voice and repeating his call for help.”

  “Oh damn, there it is again Sir,” Sergeant Nikopolous called out and pointed to a different gibbon looking ape calling out for help with Jackson’s voice.

  “What the friggin hell is goin’ on here?” Mykal gawked. All the men started to shout that different apes in different parts of the trees were repeating the same call for help with the same exact voice of Green Beret Sergeant Jackson, one of the two missing men.

  “Everyone hold up,” Diaz stopped the men from going any further. “Is it true that it’s the monkeys mimicking Jackson’s voice?” He waited until he heard several replies in the affirmative. “Oh my goodness. Alright, everyone keep your eyes on them and let’s back out of the forest. I don’t want to advance one more foot.”

  “Look at those things,” Mykal pointed to some of them swinging along the tree tops. “They got some pretty big fangs. Hey Hidtotim and Nomorek,” he called to the two ex-soldiers of Zizmon-Tarl. “What are these things? Can they really talk?”

  Hidtotim and Nomorek conferred and called Soonme to join them.

  “What’s the deal?” Roy Jr. asked impatiently. “Can these damn swinging baboons talk?”

  “Not to get technical,” Sergeant Delgado replied. “They’re not baboons. If they’re anything, they would be gibbons.”

  “Whatever,” Roy Jr. laughed. “They’re all friggin baboons to me. But, do I gots to worry about them flinging shit at us like some nasty little monkeys from our world?”

  Mykal wanted to laugh but the situation was so disappointing now that they were no closer to finding the two missing Green Berets that he couldn’t bring himself to laugh at Roy Jr.’s humor.

  Hidtotim and his two men approached Mykal, Towbar, Diaz, Finley and the Dosch brothers. “I think we may know what these creatures are. We have heard of these creatures. However we have never seen these creatures before. They are called Potnapot. Potnapot would translate into the common tongue as ‘talk like talk’. It is an old word, a strange word that means they can talk like any one can talk. They would be able to speak and sound just like anyone they happen to listen to. They would be able to fool the ear of those listening.”

  “They can impersonate or copy people,” Mykal said when he realized what Hidtotim was trying to say.

  “Yes, I would agree with your assessment Mykal,” Hidtotim said and the two with him nodded their agreement.

  “Damn it,” Finley hissed. He shook his head to show he was let down again. “But that would mean that these monkeys had to have heard Jackson calling for help, right?”

  “Yes,” Nomorek replied. “Based on what I hear all the men saying, they sound just like the man who is missing. Thus they had to have heard him at some point.”

  “So are they around here then?” Finley asked and looked into the trees again.

  “I would not know that,” Hidtotim replied. “These Potnapots are a very mobile creature. They do not stay in any one area for any length of time. I would believe they are here due to the water of the lake. They could have been in the area where the two men were captured, heard your missing man ask for help and continued to repeat what they heard.”

  “I would assume they are similar to parrots and cockatoos,” Sergeant Delgado explained. “They probably have the ability to mimic what they hear just like pet birds that have been trained who have that ability.”

  “But these monkeys, these damned dirty apes, sounded exactly like Jackson,” Lieutenant Finley said and looked like he became angry after the hurt of his disappointment passed. “And they all sounded just like Jackson.”

  “That is correct,” Diaz added. “There didn’t appear to be any variance in their sounds.”

  Mykal listened to the men talk while Roy Jr., Randy, Mathis and a couple of other soldiers walked back toward the trees. He caught sight of Ratner telling them not to venture into the trees. He didn’t know what they were planning but he wasn’t about to let them go any further either. He hoped they weren’t planning on shooting any of the gibbons because he didn’t know what that would cause. Mykal watched while Roy Jr., Randy and Mathis spoke with Ratner for a few moments and then continued on their way back toward the trees.

  “How could they have the ability to mimic our voices?” Finley asked. His question verged on anger. “And how would they be able to mimic our voices so damned perfectly?” He asked and the tone of his words clearly displayed his personal turmoil.

  “Sir, I’m not exactly sure how the various types of birds in our world are able to communicate by imitating the voices they hear. I do know they don’t have vocal cords so they make their tones and sounds by using their throat muscles and such. But these gibbons aren’t from our world so I wouldn’t know if they have vocal cords or not that would be just like ours. Plus they do have lips so I really don’t know how to answer you Sir. This is all very new to me.”

  “Hey everyone,” Roy Jr. yelled out loudly and excitedly. “C’mere. Hurry. Hurry, hurry,” he yelled and those with him also waved for everyone to return to the scene of the last search.

  Mykal ran as fast as he could and hoped they found information on the two missing Green Berets. Or in a worse situation he wished they found their remains so the group, especially Lieutenant Finley, could have closure on the two missing men. Mykal tried to think of what they could have found that the larger group missed the first time.

  “What’s going on?” Mykal asked. Diaz and Finley were right beside him and all the men gathered around to see what had been discovered.

  “Listen to this,” Roy Jr. whispered and pointed up into the trees. He, Randy and Mathis were fighting to contain their laughter.

  Everyone stood there in silence listening for whatever sounds Roy Jr. had discovered.

  “I don’t hear anything,” Finley whispered impatiently.

  “There it is,” Mathis whispered and pointed into the upper area of the trees.

  “I’m finna fling my poo at you. No I mean shit,” a voice yelled that sounded just like Roy Jr. “I’m finna fling my poo at you. No I mean shit,” Roy Jr.’s voice repeated from the tree tops.

  The men started to laugh. “I just taught them nasty ol’ dirty apes to say that,” the real Roy Jr. laughed as the poo flinging line kept repeating through the tree tops. “Can you believe it? I just taught them dirty little apes to say that,” he continued to laugh loudly and was proud of his accomplishment. He was high fiving all those who thought it was just as hilarious as he did.

  Mykal couldn’t keep from laughing. All the men laughed except for Lieutenant Finley who stormed off quietly toward the vehicles. “Are you friggin kiddin’ me?” Mykal laughed as he continued to hear several different gibbons repeat the feces throwing threat throughout the tree tops. Mykal felt bad for Finley because two of his men were still missing, but he understood the need for levity after all the pressure and stress the men had been under.

  “I couldn’t help it Myk,” Roy Jr. laughed.
“When Hidtotim said these Potnapots can copy anything we can say, I had ta give it a try,” he explained while they all laughed at the continued feces throwing threat reverberated throughout the tree tops.

  3.

  Mykal sat in silence while some of the men spoke quietly. He contemplated the idea of asking Towbar to use him the next time he tried to communicate with Doninka through Mind Talk. He was still fearful that he would cause Doninka harm should someone be in her presence when she would begin to speak with him after contact would be made. His fear was magnified after his dream that he had of William Roberts with Doninka. William had beheaded her in his dream and he couldn’t live with himself if he was to be the one to cause any harm that would befall her.

  Earlier in the day Captain Diaz told Mykal that he needed to talk to Towbar. ‘Could Diaz’s God have told him to tell me that so I would get off my ass and rescue her?’ Mykal wondered while he sat in his silence. ‘Would God tell me that just to have Doninka get killed or harmed? Na, I don’t think so and Diaz doesn’t know what I’m struggling with in my thoughts,’ he mentally reasoned with himself. ‘So he wouldn’t have any reason to tell me one way or the other.’

  ‘Damn, I don’t want anything to happen to her,’ he moaned internally. ‘But if God is telling Diaz to tell me to get moving, what the hell am I doing? Maybe this will make it happen faster and so it will help keep the men safe from the stuff we could end up facing. Why the hell am I having such a friggin hard time over this?’ He asked in thought and wanted to yell his white knuckle, teeth grinding, angst out loud.

  “What troubles you my friend?” Towbar asked while studying the facial gymnastics Mykal displayed while his thoughts kept him occupied.

  “Nothing buddy,” Mykal lied. He knew he couldn’t fool his giant friend. “I’ll talk to you later when we have a few minutes,” he added and nodded to those around him as if to imply he would have to talk to him in private. The truth was he had to muster the courage to ask Towbar to use him for the giant’s next attempt at Mind Talk. He wasn’t concerned with Towbar rejecting him, but rather he feared he would put Doninka at greater risk. “It’s just some things going through my head.”

  “I can see that my friend,” Towbar replied and gave a playful smirk.

  “I really do have a lot of things going through my head,” Mykal said and laughed slightly. Suddenly he felt the vehicle come to a stop.

  “Roger that Sir,” Corporal Nelson spoke into the radio microphone. “We will await further instructions.”

  “We have a situation Mykal,” Staff Sergeant Barry said while he turned in his seat. He looked startled and looked to Sergeant Simmons who was driving.

  “What’s going on?” Mykal asked.

  “Yes Sir,” Nelson replied into the microphone again. “Captain Diaz wants everyone out of the vehicles and he wants an immediate perimeter set up. He wants everyone locked and loaded,” Nelson yelled referring to the men charging their weapons to put a round in the chamber. That meant the men had to be ready for a conflict. Private E2 Wilde immediately acknowledged from standing in the turret that he was alert and watchful.

  Mykal and all those with him rushed out of the vehicle with weapons being readied for battle. As soon as he exited the vehicle he picked up on a putrid odor. When he rounded the vehicle he couldn’t believe his eyes. All along the path, the road they were following, on both sides were many, dead people hoisted up on stakes. They were spaced a few feet apart and they could be seen for as far as the road went but the road turned which blocked their complete view. From what could be seen there had to be at least a hundred men mostly naked, some completely naked impaled along the road. Some were pierced through their stomachs or chests so they were bent over the stake of impalement.

  There were many others who looked to have suffered a most horrible form of torture. The stake had been inserted through the buttocks and the point protruded through their chest, shoulder or neck. Some had the killing stake pushed through their entire body and out their mouths. All the victims had their hands bound behind their backs. The shock from the sight of the countless bodies lining their road of travel suddenly took away the smell that filled the air.

  The most shocking sight of all was the two newest victims set in the middle of the road to block their path. They were not set into the sides of the road like all the others. Green Berets Sergeant Thornton and Sergeant Jackson were finally found though they had been impaled and they were set in the middle of the road. They were placed in the open to be discovered. Jackson rested five feet off the ground, his head tilted back to enable the pointed spike through his mouth. He like most of the others was completely naked and his camouflaged uniform was crumpled into a heap at the foot of his pole. Thornton suffered a similar fate though the pointed spike had been forced out the back of his neck giving the impression he probably died faster than Sergeant Jackson. Jackson looked to have suffered a most horrible death.

  Mykal was stunned and couldn’t think straight while he tried to imagine what happened, and tried to understand who would do such a thing to his men. His thoughts went a million miles a minute trying to make sense not only of the senselessness of the act but of the barbaric cruelty that had been thrust upon his two men. He was grateful he had professional soldiers under him to watch and keep guard because he knew he was utterly useless while his mind wanted to scream out the question ‘Why?’

  Mykal caught sight of Lieutenant Finley ranting and raving and flailing his arms as he approached the two dead Green Berets. Mykal heard Finley utter curse words he hadn’t heard since he was a punk teenager back in New York. Mykal looked at the two lifeless forms and didn’t even notice the hundred or so others behind his focus. He remembered doing research on Vlad the Impaler and read that people who have been tortured in such a way could live for days after they had been impaled. He couldn’t imagine how much his men had suffered. He suddenly thought back to the gibbon monkeys that kept mimicking Jackson’s voice; “Help me bro. No, no please don’t. Help me bro. No, no please don’t.”

  He wondered if Jackson could still be alive. Thornton was dead. The spike through the back of his neck led Mykal to believe his spine had been snapped. He moved closer to Jackson to see, and hopefully discover that he wasn’t still alive. Mykal was saddened and shocked to see Jackson’s genital area had been mutilated and blood dried down the lower parts of his legs. He was shocked, yet grateful to see the handle of a dagger protruding from under Jackson’s rib cage on an upward angle. The knife had been plunged in to the hilt and at first it was hard to see due to the blood and his darker skin color. Mykal hoped whoever stabbed him had done so to put him out of his misery, or rather to speed up his death, thus speed up the end of his traumatic suffering.

  ‘What the hell are we dealing with here?’ Mykal gawked in thought as he stared at the head of Jackson. Jackson’s head looked upward and he bore a frozen expression of terror and pain. Mykal remembered Jackson’s tough talk to Freeman. ‘Maybe he prayed like never before or begged for mercy, but who the hell would do something like this? And why?’ He wondered and realized Jackson had no option but to look upward. The two and a half inch in diameter pole pushed through his mouth forced him to look upward. Six nails had been driven into Jackson’s skull; two on the left, two on the rear and two on the right side. Mykal wasn’t sure how long the nails were but at least an inch and a half protruded from his head.

  “I don’t frickin’ believe it,” Finley shouted with hateful anger in his voice. “Who would do this?” He bellowed, but there was no one present who could possibly answer his inquiry. “Look what they did to them? Is this the work of that damn friggin bastard Ziggy?” He screeched and rambled off a string of profanities, but who could blame him? “Did those little friggin monkeys back there do this?” He shouted and looked like he was on the verge of tears and ready to wage war.

  “I don’t think they could have?” Captain Diaz answered and appeared to be watchful for the area before them. “They were just li
ttle monkeys. “I believe they could have witnessed what happened to them, but to look at what happened to all these people, I don’t think they would have been capable of doing such a massive undertaking,” Diaz said and pointed to the two rows of dead that line the road for as far as they could see.

  When Diaz said that, it made Mykal take a closer look at all the dead that lined the road. It was hard to tell if they were criminals, just plain civilians or soldiers who may have angered Zizmon-Tarl. They all seemed to suffer a horrible death and now the smell of the area came back to Mykal. Mykal couldn’t believe his eyes. Abruptly he couldn’t believe his ears and didn’t want to comprehend it, but with his increased hearing he heard a slight moan, and then he heard a couple more moans and groans coupled with whimpering. It brought him to the realization that some of those who lined the road could still be alive, though they hung in the throes of death. He remembered reading that people could live as long as six days if they were impaled properly and no vital organs were pierced.

  “Oh you gotta be friggin kiddin’ me,” he said and gulped to himself when he understood some of these poor suffering people could still be alive through the horrific torture thrust upon them.

  “What is it Myk?” Diaz asked and grabbed a tighter grip on his rifle as if an attack was imminent.

  “I think some of these people might still be alive,” he declared and mentally the voices suddenly sounded louder since he could pick up on the moans, groans and whimpering.

  “What?” Diaz gasped and looked at the street posts of death. “How?” Diaz looked down and started to mutter to himself which Mykal picked up as prayer. “Oh LORD God, please help me. Give me the strength I am going to need to respond to this gruesome task. I don’t have it in me my Father. I need Your strength.”