by A. D. Winch
It took a while for their energy to return and when they stood up they felt better. They were on the edge of a forest and headed into it.
The sun was still rising, and the trees cast long shadows over the ground. Where the sun broke through, the rays scattered as if reflected off a mirror ball. Birds hopped through the light singing the dawn chorus, and animals could be heard scavenging through the dry leaves that littered the floor. Roots had broken through the surface and, with Ursula following, Eric led a path through them. It was not long before Eric noticed that Ursula was falling behind, so he stopped and waited for her to catch up.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
Ursula looked embarrassed and replied meekly, “I need the toilet.”
“You need the toilet? You don’t get Indiana Jones or Spiderman or James Bond escaping the bad guys and then needing the toilet.”
Ursula stepped up to Eric, looked him straight in the eye and said forcefully, “That’s because they’re not real.”
“Okay, okay, go up against that tree over there and then we can move on,” Eric told her, waving at a Maple tree close by.
Ursula bit her lip and went off to find a bush.
Why are boys so stupid, she thought.
“I heard that,” Eric shouted after her.
He was stood in a small clearing surrounded by Neapolitan Maple trees weighed down by leaves. It was shady under the trees, and Eric moved to the centre of the clearing where the sun shone through. Underneath his feet was fine pumice dust, and he started to write his name on the ground. His father used to complain that he was always waiting for his mother, and now Eric knew what he meant.
The E was finished, and Eric began to scrape the R. As he was approaching the curve of the R he felt that something was really wrong. He abandoned his writing and ran off to find Ursula. On the ground, he could see her shoe prints clearly, and they were easy to follow.
Behind a scrubby bush, the prints stopped and next to them were much larger and heavier ones. As quietly and as quickly as he could, Eric followed them. After a few hundred metres, he reached an old lava flow, bisecting the forest like a grey river. Walking across it, with Ursula held tightly under one arm and hand over her mouth, was another OSS agent. Eric waited until they had crossed back into the forest beyond, and then sprinted over the solidified lava.
The other side of the forest had Cork Oak trees as well as Maples. They had grown so close together that only pinpoint beams of sunlight managed to break through from above them. A little way in front of Eric the OSS agent had stopped and pinned Ursula at arm’s length against a thick tree trunk.
“You can hit me all you like young lady,” said the agent menacingly, pushing his fist harder into her chest, “but if you bite me again, I swear I will snap you like a twig. Do I make myself clear?”
Ursula tried to reply, but she felt her ribs were about to break, and her lungs would burst.
“Do I make myself clear?” he asked louder.
“Crystal,” shouted Eric, leaping through the air and smacking the agent with a well-aimed kick to the head.
The fist holding Ursula in place fell away, and she climbed up the tree as fast as a monkey.
“Why you little...,” began the agent.
Before the sentence was finished, Eric hit the agent hard in the stomach and jumped out of his reach. The agent let out a sadistic laugh and, removing a revolver, pointed it at Eric.
“I knew you would come after your little girlfriend. By rights you should be dead, killed with your dear ma and pa when their little boat blew up. So I am sure my boss won’t mind much if I bring you back in pieces too.”
Eric watched helplessly as a finger wrapped around the trigger. A fraction before it was pulled, Ursula jumped from the tree and onto the revolver. The bullet scattered leaves as it hit them, and the revolver spilled onto the ground. In one movement, Eric dived forward, grabbed the gun and threw it as far away as he could. He was on his feet again before the agent had fully taken in what had happened.
Above Eric was a low hanging branch which he jumped onto. He quickly climbed up further and out of the agent’s reach. Below him, he could see Ursula scuttling backwards across the dirt like a crab away from the agent. Eric looked in the direction she was going. A short way from her was a branch about three metres above the ground. Eric willed Ursula to head for it and did the same. Ursula followed Eric’s instructions and led the agent towards it. When she was directly below she stopped, and the agent looked down at her with a smile on his face.
“You win,” said Ursula, resigned to defeat, and slowly stood up.
As soon as she was on her feet the agent took hold of her and gripped her so hard it hurt. Ursula responded by screaming and fighting to escape.
At the same time, Eric launched himself silently at the branch above them. It was a perfect leap; he gripped it tightly and spun around as if on the parallel bars. When he reached the top of his spin and was upside down, he froze, changed his hands and flipped through one hundred and eighty degrees. He was now directly above the agent and began his swing back downwards. He brought his knees in close to his chest and as he neared the agent he kicked them out as hard as he could. Both his feet hit the agent’s jaw with a crunch and sent him flying backwards. Eric landed on the earth perfectly, as if at a gymnastic competition. The agent hit the ground with a dull thud and did not move a muscle.
“Time to go,” said Eric.
He took Ursula’s hand; pulled her up, and they quickly walked away.
For the next four hours, they walked under the shady trees. Dry leaves littered the ground and small plants with sharp branches broke through the surface. They had to trust their instincts that they were heading in the right direction because they could only see trees, and there were no viewing points. The branches above them were thick with leaves, and neither of them had the energy to climb a tree in order to see where they were. Ursula’s ankle had begun to smart again, and they were both very tired.
Gradually, the grey volcanic soil turned browner, and the vegetation thinned out slightly. Apart from the occasional bird they saw no one. The thought of an OSS agent lurking behind a tree kept them on edge and made for a tense journey. Only when they saw a wire fence topped with barbed wire did they relax slightly. Beyond it, almost hidden behind more trees, they could see the runway.
By the time, Eric and Ursula had climbed over the fence into the forgotten airport they were covered in small scratches and exhausted. They broke through the remaining trees and there, sat at the end of the weedy runway, was Captain Hudson’s plane. The old twin-propped craft gave them a boost and they began to feel more positive as they walked towards it.
The door was open, and three small steps led inside, but to the two battle-weary children it felt like many more. Inside the body of the plane, draped across the worn leather seats, were Andrea, Alexander and Captain Hudson. They were deep in serious conversation, but this stopped the moment they saw the children.
“What happened?” asked Alexander, with obvious concern.
“Nothing much,” replied Eric, collapsing into a chair.
“We just ran into the OSS; that was all,” added Ursula, joining him.
“And we won,” stated Eric proudly.
Captain Hudson stood up and went to the plane’s door. He brought in the steps, closed the door and walked quickly to the cock-pit. Before he sat down in his pilot’s chair, he said, “Put your seatbelts on. We will be leaving immediately.”
All four of them did as they were told.
Eric asked Alexander and Andrea, the same question, “What happened to you?”
“We saw the crash,” said Ursula, turning in her seat so she could see the others. “We thought you were in it.”
“Nothing much happened,” sighed Alexander. “We just set the car rolling, jumped out, hid in the trees and watched it happen. I have no desire to be in a car crash. I can assure you. It was Andrea’s idea.”
They turned
to face Andrea. She was neither smiling nor grimacing and did not look as if her actions had been anything extraordinary.
“Do you have the discs?” she asked Ursula, putting her hand out.
“Yes,” replied Ursula with a smile.
She touched her chest where they were hidden in the wallet, and suddenly the smile vanished from her face. Frantically she undid her seat belt, and she placed her hand desperately under her black top.
“They are not there, are they?” guessed Andrea.
“No,” replied Ursula and starting to cry, “they must have fallen out somewhere.”
“They can’t have done,” said Eric in disbelief, spinning in his seat to face her. “We spent so long planning this. You must have them. Check again.”
Ursula did as she was told but no matter how carefully she checked, the CDs still weren’t there.
Unable to contain his emotions, Alexander punched the seat next to him.
“Then we put ourselves in danger for nothing!” Once he had calmed down he added, “We must just hope that the OSS do not find them.”
For a moment, no one spoke. The plane’s engines became louder, and they began to accelerate along the runway.
When they were in the air, and her sobs had stopped, Ursula answered, “It wasn’t for nothing. There were only four CDs in the pod - numbers one, two, three and four.”
“I’m sorry Ursula, but it was for nothing. The OSS don’t have you, but they now have the pod, they may have also found the discs, and we are still missing disc five. It was all for nothing,” replied Alexander, looking depressed.
“No, it wasn’t! Down by the pod, I remembered something. Until now, I haven’t had time to tell you. I know where CD five is.”
“Where?” asked Andrea in a business-like tone.
“It’s at my grandparents. In the cabinet in the living room, next to my Kinder egg toys and Mémé’s glass animals.”
Without warning, Alexander started to laugh. At first it was a snort of disbelief but as it grew it became more real. The hiding, the planning and the danger all seemed suddenly ridiculous. Eric and Ursula joined him, and the three of them soon had tears running down their faces.
Andrea seemed to have missed the joke and waited patiently until they had all calmed down. “We are going to Paris to retrieve this disc. We shall stay with Mr. and Mrs Benjamin. It will be cramped but safe.”
When she had finished speaking, she undid her seat belt and walked towards the cockpit to instruct Captain Hudson of their new destination. She was with him for less than a minute but when she returned, both Eric and Ursula were fast asleep.
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Chapter 29 - Victory or defeat?
From deep underground, Agent Angel had watched the boy he was hunting, and the street kid slide rapidly down the volcano and his OSS agents follow them. His cigar had been squashed underfoot on the floor, and he was holding a cigarette again. Using a satellite he had been able to follow the children until they walked under the trees in the forest, and then he lost them. It was out of his hands, and he had to wait.
He felt helpless, and that made him furious. The Enquiry Team had been sent back to the States; Yukon One was out of contact and Yukon Two was engaged in retrieving the pod. Angrily he rammed the cigarette into his mouth and took a long drag. No one at the Operations Centre dared speak in case he took out his aggression on them.
The silence was broken by Agent Beta, on the loud speaker, “This is Yukon Two. We have achieved our objective. We have located and extracted the pod. I repeat we have the pod.”
“Good,” bellowed Agent Angel. “At least I can rely on some of Team Omega to get the job done. Anything else to report?”
“Yes, Sir. Outside the Sarno gate, we also found four CDs in a wallet. Shall we bring these as well?”
Agent Angel clapped his bear-like hands in glee and extinguished his cigarette between his palms.
“Oh yes, Agent Beta. Guard them with your life. They could be as important as the pod. Proceed to the forest east of Vesuvius, locate and assist the other Yukon Team in their assignment and then proceed here. What is your expected ETA at field base?”
“If we have to locate the other Team Omega agents first then I would say approximately twelve hours, Sir.”
Agent Beta was as good as his word. Just over twelve hours later Yukon Two drove off the ferry, into a tiny port town, on a small Mediterranean island called Viz. He drove straight towards the centre of the hilly island along rarely used roads, past untidy vineyards, scrappy looking orchards and dry fields. Occasionally the Yukon drove past stone buildings that looked either abandoned or just neglected. The sun beat down and, even with the air conditioning on full blast, it was still warm inside the jeep as the six Team Omega agents were squashed together like sardines in a can. Behind the Yukon was the Fiat’s trailer and upon it, wrapped in thick tarpaulin, was the pod.
Agent Beta steered the Yukon onto a lane that led up the biggest mountain on the island and within ten minutes they were at the OSS field base. The Yukon was parked under scrawny trees, and a camouflage net was placed over it. The trailer was unhooked, and Team Omega pushed it and the pod towards the tunnel entrance.
Standing in front of the entrance, and dressed in his black Army fatigues, was Agent Angel. He was slowly smoking a cigarette. If he was happy with Team Omega’s achievements, he was hiding it under a thunderous expression. Next to him stood Jean Kurtz, who was dressed the same. On her face was a look of excitement, as if she has been running a marathon and had just seen the finishing line. The last person standing there was Professor Schwarzkopf, wearing a khaki suit dating from the sixties and a blue handkerchief tied around his neck. His eyes were fearful, and he looked very uncomfortable. This was clearly a place he did not want to be.
Team Omega stopped in front of them, saluted, and Agent Beta carefully handed the CDs to Agent Angel. He glanced at them, and his expression lightened before passing them on to Kurtz.
“Get these looked at immediately, Kurtz. For your eyes only! I want a full report on everything you know when we arrive back at Roswell. Then we’ll discuss how we are going to proceed.”
Kurtz took the CDs and skipped down the tunnel like a child with a new toy. She was followed by Team Omega, pushing the trailer with the pod and a reluctant Professor Schwarzkopf. Agent Angel came up behind him and slapped him on the back.
“You look down John, but you shouldn’t be. It’s a good day for America. We now have both pods in our possession, plus the data CDs that our intelligence officers said we would find. On top of all this, we have managed to contain a very real danger to our way of life.”
A cold chill passed through Professor Schwarzkopf’s body. There was a look of genuine shock on his face, and he began to cough.
After he had finished coughing, he said, “When you first told me about this danger I assumed you meant weapons or technology or information that could kill. You didn’t tell me that the danger was the boy we saw on Vesuvius earlier.”
Agent Angel did not rush to reply. He first took a long drag from his cigarette, dropped it on the cold, concrete floor and crushed it underfoot.
“Until you opened that pod for me we didn’t know either. A tiger cub may be cute too, but once it grows up it’ll rip your throat out in the blink of an eye. Don’t worry about him, John. After the Yukon Two team had collected those wasters from Yukon One, they told me which way the boy and the Street Kid were heading. I had this information passed onto the Italian authorities, and I’m sure they’ve picked up the two of them by now. They’ll look after the kids until we can ship them over to the States. He’s a special kid. We’ll be hospitable and keep him safe. Like a tiger all he needs is a little training and to do what his master says.”
“What about the girl?”
“If we can use her we will. If not then...,” he let his words hang in the air. “Anyway, now we have the pods and those CDs, I am not even sure that we need
the boy anymore. I think we may have enough without him to achieve our objective.”
Professor Schwarzkopf did not feel any better and asked, “What objective is that, Buddy? Something new that I’ve missed since my retirement?”
“Oh no, John,” Agent Angel replied shaking his head. “This is one that we discussed at length one night at your quarters many years ago. If I remember correctly, we shared a bottle of Bourbon and ate some of your lovely wife’s delicious meatloaf.”
Professor Schwarzkopf thought about that evening many years ago and tried to remember what had been said. The memory came back with a shock.
“Identical Hybrid Beings?” he stammered.
“The very same.”
“I thought you abandoned that idea a long time ago.”
“Oh no, we’ve had some setbacks over the years but I’m confident we can correct this in the near future,” said Agent Angel enthusiastically and opened a new packet of cigarettes.
On hearing these words Professor Schwarzkopf began to cough violently. He had blocked this memory from his mind for a reason. Within a week of their last discussion on IHBs, his personal world had fallen apart and soon after Ingrid had left him. He saw it as a curse and could not share Agent Angel’s enthusiasm. Instead, he chose to remain silent and followed the pod further down the tunnels.
The Italian police arrived at the forgotten airport three minutes after Captain Hudson, and his four passengers had taken off. By this time, the plane was flying towards the sun and was impossible to see. The police ignored it. They were looking for two children not an aeroplane, so they searched the small airport but discovered nothing.
Back in their messy Police Station in Naples they filed a report, put it in their metal filing cabinet and then went out to a nearby cafe for an espresso.
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Chapter 30 - Reunion
