The Society of Orion Book #7: The Turkish Findings (Colton Banyon Mystery 21)

by Gerald J. Kubicki

  “Do you have a plan to stop the warriors?” Major Pond said in amazement. He was impressed by the Indian’s plan so far.

  “Of course,” Mobi said with a nod of his head.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Mobi raised his hand and about fifty Indians dressed just like him surrounded the clearing. They held lengths of netting. Mobi pointed and said a few words in a language that Major Pond did not understand. His people faded back into the jungle. Major Pond was speechless. Not one of his fighters had reported any Indian sightings and he had over a hundred hidden in the jungle.

  “My people will set a trap for the warriors,” Mobi promised. “They will be coming from that direction,” he pointed. “When they are inside the trap, we will pull the net tight so the warriors will not be able to reach their weapons. It will be up to your men to subdue them.”

  “How can you be sure that they will attack from that direction?” Major Pond asked.

  Mobi answered. “I have already put it in the head of the lead warrior to approach from that direction. You see I am also a shaman and put a spell on him.”

  “I see,” the major responded thoughtfully. “And did you use a spell to capture the Sumi in the holding cell?”

  “I told them that they were going into a dark cave to wait for their warriors,” Mobi replied with a smile.

  ***

  The major deployed his men in the jungle around the trap area. One platoon stayed inside the perimeter. He ordered them to use their stun grenades and Taser guns and only shoot to kill those warriors who tried to shoot a weapon. He wanted to capture them alive.

  While they were waiting for the attack, one of the Sumi in the cage suddenly spoke. Mobi reacted immediately. The Sumi wanted to tell him something. He headed over to where the Sumi was standing in the cell. The big panthers didn’t challenge him.

  After about a minute of staccato conversation, Mobi raced back to where the major was standing. He held something in his hand. There was fear in his eyes.

  “We need to fall back inside this perimeter,” he screamed in panic.

  “Why?” the confused major asked.

  We are being tricked,” Mobi responded.

  Major Pond immediately issued orders for his men to cover up. Mobi let out a screech to his people.

  “See this,” Mobi showed the leader. “It is a device that is something like a camera. The lens can take in one hundred and eighty degrees of data from where it is pointed. The camera has been recording conversations and sending pictures back to a starship since they got here. Someone on the starship is capable communicating with the head of the warriors through a device that speaks directly into their brains. The Sumi leadership knows about our plan and will attack using a different strategy.”

  “I’m sure that it is also a homing device as well,” the major reasoned as he studied the small oval device. “That is how they knew where to send the suicide missile. I need to notify the Pentagon right away.”

  “First you must put the camera where it can’t record anything and then you must get your men ready to fight major,” Mobi pleaded. “The Sumi scientist told me that the warriors were vicious and brutal. They will kill everyone they come in contact with. Hurry they are almost here.” Despite his panic, Mobi still spoke precise English.

  The sergeant next to the major offered his canteen. The major took the small object and dropped it into the water. He then screwed on the top. Hold on to this for now,” he said.

  “Major, the Sumi could not know that we have five platoons. They think we only have one,” the sergeant noted.

  “Hmm,” the leader quickly replied. “That gives me an idea. We may be able to do this with a minimum loss of life. Does that IPad contain signal jamming software?”

  “Yes, of course. I just need to find the frequency that they are broadcasting on,” the technical wizard explained.

  “Good. Find that frequency and jam it when I tell you,” Major Pond said.

  Mobi was running around screaming orders to his warriors. Some climbed up trees. Some buried themselves in soft sand and some hid in the brush.

  The platoon leaders spread their men out and made sure they were all completely camouflaged. Within three minutes everyone was in position. The major took that time to notify the Pentagon of the found camera and was told to protect it with his life.

  ***

  The jungle soon erupted in a chaos of bird calls. They were from the Indian men. Mobi stood by the major and interpreted the bird calls.

  “They are sending in a warrior from all four sides,” he reported. “Then they will send in the main group. It looks like they will hold back four warriors who will come as soon as the main group breaks through the perimeter,” Mobi told the major.

  “Take the ones who hold back first,” Major Pond ordered his platoon leaders over his communications device.

  ***

  The large Sumi was down on one knee as he tried to keep low enough to not be spotted. He wore complete battle dress and had a weapon in each hand. He was waiting for the signal to rush the encampment.

  Suddenly a wooden spear pierced the ground right in front of him. He reacted by rising to his full height. Two Tasers immediately hit him on his open flanks making him drop his weapons. The Tasers shocked him with a military grade charge of one million volts each.

  Although he was in agony, he reached for each Taser prong and pulled them from his body, but they had done their job and had disoriented him. Five men now tackled the shaking warrior and drove him to the ground face first. More men rushed out of hiding and helped keep the warrior down as the platoon leader administered an injection of a powerful incapacitating drug nicknamed “Downfall.”

  The Sumi stopped struggling and the soldiers began placing several sets of cuffs on his arms and legs. The platoon leader reported in to the major.

  “Platoon five,” he said into his earpiece. “Our Sumi is down.”

  “Take his weapons,” was the reply.

  Within a minute all four platoons reported the successful capture of their target. Five men were left with each warrior with guns at the ready in case they woke up. The rest of each platoon began moving silently towards the perimeter.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The first sign that the attack had begun happened when a buzz saw came flashing out of the jungle. It headed straight at the holding cell, but it was flying vertically rather than horizontal. It was aimed at a corner of the holding cell. The Sumi inside saw it coming and cowered back. The buzz saw cut through the corner of the building giving the men an escape hole. It looked like it was just big enough for the prisoners to escape.

  “The warriors are trying to free the prisoners so they can help fight us,” the sergeant shouted as a warning. “We won’t be able to stop one hundred and thirty of them.”

  “Don’t worry,” Mobi said confidently. “The cats will not let them escape and besides I don’t think they want to fight. Look they haven’t moved.”

  “What?” the sergeant exclaimed.

  “I think that they would prefer to be our prisoners,” Mobi said wisely.

  This made Major Pond think. Why?

  Mobi, the sergeant, and Major Pond stood in the middle of the open meadow by themselves as the attack unfolded. The major gave no sign of moving.

  “Perhaps we should seek some cover,” Mobi commented nervously.

  “Nope,” the major replied. “We are the bait, or more specifically, the camera is the bait. They want it back and will send someone to get it soon.”

  “But sometimes the bait gets eaten you know,” Mobi said philosophically.

  The major was absolutely right. Four loud roars came from the jungle as four huge Sumi warriors leaped over the perimeter from different directions. They were moving very fast. Three of them headed straight for the three men in the meadow.

  The fourth Sumi made a critical mistake by heading for the holding cell to free the prisoners. He was so busy screaming at the Sumi in the pen
and cutting the bamboo with his laser gun that he failed to notice that one of the big black panthers had tracked him. It attacked and pounced on his back then climbed the tall warrior and clawed at his face. When the warrior screamed in pain and dropped to the ground his large body fell into another cats circle. A second panther began ripping at the legs of the warrior. The Sumi only lasted a few seconds before the large animals tore him into pieces with a display of pure destruction that frightened everyone watching.

  The three remaining Sumi warriors were sprinting across the meadow and seemed to pick up even more speed as they ran. Bullets were pinging off of their armor, but nothing slowed them down.

  “We must do something,” Mobi cried out. “They will overrun use in a few seconds.”

  “Not yet,” Major Pond said through gritted teeth as he drew his weapon. The sergeant spread his legs and did the same. “We need to flush out the rest of them first. They will expose themselves soon.”

  Suddenly the twelve remaining Sumi warriors stood up and rushed into the open area. One went towards the holding cell confident that the camera would be back in their hands shortly. He wanted to free the one hundred and thirty trapped Sumi and use them to wipe out the few defenders. The rest of the warriors formed a line and began activating all their weapons to throw havoc on anyone who opposed them.

  “Now,” Major Pond ordered into his earpiece.

  Three snipers took down the rushing warriors with head shots when they were barely twenty feet from their goal. They dropped like charging hippos and skidded to a stop — face first.

  “Jam the homing signal from the camera,” the major ordered.

  “Yes, sir,” the sergeant replied.

  “Attack,” Major Pond then yelled into his earpiece.

  One hundred and fifty special ops soldiers and fifty Indians threw off their camouflage and opened fire. The rattle of two fifty-caliber Browning machine guns filled the air. The guns had been set up to provide a cross fire. The Sumi warriors were still waiting for their weapons to fully activate when nine grenades landed near their feet.

  One warrior made it to the holding cell and used his laser gun to kill the panther on that corner. When he cut open a larger portion of the corner of the cell with his laser gun, the Sumi poured out of the opening. But instead of running for cover or turning to fight the defenders, they went after the warrior. He was thrown to the ground and beaten to death with bare fists. Then the prisoners returned to the holding cell.

  It was all over in a few minutes. Sixteen of the Sumi warriors were killed. They were mangled horribly by the grenades, the .50 caliber Browning and other machine gun fire. Major Pond’s men had captured an additional four of them in the jungle. Not one of the caged Sumi appeared injured and none of the military or Indian men had a scratch on them. It was a very successful plan.

  Major Pond immediately communicated to the fleet that he needed extraction as soon as possible. He said he would require a lot more Ospreys for his prisoners telling the commander that they couldn’t fit twenty-four prisoners in an Osprey.

  “What prisoners? How many?” the fleet commander demanded in confusion.

  “Oh about a hundred and thirty-four Sumi,” Major Pond replied.

  “My God. This changes everything,” the fleet commander gasped.

  ***

  While Major Bob Pond waited for the airlift out of the jungle, he decided to interrogate one of the Sumi. Headquarters had not specifically told him to stay away from the prisoners. He called Mobi over to translate.

  The information he gathered changed everything.

  Part Four

  The Twist

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  There were several things that didn’t quite add up right for Major Bob Pond. He was sure that the Sumi builder who first talked to Mobi while in the cage had more information to give up. He wanted the answers now.

  “Why did you tell us about the camera?” Major Pond asked the prisoner. Mobi translated.

  “The starship commander was going to send another human missile and we all would have died if I had not told you,” he responded. “When you put the thing you call a camera in the metal container the starship lost contact with us and the captain decided to save the weapon for another use. It actually saved our lives,” the Sumi responded solemnly.

  “How do you know this?” the military leader asked in disbelief.

  “The captain wears a device that allows anyone wearing it to communicate with whomever he pleases directly into their brain. The captain of the ship told me he was sending a missile. I told him that it was a lost cause.”

  “Huh!” Major Pond exclaimed. “And why did you attack the warrior and not us when you were set free?”

  “We have a better chance of survival long-term if you can stop him.”

  “Who is he?

  “His name is Erox. He is head of world security for Maltos, our planet. He must be stopped.”

  The major was shocked. He didn’t realize that there was a fracture in the Sumi social structure. He had been told that they all worked in harmony.

  “Explain that,” Major Pond quickly demanded. He didn’t know it then, but he had opened a floodgate of information that would change the course of the war.

  The Sumi prisoner took a deep breath and started talking. “The Sumi are a peaceful race. We have not known war on our world and have never attacked any other world. We lived in utopia for over five hundred million years. But things have changed on our world recently.”

  “What has changed?” the major asked curiously and tilted his head.

  “About two hundred earth years ago, our planet, Maltos, started to die,” the Sumi said sadly.

  “So you came to earth for resources,” the major filled in.

  “Actually, no,” the Sumi said. “We had been coming here to earth for many millions of years to extract raw materials to power our machines and had been able to maintain our lifestyle. But, all of a sudden, we couldn’t keep up with the power needed to supply all our machines. There were too many people. Problems began to crop up and people started to do without their comforts and then essentials. That led to unrest. Protesters began to fill the streets. Soon riots followed and mass chaos. Millions of my people died during those dark times.”

  “Couldn’t your government stop it?” The major asked.

  “The head of our government was newly appointed and had been in office for only fifty earth years.”

  “Wait, how long do your people live?” the major asked in shock.

  “Our normal life span is about three hundred of your earth years, but many of our people can live another hundred years,” the Sumi replied factually.

  “Wow,” the sergeant said with admiration.

  “Tell us about your leader?” Major Pond asked.

  “His name is Anax Yuk, which means temporary leader or King. Anax Yuk knew he had to do something so he appointed someone to the position of world security.”

  “That would be Erox, I assume,” the major said.

  “Yes, you are correct. Erox is very ambitious and wants to rule a world. Specifically, he wants to rule this world. He doesn’t want to come and live here, he wants to own it.”

  “Is that what Anax Yuk wants too?” Major Pond asked curiously.

  “Anax Yuk is our leader for life. He wants only peace and prosperity for the Sumi. But Erox has set him on this course with no alternative.”

  “Why hasn’t your leader stopped Erox then?”

  “When our world was in complete chaos, Erox put together our first security force. It consisted of fanatical young men who had been brainwashed to follow Erox. Once he put down most of the riots, he then killed many Sumi that he didn’t feel could contribute to our society, he was actually considered a hero back then. Our planet seemed to stabilize, the people were content again and life went on. But they didn’t understand that Erox was taking over the government and using propaganda to push his agenda.”

  “Are you saying
that he created this war between our peoples so that he could own a planet?” the astonished major asked. “I can’t believe this.”

  “It’s worse than that,” the Sumi replied. “Anax Yuk can no longer control Erox. His warriors are the only ones allowed to carry the lethal weapons. They control all communications, the food supply and the energy source we call Altos. He has convinced the people of my planet that coming to earth is our only option to survive. We don’t have enough fuel to return to Maltos. This is a suicide mission.”

  “Sir,” the sergeant broke in. “This sounds a lot like the ‘Battle of the Bulge’ during World War II and Erox sounds a lot like Adolf Hitler.”

  “I know,” the major replied in a sad tone. He then asked another question. “How many starships are coming?”

  “We have ten,” the Sumi answered.

  “How many Sumi are coming in them?”

  “There will be two and a half million in the first wave. Eventually over a billion Sumi will move here.”

  At that point, Major Pond took a break to call headquarters.

  ***

  “So are you saying that the situation on Maltos is so desperate it can’t be changed? That your planet is truly dying?” the major asked when he returned.

  “Many of us don’t think so,” the Sumi replied. “It now is barren of forests and trees so we have to come here for the components of Altos, what you call Vril. But we have discovered an alternative.”

  “What’s that?” The major quickly asked.

  “On one of our trips here we found one of your airships. We brought it back home and discovered that the machine could run on a fuel that is very abundant on Maltos, but Erox has confined its use to offensive weapons.”

  “That explains the jet-propeller missiles,” the sergeant shouted out and slapped his leg. “You must have fossil fuels on your planet.”

  “Yes, we call the fuel go-go,” the Sumi responded. “Erox has brought over a thousand Sumi missiles to use in battle that run on go-go. They are manned by boys that believe they are serving the Sumi people by flying themselves to their own deaths.”