The Storm Maker

by Sid K

  This day of peace and serenity and even a type of solitude—although there were a handful of them—was in sharp contrast to the regular life they led. Most of them were army men—current and retired—and had been through combat and partaken in bloody battles. Even those who weren’t soldiers had regular work schedules. However today that was whole another world and this vacation was the crisp refreshment that would drain their accumulated worries and send them back out with a new fervor.

  Sthykar was gazing out in no particular direction and thinking about his wife and less about his surroundings. But a sight kept irritating him as he looked southward. There was something in the distant forest that he subconsciously kept returning to for a glance. He squinted and looked at the object in the distance. It was a small speck or rather a thin line rising over the trees. This was odd. It looked like a wall. He had seen similar sights before when looking at garrisons in the jungles. He took out his binoculars and looked through them. The distance was still a lot, but now the line rising over the trees appeared much thicker.

  “What are you looking at, Colonel?” Jontvyk asked.

  “Take a look in that direction,” Sthykar said, pointing where he was looking. “Tell me what you see?”

  Colonel Jontvyk looked at it with his own binoculars as did a couple of others.

  “A garrison?” Jontvyk blurted. “That’s strange.”

  “I myself don’t know,” Relkyett said who was also looking with his binoculars., “Could be that lumber company’s building. Want to see what it is?”

  “While we are at it,” Sthykar said. “Let’s mark this point as our end for the day. If we find big game on the way there, then great; but if we don’t, its deer stew for the main course and rabbit and raccoon for starters.”

  “I can live with that,” Dentar said.

  “I have some old meat in the refrigerator,” Relkyett said. “But I assume all of you want to eat fresh game.”

  They nodded and began their descent down the hill through thick stands of trees and denser vegetation. They trotted down the hill and then walked slower towards the ‘line’ they were seeing just at the horizon. It was a long distance to walk after a day of stalking and hunting, but their curiosity had been roused and this was too odd a fact to leave uninvestigated. They kept walking through the forest.

  When they were about a hundred feet away and a gap appeared between the trees, Sthykar looked at it with his binoculars and was startled. He raised his hand for everyone to stop and handed the binoculars to Relkyett.

  “Strange,” Relkyett said. “That’s a tall concrete wall with wire on top. Lot of trouble for a lumber company to go through just to keep animals out.”

  “A fence would have done just fine,” Sthykar said. “This is something else.”

  “Let’s find out,” Jontvyk said.

  “Alright,” Sthykar said. “This is most likely nothing much, but just to be sure, we will be in the scouting role now.”

  “Care to explain that to those of us not in the army?” Carvyk asked.

  “That’s just you and me Carvyk,” Evyk said, “We will just do what they do.”

  “Do that,” Sthykar said. “We walk slowly, avoid stepping on leaves or twigs, don’t move branches unless you have to and keep talking down to a whisper.”

  “Got it,” Carvyk said.

  They started slowly towards the wall that they had seen. When they had closed the distance to the location to around fifty feet, Sthykar indicated for them to stop. They hid behind tall trees and thick bushes and squinted to look through the gaps between the branches and the leaves. Sthykar looked through his binocular and saw a thick, concrete wall that he estimated to be twenty feet tall. The wall itself seemed to curve ever so slightly indicating that this was a circular or an elliptical enclosure. There were three rows of barbwire on top of the wall and he saw small electric live wires tangled and twisted around the barbwires. This was definitely not for animals; somebody did not want anyone to come inside at any cost.

  “Take a look to your right, Colonel,” Jontvyk whispered to him.

  Sthykar had to move slightly to get a view to his right, but finally he was able to find an opening and looked through his binoculars. Now he was really stunned.

  There was a huge shiny steel gate of five-inch thick bars stacked vertically and horizontally at intervals of a foot and standing as tall as the wall. It was being guarded by six armed men completely clad in black from their head in the ski mask to their legs in combat boots. Two of them were outside the gate and four were inside. In front of them was a dirt road leading from the gate and disappearing into the forest.

  “Colonel, tell me what you think about their rifles,” Sthykar whispered to Jontvyk.

  “Automatics I would say,” Jontvyk replied.

  “But not ours; they are Ranx Rifles,” Sthykar said.

  “Now that you tell, I remember seeing those in our armory,” Jontvyk said.

  Relkyett had slowly weaseled his way to the side of them and whispered, “I knew nothing about this. The land salesman had said this plot was bought by a lumber company?”

  “What do they need guards for,” Jontvyk said. “Who is going to steal lumber in the middle of a forest full of trees?”

  Sthykar and Relkyett chuckled lightly.

  “Here is what we are going to do,” Sthykar said and then turned to face his friends. “It could be nothing but innocent overzealousness for security, or they could be up to no good. We are going to slowly walk up to the edge of this forest and stop just before the open clearing. Then Jontvyk, Dentar and Karyett and I will walk up to them and inquire. Relkyett you stay here with Evyk and Carvyk. All three of you keep your rifles pointed to the gate.”

  “Let me come with you,” Relkyett said. “I need to meet my neighbors.”

  “Actually, its better they don’t know you till we ascertain what they are up to,” Sthykar said. “You just keep watch on Evyk and Carvyk, make sure they don’t shoot us in the back.”

  All of them guffawed but quickly quieted down.

  “You expect a fight?” Relkyett asked.

  “Prepare for it,” Sthykar said. “If it goes down, we will shoot the two guards in front, then Colonel Jontvyk and I will jump to the left and Dentar and Karyett will jump to the right and we will hug the wall. That will give you clear shots at the guards inside the gate. They won’t even see your position in the trees.”

  After giving these directions, Sthykar, followed by the others, slowly walked up almost to the edge of the clearing. There was a twenty-five foot gap between the wall and the edge of the forest. This gap had nothing growing except for grass. They slowly and quietly walked to their right till they were in front of the steel gate and the guards, while still concealed behind a few feet of woods.

  “Aim your rifles,” Sthykar said and Relkyett, Carvyk and Evyk did likewise. “Let me do the talking,” Sthykar whispered., “Let’s go.”

  The guards were startled as soon as Sthykar and company walked out of the woods towards them. It was as if they were not used to seeing other people besides themselves. Many of them took a close look at the rifles they were carrying. Sthykar had put his rifle on his shoulder in a relaxed manner; however he could swing it down and fire in less than two seconds. The rest of them were carrying their rifles in their arms, barrels pointing to the ground.

  “Howdy, folks?” Sthykar purposely put on a wide smile, almost to tease them.

  “Who are you people?” one of the guards standing outside demanded. He spoke Starfirian but had a foreign accent. He lifted his rifle in both hands but did not point at them. The other guards had also raised their rifles to a more alert positions. The guards inside walked closer to the gate but maintained a couple of feet of distance.

  “That’s what we want to know of you,” Sthykar still maintained his smile, but Jontvyk and others were looking at the guards dead serious. “As for us, well we came over from the other side of the hill.”

  The two g
uards outside withdrew back to the gate to confer with the four guards inside. The guards inside seemed equally astonished and were asking questions. They were alternatively looking at Sthykar and friends and talking amongst themselves. In a few moments they broke off their chatter and the two guards outside once again approached them.

  “Why are you on our property?” the second guard who had been quiet asked. He also had similar foreign accent.

  “Well, I was talking to a friend I know at this lumber company that owns this land,” Sthykar said, “and he said they care about the woods not the game, so they let us hunt here.” Sthykar had just made up the story, but he knew these fellas weren’t going to know otherwise.

  The guards were startled for the moment then the first guard walked closer to Sthykar.

  “Now look here. We brought this property a while back. It is ours now, not that of that lumber company,” he said, “I take it you fellas are some kind of hunters who are here for the vacation. Well, do not hunt around this area or nearby. You stay away or else…” the guard lightly tapped his rifle.

  “Or else what?” Sthykar said, irritated. He wasn’t going to take a threat like that. They could feel the tension rise in the air. Sthykar’s friends slowly lifted up their rifles without pointing. The guards inside now moved forward and leaned on the gate.

  “You fellas care for a cigarette,” Sthykar asked again with a wide grin. The guards did not smile but stood there looking serious. Sthykar took out a cigarette, lit it up and started smoking it. Then he laughed, this surprised the guards.

  “We will stay away,” Sthykar said. “Anyways, there is nothing here for us to hunt.”

  “Good,” the guard said., “Now please take your leave and don’t come back.”

  Sthykar took once last look at the wall, the gate and the guards and then, along with his friends, slowly walked backwards towards the trees. As soon as they were near the woods, they turned around and quickly disappeared amidst the bushes.

  “For a moment there,” Relkyett said standing up from behind a bush, “I thought it was going down.”

  “Let’s get out of here quietly but quickly,” Sthykar said. “Back to your house. We have to talk this over. I am suspicious.”

  “So am I,” Jontvyk said.

  They hurried back towards the cabin while occasionally watching their backs to see if they were being followed.

  Meanwhile the guards were engaged in a debate of their own.

  “Tryox, why did you let them go?” a guard from inside asked the guard who had spoken with Sthykar. “What if they tell someone?”

  “Gymmx, What would you had me do?” Tryox replied. “They were four of them with rifles. Besides you all seem to forget, we are under orders not to shoot first without permission from Capitan Suka Manx or the Boss himself.”

  “Unless we were under attack,” Gymmx said.

  “They were just talking,” Tryox said. “Besides, what if they had a few more of their hunting friends hiding in the woods. They seemed pretty confident walking up to us. Either they are retired army men or they had backup in the woods. Either way I would not have wanted to find out.”

  “We aren’t a bunch of nobodies either,” another guard from inside said. “I say we could have taken them on.”

  “Now, you all don’t get your trigger fingers itchy,” Tryox said. “Capitan Suka appointed me as the head of all you guards watching this gate because I make calm and rational decisions. And I have made that decision. You follow my orders.”

  “Well, what are we going to tell the Boss or Capitan Suka?” an older guard asked, “Or when are we going to tell them?”

  “I say we say nothing. These hunters aren’t going to give much of a flit about what they saw,” Gymmx said. “Besides, now that we let them go, Suka would flip out and eat us for lunch.

  “He will do no such thing,” Tryox said, “He gave orders not to shoot without permission himself. If we don’t tell them, and they find out, then we sure as a stone are in trouble for defying our orders.”

  “You tell them then,” Gymmx said. He threw up his hands in the air and walked further inside in an agitated state.

  chapter 13 – the compound

  Sthykar, Jontvyk, Karyett, Carvyk, Dentar, Relkyett and Evyk walked back to the hunting lodge where they were met with Felptar and Hayett along with the rest of their friends who had arrived while they were away. They were all standing outside drinking ale and chatting as the sunlight had started to retreat and the evening was upon them.

  “Started the hunt without us?” Muftar, an ex-colonel in the regular army asked in jest.

  “Glad to see all of you made it today,” Relkyett said.

  “Forget the hunt,” Sthykar said. “We came across something more interesting, even potentially dangerous.”

  That fazed nobody but only brought smiles to many faces. Sthykar motioned for them to follow him inside. The new arrivals were, along with Muftar, Nyk—a polo player, Tulkar—a car mechanic, Cap Kartar and Cap Symptar—two titled aristocrats, and Pelyett who was an airplane pilot for a civilian passenger airline.

  “Alright, listen up.” Sthykar put the game bag in a corner and then walked up to a big wooden table and put his rifle on top of it, as did a few others. “Some of you arrived late and you missed it. We came across a large compound guarded by armed guards. They were most likely foreigners. Before we go hunting, drinking and merry making we need to deal with this situation.” Everyone assembled around the table to discuss this matter.

  “What exactly happened? Who are those fellas?” Felptar asked.

  “I will tell them,” Jontvyk said. Then he took around fifteen minutes to summarize their day and their encounter with the armed men. After he stopped everyone looked perplexed.

  “What do you know about your neighbors?” Muftar asked Relkyett.

  “All I know is what the land salesman told me about a lumber company, which bought that land,” Relkyett said shrugging his shoulders.

  “That is what makes me suspicious,” Jontvyk said. “Why would a lumber company need six armed men? I have never heard of logs getting stolen.”

  “Me neither,” Carvyk said.

  “Six men is just one shift,” Sthykar said. “If they are running the standard three shifts, and add in a couple of leaders, that’s twenty men they have to protect dead wood.”

  “Well, what could they possibly be doing?” Tulkar asked.

  “Now, they could be just overzealous about protection,” Sthykar said. “But Jontvyk is right; I am suspicious too.”

  “Want me to call the police?” Relkyett asked wryly.

  The room burst out laughing.

  “We have more firepower amongst the fifteen of us here than any town police department within the driving distance,” Hayett said. “And most of us have battlefield experience or training.”

  “And we have Colonel Sthykar with us,” Nyk said. Everyone chuckled and Sthykar laughed and shook his head.

  “All of you are forgetting one fact,” Dentar said. “We army men don’t have jurisdiction over the civilian regions—the police do.”

  “Sthykar does,” Symptar said. “As part of the award he got from the King five years ago, one of his privileges is that he has National Investigation Authority. He can act as a policeman in any town in the country.”

  Many of them looked at Sthykar with awe, not having known about this.

  “He is right,” Sthykar said. “But more importantly, those men had Ranx Rifles; could be automatics. We would be sending some unaware policemen into trouble. Nor can we wait. Now if they are alright, we don’t have to worry. But if they are up to no good, they may attack tonight before we tell anyone else. We sure can’t go out hunting in small teams and risk getting ambushed by them.”

  “Well, we can hold them off here,” Kartar said. “Fifteen against twenty is almost equal and we would have the advantage of fighting inside a fortified cabin and having experienced warriors.”

  “They
could cut us off by cutting Relkyett’s telephone line,” Carvyk said.

  “That’s not a problem,” Sthykar said, “I have brought my radio with me, if needed I can even reach the House of War on it. What I don’t want to do is to allow them to make the first move and then get an advantage over us. I want to act before they do.”

  “What are you thinking, Colonel?” Jontvyk asked.

  “I saw the wall briefly,” Sthykar said. “But away from the gates it doesn’t appear to be guarded at all. I can easily climb in at night, make a note of what is going on inside, and if it still appears suspicious, then tomorrow morning I will call my friend Sayett at SPASI.”

  “How many of us are going to break in?” Felptar asked.

  “Just me,” Sthykar said., “I am the only one with police powers, but more importantly it would be easier for me to get in and out just by myself. If two or more people get separated that would cause confusion.”

  “He is right,” Jontvyk said. “I would want to go with him, too, but we have to act fast and we don’t have time to properly plan it. But Colonel.” He turned to Sthykar. “We will come with you to the compound, to back you up if needed.”

  “Oh, definitely,” Sthykar said, “I was about to ask that of you.” He paused for a moment and turned to Relkyett. “Spread a map of your property on this table.”

  “Right away,” Relkyett said and brought a map from a cabinet and spread it over the round table. Everyone leaned in to get a closer look.

  “I seemed to remember two hills on our way there,” Sthykar said and moved his finger over the map. “There they are.” He pointed to two small ridges in between their cabin and the compound.

  “Now who here brought ATR Rifles along with them?” Sthykar asked. The ATR Rifle—Attack Rifle (ATR)—was the automatic rifle that was the standard for all the armies in the Starfire Nation. Army officers could take theirs with them outside the base, and ex-army officers, as well as titled aristocrats, were allowed to own them.