New York City
It was around 2:00 a.m. in New York City and most of the inhabitants of the ‘city that never sleeps’ were asleep, especially with the war time restrictions that were in place. However, the diehard night owls were in full swing and the city was still jumping. Small crowds were milling around Times Square taking in the sites and coming and going from the packed restaurants and bars. Cabs lined the streets with their fares; pedestrians swarmed the Manhattan sidewalks like locusts looking for their next meal.
A large number of servicemen were on leave and were out with their girlfriends, wives, or girl they’d picked up in bars. Many were on their first excursion to the Big Apple. A lot of them were from rural areas and were totally amazed at all of the sights and sounds of this vibrant city.
Fortunately, all of them were blissfully ignorant of the danger that was speeding towards them.
Chapter 79
Atlantic Ocean, East of New York City
Will knew the ionized photon torpedoes were rapidly approaching New York City, so he poured on the speed. He had them in sight when they suddenly split up into a group of two and a group of three, heading towards separate targets. Will silently cursed himself for taking the time to save the convoy of ships earlier from the storm, but he also knew it had been the right thing to do.
In the midst of his thoughts, the torpedoes struck short of their intended targets. Instead of hitting any populated areas, a pair of two struck the waters in the Upper New York Bay, and a second group of three struck the water miles off the shores of and to the northeast of Brighton Beach.
However, as soon as they struck the waters, they produced two separate, enormous tsunami waves - each more than 200 feet high and at least a mile wide!
Shit, Will thought as the torpedoes struck. Will knew that if either of the enormous waves struck the shorelines they were headed towards, the devastation and loss of life would be incalculable.
The wave that struck in the Upper Bay area, which was close to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, was closer inland so Will headed to that one first. He just prayed that he could figure out how to defeat this wave before the other one struck.
The Eyrie, Ninth Level
With Tah’soon serving as a translator, Dal’tun met quickly with Hauser, and then set the handheld Krelian weapon on a lower setting that would allow it to just vaporize the door and nothing else. After it was set, Dal’tun fired the weapon and within seconds the door vaporized before their eyes.
“Holy shit!,” exclaimed Hess. “Damn, I wish we had a few of those things to use against the fuckin’ Nazis!”
“Yeah, but if we used them like the Nazis are, we’d be almost as bad as them,” said Hauser.
“I guess you’re right, Captain,” agreed Hess.
“Okay, let’s get those damn scientists and get the fuck out of here,” said Hauser.
Hauser and his men then started towards the door when gunfire suddenly erupted from just inside of the opening! A group of at least eight Nazi soldiers were holed up inside of the ninth level guarding the scientists.
“Fuck! I’m hit!” yelled Hammond.
Hess then pulled him down behind a steel cabinet in the middle of the room outside of the door they had destroyed. Hess quickly examined Hammond and saw that he had been shot in the stomach. Hess took out a fresh compress bandage out of his rucksack, tore it open with his teeth, and placed it on Hammond’s wound.
“Here, put pressure on this bandage and keep it there,” he ordered.
“How bad is it?” asked Hammond.
“You’ll be fine. Just hold the damn compress on it! You hear me!?”
“Yeah, I…I’m good. Damn this fucking hurts,” said Hammond wincing in pain.
“We’ll get you some help soon. Just hold on, Gerry,” promised Hess.
Hammond nodded and continued to keep pressure on the wound as
Hauser and the rest of his men were still taking fire from the Nazis in the ninth level room.
“Serrano! Hess! Toss in a couple of pineapples and let’s see if we can’t break this fuckin’ party up!” yelled Hauser.
Serrano and Hess quickly removed two grenades each from their belt, pulled their pins, and let them fly into the room.
“Fire in the hole!” yelled Serrano as he pulled Tah’soon close to him to protect her.
The explosions from the grenades did their job. The Nazis screamed as they were blown to bits.
“Okay, let’s move! Tah’soon, stay with Hammond and make sure he keeps pressure on that bandage,” ordered Hauser.
Tah’soon nodded and moved towards Hammond as ordered.
Hauser, Serrano, and Hess entered the debris and smoke-filled room. A couple of the Nazis were still alive and tried to reach their weapons, but Hauser and his men put them down with a few well placed shots to the head.
The carnage caused by the grenades was horrific. Most of the Nazis had been eviscerated immediately; body parts and blood were everywhere. Hauser and his men then made their way quickly towards another heavy steel door where the scientists were being housed.
“Shit. Hess, go get Dal’tun. We need his toy for this door too!”
“Aye, aye, Skipper.”
Within seconds, Dal’tun came in and vaporized the second door. As it was removed, Hauser began issuing orders to the Nazi scientists that were inside. He told them that if they wanted to live, they needed to exit immediately with their hands up on top of their heads. Within seconds, all fifteen of them came out as ordered stating they would not cause any problems and for them not to shoot. Hauser ensured them they would be unharmed as long as they cooperated. As they exited, each one of them was quickly patted down to make sure they didn’t have any weapons on them.
Hauser quickly identified the lead scientist, Dr. Felix Kroeger, who was shocked to see Dal’tun working alongside the Americans. Hauser told him that their choice was to stay in the mountain facility and die, or come with him and live. They chose option B.
Most of the scientists were in decent enough shape to make it down the ropes. Those that weren’t able to make it were lowered down by a rope and makeshift climbing harness along with Hammond. As soon as they were down, they made their way to the Krelian vessel and went on board. With the additional fifteen people, it was getting a little crowded. Hauser went to Tal’pun.
“How are the repairs coming along? Do you think your engineers and the….things the Colonel turned loose can get this ship fixed in time?”
Tal’pun replied, “I believe so, but it’s still going to take several more minutes. But I’m more optimistic now than I was before.”
Hauser nodded, and then looked at Hammond. “One of my men was shot in the stomach, and if he doesn’t get some medical attention soon, I’m afraid he’s going to die.”
“One of my crew members is a doctor. I’ll have him try and stabilize him, but he’s not too familiar with human physiology.”
“One of my men is a medic as well. Maybe between the two of them they can try and help him until we can get him to a hospital.”
Tal’pun nodded and then called for Jorda’kre and explained the situation, while Hauser motioned for Hess and explained the situation to him at the same time. Together, Hess and the Krelian doctor took Hammond to the ship’s medical wing to stabilize him. The second linguist, Narla’da, went along to translate for them.
“Also,” Hauser continued, “do you have anywhere we can put these scientists so they’ll be out of the way? It’s getting a little crowded in here.”
Tal’pun agreed and called for Kaltor and Dal’tun and ordered them to secure the prisoners in the crew’s quarters for the time being. Hauser nodded at Tal’pun’s decision, and then said a silent prayer for Hammond and for the quick repair of the ship. Hauser then wondered what was happening with the Colonel.
Chapter 80
New York City
Will quickly considered several options, none of which he really had time for. If the waves weren
’t so close to land, he could have used his super breath to push them back the other way, but there was no time and the waves were enormous. An idea suddenly came to him. Instead of blowing the giant waves back, he would try to freeze them. Will moved in front of the wave headed to Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, and ultimately Manhattan, and began flying back and forth the length of the wave while blowing his super cold breath towards it.
At first nothing seemed to be happening, but then the wave started slowing as more and more of the wave began to freeze. Will continued to blow as hard as he could. Within a minute or so, the entire wave was frozen solid less than a hundred feet from Ellis Island. Will would have to figure out what to do with the giant frozen wave later; he still needed to tend to the other wave that was about to hit several miles up the shore. Quickly, he flew to the location of the next wave. By the time he arrived, the titanic wave was less than a mile from its target. Will didn’t think he would have time to freeze this one, and he wished he had his starship cruiser there to utilize its shields to help him out. As he contemplated what to do, he decided on a different strategy: he would make his own shield.
Will quickly began flying in a tight circle in the center of the wave up and down the coast where the wave was going to strike, which quickly expanded to encompass the length of the wave and became more of an oval shape than a circle. He then moved to meet the giant wave head on. As he struck the wave, it was as if the wave had smashed against a gigantic wall due to the counter winds he was producing. Will flew faster and faster, and slowly, the wave started getting smaller and smaller and began to fall apart and recede in the direction from which it came. Suddenly, the wave broke and the waters returned to normal. The coastline was safe.
Will didn’t have time to admire his handiwork: he had to get to his next target: Washington, D.C.
Krelian Research Vessel
Tal’pun asked for a status update and was told that the nanobots had almost completed their repairs along with the Krelian engineers. Sal’chan estimated that the repairs would take approximately five or ten more minutes. Tal’pun then relayed this information to Hauser.
“That’s great. How is Hammond doing?” Tah’soon translated, and Tal’pun contacted Jorda’kre in the medical unit. After hearing what the Krelian doctor said, Tah’soon informed Hauser that he and Hess had stabilized Hammond as best they could, but if he didn’t get medical attention within the next few hours, he was probably going to die.
“Shit. Okay, then we need to get this bird in the air and try and get Hammond to a hospital. Is there any way we can contact the Colonel and see if he’s had any luck in stopping those torpedo things?”
Tah’soon translated for Tal’pun, who then replied, “As soon as I get the word from my engineers we’ll get the ship airborne and get your man to a medical facility. I don’t have a way to contact the Guardian. He didn’t give you a way to contact him in the event you were separated?”
“Damn! I almost forgot about the radios he gave us.” Hauser then reached into his rucksack and pulled out the hybrid communicator that Will had given all the men on his team and handed it to Tal’pun.
Tal’pun looked at it with an odd expression on his face. He was not sure how to operate the device as it primarily looked like a smaller version of a 1940s field radio.
“This is what the Guardian gave you? How strange.”
“Yeah, the ones we normally use are much larger and heavier,” replied Hauser.
After hearing this, Tal’pun realized that Will must have given them a hybrid of Terran and alien technology.
“Show me how you would normally operate this,” he said to Hauser.
Hauser then turned it on and showed him how to operate the device.
Atlantic Ocean, Near Delaware
Will was rapidly approaching the Atlantic coast of Delaware when the communication device unexpectedly went off in his ear. The next sound he heard was Tal’pun speaking to him in Krelian giving him a status update, and asking him for one as well.
Will quickly summed up the damage in London and the near miss of the torpedoes in New York and how they hit the water instead of a populated area. He advised he was approaching Washington to deal with the remaining torpedoes and would let him know when he was headed back to their location.
25,000 Feet and Fifty Miles West of the Eyrie
The pilot estimated that they would be at their location in approximately fifteen minutes. He crossed himself and said a silent prayer that he and his men would make it unscathed out of the kill zone and unimaginable destruction he and his crew were about to unleash on the enemy.
Washington, D.C.
The White House
The President had not been able to sleep since giving the order to deploy the prototype atomic bomb to destroy the Eyrie. He knew it was a death sentence for the Colonel and his men. As Commander-in-Chief he had sent men into battle with the stroke of his pen, and thousands had died since America had entered this war, but this was different and he knew it.
The president pondered for a moment if he should abort the mission and call off the bomber, but he feared it may already be too late for that. For all he knew, the bomber could have already dropped its deadly cargo; but he didn’t think so. According to the information he had, there should still be eight or ten minutes left before the bomber reached its destination.
Almost a full minute passed before the president came to a decision. He rolled his wheelchair to the wall safe where he kept the commlink device and opened it.
Chapter 81
100 Miles East of Washington, D.C.
The remaining photon torpedoes were rapidly approaching Washington, D.C. However, the president had just added another problem to deal with on top of everything else - an atomic bomb-laden B-29 bomber was just minutes away from dropping its deadly payload on the Eyrie where his men and the Krelians were.
Will knew he had to work fast to stop the remaining torpedoes and deal with the bomb before it hit. He knew he wouldn’t be lucky enough for the torpedoes to hit the water like they did last time. Yes, the tsunami waves had been bad, but it would have been much worse had they hit their intended targets. Or had they hit what they were supposed to hit?
Will contacted Tal’pun via the communication device to let him know about the atomic bomb and his suspicions regarding the torpedoes.
Krelian Research Vessel
“An atomic bomb? What the hell is that?” asked Hauser of Tal’pun when Will’s message was translated by Tah’soon.
Tal’pun, in layman’s terms quickly explained the science behind splitting an atom to harness its incredible energy and destructive power.
“Great,” said Hauser. “That’s all the fuck we need. How long do we have before that bomber gets here with the damn thing?”
“According to the Guardian, it will be here in about eight or ten of your Terran minutes,” said Tal’pun.
“Shit. Then we need to get the hell out of here before it gets here. How much longer before those nano-things and your engineers fix this ship enough so we can get out of here?”
Tal’pun quickly contacted his chief engineer for an answer.
“It’s going to be close, but we should make it,” said Tal’pun.
“If we can’t make it, will your ship’s shields protect us?”
“If they were operating at full power, and if we were not inside of a mountain with tons of rocks over our heads, yes. But, they are not operating at full power as yet, and we are inside of a mountain.”
“Shit,” cursed Hauser. “I was afraid you’d say that. Then we’d better pray those nano-things and your engineers can get this tin can fixed enough to at least get us outside of this fucking mountain. Otherwise, it will be our tomb.”
Hess then said, “What about trying to climb down the mountain through that hole the Colonel made in the bay doors, Captain?”
“We’d never get everyone down in time and away from here before it hit. But, it was a good thought.�
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Hess just nodded. “Shit, Captain, I almost forgot about those damn bombs that the Colonel gave me and Hammond to set up on this level as well. Should I try and disarm them at least?”
Hauser thought for a few seconds. “No, the Colonel said to set them, so leave them in place. Besides, whether we die from the atomic bomb or from the bombs you guys set on this level, we‘re just as dead either way. No, our only hope is that the Krelian engineers and the Colonel‘s toys can get the job done - and quick.”
Washington, D.C.
The photon torpedoes were quickly bearing down on the nation’s capitol, and Will still hadn’t come up with a viable plan.
Damn, Will thought to himself, if only I had more time. As soon as he said it, an idea came to him. Time? Shit, why didn’t I think of that sooner?
Instantly, Will summoned and teleported his starship cruiser to his location through the use of his communication and wrist controls. The second that it arrived at his location, he teleported inside of it and, took over at the controls, and positioned the ship so that it was angled towards the sides of the rapidly approaching torpedoes, which fortunately were still fairly equidistant apart.
Will then activated his wormhole creation device and engulfed all five of the photon torpedoes in the wormhole’s vortex and sent them hurtling into deep space. Several seconds later, Will deactivated the device and collapsed the wormhole in on itself. Although he was not present to witness it, he knew the torpedoes were destroyed immediately when they imploded upon coming into contact with the inner walls of the wormhole as it collapsed millions of miles from Earth.
Shadow Warrior: Destiny of a Mutant Page 32
