Godschild Covenant: Return of Nibiru

by Marshall Masters

  Anthony introduced Tanya, Ann-Marie, Ramona, Dr. Boole and Charlie and they shook hands all around as the sound of the outboard engines spinning to life filled the inside of the cargo hold.

  * * * *

  THE FLYING CIRCUS leveled off at 25,000 feet and settled into a comfortable cruising speed of 390 mph. Vigo and Shai stood up and stretched and Vigo motioned Anthony and his team to join them in the back of the first Cadillac. The interior was spacious and comfortable for the seven of them. As soon as the door was closed, Vigo switched on the Cadillac's advanced noise cancellation system. Within a few seconds, the screeching drone of the transport's engines was muffled to a soft, easily manageable din.

  Vigo pulled down a center tray table and laid out several color printouts upon it. “We're going to work as three teams,” he began. “Shai's team will take out the off duty Syrian peacekeepers and Euro mercs here in the portable buildings off to the side of the silo entrance. Anthony, Charlie, Jeffrey LeBlanc and I will form the second team. We'll setup here on this rise with Jeffrey LeBlanc, who'll be waiting for us on the road to the silo entrance. Our job will be to neutralize the guards at the gate and on the roof of the crew access bunker. Tanya, you'll lead the third group, the medical evacuation team. Once we've neutralized the bad guys, you come in and take care of Russell and anyone else that needs help. I want you all to know, this is not going to be easy but it can be done.” He turned to the IDF officer, “Shai, let's begin the details with you."

  The trim, dark-eyed Israeli thumbed through the printouts, finding the one he wanted. “This is a ground radar plot from an unmanned surveillance drone taken last night, thanks to our good friend Vigo. If you look at these red dots, they represent land mines. The blue dots, motion detectors and the green ones, ammonia sensors. Avoiding the land mines is not difficult. As you see, we have mapped three different approach tracks through the minefield. However, the motion detectors and ammonia sensors are quite another thing, especially if you are big meat eaters like us. That is why we bring Violetta, our android chimpanzee, as we like to call her. Because of her simian physiology she will not trip the ammonia sensors and since the motion detectors are usually detuned to permit small animals to pass, she will not be big enough to raise an alarm either."

  He searched around for another printout and put it on top of the others as the medical team looked at him with amazement. None of them had dreamed that the mission would be either this complex or dangerous. It left them feeling somewhat naove and nervous and glad that Shai and his team had been recruited by Vigo for the rescue.

  “Ah yes,” Shai mumbled. “I wanted to show you this. As you can see, the minefield completely surrounds the silo area. If you are standing on asphalt or concrete, you are safe. If not, the best you can hope for is to lose nothing more than your legs.” He pointed to a spot behind the larger of the two portable buildings. “This is the central control box for the whole sensor system. That is the first target of the assault and Violetta will take the lead. Sergeant Nir Haftzadi will control her via processors directly wired into her brain. He will literally control her motor skills and senses. Nir will walk Violetta through the minefield here, over this fence here, then on to the control box here. Nir and Violetta will clamp this interrupter device to the main cable; it will drive a gold pin through the center of the cable and then over amplify the existing signal by about 1.2 volts. This way, we can control the signal going to the guardhouse monitors, which of course will have a null value. However, LeBlanc's microbots will have to disable the fiber optic links between the silo and the ground level living quarters. I do not know how long that will take, but I do know that the interrupter device will eliminate the connections between the silo and the outside world. Nor will they be able to use their security cameras to monitor our advance. In essence, they'll be deaf, mute and nearly helpless. However, let's not forget that they will be armed and dangerous."

  He pulled out another sheet, “Once we've got control of the sensor grid, the next step is to soften the off-duty personnel. They'll most likely be sleeping so Nir will guide Violetta to the air intake duct for the air conditioning located below the building and then release the contents of this small, pressurized container.” He held up a small cylinder in his hand. “It is a very powerful knockout gas, which will render the men inside the building unconscious for at least two hours. After the gas has been delivered, the next step belongs to team two, headed by Vigo."

  Vigo pushed Shai's printouts to one side and laid down a larger topographic relief print. “Charlie, Anthony, Jeffrey and I will be here on the reverse side of this rise. Charlie and I will be the shooters. Charlie has prepared two rather nice .50 sniper rifles that will do a swift job on those expensive synthetic spider silk suits the on-duty guards are wearing. Anthony, you'll be our spotter and handle communication with Shai. Ten minutes after his chimp has passed the gas, I'll take out the one in the guardhouse first. While I'm taking out the second guard at the gate, Charlie will take out the two Syrians on the roof. After that, Shai will be free to move his men into the complex, to neutralize the off-duty personnel, and capture Captain Darkazani. As soon as they've done that, they'll weld shut the small access tunnels leading up from the control room and missile silo. This will leave main entrance as the only way in or out of the silo complex. The moment this has been accomplished, the third team will enter the complex. Tanya, you and your team will be waiting for our signal here, where this culvert crosses the road."

  “And what about the people inside the silo?” Boole asked.

  “Glad you asked,” Vigo replied. “Jeffrey here has a special device that can enable us to get a rough idea of who is in the silo and where. It will also neutralize their ability to lockdown the entrance once we begin the assault. As soon as the medical team rolls, Shai, and I will enter the silo through the center access and we'll clear the way for Anthony, Charlie and the rest of you to follow once we've secured the silo. Meanwhile, Charlie and Shai's men will setup a defense perimeter for us in case there are any surprises."

  Anthony shook his head and pointed to the wire frame map of the silo. “That's my boy in there and no matter what you say, I'm going in with you and Shai."

  Vigo shook his head. “We've been over this before, Anthony. It is simply too risky."

  “You underestimate me."

  An annoyed expression crossed Vigo's face as he leaned back in his chair. “Look, there will be two Euro mercs down in the silo command center and an assassin posing as a nurse. She and Johnston will likely be somewhere near the boy, who we can assume is now in the old crew quarters.” He picked up one of the infrared HUD monocles next to his seat. “Once we're in the bunker, we'll be wearing these. Jeffrey will have already cut the main lights and thanks to his sensors, there's no place in the bunker where the mercs can hide. All they'll have to go by are some sounds and the red glow of the emergency lighting system. Anthony, you're a brave lad but you don't know how to use these monocles, let alone hand-to-hand combat with a professional merc. Leave this for Shai and myself."

  “My gut instincts tell me that you're too dependent on all this space age gadgetry of yours, plus you're ignoring the fact that I have special powers of perception. If your gadgets fail, I can give you an edge. I'm not trying to be a stupid hero. I just want to rescue my son with all the advantages we can muster."

  Shai nudged Vigo in the ribs. “Come on. It's his kid."

  Vigo sighed. “OK, but you only enter the silo after Shai and I have handled the two mercs in the silo control room. If you try anything funny, I'll punch your lights out."

  “Agreed,” Anthony smiled. “Now what happens after we get Russell?"

  Vigo bit his lip for a moment. “That's the toughest part of the mission. We've got to get him back to the Flying Circus, and then we're going to beat it like hell for South America. I've arranged with the Brazilian government for Russell's safety till he recovers. After that, the Russians will transport you to Ob-ninsk City."

 
“And De Bono will be dogging our heels every step of the way,” Anthony reluctantly added. With that, Tanya, who by now was looking a bit green snatched up a small wastebasket from under the folding table and heaved into it, filling the Cadillac's interior with an unpleasant nauseous smell that left everyone waving their hands in front of their faces.

  “It's just nerves,” Tanya offered with a pained expression. “I'll be OK."

  * * * *

  CAPTAIN JEROME RICHARD scanned the multifunction liquid crystal displays on his instrument panel and looked back over his seat at Vigo. “Pass the word, 15 minutes. Also, let me know how Tanya is doing. Darn shame about her airsickness, but it will clear up once we're on the ground. Luckily, we've had about as smooth a flight as possible."

  “Hard to say about these things,” Vigo answered askance, as he stared at the radar display Northrop Grumman low power color radar display on the instrument panel. The Flying Circus was equipped with upgraded MODAR 4000 color weather and navigation radar installed in the nose of the aircraft, with a range of over 300 miles. He noticed another low-flying inbound aircraft with a UNE registration. Vigo pointed at the aircraft symbol on the radar display. “Could you and Al do me a favor and keep on eye on this?"

  “Will do,” the pilot replied as he looked over at his co-pilot. “Time to contact Fort Hood tower."

  Al winked, and keyed his PTT button. “Fort Hood tower, this is Hercules, Yankee Zulu One Niner requesting permission to land.” The controller responded quickly. He exchanged the usual banter with the tower operator after which Al added, “By the way, we've got two nice new Cadillac Lectra SUVs in the back for some hot shot Air Force general. Heck, they even got little refrigerators. We found some chilled canned juice in one of them—mighty tasty. Sure must be nice to be the king."

  The Flying Circus flight crew did definitely not expect the voice that replied to that comment, especially since it was 0200 in the morning Fort Hood time. “This is Major General George Hennicker and those are my cars, as well as the fruit juice. I sure hope you flyboys have something of value to trade for the juice or your butts are mine!"

  “General, sir, this is Captain Jerome Richard, the aircraft commander. Please accept our apologies about the fruit juice, sir. I'm sure we can offer something to trade that will please you."

  “You can forget the juice,” Hennicker growled back. “But if there are any dents or scratches, you'll wish otherwise. My aide will meet you at the ramp and oversee the offloading of the cars."

  “We copy that,” the pilot acknowledged stiffly. “Yankee Zulu One Niner turning to final."

  As the lumbering transport lined up on the runway and lowered its landing gear, the co-pilot looked back at Vigo. “That slow mover you asked me to track is either a chopper or a tilt rotor and it is headed towards the silo area and descending."

  Vigo nodded and reminded himself to tell Anthony and Shai after they landed.

  * * * *

  AS THE REAR ramp lowered to the ground, loadmaster, Sergeant Bill Jenkins began removing the cargo straps and blocks from around the Cadillacs. Inches before the ramp touched the ground, a young captain, one of General Hennicker's aides stepped up into the cargo hold tapped him on the shoulder. “Our drivers will not be here till later this morning. You are to park the vehicles inside the hangar at the west side of the field and leave the keys with the maintenance chief in the hangar. Do you understand?"

  “Yes sir,” replied the loadmaster. The aide scanned the interior of the cargo hold. All he could see was the loadmaster and the two Cadillacs with dark tinted windows.

  “Fine. Be careful.” The captain said and then left at a trot for his own staff car with a deniable smirk. The aide knew what was about to happen and wished them luck. The fact that a U.S. military base was being used to commit kidnapping and blackmail by a foreign politician made his blood boil, but for now, his main concern was to do everything he could to protect General Hennicker.

  The loadmaster watched the aide leave out of the corner of his eyes as he finished removing the cargo straps and blocks. Securing the gear, he walked out the back of the Flying Circus and was later joined by Captain Richard and the co-pilot, Lieutenant Al Chan. They pretended to talk amongst themselves as they scanned the military airport. Aside from a light in the hangar at the west end of the field that shone across a line of 3 neatly parked MH-53J Pave Low III special ops choppers, the entire airport was as still as a graveyard.

  “You direct them out,” Jerome ordered and walked back to the first SUV. He tapped on the dark black driver side window and the window slid down with a whir. Vigo was at that wheel. “You may have company. We finished tracking that slow-mover for you. Turns out it was a tilt rotor and definitely landed somewhere in the silo field. Watch your six Vigo."

  “Thanks, Captain,” Vigo said. “We should be back in no more than two hours. You fellas have taken enough risks as it is with that flight down into Mexico. If all hell breaks loose, there'll probably be no point in waiting for us."

  “We'll be here until the fat lady sings. Now get your damn Cadillacs out of my airplane and go do something."

  Vigo saluted with a smile, rolled the window back up and followed the loadmaster's hand signals as he slowly drove the first electric powered SUV out onto the tarmac with Anthony, Charlie and the Israeli commandoes in the back. Following close behind was the second SUV with Ann-Marie Bournelle at the wheel, Tanya to her right and Dr. Boole and Ramona behind them with all the medical gear.

  They drove north at the posted speed limit from the airfield to Highway 190 and turned left. A few miles down the road, they turned left again on Base Road and headed south into the silo field.

  Equipped with a GPS navigation heads up display, the Cadillac SUV was a quiet, powerful machine in Vigo's hands. He drove straight to the very spot where Jeffrey LeBlanc, waiting for them in the dark early morning hours, greeted them dressed in fatigues and face paint.

  Jeffrey guided the SUVs to the side of the road and ran up to Vigo's window. “Man, we just got a wild twist. UNE Governor Merl Johnston just flew in here about twenty minutes ago. He and some gal dressed in a nurse's uniform landed in a tilt rotor. The aircrew is in the guard's quarters now. Johnston and the nurse are in the silo."

  “He may suspect something,” Anthony noted. “They could be here to move the boy. If so, we've come in the nick of time."

  “Or something tipped our hand,” Vigo grumbled. LeBlanc watched and wondered if either man would call off the operation now that a high-ranking UNE official was in the silo.

  Vigo gripped the steering wheel and pondered the situation. “My guess is that he's here because they're worried.” He opened his door, forcing Jeffrey back. “Let them worry. We go ahead as planned."

  All of the men slid out of the first SUV. The commandoes wore helmets with built-in communicators and night vision monocles. Sergeant Nir Haftzadi opened the rear hatch and Violetta jumped into his arms as Captain Cohen readied his team.

  “Vigo,” he whispered in a hushed voice. “As soon as you've got your blinds setup and can cover us, we'll move Violetta."

  “Check. We'll see you at the bunker, Shai."

  From the second SUV, Ann-Marie and Tanya watched the occupants of the first SUV split into two groups. Anthony, Vigo and Charlie followed LeBlanc to the left and the Israelis and their chimp veered off to the right. The men moved quietly into the night and quickly disappeared leaving them alone on the road, waiting and praying.

  Vigo and Charlie pushed their canvas blinds slowly into place at the top of the rise. Even if a search beam lighted their position, the blinds would look like dirt bumps on the rise. They had loaded their .50 caliber rifles and attached the silencers and scopes back at the SUV. All they needed to do now was to situate the sniper rifles on their bipods and wait.

  Vigo looked back down the rise at Jeffrey and nodded. LeBlanc then pressed the switch and the small antenna he'd planted on the top of the rise the night before, began beaming a co
ded activation signal at the spot where Li Ming had slammed the whiskey bottle against the silo entrance.

  After being inserted the night before, the microbots had moved into position and then disassembled themselves into nanobots. Now that they had been given the final activation code, it would only take them another ten minutes to disable all of the communication and door power controls in the silo. After that, the silo could be easily taken, as those inside would not be able to contact anyone outside. While the silo was equipped with backup landlines, Jeffrey and General Hennicker had disabled them.

  As the nanobot-microbots began to neutralize various circuits and microprocessors inside the silo, the Israeli commandoes approached from the opposite side of the silo entrance. Their approach was blocked from Vigo's sight, by the portable buildings that now served as a barracks for the Syrian peacekeepers. Eventually, Shai's voice came softly through Vigo's headset. “We're in position."

  Vigo replied with three clicks to let him know that Sergeant Haftzadi could now start Violetta through the minefield.

  Using a virtual reality headset and VR gloves, Nir guided Violetta through the minefield using an overlay from the ground radar scan the previous day. Violetta was well trained, and accustomed to Nir taking control of her body. She never complained or whimpered as she crossed through the minefield with the stealth of a cheetah. Still the same, Nir continued to speak to her in soft tones often saying, “Violetta is a good girl."

  The chimp cleared the minefield and slowly climbed the fence as the commandoes collectively heaved a sigh of relief. They had secretly feared there would be sensors attached to the chain link fence; at least that is what they would have done. However, not even a few aluminum drink cans were strung. A foolish oversight; had even a simple precaution like that have been employed, it would have slowed things down considerably.