Operation

by Tony Ruggiero

  Reese tried to block out the sounds, but the slurping of blood and the tearing of flesh echoed in his mind. He pushed aside his feelings of disgust. If they were going to survive, they had to get out of here.

  “Dimitri, Andre, we have to go now!” Reese whispered as loud as he dare. “Dawn is coming!”

  Both Dimitri and Andre looked up, their faces covered with blood and pieces of flesh.

  “Finish it as instructed!” Reese demanded. “Now!”

  Andre and Dimitri removed knives from the sheaths on their belts and slit what remained of their victims’ throats to make it appear as a typical murder of someone who had crossed another drug cartel, the universal sign of a traitor’s punishment. Putting on their dark masks, they exited the room.

  Reese, stepping out into the corridor first, saw that Illiga had carried out the same procedure on the two guards. His face was covered with blood, and his cheeks flushed with a glow that radiated life.

  “Put your hood on,” Reese whispered.

  Illiga looked toward Dimitri for a brief instant, as if seeking confirmation, and then replaced his hood.

  Reese looked at the three of them. Blood still dripped from the opening in the masks where their mouth was. The blood streaked their necks, and wetted their clothing. Reese’s gaze centered on Dimitri, demanding an explanation.

  “Why the women?” Reese asked, in a soft but demanding voice.

  Dimitri’s expression indicated that no explanation was required, but still he answered. “Casualties of war,” he said in a calm and rational voice, his earlier agitation satiated by the blood he had taken.

  Andre and Illiga nodded their agreement.

  “The mission is accomplished, Commander Reese,” Dimitri continued. His voice remained calm, without any hint of remorse.

  “You pompous bastard,” Reese said, as he lowered his head while shaking it slowly.

  “You wish to speak of hypocrisy now?” Dimitri asked.

  “You always twist it around, don’t you?” Reese said. “Your philosophy always suits the occasion.” Reese walked away from Dimitri and the others. Should he condemn himself for the acts of cruelty he’d witnessed? He had ignored the signs and that made him an accomplice to the actual events. The shock and disbelief was about to overcome him, but he knew this was not the time or the place for that. But something had to be done. After a few moments, he looked at the team and said, “Let’s get back to the beach.”

  In complete silence, they made their way back to the beach. The oncoming dawn spelled death to the creatures as well as Reese if he were caught. The guards at the home would have been replaced by now and the carnage discovered. Once the alarm was sounded, the search would begin.

  As they arrived at the beach, they uncovered the zodiac raft and placed it into the water. As they paddled toward the gray military ship that waited for them, the first signs of a brightening sky showed in the east. The dawn was also accompanied by the sounds of vehicles, their engines roaring, as they tore through the sand on the beach in pursuit.

  “Perhaps we are not going to make it,” said Dimitri. “We each have our own enemy coming for us. The sun and its holy light for my men and I, and for you, those that your General Stone seeks to kill. Symmetry once again.”

  “Shut the hell up and row, you son-of-a-bitch!” Reese shouted at him. “If you love life as much as you say you do, then paddle! Or do you want to end it? Have you run out of your hypocrisy and philosophy all at once? Have you had enough of this madness?”

  Dimitri said nothing as he continued to paddle.

  “No,” Reese continued. “That would be too simple for you, wouldn’t it? You like it when things are complicated. It gives you something to contemplate over all that time you have…which you keep reminding me of. Well, damn it, I submit to you that time is running out—for both of us.”

  Reese turned from Dimitri and waved his arms at the men standing on the bridge of the ship. “Bring the ship closer and turn it to block the sunlight! Hurry!” he yelled.

  The patrol craft moved closer, turning the silhouette of the ship toward the east attempting to block the early morning light. The glaring white letters PC-1 emblazoned on the forward part of her hull appeared ghostly in the pre-dawn light as sporadic gunfire erupted from the beach and fell harmlessly short of their intended target.

  “It appears we may live for a while longer,” Dimitri said as shade from the ship’s superstructure bathed them in dark gray. “We live to debate another time, Commander.”

  “It appears that way,” said Reese. “But this must end; we must talk about this madness—”

  Reese stopped speaking because the raft was now alongside the ship and the ship’s company was ready to get them on board quickly. He remained in the zodiac raft as the three members of his team scrambled onto the ship and hurried below deck. Finally, Reese came on board as crewmembers pulled in the raft. The ship turned away from the coast and headed out to sea.

  The young commander of the ship, a naval lieutenant, approached Reese.

  “Operation Red Blood accomplished, Commander?” he asked in a tone that reeked of superiority. Reese knew that the lieutenant had not been overjoyed with the assignment and the fact that Reese had been assigned operational control only made matters worse. He had an attitude that Reese was not in the mood for, especially at this moment.

  Reese turned toward the lieutenant as he pulled the black mask off of his face.

  “Never mind about my mission, Lieutenant,” he barked. “Just get us back to base as soon as possible, and remember, the area where my men are at is not to be entered by anyone except the Navy SEALs in my unit. Got that?”

  “Yes, sir,” the lieutenant answered, surprised by Reese’s assertive and unexpected abruptness.

  Reese watched as the lieutenant returned to the bridge of the USS Cyclone. He knew the man would waste no time in giving the order to return to base to the officer of the deck so that they could put some distance between themselves and the island.

  Reese looked at the black hood he held in his hand. There were dark blotches on it—apparent blood splatter from the earlier kills by the vampires. He had not seen it earlier and it served as a harsh reminder that no matter how far he tried to distance himself from the killing, he couldn’t. He felt his stomach react uncomfortably. It made him think about the distinctly different perspectives that he and Dimitri had on so many things. Reese tossed the ruined hood over the ship’s side and into the wake of the patrol craft as it picked up speed. As he watched the water, he drifted off into his thoughts.

  How the hell had it come to all this...

  Chapter Fifty-six

  The mission had been completed. Dimitri and his men were safely below decks and Reese remained on deck of the USS Cyclone. As the sun began its ascent into the sky, the redness of the sunrise reminding him of the color of blood and the way in which Dimitri and his men had killed the drug lord, his two women and many of the guards only hours ago. As he thought about what had just been done, he vomited over the side of the ship.

  As he tried to regain his composure, Reese realized the time for thinking was done. He had to do something. What General Stone was doing was nothing like what would be described as a lawful order from a superior officer. At the same time, Reese knew he wasn’t being naïve about the elimination of men who plied the drug trades. It wasn’t the deaths of the drug dealers that bothered him, but that they had been killed without the use of the judicial system that bothered him more. He was no fool and knew the system was flawed, but Stone had allowed himself to decide the fate of who lived and died. And at what point would that reasoning be applied to other less-desirable people? Where would it all end?

  And what about the creatures? They were now playing the role of executioner for Stone in order to survive. And his own role, didn’t that make him responsible as well? Had he not played an important role in devising and implementing the attack? Was that right? Could he live for the rest of his life knowin
g that it was he who had been the catalyst? All he had ever wanted was to study the creatures, the myth and legends in physical form right in front of him, a dream of a lifetime come true but twisted for Stone’s perverse crusade.

  There had to be a way out of this.

  What was he thinking? Was he even considering the thought of turning these creatures loose? What was the other choice? To kill them? However, if he chose any of these options, he knew Stone would show him no mercy. Reese would meet with an accident before he even reached any kind of legal proceeding against him. If Stone could do all of this without being detected by any government agency or other aspect of the military, getting rid of one lowly commander wouldn’t be any big problem. Accidents happen, and at the disposal of Stone, Reese thought as he remembered the story that had been contrived to cover the deaths of the SEALs who had been killed in the capture operation.

  The option of turning the creatures loose was not entirely without consequence either. What would they do? Would they kill indiscriminately as they had been taught to do so by Stone, or would they resort back to their cattle? Where would they live? This was not the Balkans. Reese rubbed his forehead in frustration. He had two days to decide what to do; that was how long it would take to get back to the base in Little Creek.

  He went below deck to check on the creatures. As usual, there was a guard posted outside of the entrance to their quarters, the remote activation device securely attached to the belt. It was identical to the one that Reese had in his possession; the two-man rule was always followed.

  “Everything secure?” Reese asked.

  “Yes, sir,” the young Navy SEAL replied.

  “Good,” Reese said, the weariness in his voice apparent. “I’m going to get some sleep. Wake me if you need anything.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Reese turned and went to his stateroom. He lay on his rack, listening to the sound of the ship’s engines and feeling the soothing motion of the ship as it cut through the smooth Caribbean waters. He closed his eyes and drifted off into a troubled sleep.

  Reese opened his eyes and found himself sitting in a small room. In the chair across from him sat Lieutenant Johnson. He was dressed in his camouflage clothing that he wore on his last fatal mission. He appeared normal in all respects but one; in his chest, there were three holes in his uniform where the large round bullets had entered into him, leaving a hole about three inches in diameter for each one.

  “What the hell…” Reese muttered.

  “Commander,” Johnson said, in the emotionless greeting tone Reese remembered.

  “You’re dead…you were killed on the mission!” Reese exclaimed. “This is a dream…”

  “Yes, sir, I was killed,” Johnson replied.

  “Then what is…this?”

  “This is to answer your question—he wouldn’t do it,” Johnson said.

  “What? Who wouldn’t?” Reese asked.

  “He didn’t take me.”

  “Who—what are you talking about?”

  “Dimitri didn’t make me into a vampire. I asked him to—I begged him to, but he refused to do it.”

  “Why did you—”

  “I wanted to be one of them. Since the first time I saw them, I wanted it. I think you knew that but you didn’t say anything, perhaps because you had your own obsession with them.”

  “Why wouldn’t he do it?” Reese asked.

  “He said it was better this way.”

  “What did he mean?” Reese asked.

  “Putting an end to it—all of it. But then, I’m just telling you what you already know.”

  “But how to end all of this is the question?”

  “Give the general what he understands—death. You must leave no room for question or doubt,” Johnson said. “No room,” he repeated.

  Then everything faded out.

  Chapter Fifty-seven

  It was almost 7 PM when Reese awoke with the image of Johnson still fresh in his mind. He knew the dream was not any kind of crossing over or visitation from the dead; it was simply his mind working though the issues in its own way. However, the image of Johnson had been somewhat nerve-wracking and its effect had left a profound feeling within him. Yet he had a good idea of purpose and he felt both exhilarated and scared about what he was planning.

  He imagined the sun was just going down; Dimitri and his men would also just be waking. Reese thought how he had adjusted so much to their time schedule and nocturnal habits. He also knew that their working together had an even deeper effect upon each other, one that was about to change one way or another.

  Reese hopped out of his rack and quickly showered. He then made his way to the small wardroom galley, where he had some coffee and ate some leftovers from dinner which were destined for those who were to come on duty at midnight.

  After several cups of coffee, he felt ready to see Dimitri. Leaving the wardroom, he made his way to the creatures’ quarters, the desire to talk with them increasing as he got closer to them. He approached the hatch for their quarters and was greeted by the guards on duty.

  “Sir,” one of them, said as they both came to attention.

  “Are they awake?” Reese asked.

  “Yes, sir. They just asked to see you a few minutes ago.”

  “Very well,” Reese said. “Let’s see what they want.”

  The hatch was un-dogged and Reese entered into their quarters where he found Dimitri and his men sitting around a small table, obviously engrossed in some kind of discussion.

  “Am I interrupting?” Reese asked.

  “No, come in, please,” Dimitri said.

  Reese entered the small area and sat in a chair that faced the three of them. Their faces appeared troubled; Reese wondered if perhaps the same issues that plagued him troubled them, too.

  “I see,” Reese began, “that maybe you have been talking about the same subject I have been thinking about.”

  “And what might that be?” Dimitri asked, as his eyebrows rose.

  “Putting an end to this,” Reese said simply. There was no time for any banter or philosophical issues. They had to get right to the point of the matter.

  “Interesting thoughts, Commander. I would like to hear your point of view on the matter.”

  “You will, but first I have another question for you,” Reese said.

  Dimitri looked toward Andre and Iliga, who rose from their chairs and moved away from the table. Dimitri returned his gaze to Reese, as if inviting him to proceed with his question.

  “Before Johnson died, did he ask to become one of you?”

  “Yes,” Dimitri answered, without hesitating.

  “But you obviously did not change him. Why?”

  “There is enough pain in this world. I shall not contribute anymore to it. Johnson was filled with anger from his past and if he were changed, he would have continued on that path. I decided a long time ago that if men are supposed to die at a certain time, then that is the way it shall be. I am not God, nor do I wish to play the role. What happened to my men and I was also fate in some way. I accept that and the role it has placed me in. I shall continue to live as long as I can; I do not wish to die, however I shall not make another vampire.”

  “So you’re telling me you have some moralistic code you live by?” Reese asked.

  “I have been telling you that all along,” Dimitri replied. “Our philosophical debates have not been whimsical by any means. We are not creatures that live without reason, as the general would have you believe.”

  “I do not agree with what you are being used for,” Reese said. “I was blinded by my own selfish desires to learn about you. I was not even aware until this mission what you were actually doing...I assumed you were just spying on the enemy.”

  “The general has plans for a New World,” Dimitri said. “Everything will work a certain way-his way.”

  “Those are his plans, not mine or even the military’s, for all I know. He is working totally on his own.” Reese paused, ponder
ing the major question in his mind—would his idea work?

  “You want to be able to live with the decision you make,” Dimitri said, as if sensing his thoughts.

  “Yes,” Reese answered. “Suppose you were released, then what?”

  “We would go home,” Dimitri said, without much thought. “This is a new world which wants to have everything explained. In Europe, there are places that would ignore our existence, as they have all these years.”

  “I don’t know. There is another choice.”

  “Death?” Dimitri asked. “You must understand that we are not considering that option.”

  “But if you kill—”

  “Why is this such a difficult concept for you to comprehend?” Dimitri said, interrupting him. “My kind has been doing this for all these years. Have you not thought that perhaps it is part of the complete cycle of this planet? Can you not believe that creatures such as ourselves do in fact have a place in civilization, as much as anyone or anything else?”

  “What do you mean?” Reese asked.

  “Your Hollywood has painted us as the evil creatures that kill and destroy life. Creatures that are of the dark. We hide from the light of God and truth because we are from hell itself.” He paused. “But what everyone misses is the one common factor that transcends all these years.”

  “And that is?”

  “That we have been here since the beginning of time. You yourself have studied us through the literature that began as early as man’s ability to write them down.” Dimitri paused for a few seconds, then said, “You still don’t see it do you? What I suggest is that perhaps we are one of God’s creatures, just as yourself.”

  “What? That’s preposterous,” Reese replied.

  “Is it now?” Dimitri asked. “Are you going to tell me that those men we killed, judged evil by numerous aspects of civilized society, are not God’s creatures?”

  “Of course, all of man is,” Reese said.

  “What of the animals that kill in the wild, sometimes they kill humans, too. Are these not creatures of God?”