The Promised Ones

by Brad Stucki

  The Promised Ones

  Guardian War #1

  By Brad Stucki

  Copyright 2011 by Brad Stucki

  Kindle Edition

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  Chapter 1

  The sun blazed overhead. A cloudy haze bringing the hope of fresh rain drifted across the peaks of the Serrania de Baudo range in Columbia. These low lying mountains were covered in rain forest like the swampy Atrato Valley below. It was January, during one of the two dry seasons in the pacific lowlands. High on the side of one peak was a rocky outcropping. Concealed along it was a strike group.

  Major Javin Cox, Special Operations, touched lieutenant Bowski on the shoulder and pointed down into the valley as they peered over the rock. He nodded and hefted his rifle back into position. Strict silence had to be maintained.

  In the valley center about 10 klicks away, surrounded by thick foliage and sitting beside the flowing Rio Atrato, a grouping of opaque domes glistened in the sun. It was the Toad nerve center on Earth.

  Javin raised oil-lens binoculars, trying to get a closer read on the enemy. A clear view was blurred by heat waves shimmering in the moist air. He wiped the sweat from his brow above peculiar black eyes, silently cursing the mud smear it left. His dusky brown hair, grown long and shaggy out of his military crew was caked with mud along with his damp jungle cammos. His slight but strong frame was tired and sore from hiking.

  It’d taken twelve days to get this close. Slow crawling, silent moving, and creeping under the jungle canopy to avoid detection. They’d done well in spite of the rain, heat and humidity; in spite of low rations and living off the land. Javin couldn’t shake the feeling they were being watched. Was it just paranoia? If they’d been seen, they’d never have made it this far.

  He stared up at the sun. It’d be nice to have some cloud cover. A huge storm would be even better. On the ground they could handle the downpour. It would hinder the Toads in the air.

  It was just three months ago the Toads had come -- three months which seemed an eternity for the human race. Finally, the age-old question had been answered. Are we alone in the universe? No! There were others.

  The Toads were a race that looked as their name implied. Humanoid in form, they averaged around six feet tall with sleek rubbery skin. No hair, dark green backs, lighter green fronts, and large eyes. Their heads were flat and oblong. Sinewy arms and legs were lined with whip chord muscles allowing them to move almost faster than the eye could follow. The guess was they were descended from amphibians. One thing wasn’t a guess. They were hard to kill.

  When they arrived, they arrived with vengeance. Civilian or soldier, woman or child, it didn’t matter, they just killed. Humans quickly learned it was Us or Them.

  Their first surprise strike left earth’s civilization virtually defenseless. Every military installation was decimated. Now it was a guerilla war. Military commanders of all stripes and nations were in hiding with whatever forces they could muster. Underground organizations were fighting back however they could.

  The Toads didn’t want subjugation, didn’t want tribute. They simply wanted Earth under their total control.

  Now they were launching systematic drives, rounding people up. Javin was still trying to blank the memories. The word “humane” didn’t register. There was no comprehension of mistreatment. Humans were simply vermin to be corralled and controlled without doing too much damage to the planet they’d claimed.

  Javin had been in Quibdo on some R&R when the Toads had invaded. He’d ditched the jeep after two close calls with Toad aerial patrols and moved through the jungle on foot to join up with his ops team at their base hidden in the San Jorge Valley. They’d been fighting the ‘War on Drugs.’ None of that mattered now.

  While in the city, he’d overheard some of the Caucano Indians who lived in the Atrato swamps telling their city brethren that the Toads had built their ‘fortress on earth’ on their land. Normally those Indians kept completely to themselves and were the ones Javin had tried to interdict from hauling the raw coca out of that region. He knew he had to do something with the intelligence. Communications were either down or being monitored. Transcontinental transportation was non-existant. It was up to him to do something if he could.

  Javin had thought long and hard as he'd hoofed through the jungle back to his base. By the time he'd arrived he had a plan. After two days being back a nagging feeling told him he had to move now. As he’d learned from countless missions, he didn’t ignore the feeling.

  No sooner had he gotten his people beyond the base perimeter into the jungle than a Toad aerial patrol swooped in and hit the base with pulse cannons. Javin and his team had barely gotten clear with the few support stragglers who’d decided to come along and help with the ‘package,’ a suitcase nuke Javin carried on his back. Most of them had made it the 12 days to where they were now, overlooking the Toad base.

  He unconsciously touched the chest pocket where his lucky marble sat and continued to study the compound.

  Javin put the binoculars down and rubbed his neck. His unease was getting worse. He’d never been wrong about something like this.

  Should they abort?

  They’d never get this close again.

  He crept down the line to where his team waited. Only his team would make the final run into the valley. The rest would wait on the ridge. He’d thought about using those remaining as a diversion for about a minute. It wouldn’t work. The Toads would figure it out. It was best if the Toads had no idea anyone was close. Besides, the support people weren’t combat hardened, just company clerks and file boys who’d gotten out with his team.

  They’d keep their heads down until Javin’s team had done its work. Then it wouldn’t matter. The compound would hopefully be destroyed. The nuke on Javin’s back would see to that. He'd have done his part. It would be up to others to carry on and make of it what they could.

  The nuke had been sent down for another mission, one planned from before the Toad attack. It had been intended for a strategic deniable ‘hit’ against a group of terrorists using drug money to finance their operations. It would have been assumed the terrorists were playing with nukes and made a big mistake. Now the bomb had a different target.

  Without their command center Javin hoped the Toad invasion would falter, giving humanity a chance to regroup and fight back.

  They couldn’t turn back.

  Huddled underneath some thick growth his team waited. Four men and one woman had fresh mud caked over every exposed part of their bodies, masking odor, minimizing heat signature, dulling surfaces. They weren’t sure what Toad sensors picked up. Any electronics except the nuke had been left behind. They did everything they could to blend in. It seemed to be working . . . so far. Except that bad feeling which kept gnawing at Javin.

  He knelt and gestured for his Second to help offload the pack. Two others came forward and helped slather fresh mud on him and the pack. He was used to the smell.

  Once re-caked, he re-shouldered the pack.

  Javin had been assured the nuke wouldn’t go off until armed.

  Right.

  The tech who’d instructed him also said t
he power source was shielded.

  Shielded enough?

  That tech was dead. Fallen into a jungle sinkhole he should have seen. Sloppy. He hoped he hadn’t been sloppy in his instruction. Javin would find out soon enough.

  Setting the timer wouldn’t be a problem. He’d already decided if they made it close enough, he’d give his team time to get clear then set it off manually. He didn’t want the Toads to find and disarm it.

  Javin looked at his team, paused then reached into his pocket, pulling out his lucky marble. His Second smiled, knowing what it meant. The small milky-white sphere with wriggly-grey veins felt warm in Javin’s palm. Clenched in his fist it gave comfort.

  Whatever worked.

  Javin tilted his head to Second, held up one finger. Take point. The man nodded. Javin pointed out one more. You next. Then touched his chest and glanced at everyone to make sure they understood. The next two he pointed to either side, splaying fingers, thumb holding the marble against his palm. Fan out. The last knew he was Rear.

  Second moved to the rocky escarpment and slithered over. The next followed. Javin moved slow, easing gently over the outcropping. No sense jiggling the nuke too much.

  He landed light on the mulch then ghosted into the foliage.

  ***

  It took all afternoon to reach the valley floor. Javin called them in with hand signals and climbed into the center of a dense thicket to wait for night. It would be clear with a full moon. It increased their chances of being seen.

  Javin shrugged out of the pack and pulled open a flap. His team watched him arm the mechanism, hesitating now and then to remember the steps then pulled out a palm switch, holding it in his right hand.

  If they were attacked and couldn’t get closer, Javin would touch it off hoping they were close enough. He rolled his lucky marble across the fingers on his left hand. It was still warm. He’d been holding it since leaving the ridge.

  The others’ eyes were dim points of light against their mud caked skin. Javin sat and pointed to the last of the sun, motioning with his finger across the remaining sky and down. They understood. They’d wait until dark to move out again.

  Each took a place equally spaced and sat facing out, Javin in the center. His package had to be protected.

  The jungle had become eerily silent. No insect chitter, animal growls, or hoots. It was so quiet he imagined hearing the sound of moist air being belched from the smoldering jungle floor. The mud on his skin had been itchy. Now it was a coolant. Not really cool, but cooler than the hot, tepid air.

  They waited.

  ***

  Night fell. No one had moved except for minor shifting. Javin peered through the growth. Faint moonglow shimmered from behind a mountain peak lighting the starry sky on that side. It would top soon. They should move as far as they could before then.

  There had been no movement from the Toads. No ground or air patrols. Odd. Too quiet. Javin’s uneasiness grew. What was it saying? That he was going to die? He already knew that.

  There was something else: a vague feeling of familiarity -- Déjà vu. He couldn’t pinpoint it. Giving up, he filed it in the back of his mind to let his subconscious mull it over.

  Stupid feeling to have now anyway; nothing I can do about it.

  Javin gathered his group and he made hand-signal assignments. Point would rotate every thirty minutes to stay fresh. Flanks would move a bit wider, and everyone would spread a bit, just keeping eye contact. A tighter group would be easier to spot.

  They were ready to move out.

  Javin then made what he thought was a crazy decision. It was spur of the moment, something he couldn’t explain. He just had a compelling feeling he couldn’t shrug off, so he followed it. He left his weapon in the glade, det switch in his right hand . . . lucky marble in his left.

  Why am I doing this? This is really crazy! The feeling was so intense it couldn't be ignored. Something about holding that marble in his hand outweighed the safety of holding his weapon instead. He could only imagine what his squad thought. They didn’t question, though. He’d brought them home enough times they figured he knew what he was doing. Javin just figured he was going nuts. Well. Not completely. No one but he knew how he’d been given that marble years ago. He still was trying to figure that one out after twenty years. The marble wasn’t magical or anything. It never did anything except help him focus while he was holding or looking into it. It was special in a way he couldn’t describe. It was his lucky marble. To top it off, now it felt like it was getting warmer and starting to glow. A trick of the moonlight?

  His team moved slowly to catch the sensors they knew would be in place. Javin wished he could take point. He was the best, but had to hang back to protect the ‘package’.

  They hadn’t gone far, when Point held up her hand. Everyone froze. She motioned Second to come up. After a time, they stood and signaled all clear.

  One down, how many more to go?

  They moved on.

  The night remained still, the jungle silence unnerving. Time wasn’t measured in minutes, but by the moon trekking across the sky. By steps growing into klicks.

  Two more times they stopped, once by Point, another by Left Flank. Each time the device was successfully circumvented.

  Toad technology was simple. Straight-line programming was easily duped. The hardware, though, was virtually indestructible. Just like the Toads; seeming soft and squishy, but hard to kill.

  Javin’s nerves suddenly spiked. There was a rustle on right flank. Johnson was gone! They all froze. After a bit, Javin motioned Second over to check it out. He moved silently out to the area, stepped around a bit then turned, shaking his head. He held up a hand. Question?

  Javin pointed. Go further.

  They all waited, listening. After a time, Second appeared just ahead of where he’d stepped out of sight; shook his head.

  Move out! Javin signaled. Eyes hardened but obeyed. They’d never left a comrade before. Javin didn’t like it either, but the nagging feeling was more urgent. They’d been seen. The Toad’s had been watching all along.

  Why are they waiting?

  It didn’t matter. What mattered was getting closer. Javin’s thumb hovered over the det switch. Just a bit further. One more klick at the most. He thought he could make out the faint glow of the domes up ahead emanating above the tall foliage they could barely walk through.

  Time seemed to freeze. Javin’s senses sparkled. A hundred steps and he knew left flank had been taken. There’d been no sound. Javin just couldn’t see him anymore.

  He didn’t stop. Did the others know? It didn’t matter. All that mattered was the target. He hated that he couldn’t let himself feel for his people.

  Feelings didn’t matter, only what he had to do.

  A soft breeze swished through the foliage. With it Second was taken. Javin saw the Toad rise up and pull him down and away, the bushes swishing as he was dragged quickly out of their perimeter. Point spun just in time to see. Then she was grabbed. Javin didn’t have to look to know their tail was gone too.

  Do they know about the nuke?

  Javin stood still. Someone was coming. He could feel it. Someone he thought he should know.

  Strange. That feeling again.

  Startled, he realized his lucky marble had grown hot. He opened his palm to see small trickles of wriggling light coming from inside. He didn’t know why he wasn’t surprised.

  He looked back up. The presence was drawing closer. If it reached him, he instinctively knew he’d not be able to touch off the nuke. Javin sensed a dark power coming closer that would overwhelm him.

  A ring of Toads rose in full view, their lanky bodies moving forward about ten paces off.

  This is it. Can’t wait any longer.

  Javin was surprised it wasn’t harder. He took a deep breath holding both hands out, palms up where the Toads could see; lucky marble in one hand, the det switch in the other.

  He thumbed the detonator -- absently noticing his lucky
marble flash with searing white . . .

  Chapter 2

  Where am I? I’m floating, drifting. It’s dark. It’s warm.

  This isn’t right! I shouldn’t be here. How do I know? It’s a feeling.

  He floated longer. Then another question came to his mind.

  Who am I? It seemed odd to even ask inside his mind. It struck him that he should know.

  A name flashed. “Javin Cox.”

  Mine.

  There’s nothing with it, though; nothing telling who I am.

  I am myself.

  I don’t know who that self is. I should know. There is nothing other than just the being I am now, this instant.

  He felt confusion.

  I am a blank. A non-being. Yet, I’m aware. He waited for a time in warm patience.

  What am I?

  A picture came to mind. I am a -- _____________. The name doesn’t register.

  ‘Man?’

  Again a picture flashed in his mind. A form, head, arms, legs . . . another word. Human.

  Oh, that’s what I am.

  How did I get here? His mind darted back and forth. Do I belong elsewhere? I don’t know. This drifting, it’s all of my existence, all I remember. Yet I feel I don’t belong. It’s not . . . natural.

  He continued drifting in the blackness. Then another thought came.

  Time?

  How long? Short, I think.

  More time passed.

  Drifting. Warm.

  FLASH!

  He wobbled, finding he was standing now, surrounded by white. He looked around. There was no contrast, no depth to measure size, just endless white. This place, is it big? It seems infinite, yet small, comfortable.

  He looked down at himself. I have a body? Yes, that’s it. Pale. Appendages. Arms, legs, feet . . . Head. Hands reach to touch . . . hair. What color? Don’t know. I’m naked! Strange he should wonder about that. He didn’t know anything else. And of course he had a body. Why wouldn’t he? Something told him he should be surprised. Something deep within told him he shouldn’t even be . . . Alive?