Reckoning ~ Indian Hill 2 ~ A Michael Talbot Adventure (34 page)

The major turned back towards the private. “Anything yet, Private?”

“Nothing yet, sir.”

“Very well, let me know the instant you have reestablished communications.”

“Sir, yes, sir,” the private answered as the first of many sweat beads fell to his desk.

Chapter 36 - Mike Journal Entry Seven

The Bastille

The first impact, for what else could it be? Shook the ancient prison to its very foundation. We would later learn that the blast struck southern Paris, more than fifty miles away. But at the time, I would have sworn that it was a fifty-thousand-pound-bomb smacking dead center on one of the many turrets that occupied the place. It was almost comical the way that everyone, including myself, went stock still after the first blast. I guess at the time, we were just waiting for the other shoe to drop. It did drop and in a big way, just not within the seemingly endless span of our collective breaths.

It was after a minute of standing still that people began to realize another impact wasn’t imminent, and again there was a huge rush for the phone banks. This time, there would be no sweet solace in hearing a loved one on the other end. All circuits were busy according to the automated voice. We knew better though, all circuits were destroyed.

Nothing happened that day or even the next, for that matter. But Southern Paris was burning. All efforts to stifle the flames had been ineffectual. Whatever the aliens dropped had made the city a molten pit. Fire crews couldn’t even get close enough to attempt to quench the insatiable blaze.

One water plane had been dispatched to the area but never got within twenty miles of the fire. An alien vessel had swooped down and literally obliterated the tanker. The massive water carrier had simply been there one-second and then vanished into a mist of water vapor as the aliens discharged a seemingly smaller version of their city killer.

In the ensuing two days, people had begun to travel out of their homes or shelters or hidey-holes or wherever else they had sought refuge. Life still had to go on, even if three huge alien ships were parked a mere twenty-five miles above in the atmosphere. And for another two days, after the tanker had been downed, still nothing happened.

People tried to do what was necessary to survive, but it’s hard to get anything accomplished when the executioner’s axe is poised above your head and you can see its shadow. Southern Paris was still ablaze but it was significantly less than it had been. Crews were now making progress against the inferno, and still nothing happened.

It was on the brink of dawn on the seventh day when the aliens made another move, this one seemingly even more inexplicable than the last. They began to broadcast a message over the radio waves. What frequency you ask? Every one of them. Their message was going to be heard, of that there was no question.

I spent most of the seven days in my room or down at the rec center on the treadmill trying to get some wind back into my sails. I had no desire to venture outside in the least. I wanted to blame it on my recuperation, I was beginning to feel like my old self again. Of course, I mean the “new” old self, but that’s beside the point.

Every time I even considered going topside, I had to resist the urge to throw up. My knees would quake, my muscles would spasm and my friggin’ bowels would loosen. My knocking knees and weakening bowels had almost cost me a serious mishap on more than one occasion. I would get physically ill at just the mention of getting fresh air. Nurse Hitchins was all over me to go outside and get some color back in my cheeks, but I would have none of it. I had just finished my five-mile run, okay jog, okay trot, on the treadmill when I returned to my room to cool off. I was preparing to take a shower when my door was thrown open.

“Anyone ever hear of knocking?!” I yelled as I pulled my shorts back up.

“Honey, we’ve already been through this.” Nurse Hitchins dismissed my modesty with a wave of her hand. “Come on, you’ve got to hear this for yourself,” she said. After entering the room, she half dragged me through the door while I tried in vain to put my sneakers back on. We were halfway out the door when I saw two armed, uniformed men running towards us. They had their weapons at the ready and looked like they meant business. I was hoping they would run on by but the reaction of the man in the lead when he saw me made me think otherwise.

“Captain Talbot?” the lead man asked.

I really didn’t feel like a captain at the moment, half naked, all sweaty, and being pulled by a nurse half my size. I stopped short and, by default, so did my nurse. She nearly teetered over but I was quickly able to stop her momentum and prevent her from toppling over. The sudden movement had caused some pain deep within me. I winced but did my best to not let anyone know.

“Yeah, that’s me.” I said as I slowly stood straight up. The second man had overtaken his comrade and stopped about three feet further down the hallway. So there we were, the first man who asked my name, Nurse Hitchins, myself and the second man who seemed not very thrilled with whatever orders had been bestowed upon him.

“Nurse, I am going to have to ask you to step away from that man,” the first man said as he lowered his weapon onto her midsection.

“Who are you miscreants?!” she yelled. “How dare you point that thing at me! I will not step away from this man!”

“Ma’am, step away or we will have to physically remove you!” the second man chimed in.

What was going on? Would I be able to take two armed men in this confined space? Would I have enough in me to do the job?

“I will not!” she said defiantly. “I have spent weeks healing this man and I will not see it undone here and now!” she said as she placed her hands on her hips.

The second man did as he warned her he would do. He picked her up by the waist and deposited her five feet away from the little ordeal. Nurse Hitchins started to run back into the fray when the first man placed the barrel of his weapon directly in her midsection. Instantly, she froze.

“Whoa!” I said with my hands up in the air. “That’s enough! Your beef is with me. Let the nurse go.” Nurse Hitchins looked into my eyes, pleading for help. “Let her go,” I said more forcefully. “And I will do what you want of me.” The man’s eyes unglazed a bit more as he started to regain his composure.

“Come on, man! Let her go.” I half begged. The man, ever so slowly, eased his finger off of the trigger.

“Go,” he said to her.

“What about you?” Nurse Hitchins asked.

“Go,” I answered. “Don’t make this any worse than it has to be.” She turned and began to run.

When she had put a comfortable distance between us, she turned and yelled. “I’m getting help. I’ll be right back!” Tears were rolling out of her eyes.

The first man who approached turned towards me after making sure that Nurse Hitchins wouldn’t be making a surprise return.

“Captain Talbot, I need you to come with us.” He may have made it sound like a request, but I doubted that I had any choice in the matter.

“Whatever you two are going to do, just it do it now and be done with it,” I shot back. I was in no mood to spar with them. And I sure wasn’t going to make it any easier on them by acquiescing to what I felt was the inevitable.

“Sir?” was his only response.

“I do not plan on going with you two voluntarily to be a patsy in whatever agenda you and your superiors have.” I spat. If I had been a snake, venom surely would have shot out; but that not being the case, saliva would have to do.

“Sir?” Now he even cocked his head. “I think that you have a misunderstanding of our ‘agenda’.” He smiled slightly. Now it was my turn to look confused.

“Listen, I’m not much for games. Why don’t you just tell me who you are and what is going on here?”

“Sir, my name is Vice Sergeant Roy and my friendly friend over there is Corporal Michaud.” The second man merely nodded in my direction as he kept a vigilant watch on anybody that was coming in our general direction. “Sir, we are from the French Foreign Legion and we’ve be sent here to protect you.”

I was now completely lost, I felt like a six-year-old lost in the woods of Maine. “The French Foreign Legion? Who sent you and who are you protecting me from?”

“Sir, I would feel much more comfortable if you would let me answer all of your questions in a more secure location.”

“Listen, Vice Sergeant, I already told you, I’m not going voluntarily, not unless you give me some answers and some damn good ones at that.”

The corporal turned to his sergeant. “Let me just knock him in the head and let’s get out of here.”

“You’re more than welcome to try, Corporal, but I can almost guarantee you’ll end up with a 5.56 millimeter enema,” I answered back. The corporal, who probably outweighed me by fifty pounds, sneered and began to close in on me.

“Corporal!” the sergeant shouted. “That’s enough! You so much as misplace a hair on his head and I’ll deal with you personally!” The corporal stopped but he was using every muscle in his body to restrain himself.

“You aren’t worth it,” he said calmly as he took his place five feet away and again began his scan of the surrounding area.

“Alright, Captain, can I at least explain while we’re moving?” the sergeant almost pleaded. as I merely folded my arms.

“Alright, you friggin’ Americans are so obstinate. We were sent here by Colonel Ginson.” My interest was piqued. “He wants to get you out of here before the locals get to you and throw you to the wolves,” he continued.

“Why would the locals be after me? What have I done to them?”

“You truly don’t know?” he asked.

“Do I look like I know?” I answered curtly.

“Have you been near a radio in the last hour?”

“No, I’ve been on the treadmill. What’s so interesting about the radio? First Nurse Hitchins, and now you.”

“The aliens are broadcasting across the radio wave spectrum. They somehow know that you’re here, and they want you back.”

My face instantly paled if it hadn’t already although I didn’t want to show any weakness to the corporal. If not for that, I most likely would have just collapsed. Now my mind was racing. Did the doctor forget some deeply buried tracer? No, that couldn’t be it. They would have just stormed the building and be done with it. Why all the drama of flying overhead and destroying the southern part of the city? I had been so engrossed in my own thoughts, I didn’t even notice when the sergeant began to talk again.

“… And if we don’t give you up, they’ll take out another chunk of the city.”

“What..what did you say?”

The sergeant was beginning to look a bit agitated. Loud voices began to rise from the lobby area.

“Let’s just get him, so they’ll go.” And a different voice, it sounded female,

“I will not lose any more of my family.”

“Captain, the aliens are ordering the people of Paris to turn you over. If they don’t comply, they will take out another section of the city until there is nothing left.” This time I did falter, but I shot my hand out fast enough to make it look more like I had slipped than fallen. I don’t think either one of them bought it. “Listen, Captain, the natives are getting restless; you can hear them as well as I can. We move now or we might not make it.”

“I…I can’t be responsible for the lives of these people, if I run, they’ll die,” I answered meekly.

“Listen, Captain, my orders aren’t to protect them, they’re to protect you. Let’s go!” he shouted as a group of five or six turned the corner and began to approach.

“There he is!” one of the men said as he pointed right at me. He was one of the orderlies whom I had been joking with on almost a daily basis. They began to advance faster when they saw me, but Corporal Michaud intervened, leveling his weapon squarely on their leader.

“Any one of you takes one step closer and I’ll kill all of you!” he said menacingly. Their steps faltered, looking down the barrel of the rifle he held and by his tone of voice. The group felt confident that this wasn’t an idle threat. And yet, that almost didn’t stop them. The orderly put his hands out to halt the progress of his little group. He whispered into the ear of the man nearest him, who looked surprisingly like the head janitor of the place, but I sure never remembered that scowl on his face. The men departed, reluctantly.

“Captain Talbot, they’re leaving now, but believe me they are coming back most likely with more people and weapons. We need to move now.”