The Storm Maker (17 page)

       “Got
it,” Carvyk said.

       They
started slowly towards the wall that they had seen. When they had closed the
distance to the location to around fifty feet, Sthykar indicated for them to
stop. They hid behind tall trees and thick bushes and squinted to look through
the gaps between the branches and the leaves. Sthykar looked through his
binocular and saw a thick, concrete wall that he estimated to be twenty feet
tall. The wall itself seemed to curve ever so slightly indicating that this was
a circular or an elliptical enclosure. There were three rows of barbwire on top
of the wall and he saw small electric live wires tangled and twisted around the
barbwires. This was definitely not for animals; somebody did not want anyone to
come inside at any cost.

       “Take
a look to your right, Colonel,” Jontvyk whispered to him.

       Sthykar
had to move slightly to get a view to his right, but finally he was able to
find an opening and looked through his binoculars. Now he was really stunned.

       There
was a huge shiny steel gate of five-inch thick bars stacked vertically and
horizontally at intervals of a foot and standing as tall as the wall. It was
being guarded by six armed men completely clad in black from their head in the
ski mask to their legs in combat boots. Two of them were outside the gate and
four were inside. In front of them was a dirt road leading from the gate and
disappearing into the forest.

       “Colonel,
tell me what you think about their rifles,” Sthykar whispered to Jontvyk.

       “Automatics
I would say,” Jontvyk replied.

       “But
not ours; they are Ranx Rifles,” Sthykar said.

       “Now
that you tell, I remember seeing those in our armory,” Jontvyk said.

       Relkyett
had slowly weaseled his way to the side of them and whispered, “I knew nothing
about this. The land salesman had said this plot was bought by a lumber
company?”

       “What
do they need guards for,” Jontvyk said. “Who is going to steal lumber in the
middle of a forest full of trees?”

       Sthykar
and Relkyett chuckled lightly.

       “Here
is what we are going to do,” Sthykar said and then turned to face his friends.
“It could be nothing but innocent overzealousness for security, or they could
be up to no good. We are going to slowly walk up to the edge of this forest and
stop just before the open clearing. Then Jontvyk, Dentar and Karyett and I will
walk up to them and inquire. Relkyett you stay here with Evyk and Carvyk. All
three of you keep your rifles pointed to the gate.”

       “Let
me come with you,” Relkyett said. “I need to meet my neighbors.”

       “Actually,
its better they don’t know you till we ascertain what they are up to,” Sthykar
said. “You just keep watch on Evyk and Carvyk, make sure they don’t shoot us in
the back.”

       All
of them guffawed but quickly quieted down.

       “You
expect a fight?” Relkyett asked.

       “Prepare
for it,” Sthykar said. “If it goes down, we will shoot the two guards in front,
then Colonel Jontvyk and I will jump to the left and Dentar and Karyett will
jump to the right and we will hug the wall. That will give you clear shots at
the guards inside the gate. They won’t even see your position in the trees.”

       After
giving these directions, Sthykar, followed by the others, slowly walked up
almost to the edge of the clearing. There was a twenty-five foot gap between
the wall and the edge of the forest. This gap had nothing growing except for
grass. They slowly and quietly walked to their right till they were in front of
the steel gate and the guards, while still concealed behind a few feet of
woods.

       “Aim
your rifles,” Sthykar said and Relkyett, Carvyk and Evyk did likewise.    “Let
me do the talking,” Sthykar whispered., “Let’s go.”

       The
guards were startled as soon as Sthykar and company walked out of the woods
towards them. It was as if they were not used to seeing other people besides
themselves. Many of them took a close look at the rifles they were carrying.
Sthykar had put his rifle on his shoulder in a relaxed manner; however he could
swing it down and fire in less than two seconds. The rest of them were carrying
their rifles in their arms, barrels pointing to the ground.

       “Howdy,
folks?” Sthykar purposely put on a wide smile, almost to tease them.

       “Who
are you people?” one of the guards standing outside demanded. He spoke
Starfirian but had a foreign accent. He lifted his rifle in both hands but did
not point at them. The other guards had also raised their rifles to a more
alert positions. The guards inside walked closer to the gate but maintained a
couple of feet of distance.

       “That’s
what we want to know of you,” Sthykar still maintained his smile, but Jontvyk
and others were looking at the guards dead serious. “As for us, well we came
over from the other side of the hill.”

       The
two guards outside withdrew back to the gate to confer with the four guards
inside. The guards inside seemed equally astonished and were asking questions.
They were alternatively looking at Sthykar and friends and talking amongst
themselves. In a few moments they broke off their chatter and the two guards
outside once again approached them.

       “Why
are you on our property?” the second guard who had been quiet asked. He also
had similar foreign accent.

       “Well,
I was talking to a friend I know at this lumber company that owns this land,”
Sthykar said, “and he said they care about the woods not the game, so they let
us hunt here.” Sthykar had just made up the story, but he knew these fellas
weren’t going to know otherwise.

       The
guards were startled for the moment then the first guard walked closer to
Sthykar.

       “Now
look here. We brought this property a while back. It is ours now, not that of
that lumber company,” he said, “I take it you fellas are some kind of hunters
who are here for the vacation. Well, do not hunt around this area or nearby.
You stay away or else…” the guard lightly tapped his rifle.

       “Or
else what?” Sthykar said, irritated. He wasn’t going to take a threat like
that. They could feel the tension rise in the air. Sthykar’s friends slowly
lifted up their rifles without pointing. The guards inside now moved forward
and leaned on the gate.

       “You
fellas care for a cigarette,” Sthykar asked again with a wide grin. The guards
did not smile but stood there looking serious. Sthykar took out a cigarette,
lit it up and started smoking it. Then he laughed, this surprised the guards.

       “We
will stay away,” Sthykar said. “Anyways, there is nothing here for us to hunt.”

       “Good,”
the guard said., “Now please take your leave and don’t come back.”

       Sthykar
took once last look at the wall, the gate and the guards and then, along with
his friends, slowly walked backwards towards the trees. As soon as they were
near the woods, they turned around and quickly disappeared amidst the bushes.

       “For
a moment there,” Relkyett said standing up from behind a bush, “I thought it
was going down.”

       “Let’s
get out of here quietly but quickly,” Sthykar said. “Back to your house. We
have to talk this over. I am suspicious.”

       “So
am I,” Jontvyk said.

       They
hurried back towards the cabin while occasionally watching their backs to see
if they were being followed.

       Meanwhile
the guards were engaged in a debate of their own.

       “Tryox,
why did you let them go?” a guard from inside asked the guard who had spoken
with Sthykar. “What if they tell someone?”

       “Gymmx,
What would you had me do?” Tryox replied. “They were four of them with rifles.
Besides you all seem to forget, we are under orders not to shoot first without
permission from Capitan Suka Manx or the Boss himself.”

       “Unless
we were under attack,” Gymmx said.

       “They
were just talking,” Tryox said. “Besides, what if they had a few more of their
hunting friends hiding in the woods. They seemed pretty confident walking up to
us. Either they are retired army men or they had backup in the woods. Either
way I would not have wanted to find out.”

       “We
aren’t a bunch of nobodies either,” another guard from inside said. “I say we
could have taken them on.”

       “Now,
you all don’t get your trigger fingers itchy,” Tryox said. “Capitan Suka
appointed me as the head of all you guards watching this gate because I make
calm and rational decisions. And I have made that decision. You follow my
orders.”

       “Well,
what are we going to tell the Boss or Capitan Suka?” an older guard asked, “Or
when are we going to tell them?”

       “I
say we say nothing. These hunters aren’t going to give much of a flit about
what they saw,” Gymmx said. “Besides, now that we let them go, Suka would flip
out and eat us for lunch.

       “He
will do no such thing,” Tryox said, “He gave orders not to shoot without
permission himself. If we don’t tell them, and they find out, then we sure as a
stone are in trouble for defying our orders.”

       “You
tell them then,” Gymmx said. He threw up his hands in the air and walked
further inside in an agitated state.

Sthykar,
Jontvyk, Karyett, Carvyk, Dentar, Relkyett and Evyk walked back to the hunting
lodge where they were met with Felptar and Hayett along with the rest of their
friends who had arrived while they were away. They were all standing outside
drinking ale and chatting as the sunlight had started to retreat and the
evening was upon them.

       “Started
the hunt without us?” Muftar, an ex-colonel in the regular army asked in jest.

       “Glad
to see all of you made it today,” Relkyett said.

       “Forget
the hunt,” Sthykar said. “We came across something more interesting, even
potentially dangerous.”

       That
fazed nobody but only brought smiles to many faces. Sthykar motioned for them
to follow him inside. The new arrivals were, along with Muftar, Nyk—a polo
player, Tulkar—a car mechanic, Cap Kartar and Cap Symptar—two titled
aristocrats, and Pelyett who was an airplane pilot for a civilian passenger
airline.

       “Alright,
listen up.” Sthykar put the game bag in a corner and then walked up to a big
wooden table and put his rifle on top of it, as did a few others. “Some of you
arrived late and you missed it. We came across a large compound guarded by
armed guards. They were most likely foreigners. Before we go hunting, drinking
and merry making we need to deal with this situation.” Everyone assembled
around the table to discuss this matter.

       “What
exactly happened? Who are those fellas?” Felptar asked.

       “I
will tell them,” Jontvyk said. Then he took around fifteen minutes to summarize
their day and their encounter with the armed men. After he stopped everyone
looked perplexed.

       “What
do you know about your neighbors?” Muftar asked Relkyett.

       “All
I know is what the land salesman told me about a lumber company, which bought
that land,” Relkyett said shrugging his shoulders.

       “That
is what makes me suspicious,” Jontvyk said. “Why would a lumber company need
six armed men? I have never heard of logs getting stolen.”

       “Me
neither,” Carvyk said.

       “Six
men is just one shift,” Sthykar said. “If they are running the standard three
shifts, and add in a couple of leaders, that’s twenty men they have to protect
dead wood.”

       “Well,
what could they possibly be doing?” Tulkar asked.

       “Now,
they could be just overzealous about protection,” Sthykar said. “But Jontvyk is
right; I am suspicious too.”

       “Want
me to call the police?” Relkyett asked wryly.

       The
room burst out laughing.

       “We
have more firepower amongst the fifteen of us here than any town police
department within the driving distance,” Hayett said. “And most of us have
battlefield experience or training.”

       “And
we have Colonel Sthykar with us,” Nyk said. Everyone chuckled and Sthykar
laughed and shook his head.

       “All
of you are forgetting one fact,” Dentar said. “We army men don’t have
jurisdiction over the civilian regions—the police do.”

       “Sthykar
does,” Symptar said. “As part of the award he got from the King five years ago,
one of his privileges is that he has National Investigation Authority. He can
act as a policeman in any town in the country.”

       Many
of them looked at Sthykar with awe, not having known about this.

       “He
is right,” Sthykar said. “But more importantly, those men had Ranx Rifles;
could be automatics. We would be sending some unaware policemen into trouble.
Nor can we wait. Now if they are alright, we don’t have to worry. But if they
are up to no good, they may attack tonight before we tell anyone else. We sure
can’t go out hunting in small teams and risk getting ambushed by them.”

       “Well,
we can hold them off here,” Kartar said. “Fifteen against twenty is almost
equal and we would have the advantage of fighting inside a fortified cabin and
having experienced warriors.”

       “They
could cut us off by cutting Relkyett’s telephone line,” Carvyk said.

       “That’s
not a problem,” Sthykar said, “I have brought my radio with me, if needed I can
even reach the House of War on it. What I don’t want to do is to allow them to
make the first move and then get an advantage over us. I want to act before
they do.”

“What
are you thinking, Colonel?” Jontvyk asked.

       “I
saw the wall briefly,” Sthykar said. “But away from the gates it doesn’t appear
to be guarded at all. I can easily climb in at night, make a note of what is
going on inside, and if it still appears suspicious, then tomorrow morning I
will call my friend Sayett at SPASI.”

       “How
many of us are going to break in?” Felptar asked.

       “Just
me,” Sthykar said., “I am the only one with police powers, but more importantly
it would be easier for me to get in and out just by myself. If two or more
people get separated that would cause confusion.”

       “He
is right,” Jontvyk said. “I would want to go with him, too, but we have to act
fast and we don’t have time to properly plan it. But Colonel.” He turned to
Sthykar. “We will come with you to the compound, to back you up if needed.”

       “Oh,
definitely,” Sthykar said, “I was about to ask that of you.” He paused for a
moment and turned to Relkyett. “Spread a map of your property on this table.”

       “Right
away,” Relkyett said and brought a map from a cabinet and spread it over the
round table. Everyone leaned in to get a closer look.

       “I
seemed to remember two hills on our way there,” Sthykar said and moved his
finger over the map. “There they are.” He pointed to two small ridges in
between their cabin and the compound.

       “Now
who here brought ATR Rifles along with them?” Sthykar asked. The ATR
Rifle—Attack Rifle (ATR)—was the automatic rifle that was the standard for all
the armies in the Starfire Nation. Army officers could take theirs with them
outside the base, and ex-army officers, as well as titled aristocrats, were allowed
to own them.

       “I
brought mine along,” Kartar said.

Symptar
shrugged and said, “I only brought my hunting rifle.”

       “I
have mine,” Felptar said.

       “Mine
is right here,” Relkyett said. “I’ll get it out of the gun cabinet.”

       “Anybody
else?” Sthykar looked at everyone. The rest shook their heads or said nothing,
“Well, I brought mine along,” Sthykar continued. “That gives us four automatics
and the rest are hunting rifles. Let’s see how we can distribute them
effectively.” He once again leaned over the map.

       “Leave
one ATR here,” Jontvyk said. “If they storm the place, the men here could use
some automatic fire to repel the invaders. Take the other three with us.”

       “Right,”
Sthykar said. “Relkyett you are staying here with your ATR. You know your own
home the best and how to fortify it if needed. I am leaving Carvyk, Evyk,
Pelyett, Symptar and Tulkar with you here. I need to take the army men with me
in case we get in a battle.” he turned to Symptar. “We need your ATR.”

       “No
problem,” Symptar said. “One of you can put it to better use than I could.”

       “Colonel
Jontvyk,” Sthykar said. “You take Symptar’s ATR and along with Dentar, Hayett
and Karyett, hold up on this hill nearest to that compound.” He pointed to a
ridge on the map. “I am giving you all army men and the hill will give you the
advantage of the high ground. You are the first in line if they attack.”

       “We
will hold them there alright,” Jontvyk said, “and be back you up if needed.”

       “Felptar
you have the other ATR,” Sthykar said. “You along with Colonel Muftar, as well
as Kartar and Nyk will hold the second hill here.” He pointed to the second
ridge on the map. “You will be Jontvyk’s backup. I am not putting all eight of
you together because the enemy could flank Jontvyk’s hill and surround them; in
that case you will have to come to his aid.”

       “For
them to pull that off, especially at night,” Jontvyk said, “They would have to
be elite troops.”

       “Let’s
not underestimate them,” Muftar said.

       “Right,”
Jontvyk said. “I am not disagreeing with Sthykar’s plan, just saying.”

       “Alright,
if we are all in agreement…” Sthykar said and waited for anyone to speak up.

       “That’s
nice of you Sthykar, but we don’t need no agreement,” Relkyett said. “As an
active colonel of the elite army, you have the highest rank in the chain of
command here. Just give us orders.”

       Others
nodded.

       “We
are on a vacation,” Sthykar chuckled. “But, yes, I am taking command of the
situation now. Everyone knows what they are doing, then.”

       Then
they all rushed to get their rifles and their equipment. The ones who were
staying behind started the preparation to fortify the cabin. The ones who were
going with Sthykar started packing their bags. Sthykar inspected his ATR, his
hunting knife, and started looking inside Relkyett’s tool shed for various
tools for infiltration.

* * *

       A
group of six men wearing lab coats had congregated near a fireplace. Most of
them were sitting on a sofa and a few chairs placed around there. A couple of
them were standing with charts and diagrams rolled up in their hands. Beneath
them was an expensive rug. Many antique pieces were put around the room to make
it more decorative. An old pendulum clock was strung on the wall, above the
fireplace. They were talking and their discussion was intense and the men were
sweating even in the air-conditioned environment. They were the last of the
survivors. The scientists and the expert engineers whose roles had necessitated
that they work till the end of the project. The rest were gone, presumably
dead, they were used till they weren’t needed and then thrown away after they
fulfilled their roles in the construction of the project. Now that these men
were almost finished with their part of the project, trepidation had filled
their hearts.

       “Men,”
a voice interjected. All the side conversations stopped to give deference to
the speaker. The speaker was ‘Boss’ Hantex Rut, the Ranxian industrialist,
dressed in a suit, a cigar in one hand and a briefcase in the other.

       He
took a few steps towards the men in lab coats. After glancing at each of them
he spoke to the ones who were standing. “Is the machine fully operational? No
glitches this time?”

       One
of them replied meekly, “Yes, sir, it is but…”

       “But
what?” Hantex Rut demanded.

       “The
assembly and setup is still not complete. However, you can do it yourself. Our
work is essentially done.”

       “Oh,
I see,” said the Boss; he retracted his steps to the door, threw down his cigar
and turned, taking ,a pistol from his coat pocket. “Your time is up then. We
don’t need you anymore,” he calmly said.

       “Can
we go back to our families? We promise we won’t say anything...you don’t have
to hurt us; we can’t harm you,” one of the scientists said in a desperate tone.
The others were equally desperate.

       “Sure
you can harm me,” replied the Boss. “You know how make to make this machine;
you probably know its weaknesses. But never fear; your deaths won’t have been
in vain. You have helped me in such a great and historic deed. I am going to
create a powerful empire.” He laughed rancorously.

       He
suddenly became deadly serious. He looked straight at them and said, “You were
useful, but no more.” Then he aimed his pistol at the closest scientist and
pulled the trigger.

       Bang!

       Blood
shot from the man’s chest as he fell with a thud. The others were scared, but
in a desperate last attempt they made a mad dash towards Hantex. The Boss had
not expected this; he was paralyzed for a second, but quickly recovered and
pulled the trigger four more times and shot down four of them. The remaining
one had gotten close enough to slam both of his hands on Hantex’s gun-wielding
arm. The gun went flying under a chair. The scientist kicked the boss in the
stomach, knocking him to the ground and then he dove to recover the gun.

       “Montex,
all of you, come in here fast. Fast, damn it,” Hantex was screaming out the
door.

       Corporal
Montex and a couple of his men got through the door, but their Ranx rifles were
still slung behind their shoulders and they were not ready to fire.

       “What
the…” Boss exclaimed. “Take out those damn rifles and start shooting this
fool.”

       “None
of you move,” the scientist screamed at them. He was holding the pistol with
both of his shaking hands and had aimed it right at Hantex. He took a moment to
figure out his situation; Hantex, Montex and a couple of his men were frozen on
the spot; they had not managed to get their rifles into a position that would
allow them to fire right away.