Deaths Head
A Hero in His Own Right
They gathered in the library and watched as Garrison unlocked the mission briefcase from his wrist, opened it and slid out the information he'd been given at headquarters. It had been a long time between missions but they'd all known the period of rest wouldn't last forever.
Chief took a position next to the Lieutenant as he laid the material out on the table. The map was already marked but he'd never spent much time on the names of the countries over there. It seemed like the borders and who was in control of 'em changed about every other week. He concentrated on the lay of the land, where the mountains and rivers were, how far it was to the coast, or to the places where they might find people willing to help if they got in a jam. "So where'r they sendin' us this time?"
"Romania"
"What!?" Casino snorted. "Why? The Brass runnin' low on vampires?"
Goniff looked up from the desk lighter he was toying with, "Vampires?!"
"Sure. That's where they come from y'know. Transylvania's right in the middle there." The explosives expert pushed himself off the sofa and ambled across the room to the table. "C'mon, I'll show ya." He flattened the map out with his hands and tapped a finger on it, looking up at the little cockney who'd joined them and was now starring at him wide eyed. "Right there, see, in all those creepy mountains. You seen the movies in stir didn't ya? Well, that's all based on real facts. The place is crawlin' with vampires and werewolves n' stuff like that."
"Knock it off Casino." Garrison was about to laugh, until he saw the looks Goniff and Chief were giving their safe cracker. Goniff would fall for any tall tale. Garrison thought he probably liked a good scare, just like a little kid, and would have a good laugh over it when it was all over. Chief's early background though was tribal, and he knew from what the young man had told him that his grandfather had passed on the legends of witches and shape shifters, evil beings who could change themselves into animals and birds and wreak havoc among defenseless people of the tribe. He didn't think Chief believed in those stories, but there was no sense in letting Casino get started on them.
"We've learned that one of the top resistance leaders in the area has been captured. The Germans are holding him here." He settled his finger on the map. "An expert interrogator is supposed to be on the way."
Actor spoke up from his place across the table from the Lieutenant. "And they want us to go in and get him out?"
"You got it."
"And just how much time do we have to effect this rescue?" The con man knew they wouldn't have much time. Resistance was stiff in the area the Warden had indicated but it was under German control and their lines of transportation were protected by air cover and a strong presence on the ground. It wouldn't take long to move an expert to that location, or to take the man away to Berlin for that matter, and they could do it by air or ground.
Garrison glanced around the group. "Intelligence says we only have forty-eight hours to get in there and get him out."
"Jeeze! Two whole days! They think we're slowin down or somethin' Warden?"
The Lieutenant's mouth quirked up in a quick smile. "No. They're taking it easy on me because I'm just back off medical leave."
"Thoughtful of 'em." Chief leaned in and really studied the map now. "How'r we gettin' in and out?" It looked like it was mostly mountains. Jumpin' in could be tricky but if he bet on things like that, he'd lay his money down on a parachute drop as close as they could get to the target, probably at night…. And with their luck, probably right in the middle of a storm.
"We're going in by plane. The locals will meet us when we get on the ground…."
"Uh… by locals you do mean the resistance guys, right Lieutenant?"
"Sure he means the resistance guys!" Casino snorted. "They just have pointy teeth and flap around at night…. Hey Goniff, it's a full moon too. Just the thing for those werewolves."
"Casino, that full moon will make us much more vulnerable going in. I don't think I would make too much of a joke out of it." Actor advised.
"Aw C'mon. We never jump in decent weather." The group around the table murmured their agreement with that statement. It seemed they were quickly becoming the section experts in jumping in foul weather.
"And I'm afraid we're holding with tradition on this one." Garrison said with a shake of his head. "There's a storm moving into the area, that's why we have to be ready to go and out at the airfield in an hour. We're going to beat it, but not by much. They're hoping that bad weather will slow the interrogator down. So get your gear and meet me out front in fifteen minutes. The truck's already here."
The men moved out of the library, talking as they made their way upstairs to their quarters to pick up their gear. Garrison shook his head and laughed at the comments he could hear as they climbed up to their room….
"Say, Goniff, you go on down to the kitchen, see if you can rustle up some garlic, and I'll go break out that special box a silver bullets they sent over from the armory last month. Chief'll pack up our stuff. Won't ya kid?"
"Uh….."
"Pappy, you better asked Actor to do it. I think we could use some a them oak stakes the gardener's were usin' the other day."
"Oak stakes?!"
"Aren't you gentlemen forgetting the silver crucifix? Goniff, you have managed to obtain one of those on one of your little shopping trips, haven't you?"
Great, he thought, they were all in on it, even Chief.
ggg
Chief had been right. They were going to be jumping right into the middle of a storm, or at least that's the way it felt on the plane. As they approached the target the wind and rain intensified as if nature itself was trying to warn them away. The Warden, with hardheaded determination, ordered them to the door and reassured them as they hooked up their lines. They'd meet up with the underground as soon as they landed, do the job and be on their way home in a matter of two days.
The only one that believed that was the Warden and a close look in his eyes revealed a dark shadow of doubt.
The storm seemed to know when they finally arrived over the drop zone. It increased its efforts to thwart their attempt to reach their objective. As the first three men left the relative safety of the plane lightening flashed across the sky and thunder crashed around them, the wind changed direction and the plane twisted and dropped pulling it off course. The fourth man jumped clear.., and then the fifth, just as lightening struck the aircraft causing an eerie blue glow to dance over its metal skin.
ggg
Chief rolled to his feet and gathered the silks without thinking. They'd been drilled on this hundreds of times and jumped often enough that it was automatic now, his mind could be elsewhere, worrying about where the others were, while his body accomplished the task. As soon as he had the fabric gathered into his arms he headed into the trees to hide it away before he set off in search of the others.
g
Casino came down just on the edge of a bluff, completely exposed and only a couple of yards from a drop of more than two hundred feet. He shrugged out of the harness tethering him to the chute that was still open, still filled with wind, and still trying to pull him off the edge and down into the darkness. As soon as he released the last buckle the rig took off on its suicidal course. He couldn't stop it, there was no point in trying. He watched as the thing disappeared into the depths. Dropping down into a crouch he waited for his heart to stop its frantic attempt to leave the confines of his chest.
g
Actor finished covering the chute with earth and leaves. Straightening to look around him he started off in the direction he assumed was north. He was sure he'd seen two of the others being carried that way by the winds. The storm whipped sand and rain into his eyes and nearly pushed him off his feet. The bright flash and sound of the plane as it crashed into the hillside behind him was lost in the roar of rain as it made its way towards him.
g
Goniff clutched his knees and pushed himself against the rock face, trying to melt back into the small alcove he'd found in the wall of the gorge. The lightening was coming so fast and furious it was almost as if a light had been switched on, but he couldn't use it to see where he was or search for the others. He could only huddle in to himself, cover his ears and squeeze his eyes shut and pray for it all to end.
ggg
Chief stayed still, leaning against the large tree and just listened. The storm had already blown itself out. The wind dropping from a raging screech to a desolate moan. There was a stream somewhere nearby, he could hear the musical echo of it reflecting off the rocks that lay off to the south, but the fog, trees and mist hid it from view. There was a raven complaining to himself about the weather somewhere far off to the east and in the distance, barely discernible, the bone chilling call of a hunting wolf. He found his knife in his hand as he turned to search the surrounding area for that threat and shook his head at the absurd idea of defending himself against one of the ghosts of the forest in hand to hand combat. Sliding the blade back into its harness he griped his pistol instead, pulling the slide back he checked to make sure the gun was ready. He pushed himself away from the reassurance and safety of the trees and continued his search for the others.
g
Casino rubbed the back of his hand over his eyes. The wind had tricked him, dropped off to nothing and then caught him off guard, throwing dirt and stinging sand up into his face, blinding him. He blinked hard and squinted off into the shadows to his right. He was sure he'd seen something, but the grit in his eyes caused them to water, blurring his vision. He strained his ears to hear and pressed back against the boulders that were strewn along the bluff.
g
Actor moved quietly along the tree line. He was certain he'd seen something up ahead but was not going to risk discovery by calling out. There was a gorge to his left, the trees giving way to a jumbled boulder field that would provide hiding places for a patrol of German soldiers. He moved forward another few yards and halted, still in the cover of the trees. Wiping wind blown sand from his eyes he squinted into the mist, willing himself to take in the whole scene before him rather than concentrate on one particular form or shadow. He waited for any sign of movement. Holding his breath he could only hear the clucking of a raven somewhere in the distance.
ggg
"Fellas? Hey, fellas!" Goniff called out barely above a whisper. It felt like he was completely alone. The prickling along the back of his neck told him there was no one around to watch his back. Griping the pistol tighter in his hand he moved away from the safety of the small shelter he'd found, dropping into a crouch as the sudden beating of wings sounded to his right. He watched a large rook push up through the damp air and disappear up over the cliff top, its desolate call echoing against the rocks. The freezing rain that had lashed out at them in the night was reduced to a steady depressing drizzle, the frantic wind dropping to a despondent sigh that roused itself into an occasional moan as it met the cliff face or moved through the skeletal trees that clung along the bluff. The little second story man waited. The others would be out looking for him. All he had to do was wait and pretty soon Chief would come sneaking through the trees and find him, or he'd hear Casino cursing and complaining under his breath as he searched for him. Any minute now Actor or the Warden would come striding along that path there and call him to heel for fumbling his landing again and putting them behind schedule. But as the minutes crept past he realized that no one was going to come for him this time. If he was going to be rescued it was going to be up to him to do the rescuing.
As he struck out Goniff wished he'd paid more attention to the Warden's bloody maps during the briefing. But he hadn't. He never really did. He didn't figure he had to. Actor paid attention. Blimey, most a the time Actor already knew all about where they were going, and some a the time he already knew almost as much as the Warden did about why they were going there. And Casino paid attention. Even if he groused about it and made out it wasn't none of his concern, Casino paid attention. Goniff'd see him going over the stuff after the rest of them were done, if the Warden left it lying around, or slipping into the library after, to look up about it. Oh he'd deny it alright, if he was caught at it, but Goniff knew what he was up to. And Chief! It must be some kinda Indian thing, but Chief always seemed to know where they were, and where they were s'pose to go. Goniff figured if they dropped Chiefy in the middle of the jungles of Africa he'd probably know how to get back. As for the Warden, well, he carried the maps didn't he? And Goniff thought if the truth came out about it, the Warden probably had everything stored away in his head so the maps weren't really necessary anyway. He just hauled them around so the other blokes could use them if they needed to. Yeah, Goniff wished he'd paid more attention to the Warden's bloody maps, now that he was all alone and he had to make the decision which way to go to get out a this mess.
He stopped under a tree to sympathize with himself over his predicament. The storm had blown over, leaving cloud cover and a light wind behind. Rainwater was still dripping from all the branches and it had an annoying talent for finding its way down the back of his neck. He pulled his collar up and hunched down into his jacket and fell to thinking. Nobody said nothin' about jumping into no ravine, so he knew he had to climb out, but he didn't know which side to pick, and if he picked wrong he'd come up where he'd have no chance of hooking up with the others. He tried but he couldn't logic his way into a decision. He'd gotten himself all turned around, and if he'd ever known the direction he was headed in he didn't know it now. He finally just struck off for the far side. It didn't look so steep over there and he was always one for taking the easy way if he had a choice.
When he got about halfway across he heard a sound that brought him up short, almost stopped his heart. He'd heard dogs howl before, but the high wavering call froze the blood in his veins. Without ever having heard it before Goniff instinctively knew the call of a hunting wolf. And it was coming from the direction he was headed. He turned and retreated back the way he'd come. He could get out the other side. Climbing wasn't that hard, it was part of his business after all. Besides, one direction was just as good as another when you didn't know where you were going.
He hadn't gotten more than halfway back when another sound stopped him cold. The echoing sound of shouting men and gun fire. It didn't last long. After a bit of quiet he heard another shout, and he recognized what it meant even if he didn't speak the language. He'd heard it before…. 'Hand's up!' Someone had got themselves caught up top on the other side, and it didn't take much imagination to figure out who...
'Blimey!' he thought, 'Great choice. Wolves on one side, Germans on the other.' He was too close to one for comfort, and too far away from the other to be of any use…. After a moments consideration Goniff chose another direction, straight up. He climbed up into the large tree he'd been leaning against. He'd settle in for a bit and try and figure out what to do next.
The creak of branches and a soft fluttery sound caused him to squint up into the tree top. He expected to see the rook again. Instead his eyes locked onto the bottoms of someone's boots and he watched, hypnotized, as they swayed in the breeze over his head.. The sharp snap of wind in silk brought him out of his trance. He couldn't tell who was hanging up there, the fabric of the parachute had shrouded the figure. He couldn't risk calling out in case he was being hunted. As he searched for the quickest way up he prayed that the reason there was no sound or movement from the bloke overhead was that he'd frozen where he hung when he'd heard those shots, and then the noise Goniff made as he clambered up into the tree, but he had a sinking feeling that he was wrong as he started to climb.
Goniff hadn't quite made it level with the man when he heard it, the sharp snap of a small twig breaking as someone stepped on it. He froze where he was and looked down, scanning the ground below him. Two men were moving along not fifteen feet from where he sat in his tree. They were dressed in German greatcoats and they carried German automatic rifles. By the way they were moving it was obvious that they were searching for someone. 'Me prob'ly,' he thought. He held his breath and shrank back against the tree, hoping his dark clothes would blend in with the rain soaked bark of the trunk. Just as they started to move away the wind kicked up again and caught the silk overhead, causing a loud snap that drew the searchers attention.
Goniff glanced up. The wind pulled at the fabric and set the man turning as it unwrapped from around him. He caught his breath as the Warden was revealed to him. He'd gotten himself tangled in the lines some how and some of the cords twined around his left arm pulling it up over his head. Another cord lashed across his neck, forcing his head down against the raised left shoulder. Goniff started up without thinking, reaching out for his commander, forgetting the men that threatened him from below…until one of them called up to him. He had no idea what the man said, he didn't understand the words, but here was no mistaking the meaning… Stop! Come down!
"Sorry, mate. Can't understand a word of it." he called down as he continued on his way. The order was repeated and the man giving it gestured with his rifle while his friend fixed his sights on the Warden. 'No mistakin' that', he thought as he took a last look at the still silent form of his commander before starting down.