Chapter 9
Alec Freeman arrived for the emergency meeting of senior staff to find the conference table strewn with papers, photographs, envelopes and numerous small boxes, all taken from Edward Straker's sealed archive.
'Looks interesting,' Alec's first comment brought a wry grin from Straker.
'More than interesting Alec. Seriously disturbing in fact. I picked the file up this morning. Just look,' and he held out a picture of Edward Straker in his uniform.
'Bloody Hell,' Alec was nearly rendered speechless, 'is that… it is. It's an alien. Shit.'
The picture, although monotone, grainy and faded with age, showed the soldier standing next to the body of an alien. There was no mistaking the shape of the helmet, the chains that embellished the spacesuit, the darkness of the visor with the thick liquid behind.
'It's a fake. It has to be,' Colonel Lake was also stunned by the revelation.
'No. No it isn't. I only wish it were. But there's more,' and Straker picked up more photographs; a UFO, partly buried in a sand dune, another dead alien nearby, eviscerated corpses littering the area.
There was more evidence; scraps of red material that could only have come from a space suit, a length of chain, all stored in the neat tidy boxes that had been hidden away in the sealed file since 1942. Other remnants from the scene had also been squirreled away; several bean-sized, brightly patterned and beautifully marked ovoids, obviously alien: a strangely designed knife, still stained with dried blood, shards of glass-like material, all these were laid out on the table, along with other more mechanical looking objects Rachel picked over them, thoughtfully.
'Dear God.' Alec repeated Ed's own earlier thoughts. 'Where the hell did these come from?'
Straker was quiet for a moment. When he spoke his voice was soft and full of emotion. 'My great-uncle. Edward Straker. He died shortly after the photographs were taken according to these records. His personal account of what happened is also here, as is the report by his commanding officer, after Edward's death. No wonder his military service details were sealed.'
He seemed to be visibly upset by the revelation. He leafed through the papers on the table, 'Reports, eyewitness accounts, artefacts, they're all here. Definitive proof that aliens were active on Earth during World War II.' He looked up at the three colonels sitting around the conference table, his eyes haunted by the thought of what had happened to Edward. 'And the remains of that UFO, and the aliens who were in it , not forgetting Edward Straker's body, could still be there, buried in the sand. We need to find them.'
He picked up the small brown cardboard box that contained Edward's medals, and opened it curious to see why they had not been forwarded to his widow. And there, on the top, two things he had never expected to see. No wonder his widow had never received them. He picked them up in awe.
Sergeant Tom Parrish
Following reports of an aircraft crashing some distance away, Corporal Straker and myself went to investigate. We found the craft half-buried in a sand dune and a group of enemy soldiers were being guarded by four men in red suits who were wearing helmets as if they were deep sea divers. Cpl Straker moved closer to the group as I covered him. I saw one of these men attack a prisoner in a horrific manner, gutting the man there on the sand. Cpl Straker, despite my orders, immediately ran towards the group, firing his rifle in an attempt to stop any further mistreatment of the prisoners. Cpl Straker was successful in killing two of the strangers with his rifle. The other two red-suited men then advanced on the Cpl, who defended himself and managed to kill both of them.
I joined the Cpl and we released the remaining men. There were too many for us to take prisoner, so we removed their weapons and let them go. A few of the group indicated that they were Soviet citizens who had been forced to fight for the Reich. I decided to escort these men back to our company, leaving the Corporal to bury the bodies. I took some photographs of the scene before I left.
While I was escorting the men I heard the sound of a huge explosion and I ran back to the site..The half-buried craft must have contained explosives and these had detonated, causing it to be completely destroyed. Shrapnel was spread over a wide area and Cpl Straker was dead from a head injury. I buried his remains with those of the enemy that he had killed, along with their weapons and other effects, and marked their grave with a German rifle so that we would be able to retrieve their remains at a later date. I removed several items of evidence from the site to give to my commanding officer as proof of this account.
Report handed to Captain John Cooper.
Additional note;
Special Operations Executive.
Report – Tunisia Incident December 24th 1942 Grid Reference; QX 1295SR
This record and all pertaining evidence to be sealed. No information to be released under any circumstances. Corporal Straker's medals to be retained.
Corporal Edward Straker
Medals Awarded;
1939-1945 Star
Africa Star
War Medal 939 – 1945
Iron Cross Ist Class (Posthumously)for exceptional gallantry on the field of Battle Dec 24th 1942 Awarded to Edward James Straker for his actions on that day in saving a group of enemy soldiers with no thought for his own safety.
Order Of Lenin (Posthumously) Awarded to Cpl.E. Straker for outstanding service to the motherland in defence, strengthening peace and strengthening labour.
