Transition Plan Chapter 76: In His Majesty's Service Part 26 – "Up in Smoke"

Author's Note: Definitely T-rated because of real and threatened violence and assault.

…

The faint orange red glow of the coming dawn grew along the watery horizon cutting into the purples and blues of fading night.

Hautpmann Schneider quickly roused his Special Weapons team, "Come on men, we have to locate where that light is coming from before they rise and douse it."

They picked up their gear. Schneider himself wore the intimidating weapon on his back. Much of it was his design. The dozen warriors hiked up the beach, and soon they could see the very faint glow of a lamp.

"There is something in those trees sir," noted one of the men, pointing.

Schneider held his hand up, "Hold short. Unter-Lieutenant, give me a report on the target."

Von Goss pulled out his spyglass, and described what he saw, "Sir. It's a house… a family house… built in the trees. An English-style house. Not a guard shack. It's definitely a residence. A gigantic treehouse."

Schneider was skeptical, "A treehouse is hardly something normal for the English. How do we know there aren't soldiers there, Von Goss? Looks can be deceiving. Anything English on Nigerian soil means we have a fight with the enemy."

Von Goss responded, "Sorry to keep bringing this up, sir, but are you sure this is Nigeria? We're still ten miles away by the Kapitan's maps and reckoning. Perhaps we've discovered the rich Count's estate that our Army intelligence units briefed us on. The one that owns the vast cargo empire – Clayton Shipping. He's rumored to have enormous amount of land in the far western edge of Nigeria. This may be his estate. We have no fight with him."

Schneider was insistent, "It doesn't matter whether we're on some Englishman's property or government property in Dahomey or Nigeria. Everything is a target in these parts."

Before they moved forward, Schneider adjusted a few valves, and heard the rush of the petrol into the hose and the increased weight of the fully charged weapon. The ignition coil was active, "Whoever is there is going to get their first demonstration of our power unless they surrender."

"We're ready sir," noted the Unter-Lieutenant. Behind him six of the infantry hefted spare tanks of petrol in addition to their provisional backpacks and rifles.

…

Jane rose unusually early. It was still mostly dark. Something was not right. She'd tossed and turned all night. She realized what the problem was. It was dead silent. It was never quiet in the jungle. Ever.

On her way to the overlook, she passed Lily's bedroom with the three sleeping children. Jeanne was draped over Jack on his mattress. She'd been particularly fearful last night and obviously took comfort in Jack's arms. She couldn't bother with them disobeying the rules right now. They weren't supposed to sleep in the same bed but given the fears of the war, it wasn't something she'd more than remind them about. Then she saw the lamp still burning.

"Goodness sakes; the light!" she thought and immediately snuffed it. Someone out there who didn't belong in the jungle had seen it. Someone who had silenced all the animals by their presence. Jane wondered why she had not been warned.

There was a lone sound - the call of an ocean seabird. Jane called back. Hearing that Jane was awake, one of the tropical shorebirds landed on the balcony railing. It was the patriarch of the gull flock.

Jane greeted the gull but it got right to business, "Good morning, friend Jane. Something is wrong. We saw strangers while we were hunting and eating sand crabs last night. Down by the bamboo grove. They came in by boats from out of the ocean."

Her heart rose in her throat. She'd never told the shorebirds to watch and warn her about an enemy infiltrating by the sea. Everyone assumed they would march in by land. No wonder she was not awakened, and she sighed, "An invasion by sea. How careless of me."

She peered out down the beach. She saw dark figures moving toward the treehouse against the white sand.

"They are far too close," she whispered.

They were only a mile down the beach. In another few hundred yards, the family would be vulnerable to gunfire.

"Thank you, my avian friend. Now take your flock and get far away from us until I call you back. Leave by individual families so it doesn't seem that the flock is startled and flushed. They have guns."

"Yes Jane."

She quietly awakened her family and the Jacot's.

She said urgently, "Jack, You and Jeanne must flee. There are enemy soldiers on the beach. Take Lily. Go back to the nest until I call."

Jack resisted, "No, Mother. We are staying in case you need us. Or," he choked, "You and Grandpa get hurt and need help. We will be in the canopy ready to go."

"No Jack. Mind me."

"We must stay, Mother. Only you and Grandpa can fight. There are a dozen soldiers out there."

The argument was just wasting time.

She relented, "All right Jack. But all three of you must remain hidden and when Daddy or I say to go, you must."

Jack understood the grave risk, and answered, "Yes, Mother."

"What's all the hubbub about Jane, dear?" Archimedes asked, rising a little slowly from his late night reading the radiotelegraph messages, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

Jane was almost in tears regretting her mistake in preparation, "The Germans are on our shore, Daddy. They came from the ocean last night somehow. There was no ship. I would have heard it. They saw the night light."

Archimedes was instantly awake, "So where are they now?"

She pointed. They could see the advancing shadowy forms.

Archimedes fretted, "Oh dear. I never thought… Armies don't usually come from the ocean."

"Nor did I. I'm so sorry Daddy. Without thinking of that, we are all in great danger," she was panicked, but managed some kind of control.

"It will be all right Jane. There is only a squad."

"You're wrong, Daddy. We're English. We're at war with the Germans. You read the messages. Ordinary civilians are getting caught in the cross fire all the time in Europe."

Archimedes was instantly serious, and from his room pulled out his binoculars, and she could see his lips thin examining the troops, "We're not ordinary civilians. Where's my elephant gun, Jane?"

…

Watching the light be extinguished, Schneider said tersely, "So… we've been discovered."

Von Goss used his spyglass again, "I see movement. People on some kind of balcony, sir."

"Keep going, men," ordered the Hauptmann.

After only a few more yards forward, Jane called out in her strongest voice to the enemy column, speaking her native language, "I think that is far enough."

The sound of a female English voice stunned them, and Schneider returned the warning in English also. He knew seven languages, "So… you are English?"

Jane said seriously, "We're on English soil, so why wouldn't we be?"

Josephine bravely joined her on the balcony rail and both were now very visible in the increasing predawn glow. Archimedes stood by both.

Schneider, completely unprepared to encounter English civilians instead of English and Nigerian warriors, engaged them. He did have a conscious and really didn't want to shoot women. He asked, "Who are you?"

"Who wants to know?" asked Jane.

"Hauptmann Fritz Schneider. German Army," he explained. That was enough.

"Then, good sir, given the current state of world affairs, who we are is privileged information," Jane announced.

He grumbled to himself, "How dare a woman talk to me that way?"

He was further upset that he told them who he was and he was still didn't know who he was dealing with.

Von Goss gave an amused grin and handed the spyglass to his senior officer, "Sir, look. They're all… umm, naked. Two young women and an old man. Both women are pregnant. They are definitely European, sir. Not locals. And they aren't armed, sir."

Schneider peered through the binoculars for some time enjoying the sight. Pregnant or not, the women were beautiful to look at fully nude. He smiled, drawing the wrong conclusion, "Lucky old man. But not for long."

Von Goss warned his leader, "Sir, I need to look for snipers. This could all be a clever ruse to make it look like these are civilians."

Schneider reluctantly gave the spyglass back to his deputy and called out politely, "We wish passage through your estate, Frau. We can see you are clearly civilians. We do not wish a fight."

Jane explained, "I'm sorry, Hauptmann Schneider, but this is private land. I cannot permit any trespassers here. Especially if you mean harm to our friends in the village beyond us. You are German soldiers."

Schneider was starting to get annoyed with the woman's clever word games, "Woman, you have no authority in a time of war to tell me what I can or cannot do on your land."

Jane knew she had to be careful. The stress level in his voice told her that his patience with negotiating with her was wearing thin. He was not a diplomat. He was a warrior.

Archimedes finally spoke, "But good sir, I have the authority to forbid you trespass. I am a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Army, I will have you know. This is a closed border for Germans. Surely you must know we are at war, dear sir."

At last Schneider had an excuse to attack, but he didn't really want to kill the old unarmed man, despite his claim. They were still out of range and needed another fifty yards or so for the weapon and their guns to be effective.

Schneider threatened, "Then you sir are a combatant. And your land is a battlefield. But I will be kind. I will give you chance to arm yourself, Colonel."

Archimedes kept his gun hidden behind a column.

He responded, "Not the women. They are both with child. Leave them alone. You know the Conventions of War."

Schneider snapped, "I do know the rules, Colonel. You should too. Anyone in a conflict – soldier or civilian - should be considered a casualty of war when engaged with resisting the will of enemy combatants. But, sir, I will permit them a chance to get out of the line of fire."

Archimedes knew they were still out of range or they would have likely opened fire already. He whispered in French so Josephine would understand, "Leave Jane, and take Josephine and the kids now. This is getting very bad. We'll all be hostages or worse. I can keep them pinned down for awhile as you escape."

Jane was adamant, "No, Daddy! Absolutely not. I will not leave you here to die alone. This is my home that you built for me and Tarzan. I will defend it."

Josephine was equally adamant, "I'm staying too, Baron. I would be rather dead than in their hands. I do not wish to keep my husband from carrying out his mission by becoming a hostage."

Without looking up to reveal their position, Josephine spoke to the kids hidden in the high canopy above, "Just get Jeanne and your sister to safety, Jack, when we say so."

"Yes, Madame Jacot," replied Jack very nervously.

Jeanne tried to object, but she was so frightened that she couldn't. She clutched Jack even tighter just to keep her wits. Both her parents could die in the war. But so could Jack's and his brave grandfather. This was terrible beyond words.

Jane whispered, "Daddy, I have an idea."

He could see she had her bow carefully hidden from view. It was the family's long bow, capable of great distances, more than any German infantry rifle. She had the quiver, full of savage-looking steel-tipped arrowheads. He knew that she could fire a spread. Soon, the sun, when it broke over the horizon, would be at their backs and in the faces of the soldiers. The odds were more even. But timing was everything. They had to keep these people talking and take advantage of the fact they seemed reluctant to kill civilians. They just exchanged glances and they both understood what needed to happen.

Archimedes sighed, "Times like these Jane dear, I wish you were not as stubborn as me."

…

Jane tried to gain the upper hand and stall for time, knowing the cycle of the sunrise, "You there, Hauptmann Schneider. I will give you five minutes to leave our beach and head back west to Togoland. This is our land. This is my house, and you will not pass. Find another way to do whatever it is you're going to do."

Another report came from Von Goss to his superior officer, "There are no snipers sir. Only them. They really are just civilians. Three brave civilians."

"Brave but stupid civilians…" noted Schneider.

Schneider still didn't want to fight seemingly helpless, pregnant women and an old man. He tried one more time to convince them to get out of the way of their mission.

"You are directly in our path, woman, to fight your English garrison. Our fight is with them, not you. You must surely know that if you were a Royal Army outpost that we wouldn't be talking now. I am being reasonable and patient. I need you to realize the inevitability of what I need to do."

Jane continued her defiance, "To let you pass, sir, is an impossibility and an abrogation of my responsibly as an English citizen."

Schneider was about at wits end with this headstrong woman. He was glad she belonged to the old man and not him. They could argue all day. The men were fidgety, and one whispered, "Let us charge and shoot them sir. Just to shut the bitch up. Or better yet, capture them. Give me a few minutes with that one and she'll know her proper place with a man. Under me."

The rest snickered. Both pregnant women were still desirable to the men, who hadn't been with a female in months.

Schneider just glared at the 18 year old conscript, and turned back to Jane, "I think not, Frau. Perhaps you need a little demonstration of what you are up against if you resist."

He pumped the handle to the tank and increased his grip on the hose and the brass nozzle. He pulled the trigger and sparking device. A blindingly bright stream of flaming liquid shot from his device to a lone palm tree overlooking the beach. It flared up brilliantly. The tree became blackened ash nearly instantly and collapsed, marring the pristine white sand.

"Daddy!" Jane screamed and grabbed Archimedes' arm. Josephine was aghast at the raw power demonstrtated before her and had to clutch the balcony rail as her knees nearly gave way in fright.

Above the adults, Jeanne curled into a ball in Jack's embrace, scrunching her eyes tightly shut, shuddering and wanting to disappear into his arms altogether. She shook violently. This was the same nightmare as Morocco. The intensity of the awful flames was once again fresh in her mind. She nearly been consumed once already by fire in her Moroccan bedroom. They could feel the intensity of the heat from here. Like everyone else, she knew that the next shot was headed their way.

Archimedes was strong for all of them, and sighed, "Dash it all. I loved the dates on that tree. "

Schneider yelled at the occupants of the treehouse, to the cheers of his men, as he raised the nozzle of his weapon skyward, "Behold the Flammenwerfer, the pride of the German arsenal."

Lily bravely stifled a scream with a forlorn little whimper against Jack's neck, knowing what was at stake if she and the other children were discovered. She looked at Jack in fear and he whispered, "That's my brave little sister."

She smiled weakly. Jack put some distance between the children and the treehouse, ready to bolt if his mother or Jeanne's mother ordered them.

Jane noted their separation movement, and frowned at the aggressors, gathering her courage to taunt, "I am not impressed, Hauptmann Schneider."

The Hauptmann scoffed, "Well you should be. Or if you don't you soon will be. You can't stop us. I have been patient enough. Now be a good little English family, Frau. Stop being brave and pretending you are soldiers, and let us through. You have detained us long enough, and I demand restitution for that inconvenience to us. We promise not to kill you if you don't resist. After my men take your food and some much needed recreation with you the other Frau, we will be on our way with our business with the real English Army. It would be a shame to waste your lives trying to be brave for a country you are 3000 miles from."

Threatening the young mothers was too much for Archimedes, and he stated very seriously, "Let me remind you, good Hauptmann Schneider, that I am the real English Army around here. We cannot abide your demands. Especially about the women. Turn around and go back to Togoland. That battle is lost. Accept it."

Archimedes brandished his elephant gun in plain view of the German soldiers, causing the squad to step back.

He whispered to the women, "I have another idea Jane. Josephine, reach for the lantern candle slowly. Jane, wrap pieces of that furniture polishing rag around your arrows."

"Yes Daddy; of course."

Out of eyesight of the Germans she tied the rags to her points, "A few more minutes Daddy. The sun is coming soon."

"I fear it will be too late. We only have seconds."

The Germans conferred about this new situation, faced with the fact that the Englishman's gun had much greater range than theirs. Von Goss recommended, "We have to take them out, sir. They want the fight. The old man has a real gun, even if it is just his hunting rifle."

Schneider agreed reluctantly. He left a pregnant sister and his elderly parents in Munich. This was too much like that. But he was a soldier - not a humanitarian. He shouted, "With your gun drawn, old man, you have made your choice. You and your women will pay the price of resisting the German Army. Prepare to be the first casualties in the Battle of Nigeria."

"Not if I can help it, good sir," growled Porter, and took aim behind his telescopic sight.

Schneider's eyes reflected his hard resolve, and was about to order the assault, "Prepare to open fire to pin them down and take out the man, and prevent the women's escape while I recharge the Flammenwerfer."

Another young soldier who had no desire to savage the women questioned, "Sir? Both women are with child. Are we cold blooded killers of babies?"

"You heard my order. War is hell, Gefrieter. They are the ones resisting us. If they want to die defending the garrison and Nigerians, then let them."

"Yes sir," the young recruit answered, hoping he never had to explain this to his fiancé.

Seeing that the soldiers were distracted over some kind of argument with each other, Archimedes took aim at Schneider, and started to squeeze the trigger.

Suddenly from the trees erupted a dozen humanoid shapes.

Schneider was truly shocked, "Gorillas attacking us?"

The apes poured from the jungle's edge on to the twisting trail that led to the beach, charging toward the Flammenwerfer squad. The gorillas roared and bellowed. Unbelievably, they all wielded clubs. The Germans were totally surprised, and it threw them completely off guard.

"How is this possible? They are just dumb animals," Von Goss questioned.

Several soldiers shouldered their weapons and looked for a clear shot at the animals, but the trail was too twisted, and it provided natural cover for the rushing apes. Additionally, the coastal rocks prevented a clear rifle shot.

Kala led the charge of gorillas down the trail, roared, twirling her club high over her head, "Don't hurt my family!"

"Protect Porter and Jane from the outlanders!" yelled Kirok whirling his enormous wooden weapon around to intimidate the men.

Terk exclaimed, "It's human butt-whoopin' time!"

To the Germans it only sounded like gorillas growling and grunting as they raced toward them.

"Kala…" was all that Archimedes could helplessly whisper as he looked on with Jane and Josephine, hearing the apes' shouts. The trio were almost as shocked as the Germans, especially that the normally gentle Mangani carried weapons.

Schneider got over the shock at the apes behaving like humans and took command again. He noted, "So… it would seem the jungle itself would defend itself from us. If they want a fight, we'll give them the fight. Animals need to be reminded why they are afraid of fire."

He hefted the Flammenwerfer's nozzle, preparing it for a second, larger blast against the gorillas.

Schneider ordered his men, "If I take down the three leaders, and set fire to the brush above them, the others will be trapped as they try to scatter. You men pick the rest of them off. Try to save some of the pelts and we'll wear them as trophies when we level the village. The Nigerians will look on in fear what we did against their precious gorillas. I don't want to waste valuable petrol on apes."

The men acknowledged his order.

Schneider further instructed, "When they come into the open around the next bluff, we'll open fire on them."

The squad made a big mistake. They forgot about the old man and his gun for a moment. That's all the break that Archimedes and Jane needed.

Jane looked on helplessly from the balcony, "Daddy? Our family. They'll burn them."

"I know dear. I need just one more moment. Light those arrows. We'll only have one chance."

Schneider looked back at his men, and ordered, "When we're done with the apes, advance and then take out the treehouse. And the English with it. You guys don't need these women. They're pregnant anyway. Their funeral pyre here will send the Nigerians into fear. We've lost the surprise. I bet they've radioed the village garrison."

Schneider turned around to face the gorillas that were still not clear of the blockage of the bluff, though he could hear their roars getting closer. It seemed an eternity before the gorillas would come into view, but as he glanced at the treehouse, he heard the gunshot from Professor. He heard a distinct metallic ricochet. He turned for a moment, and noticed the scoring on the petrol tank.

He laughed, "You missed, old man. You didn't get me and we can patch that in an instant. Prepare to die."

Schneider didn't know Archimedes' was exactly what he needed to do.

The German commander primed his weapon. He didn't see that further back the nick was actually an open gash and it was leaking steadily. Elephant guns were intentionally heavy caliber weapons with enormous penetrating power.

"Permission to open fire?" asked Von Goss.

"Yes, advance and fire when in range. The old man needs time. That's a manually-loaded, one shot gun."

At that very moment, the sun came up from the east. Archimedes saw the German squad was bathed in strong rays of dawn. The sunrise's brilliance blinded the German commander and all of his men. They all grimaced and recoiled at the sudden intense light and their eyes were slow to adjust. They attempted to shield their eyes and squinted with the instant change from twilight to direct sun.

"Now Jane," Archimedes said confidently.

She seized her bow, let the first flaming arrow fly, renocked a second and third flaming arrow and sent both right down the same path. She torched three more arrows at once, drew back again, and let them go in a spread pattern. All in less than a second. She reloaded and fired three more. Her skill as an archer always amazed Archimedes. It was a long time from the days of those horse rides on their estate with her beginners bow as a little girl shooting rabbits and foxes with her father.

"Sir!" came a desperate call from Von Goss, seeing Jane's first arrow a moment too late.

Schneider quickly turned around just in time to see Jane's flaming arrow in his face. It sliced a huge gash in his cheek and melted one side of his mustache and flew past, but more importantly, the arrow embedded itself in the tank just below the leaking crack. The brass tank was no match for the high-carbon steel-tipped arrow. The second arrow caught Von Goss in the thigh and he screamed and collapsed, dropping his gun. He just managed to put the flames out before they spread but the arrow drilled through his femur.

The gorillas rounded the Cliffside trail and were in full view of the Germans guns, realizing they were going to die. Clubs meant nothing.

"Fire!" yelled the squad's grizzled Feldwebel as Schneider held up a hand full of gushing blood from his cheek and his severed ear. He was part way turned around to just see the flames erupt from the arrow embedded in tank right in the center of the streaming petrol. The third arrow split the Feldwebel's rifle stock in half, penetrated his upper chest, and imbedded in his scapula, shattering it. The sudden stoppage of the big arrow on bone knocked him over. He barely rolled out the flames in the sand that ignited his uniform.

The spread of three arrows each hit the spare petrol tanks with a loud 'thunk' and the flames quickly spread from the leaks. The final round of three hit the other tanks and sliced through those soldier's arms and legs incapacitating all of them. The remaining soldiers were completely stymied, and feared a hunting arrow was headed their way, backing up and desperately looking for cover on the smooth sand.

"Ach! Scheisse!" Schneider exclaimed, knowing what the uncontrolled flames would do to the petrol, and yelled, "Men, drop everything and retreat!" It was all the squad could do to squirm out of the harnesses holding the tanks and weapon, each full engulfed in flames, and hide behind some rocks under the cliffs overlooking the beach. The flames grew intense enough to ignite the Flammenwerfer and all the leaking petrol tanks.

For the first time in the history of the land of the Mangani, there were two blinding orange red sunrises –the usual one to the east on the watery horizon behind the treehouse and the other that arose with intense fury on the all-white beach.

The ensuing monstrous fireball consumed the Flammenwerfer device and its six spare petrol tanks as the conflagration rolled into an evil looking black smoke and red fire column far above the tree line. The lushness of the foliage prevented any spread of flames into the tropical forest. The hemispherical condensation cloud of the shock wave front spread out everywhere.

The German Army was so close that the concussion knocked most of them out cold and those who weren't squirmed in agony as hot metal fragments from the explosion ripped through the squad in addition to their arrow wounds. Several had their eardrums burst and they bled profusely. They were lucky to be alive. It could have been much worse.

The shock continued its propagation, knocking every ape to the ground and they screamed out in pain and clutched their ears. Most were fortunate to be shielded by the rock outcropping. Being inadvertently leveled protected the Mangani from real harm as shrapnel from the Flammenwerfer and spare petrol tanks flew like bombs everywhere. The gorillas remained low to the ground, but Kirok and a couple others were grazed by the hot metal shards. Kirok grimaced and moaned, clutching his right shoulder, chest, and forehead.

Terk, seeing the blood spurt from her mate, shrieked, "Kirok!"

The force of the concussion hit the treehouse next and shook it hard. Dishes and books fell from the shelves, and vases fell over. What few windows existed shattered and the front-facing doors were blown off their hinges. The shock drove all three adults to their knees or backs, and it was everything Jack could do to hold on to the vines, his girlfriend, and his sister as the tree itself swayed.

As the smoke and initial flames cleared ground zero, the Germans could see that the Flammenwerfer itself was a charred pile of twisted metal chunks and pieces near the center of the fires. What was left of the spare petrol tanks still flickered in flame. The Germans all realized they could have been smoldering lumps also had it not been for the precision shots of the English man and woman. Most of their backpacks and guns were reduced to scrap and ash as well.

…

Abassi turned and saw the fireball rise above the jungle from the village some 10 miles distant, "What in the…?"

He was awaiting word from the maternity lodge any moment about the birth of his next child. Femi's labor had begun at midnight. He'd been up all night pacing outside the residence longhouse and checked constantly on her progress with the midwives. The tribal tradition was that they wouldn't let him see her until she'd delivered, and even as Chief he couldn't overrule the women. He would have much rather been with Femi like Tarzan had been with Jane for his children's births.

Several seconds later, a greatly diminished shock wave and a sound like the roll of thunder followed the fireball. The shock startled the entire village. There had been an enormous explosion coming from the estate.

Abassi was extremely fearful for his friends, "Send my men to check on the Clayton's and the French woman. Contact the treehouse on Tarzan's Wireless. I will join them as soon as I can."

He was shouting over long string of screams and groans from the maternity long house.

A final wail subsided and a familiar, very tired but very happy voice yelled, "Abassi! Come here! I have something to show you!"

…

While the enlisted men were grateful for the English family's mercy, Schneider and Von Goss were incensed at the damage an old man and a pregnant woman were able to do. The mission itself was impossible without the Flammenwerfer. He vowed to kill all of them himself. Despite his bleeding, he rose and pulled out his knife and ordered a charge to finish them off. Von Goss and the Sargeant couldn't move. The rest of the squad struggled to stand, each with some degree of injury. They had three undamaged rifles between them. They considered refusing Schneider's orders but the fury in his eyes told them he'd kill them too.

Before they could rush forward for the final attack, hoping the woman archer and the old Royal Army couldn't pick them all off, they heard roaring above them, and a cloud of innumerable dark shapes rained on them from above on the cliff, tackling them, biting them, and subduing them just by the sheer weight of their numbers. All of the soldiers were quickly face down on sand and rocks, with their hands held behind them, being hog-tied in vines by more primates. They were overwhelmed by a horde of nearly a hundred baboons, and yet they were still alive. Many snapped and clawed viciously at the men, but didn't attack further.

Unbelievably, the largest adult male adult stood before his fellows, seeming to bark orders to the rest of the baboons. The men could not believe what they were seeing. The male was almost as big as the gorillas, had wickedly sharp teeth, and curiously wore a partially open yellow umbrella on his head like a hat. The men were extremely frightened. The head baboon looked the Hauptmann in the eye inches from his face, bared his teeth fully with a heart-stopping growl, and his hot breath nearly overwhelmed the German squad leader. Those eyes penetrated the soldier to his core with barely-contained hatred. And intelligence.

The gorillas with their clubs joined the baboons and pointed them menacingly at the downed German troops. What appeared to be the Silverback of the gorilla troop slapped paws with the alpha male baboon and smiled. They were clearly communicating with each other, gesturing at their success in capturing the soldiers. To the men's greater shock, the gorillas systematically disarmed Schneider and his men of any remaining weapons and put them in a neat stack in front of them. They even found their hidden knives and hand guns. It was clear they knew where to look and understood the danger of the knives, rifles, and handguns, treating them with care.

"Impossible…" muttered Schneider to Von Goss.

"Not only possible but true," came the sound of a female voice. It was the nude pregnant woman that started the confrontation, having stealthily come down from her treehouse perch to join the primates and the subdued men. Her truly enormous bow, like something out of the dark ages, was drawn and pointed at Schneider's forehead with another of those awful arrows ready to let fly at point blank range. It was so close to him he could read the brand name on the arrowhead: "Clayton Sports". The naked old man and his gun was standing next to her, leveling his weapon at any man that twitched. The bore of the gun if fired was so huge would take a man's arm off. None of them had any doubt about these two and their resolve to fire if attacked.

"Over my father's and friends objections, I'm going to spare your lives even though you wouldn't have spared ours," she uttered, which drew a huge contemptible grunt from both the baboon and the Silverback.

Even more impossible to the men, the woman started arguing in baboon and gorilla, and after some insistent arguments between the three, the beasts relented and calmed. At that point something snapped deep within Schneider and he lost his mind over the impossibility of intelligent primates who babbled nonsense phrases that the English woman not only understood but engaged the animals, controlling them. All the other soldiers truly feared for their lives at what kind of nightmare they had walked into and not one of them was prepared for.

"So now what do we do, Daddy?" asked Jane in Mangani so the Germans did not understand her.

"We wait and guard them, I radioed the garrison before I left. Help is already on the way."

It was not long before a Nigerian war party that included Abassi and several of the British garrison arrived, carrying chains for the prisoners. Even though the garrison leaders were briefed by Abassi to expect animals to be in alliance with the Claytons, it was still extremely hard to comprehend. They had all heard the tales of the Jungle Lord and his family. Now they could see it was true.

"A little trouble here I see, Jane?" smirked Abassi in his Igbo language.

Jane scoffed, "Just some vermin. But thanks to our friends, we have it under control."

Terk smirked and joked in Mangani, "Primates rule!" and Abassi gave Femi's close friend a welcome smile. He didn't have nearly the vocabulary that his wife did in the gorilla language, but he knew enough.

He added, "By the way ladies, Femi sends her regards. Today she's a three-time mommy! Another boy."

The women felt great joy and told Abassi to send their congratulations.

But it was back to business, as the humans added the chains to the baboons' impressive vine restraint to the captured Germans. Schneider continued to mutter incoherently and started to drool, but Von Goss knew that these were the Nigerian leaders they had come to eliminate.

Abassi discounted the mad man Schneider, and looked at Von Goss, "So… you would come to destroy us and our British friends with a super weapon of fire? Rest assured, Countess Jane Clayton may be kind to all life, but we have our own form of jungle justice for you."

Von Goss looked away, dejected, only now realizing they had in fact attacked the Count's family. He knew he was absolutely defeated, and the cause for one continuous German colony from Kamerun to the Ivory Coast and the liberation of Togoland was lost.

"Blindfold them all so they never learn the true location of the Clayton estate," ordered the English garrison commander.

Thus further encumbered, the prisoners were led off by the British soldiers and Nigerian warriors, with thanks of Jane and Archimedes.

"Well… let peace reign in the land of the Mangani, Jane, my friend. We'll take it from here. We still pray for the success of your husband and Col. Jacot," said Abassi and they bade farewell.

"We'll be ever vigilant for any other attacks from the west for you, Chief Abassi," added Jane and Archimedes.

…

Jane and the others looked on the devastating silence of the carnage left from the explosion in stunned shock and the departing captured and wounded German soldiers. Jane could finally let her guard down and her adrenalin subside.

"Oh dear God… what have we done, Daddy?" she sobbed, overcome by the gravity of the entire encounter, falling to her knees, realizing she nearly killed a dozen men, many of them suffering horrendous pain from her attacks and probably permanent injury.

Her father was trying his best to console her, "It's all right Jane dear. You did what you had to do. What we had to do. Our friends have the Germans stopped."

Josephine had quietly joined them and tried to add to her support, "Jane, my friend. Take heart. They would have killed your gorilla family, your pere and us, after all of them helped themselves to you and me, pregnant or not. We didn't kill them – we just stopped them."

Jane's eyes were bloodshot in guilt and remorse, "I know. I know. It's… it's just so terrible… this… this war. Even if they were the enemy."

The gorillas and the humans made their way back to the treehouse as the baboons departed, with their leader asking Jane to draw a picture of their victory over the humans the next time they met.

"I most certainly will do so, my friend", she assured him in his language. She certainly couldn't call him 'little friend' any more after a decade, though he had his own set of cute little baboon infants by his pretty mate back at their nest. She noted he was about due for a new umbrella 'crown' the next time she shopped in England. The latest one was getting threadbare and the battle with the Germans had not helped.

As they approached the treeshouse they could see the children had gathered on the balcony, watching the aftermath of the battle. The children were very upset with what could have happened to their mothers.

Seeing their fright, Jane called for them, "Come here kids."

They all hugged and wept with the adults over the terrible scene and knelt to say a prayer of thanks for their safety. Jane held Lily especially tightly in her arms for comfort.

The blaze on the beach continued burning everything that could be consumed. Rifle ammunition shells cooked off on occasion. The immediate danger to them and to the village and garrison was over.

The gorillas congregated around the humans in the safety of the base of the giant tree that anchored the treehouse. Terk licked Kirok's wounds, and their fellows tended to the others' minor injuries. Kirok's shrapnel wounds and those of his peers were not serious, and Kala and Terk inspected and sniffed a number of fur tufts on themselves that were scorched and fused. The smell was awful but their fur protected them from any real burns. The flame front had stopped well short of the Mangani.

Kala finally had time to recover, was completely in tears and held Archimedes in a very human hug, "Porter, thank you. You saved us."

Archimedes noted, "Kala, dear, it was really Jane who saved us all."

All the humans and gorillas gathered and groomed Jane in complete joy as she put her bow down, crying happy tears and rejoicing in their safety.

Josephine stood politely by the gorillas and humans reuniting. She'd initially wanted to separate Jeanne from these wild animals, and then she relented, overcoming her trepidation at the sight of the apes, knowing Jeanne had already spent days living with them. It was clear they were all extremely intelligent, very much loved their human family, and acted like any human would when being reunited after a traumatic situation. There was only one difference. To Josephine, all the chattering in gorilla speech by both the humans and gorillas sounded like gibberish animal noises, but seeing the their expressions of happiness, praise, relief and eye contact with each other was the same as any human response, she knew very well their conversation was very detailed and all about their extreme good fortune.

The most amazing thing was that Jeanne was fully engaged in the conversation with the Mangani, interacting with all of them, smiling, nodding her head in agreement, and laughing in relief with them. Some of the adult apes ruffled her hair and hugged her or gave her appreciative grooming caresses, and even nuzzled her affectionately, which Jeanne returned in kind. It was clear she knew all of the adults, probably the parents of the juvenile apes she and Jack said they played with daily. She stayed close to Jack, clutching his hand. It was both touching and frightening to Josephine at the same time. She could hear Jeanne's name called out several times by the adults. She could see the joy in Jeanne's eyes being reunited with the gorillas and the love that glowed in her every time she looked at Jack.

She looked on the proceedings truly in awe.

Seeing the ease of her daughter's conversation with the apes, her expressions, her four point stances, and her familiarity with the adults, Josephine realized that her daughter Jeanne had become a Mangani family member. There was never going to be any going back to normal for any of the Jacot family. Her nude, fully-tanned dark olive body nearly matched the Mangani but for their fur, and she certainly complemented Jack's dark brown tan. Both might as well have been real apes.

More importantly, Josephine realized Kala and Jane's father weren't just good friends. These two elderly adults clearly loved each other. She was taken aback but didn't say anything to offend anyone. She finally understood that Jane's story about her father rarely going back home to England was because his home and 'mate' were here. This was a revelation. She had no previous concept of interspecies relationships, especially two intelligent species. But she accepted it, because they looked charming together, acted truly like a devoted elderly human couple, and you could visibly see the affection they shared. There was no end of surprises about the Claytons and their Mangani family.

Josephine wondered if she could deny Jeanne if her daughter were to turn to her and ask to remain in jungle to grow up with Jack and his family. She had completely found her way in his world and fully immersed herself in it, which contrasted so starkly that Jeanne was often the outsider in the 'normal' world back in France.

As the tender reunion finished, Jane tended to her family's injuries, and gave Josephine a compress to put on Kirok's wound, "Josephine, I could use your help here, please."

"Uh… OK Jane," she said unsteadily.

Josephine overcame her fears and placed the herb-laced compress on Kirok's laceration for Jane, as the Countess wrapped the compress with a bandage. She looked into Kirok's highly intelligent eyes. He had a soft, gentle look for Josephine, and he softly caressed her face with the back of his giant paw and smiled at the new human.

Kala also smiled at the French woman, and although Kala could only speak Mangani, she met the woman, "Greetings, mother of Jeanne. We love her. She is our family as much as she is Korak's."

Jane translated, and Josephine smiled as nicely as she could to the elderly ape, but was still a little nervous, asking Jane, "I don't know what to say. What should I do?"

Jane instructed her in the simplest of Mangani greetings and mannerisms and how to maintain a simple four point stance, which actually helped her pregnancy-strained back muscles.

As Josephine said the words, Jeanne was very proud and hugged her tightly. She chatted with the others for a moment, and then translated for her mother, "They respect you Mama for letting me live like them and find out about them," and then she blushed, "And for letting me be Jack's."

They exchanged thank you's with Jeanne's instruction. Jane and Josephine shared some fruits and veggies with the dozen ape adults sitting around the base of the tree.

Terk relaxed and was back to normal, "You know Jane, you're much bigger than before. What's with that? I know you humans stretch more with each pregnancy."

Jane beamed and said proudly, "Well, Terk. It's simple. I'm having twins."

Terk was utterly shocked, "Twins? As in… uh… two babies in there?"

She gently poked Jane's stomach which stirred up a response from both babies within. Terk watched with fascination and exclaimed, "Jane! You're having a litter!"

Terk jumped up very excited, which puzzled Josephine other than noting the ape's happiness for her friend, "Everyone! Jane's having a litter! She's got two coconuts in the palm tree!"

The entire group of gorillas whooped and hollered and hopped around for joy. Josephine was very amused at this behavior, and got the gist of the conversation even though she didn't understand a single word, and smiled and celebrated with them. Jeanne confirmed her supposition. Having twins was an unusual event even for human mothers.

Terk stood up and made a jungle call all her own. Jane looked a bit embarrassed and Josephine guessed correctly Jane was being modest about all of this special attention.

What followed as a response to Terk was a general swell of animal noises from all around them in the jungle until it became a nearly overwhelming din. It was a collective outpouring of well-wishes from all the jungle's animals not only about Jane's and Porter's victory over the enemy invaders, but also for the welcome news about Jane's twins.

Jane blushed and smiled demurely about all the attention, and she explained in French to Josephine, "Having multiple births like so many jungle mothers do makes me even more like them, and they like that."

Josephine took Jane's hand gently and squeezed, "That's sweet, Jane. I'm so happy this pleases all your friends," and she looked around listening to all the calls from the others, "and it sure seems you have a lot of friends."

They had a good chuckle.

Jane gave Terk a look and in mock complaint announced, "You know this will never stop, now that you've told everyone."

"Well dear sister, you know they would find out eventually. Why not now?" Terk grinned mischievously.

The chatter continued and Josephine tried her best to understand and engage the gorillas through translations, and she accepted a sincere invitation to come visit the nest soon. But soon the Mangani 'warriors' wanted to be on their way. They didn't want to be away from the family for long, and there appeared to be no further danger. The gulls and pelicans and other marine birds would be ever vigilant for any more sea approaches of the enemy. And not a single light would burn in the treehouse ever again after dark until the war was over.

Jane thanked everyone for their help, "Thank you my dear friends. We love each and every one of you so much. Mother, you would have sacrificed everything for me and the family? Even to fight to the death for us?"

Kala's eyes were aglow in her love for her daughter-in-law, "Yes Jane dear. Of course. You know how much I love you. I had to help protect you. To give you and the children and Porter a chance to live. To give those babies a chance to come into this world. It's a fair trade – my life for theirs. Even Tarzan's parents made that sacrifice so he could live."

Jane was overwhelmed emotionally, cried, and gave her mother-in-law as big a hug as was possible. Despite not understanding, Josephine was impressed at the outpouring of emotion and protectiveness of the gorillas for their human kin.

She knew her father wanted to return to the nest with Kala, so she gave him an especially big hug, "Thank you for… for everything, Daddy. I love you so much. Without you here, I… I can't imagine what would have happened."

Holding each other in a lingering, tender father/daughter hug, Archimedes said softly, "I love you too, Jane dear. Don't fret over 'what if's'. Take care of what is. If there is more trouble I will be back again."

The gorillas disappeared into the woods. Kala and Porter went hand-in-paw together after them. The kids all waved goodbye at the parents of their friends and cousins and their grandparents.

…

Deeper into the woods elderly human/ape pair lagged behind the others, and Archimedes whispered to Kala, "Do you remember that place down by the falls, Kala dear?"

If Kala could have blushed she would have been a deep shade of red, "Porter, how can I ever forget the last time?"

Porter suggested, "Let's go there a few days to celebrate that we're still together. It has the best fruits, the freshest water, and the best view."

"But Porter, dear. What if something else happens to the kids?"

"We'll hear any call to help from there, and we'll be only minutes away. The rocks will pick up and amplify any distress call."

Kala smiled, "Oh you silly old naked ape! You are too convincing. Yes. Yes, let's go."

She responded to him with the nearest thing to a schoolgirl giggle.

They took off in a different direction than the others, romping with renewed vigor on all fours like young adult apes.

…

As the last of the gorillas disappeared into the deep wood. Jane had noticed her father taking Kala in a different way, and she knowingly smiled about that. She said in French with great amusement, "And that, Josephine, is my 'other' family."

"The in laws?" the French woman grinned.

They all had a hearty laugh.

She had a humorous vision of the future, "So… Jane. At Jack and Jeanne's wedding and reception, how are you going to explain the Mangani side of the family to everyone?"

They had a great chuckle at the expense of both Jeanne and Jack, both of whom blushed deeply, and objected by exclaimed together, "Mother!" "Mama!"

But the young couple just held hands and gave that look to each other with a demure smile. That would be a nice problem to have someday.

The remainder of the day they just were all quiet together and played a lot of family games.

...

The day was done, and they moved about with only ambient light in the treehouse. After going to bed and their mothers said good night to the children, Jack sneaked out of bed for a moment, sat on her bed, took her hands in his, and stated, "You know what we must do now, Jeanne."

"Yes, Jack. I felt helpless today. We know we can help. Especially there. You and I proved it. Your father will die and maybe mine too, unless you climb the tower. We have to be brave like the Mangani were today and keep our fathers safe."

"I knew you'd agree."

"It's the only way, Jack. But how will we get there? Our fathers left weeks ago. The battle could be very soon. We might be too late already."

"They travelled every inch on foot, not by vine. It will be a matter of a week or so. We know they won't move until the allies get to Kamina. The radio says our soldiers are not even half way there and resistance has been stiff after the loss at Lome. We'll have the advantage by swinging."

"Do you know how to get there?" she asked.

"Sort of, but I know someone who will know right where the tower is. And our dads haven't been gone that long. I can track your father's troops. Twenty outlanders leave a trail."

Jeanne needed final reassurance, "And if we can't find them?"

"Then we return here, take our punishment for leaving from our moms, and pray our fathers are successful without us."

Jeanne answered, "OK. I trust you. I always trust you.

They went back to their beds, blew kisses at each other, and fell instantly asleep.

Their mothers peered in to check a half hour later. Everything looked as it should be. Neither was asleep in the other's arms. That had been quiet a lecture.

"Will they be all right? They are so young for this kind of relationship, on top of the worries of the war." fretted Josephine.

Jane replied kindly, "You were and look at the beautiful life you have with Armand. You told me yourself your parents and his kept nurturing you both to have a healthy relationship as you grew. It's our turn now to help guide and keep it going the right direction, help them make good decisions all along the way. For as long as God intends for it to last.

"You are right my friend. We are blessed by having Jack part of my family. I don't see how this doesn't turn out 'forever'. You know how they care for each other."

"Jack is no less blessed by that lovely little girl of yours, Josephine."

...

Author's Note: This is a complete retelling of the circumstances that set "Tarzan Untamed" in motion. I hope you like my different interpretation of canon ERB characters Schneider and Von Goss and their attack on the Clayton African mansion (which was in east Africa in the book), which they burned to the ground and left an absent Tarzan the impression that they killed Jane too. Tarzan hunted Schneider and Von Goss down and exacted his vicious revenge, but discovers Jane was alive. In light of world events now, even though I have been building the story of the Flammenwerfer attack for weeks (the Germans invented the 'flame thrower' in World War 1), I made it less violent than originally planned, and I hope you think it worked out better. In this story, Jane and her Dad defend the treehouse with their primate friends and it survives without the need to kill them. It's still all about family standing for family. Schneider is defeated, goes insane and Von Goss and the men are all led away to an uncertain fate as prisoners of war under Abassi. So what's next? We'll see. Thanks for reading!