Jack Roberts for Kennebec7(#3) War of the Realms
It was morning and steam was rising out of the jungle west of the Shan Plateau when I first got sight of the Dark Seekers' helicopter. It awaited the victorious Wa Warriors sent to capture me and my two sidekicks, Dex and Aranya.
The Chinese pilot, whose name I learned later, Captain Jinghong – one of Dr. Yat's finest – was more than a little shocked when he saw that of the twenty warriors he had flown in from the fortress the previous afternoon, only six able–bodied men remained . Another seven limped along with a variety of injuries. The remaining seven, Captain Jinghong guessed, would never return.
The pilot 's eyes scanned the approaching throng tensely. He was
somewhat relieved to spot my friends, the two injured enemy fighters covered by Dark Seeker weapons making their way toward the helicopter. He knew them only from pictures he had seen on Dr. Yat's computer.
The tall, black man with the shoulder injury making his right arm hang uselessly by his side was my best friend, Dexter Thornton. Despite the great pain he was obviously suffering, Dex kept his head high as he marched forward assisting Aranya.
Jinghong had looked forward to seeing the legendary Aranya. Yes, he had seen her picture in the fortress records. He had heard Sadinsky brag about keeping her a captive for almost a year. His 'slave' he had called this mighty she-warrior.
Even wounded – apparently suffering a back injury from the way she walked – braced by Dex’s strong left arm, she was a magnificent specimen of Amazonian woman.
Not as tall as the classical Amazon (in fact, Aranya was only five foot four inches), she was nonetheless statuesque. Jinghong must have felt his heart rise in his chest when he realized that Aranya’s eyes – only twenty feet away and coming closer – were finding him as they probed the helicopter. Her withering look forced the pilot to avert his gaze. That’s the way I envision the scene from our lengthy conversations later.
In the rapidly diminishing seconds left in Jinghong’s normal life, the image of her powerful shoulders, her thin waist from which spread a dramatic V-shaped torso and marvelously sculpted arms and legs and hips were frozen in his mind.
But where was I! I was the main prize they had been sent for. He questioned one of the Dark Seeker warriors in his native dialect.
The warrior, glancing at Dex and Aranya half in hatred and half in fear, and then casting nervous looks at the seemingly empty jungle behind them, told Jinghong – in effect – Let’s get out of here. We’ve got these two. I don’t want to get killed. These three fight like demons.
The warrior was about to push pass him and climb into the helicopter, but the pilot restrained him. Just a minute—do you realize what will happen to you back at the fortress if we don’t bring back Roberts? Those are real demons back there, you fool.
Actually I was closer than they could imagine. Almost three hundred yards to the rear, hidden in the thick vegetation. I was exhausted I put down the AMAK single-shot, long-range rifle I had managed to unearth from its hiding-place outside the camp.
Following the path of the retreating Wa's and my injured comrades, I had dragged the bulky weapon for several miles through the night and into the light of morning. Finally, I could assess our situation realistically and make a plan to rescue Dex and Aranya.
I had nearly been killed. First I took a bullet in my foot that although my rugged boot had partially blunted it, the slug had caused enough trauma to my bone that I was forced to limp painfully with each step. Later in hand-to-hand combat with one of the Wa's, a dagger penetrated my shoulder. But I tossed the man over my shoulder where he landed against a tree with long, hard spikes. The man's screams in the dark almost made me forget the pain of the knife wound.
In the dark during the battle I had been separated from Dex and Aranya. The Dark Seekers outnumbered us at least seven-to-one, but the three of us had faced harder odds before. Reacting quickly and decisively, we were able to put them on their back foot. The local warriors soon exhausted most of their early advantage. The Wa’s quickly lost their passion when we refused to quit.
The fight became like an eerie fantasy after the campfire went out. In the pitch dark I felt almost as though I was going mad. For the first time in my life, I was vaguely able to distinguish enemy forms by the auras their bodies generated. It was like a light, red electrical fuzz that seemed to silhouette the Dark Seekers' movements in the night. At first I didn't trust my eyes or my senses to take advantage of my new powers of vision. I just kept darting and firing. Finally, there were no more shots being fired, Just groans of pain from the wounded. Orders being shouted in the local dialect by Wa's positioned in different locations in the jungle.
I heard Dex call hoarsely from more than 30 yards away in the night. Jack– I'm hit. Ron's hurt. They've got--- Then he was silenced.
I went about ripping off a shirtsleeve to make a tourniquet for my bleeding shoulder. I didn't even want to try to look at my foot in the dark. As long as I could limp along, I would attempt to keep up with the retreating Wa's. When it was light again, I would try to repair myself.
At dawn as I watched the enemy milling about the helicopter, I saw they were still in disarray following their debacle in the dark. I looked down at my boot, caked with blood. Inside it, my foot throbbed horribly with a dull pain. It was like someone was beating on it with a hammer.
But when I saw Dex and Aranya being shoved forward toward the craft I knew I’d have to face the foot injury after I tried to rescue my friends. That endeavor, I reckoned, would require precise timing, expert marksmanship and a steady hand.
I had had an idea that the AMAK long-range sniper weapon might prove essential. That 's why I had lugged it for two miles while limping after the Wa's.
I couldn't let Dex and Aranya be flown off with the Dark Seekers in that helicopter. It could very well seal their fate. Yet I didn't want to destroy the helicopter. The craft could be our ticket to reaching Sadinsky and Yat. And finding my son.
Fitting a 50 caliber shell into the rifle, I studied the target area. I had one shot. I had to make it count.
Captain Jinghong slapped Dex in the face. The big guy tried to retaliate with his one good arm, but two Wa's restrained him. They knocked Dex down and started kicking him. The helicopter pilot, meanwhile, took Aranya's jaw in his hand and forced her face close to his.
Later Aranya recounted the confrontation. Captain Jinghong is a name to remember, Miss Chen, he leered. When you are in the hands of the Dark Seekers, you will wish you had a friend such as me.
Basically Aranya has no fear. Although she appeared to have trouble standing without Dex's support, she still possessed a reserve of deadly force. Her leg shot upward, catching Jinghong in the crotch and lifting him off his feet! He howled in pain. Writhing on the ground he reached for his holster as two more Wa's held Aranya.
Save your friendship, she spat, for yourself and your lowlife pals. This place will be your burial ground.
Slowly Jinghong started to rise, his face lined with pain and anger, his eyes burning with hatred. The nose of his pistol dug into Aranya's cheek. Sadinsky said it didn't matter if you came back alive, he snarled.
His finger had just started to pressure the trigger of his gun when there was a roar from the hillside overlooking them. I pulled the trigger first. Suddenly there was the sound of a projectile cutting through the air- invisible to the eye – and then Captain Jinghong found himself without a right arm with which to hold the gun in Aranya's face.
The AMAK’s 50-caliber shell ripped his arm off. Jinghong shrieked in pain and horror. As the terrified Wa's stared in shock at the disabled Jinghong screaming and flopping on the ground, I unloaded on them with the machine gun sending them running for the jungle on the far side of the clearing.
I limped and ran and stumbled down the hillside, now firing my pistol. The enemy around the helicopter began to melt into the trees. Captain Jinghong, meanwhile, lay unconscious on the ground.
Immediately seizing the opportunity, Dex struggled to his feet, collecting an assault weapon discarded on the ground by a fleeing Wa. He fired a few bursts at their heels as the Wa's disappeared in the jungle.
C'mon, Ron, we gotta move it, honey. Dex reached down to help Aranya off the ground. She was still stunned. The AMAK shell had taken off Jinghong's arm just a half-foot from her head
When she had shaken her wits back in place, Aranya let out a stream of obscenities in French. That was her favorite language for swearing; she knew more good words. Dex helped her to her feet. When they saw me hobbling out of the jungle to the east, hurrying toward them, the warrior woman muttered to Dex, Jack Roberts. I don't know whether I'm going to hug him or strangle him. That shell was so close I could read its expiration date!
With pain etched on his face, Dex marched her to the helicopter hatch. Lemme help you inside. We gotta get outa here. He had helped Aranya half way into the craft when I reached his side. Good shootin, bro, Dex told me. I was shaken when I saw the extent of their injuries.
I looked at Jinghong bleeding all over the ground. Let's get this fella in the copter, too, I told Dex, after quickly examining pilot for signs of life. We can’t leave him like this. He was one of the bad guys, but I couldn’t leave him alone in the wilderness with one arm blown off. I guessed that there would be medical equipment inside the craft. Both Dex and I were pilots. If we could get away from this Dark Seeker nest, there was a better chance of focusing on everyone's wounds including the Chinese pilot's bloody stump.
Before I could get the helicopter airborne, the remaining able-bodied mercenaries hiding in the nearby jungle started firing on us. My hands were on the controls when the helicopter began taking hits. The craft responded to my touch. But the hail of bullets was taking a toll. As we took off, smoke was beginning to pour out of the engine. This might be a very abbreviated flight, I realized grimly as I fought to keep the helicopter in the air.
Jack Roberts
Shan Plateau, Myanmar
(04/28/2010)
To be continued
