Shadow Warrior: Destiny of a Mutant (23 page)

Of all of Hauser’s men, Serrano looked the most like one of the Aryan race. He was over six feet tall with a lean, muscular physique. He had thick, straight blond hair, piercing blue eyes, and movie star good looks.

Fort Benning

The following morning, Will and his men ate their breakfast, and completed their workout regimen as usual - but at an even harder pace. When they were done and had showered, they stood in formation at parade rest as Will informed them what the day’s training held in store for them.

“Gentlemen, I’m aware that all of you are jump-qualified. I believe that Mr. Hauser probably has the most number of jumps at fifty-eight. Who else has twenty-five or more jumps under his belt?”

All members of the team raised their hands.

“Excellent. Okay, now what is the highest altitude any of you has ever jumped from?”

They all started calling out numbers. Hauser was the highest at 12,000 feet. Hammond was the lowest at 9,000 feet. Everyone else fell in between.

“Now for the bad news. When we insert the team into Germany for this mission, we can’t take any chances at having the Germans know we’ve entered their airspace. Therefore, we’ll be jumping from an altitude of approximately 60,000 feet.”

At hearing this number, all of them started murmuring loudly amongst themselves. Hauser then quieted them down and said, “Sir, no one has ever jumped from 60,000 feet. It’s too cold and there’s very little oxygen. It would be suicide.”

“Actually, you’re wrong, Captain. I’ve jumped from that height many times.” Of course Will was not being truthful - since he could fly there was no need to jump out of an airplane with a parachute, but he obviously could not reveal that to his team. However, he wanted to give them confidence that a jump from that high was possible.

At hearing Will’s admission regarding his jumps from that height, there were some shakes of the head that indicated that they didn’t believe what he was saying.

“Gentlemen, the Army has designed a light-weight insulated jumpsuit to protect you from the cold, and you’ll be breathing oxygen from a container like this.” Will reached down into his rucksack and pulled out a full facemask that was attached to a small oxygen canister. “The rest of our training will consist of learning to jump from the height I mentioned with this new gear.

“Inside of my tent you will find a rucksack with your name on it with the insulated jumpsuit, oxygen mask, and a new style of parachute that will allow you to be able to control your descent and land exactly where you want to land. Instead of the round canopied chutes you are familiar with, this one is rectangular with guide ropes that make it easier for you to control your descent and point of landing.

“You can also set it to open automatically at a certain altitude in the event you are injured or go unconscious. One additional feature of this parachute is that once you land, the chute automatically repacks itself into its pack so you don’t get tangled in it, and you don‘t have to spend the time repacking it yourself.”

Intrigued, the men then went and retrieved their rucksacks from Will’s tent. The parachutes and other gear were a mix of Altrusian and Terran technology.

“Okay then. Stow your gear in the Jeeps, and let’s move out to the airfield,” said Will.

Will and his men then loaded themselves into their Jeeps and drove the ten miles to the airfield. Once there, they saw the plane they would be using for the day - a modified C-47 transport plane. The pilot, Tim Dunmoreland, approached Will, saluted, and introduced himself.

“Colonel Clark? I’m Captain Dunmoreland, I’ll be your pilot for the rest of the day or as long as you need me, sir,” he said with a slight Texas twang.

“Thank you, Captain,” said Will, returning the salute. “I need you ready for takeoff in about thirty minutes. Did you get word that we would be going up to 60,000 feet?”

“Yes, sir, I did. But to be honest with you, I thought someone was pulling my leg, sir. I’ve never heard of anyone jumping out of a plane at that height before. I’ve had my plane that high several times; she’s all pressurized and fixed up for oxygen to breathe at that altitude.”

“Thank you, Captain. Just make sure the plane is ready to go in thirty minutes. We‘ll be doing a few practice jumps at lower altitudes first.”

The pilot saluted Will and said, “Yes, sir.” He then turned and went back to ready his plane for takeoff.
Crazy son of a bitch,
thought the pilot as he shook his head.

Will and his men then went inside the closest hangar where he spent the next few minutes helping his men get their gear ready to go. He showed them how to don their insulated jumpsuits and oxygen facemasks. He showed them, on a chalkboard that had been provided for his use, how to control the new style parachute they would be using; how it could be used to control and slow their descent, and how to turn it left or right.

Afterwards they boarded the plane. The pilot took them up to 15,000 feet where they would do their first practice jump.

“Okay, men. You will not need your oxygen masks for this altitude, but I want you to wear it for a couple of reasons. The first is to get used to wearing it. And second, before ascending to 60,000 feet, your bodies need to adjust to the altitude by breathing one-hundred percent oxygen for approximately one hour, so that when we make it to 60,000, you don’t get nitrogen narcosis, a term my Navy divers will recognize as another name for the ‘bends‘.” Hess and Hammond nodded at hearing this term.

Schechter then asked, “So, what happens if we get that nitrogen nar...whatchacallit thing you mentioned?”

“Your body can suffer from hypoxia, which can cause you to go unconscious, rendering you unable to open your parachute. And although these chutes are designed to open if you go unconscious, I’ll let you use your imagination as to what would happen to you if that happened over very rocky terrain or the ocean,” Will said.

A couple of the men gulped audibly.

Over the intercom, the pilot said, “Colonel, we’re coming up on your drop site in three minutes.”

“Okay, gents, you heard the man. Hook into your static lines for this first one. Remember: don’t pull your cords until you’re at 2,000 feet.”

All of their heads nodded indicating they understood.

As a unit, they attached to their static lines while Will opened the side door of the plane. Will acted as the jump master, and would be the last man out of the plane. He gave them a thumbs up and each man returned the gesture to let him know they were ready.

“Thirty seconds, Colonel,” came the pilot’s voice over the intercom.

“Standby,” Will said to his team.

Suddenly, the green “go” light came on over the door.

Will started shouting, “Go! Go! Go!”

Hauser was first out of the door, followed by Hess, Schechter, Robbins, and the rest of the team. Will made sure all of them had jumped, and then he jumped after them. Will stayed above them to make sure there were no problems with their chutes.

At approximately 2,000 feet, Hauser pulled his chute, and with a
whoosh,
he sprang back up into air almost a hundred and fifty feet and then began his gentle glide down to earth. There was a fifty foot circle painted on the open field they were aiming for, with five smaller concentric circles painted inside of the larger circle. The bullseye was only eight feet in diameter. The goal was to land in the center, or as close to it as possible.

Hauser was a natural at parachuting, and he easily learned to manage controlling the new style chute. He landed softly about ten feet outside of the center. None of the rest of the men hit the target either, but Hauser had come the closest. Serrano missed the circle completely by about twenty feet. However, for their first time using their new parachutes, they all did exceptionally well.

Even though Will had advised them that the parachute repacked itself, they were shocked to see that it actually worked. Will landed last, landing in the center of the target. As soon as Will was down, he told them to get ready for another run. Will watched as the pilot landed on the tarmac and taxied towards their hangar.

“That was real nice there, Colonel,” said Captain Dunmoreland, as he approached the group a couple of minutes after landing.

“Nice flying, Captain. Get ready for another run. This time we’ll take her up to 20,000 feet.”

“Yes, sir,” he replied.

Hauser came up to Will while they were rechecking each other’s gear before their next jump.

“Sir, just to let you know these insulated suits worked perfectly, and the masks were very comfortable. We all loved the new style of parachute; it made our landings more manageable and softer than we thought possible.”

“You and your men did an excellent job for their first time at using the new equipment, Captain. Let‘s do it again. This time we‘re going up to 20,000 feet.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. You did pretty well yourself.”

***

The jumps from 20,000, 25,000 and 30,000 feet went even better than Will had hoped they would. With each jump, his men gained a new degree of confidence and quickly became experts in the use of the new equipment. All of them hit the bullseye, or just outside of it, on a regular basis. Will planned on doing three jumps from 60,000 feet and calling it a day. They were ahead of schedule. Will would give them a day of rest, and then they would head out for their mission the day after tomorrow. He would give them their final briefing in the morning.

***

Mark Robbins’ muscles ached from all of the training they had been put through the last couple of days. He wondered if it was too late to back out of this mission. He feared what could happen during the mission to try and rescue the aliens, but he was more afraid that he wasn’t good enough to pull his weight.

As the son of German parents who had immigrated to Australia in the 1920’s, he had been born and raised near Sydney. As a child, teen and young adult, he had spent a lot of time in the wild Australian outback, where he honed his survival skills and shooting abilities. His parents had owned a bakery and instilled in him a strong work ethic.

He had been devastated when his mother died when he was only ten. When his father remarried five years later, he hated him for it. Over time, he forgave his father and came to love his step-mother as well. During his forays into the outback, he became friends with a group of aborigines and learned a lot of their language and culture during his visits with them. During the summers he often lived with them for weeks at a time. As soon as he was old enough, he joined the Australian Army and soon gravitated towards its Special Forces branch, where he soon learned that he really liked jumping out of airplanes. He prayed those skills would be enough to see him through this mission.

Altrusia

1480 A.D.

Will continued modifying his uniform and starship cruiser at night. Although the Altrusian’s technology was some of the most advanced in the universe, Will outdid himself in the field of engineering, and his designs and engineering skills would produce the next generation of Altrusian technology.

Will redesigned the uniform he was to wear so that it would not only conceal his Terran origins, but it would hold up to the rigorous work he was about to embark upon. The suit was black in color and was composed of a mixture of woven Infinitum and tyrilium, which allowed it to be not only almost as invulnerable as he was but to also be light-weight and flexible. In the center of the chest was the slightly raised symbol of the Guardians. The gloves and boots were made part of the suit, and were not separate pieces. Will also incorporated a laser weapon in the control panel bracelets that surrounded the gloves of his Guardian uniform that could be adjusted to go from mild to deadly in milliseconds.

It also had a solid face mask that covered his entire face so that no one could see his features to determine his identity or Terran origin. The inside of the mask was like looking at an advanced heads-up display with different functions and readouts in the Altrusian language, or whatever language was chosen. This feature was visible only when Will wanted it to be; otherwise, it was invisible.

The face mask was designed so that it did not permit anyone to see Will’s eyes, but he could see through the mask with a completely unobstructed view. The face mask and suit also featured a shielding system which prevented anyone from using any type of x-ray device or powers to penetrate it and look at Will’s face or body. The face mask also disguised Will’s voice as needed - giving it a raspy, ominous sound and tone.

Another feature of the suit was its extreme malleability - enough so that if Will needed to morph into a different alien life form or species, it would also take whatever shape he needed it to. Most importantly, it was capable of becoming invisible and intangible so Will did not have to ever take it off, but it was always there when he wanted or needed it.

***

The starship cruiser was an engineering marvel even before Will made his modifications to it. The black starship cruiser could accommodate a pilot and co-pilot seated next to each other, or it could convert to a single-seater with a single command from Will’s voice, but only Will’s voice. The master controls were made a part of two control panel bracelets that Will wore around his wrists, which were also part of his Guardian uniform.

Will had invented and installed a next generation Altrusian artificial intelligence system into the ship’s navigational and computer systems. It could perform numerous functions at one time and had the most advanced propulsion system ever designed. It was even capable of traveling at ultra-light speed! Its advanced armament and weapons systems could destroy a planet with only a few blasts, or pinpoint a target the size of a quarter from several miles away!

The cruiser’s propulsion system was self-sustaining and self-generating that produced absolutely no heat, radiation, or fuel signature, and was totally invisible from even the most advanced tracking system. Will also installed a shielding system and a cloaking device that was unrivaled anywhere in the universe.

The cruiser also had the capability to morph into almost any form of mechanical or electrical mode of transportation that Will anticipated he could encounter. For those he could not foresee, it had an advanced mimic program that allowed it to adapt to anything he might possibly come across.

However, one of the most important design features that Will had added was in the miniaturization and installation of the Altrusian wormhole device to the starship. The starship itself was now capable of producing a wormhole for when Will needed to travel great distances in a short amount of time, and it allowed him to travel both backwards and forward in time!

***

The Elders provided Will with precious jewels and metals, such as diamonds, rubies, gold and platinum, so he could conduct commerce with the different worlds he would be protecting. Diamonds, including rare colored diamonds, were so common on Altrusia they were not considered a precious stone at all. Gold and platinum were the same.

However, although considered commonplace on Altrusia, they were considered precious commodities on almost every other planet for which Will had responsibility. So much so that Will would be considered a very wealthy man on all of the worlds he protected.

Everything was now in place; Will was ready to begin his career as a Guardian.