“Colonel, I would very much like to accompany your landing party if you’ll have me.”
Jack only nodded his assent. The Russian captain returned the gesture and then made for the hatch.
“Captain?”
Kreshenko faced Collins once more.
“Make sure your boss comes along also.”
The Russian raised a brow and then placed his saucer cap on his head and left with Dishlakov right behind him.
Once outside, the Russian XO turned to his captain.
“Why does he want Salkukoff with you?”
The captain smiled. “Because Colonel Collins feels the same as ourselves. He knows Salkukoff cannot be trusted. And that the man is possibly insane.”
Dishlakov watched the captain leave to prepare to accompany Collins and his shore party.
“Stand by to launch Zodiac. Marine force X-ray report to departure ramp.”
The USS Shiloh prepared for their first friendly invasion of a country not of their own world.
The large Zodiac held twenty-five men: Jack, Ryan, Everett, Henri, Jenks, Farbeaux, Charlie Ellenshaw, Second Captain Dishlakov, Captain Kreshenko, and Colonel Salkukoff, accompanied by seven US Marines, four British Royal Marines, one navy motorman, and three Russian commandos. They sped toward the island. Jack had ordered the officers to only carry small arms. The US Marines carried their sidearms and M4 assault rifles, the British their ever-present Heckler & Koch automatic assault rifles. The Russians had the standard-issue stockless AK-47. Jack had specifically ordered the M60 machine gun removed from the mount at the head of the rubber boat.
The Zodiac made little noise as the 150-horsepower motor allowed the Zodiac to slide along the top of the violet seas efficiently. Jack watched the shoreline as it grew ever larger. There was no one on the beach throwing spears at them. At least not yet, he thought. Still this new world seemed so preternaturally silent. Collins turned and faced the security element of their landing party.
“The NATO marine and Russian security detail will stand by the boat and keep radio contact. The officers will approach the village alone. We don’t need the natives getting jumpy. Remember, we still do not know if this is the first time they will have encountered people from our world.” He shot Salkukoff a look, and the Russian just smirked knowingly as always. “So, your element will secure the boat and listen for signs of trouble.”
The Zodiac actually picked up speed the closer to the brown sands they got. The bow struck the softness of the beach, and then the rubber craft slid easily and noiselessly onto the shore. Jenks was the first one out. He quickly tied the boat off on a tree trunk that had floated onto the silent shores and then looked at the screening palm trees that guarded the interior like a wall of browns and greens.
“What a sight,” Jenks said as Charlie joined him. “Ginny would have loved this.”
Ellenshaw smiled when the master chief mentioned Virginia. Charlie had yet to express to the assistant director how pleased he was for her and the gruff lifelong navy man.
“Of course, she would be complaining that these folks have it bad because they don’t have lights and a running toilet, but other than that, I think she would love this joint. Hell, Doc”—he slapped Charlie on the back, nearly dislodging his glasses—“this is better than old Subic Bay on a Saturday night!”
Ellenshaw really didn’t understand the reference about the wild naval base in the Philippines of yesteryear. He just smiled for the master chief and his impending happiness.
“Great place for a Marriott,” Jason Ryan said as he took in the beauty of the scene before him.
“Oh, come on. Only a navy man like you would put a damn tourist trap in a place like this,” Jack said as he placed his hands on his hips and studied the terrain. “Gunny, place two men just inside the tree line and wait for our return.” He turned and faced all the security element. “There are to be no outward hostile acts. We’re visitors here and come uninvited, so act accordingly.” Jack noticed only the British Royal Marines and their American counterparts nodded. The Russian commandos looked to Salkukoff for confirmation.
Kreshenko interpreted Jack’s orders for the benefit of the Russian commandos.
“Rules of engagement, Colonel?” the gunnery sergeant asked.
Collins looked around at the tranquillity of the island. “Yes, your ROE is this: run if fired upon or confronted in any way. We’ll hook up by radio if things go south. These people are not to be harmed for any reason.”
“No shooting,” the large marine said, loud enough that everyone heard, even the black-clad Russian element.
Jack waved the officers forward, and the visiting team stepped into a world that had not existed on their own planet in over one hundred thousand years.
12
Collins, Everett, Ryan, and the other professional military personnel felt the eyes on them from the moment they stepped into the trees lining the brown shores. They moved steadily through the exotic landscape, with Charlie Ellenshaw the only member of the landing team to actually stop and appreciate the vast array of botany and fauna that no longer existed on their own plane of existence.
“Colonel, some of this vegetation and many species of flower have not existed in our world for many thousands of years,” he said as he gently held a flower up that none of them had ever seen before. “This is a far more familiar landscape of Antarctica two hundred thousand years ago than is indicative of today’s fauna.”
Jack turned and faced Ellenshaw and placed a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture. He glanced at the Russians. The three men acted as though they failed to hear the professor’s observation, but he wasn’t so sure. For all he knew, Salkukoff knew all about their little time travel journey into the past. Nonetheless, Charlie got the hint.
“Tell me, Doc, why do you think this fauna survived here and not on our world?” Ryan asked. Jack knew he did it to get the conversation off Antarctica.
“My main suspect would be, of course, pollution and oxygen content. They haven’t had to deal with greenhouse gases and contaminants the way our world has.”
As Jack moved through the bush, he suspected that Charlie’s observations were right on.
There was movement ahead, and Everett held up a fist, bringing the small safari to a stop. Carl went down to one knee and waited. It wasn’t long before the crashing of bush and leaf became louder, and then they all heard the sound of laughing. They all knew the sound of children.
Jack looked back at the three Russians. Salkukoff was the only one who had drawn his gun. Collins caught his attention and shook his head and held his gaze until the colonel replaced the weapon into his shoulder holster. The look lasted a moment longer as Salkukoff continued to stare at Jack.
Before Everett could react, a child burst through a stand of small trees and right into his thick arms. The young boy was followed by two giggling girls of about the same age. After Carl caught the boy, he fell backward until the child was on top of him. The girls crashed into the scene, and that was when the startled screaming started.
“Damn!” Collins hissed. For the first time in years, he was caught off guard and was slow to react. How do you stop little girls from screaming without scaring them even further? As he watched, frozen to his spot, he saw that Carl was doing the only thing he knew to do. He held his hands up in the air, allowing the boy child to stand up and scramble backward. The two girls took their partner by the hand and then quickly disappeared into the underbrush of junglelike trees and undergrowth. Carl fought to his feet with his eyes wide.
“I think you scared her, Captain,” Salkukoff said as he stood from where he had been kneeling.