Wings of Death

The mysterious merchant

Everything was calm at Fort Barton. The survivor’s still hadn’t been informed about the appearance of a new subspecies. Nathan and Margaret didn’t even tell their own parents about that dreadful encounter. Klaus Varchovsky had finally managed to create a military grade Rain Blaster. They needed to produce at least 12 more of them to equip all the soldiers in the Viper Squad along with the new recruits. The mission was postponed to the next night.

Captain Elijah didn’t like waiting around but he had no other choice. Meanwhile Lieutenant Amy decided to have a talk with the mysterious stranger who had brought the Bloodwing corpses to the base at the behest of Dr. Grant. She had overheard Blake Morton boasting about his knowledge of the lands. A week ago he had claimed in a drunken state that he knew the whole city like the back of his hand. The Lieutenant wanted to find out if he knew about any nearby factories which manufactured jet plane and rocket components. She knew that people often weave tall tales when intoxicated but she had noticed a certain truthfulness in his eyes.  In any case, it was worth a shot.

Blake Morton was not very fond of human company and would often spend his time in the military garage modifying his armored caravan. The garage was mostly empty at midnight when all the soldiers had returned to the barracks. Only a couple of men stood outside the garage on guard duty. They never spoke to Blake or bothered him anyway. He was taken aback when Lieutenant Amy suddenly walked into the garage that night.

“I am just fixing my car. I will do it later then.” Blake was about to leave when the Lieutenant caught him by his arm. Has she found out who I am, was his immediate thought. He didn’t want to go to jail again.

“It’s okay. You don’t need to go anywhere. In fact, I came here looking for you”, she replied.

“I... I don’t understand madam. I haven’t done anything wro ... wrong”, he was so nervous that he started stammering.

“Relax, I am only here to have a friendly conversation”, replied Lieutenant Amy with a giggle.

Blake knew that it was never wise to trust a uniform, especially when the person was such a high ranking officer. He hesitantly complied and tried to smile.

Without wasting any more time she got straight to the point. “I overheard you at the bar. You were saying that you knew every part of the city like the back of your hand. Remember?”

Blake still could not understand what she wanted from him. He decided that the best thing to do would be to cooperate and if anything went wrong he could always ask Dr. Grant to help him out.  “I used to be a motorcyclist a few years ago so I got to see many different places. I had a group of ten friends and we often traveled all across the city on weekends”. He was careful not to spill the beans about his criminal past.

“That sounds lovely. I need your help regarding something. You see, we need to get some supplies from a rocket factory but there aren’t any such facilities nearby. I thought maybe you could point me towards the right direction. In exchange for the information I can give you access to the military’s vintage wines which are reserved for officers”.

“There is one such factory about 700 miles away. There are two more 1200 miles away”.

“I already know about those. I was looking for something within 100 miles. Thanks anyways”, she was about to leave when Blake called her back.

“Wait. May I know what it is that you guys are looking for?”

The Lieutenant stopped and thought for a while and then turned around, “We are looking for vanadium”.

“That is quite rare in these parts. Must be for some top secret...” He checked himself at the last moment and continued, “I know a guy who may have a small amount of vanadium in store”.

“How small exactly?” she inquired.

“A few kilograms, maybe 20...or 25”

“It is indeed a very small amount”, she said sarcastically. “Okay, just tell me how to find him”.

“I can take you there. He lives close to the large radio tower near Birch Street”, he paused for a while and then added, “Just don’t tell him you are in the army. He is a nervous little fellow.”

“Alright, I will dress accordingly and ask my men to wait outside.” She understood that this friend of his was most probably a black market trader but ignored it. At that time, it was more important to get the supplies than arrest a criminal. “Meet me outside the main gate in 15 minutes”.

Blake breathed a sigh of relief when she finally left. The friend who he had just mentioned used to sell all kinds of contraband goods, rare chemicals, precious rare metals and firearms. Before coming to the base, Blake had purchased a fake ID card and a couple of smoke grenades from him.

Exactly 15 minutes later Lieutenant Amy and 10 Corporals met him outside the main gate. The Lieutenant was dressed in a black t-shirt and cargo jeans and carried only a small sidearm inside her socks.

Blake was surprised to see that there were no vehicles nearby. He knew that travelling on foot was like making a death wish.

“The Bloodwings are still out there, madam. Are we really going to travel on foot?” he asked nervously.

Instead of answering his question, the Lieutenant handed him a pair of vanadium earplugs and a flashlight and said, “Keep the earplugs in your pocket. Only put them on if you hear any screams. Follow me and stay close.”

Lieutenant Amy disappeared into a narrow side alley. The soldiers followed her in a single file. When Blake neared the side alley he saw her standing near an opening on the ground.

“We are going to take the old sewers. It is going to be safe down here”, she whispered.

The Lieutenant jumped down into the sewer system and the soldiers followed her lead. Blake had done many things in life but he had never climbed down into a sewer before this. Covering his face with his handkerchief he slowly climbed down into the sewer. To his surprise it wasn’t that damp or smelly inside. This old network of sewers had fallen out of use long ago. It was just like any other tunnel now.

“The sewer has an opening just behind the radio tower on Birch Street. Switch on your flash lights and stay close to me”, said the Lieutenant.

They all followed silently in her footsteps and after a long walk re – emerged near the radio tower. They had covered a distance of almost 2 miles on foot. She definitely knows her way around town, thought Blake. By travelling via the sewers they had been able to avoid all the Bloodwings till now.

Blake had never thought that he would be the one to bring the military at Lionel’s door but the world had really turned upside down ever since the Bloodwings showed up. One did what he had to do to survive.

“He lives inside that blue building. There is a secret stairway. Let me answer the intercom”, he explained.

“Okay, go ahead”, replied the Lieutenant and turning to her men she signaled them to hold position outside the door.

The blue building which Blake entered hardly looked inhabitable. There was a peculiar painting hanging near the entrance. He took the painting down and ripped open its backside using a small dagger. There was a bronze key inside it. Lieutenant Amy sat down on a couch and quietly observed Blake go about his business. It was clear that he used to visit this place quite often. With the bronze key in hand he walked towards what seemed like an elevator and opened its door. It turned out to be a secret room. At the other end of the small room was another door. There was a camera and an intercom connected to it. He pressed the bell under the intercom and waited.

A few seconds later a voice was heard on the intercom, “Blake? Is that you?”

“Yeah, it’s me. I am here to buy some rare goodies”.

“Do you have any company?”

“It’s just me and my client; Miss Amy Williams”.

“I didn’t know you worked for women clients too”.

“I don’t discriminate between my clients, Lionel”.

“Alright, that’s fair enough. Come on in”.

The small metal door was unlocked and Blake signaled the Lieutenant to come with him. They descended a flight of wooden stairs and found themselves in a large room with marble tiles. At the far end of the room was Lionel. He didn’t look like a black market dealer. In fact he looked rather helpless in his wheelchair.

“Pardon me, I can’t get up to greet such a lovely lady,” he said addressing Lieutenant Amy.

“It’s alright. I am pleased to meet you nonetheless”, she replied.

“So, what is it that you want to buy, Miss Williams?”

“I was looking for some vanadium. Blake told me that you might have some”.

“Vanadium is quite an expensive item. How much are you willing to pay?”

“I don’t have any money on me.  Would you like some other item in exchange?”

Lionel didn’t usually exchange items. He preferred taking cash up front but he was curious about her offer. “What can you offer?” he asked.

Lieutenant Amy smiled and reached for the concealed handgun inside her socks. Pointing the gun at him she replied, “Your life in exchange for the vanadium”.

“What the hell is this Blake? You betrayed me! I am going to make you pay for this!” shouted Lionel in rage.

“Not a word more. Hand over the vanadium if you want to live. I won’t ask again”, she said switching off the safety of her gun.

“It is in my warehouse. Here is the key”, Lionel pulled out a silver key from his pocket and handed it to her.

Blake felt guilty but there wasn’t anything he could do to help Lionel. He cursed himself under his breath and swore to never help Dr. Grant again if they all survived.

“Come on, we are done here. Let’s get moving”.

He cast a sideways glance at his old friend Lionel and then followed the Lieutenant out of the room.

Once outside the building she ordered the men to follow her to the warehouse.

“Lead the way, Mr. Morton”.

Blake did as ordered and led them to the large warehouse at the other end of the road.

Lieutenant Amy opened the door and switched on her flashlight. She was shocked to see the warehouse filled with several kilograms of drugs and an assortment of military weapons from all over the world. On the left side of the room was a large crate marked ‘V’. She ordered the men to open the crate. Inside it was almost 50 kilograms of pure vanadium bars.

“Get moving boys. Grab the vanadium bars”, there was a childlike excitement in her voice. The soldiers immediately started picking up the vanadium bars and placing them inside their backpacks. Before leaving the warehouse she picked up all the C4 explosives and proximity mines she could find and put it inside her large backpack. It all went according to her plan. They had managed to find pure vanadium bars and didn’t even have to encounter any Bloodwings so far. It was time for them to head back to Fort Barton. She was glad that she hadn’t let Captain Elijah down.