PARADOX - Chapter 30

Chapter 30 April 28, 2012 – Gaißach



Monday signaled to Chester to prepare for the unexpected, then nodded to Henri, who pointed towards the SGS9, Special Operations commander. The SEK commander acknowledged his signal and spread his men out among the headstones on the south side of the cemetery.

“There are four vehicles, make that five vehicles, heading up the road towards us,” Scout said over the radio. “Two coming in from the left and three coming in from the right. One of them appears to be a large truck.” Monday took a quick glance at both roads leading up to the small village and spotted the vehicles as they drew nearer. Henri was on the same radio frequency and also heard Scout’s warning.

As he watched, three paragliders landed just outside the wall of the cemetery to the south, and four more landed to the right, less than ten meters from the road.

“I can’t understand why Dorbec would simply bull his way into our operation,” Monday muttered into the mike. “Do you see or hear any diversions in the direction of Bad Tolz, Scout?”

“None boss,” came the curt reply. “No activity 360.”

Monday spotted Dorbec as soon as he hit the quick releases on his glider harness. The man had the arrogance to stand and offer a hand salute. He also had a huge grin on his ruggedly handsome face. Dorbec shucked his parachute harness, picked up his equipment bag from the ground, and removed several unidentifiable items. He signaled to his men, who immediately jogged towards the cemetery, each equipped with a new Heckler and Koch MP7. One man carried the latest version of the Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle (SCAR) 5.56 mm with enhanced grenade launcher. Monday was envious, these weapons were not even general issue items yet.

Dorbec took his time and casually strolled up to where Daria and Monday stood. They could now see that he held a bottle of wine and loaf of French bread. The label on the wine bottle was Cheval Blanc an expensive Saint Emilion brand. “You didn’t invite me for breakfast, mes amis,” Dorbec held up the bottle of wine. “I’m not too disappointed though. Actually I didn’t expect a warm welcome. However, being the gentleman that I am I brought enough good French wine and bread to share with you.” He pulled several glasses from his baggy side pockets and offered one to Daria, Dom and Monday. Then he opened the wine and poured a sip into his glass. With an exaggerated swishing of approval, he downed the sip then proffered the bottle to Monday.

Hesitantly Monday lifted his glass to be filled, followed by the other two. Dom looked at the wine with a hint of eagerness on his face. “Salut,” Monday took a sip of the smooth wine. “You do know the German authorities have been notified of the activity here?” he cocked an eye at Dorbec. “Any gold found will go to the government, and by virtue of the fact that we notified the proper authorities, we will be awarded the seven percent finders fee.”

“You know I am not a stupid man.” Dorbec tore off a piece of crusty bread and tossed it into his mouth. “The gold is not important. This, I am certain, you already deduced from our earlier conversation. It is also unlikely that twenty tons of gold is buried beneath the casket of poor Sergeant Jager, nes pas?” He offered the bread to Monday who refused.

“Then why this unnecessary display of military theatrics?” Monday asked. “What do you hope to gain from it?”

Dorbec finished his piece of bread and washed it down with more wine. “No Special Forces man wants to ride or walk into combat like a grunt.” he grinned displaying his pearly white teeth. “We’ve got to soar in like an eagle.” He casually glanced around then at Dom and Daria. “That is what I want,” he continued, pointing at the box held tightly in Dom’s hand.

Dom pulled the box closer to him as if to protect it and looked pleadingly at Monday.

Monday glanced at the church roof. “As I told you before, no deal.”

Dorbec noticed his quick glance then with a big smile said, “Tell your man on the church roof to come down. If he will look to his right he will see what appears to be a stack of shingles placed there for roof repairs. I can assure you there is enough plastic explosives within that bundle to remove the entire church roof. I also have a counter sniper on top of that large truck you see about a hundred meters down the road.”

“Off the roof,” Monday ordered Scout. He knew that Dorbec was not a man to make idle threats.

“While you’re at it, I believe you have two men hidden beneath imitation grass mats over by the church,” Dorbec smiled. “Also another man dressed in Lederhosen pretending to be a villager in the crowd. Have them join you.”

“How in hell did he know this?” Monday thought, signaling for the rest of his team to join him. Something did not add up. Dorbec knew every move he had staged, as if he had inside information. Monday glanced over at Henri who shrugged in disbelief.

“You will now give me what I came for,” Dorbec ordered, pointing at the small box. “I do not wish to harm anyone. Life is too valuable to waste.”

Monday nodded his head at Henri who signaled the commander of the SEK Team. When the commander did not respond, Dorbec answered for him. “You can bring your men out now Adler!” he yelled, turning towards a subordinate. “Please signal the vehicles to join us and have several men clear the villagers back. Wouldn’t want anyone to get injured by accident.”

The SEK commander signaled for his men to join Dorbec’s, then walked up to where they stood. “Excellent work Johan,” Dorbec patted the man on the back. “You have met Commander Johan Adler,” Dorbec said, introducing the man to Monday. “Actually, Johan does not work for SGS9, he works for me. The true SGS commander and his men you will find tied up in a small farmhouse. The address is on that bag which held the excellent French bread. Please see to their safety after we have gone. Now, the box please.”

Monday felt disgusted at how easy Dorbec had turned the table on him. It made him feel like a rank amateur going up against a master. The man was one clever bastard for certain. He gave Dom a sour look and nodded for him to turn the box over to Dorbec. Dom looked as if he was going to attempt to run with the box but realized the futility of that action. He reluctantly passed it over.

“You had everything covered,” Dorbec said with a smile of professional courtesy. “But, you had one Achilles Heel and that was SGS9. It was ridiculously easy for my men to intercept them while they were in route here. Few men, even professional soldiers, worry about tight security while in transit to their areas of operation, especially when they are approached by someone they recognize as a fellow Special Operations Team member. We know enough of their internal protocols to cover ourselves for several hours. As for the local police, you know they are no match for people of our caliber.”

“Take your damn box and go,” Monday spoke through gritted teeth. “If it’s important enough to give up twenty tons of gold it must be something special. Damned if I care.”

Dorbec handed the heavy little box to the man named Adler. “See to it that it is dispatched immediately,” he ordered, sending Adler off in a rush to do his bidding. “Now comes the unpleasant part of my duty,” Dorbec continued, giving Monday a somber look. “Madamoiselle Wolff will you please come with me?” He demanded.

Daria shrunk against Monday and squeezed his hand tightly. She looked at Dorbec with sudden fear.

“No way!” Monday blurted, grasping her tighter.

“Yes way,” Dorbec raised his eyebrow. “You can make it easy or make it difficult, Captain Stiehl. If you chose the difficult way, I cannot guarantee her safety. I assure you she is not to be harmed. I will follow my orders to the letter though.”

Monday was caught in a fog of indecision. There was no way he could prevent Dorbec from doing exactly what he wanted, but the terrified look on Daria’s face was heartbreaking. He felt useless. He had failed her. He looked at the faces of his team members. They stood in silent anger. Doctor Prestano was still mesmerized, his eyes following Adler as he headed for the huge truck. Henri nodded his head in agreement.

“I’ll follow you,” Monday angrily growled.

“This I know,” Dorbec laughed. “If you are the man I believe you to be, you will follow me to hell to get her back. But, I have my mission and I will not make it easy for you.”

Slowly Monday let go of Daria’s hand and bent down to kiss her. “We’ll find you,” he whispered, as he held her tight.

She looked at him with tears in her eyes. “I know you will,” she replied. “I love you.”

“My men will cover you until we are safely from the area,” Dorbec took Daria by the arm and turned to leave. “I pray you do not do something stupid.” He then walked off at a brisk pace heading towards the main road.

Monday could see that the sniper posted on top of the huge truck still had them covered. He also noticed several other men posted in strategic positions with their MP7’s held ready. Monday watched as the four sedans, similar in color and make, pulled up near each other on the road. Dorbec placed Daria in one of the sedans then walked over to the large truck to talk with the man named Adler.

Several commandos removed a large canvas on the back of the truck. The canvas slid to the ground revealing a good-sized missile.

“A V-750VM Russian missile,” Henri watched the men turn on equipment to operate the missile. “These missiles are guided using radio control signals from those guidance computers in the truck,” he continued. “ The missile typically mounts a 195 kg fragmentation warhead. It’s accurate to about 75 meters and has a range of about thirty miles, more depending on type. Some versions have two stages and can carry a payload which can be dropped by parachute.”

They watched as the small box was placed into a protective container and placed inside a special compartment in the warhead of the missile.

“They’re going to launch the box inside the missile,” Chester stated. “With a range of thirty plus miles you know they’re going to have someone at the other end retrieve the box and be long gone before the authorities can even figure out where it came down.”

“Smart,” Monday muttered. “Very smart. Is there nothing Dorbec hasn’t thought of?”

A few moments later, they stared upward as the missile launched and rapidly disappeared from view. The men quickly ran for the sedans waiting for them, signaling for those guarding Monday and his friends to join them. Dorbec strolled over to the sedan he had placed Daria in, then turned and saluted Monday. A wide smile covered his rugged face. He got into the back seat of the sedan and all four vehicles sped off in two different directions. Monday knew that once they hit the main roads, each sedan would divert to a separate route.

As they watched, four small helicopters zoomed over the village, halted a few seconds, then flew off in the direction of the sedans.

“He’s telling us that Daria may be placed in one of the helicopters for a fast escape,” Henri squinted in the sunlight. “We won’t know which one, and right now we don’t have the assets to follow any of them.”

“Covered his tracks,” Chester shook his head. “By the time we organize official pursuit, they’ll be out of the country, or so well hidden we’ll never find them.”

“So it seems,” Monday muttered. “So it seems.”