The Circle War Read Online Free
within twenty miles of the Liberty's coordinates and sure enough, there was the biggest Goddamn fog bank I've ever seen. It went on for miles in every direction. Thick as hell. We got a good lock on their receiver and we started sending like crazy. At first we got no answer, then . . ." Jones looked up. "And then, Captain?" Crunch took another slug from his cup. "Then we had one more transmission with them, sir.
We were talking to the skipper." "What did he say?"
Crunch reached out to the tape recorder which sat in front of him and pushed the PLAY button. "Here's what we picked up, sir."
The room was completely silent as the tape crackled to life. First, a burst of static could be heard. Then noises, like hundreds of voices, were clearly evident. Then, one voice came through. It was the Liberty 2 skipper. His voice was shaky: "Get here, quick, Phantoms! Get here quick! They're all around us!
Jesus, there must be a hundred of them! Phantoms! Do you copy? May Day! May Day! May . . ." The tape abruptly ended in a burst of static. The whole room shuddered as one again. Even Jones shook off a chill.
24
"We searched the area up and down, sir," Crunch said, caution evident in his voice. "We were twenty five feet off the deck in that God damn fog and we didn't see a thing."
"So what happened?"
"We waited for the chopper and that's when they found the ship," Crunch answered.
Hunter took it from there. "The chopper dropped two divers, General," he said.
"They climbed aboard the ship and found not a single soul on board."
"The engines were running, the radio was still on, the coffee was still hot on the stove," Hunter said. "But there wasn't anyone to be found."
"Any blood?" Jones asked. "Any signs of a struggle?"
Hunter shook his head. "We sent an armed tug out and they towed it back. We went over it with a fine tooth comb. Didn't find a thing. It's like they vanished into thin air."
"Goddamn it, what happened to those men?" Jones said, lightly pounded his fist on the table.
Absolute silence fell upon the room.
"I'm afraid the worst is yet to come, sir," Hunter said. He turned to one of the officers from the Crazy Eights. His was the strangest story of all.
The officer, a lieutenant named Vogel, stood up and slowly, clearly told his tale:
"We were sitting in the scramble house one day when we got a call from the frontier guardsmen's post out in the Hell's Canyon area," Vogel began. "It seems that one of their patrols was on a week-long mission and they passed through a small town named Way Out.
25
"They had planned to bivouac there, as they had in the past. But when they arrived, they found the town was . . . well, gone, sir."
"Gone?" Jones asked. "Don't tell me the whole Goddamn town vanished, too . .
."
"No, sir," Vogel continued. "Gone as in dead, sir. Wiped out. All of the townspeople killed. Mutilated."
There was dead silence.
"There were more than 300 people," Vogel went on. "So many the guardsmen couldn't bury them all. They headed back for their post and that's when they called us."
"Then what?" Jones asked.
Vogel continued: "I took Crazy Two and Crazy Four out with seventy five men.
By the time we reached the outpost, there was no one left there either. It was burned to the ground. No one around except this one guy. He was beat up pretty bad, lost a lot of blood. The medics tried to fix him up, but he was fading fast. But he kept saying one thing, over and over . . ."
"And that was . . . ?" Jones said.
Vogel paused, then said: " 'Horses,' sir. That's all he could say, was
'Horses.' "
" 'Horses?' What the hell does that mean?" Jones asked, looking at Hunter. All the pilot could do was shrug his shoulders.
"Then what happened, lieutenant?" Jones asked.
"Well, I set up a defense perimeter, sir," the officer continued. "Then I took twenty five men with me in Crazy Two and flew out to Way Out.
"It was just as the guardsmen said. Bodies every-26
where, horribly cut up. Some missing arms, legs,
We were talking to the skipper." "What did he say?"
Crunch reached out to the tape recorder which sat in front of him and pushed the PLAY button. "Here's what we picked up, sir."
The room was completely silent as the tape crackled to life. First, a burst of static could be heard. Then noises, like hundreds of voices, were clearly evident. Then, one voice came through. It was the Liberty 2 skipper. His voice was shaky: "Get here, quick, Phantoms! Get here quick! They're all around us!
Jesus, there must be a hundred of them! Phantoms! Do you copy? May Day! May Day! May . . ." The tape abruptly ended in a burst of static. The whole room shuddered as one again. Even Jones shook off a chill.
24
"We searched the area up and down, sir," Crunch said, caution evident in his voice. "We were twenty five feet off the deck in that God damn fog and we didn't see a thing."
"So what happened?"
"We waited for the chopper and that's when they found the ship," Crunch answered.
Hunter took it from there. "The chopper dropped two divers, General," he said.
"They climbed aboard the ship and found not a single soul on board."
"The engines were running, the radio was still on, the coffee was still hot on the stove," Hunter said. "But there wasn't anyone to be found."
"Any blood?" Jones asked. "Any signs of a struggle?"
Hunter shook his head. "We sent an armed tug out and they towed it back. We went over it with a fine tooth comb. Didn't find a thing. It's like they vanished into thin air."
"Goddamn it, what happened to those men?" Jones said, lightly pounded his fist on the table.
Absolute silence fell upon the room.
"I'm afraid the worst is yet to come, sir," Hunter said. He turned to one of the officers from the Crazy Eights. His was the strangest story of all.
The officer, a lieutenant named Vogel, stood up and slowly, clearly told his tale:
"We were sitting in the scramble house one day when we got a call from the frontier guardsmen's post out in the Hell's Canyon area," Vogel began. "It seems that one of their patrols was on a week-long mission and they passed through a small town named Way Out.
25
"They had planned to bivouac there, as they had in the past. But when they arrived, they found the town was . . . well, gone, sir."
"Gone?" Jones asked. "Don't tell me the whole Goddamn town vanished, too . .
."
"No, sir," Vogel continued. "Gone as in dead, sir. Wiped out. All of the townspeople killed. Mutilated."
There was dead silence.
"There were more than 300 people," Vogel went on. "So many the guardsmen couldn't bury them all. They headed back for their post and that's when they called us."
"Then what?" Jones asked.
Vogel continued: "I took Crazy Two and Crazy Four out with seventy five men.
By the time we reached the outpost, there was no one left there either. It was burned to the ground. No one around except this one guy. He was beat up pretty bad, lost a lot of blood. The medics tried to fix him up, but he was fading fast. But he kept saying one thing, over and over . . ."
"And that was . . . ?" Jones said.
Vogel paused, then said: " 'Horses,' sir. That's all he could say, was
'Horses.' "
" 'Horses?' What the hell does that mean?" Jones asked, looking at Hunter. All the pilot could do was shrug his shoulders.
"Then what happened, lieutenant?" Jones asked.
"Well, I set up a defense perimeter, sir," the officer continued. "Then I took twenty five men with me in Crazy Two and flew out to Way Out.
"It was just as the guardsmen said. Bodies every-26
where, horribly cut up. Some missing arms, legs,
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