[Sticks]

Chapter 6

An avenging angel calls

"You must be mad!” the commander said nervously, as he looked at the gun shaped object in the semi gloom of the bar lighting, "You will never get away with this".
"You mean like you got away with mass murder, criminal damage and a campaign against innocent civilians" The Lone Stranger answered back.
The commander slowly started to move his right hand away from his plate. The Lone Stranger noticed this movement; he pulled back the hammer on his gun.
"Go ahead, just give me the excuse, it more than you deserve" He told the commander.

The general hubbub of the bar clientele fell to a hushed silence, as all eyes focused on this stranger who had come into their haven from the bleak world outside. They had all heard of shoot outs in other bars, the one on Upper-Kirkgate down the road had been gutted in a vicious fire fight the previous month. Thirteen people had died, ten were put in hospital. They didn't care much about the commander, they considered him to be a loud mouth Texan who was always flaunting his wealth and pulling rank, but to wreck their only watering hole was a different matter. A local man picked up a baseball bat and walked towards the stranger.

"Who ever you are, you better leave now" he said in a menacing tone. The Lone Stranger looked around at the crowd, a collection of some of the locals, a real motley bunch. To live in the North East of Scotland which was reverting back to barbarianism outside of the major towns, they needed to be a harder breed. He might be able to tackle at least two, but he could not take them all on, and he did not want to, since he did not have any quarrel with them. His immediate quarrel was with the commander, and he could not allow any one interfere with what he had to do.
"I have a private matter with the commander; I don't have anything against you"
"The commander stays, you leave" said the man with the baseball bat.
At this the stranger withdrew from his pocket what appeared to be a grenade with his other hand and pulled the pin out with his teeth. "This is a thermite grenade, its just two stages away from a tactical nuke. I drop it and this whole building goes up in seconds" He told the assembled on lookers, "The commander and I are going out now. Any one move to stop us and I drop this" The Lone Stranger yelled

The man with the baseball bat put it down "we don't want any trouble in here ok" he said
"Suits me fine. Ok Sampson, I want you to get up and come out side now" The Stranger ordered "or my hand gets tired of holding this pineapple"
The commander was breaking into a sweat. As he looked at the barrel of the gun and the thermite grenade, a load of questions went through his head. How could any one of guessed his involvement twenty years ago? Who was this person? What did he want?
The commander started to get up.
"Slowly and keep your hands where I can see them" Barked the Lone Stranger, “you wouldn't want to make me nervous"

The commander got to his feet and moved to the door, the stranger followed him, always pointing the gun at him. The other customers moved to get out of their way, there seemed no sense in dying over someone like the commander.
"I don't know what you expect to gain boy, but you are nuttier than an old Dundee fruit cake" The commander told the Lone Stranger
The Lone Stranger dug the gun slightly into the commanders back "I am not a Boy you worthless piece of crap" he retorted.
They reached the main front door; the commander went to open it.
"And don't try to run either, you will never make it.

As soon as the two men left the other customers sighed with relief, that was a close call. One of the other customers turned to the man who had the base ball bat. "You moron, you could have got us all killed" he said in his weasel fashion
"How was I to know he might have a thermite grenade" Protested the man. The rest of the bar gradually returned to the things they were doing before the Stranger had come in.

The sun was now starting to sink lower; the sky was turning a glorious shade of red as the two men walked outside.
Ok commander; put your gun on the ground slowly. Don't forget if this pineapple goes up, your still in the blast radius" Ordered the Lone Stranger.
The commander slowly reached for his holster, he was sure he could out shoot this man, but the thermite grenade did put things into a different light. This was no time for heroics. He pulled out the gun and held it in his finger and thumb. "This is it. It’s an ancient point four five magnum, it’s a family heirloom" he said as he held it in mid air.
"So you know what it is like to have a family then. Unload it"
The commander opened the gun up and emptied the bullets into his hand
"That's all the bullets" The commander told the Lone Stranger
"Throw them to your left” Ordered the Lone Stranger
Carefully the commander tossed the bullets a few feet away from him.
"Now lay the gun on the ground and walk forward five paces"
Slowly the commander placed his gun on the ground and then walked forward five paces, sweat dripping off his face. The Lone Stranger walked forward and picked up the gun and inspected it. The chambers were empty as he had instructed. "Now Commander we are going to the scene of the crime, start walking"

The commander started to walk down Blackfriars street, to him it seemed like the longest walk of his life. Each step seemed like an eternity wondering when he would get a bullet in the back. If he wasn't shot by this maniac then he might get caught in the blast of a high powered explosive, considered to be a quarter of the effect of a tactical nuclear weapon. This son of a bitch sure had all bases covered.
"Which institution did they let you out of?" He asked
"Shut up and keep walking" Ordered the Lone Stranger

The two men walked down the street and eventually came to the ruins of the St Andrew Street building.
"Now what?" Asked the commander
"There is a hole in the fence a little further on; we are going in to have a look at what your work has done"
The commander looked at the ruins over the fence as they walked towards the gap in the fence. He had never really looked at it; he had left Aberdeen shortly after he had flown the mission. The evening shadows made the whole ruin more sinister. A slight breeze had picked up, it made a very eerie moan He could almost imagine the ghosts of those who had died screaming at him in vengeance. He could see the hole in the fence. He Stopped by it.
"Inside" ordered the Lone Stranger
The commander carefully climbed through the gap in the fence.
"Stand still and don't move" The Stranger ordered as he climbed through the fence, "Now walk over to the old car park, take a good look around. This is what a missile attack can do; they probably never heard you coming"
"Come on, the Apache is a fire and forget. It could have been fired from a mile off" Said the commander nervously.
"That's interesting, I never mentioned it was an Apache helicopter" commented the Lone Stranger
"It was in the papers that it was an Apache" the commander tried to explain.
"Oh no it wasn't, they just said an American helicopter. Now how would you know what type of helicopter it was? Now kneel down"
"In this mud"
"I said kneel, I won't ask you again"
The commander knelt down in the driest part he could find, "Now what the Sam hill is this all about" he asked in an exasperated tone.
"Wing Commander J.W Sampson, you are the pilot who alone flew the mission against this building. You used an Apache Attack helicopter and several air to ground missiles. You killed seven people"
The commander thought he would try another tack on the man holding the gun and the thermite grenade "Boy do you have some heck of an imagination there" he said in a half joking manner
"This is no imagination and you know it, so cut the denial crap you are definitely the pilot. Start talking Sampson, Who gave the termination order on St Andrew street"
"I have no idea what you are talking about” Said the commander, "I wasn't there"
From behind him the commander heard the sound of a gun being cocked
"I am beginning to get impatient here. I have nothing to loose here, have you?”
"What makes you think I would be on that mission, the name was never released?"
"Its interesting that you know that. If I was you and I had not done it I don't think I would have remembered that fact. I mean everyone was so concerned about the hate campaign against your victims. Did you do that as well?" The Lone Stranger said trying to stem the rage he felt. Here was the man responsible for all that had befallen him, his family and friends.

"I admit I was a chopper pilot based in Britain, but there were hundreds of pilots who could have flown the mission. What makes you so dam sure that I am your alleged pilot" The commander asked as he looked at the lengthening shadows which were beginning to creep towards him
"I've had a lot of time to find you. Tracing people is something I do rather well. I once was seconded to the Salvation Army for a year to assist with their computer tracing system. I picked up a lot of experience" The Lone Stranger sneered, "I also had quite a bit of luck coming across a young runaway who was quite a wizard at hacking a while back. Your pentagon's computer has lousy security, it was a walk over. I just pulled the list of all those who served at the old Edzell base and followed up any American pilot. I found you quite early on. You were there right up to the time of the mission. Quite a lucky shot I thought" explained the Lone Stranger.
"Ok so I was stationed there, so were a bunch of other guys one of them must have flown it."
"Two weeks after the attack you got a sudden promotion over those who had been waiting for a long time. You must have been a very fast rising star. At the time you were supposed to be on leave in a Welsh fishing port. I checked you out, you were missing at the time of the attack, and your alibi was a total sham. They did not want anyone to know you were involved, or was that to get around your freedom of information act you had in those days" The stranger said in a drawled out accent free tone

"This guy is not Scottish" The commander thought
"OK I was not in Wales then. I had to attend a funeral, so I couldn't make it" The commander answered.
"Oh you forget how your false alibi was supposed to be set up, because someone with your name checked in. I knew the hotel and I had your picture from your Pentagon computer. So I went there, said I was looking for you, they said they had not even seen you. When I told them your name. They said you had been there but you weren't the man in the picture. Someone checked in at that Welsh hotel alright but it wasn't you commander. All the evidence fits into place as the only way to account for your sudden rise from being described as a second rate officer to full Wing Commander is if you took part in a very special mission, that rewarded you very well. You can deny it all you want, but we both know very well. You are the pilot, who attacked a civilian building, owned by a peaceful organisation, based in a country of a major Ally"
"This is all circumstantial evidence. You haven't got a single item of proof that it was me"
"It’s all the evidence I need Sampson"

Commander Sampson was beginning to feel uncomfortable, who ever this guy was, he was just as damn good as the old CIA. It was unnerving that all that information was kept on computers and that someone had hacked into them. What possible motive could this person have for pursuing a twenty year old event? Then a thought occurred to him
"You must be KGB, only the KGB could organise such a surveillance operation. What do you hope to achieve for the Mid East Block."
"Really Sampson, you insult my intelligence. I don't work with amateurs. Consider me as the angel of vengeance, vengeance for those who died. Vengeance for those who had their lives destroyed because they refused to believe your lies. Why don't you confess commander? You bombed this building. And I am very sure you must have known why."
"This has gone far enough who ever you are. The building was targeted because of a dangerous experiment in time travel. How would you like to live in a time loop? Reliving the same event time in time out forever" The commander said. He tried to get up, this was stupid.
"I said kneel. I have not finished with you."

"Ok so I flew the mission. Just kill me now. Get it over and done with. I'm glad I flew it. I helped save the universe from a mad evil scientist who sounds like he came from the same funny farm as you did"
"You could have just asked him to stop and he would have done so. I ask you again who ordered you to attack an unarmed British civilian building with out warning, my hand is getting tired" The Lone Stranger said in a drawl.
"I don't know, I was never told, I was only obeying orders for the safety of mankind" The commander blurted out.
"Not good enough "The Lone Stranger said in a dropped tone, "That was the argument of the Nazis in the last century. We never accepted it then. We don't accept it now. Someone gave you those orders, who were they? Why don't you tell me?"
"You had better pull that trigger. I am not at liberty to divulge that it's classified"
The Commander then felt the gun on the back of his neck.
"Sampson." the Lone Stranger said in a quiet voice, "If I pulled the trigger now. It will look like a gang land execution. Any friends and family you have will have there lives turned upside down. Trying to find where you mafia connections are. How do you feel about your death bringing shame dishonour and possible death on your loved ones?"
"You are some sadistic son of a bitch. You will never get away with it. Our guys will hunt you down" Said the commander angrily, "you sound like a real pinko"
"Can you hunt down a ghost, a dead man. Can't you hear the screams of the victims crying out for your blood? Do you want to carry the can all alone?"
"That's my job. I put my head up above the parapet. Sometimes our heads get blown off. It goes with the territory"

In the distance the sound of a police hover-car siren sounded, the owners of Simpsons had understandably called the police. If they flew over the ruins it could ruin everything.
"Get up" Ordered the Lone Stranger, "we are going to have a look inside"
"Are you crazy, that's liable to come down any minute" The commander said as he stood up.
"Maybe I am. But then I am just an angel of vengeance to you. Now in"

The Two walked into the darkened western corridor. The commander felt that it was nearing the end. He just wished he could know who was the Loony tune who had the twenty year old grudge. The broken glass crunched under foot. The commander thought he would try a psychological attack, he had nothing to loose.
"We are inside the building now. Why don't you pull that trigger if you've got the guts? And I don't think you have." he said in sarcastic tone.
"Don't worry, your time will come to feel the sword of retribution" The Lone Stranger retorted, "But first I want you to listen to the howl of broken lives"
"Come on I wouldn't of thought a man like you would believe in ghosts"
"I want you to listen to anguish of those who were left high and dry. The Students who had saved to better themselves, only for their dreams and aspirations to be crushed out of existence by your so called mission to save man kind"
"No. The responsibility was entirely that of your sick pinko friend. He set up the experiment that was the threat to mankind. We had no choice. Those pinkos on the board of governors would not let us inspect the equipment"
"Come on Mr Samson, we know that was a lie. RGIT was never asked. The attack was unprovoked and you know it. That laboratory on your right. go in and kneel down"
The commander tried the charred door. it was stiff. "It won't open"
"Then kneel here"
"No, If you are going to shoot me, then shoot me in the front. I don't think you can, because if you could, you would have done it by now"
The commander decided to turn around. He was going to confront this pinko face to face. Thermite grenade or no thermite grenade. He was a Wing Commander this guy looked like he was a bum.

The Gun shot rocked the area.

It was a couple of seconds when the commander realised that he was alive he realised it must have been either a starting pistol or blank ammunition

The commander looked around and discovered the Lone Stranger was nowhere to be seen.
"He can’t have gone far” The commander said to himself. He left the building to search for Lone Stranger. But it seemed as if he were never there. In the time allowed, the commander would have seen him, even if ran away as soon as the gun had gone off.

Suddenly he heard the sound of a police hover-car overhead. They had obviously heard the gunshot. This he could do without; the police being locals were such a nuisance, as they did not come under his control. Oh how he longed to have an excuse to implement his emergency powers to declare martial law. He would show those guys a thing or to about keeping law and order. The police Hover-car spotted him wandering about the ruins and started to descend. The commander waited for them to land. Maybe they might have seen the man run away.

"Can I remind you sir" said the policewoman who was driving the hover-car as it landed, "that this is an unsafe area to sleep in"
This assumption incensed the commander "I am no G_d dam bum, I am Wing Commander J W Samson from the Edzell air base, I have been brought here against my will"
"But you are the only person we have seen here" replied the policewomen, "We were responding to the call from Simpsons, about a man with a gun and a thermite grenade who had abducted you when we heard the gunshot. If there was anyone else around we would have seen them"
"But he can't have vanished into thin air" The commander protested.
"The important thing is sir that you are safe" The policewomen replied "just hop in the back and we can drop you back at Simpsons"

The commander nodded his head and climbed in the back of the police hover-car.
"Do you wish to come to the station and make a statement sir?" said another policewoman in the front passenger seat.
"What's there to say, this joker comes into the bar, pulls a gun and a thermite grenade. He forces me to come here and mouths a lot of rantings. He then shoots a gun at me which turns out to be blanks then vanishes into thin air. The guys obviously a fruitcake" The commander replied.
"But do you wish to make an official statement at the station?" the other policewoman persisted.
"If it’s all the same to you officer, I will send you a written statement from Edzell. I have to get back there as something has just come up"

The vehicle lifted up over the ruins and flew over the old abandoned Robert Gordons College. The Commander felt a note in his pocket. He fished it out. It read "Not yet, yours the Avenging Angel"
The commander shuddered, could this really have been a ghost. As the police had been called, he had not imagined it.
"You better have this" he told the other policewoman in the car as he handed it to her "That pinko planted it on me. I want him caught and locked up"
"We do try our best" said the other policewoman, "but we are rather undermanned"
"Just ask and I can declare marshal law, then you can have a fine contingent of marines from the Stonehaven base to help keep order"

This somewhat alarmed the two policewomen. A military takeover was the last thing they wanted, especially by foreign troops, the drills which they could have a say in were bad enough. They realised that in a time of emergency they would come under the military police. What was left of the old Scottish law would disappear, not to English law as the Scots had once feared in the twentieth century but to the Americans who were now dominating West-Bloc. Even now the local population were still proud of their heritage, in spite of the continuing cultural decay to bland Americanisation.
"Thanks for the offer sir, but I don't think we need that just yet" said the policewoman who was driving.

The hover-car landed in the vehicle park of Simpsons. One of the policewomen got out and let the commander out.
"Thanks for the lift "he told her, "Just make sure you get that pinko"
"That's ok sir, anything to help"

The commander got to his Hover-car, "They better get to that guy before I do, for his sake" he said to himself as he got in and started up the hover-car. He had enough excitement for one day, but the fact that someone had discovered his role in operation blackout was unnerving. If only he could declare local Marshall Law, he could soon flush out the pinko's, especially those who might have evidence about the real purpose of operation blackout. He had thought they had dealt with those twenty years ago. No matter, they would have to be silenced. He had to get in touch with the man who sent him on the mission, he was a lot higher up and he could not afford to let this bring him down. This Avenging angel, this Lone Stranger and any associates would have to be eliminated. "Oh yes" The commander thought, "was one loose end he could not ignore." To him it was only a matter of time. That Lone Stranger was dead meat.