Chapter Forty-One

A Masterstroke. And Another

Of all the human qualities, change of heart, the will to turn back on evil and embrace righteousness, is something one should firmly believe in.

Elisium.

5L 21/21/20/18

"Keep your eyes open and move very carefully."

George ordered his men as they slowly began to move towards the Demon's Entrance. It was an unusually warm day for this time of the year. Thankfully a cool breeze was blowing from the riverside which was helping everyone smother their jingling nerves.

This was the first mission for the majority of George's men. Since no enemies had left the secured perimeter very little action was expected here, but still there were tense faces and sweaty palms all around.

George had reluctantly agreed to approach their target from all four sides on David's insistence. Originally he had planned to barge there through the main road which was maintained by Aden's army, but David was able to convince his father that if somehow enemies had sneaked out of their fortress, this direct assault could lead to heavy casualties. A more cautious approach might enable them to snare any enemies present there and also comb the perimeter for any traps. They finally agreed to sweep a mile's radius around their target.

George led the unit that approached the Demon's entrance from the main highway and took Jennifer with him. He kept a close eye on his daughter He wanted her to get involved, but didn't want her to take any risks just yet.

***

Jennifer was edgy right from the moment she disembarked from her truck. Something was bothering her but she was unable to pinpoint it. She kept anxiously looking at her surroundings for some clues and then she saw it. A jacaranda tree, with peculiar shades of bright blue and dark maroon flowers. This was the rarest variety of the fern tree and this sight sent her mind racing. Flashes from her visions flooded her mind. Jennifer knew what was about to follow. She had seen that in her visions.

She halted in her steps and shouted, "Freeze. Don't move. Pass the message and tell everyone to stop right now. Don't even take a step. Quickly pass the message. Everyone, freeze." Jennifer was drenched in sweat and manically snapping her fingers.

Everyone around her was startled by this sudden outburst, but they all knew that Jennifer knew things that they didn't. The message was relayed as quickly as possible and soldiers stopped their charge. George came near his daughter but before he could ask anything they heard a loud explosion. And then another.

"Nooooooo!!!!!!" Jennifer sank to her knees and let out a cry of anguish. She exactly knew what had happened.

One after another more than a dozen blasts rocked the riverbanks. All the chaos was happening on the other side of the river. Jennifer stood there staring helplessly at the clouds of smoke rising in the air and listening to the gut-wrenching shrieks that followed them.

You knew what will happen and still, that happened. What good are your powers?

Gradually the explosions stopped and there was an ominous silence that gnawed at the souls and haunted the hearts. No one spoke or moved, they just waited for news from the other bank with their hearts in their mouths.

About half an hour later, Jennifer saw her brother limping towards them. His left forearm was bleeding and his pants were drenched in blood.

"Oh my God! You look badly hurt." George rushed to check on his son.

"I am alright, father. Just minor injuries."

"What happened there?" Jennifer asked.

"Before we could relay your message one of the soldiers blew up. Others around him panicked and started running headlessly causing more explosions. None of us had any idea what was triggering the blasts. I realized that something under our feet was blowing up so I ordered our men to halt in their tracks. Gradually everyone understood that this pandemonium was causing more casualties and they just froze. At last, some sort of order was restored."

"Mines. I knew Christopher would be up to something. He turned this place into a damn minefield." Roger looked impressed with his former Commander.

Jennifer hid her face behind her palms. "Jennifer saw that in her visions but still couldn't save those soldiers."

George tried to calm her down. "Jennifer, you saved hundreds of lives. God knows what would have happened if not for your timely warning."

David agreed with his father. "Yes, only a couple of companies didn't get your message on time and it led to such chaos. Just imagine the kind of mayhem that would have occurred if these mines had exploded simultaneously on every side. Hundreds would have been killed."

Roger's mind was running in a different direction. "We have to admit that this was a masterstroke from Christopher."

"You still seem to be in awe of your HighCommander," David said crinkling his nose.

"Acknowledging a master's genius helps you learn his art. If you want to outsmart him you have to first appreciate him."

George diffused the tension between the two. "Roger, since you understand him so much better, then you must know how to cross this maze he has laid out for us?"

"These mines are interconnected and the only way to evade these mines is to avoid stepping on them. Even if you unearth these mines, they will explode if you try to disconnect them from the grid. So it is impossible to navigate this minefield without a detailed map."

"We must keep pushing through. Doesn't matter if we lose a few men, but we must reach the Demon's entrance." David was not in a mood to retreat.

"It would be mass suicide. We are still a mile away from our target. There could be thousands of mines inside this radius. Its density will increase as we move closer. We could end up losing hundreds of men." Roger mentioned the dangers of this plan of action.

George sat down on a rock in the corner of the road. He had to make a sensible decision here. Joseph, who was commanding the northern arm on the other side of the river, arrived at that moment. He had a badly bruised face, a bloody arm, and singed clothes.

"One of those things went off ten feet from me. It took out three soldiers and many others, including me, were blown off their feet. These things are everywhere. We can't move forward. I have ordered my men to carefully fall back to a safe position."

"How many men did we lose?" George asked.

"More than sixty and counting. Around hundred seriously injured."

That count helped George make up his mind. "We can't knowingly lead our men into a death trap. We have to abort this mission. Order all our troops to retreat and report back to the Refuge."

***

David grabbed Darren by his collar the moment he entered the Conference room. "You scoundrel, you led us to that trap. That minefield."

"How would I know what is out there? Remember I don't have any contact with my army since you have captured me."

"This doesn't look like a spontaneous idea. They didn't cover such a huge radius overnight."

"Believe me I didn't know about this. I just gave you a plan which I thought would be the best for you."

"You knowingly led us to this slaughter. If not for my sister's timely intervention, hundreds of our men would have been killed."

Jacob stopped the verbal battle. "Leave him alone David, what he suggested was the most logical thing to do. Whether he knew about the mines or not is a secondary issue, but first, we have to deal with the bigger problem."

"And what is that uncle Jacob?"

"You know, the main issue is that our enemies are outsmarting us in our every move. We attacked the storehouse and they were waiting for us. Here at the Demon's Entrance, they caught us napping. They made all the moves while we were sleeping on this opportunity and by the time we woke up, it was too late. If not for Jennifer's interventions both these incidents would have been absolute disasters."

"So my friend, what do you suggest we must do?" George asked.

"Christopher is your duplicate, George. He is winning the battle of brains right now but you know, your minds are copies. Just don his thinking-cap, guess what he expects you to do next, and then do something which he least anticipates you to do. It is time to turn the tables and give him a taste of his own medicine."

Joseph had another concern. "I don't understand one thing, how the hell did they reach the Demon's entrance? We were closely monitoring all their exit routes."

Jacob shrugged. "No idea. We were watching the routes of their vehicles so maybe they used some of the side exits, like the ones on the riverfront, and used some other modes of transport. There were no convoys so they must have sent small troops through some other ways."

"They have secured the Demon's entrance but their main units are still inside that secured perimeter. To receive the incoming troops, they will have to come out of there. Small units reached there quietly, but it won't be possible for large battalions to move that stealthily. This time we spread our web and cover all the possible routes. We wait for them to come out and then we attack." Jennifer proposed the next plan of action.

At that moment, Christopher's thinking-hat had pulled out a trick in George's mind. "Yes, that is spot on. We wait for them to come out and then we attack." George repeated Jennifer's words with a peculiar smile.

Christopher had caught him by surprise, and he must return the favor.

***

Christopher nervously glanced at the empty banks as his boat cut through the river. He expected bullets flying in his direction or Star-Rock pellets fired at his boats any time. Although he had thoroughly calculated his every move, he was still worried about something going awry.

The moment he got the news of the failed attack at the Demon's entrance he halted all movements on the riverfront. His enemies so far had no clue about the river route, and he didn't want to give away his secret before this major movement. He chose the darkest night of the month, on which neither of Elisium's two moons rose above the horizon, to reach his destination. He also ordered his boats to keep close to the opposite bank, as there wasn't much surveillance on that side. Every boat was given a radio to warn others in case of an ambush.

If everything went well, Christopher expected to reach the Demon's Entrance around sunrise. Even if the enemies got the news of this movement, the odds were heavily stacked in his favor. First of all, the enemy troops would be scattered all around Elisium, guarding the land routes. To assemble and bring them to the riverfront would be an impossible task. Even if they somehow managed that, it would be very difficult for them to target the fast-moving boats in the pitch black of this dark night. Enemies didn't have automatic machine guns to target fast-moving objects and their current weapons were not suited for this type of combat.

Christopher had calculated that, without any prior information, his enemies won't be able to do much about this movement. By the time they would think of any strategies, his troops will be home. Once they reach the center of the maze the minefield will keep them protected.

However, Christopher was only worried about one thing. Or one person, to be precise. That mysterious girl had the potential to mess up all his calculations. He just hoped that this time around he will have some better luck.

***

The village of Clovefield, being close to the enemy's security perimeter, was turned into a temporary base of David's army. A vehicle stopped near the army headquarters and Joseph jumped out of his vehicle and rushed towards the conference room.

"The movement has begun. They are moving on the river, using boats. Our scouts across the river spotted the movement."

Jacob tapped on his chair. "Christopher never ceases to surprise. I must admit that this is a pure stroke of genius. He has calculated that on the river, the odds are heavily in his favor."

"And he achieved this by using something which is quite common in Aden but has never been used in this world. The river route. That man has some great military acumen." Joseph joined his father in the Hail-Christopher chant.

Jennifer, who was having a little stroll with James saw Joseph and hurried towards the headquarters. "Joseph's mad dash makes Jennifer assume we have some news."

Jacob chuckled. "Getting over-excited is his childhood problem. The news is that the enemy is moving and we must get ready for the attack."

"How many of them are on the move?" David asked Joseph.

"More than four thousand. It's an estimate but a pretty good one."

"The more the better."

George sprang up from his chair. "We must hurry. David, get your lieutenants into action. Tell them to get the troops into their proper positions. Timing is crucial for the mission to succeed. The attack must be simultaneous and everyone should be in their precise places."

"Okay, we will get moving right away."

"And please fetch Roger and Darren for me."

David rolled his eyes. "For God's sake, you still trust that venomous snake. Even after he led us into a death trap."

"Son, of all the human qualities, change of heart, the will to turn back on evil and embrace righteousness, is something one should firmly believe in. I feel that happening in Darren. He has lived in Refuge and seen the misery his men have inflicted on our people. For any righteous soul, that should be a good enough reason to switch sides. Roger has turned and I think Darren will do the same."

Jacob voiced his support. "Well you know, he is the one with the latest inside information about the enemy strategies. The details he provided during the storehouse ambush were more accurate than those provided by Roger. Yes, we must remain cautious and shouldn't trust him blindly, but we need his help."

David shook his head, but there was no time for argument. He scrambled a couple of soldiers to call Roger and Darren.

***

The first lights of dawn eased Christopher's nerves. They were very close to their destination, and within an hour so most of his troops will be inside the safe zone. He hadn't expected this movement to be so smooth. He just hoped for the last leg of this journey to get completed without any incident as well.

On the other side, David was nervously waiting for this daybreak. After a long dark night, this dawn could mark the beginning of a bright new day in the history of Elisium.

David had expected all his other units to reach their designated positions by now. This was by far their largest military exercise to date. The first real combat for most of his soldiers and the first time they might have to kill someone. For people with conscience, killing, even their worst enemy, doesn't come easy. He turned around to look at his men and their creased foreheads, anxious looks, and sweaty shirts showed him their inner turmoil.

David peeked out of the tunnel and signaled to his soldiers to follow him. They systematically rushed out and started to spread. David's heart raced when his men swarmed the deserted streets of the Ruins, but it turned out to be easier than expected. With every passing minute, George's plan increasingly looked like a masterstroke

His father had promised to catch his counterpart by surprise, and this was going to be one hell of a thunderbolt.