For Your
Eyes Only
Samuel
Hawthorn
Your
assignment to Army Intelligence and code breaking was a relief after the
trenches (despite the guilt of deserting your comrades) Your uncanny ability to
remember every document you’ve ever seen linked, with your deductive and
inquisitive nature made you perfect for the job though - and it was much safer.
You had to sign the Official Secrets Act, of course, and what always bothered
you was not being able to boast about your work to anyone. Not that you really
had anyone to boast to apart from your parents - all your friends died in the
Great War, and you just haven’t made the time to make new ones, immersing
yourself in your work
You’ve
only just been assigned to Pegasus Division - a stroke of luck considering the
way it could have gone after your little, ‘indiscretion’. You’d been assigned to
a think-tank in
So when
you accidentally picked up a transmission on an obscure frequency - a frequency
that should have been unused - it intrigued you so much you copied it down. It
made no sense, and in code of course, but a code you’d never seen before, which
was most unusual. What was even more unusual was that it was hard to crack,
really hard.
So you
didn’t tell your Commanding Officer about it, you couldn’t let something like
this out of your hands - your first real challenge in years.
It took
you some weeks to decipher, but even after you were sure you’d decrypted it
correctly, it didn’t seem to make much sense anyway! It seemed to be nothing
more than a practical joke mentioning sea monsters with a clean up mission, and
transport of some sort of remains. Somewhat peeved, you presented it to your
Commanding Officer after all and told him what you’d found and done with it. You
also warned him that someone was broadcasting on a restricted frequency. Rather
than thank you, he read you the riot act for waiting so long to inform him, and
for taking time off your work for this. All in all though, you thought that
you’d got off lightly, and least you had been entertained for a few weeks.
That
night though you were awakened by your door bursting open. Several men rushed in
while you were still groggy, and dragged you from your bed. They placed a bag
over your head and tied your hands behind your back. You tried to protest, of
course but only earned yourself a cuff round the ear for your trouble. You were
swiftly led out of your barracks and bundled into a truck. You spent the next
few very uncomfortable hours being thrown around as the truck sped through the
night.
When the
truck finally stopped and you were pulled out you tried to talk to the men
again, ordering them to release you. All you got was a hard punch in the chest
and a thump on the chin as you heard a voice growl “Jacob don’t take your
orders, Sir”
From
there you were taken into a building and sat down at a desk as the bag was
finally removed. A dark room with a single lamp greeted you and a man, dressed
in British uniform.
“Ah,
Hawthorn isn’t it? You’re here Samuel, because of your curiosity and because of
your unique skills.”
“You’ve
been caught prying into Top Secret material beyond your current clearance level,
and I’m afraid only two options are open to you.”
“I
represent your first option; Pegasus Division - we are a unit within the normal
British Army that acts autonomously, investigating threats to the Empire of a
unique nature. If you agree to join us we can offer you far more interesting
work and swift rise in the ranks.”
“Your
second option is far less pleasant.”
Well of
course you agreed at once, and since then you’ve had your kit moved, had
numerous medicals, orientation training and two weeks of work. Very similar to
what you did before. Just when you were starting to think “What was the point?”,
another message comes in on a channel you’re monitoring. It’s heavily encrypted
and in German it seems. Everyone else seems stumped by it, but luckily, with
your new facilities and code books provided by Pegasus you are able to crack the
code. When you finally realize you have the complete message, you scan it again
- your heart leaps into your mouth and your stomach churns - this is important.
You take off from your desk at a run, knocking over a clerk on your way out and
narrowly missing a young Lieutenant on your way out.
You
charge over to the Command Centre and barge into Major Adams office. You thrust
your translation toward him “Important message. Just been translated, Sir”, you
gasp between taking deep breaths.
“It’s
not your job to decide what is and isn’t important Hawthorn, it’s mine” He says
matter-of-factly. He scans the sheet quickly, and then reads it again. “Right,
it’s time to start earning your keep Hawthorn. I think it’s high time you went
out in the field. Report to the briefing room tomorrow, 1500 hours. Dismissed.”
He
stands up and storms out of the room ignoring your hasty salute...
You enter the
room designated as ‘BRIEFING’ with some trepidation and take a seat. Hushed
whispers are being exchanged by some of the assembled people here, but these are
quickly ended as an authoritative voice booms behind you, “For those of you that
don’t know me, my name is Major Frederick Adams” The Major strides towards the
front of the room and takes his place behind a lectern. “Most of you won’t know
why you are here. I will now explain why it has been necessary to take extreme
measures to bring you here.”
“Lights” The
Major orders to a man at the back of the room. A second later, the lights are
dimmed, and your attention is drawn towards a screen to the side of the Major.
Another officer hands you a dossier, and switches on a small reading light in
front of you.
“Recently, one
of our operatives in
Mein Fuhrer,
The first results of Project Uber-Mensch are very encouraging. We have conducted
a number of field tests, and save for a few difficulties that we must iron out,
I believe that we are nearing successful completion of the project. It will
bring to the end seven years of effort – seven years well spent when you
consider the superiority it will give us over anyone who stands in our way. I
will of course keep you informed of any progress.
Glory to the Fatherland.
“For a
while, we have suspected that the Germans have been up to something. And now we
know. Or rather we don’t know. For those of you who don’t speak German, ‘Uber-Mensch’
translates as ‘Super-soldier’. What is ‘Project Super-Soldier’? Why are the
Germans in
“Given the
time critical nature of this mission, you will be flying out at 11:00 hours. We
would have preferred to go at night, but there is a scheduled civilian flight
over the area which we will take the place of in order to not raise suspicion.
If you read the second document in your dossier, you will see that the area of
“A note to
the civilians amongst you - you are expected to follow the orders of the officer
in charge at all times and obey the chain of command. You have of course, all
signed the Official Secrets Act prior to this briefing, so I do not need to
remind you that everything you witness during the course of this mission is NOT
to be disclosed to anyone outside Pegasus Division on penalty of the harshest
consequences. One final thing – due to the nature of the situation, Central
Command has designated this as a ‘Damocles Imperative’ mission - that is a
mission which could have worldwide ramifications.”
“That is
all, ladies and gentlemen. Good luck and God Speed. God save the King.”
The lights
go back on, and you are led out of the room to a bunkhouse.
You’re not
sure about having civilians on-board for this one. Most of them look half scared
to death, and keep to themselves. Personally, you can’t wait to go. You can feel
the adrenaline working its way through your body, taking your body to optimum
alertness. Much of dinner is spent in hushed conversation with Lieutenant
Savage, as he outlines the official briefing and tells you what he expects of
you. There is something about his manner as he describes the drop-zone that
fills you with confidence – this is a man who knows what he is doing, and you
are sure that he will do everything in his power to make sure you all come back
home safe.
After the
meal, you ensure that your kit is all present and functioning correctly – you
don’t want to let the Lieutenant down, and more importantly you don’t want to be
the weak link in the unit.
The rest of
the evening is your own, and you decide that your time will be best spent
getting a bit of sleep. In truth though, the events of the past 24 hours make it
almost impossible. However, it seems as if your head has barely touched the
pillow before you are woken by a private with a nice hot cup of tea. You dress
quickly – the air is cold this morning and makes the hairs on the back of your
neck stand on end. The morning consists of a final briefing on the ‘theatre of
operations’, and then the call comes in that the mission is ‘GO’. Once everyone
is ready, you are lead out onto the airstrip where a twin-engined plane is
warming up on the runway. Major Adams stands by the door, and gives each of you
a sturdy handshake and a “Good Luck” as you board the plane. Sergeant Johnson
makes sure that everyone is strapped in tightly before heading to the cockpit.
As he returns and fastens his own seatbelt, the low hum of the engines increases
in pitch and you feel the aircraft begin to edge forward. The plane speeds up
and then suddenly you feel the ground drop away as you become airborne. You
glance around you – your comrades seem to be either deep in contemplation,
sleeping or praying. The hours pass, and you find the drone of the engines
strangely hypnotic and relaxing.
You are
woken from your reverie by a harsh buzz, and a red light illuminates above the
aircraft door. The army personnel unstrap themselves, and then Sergeant Johnson
sets about releasing everyone else. Before you rise out of your seat, he clips
you onto a guy-line that runs towards the door. Once everyone is safely attached
to the line, he pulls the door handle, and opens the cabin to the cold rushing
air outside. Your breath is taken away by the conditions outside, as the
Lieutenant performs one last check. The buzz sounds again, and the light turns
to green.
“This is it
chaps. Good luck!” He pats the first in line on the shoulder, and one by one
they all throw themselves out of the plane. You feel a tap on your shoulder, and
look out of the door at the horizon. The sun is already beginning to set. You
jump out into the cold unknown…