For Your Eyes Only

Rev. Ernest Grimwood

Things have changed a lot for you since you first days as a young verger, before the war and before Pegasus. Your faith in the Almighty has always been strong, raised in an atmosphere of worship and faith, you embraced Christianity. Your devout nature mixed with your fierce intelligence won you a church sponsored place at Oxford and upon entering the priesthood you attacked your duties with gusto.

Then came the Great War and everything changed. You volunteered right off the bat and were posted to a hospital serving the frontline where you gave support to patients, gave last rites and toured the lines bringing hope and faith to all you could reach. Despite all the death and horror surrounding you, your faith remained strong.

On one such tour, an artillery barrage started without warning and you ran for cover to the nearest bunker amongst a flood of others. Just as you ducked inside, there was a tremendous explosion behind you, you were thrown forward and struck your head. You lay there for some time, half covered in mud drifting in and out of consciousness, amongst the blood and debris of your comrades until you were brought back to yourself by the shouts of a young Tommy called Charlie. You started to rise quickly but were stopped by massive pain in your legs and when the haze passed you found both legs splinted and obviously broken. You managed to calm Charlie down somewhat, enough to gather from his panicked speech that something was up.

Apparently several soldiers had survived the explosion but had been trapped by the collapse of the entrance. All had been injured fairly badly, but had managed to treat each other as best as possible. As they waited for rescue in the dark they had all eventually fallen silent as exhaustion or death claimed them. Charlie had been awoken by some noise and thinking it help arriving had called out, but he soon realized however that something was wrong. There was no light and a strange smell in the already rank air and a strange sound…

You could hear Charlie break down, but you gathered something about eating. He finally fell into sobs and you could get nothing more from him, after trying very painfully to reach him you managed to settle yourself as comfortably as possible, said a prayer and drifted off to sleep.

You started awake again later to the riotous sound of gunfire in a confined space. Ears ringing you could still make out Charlie shouting that they would never get him. Your senses were again assaulted by the flash of a muzzle and more gunfire before everything fell silent once more.

As you started to console him you stopped as you heard another sound, that of something being dragged across the floor. You called out futilely for some minutes but with no reply except for the dragging sound, which receded before returning and starting again. Shaken, you started to pray, silently at first, clutching your bible but as the sound returned and with Charlie sobbing in the background you spoke out loud, haltingly at first but with more vigour as your faith calmed your nerves, becoming quieter but more confident when the dragging stopped - until something clutched your broken leg! In pain and terror you practically shrieked you way through a prayer for deliverance, clinging to your faith.

Like a miracle, a shaft of light from above pierced the gloom and illuminated a figure hunched over you in tattered clothes, its posture strange and not quite human, its face barely so. Flinching from the sudden light it tried to pull you into the darkness, but recoiled as you thrust your cross at it and through clenched teeth demanded it leave in the name of God. Thrust back by some unseen force it nevertheless still tried to reach you, but seemed unable as you continued to exhort the Lord’s name. As the shaft of light above you grew steady wider you saw it flash you a look of hate as it fled into the dark.

You were pulled from the bunker shortly afterward by a couple of stretcher bearers - Yorkshiremen, and a young Lieutenant who ignored your insistence shouts to get after whatever you had encountered.

Debriefed later in hospital by your superior, and again by army brass, you stuck to your story but met a wall of gentle but firm disbelief. With no evidence for you claims, and no-one to back you up - Charlie was catatonic (and has never recovered), no-one would believe you and you were invalided back to Blighty… A poor helpless madman.

Some time later in a hospital in Cambridge you decided no one would ever believe you, and decided to change your story although inside you knew you were not mad and had not imagined it. Eventually pronounced healthy, and with the war over you were allowed to return to your parish where you continued the day-to-day service of the church for some years until a surprise visitor one day (who you belatedly recognised as the Lieutenant - a Captain now by his uniform) who had helped pull you from the bunker.

He introduced himself as Captain Frederick Adams and after some preamble asked you about your war time claims. Wary you gave your cover story, but with a knowing look in his eye he begged your attention and began to tell you a bizarre story about happenings in a place in Gloucester called Mitcheldean. When he finished he looked you in the eye and asked you again what happened. Believing every word he said, and sensing a kindred spirit you finally recounted your tale.

From then everything changed, you left your parish with Captain Adams and returned to the army, to Pegasus Division - a unit created specifically to investigate unnatural occurrences. You became firm friends with Adams as well as advisor and helped calm and steady him after another mission when he again confronted things that should not be.

Your position in Pegasus is a trusted one and you give theological advice and comfort to troops before and after missions to investigate the occult, as well as steadying their minds afterward. You have even been on some missions yourself, and although often they prove flights of fancy you have had more brushes with the unknown - one such where you were called upon to exorcise a malevolent spirit from a manor house - a difficult mission where many soldiers died before you finally succeeded, with the grace of God.

Major Adams called you in yesterday. A mission of great importance has come up and he is assembling a team quickly to investigate. Most of the other teams are off on a large expedition in Peru and he has had to draft a team from normal troops and civilians. None have experienced the dangers that lurk at the corners of our world and he needs you to join this team to help and guide them. You of course agree and he tells you the briefing is tomorrow, 1500. He wishes you luck and you leave to prepare.

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” He 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 Northern France intercepted a message. This message was heavily encrypted, but was decoded by our Intelligence and Logistics department. Ladies and gentlemen, the contents of this message are very worrying. You can find the letter in the first page of your dossier.”

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 Northern France? These are the questions that I want you to answer for me. Therefore, I am sending you to the Ardennes region on a reconnaissance mission. The mission will be under the command of Lieutenant Savage. I want you to liaise with our operative – Captain Mason-Wickes, and find out what the hell the Germans are up to.”

“Given the time critical nature of this mission, you will be flying out at 1100 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 France that you are going to is an Alpha Sensitive area. This means that you should treat it as being behind enemy lines. I have been informed by Central Command that we will maintain a stance of plausible deniability if you are discovered or captured. We will not be sending reinforcements should this happen.” These last sentences send a shiver down your spine as you grasp the enormity of this statement.

“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.

The evening meal is a strange affair. There is a marked difference between the civilians, such as yourself, and the members of the armed forces. You and your peers are subdued, probably as you contemplate what lies ahead, whilst the military personnel have an excited buzz about them. You keep pretty much to yourself during the meal, but at the end, Lieutenant Savage approaches you and introduces himself. His confident manner and assuredness is somewhat comforting, and the aching in your stomach subsides.

After the meal, the soldiers make themselves busy preparing for the mission. You and the other civilians are led into a training room to learn how to parachute. This was never on the menu! The session is lead by Sergeant Johnson, an infectiously enthusiastic man – although you are slightly worried that parachuting boils down to jumping out of a plane and hoping for the best!

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…