MARCH OF PERSERVERANCE

 

With the collapse of the cliff tunnel behind them, Major Blaine and his Spartan 300 face asphyxiation. 

It is not the worst way to die, but the Spartans would rather skip it, thank you very much.

MARCH OF PERSERVERANCE

“If all difficulties were knownat the outset of a long journey, most of us would never start out at all.”

 - Ulysses

 

Of course, Stew Taylor hadanother question. “Ah, Major, are we going to run out of oxygen?”

“Doc” Tennyson chuckled,

“Asphyxiation is not so bad a wayto die. Shortness of breath, quick breathing to get the oxygen that isn’t there,dizziness, and then loss of consciousness. As dying goes: a piece of cake.”

Reese snorted, “Doc, your bedsidemanner stinks.”

“Wh-What he said,” gulpedPorkins.

Sgt. Savalas snapped, “None of usis suffocating to death.”

‘Are we?’ Imind-asked Sentient.

No answer. Long heartbeats ofsilence. Merde. We were on our own it seemed. Why was I not surprised?

Lt. Stein, sounding worried,asked, “Are we, Rick?”

“Sentient didn’t lead us here todie. We march until we get to the end of this tunnel.”

Floyd asked, “Is that aguarantee, Major?”

Sgt. Savalas huffed, “You knowbetter than to ask for guarantees during a battle. The only guarantee in war isdeath.”

“How long will the march … OW!”yelped Taylor.

Eric Evans growled, “So help me,you ask one more dumb question, and you won’t have to worry about suffocating.I’ll strangle you myself.”

“Here, here,” laughed JohnnyKnight.

“And I’ll sell the tickets forthe show,” added “Kit” Carson.

Friedmanleaned in close to me and whispered, “This is the oddest unit I have evermarched with. You are not the typical officer to allow this bickering.”

Lt.  Stein, directly behind me, whispered, “Rickisn’t a typical anything. But he got all of us back alive from Sicily.”

I didn’t say anything to that.There was nothing to say. It was Sentient who had gotten them and me homealive. And Sentient was elsewhere for the moment.

But I had gotten myself throughSt. Marok’s alive by myself. I would just have to do it again … and bring theSpartans alive with me.

And my next miracle would beestablishing world peace.

To face the question of whatmakes us who we are with courage, lucidity, and fulness of feeling is to face,with all the restlessness and helplessness this stirs in our meaning-hungrysoul, the elemental fact that in giving us free will, the Father couldn’t staytrue to His Word and still send plays in from the sidelines.

For all intents and purposes, wewere in the scrimmage of life alone … mostly.

But I wasn’t above praying for amiracle right about then.

Yet, prayer was a dangerousendeavor.

When you pray, your soul goes outto the utmost rim of life … thought … existence. Who knew if your soul wouldmake it back or stay within the endless wonders of the Gateless Realm?

Amos whispered at my back. “Theseshadows are getting denser. Gehenna, you never feel safe when you have tonavigate shadows which are completely directionless.”

On nautical charts you see thesymbol for shoals and beside it the letters “P.D.” The initials stand for“Position Doubtful.”

In my mind, I placed “P.D.”beside all of us on this march into darkness.

As always, when shadows intensifyin my life, I thought of Mr. Morton.

Nobody can fall so low unless hehas a great depth. That depth corresponded to a former height, his utterdarkness to a lost light.

And as always when I thought ofMr. Morton, things got worse.

It felt as if I walked into aninvisible wall of gelatin. I rocked back on my heels and stumbled, regaining mybalance with an effort.

André hissed low, “What is this?”

I whispered back, “I only looklike I know everything, mister.”

Apparently, it was more of a wavethan a wall as cries of alarm and surprise swept down along the ranks of mySpartans.

Taylor’s voice was muffled by ahand as Evans snapped, “Don’t you dare! If the Major knows what this is, I’msure he’s about to explain. Right, Major? Right?”

Sentient thankfully chose thatmoment to slide back into my mind, bringing answers I knew would not lightenthe hearts of anyone … me included.

I was right.

Merde. How was I going to explainthis without lying to them?

I gave them the bad news first asI, myself, always wanted to hear about surprises.

“It’s going to get worse.”

There was an explosion ofprotests that was cut short by Sgt. Savalas’s curt, “Quiet! Let the Majorfinish.”

I continued trying to sound likethe officer I wasn’t, “This is war, gentlemen. Accept the fact that nothing iscertain, and no hour is guaranteed.”

I drew a deep breath, wonderinghow politicians weaved a basket of truth out of the unpleasant threads dumpedinto their laps.

Maybe they didn’t, but I wouldtry.

“In a world filled with chaos,uncertainty, and change, we must cultivate the ability to be adaptable,resilient, and in harmony with the ever-changing currents of life.”

“Just spit out the bad news,Major,” groaned Reese. “We’re big boys. We can take it.”

I hoped so and said, “There was aNazi Wunderkind scientist, Reinhardt .”

“Was?” quavered Taylor whogrunted as Evans popped him on the side of the head.

“Yes, was. As the quaint villageof Oradour-sur-Glane is past tense. Both it and he are victims of his hubrisand experimenting in areas even demons are intelligent enough not to touch.”

“A francba,” muttered André.

“One among other things König wantedto do was alter the human body so as to make Hitler’s Master Race a reality.”

“Doc” Tennyson frowned, “Surely,he did not do it?”

“He came close, but he was impatientand eager to prove his theories true to the older, established scientists ofthe SS.”

I sighed, “Too eager. He cut cornersin logic and advanced mathematics, rushing ahead when a cooler, more sane headwould have run double-checks.”

Lt. Stein narrowed his eyes. “Whatdoes this have to do with this invisible force pushing back against us?”

“Not a force … but anotherdimension all together, generated by the circuitry, devices, and mechanisms – allof König’s design – lining the walls of this tunnel. Fortunately, Sentient has alignedthem properly.”

The Spartans all exploded incries of alarm. Not all. Nurse Reynolds remained icy calm as if she suspectedwhat I would say all along.

She pulled off her diminutiveSpartan helmet in a fluid jerk and snapped at the immobile men around her.

“Did you not hear the machineryhas been fixed? Would you show some measure of composure? Theo has told me howrepeatedly Major Blaine has led you out of one death trap after another inSicily.”

She stamped her tiny boot. “Doyou think he left his ingenuity and cleverness back there across the ocean? Doyou?”

She turned to me royally like aSpartan Queen. “What do you suggest we do, Major?”

“You follow me as we marchstraight ahead, enduring the pain, lightheadedness, and discomfort until you canbear it no more. Then, take off your packs, use them as pillows and sleep untilI awaken you.”

André said, “I have no pack.”

“You’ll use mine.”

Theo eyed me narrowly. “What willyou be doing all that time, Rick?”

“I’ll be standing watch. Rememberwe are deep in enemy territory.”

Theo said, “We’ll take turns.”

I shook my head.

“Sentient has … fortified me whenshe gave me these artificial hands. By the time, all of you have drainedyourselves, I will still be able to stand guard while none of you will be in theshape to do so.”

They grumbled, but I hushed them.Actually, I think it was Nurse Reynolds' glare that did it.

And so began our long trek intohell.

My eyes watered; my legstrembled, and my breath was a fire in my lungs as the very shadows seemed to becooking me alive.

On and on and on our feet trudged.

My hands began to feel as if I haddipped them into bubbling lava.

‘Sentient, what is wrong withthem?’

‘Within your hands and fingersare devices, mechanisms, and components which can monitor fluctuations in ionicactivity, magnetic fields, and biometric flux.’

Taylor groaned, “Major, I can’tgo no more.”

I heard the smack of fleshagainst flesh as Theo rasped, “You hear a sound out of Rachel? Do you?”

Rachel snapped, “Spartans youdare to call yourselves? Look at your Major’s hands. They are trembling withagony.”

She rushed to my side. “Come,Richard. Lean on me. Let me do what your Helen would do for you. It’s what shewould want me to do. You know that.”

I looked down at her and feltshame. Perspiration beaded like liquid pain and exhaustion under her hollow eyes andupper lip.

She was the true Spartan amongus.

I wished Helen might somehow getto know her … maybe even become friends with her. Helen had been so alone inNew Orleans.

I also desperately wished to letRachel support me if only for a minute, but I merely lightly kissed the top ofher Spartan helmet and stepped away on legs I no longer felt.

“I also know that if I did that Helenwould give me a good swift kick in the … rump when next we met.”

I staggered away from her.

“Gentlemen, it is time we actlike gentlemen and let our valiant nurse rest. And you might as well take theload off your tired feet yourselves.”

Rachel drew herself up in herbest Head Nurse outrage. “You can barely stand. What kind of watch will yougive your men?”

I stiffened as Sentient murmuredto my mind, and I sighed, “My Dark Passenger agrees with you. So, I am called elsewhere.”

Theo and Amos both turned to me, alarm plain on their exhausted faces.

Theo managed to get out. “You’renot dying on us, are you?”

“No. Ah, though I might just getshot where Sentient is sending me.”

Cloverfield frowned, “And wherewould that be?”

“To doctor President Roosevelt’smartini.”