The International Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Epilogue

  Dragon's Keep

  Forgotten Knight

  Thank You

  About Author

  Glossary

  Blitzkrieg

  The International

  Christopher Vale

  Copyright © 2018 Christopher Vale

  All rights reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, events, or locales is purely coincidental. Reproduction in whole or part of this publication without express written consent is strictly prohibited.

  Cover image by:

  Bestfoto77

  Shutterstock.com

  Chapter 1

  Moscow, U.S.S.R.

  1966

  It was bitterly cold. The wind whipped snowflakes through the air as a testament to winter’s staying power as Alexi stared out of the rear window of the black government sedan. He sighed as the car weaved through the gray streets of Moscow. Spring was beginning to peek through in Washington, but back in Russia the streets remained covered in snow.

  Alexi had been detained by the U.S. government following his return to Washington with the American super agents known as Team Blitzkrieg and the events in Antarctica. Alexi—who was codenamed Hammer—and his sister Alena—who was codenamed Sickle—were special agents for the KGB. They, along with their surrogate mother Brygida—also a KGB agent codenamed the Valkyrie—had assisted Blitzkrieg in taking out a hidden Nazi base. Alena had been captured by the Nazis when she stowed away aboard a Nazi U-boat fleeing its Antarctic base. Alexi had no idea where his sister was now, but hoped against hope that she was alright.

  Nor did Alexi know where Brygida was. Attempting to prevent a Nazi plane from bombing Washington, the Valkyrie had clung to its tail as it took off. The Americans informed Alexi that the plane had gone down over the Atlantic Ocean, somewhere off the coast of Argentina. Though it was assumed that Brygida had been responsible for the plane crash—thereby saving Washington—no one knew what had happened to her, and she was presumed dead.

  The American government had negotiated a deal with the Moscow Centre—the nickname for the KGB’s central headquarters—to trade a captured CIA agent for Alexi. The Soviets had leapt at the opportunity. Alexi was one of several enhanced super humans—what the Americans termed, “the prime.” He was likely one of the two strongest men in the world and the KGB certainly did not want to leave him in the hands of the U.S. government.

  The American agents had informed him of the trade with excitement, sure that he would be happy to go home. He wasn’t. Russia was cold, poor, and depressing compared to the United States, and without Alena and Brygida, he would be very lonely there.

  Alexi had been further upset upon learning that the KGB had replaced the Director of Special Operations—a kind man who had always been nice to him and his sister. The failure of Alexi, Alena, and Brygida to capture Hans Kammler—a high-ranking Nazi officer who had recently been discovered in America inside of a German “Wonder Weapon” codenamed The Bell—coupled with their apparent disregard for command had cost the Director his job. Instead of capturing the Nazi Kammler—as the KGB had ordered—Alexi, Alena, and Brygida had decided to help their old friends in Team Blitzkrieg by destroying the Nazi base in Antarctica.

  Alexi hoped the former director had been sent to a terrible assignment somewhere, because if not, that meant he was either imprisoned or executed. Alexi did not want his actions to have been responsible for either.

  Alexi had asked the name of the new director and shivered when he was told Mikhail Petrov. Mikhail had trained Alexi and Alena when they were younger. He was a fierce and ruthless man. He sometimes reminded Alexi of Colonel Arnulf, the crazed SS officer who had been responsible for the genetic enhancements that gave Alexi and his sister their super powers. Alexi did not like Mikhail one bit.

  Alexi frowned as they passed the normal turn that would lead them to KGB Headquarters. He looked at the two agents in the front seat. “Where are we going?” he asked.

  “We’re taking you somewhere secure to be debriefed, Comrade Hammer,” the man in the passenger seat replied.

  Alexi nodded, accepting the explanation, and turned back to watching the streets. These men were as cold as the weather. He missed America already.

  Several minutes later the car pulled to a stop in front of a gray concrete building with the appearance of an abandoned factory. The driver and passenger stepped out of the car and Alexi followed suit. He closed the door and was led through large wooden plank doors, inside the old building.

  The room was dark, but after a flick of a switch lights began to hum overhead. Alexi glanced around. They were in a large, empty room—like an abandoned warehouse. The two KGB agents instructed him to wait there before crossing to the other side of the large, empty space and out through a door in the rear.

  Alexi walked further into the building and smiled when he saw a giant battle hammer. He stepped over to it, and removed his coat, allowing it to fall to the cold cement floor. He then lifted the hammer off of the ground and swung it through the air with a smile. It made him feel better to hold it. Safer.

  Alexi heard the squeak of hinges across the room and turned in that direction. His heart leapt when he noticed the red uniform with a yellow hammer and sickle emblazoned on the chest, initially thinking it was Alena, but he quickly realized the person wearing it was a man. The man wore a mask so that Alexi could not see his face.

  “Hello,” Alexi said in Russian, but the man did not answer. Instead, he simply closed the door behind him and began to walk toward Alexi. “I’m Alexi,” the giant said. “Who are you?”

  The man ignored the question and simply continued to stride toward him. The man stopped in front of Alexi and stared up at him. Alexi stared back down, smiling in a friendly manner. Suddenly the man reared back and punched upward, slamming his fist into Alexi’s jaw.

  “Ow,” Alexi complained, but otherwise seemed unfazed by the blow. The man however, gripped his fist and howled in pain while shouting curses in Russian. He had clearly underestimated what it would be like to punch Alexi. He walked away from Alexi while shaking his hand up and down. “Why did you do that?” Alexi whined.

  The man turned to Alexi as he flexed his fingers to make sure none of them were broken. “Because you are a traitor,” the man growled. “And I am going to kill you.” The man—now about ten feet from Alexi—threw another punch through the air, but this time a ball of ice flew from his fist toward Alexi.

  Alexi turned his face just as the ice ball smashed into his cheek. He turned back toward his attacker as the man threw another ice ball at him, but Alexi was ready this time and swatted it away with the back of his hand. He lifted his mighty hammer off of the floor and narrowed his eyes at the man. “I am not a traitor!” he spat as his face flushed red with anger.

  “Well then, I am going to kill you just to prove that I can,” the man sneered.

  Alexi released a rumbling battle cry from his lips as he raised his hammer above his head and charged toward the
man. The man’s eyes popped wide as panic flashed through them and he scurried away. He was smaller and faster than Alexi and was able to avoid being crushed as the gigantic hammer fell, shattering the concrete floor.

  The man spun around and blasted the hammer with a stream of ice, covering it and intending to freeze it to the floor in a block of ice. He once again underestimated Alexi’s strength, however, and the giant man ripped the hammer upward, sending shards of ice flying across the room.

  “You will not kill me so easily!” Alexi shouted as he charged the man once again. “I will crush you beneath my hammer!” Alexi ran as fast as he could as he roared at his enemy. The man released a burst of ice just in front of the giant’s feet and Alexi felt his shoes slip. He tumbled over, crashing hard upon the floor, dropping his hammer.

  The man began to cover Alexi in ice. Alexi forced himself up. He fought through the ice and reached the man grabbed him by the shoulder and lifted him up. “I will kill you!” Alexi roared. But as he did so, the man shot ice into Alexi’s mouth and down his throat. Alexi began to choke and dropped the man. Alexi fell to his knees and the man quickly placed his hands on either side of Alexi’s head. Alexi’s skin turned blue as his blood froze creating streams of ice in his veins. Soon Alexi was frozen solid, like an ice statue.

  The man panted as his heart raced. That was a lot more difficult than he thought it would be. Yet, he needed to prove to himself that he could defeat the strongest soldier in the Soviet forces. He walked around Alexi and reached down and lifted the war hammer. He had a difficult time picking it up as it was so much heavier than he expected. He placed the hammer over his shoulder and turned and walked back toward Alexi.

  There was no life left in the giant’s eyes, but the man wanted to be sure. He raised the hammer up and allowed it to drop under its own weight, finishing the job.

  Chapter 2

  Washington, D.C.

  Axel jogged along the towpath beside the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in Georgetown. It was cool, but not cold as Spring was nearing, and he wore a gray sweatshirt and blue running shorts. Axel enjoyed running here as it was generally not as crowded as a park and the scenery was nice. Besides, he had time on his hands following his suspension from the Clandestine Scientific Operations Service (CSOS). Six months to be precise. After attacking the mysterious man in black—whom he and the other members of Team Blitzkrieg referred to as Mr. X—CSOS Director Ian Johnson had been forced to suspend Axel without pay.

  That was fine with Axel, except the no pay thing obviously. However, he and Rolf had been named as heirs in Professor Hayes’ will, and following the Professor’s murder by the Aryan super soldier Freyja, he was not desperate for money. The suspension from CSOS gave Axel time to do what he really wanted to do—locate his old friend, Alena.

  Alena had rushed onto an old German U-boat attempting to kill Nazi mad scientist Dr. Ernst Volker and his lap dog Freyja before they could escape. Unfortunately, the submarine did escape—with Alena on board. Axel had no idea where it might have gone, but he could not leave Alena in the hands of psychotic Nazis. She and her brother Alexi had been subjects of the same Nazi experiments as Axel and his brother Rolf. Those experiments gave them their super powers. Axel had the ability to shoot electricity from his body, Alena moved faster than the eye could catch, and Rolf and Alexi were super strong.

  Besides having known Alena since they were children living together in a German laboratory, Axel had to admit that deep down he loved her. He had always loved her and always would love her.

  To make matters worse for Axel and Rolf, their mother, Brygida—whom they had just recently met—had apparently died saving Washington D.C. from a Nazi plane sent to bomb it. Axel barely knew his mother, but still the loss was difficult. He fought through it by concentrating on finding Alena. He would find her no matter what. He would never stop until he knew that she was safe.

  As Axel ran, he noticed a man up ahead wearing a gray overcoat and hat feeding some ducks. The man glanced over at him and straightened as Axel neared him. Axel was suddenly wary and went on his guard, electricity crackling through his fingers. Then he got a good look at the man’s face and relaxed when he recognized Sava Ruslan, a former Soviet agent who had defected to the United States the previous year.

  Axel slowed to a stop beside Sava. “Good morning,” the Russian smiled. As he spoke, he removed his hand from the pocket of his overcoat pulling out a white envelope and handing it to Axel. “I’m sorry about what happened to you.”

  “Thanks,” Axel said as he narrowed his eyes at Sava. “What’s this?”

  “It’s a list of possible locations of Nazi bases,” Sava replied. “I’ve highlighted the ones where it is most likely they are keeping Alena.”

  Axel glanced down at the envelope. “Where did you get this?” he asked.

  “The Soviets have an entire division dedicated to finding Nazis. These were suspected bases. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to verify them all.”

  “Why not?” Axel asked.

  Sava shrugged. “From what I understand, there was some interference from above.”

  “Why are you helping me?” Axel asked.

  Sava smiled. “I’ve always been fond of Alena,” he said. “Besides, had I known I would be working with Nazis like Hans Kammler, and who knows who else, I would have never defected,” he said referencing the high ranking Nazi officer whom the CSOS had taken in to custody, but who was now working for the U.S. government.

  “Why are you meeting me out here? What’s with the spy novel stuff?” Axel asked him.

  “You should assume you are being watched Axel,” Sava replied and then turned back around and began feeding the ducks. A chill ran down Axel’s spine. Watched? He took that as his cue to go and began jogging away along the towpath.

  Axel cut his jog short and hurried back to his car. He drove back to Professor Hayes’ house. He had been staying there, getting the place organized and cleaned up. It was taking a long time, especially since Axel was taking a trip down memory lane as he did so. Hayes had been like a father to Axel and Rolf and losing him hurt a lot. Axel had spent more than one night alone in the house with a bottle of whiskey mourning his mother and Professor Hayes and vowing to rescue Alena and kill the Nazi super soldier Freyja who had taken her and assassinated Hayes.

  Axel opened the front door to the house and hurried inside. He ripped the envelope Sava had given him open and pulled out a couple of pieces of paper with lists of possible Nazi targets. He collapsed on the sofa while scanning the list. Then something caught his eye. A note was stuck to the TV.

  Axel stood and strolled across the room, pulling the small piece of paper and tape off of the screen. His mouth dropped open as he read the note. “Will see you in a couple of days. Be careful. You’re very popular right now. Love, Mom.”

  ***

  The next evening, Axel walked along a sidewalk across the street from the CSOS building. He watched it casually until he saw his friend and teammate, Dawn Williams, exit. He hurried across the street just as she was hailing a taxi. A yellow cab pulled over and Dawn opened the door and slipped in. She was pulling the door closed when Axel stopped her and sat down in the seat beside her causing Dawn to jump with a start.

  “Axel, you startled me,” she said as she placed her hand over her heart.

  “Sorry,” he replied before pulling the door closed. He gave the driver instructions to a bar on the “colored” side of town and the driver pulled away from the curb.

  They rode mostly in silence until they reached their destination and then Axel paid the fare, opened the door, and stepped out. He helped Dawn out of the car and then closed the door before leading her inside. Axel was nervous that he was being followed and wanted to keep a low profile. He understood that it would be difficult to do so here as a white man would stick out like a sore thumb in a bar full of black patrons. But so would almost every agent that might be sent to follow him.

  Once they entered, Axel found a table
in the back where he could watch the door across the crowd. The waitress came by, a pretty young lady, probably in her mid-teens and asked what she could get them.

  “Whatever you’ve got on tap,” Axel smiled.

  “Same for me,” Dawn said and the waitress left with a smile. Dawn turned back to Axel who had his eyes glued to the door. “What’s going on?” she asked. “What’s with this cloak and dagger stuff?”

  “I’m worried I’m being followed,” Axel replied. “I met with Sava yesterday.”

  “Sava?” Dawn asked, the surprise evident in her voice.

  “Yeah, he was waiting for me as I was jogging, like he knew exactly where I was going to be. He told me I was being watched and then gave me an envelope that has some potential Nazi bases where Alena might be being held.”

  “Axel,” Dawn said as she placed a hand on his arm, interrupting him. “Sava was murdered last night.”

  Axel’s eyes popped wide. “What? How?”

  “He was stabbed to death in the street. Thirteen times,” she told him in a voice that cracked a bit. “The police said it was a mugging gone wrong, but they didn’t take his wallet or watch. Tom and I kinda thought it might be a KGB hit, but if you’re right…” her voice trailed off.

  “Lord help us,” Axel muttered and stared down at the table, suddenly feeling very guilty and responsible for the man’s death.

  “Here you go,” came a sweet voice and Axel looked up to see the waitress returning to their table with two mugs of beer. “Can I getcha anything else?” she asked.

  “No thank you,” Axel said and handed her a five dollar bill. “Keep the change.” Her eyes popped wide with excitement at the tip. “We just need a little privacy,” Axel explained.

  The waitress nodded. “Yes, sir, privacy. You got it!” she said with a toothy grin before turning around to check on other tables.

  When she had gone, Axel turned back to look Dawn in the eyes. He had stayed away from her and their co-worker, Tom. He didn’t want them suspended too—guilty by association. But he had missed her, those pretty brown eyes and her happy smile. But most of all he’d missed her as a friend and confidant. “I had intended to talk to you about helping me. You and Tom and Rolf. I don’t think I can do this alone.”