Norsemen!

Gunny walked back into the interrogation room with it's single table and two chairs and sat, staring at the walls with his hands clasp together on the table top.

"OK Odien! I'm here, alone, waiting for you."

He sat looking around at the empty room.

"I KNOW you can hear AND see my you son of a...." Gunny hung his head and took a deep breath.

He felt a tingling sensation and his sight blurred slightly, a feeling as if lifted and floating but it only lasted a split second. Then he was standing in one of Odien's rooms back in the Americas with Odien facing him. The room was well light and again he could not tell where the light came from.

"OK Odien! What is it you want?" Gunny demanded.

"Gunny!" Odien said as he began to pace back and forth. "You said you would stay out of Italy but you sent in your troops."

"One thing...that was SICILY...NOT Italy!" Gunny looked at him with a slight frown. "And the Russians are staging behind that island out of sight. I will NOT let...." He was cut off by Odien.

"GUNNY!" Odien stopped and stood in front of Gunny, looking down at him.

"I NEED you to stay out of ALL of Italy! It is of utmost importance to us, as a people, for you to stay out of our business." He demanded.

"Well...." Gunny looked up at him, still frowning. "You keep the Russians at bay and I WILL stay out!" He started to smile slightly. "If you don't?"

Odien backed away a few steps looking away, as if thinking. Gunny noticed his long white hair seemed to have grown and was quit longer than last time he saw him.

"You need a hair cut Odie, my boy!" Gunny smiled, trying to cut the tension. Odien looked at him and smiled.

"You still have that wit I am so fond of, Gunny!" Odien turned his back on him and walked a few steps away.

"You know," Gunny started. "If you TOLD me what was so damned important there, I MIGHT leave it alone! But these Russians look like they are building for an attack on one of my bases and I will NOT let that happen!"

"I will not interfere into your wars if you leave MY area alone!" Odien said.

"REALLY!" Gunny paced around. "Then what the hell was that all about having your men called Micmac bomb the hell out of us?" Gunny stepped to within touching distance of Odien with his arms crossed, staring into his eyes.

"It was a warning, nothing more and yes! I know what you told them. I half expected it and now they will rebel against us as well. You can safely say you, alone, have alienated our northern group."

"If you tell them the TRUTH, you might just get a better Allie, Odien! Just like you did me."

Gunny felt that floating sensation again and found himself back in the small room, sitting. He wondered if he left at all.

Halfdan and his Hard Corps had gathered at the beach after sending his message to return....To Valhalla...over the radio. He had not lost a single soldier and they had found the Russian fleet behind Sicily, ALL of it it seemed. This information had to get back to the rear and he could not send it from the radio, it would be intercepted. Now, it was near mid night and they were in the tall grass a dozen yards from the beach waiting for the launches to arrive and take them back to the NS Espen. Just like the landing, it would take four trips to get everyone on board.

With no moon and cloudy skies, it was so dark they could only see a few dozen yards so he set watches on the beach. They waited.....and waited. Hours went by and no launches arrived giving him an eerie feeling they might have been left behind if Lieutenant VOX had been sent else where. To Halfdans knowledge, only Lieutenant Vox and his men knew of this operation, not even the Navy crew knew what was going on. He had no idea how high up the ranks this operation went or who would even know of it.

"The sun will be up in less than an hour," Frode said in a low tone. "Think I should try the radio? The sun will be up in an hour!"

Halfdan thought for a moment, then looked around at all his troops in the tall grass.

"Let's give them another thirty minuets, then if nothing happens we will." He said. Then as an after thought. "Make sure the troops are on full alert!"

"Aye,aye." Frode said then scurried off silently.

Lieutenant Vox had been in a meeting with general officers all night and knew he was late going after the Hard Corps. The sun would be up in a few hours and he had to get them off that island before the Russians found them. He was under strict orders NOT to let anyone, no matter what rank, know of this operation. As the officers spoke, going over maps, charts and messages, he stood suddenly as if at attention. The room fell silent and focused on him with open mouths.

"Lieutenant? What are you doing?" A Flag officer asked while holding a message.

"SIR! I MUST leave right now! I have not a moment to waist as I am all ready very late." He turned to leave.

"LIEUTENANT! SIT DOWN!" A General yelled but he ran out the door towards the docks and his ship, which had been readied for launch since last night. He glanced at his watch while he was running....zero one hundred in the morning. He did not have enough time to get to the pick up point before the sun came up, even at full speed.

He saw his ship as he turned a corner then yelled out...

"Cast off! CAST OFF!" He ran to jump on board as the gang way was puled away and the ship was under way.

Gunny was in the meeting that Lieutenant Vox had so abruptly left from and stood to quiet the room.

"Gentlemen!" He held up his hands.

"Seems the Lieutenant had more important things to do than listen to old men." There was a chuckle but he did not know what the Lieutenant was up to, he did feel it was of the utmost importance, he knew he was a good officer.

"Let's get back to matters at hand, shall we?" he said and the meeting went on.

Sergent Major Anderson slid to a stop next to Halfdan and Frode, out of breath.

"We've been spotted!" He said out of breath.

"Where?" Frode asked and Anderson pointed to their left.

"A patrol came up on our left, we took out all of them but two guys. They will report our position so we have very little time to get set for an attack."

"Frode!" Halfdan said as he stood, observing the terrain. "There's nothing around here for cover so we are going to have to tough it out."

"Yeah, I saw that," Frode said as he stood, checking his weapon. He glanced out to sea as the sun was just starting to come up, giving everything a gray look.

"OUT THERE!" Someone yelled, pointing out to sea.

"ESPEN!" Halfdan said with a smile.

"Well, DAMN!" Frode said as he looked to their left.

Halfdan and Anderson saw it too. What looked like three tanks coming their way with infantry behind them.

"OH SHIT!" Anderson said as he ran towards his company.

"Take cover!" Halfdan yelled as he fell next to the radio.

"Get Espen on the hook and call in for support!"

The radio began it's static as the operator began to talk.

"Espes, Espen, this is raider one, over!"

"Radier one, this is Espen. We are in bound with launches in the water, stand by for extraction, over."

He heard faint pops of small arms in the distance to his left as he stood to look out to sea. About five hundred yards out he could see five or six tiny boats in the water heading towards shore. As the firing grew in intensity his thoughts were of getting his troops off the beach with the Russians hard on their rear. Some of them would not make it off this beach and he knew it.

"All hands on the line! I want to put up such a fight these Russians will think we are a division." He yelled.

Young officers and NCO's ran back and forth getting the lines adjusted for the attack while he and Frode paced back and forth, waiting for the boats to land and begin removing them from the beach.

Sergeant Major Anderson ran towards them through the grass.

"Colonel! We have them contained on the left but we were hit up front. We stopped them but they have TANKS!" He gasped for air.

"We don't have anything to stop those sons a bitches!"

Halfdan looked at Frode in thought.

"We still have those extra battries!" Frode said looking at Halfdan. "Remember what happened when we threw them into a fire?"

Hlafdan shrugged his shoulders.

"First! Call Espen and see if they can give us covering fire with their guns."

"Then...those batteries might work if we put a grenade to it!" He said. "But we would have to be right on top of those things and place it on the engine compartment. MAY BE it would stop it?" He asked.

"We have no other option, Halfdan!" Sergeant Major Anderson said. "Give'em ALL to me..NOW!" Anderson began to tie grenades to the extra batteries that were the size of a mans foot. Once he had several made he took of at a run.

"Boats inbound!" Someone yelled.

The launches had landed and all six were filled to over load as they pushed off. It would be about thirty minuets before they returned for another load but he could hear the firing getting louder even as the sea breeze blew inland, the sound grew. He knew they were in a heavy fire fight.

"I have to take a look Frode. Stay here and keep everything organized. Keep trying to get Naval gunfire on those guys!""

Halfdan took off at a run for the front lines, as he passed wounded straggling to the beach, some being helped that were unable to walk. As he got to the front edge of his battle zone he saw his troops laying in hastily dug sand pits, firing at an unseen enemy. Just as he crawled into one of the pits with a young female trooper he heard a loud explosion with a fire ball rising just to his right. A few minuets later there were two more, he was hoping it was Anderson and the tanks he just took out.

"LOOK OUT!!" A voice yelled just as a group of Russians ran forward, bayonets leading their charge.

Halfdan jumped up, grabbing his pistol, he fired into them as they ran forward with two falling. The others were cut down by small arms on both sides of him.

"This reminds me of the old days!" He said to no one.

At that moment he heard what sounded like rockets flying over head as rounds from the NS Espen landed among the Russian lines. Huge fire balls erupted to his front throwing grass, sand and bodies skyward.

"HELL YEAH!" One of his troops yelled as he got onto his knees to look.