The Angel of Europe

by

Rodford Edmiston

Part One

The apparently ordinary man working at the plain, wooden desk in the small, modestly equipped office looked up as the door opened. Another man, someone as unassuming as the desk and the man behind it, a man a bit below average height, dressed in a self-effacing way, was escorted into the very functional office by a WAAF. At first glance there didn't seem to be anything unusual about the newcomer, except that he was a bit darker in eyes, hair and skin than his host. He did look tired, but so did nearly everyone in Britain these days, with the Blitz just over and the threat of invasion fading. In silence, the woman escorted the second man to a chair in front of the desk, then stepped back. She looked at the man seated behind the desk, to see if he wanted anything more.

"That will be all, Abigail," said the man, with an upper-class English accent. "Oh, and see that we aren't disturbed, would you?"

"Of course, Mr. Chesney," she said. Though the man wore civilian clothes she saluted him, spun smartly around and marched out, Service Dress swirling. The door closed firmly behind her, the glass in it rattling a bit. Beyond the door were the typical sounds of a busy British WWII military office; on this side of it someone with good hearing could still detect that, but the sounds were more muted than they should have been in that situation. Something most people wouldn't notice. The two men looked at each other for a moment. Though different in backgrounds, build, clothing and even coloring, they did share one thing: An odd sort of intensity or clarity in their gazes. A look of eagles, as some would call it.

"Aaron LaBelle," said the man, nodding, finally. He raised an eyebrow. "Or should I call you Malak?"

"Is that supposed to impress me?" said the visitor, in a surprisingly deep voice and an American southern accent. "I haven't made much of an effort to keep people from connecting my two identities."

"No. I just wanted to let you know that I know." Chesney leaned back in his chair, playing absently with a pencil. "I need your help."

"Many people need my help. Just me being here is costing lives."

"Like you, I am in the business of saving lives," the man behind the desk said. He leaned forward again, putting the pencil down to rest his forearms on the varnished wooden surface. "Like you I am also empowered. My gift takes the form of being able to pull together details from disparate sources and extract important threads of information from them. Things which most others - even those with empowered minds - have missed. For this and other reasons I have been given the code name Mastermind."

"Again, those abilities are not all that impressive. I have known many empowered with enhanced intelligence. I even have a touch of it, myself. That is one reason I have been successful at liberating death camps set up by the Nazis and Soviets."

"The Russians are our allies," said the stranger, firmly. He sighed and relented. "Though we are, of course, aware of their violations. Some of us even admit the problem. For now, though, we need their help. As we need yours."

"Why did you ask me to come here, when I could be helping people?"

The visitor had a strong force of personality. Though he did not raise his voice, his gaze and words produced an unfamiliar sense of intimidation in his host. Boris (Mastermind) Chesney was not used to feeling intimidated. Not even by general officers or Prime Ministers. Not even by royalty.

"Though you have done much good work, you are treating symptoms," said the man, plunging ahead to cover his unease. "I propose a group effort to strike at the roots of those symptoms."

"Human greed and the willingness of some to abandon their free will and turn all responsibility over to charismatic leaders?"

"Not... yet," said the man, with a slight smile. "Also, perhaps 'roots' is an overstatement. No, for now we can't even get to Hitler and his cronies. We certainly can't eliminate the very human failings which allowed them to gain power. However, the Nazis have assembled - and in some cases created - their own empowered. Men and women of great ability who, for whatever reason, are willing to participate in the atrocities committed at the orders of the Nazi elite."

"I have been involved in conflicts against other empowered before," said Aaron, his tone and words mild on the surface but revealing much underneath. "Both on my own and as a member of a group. There is usually a considerable amount of damage involved. Though, since there is currently a war on..."

"Exactly," said Chesney, nodding. "Also, in this case, the action would take place in Germany, itself. So any side effect damage would actually help our War effort."

He leaned forward now and spoke more quietly. As if to emphasize the secure nature of what he was about to reveal.

"We have information that a training camp for Axis empowered has been established on an island in the southern Baltic Sea, a place known as Vilm, just off the German mainland. The camp is in the middle of an ancient forest and very difficult for conventional forces to get to, which is likely one reason for establishing it there. We haven't tried bombing it, yet, since they are still building the facilities. However, even getting photo recon has been difficult. This is in part due to the forest; in part because we don't want them to realize that we are aware of their plan; and in part, well, apparently there are powers involved in keeping the facility covert."

"If I understand you correctly, you have a plane make a photo reconnaissance," Aaron gave the word a somewhat distorted French pronunciation, "run and the installation you mentioned just happens to be in the plane's path. Except that the photos taken over the island usually don't show much, despite such misdirections."

"Yes. However, we know from other sources what is intended for the camp and in general what is going on, at least currently. Our plan is to have a small group of special commandos - that is, a few empowered - attack after the group is assembled but before they have done any significant training. Meanwhile, a military force will raid the SS base which has been constructed on the southern part of Rügen Island, just to the north of Vilm. Partly as a diversion, and partly because that facility needs such attention. It has artillery emplaced which is a threat to Allied aircraft, and potentially our naval craft as well."

"That means you need to train your own group of empowered. You better have a head start on that."

"We do. However, we need a heavy hitter. Especially one who is a master of several languages and who can heal others, as well as someone who is possessed of other useful abilities. For example, you'll also be our eye in the sky. Those are several useful abilities from one person, but as I said this will be a small group."

"I was in the military for the first one. I don't plan to re-up."

"I'm not asking you to. I am a civilian, myself, yet I know that military application of powers is... tricky. We have learned - by the hard way, in some cases - that there are limits to what one person can do, no matter what powers they have. When you are outnumbered hundreds or thousands to one, and those opposing you have military weapons, your level of personal power doesn't matter much. Your own experiences in London during the Blitz are excellent examples of that."

"I believe the limitations of using potent individual empowered to pursue military goals was demonstrated rather decisively in the recent killing of the Supreme Socialist," said Aaron, pointedly.

"Another good example," said Mastermind, nodding. "However, we empowered are still a resource which can aid the War effort, in groups or singly. While there will be a military operation associated with this project, the members of the group which I am assembling will be part of a team which officially does not exist. At least, as an actual, military force. As long as you cooperate with each other and strive towards the goals of the operation, I don't care about the internal organization of the group. Just keep in mind that this should be a non-combat operation. If you have to engage in violence, something has gone wrong."

"I am in," said Aaron, nodding. Chesney wasn't surprised by the suddenness of this decision. Those with enhanced intelligence tended to make up their minds quickly, once they felt they had enough information. "At least tentatively. I will need more information on the group and the people in it before I can say for certain whether I will participate."

Again, this conditionalism was not unusual for those with empowered intellects.

"Fair enough," said Chesney. He handed Aaron a typed list. "Here's what - and who - we have so far... I believe you will find most of them at least acceptable. You even know one of them."

Some were only listed by code name. All had only the briefest description of their abilities:

Commander Zero (general physical augment, who also had heightened intelligence) was a native Brit

IM Tallman (aka Knotsoe Short, very heightened physical augments) was from the US

He was the one who had worked with Aaron before.

Gregory Sutter (general physical augments) was from the US

Molly Ironwood (heightened senses) was from Puerto Rico

The Infiltrator (master of disguise and acting, expert at English, French and German) was of unknown provenance

Conquistador (physical augments) was from Spain; he had been on the losing side of their civil war and was a refugee in Great Britain

Reynard (heightened physical abilities, focused on stealth, plus a fox alternate form) was a French native, and also a refugee in Great Britain

Cobber (physical augments) was from New Zealand

The Solution (who always has the answer) was an upper class Englishman

"I do know one of these people," said Aaron, nodding tentative approval. "I've heard of most of the rest. All potentially very useful in the sort of operation you propose."

"Commander Zero is in charge," said Chesney.

"He is one of those I've heard of," said Aaron, nodding again. "He is supposed to be both physically capable and extremely competent."

"I can confirm both characteristics. As for the others, some are included in case of combat and some are included for gathering information, both of which will likely be useful in the operation."

"Excellent. I look forward to training with them. I just hope we can do the job."