Dragonfly

Written by Arthur Browne
Artwork by Jason Boninger

Oh, I just love waking up on the ground with a rock digging into my kidneys.

The special forces sergeant rolled over, ignoring the pain of sleeping on a rock, and came awake faster than most men could. He scanned the moonlit jungle around him with minimal movements of his head. His ears listened for any out of place sound. The only sound he heard other than the noises of the jungle was a small beep, a repeat of the sound that had awakened him.

Okay, you sleep outside all by yourself and you wake up fast. So who are you? Special forces maybe? Your thoughts are so controlled I can’t look at your memories. You only think about the one thing you are going to do next. That is so weird.

The sergeant sat up and checked that his rifle was still at his side. Then he turned to his other side and picked up a small, flat, black case. He opened the case, revealing a flat monitor screen on the inside of the lid and a keyboard. A tiny joystick popped up to the right of the keyboard. The monitor glowed dimly to life. The sergeant leaned forward, pulled his shirt up past his head and draped it, making a small tent to hide the glowing monitor.

Well, this is going to be interesting at least. I watched through the man’s eyes as he focused on a small, ramshackle village that filled the screen. The picture was clear, a mixture of thermal imaging and night vision technology. There was a remote controlled camera somewhere. So who the hell are you and what are we doing here?

The sergeant pushed some buttons and the camera panned over the village and the jungle that surrounded it. He paid careful attention to the rough dirt road that the village sat beside. He spoke into a small comm mic attached to the collar of his jungle fatigues. “Tiger One, I had a movement warning, but the target is not on site.”

Judging by your hunger pains and sore muscles we have been here for a few days already. But you won’t have to worry about being here too much longer. The answer to his call came through the earpiece I could feel in his ear.

“Intel says today is the day, Tiger One.”

Oh, today is the day alright, Tiger.

The sergeant went back to watching the village and the road. He sat without moving as the hours crept by. The sun rose and the insects came out in force.

Jeez, you don’t even care about the bugs on your face, Dude. You are one tough bastard whoever you are. Maybe we could move a little to help the cramps. Or at least wipe the sweat out of our eyes? I felt his body tense as a small utility vehicle and two trucks appeared on the road at the far side of the village. They parked under the jungle canopy and we both watched as troops jumped out of the trucks and fanned out through the rundown little village.

The sergeant moved at last. “Tiger One, three vehicles on site. This might be it.” As he spoke he bent forward and pushed buttons and the camera panned and zoomed in on the utility vehicle. Three armed men in jungle camouflage had emerged from the little truck and stood, weapons ready, watching the sky and the village and the surrounding jungle. A tall, thin man in the same uniform with no rank or insignia stepped out of the vehicle and looked around. The man was perhaps 50 years of age, and handsome in a raffish sort of way. The four men proceeded to walk towards the village which the rest of the troopers had already checked out. “Tiger One, target may be on site,” said the sergeant into the comm unit.

Oh, this ought to be good.

The sergeant pushed more buttons and fiddled with the small joystick.
Five miles away from where the sergeant sat, the Dragonfly kept its nose camera focused on the target. The Dragonfly was about the size and shape of a tennis ball cut in half, and made of dull metal. There was a small camera lens at the rounded front end and four pieces of some tough looking fabric stuck out the back like tail feathers. The tail feathers suddenly rotated forward and became wings, two on each side. There was a sound like a hummingbird’s wings and the Dragonfly lifted gently off the branch that it had been gripping with four slender legs.

The camera is moving. I wish I knew what the hell is going on.

The sergeant wiggled the joystick, moving the Dragonfly towards the target while keeping him in sight. The tall, thin man was rapidly approaching a wooden shack with a rusting, corrugated metal roof. The sergeant watched on the monitor as the camera in the Dragonfly’s nose showed the target getting steadily larger. He pushed another button and the camera zoomed in. The sergeant jiggled the joystick until the target and his armed escort were centered on the screen. “Target confirmed,” said the voice in the earpiece.

So what do we have here, Tiger? Is that just a remote camera? Are we going to call in an airstrike, or does it have guns on it? I must admit, this is kind of fucking cool.

At almost the last second one of the bodyguards must have noticed the Dragonfly. On the monitor the sergeant watched as the man raised his rifle and had time to get off a few shots, but the Dragonfly was small and fast and his chances of hitting it were not good. The bodyguard shoved the tall, thin man and looked as if he might be shouting a warning. The target took one look at the strange object heading his way and tried to run.

Ha! He’s pretty fast. But I have a feeling it isn’t going to do him any good.

On the screen the sergeant watched as the Dragonfly closed in on its prey. But then, unexpectedly, the target seemed to take a leaping dive and disappeared off the monitor image. The sergeant slowed the Dragonfly and pulled back on the camera zoom to see what had happened. The monitor suddenly filled with a picture of wooden boards. He circled the Dragonfly back around and saw that the target had managed to reach the village outhouse. The sergeant smiled grimly to himself, but he knew that he had to hurry. Every second that the Dragonfly spent in the air gave the troopers more time to shoot it down. He spun the Dragonfly back around, circling the outhouse, and saw that there wasn’t even a door on it. It was just open on one side. He also caught a glimpse of five or six of the target’s escorts firing for all they were worth at his expensive toy.

This would make an awesome video game. Hey, wait. Where the fuck did he go?

“What the fuck?” the sergeant blurted. The target was nowhere to be seen inside the outhouse. “He couldn’t have gotten away from me.” But then the sergeant gave a nasty little smile. “Come out come out, wherever you are,” he said in a sing-song voice.

Oh, gross… you think he went in there?

There was only one place the target could have gone. Down into the hole dug under the rough wooden box that held the toilet seat. The sergeant gave one more little smile as he aimed the Dragonfly down the hole. When the screen got too dark for him to see anything, he didn’t bother to switch back over to thermal imaging on the Dragonfly’s camera. He just hit the detonation switch. A muffled boom echoed and bounced off the surrounding hills.

Oh, that is some sick shit, Tiger. No pun intended. Maybe.

The sergeant spoke one last time. “Target neutralized.” Then he began packing up his gear. He was walking out of the area two minutes later.

You do not fuck around, do you? But I wouldn’t get too cocky just yet.

Two hours later, just a mile from where a spec ops Thumper was supposed to pick him up after dark, the sergeant stepped on a mine. It blew off his right leg to just above the knee and shredded his left leg.

Catch a Tiger by the toe, I couldn’t help thinking, even as the two of us screamed inside his head. The pain was unbelievable, and I know a little something about pain. Both of his arms were broken from when we hit the ground after being blown into the air. There was no way he could put a tourniquet on the leg. This is going to be a slow way to go, Tiger. And I ought to know. I used to be a medic. It might be best if you just pass out.

The sergeant remained conscious for four more hours before he finally bled to death.