The Chameleon Soldier: NOW AS AN ALIEN BLUE HE CANNOT DIE. by D.B. Silvis

Americans. On one occasion, in a small crowded town, the 16th Reconnaissance Company felt the refugees were somehow sending signals, regarding their location, to the North Koreans. They sent a few of their soldiers out to mingle with the crowd. Killian, using his ability, transformed to a refugees. About an hour later, he saw a man and a pregnant woman squatting by the roadside. Something didn’t appear to be right. The woman seemed to be having a problem. Killian went over to them.
    He looked at the woman. “Are you having a problem? Could I be of help?”
    They immediately stood up. “No.” she answered and they walked away.
    Killian and the man recognized each other as a Blue. Killian quickly moved behind a building and transformed back to a soldier. Coming out he yelled to two soldiers to stop the couple. As the woman ran, a radio fell from under her dress. She was apprehended and wasn’t pregnant. It was apparent the couple had been using the radio to report the 1st Cavalry’s position. The man continued running. One of the soldiers fired at him. The bullet struck him in the back, but the man didn’t stop. Killian and two soldiers took chase. The man darted down into a tall grassy ravine and returned fire. As the two soldiers hit the dirt, Killian spotted a young soldier with a flamethrower. He ran over and grabbed him.
    “Come with me we need your help!” Killian shouted, as he pulled the startled soldier toward the ravine.
    The man in the ravine fired at Killian, the bullet creased his left leg.
    “Fire at the ravine!” yelled Killian as he tossed a grenade.
    The young soldier hesitated, and then unloaded a fiery stream into the ravine. The tall, dry grass burst into flames. There was a scream, and the man came running out, his clothes on fire. He began shooting at Killian, and the young soldier.
    Killian threw another grenade. “Fire it again, hit him!” shouted Killian.
    A long blast of liquid fire hit the man. He screamed as he became a mass of flames. For a moment, there appeared the image of a wolf that stood on its hind legs and howled. Then a bright flash of blue light was followed by a ribbon of blue-white smoke ascending into the sky. A smile crept across Killian’s face as he, and other men watched.
    One of the soldiers rose to his feet. “What the hell was that?”
    “Did I hear a howl?” asked the soldier with the flamethrower.
    The other soldier stood up. “Jesus, Killian, don’t you think the grenades and, flamethrower was a bit of overkill?”
    They all walked down to the ravine where the man had stood.
    “Where the heck’s the body?” asked the young soldier with the flamethrower.
    “Christ, it looks like you disintegrated him,” said one of the others.
    “Is that possible?”
    “It sure as hell must be, because there sure ain’t a body here.”
    “I saw a bright blue flash, maybe he was carrying nitro or something,” the young soldier suggested.
    “Yeah, that’s probably it.”
    Killian grinned as they all turned, and walked back up toward the road. The man had to have been a Navajo and most likely one of Lupan’s Blue Warrior followers. He wondered if his arch-enemy was close by. However, it turned out to be the last time, during the war, that Killian encountered a Blue Warrior.
    In June, 1953, the war, or the police action as President Harry Truman called it, ended. Later, in the fall of that year, when Killian was released from duty, he decided to look up his old friend Kipling Smith, who had been elected to congress in 1950.
    Kipling Smith had always liked politics, and had followed it since he was in high school and college, where he led the debating team. His dream was to be a congressman. However, World War II had interrupted his plans. His time spent in the college ROTC program served him well, and he had become an officer. Kipling had hated the war, but he had enjoyed serving in the 1st Cavalry. He only wished they hadn’t dismounted the cavalry before he was