The Col Sec Chronicles Box Set

by Jan Domagala

  Sinclair looked at Hawk and said, “What just happened?”

  “I’m not sure without having the Tec guys go over that room with a detailed scanner, but I’d say that somehow they smuggled a bomb into HQ inside that clone.”

  “Are you serious?” Sinclair asked, not sure if he’d heard right.

  “Yes, sir. Somehow they found a way to shield the charge from our scanners and sensors.”

  “Well, if that’s true then they planned this whole scene to kill me and whoever was with me at the time,” Sinclair said as the realisation hit him.

  “Yes, sir, this goes deeper than any of us ever thought possible,” Hawk said.

  “The implications of this are too huge to contemplate. I’ll have to inform the President. We may have to take special and unusual measures to combat this threat. You find out what you can from what’s left in there and report back to me personally when you have something,” Sinclair said with a sense of urgency in his voice.

  “What about you, sir, where will you be? You need to get yourself looked at by a medic,” Hawk said.

  “I’ll do that later. I’m going to see the President right away, he needs to know about this,” and with that Sinclair stormed off leaving Hawk alone outside the interrogation room.

  “If anyone can do it, you can, sir,” he said as he watched the commanding officer of the Intelligence Division disappear down the corridor.

  As he pondered the task before him he wondered what, if anything, could be done to combat a threat about which you knew nothing, but which seemed to know everything about you. He just hoped that the General would come up with something.

  3

  Hawk got to work on directing a crew to investigate the remains of the interrogation room almost immediately. As he stood around and watched the tecs set about the task with their various pieces of equipment, he realised that his skill sets were not suited to this job so he told them to inform him the moment they had anything and left them to it. He returned to his office to review the video data of the interrogation.

  He was becoming increasingly frustrated at learning so little. What was the purpose of OMEGA and why had they set this whole thing up? If they were so clandestine why push themselves to the forefront now? What could they possibly gain from their recent actions? Was this, like Sinclair said, an elaborate scheme to take out the leader of Col Sec’s Intelligence Division and so cripple that organisation? If so, apart from the obvious, what did they hope to gain and why at this particular moment? There was nothing of significance on the calendar that Hawk was aware of so the date of the incident seemed completely random unless there was something happening soon that he was not privy to. If that were the case then he needed to know all the facts if he was expected to combat this new threat.

  He felt like he had just stepped into the boxing ring with both hands tied behind his back. Not a good feeling.

  His NI tingled, alerting him to an incoming call.

  “Hawk, my office, ten minutes,” said Sinclair, his voice carrying through the channel as clear as if he was standing next to Hawk.

  “On my way, sir,” he replied and got to his feet and exited his office.

  * * * * *

  Maxwell Eisenhower was seated behind his rather large, ornate desk working diligently on several reports when he was alerted to the presence of someone outside his door. In his early sixties he was a small man, standing only five feet seven tall. His greying hair was cut stylishly short, costing him more than the average worker in one of his many factories earned in a week. He was a mediocre man except for his opaline green eyes, the only remarkable feature about one of the richest men in the galaxy. The sensor that was fitted in the locking mechanism scanned everyone who approached the door and told the occupant of the room everything about them – what they were carrying and what they were wearing even down to the contents of their stomachs. The chances of anyone slipping anything dangerous past this sensor were remote in the extreme.

  Eisenhower had built his business from the ground up and as he sat behind his desk working away he was content to be the CEO of the largest mega corporation in at least ten sectors. His turnover was reputed to be in the trillions, his personal fortune was over one hundred and forty billion and growing.

  All these facts were well known as he had business enterprises on several planets both in the Colonial Confederation and the Elysium Alliance, but what was not so widely known was that his fortune was also boosted by his criminal activities as the head of OMEGA.

  Having grown bored with normal business practices he had gravitated to more unsavoury pursuits, which had turned out to be quite profitable. The best thing for him about his dual personality was that OMEGA was exceptionally clandestine. This secrecy ensured that no one had any idea that the mild mannered CEO of a huge mega corp. was also the leader of a group that dealt with death and destruction on a huge scale. That was until now. Somehow, Col Sec had captured one of his Rovers, a name he coined for the clones he’d created to be the public face of the leadership of OMEGA. Using a bioengineering division of one of his businesses, he’d made a series of clones to act as the face of OMEGA, each one indistinguishable from the next with all of them sharing the same DNA and memories.

  They were the leadership of OMEGA and only they dealt with the running of the clandestine operations OMEGA was concerned with. In that way no one could ever tie them in with him or his legitimate business operations.

  That was until now.

  Someone had taken it upon themselves to go up against Col Sec and bring OMEGA out from the shadows and into the light of day, not something he had ever wanted. But now it had happened he had to find out who and why and then stop them before they ruined everything.

  The person outside his door was the man tasked with finding out what he could about the recent Rover incident, his chief aide and confidante, Jonas Wilde.

  Wilde had been with Eisenhower for over ten years, working his way up the business ladder until, eight years ago, his efforts had come to the attention of the CEO. Wilde had been appointed his chief aide and allowed into his confidence about OMEGA and he had been in that privileged position ever since.

  Eisenhower operated the door lock remotely allowing Wilde to come into his office.

  “What have you learned?” Eisenhower asked without preamble.

  Wilde entered the spacious office and walked up to the desk. Around five feet eleven inches tall he was of average build yet trim and fit. He had nondescript features making him almost invisible in a crowd. Dark hair and dark eyes went unnoticed by most, along with an almost expressionless face. His expression today told Eisenhower what he needed to know without him even opening his mouth to speak.

  “Nothing, sir. So far my enquiries have drawn a blank. I’ve had to be careful not to arouse the suspicions of the authorities investigating the incident. Should they get wind of my enquiries then it could lead them straight back to this office and that’s the last thing I want, sir,” Wilde said apologetically.

  “Well, before they do that, I think it best we close off any avenue they might be chasing down by sending a team to where the Rover was apprehended to destroy any signs that it was there. Once their investigation hits a dead end we can find out who sent it there and why, but our priority at the moment has to be stopping Col Sec from finding anything that could lead them to us here,” Eisenhower said. He looked up at Wilde, his opaline green eyes almost sparking with a rage so intense Wilde could almost feel it. “We cannot allow Col Sec to tie the Rover in to us. Tell the team to do whatever is necessary to prevent any data falling into Col Sec’s hands, is that clear, anything?”

  “Perfectly clear, sir,” Wilde said, his reed thin body ramrod straight as he stood before the table, pinned there by the glare from those eyes.

  “Handle this personally Jonas, I can trust no one else with this you understand!”

  “Consider it done, sir. You have my word.” Wilde said, then turned and left the room leaving Eisenhower
to return to his work.

  The moment Wilde left the room he contacted the team leader who would clean up this mess. Tanis Rygar was a contract soldier who until five years ago had been in the Black Knights, the Elysium Alliance’s Special Forces. Said to be the equivalent of Col Sec’s Recon Delta marines, the Black Knights were elite in the extreme and had faced off against Col Sec on many occasions.

  Rygar was a large man with a block-like head set on broad shoulders and a well-muscled torso. His strength and ruthlessness were renowned amongst the Black Knights. He had a bald head, a black goatee and a scar on the edge of his left eye that made it appear puckered. He had worked for OMEGA as a team leader for the past five years, since Eisenhower had poached him from the Black Knights, and had proved a valuable acquisition.

  For the past year though, Wilde had become close to him, using him more and more, gaining his trust with promises that one day he would be a man of power within an organisation that would be THE power in the galaxy.

  It had been Wilde who had sent the clone to the chamber, it had been Wilde who had leaked the data about a terrorist strike against a Col Sec base, upon which the latter had no option but to act. So far his plan was going smoothly.

  “Rygar, take your team back to the chamber and destroy any evidence you may find there pertaining to the Rover,” Wilde said, after the call had been connected via his NI. All MaxCorp higher echelon employees were fitted with top grade Neural Interfaces almost to military grade and so the call was made easily enough.

  “It’s about time, I’ve been sitting on my butt for the past twelve hours waiting for your call,” Rygar answered sullenly.

  “Just remember who signs your pay cheque, Rygar, and show some respect or I’ll have you on garbage duty for the next twelve months,” replied Wilde sternly. He was not a man to cross. What Eisenhower didn’t know was that Wilde had a military background and had served in Col Sec Intelligence Division for several years before being kicked out for an op that went bad and in which several marines lost their lives through his tainted Intel. He was ruthless and determined with sociopathic tendencies and his plan was to rip control of OMEGA from Eisenhower’s fingers. If it was from his dying fingers he didn’t care, as long as he got control.

  “Yes, sir, I’m on my way, will report back as soon as we arrive on station,” Rygar replied showing the correct amount of respect and not overdoing it with a tinge of sarcasm, for he knew better than to anger Wilde. He had once seen him chastise a team member in front of the rest of the team. The member returned a sarcastic comment after being reprimanded and Wilde took out a Sig P996 and calmly shot him between the eyes, witnessed by the whole group. After that, no one was ever sarcastic to him in any situation.

  “Good, I’ll look forward to your call,” Wilde said, then broke the connection. As he continued walking down the brightly lit corridor his thoughts were on the chamber and what Rygar would find there. Once his orders had been carried out and all incriminating evidence erased, it would be time to move on to the next phase of his plan.

  Now he must make preparations so that when the time arrived he would be ready to make his move.

  Col Sec would soon learn the true power that OMEGA wielded and that there was nothing they could do to stop them. His revenge on them for his humiliation would soon be complete.

  * * * * *

  Hawk was soon entering General Sinclair’s office eager to see what he wanted to tell him.

  “I came straight away, sir,” he said when he saw the General check the time. He had got there in just over five minutes.

  “No need to apologise, Matt,” Sinclair said.

  “I wasn’t, sir,” replied Hawk who stood to attention in front of the large, ornate desk.

  “At ease Captain, relax before you strain something,” Sinclair said in a more friendly tone. “What have you learned from the interrogation room?”

  “Still waiting for the preliminary reports, sir, but if I may suggest something?” Hawk replied.

  “What is it Captain?”

  “I don’t think we’ll learn much from the room, sir, not as much as we could from the chamber where I captured the clone. They picked that particular place for us to go and capture the clone and I think we need to know why,” explained Hawk.

  “Okay then take a squad of marines with you and go and do your thing. I’ll inform Colonel De Boer that you’ll need his services once more.”

  “Thank you, sir, I’ll leave right away.”

  “Before you go I have something you need to know. My recent talk with the President went rather well. I put to him the situation about OMEGA and my recommendations on how to combat it. He agreed and gave me carte blanche to do as I see fit. To that end I intend to set up a new special unit to combat such threats, a unit of agents who will be the elite from Recon Delta and I want you to join them. In fact, I want you to be the first of my recruits. For the time being I want you to carry on with your present investigation until I’ve finalised the details of this new unit. As soon as I have anything I’ll let you know.”

  “I’m flattered, sir. What’s this new unit going to be called?”

  “That hasn’t been decided yet.”

  “If you want any nominations for recruits then I have a few: Captain Storm and his team. They helped with the rescue of Kurt Stryder and they are already a team who work well together. I must say that they are the best soldiers I’ve ever had the privilege of working with.”

  “I’ll take that under advisement Captain and we’ll talk about it soon, but for now you have work to do. Contact me on a secure channel the moment you have anything.”

  “I will sir.”

  “Dismissed,” Sinclair said and with that Hawk turned on his heel and left the office.

  4

  Hawk went straight to the spaceport where he found Colonel De Boer waiting for him with a squad of five men.

  “I understand you want to go back into the chamber to see if you missed anything the first time around, is that it?” De Boer asked as Hawk approached.

  “Yep, it seems we drew a blank with the captive and the only lead left to us is what we might find back in that chamber,” replied Hawk. He paused slightly while he thought out what he was going to say next. Just how much did the Colonel know? Had Sinclair confided in him the true nature of the situation or was he as much in the dark as before and should he tell him about OMEGA? All these questions rattled around inside his head as he chose his next words carefully.

  “Might find? Are you trying to tell me this is a goose chase of the wild variety?” De Boer asked, clearly not impressed with his new mission.

  “Look Colonel, I know you’re not impressed with me or my methods, or the fact that a mere Captain is in charge of this mission, calling the shots with the authority to issue you with orders. I know all that, you make it abundantly clear, but I tell you what, I don’t give a shit. You will carry out my orders when I give them and you will show some professional etiquette. I can’t expect you to show respect when you clearly have none but I do expect you to act like a Recon Delta marine Colonel.”

  De Boer took a step back to look at Hawk, this time with a little more respect. The man had actually stood up to him and in fact had torn a strip off him, which he knew he deserved.

  “Of that you can be assured, Captain,” he said.

  “Matt, call me Matt. I’m an officer of the Intelligence Division and I prefer not to stand on ceremony except when it’s warranted, I just want to get this job done. I’m afraid I cannot tell you too much of what’s going on, but what I can say is that this is of the utmost importance. I don’t say this just to get you motivated; I say it because it’s a fact. There is a danger to Col Sec here and I have to find out as much about it as I possibly can. Now we may have no trouble back at the chamber, but protocol demands that I return there escorted by a squad of marines. The faster we get there, the faster I can learn what is behind this menace,” Hawk said.

  “In that case, Matt, I sugg
est we get on board,” De Boer said with a smile.

  “What, no more questions?” asked Hawk.

  De Boer looked at him and said, “I’m sure you’ll inform me of what I need to know, when I need to know it.”

  “Right,” Hawk said and they all boarded the shuttle, which promptly took off and headed straight towards the cruiser, Valkyrie, which was parked in orbit.

  The Valkyrie was a military transport placed at Hawk’s disposal for the duration of the mission and was crewed by some of Col Sec’s finest. Colonel De Boer had only brought five men along with him for this trip and not having had the benefit of all the mission details, he had been unable to do a proper risk assessment of the task ahead. Assured that this was just an escort job he believed a five-man squad would suffice. He would be proven wrong.

  Captain Jefferson, a twelve-year veteran of the Col Sec Space Navy, took the Valkyrie into a full thrust away from orbit so they could safely make the jump through hyperspace to their destination. Canto was only fifty-seven light years from Earth, three systems away, so they could reach it in one jump.

  Canto was a highly populated planet with several continents and hundreds of cities where most of her five billion inhabitants lived.

  There were several less populated areas on the planet also; deserts not unlike those of Earth and, as Canto was an E class planet (Earth type), there were mountainous regions too.

  The chamber was in one of these, at the base of one of the largest mountain ranges called the Quad. There were four huge mountains in the range simply called Q1 through to Q4. The chamber was hidden at the base of Q3 the third largest mountain.

  The Valkyrie arrived at Canto and immediately went into a parking orbit.

  “Well, gentlemen, I got you here safely,” Jefferson said to both Hawk and De Boer who stood at his side on the bridge. Jefferson was seated in the captain’s chair, one hand on the control panel in the armrest and the other up to his face, his elbow resting on the opposite armrest. He had a smile on his chiselled features that seemed a permanent fixture, almost as if he couldn’t take life seriously, but anyone who knew him well knew that to be untrue. Jefferson was one of the most qualified and experienced captains in Col Sec Space Navy. “The rest, as they say, is up to you,” he added.