by Ricky Sides
“By now they may be asking for another sandwich,” Pete said grinning and the lieutenant knew that the cook had come through for the team again.
Nodding gratefully, the man wolfed down the sandwich. He hadn’t paused to eat all day, and he was famished.
Turning very serious the lieutenant said, “All of the documentation I am about to reference is in the bag.” He paused before continuing. Looking Jim in the eyes he said, “You’re not going to believe this, but as near as I can determine, I think this is the truth.” Pausing again, the lieutenant gathered his thoughts before beginning.
“Three years prior to the natural disasters, and the night of the quakes, a cult formed in Birmingham. The cult was centered on vampirism,” he said, and paused to gauge the expressions on the faces of those present. “This cult takes the matter very seriously. There are references in the documentation that indicate the members won’t go out in bright sunlight. They do go outside on heavily overcast days, and of course at night. They believe that bright sunlight shortens the lifespan. They have an affinity for dogs as guardians. Preferably Dobermans, but they also like Rottweilers.”
“Now, that I can believe easily enough,” Pete stated.
“If they consume the blood of the right victims at very specific times, these cultists believe that consuming the blood makes them stronger and increases their lifespan. They especially like to take the blood of people they consider to be their natural enemies, such as priests, ministers, and law enforcement officials. Apparently we fit that category,” the lieutenant explained.
Jim nodded seriously and said, “Go ahead, Lieutenant.”
“Well, sir, we terminated one nest of these people, but there are others, and I have reason to believe that there are at least a few still in this area that we did not get in our raid of the cavern. There are references to females in this nest, yet all of the enemy we terminated were males,” he explained. “I think that the females may have left to go to another nest. I only had time to briefly scan the documents, and there are several, so some of what I can tell you may be clarified by careful examination of the documents,” the lieutenant explained.
Jim nodded his understanding, and Lieutenant Wilcox said, “Prior to the breakdown of society, this outfit seemed pretty harmless. They confined their blood drinking to each other. But that changed after the quakes. Their writings indicated that the elders interpreted what they termed, “the fall of mankind,” to be a sign that a new age had begun. They call this age the rebirth of the vampire nation. They began by moving out of Birmingham into communal nests near the outskirts of the city. They grow mushrooms in the subterranean lairs and trade those to the people in the city for the food they need. They befriend certain families that appeal to them. Those families are usually large families in order to gain a larger number of victims. They often make gifts of mushrooms to their unsuspecting victims. Then when the time comes that they need victims for their dark ceremonies, they invite the family to a picnic on the outskirts of town and slip these unsuspecting families mushrooms laced with drugs, which render the victims unconscious. The victims are then taken into the cult lairs and are bled out during the ceremony which will follow the kidnapping by about a week. They want plenty of time for the victim’s blood to return to normal,” the lieutenant explained.
“The elders rule the cult. If you want to become an elder, you must have your incisors shaped, and sharpened into fangs, or have implants. This explains why so many of the cult members have undergone that procedure,” the lieutenant explained.
“We may be able to use that knowledge to our advantage by checking with dentists,” Pete said.
“Yes, sir. I thought that was a good thing to know,” the lieutenant said.
“There is a reference to a female who is high in the cult ranks. She is one of their elders. This woman was visiting the nest when they attacked our people. In fact, she authorized the risk of attacking such a large, armed group. Normally they avoid such risks. She took a quantity of the peacekeeper blood for the other cult elders who are scheduled to meet soon,” Lieutenant Wilcox explained. “That woman’s name is Clarissa.”
“Are all nests below ground?” asked Jim.
“Actually, no they aren’t. Most are, but there are references to an abandoned hospital and a college dormitory. Those nests will be easy to spot. All windows will be blacked out, so if you see such buildings with all the shades drawn, or painted windows that should raise a flag that the building is a potential nest,” the lieutenant suggested.
“It’s not foolproof, but it is a good start in identifying such buildings,” Pete agreed. “It’s a shame that she didn’t reveal where the meeting was to take place,” he added.
“I know,” the lieutenant agreed.
“They had no children present?” Pol asked.
The lieutenant’s face clouded with a dark anger, the likes of which the people gathered for the meeting had never before seen on the man’s face. “They had kids once, yes,” the lieutenant responded.
“They didn’t?!” Pol said aghast.
The lieutenant looked down at his hands and said, “It’s in the documentation. In the early days of the transition, the elders ordered the members with children to yield them up for the good of the vampire nation. Some few resisted that order. They were killed and branded traitors to the fledgling vampire nation.”
Looking up at the council the lieutenant said, “There’s something else you should know. They believe that the blood of the prepubescent child is especially beneficial in their longevity schemes. There are plans in the satchel for raids on facilities that house such children.”
“Then we have to locate their nests before they can strike. Did you find any evidence that can lead us to other nests?” Pete asked.
“No but you can probably find out where some are, although it will be a huge task. Check with the city and see where families have disappeared. Entire families. Start one year after the quakes. That seems to be when they initiated the mushroom plan. And check for areas of the city with higher than average prepubescent missing children,” Lieutenant Wilcox explained.
“You’re right. That is going to be a huge job,” Pete said glumly.
Jim asked the lieutenant if he’d learned what name the cult was using.
“They refer to themselves as the “new breed” or “vampire nation,” the lieutenant answered.
Outside in the hall a man’s voice shouted, “Captain! You’d better come to the control room!”
Chapter 7
Jim was up in an instant. He rapidly made his way to the control room. He was met by a sergeant who said, “Sir, the perimeter alarms just went off. We don’t know how to access the system.”
“Thank you, Sergeant,” Jim said, and then he said, “Patricia take a look and tell me what we’ve got.” Looking at the confused lieutenant who hadn’t heard the alarm he said, “I had Patricia deactivate the audible alarm to prevent potential enemies from knowing we are aware of their presence.” The lieutenant nodded his understanding and Jim asked, “Everyone is aboard and the cargo bay door is secured correct?”
“Yes, sir, I secured the door myself when I ordered the door guards back inside,” the lieutenant responded.
“What about the two perimeter guards?” Jim asked.
Lieutenant Wilcox said, “Sir, I only saw the door guards. No one else was visible outside the ship.”
“Patricia, check their locations. Lieutenant, get your team ready to go outside and begin a search,” Jim said.
“Captain, the proximity sensor picked up movement but it was just a quick blip and then it was gone. The two guards are moving slowly about three miles from here on an apparent north easterly heading, sir,” Patricia explained. “Sir, they are apparently walking.”
“Namid,” Jim said.
“On my way, sir,” she responded.
“Pol, launch your drone the moment Namid clears the bay,” Jim ordered.
“Aye, Captain,” the
scientist said.
“I’ll fly the other drone,” Pete said.
“Patricia, record all movements of the missing team. If their signal disappears I want to know precisely where that happens,” Jim ordered.
“Aye, Captain,” replied Patricia. “Sir, Lieutenant Wilcox says that his team is exiting,”
“Give the lieutenant the directions to the beacons and tell him I said it could be a trap, but I don’t think the enemy knows we can track the gear,” Jim said, and then he added, “And tell him it’s not his fault. They were gone when he arrived, and he had no way to know the men were supposed to be on guard duty.”
Patricia relayed the message and then she said that the Phoenix had exited, and was awaiting orders.
“Give her the current coordinates,” Jim said. Turning to duty crew whom the command crew had replaced he said, “Get other men and guard the rear door.” Turning to Pol he said, “Guard the aft door but see if you can get altitude to also study the surrounding area.”
“I’ll spiral around the perimeter to verify no hostiles are present, and then join Namid in the search,” Pete stated.
“Sir, Namid is reporting that she is at the coordinates I gave her and she sees no sign of the men,” Patricia reported.
“Is the forest canopy obscuring her view?” Jim asked.
“She says she is over a field of grass, sir. She is right over the tracer signal,” Patricia stated.
“Then they must be underground. Send her back slowly along the course you saw them moving. Tell her to look for a cave entrance. And get the strike team back aboard. We can fly them there long before they can run to that location,” Jim ordered.
Tim took his seat at the pilot’s station, and plotted the course they’d need to fly to reach the field. When Patricia said that the crew was aboard, he activated the switch to close the bay door and lifted the ship for the brief flight.
“There it is,” Pete said from his position. Jim walked over and looked but at first he didn’t see what Pete was referring to at all. “Don’t just look for an obvious entrance. Look for a possible small concealed entrance,” Pete advised his friend.
Smiling Jim said, “I see it now. They were clever.”
“Not clever enough. They should have replaced the dead weeds,” Pete said.
“I don’t see what you are talking about, Pete,” Pol said. He’d flown his drone to the area to assist in the search.
Pete replied, “Come check my screen and I’ll show you.” Pol put his drone in hover mode and rushed over to Pete’s drone station. “See the large rectangle where the vegetation is dead?” asked Pete.
“Yes I see that,” Pol responded.
“That is the entrance. You’ll see in a moment,” Pete assured the scientist.
“Guys, I need airspace to land,” Tim prompted the drone pilots. Pol rushed back to his seat and within moments, both Pete and Pol had their drones out of the way. Tim had the door to the cargo bay opening as the ship landed.
“The targets are stationary now, Captain,” Patricia stated. “About three hundred yards inside to the north and east of our location.”
“Deploy the strike team. Tell them Pete will speak to them through the drone and show them the entrance,” Jim said. “I want Namid to fly a spiral. Look for any possible exits. Pol, explain to Namid the method used to conceal this entrance. They may use that trick again at the other entrance, if there is another entrance. I’m betting there will be an escape route. I’m going to the cargo bay to make sure the guards know what to do. Pol, you have cargo bay door guard duty with your drone.”
Jim ran down the corridor leading into the battleship drone. When he arrived at the cargo bay he saw the eight guards assigned there standing near the exit. “I want four of you down on the ground at the foot of the ramp facing the three directions from which we could be approached. If the enemy rushes the ship, retreat up the ramp if you need to and seal the door. The rest of you men stand in the doorway at the top of the ramp. Keep your eyes roving the surrounding countryside. Provide covering fire for the men on the ground should they need help. Once the men are aboard seal this door.”
Running down the ramp with the men, he saw Lieutenant Wilcox and his men entering the underground cavern system. He ran back up the ramp and past the guards at the top. Soon he was back in the control room.
“Sir, Namid just reported that she found the other entrance. Pete is flying his drone to the location for a look at the situation,” Patricia reported.
“Thank you, Lieutenant,” Jim said.
***
Lieutenant Wilcox moved slowly through the tunnel complex. This was a manmade tunnel and not a proper cave. On the walls and ceiling were clearly visible tool marks where the workers had cut through the hillside. The team had to make their way through the tunnel hunched over because the ceiling in the narrow tunnel was only five feet tall at best. The passageway was wide enough for one man to pass through, but big men would find it a tight fit.
They had just entered the tunnel when Lieutenant Wilcox heard the captain speaking to him saying, “Lieutenant, we need a few prisoners this time. If you can do so, I want you to capture at least two prisoners so that we can learn all we can from them concerning other cult member locations.”
The lieutenant replied to the captain’s message saying that he would do the best he could to accomplish that mission objective. Pausing he turned his head to the men behind him and whispered the order to secure at least two prisoners. The man behind him passed the order down the line of strike force members spread out behind the lieutenant.
Lieutenant Wilcox also took a moment to screw his silencer onto his pistol and used hand signals to order his team to do the same. They hadn’t anticipated the need for silencers on their first venture into one of the cult cavern systems, but this time they were ready.
They followed the tunnel as it snaked through the underground. Here and there, the tunnel twisted to the right or left around obstacles. Soon the lieutenant came to a spot where he could see light ahead and to the right. It was another tunnel, or passageway that was most likely occupied. He heard Patricia’s voice say, “Lieutenant, your point man is getting really close to the two missing men. They should be twenty yards ahead and to your point man’s right.”
He whispered his thanks in reply, and then used hand signals to alert the man behind him that they were close and to be extra cautious about noise. He moved on then, knowing that the other team member would relay the information. He switched off his flashlight, and moved toward the entrance to the chamber that contained the prisoners.
The lieutenant felt guilty about the loss of the men. No matter what the captain said, it was his job to know where all security men were located and he should have checked before sealing the door. He couldn’t have stopped them from being taken, but if he’d followed that simple precaution the crew would have been aware of their missing status a good twenty minutes earlier. Desperate to save the men, the lieutenant threw aside his normal caution and stepped around the corner without a moments pause. The man behind him shook his head at the lieutenant’s abnormal behavior, but followed him.
Lieutenant Wilcox stepped quietly into the twenty-foot diameter chamber. He could see that this was a cave chamber from which the cult had dug the passageway that he had followed. There were three cult members interrogating the two peacekeepers. The men had been blindfolded, and were hanging from ropes flung over a beam. The cult had built an A-frame stand from which they could hang several victims. The lieutenant approached the three cult members who were beating the captive peacekeepers with three-foot long sticks for refusing to answer their questions. Two of the lieutenant’s men stepped up beside him. At his signal, they rushed the cult members who were intent upon beating the information they wanted out of the two helpless peacekeepers.
One of the cult members sensed something and turned toward the lieutenant. Then the three peacekeepers slammed into the cult members knocking them off their feet.
In seconds, the brief fight was over. Other team members roughly flipped the cultists to their stomachs and tied their hands behind their backs. Lieutenant Wilcox and another team member cut the two peacekeepers down while two other men caught them. They removed their blindfolds and motioned for silence.
The two prisoners had been roughed up when they had been captured, and their interrogators since had beaten them, but they were in good enough shape to walk back out of the tunnel to the entrance. The lieutenant sent two men with them to guard the prisoners until they could be delivered to the ship. He radioed that the peacekeepers had been rescued and were on their way out.
When the men emerged into the light of day, they found the Peacekeeper waiting with Tim and two guards waiting to assist them. Pol’s drone hovered protectively near. The prisoners were taken inside the ship, and locked in a cabin. A guard was posted outside their door. The two injured peacekeepers were taken to the infirmary to be examined by Maggie.
Inside the cavern where they had rescued their men, the lieutenant searched the room thoroughly looking for anything of potential intelligence benefit. But the only thing that he found of possible use was a small laptop computer that seemed to have a dead battery. At least the lieutenant couldn’t get it to activate. The computer was sitting on a small card table with folding legs. A folding chair sat on the stone floor of the cavern chamber beside that table. The laptop was the only item on the table. Even though he could not get it to work, the lieutenant had the laptop sent to the ship. Patricia was a consummate expert with computers. If anyone could retrieve information from the unit, she could.
It took seven minutes for his three strike force members to return. They reported that the prisoners were safely locked away. Maggie and Lacey were seeing to the injuries of the men they’d liberated, and Patricia was charging the laptop. Tim had sent the lieutenant his congratulations on a job well done. The lieutenant appreciated that, but the job wasn’t finished.
Seeing nothing else of interest in the chamber, the lieutenant led his men back to the tunnel. His best point man took the lead this time. The sergeant moved with stealth, and soon they left the manmade section of the cavern system and entered the naturally formed section. They emerged into a large passageway where they could stand erect. The tunnel walls were a mixture of rock and earth. It was about five feet wide and the ceiling was a comfortable seven to eight feet in height. Compared to the slightly claustrophobic passageway that they had just left, the corridor seemed large and spacious.