by Ricky Sides
The passageway sloped downward at a gentle grade and had a left curve thirty feet from where they had emerged. The point man started down the passage but he stopped and froze in place, as two Rottweilers rounded the curve and stopped to stare at the team. The dogs bared their teeth in a menacing manner and the sergeant said, “Not again with the dogs.”
The lieutenant stepped up beside the sergeant and together the two men advanced. They would fire if they had to do so, but lieutenant Wilcox was attempting to get to the next group of cultists without alerting them to his team’s presence. Their pistols were equipped with silencers, but unfortunately, a wounded dog was apt to make a lot of noise. He was hoping to be able to capture the mysterious Clarissa, or one of the other elders. Those people would be able to provide some much-needed information. If they were going to stop the planned attacks on children, then they had to learn the locations of the other nests, and the names of the other elders.
Unexpectedly, the dogs turned and ran quietly back the way that they’d come. The lieutenant and sergeant looked at each other and shrugged. A moment later, the sergeant moved out. When he approached the corner he made his way to the far side of the curved passageway in an attempt to put as much distance between himself and the dogs as possible, just in case they were waiting. Breathing a sigh of relief, the sergeant proceeded down the empty passageway.
***
Jim, Pete, and seven men entered the other entrance to the cavern that Namid had discovered. Jim took the lead. He found himself in a rock passageway about thirty inches wide and five feet tall. That passageway was difficult to traverse at first but soon it widened a bit and the ceiling rose to about six feet tall. He still had to crouch a bit, but it was much more comfortable.
Almost immediately, he came to a split in the passageway. One fork went to the right on a steep downward angle. The other branch went to the left and angled slightly upward. Jim paused at the junction and whispered to Pete, “I’ll go down the right passage and see where it leads.”
Pete nodded and motioned for the seven men behind him kneel down and rest while they could. He pointed to his eyes and the men knew he meant they were to keep their eyes open and remain alert for anyone approaching. Pointing to the last man he again pointed to his eyes and then back down the passageway that they had already traversed. That man understood that he was to watch their backtrail. He shifted his position slightly, the better to see back down the tunnel.
Pete crouched on his haunches. His eyes peered into the deepening shadows down the passageway to the right. He killed his light and motioned for the man directly behind him to do the same. The rest understood from their last experience that Pete didn’t want all of their lights extinguished. Just those near the point man so that he could permit his eyes to adjust to the darkness and attempt to see any approaching danger.
Jim moved cautiously down the tunnel. It narrowed noticeably and the ceiling lowered. Soon he came to a place in which he had to crawl to proceed. A few moments later, he came to a dead end when the tunnel floor dropped three feet into a dark hole. Aiming his flashlight into the hole, Jim stared down at the floor. There were bits of straw and a few bones in the bottom. Something used the recessed hole as a home. He assumed that one of the cult member’s dogs slept there and was glad that Pete and the others were waiting behind him. He’d be in a bad way if the dog came up behind him at that moment. Crawling backwards was difficult, but that was what he had to do to extricate himself from the passageway. When he could do so, he maneuvered his body around and quickly made it back to Pete. Jim whispered as he explained what he found and he had warned the men to watch for a dog.
Pete took point this time. Leading the men down the left passageway, he soon saw a light coming from a chamber on the left. He killed his own flashlight and motioned for the man behind him to do the same.
Chapter 8
Maggie entered the control room and approached Tim. “You wanted to know the condition of the men,” she said. “Both have broken ribs suffered during their interrogation. One lost a tooth in the fight when he was captured and the other has an eye swollen almost completely shut, but both will live. They’ll be sore from the beating for days. If they are really needed, I could release them, but frankly I’d rather they rest in bed at least a day. I’m not comfortable with those broken ribs. I’m afraid they really need x-rays to determine if they are a more serious health threat than I have the ability to confirm without the test or further observation.”
“Then bed rest it is, Maggie,” Tim reassured her. “They’ve been through enough for today.”
“Thank you for understanding my position, but you should know that they are both mad as hell. They warned me that they intended to go over my head, and try to get returned to duty,” Maggie stated.
“Maggie, on this ship there is no one over your head when it comes to your medical opinions,” Tim said.
“Well the men aren’t regular crewmembers, so they don’t understand that, Tim,” Maggie responded.
Nodding he said, “Patricia, put me through to the infirmary please.” When his wife smiled and nodded Tim picked up the microphone and said, “Gentlemen, this is Tim Wilison speaking. I’m glad to hear that you should make a full recovery. The Doctor has informed me that your condition is such that permitting you to return to duty, without x-rays, or further observations, could endanger your lives. Therefore, you are relieved of duty until the doctor has released you. Our strike force teams risked their lives to get you out of that pit in one piece. Let’s not waste their efforts by foolishly risking your lives without just cause at this point. Get well soon men,” he said and then motioned for Patricia to kill the connection.
“Was that satisfactory, Doctor?” he asked.
“Yes, and thank you for the support,” Maggie said smiling.
“Maggie, you always have my support. The only times I’ve ever gone against you were when you wanted to take what I considered unnecessary risks,” he explained.
Frowning Maggie said, “Those times you’re referencing, I was just trying to do my job, Tim.”
“Isn’t that precisely what the men I just addressed wanted to do, Doctor?” Tim asked grinning.
Slowly a smile began to form on Maggie’s face. “You know they do say doctors make the worst patients,” Maggie stated and turned to leave.
“I’m glad you see the point, Maggie,” Tim said as she left. Her lighthearted laughter was her only reply, leaving Tim to wonder if she really got the point or was just conceding this minor skirmish. Looking to his wife, he saw her smiling and knew she probably believed the latter.
***
The sergeant advanced beyond the turn, keeping a sharp eye out for the dogs further down the corridor. Up ahead he saw light in the right wall of the passageway. He killed his flashlight and advanced cautiously. Behind him, Lieutenant Wilcox killed his light as well. He had just turned off his light when a cultist stepped from the opening in the right wall. The man bared his teeth and hissed when he saw the strike team down the passageway. Running toward the team with his fangs bared and making a hissing sound he launched his body at the sergeant who stepped to the right and clubbed the side of the man’s head with the butt of his rifle. The man collapsed in a heap and soon he was bound hand and foot. The men gagged him as well and then together the team moved toward the room from which the man had emerged.
Inside this room, they found five women who cringed in fear as the peacekeepers entered. They made no move to attack and the team moved toward them to take them prisoner. Then one of the women smiled and stepped aside. Two Rottweilers ran toward the strike force team, leaping into the air as they attacked. The dogs were shot down in the fusillade of gunfire that was the response of the peacekeepers to the attack. Bullets that passed through the bodies of the dogs hit two of the women and they fell to the ground.
Two of the remaining women produced pistols and fired at the strike team members who were forced to return fire. Those two women were hit n
umerous times each before they dropped their weapons and fell to the ground.
Further down the cavern, they heard gunshots and that seemed to infuriate the remaining cultist. She bared her fangs and hissed at the men. Extending her fingers as if they were weapons she charged them screaming in fury as she ran. Leaping into the air, she flung her body toward the lieutenant who dropped his pistol and prepared to defend himself against the unarmed woman. She slammed into his body hard, and knocked him off his feet.
The lieutenant landed flat on his back. The woman ended up sitting on his stomach and clawed at his neck with her fingers. She bared her fangs hissing in his face and then she darted her mouth toward the right side of his neck. He felt her trying to bite him and then sucking at his neck as if feeding. Reaching up with his right hand, he wrapped his fist in her long dark hair and pulled her head back. He was shocked to see blood on her mouth and chin.
Two of the lieutenant’s men grabbed the woman under her arms and dragged her off their leader. She was kicking, screaming, and hissing in a rage. “Clarissa will kill you! Clarissa will kill you all!" she ranted as she fought the men.”
“Don’t let her get away and don’t kill her!” Ordered the lieutenant who was trying to get up but the medic wouldn’t let him. He saw one of the men put a pistol to her forehead and she stopped resisting. His men secured her hands and feet and gagged her to prevent her from biting anyone else.
“Hold still, Lieutenant!” the medic said with an air of urgency in his voice. “Stop moving right now damn it,” the man said. The lieutenant stopped moving and stared at the medic in surprise. In all the time he’d known the man, this was the first time he’d ever heard him curse. “Listen to me, Lieutenant,” the man said as he worked feverishly on the right side of the lieutenant’s neck. “You need to slow down your heartbeat and respiration. Just calm down, sir, or I’ll have to put you under.”
“What the hell is wrong, Doc?” one of the men asked.
“Check the woman’s fingernails. She cut the lieutenant’s neck. Cut it bad too. I’m trying to see if she cut the jugular. Lieutenant, I said don’t move damn it!”
“You’re right, Doc! This woman has some kind of curved razors attached to her index fingers!” one of the men said and he took his knife and cut off the long fingernails disarming her of those deadly weapons.
“Thank god, sir, she missed the jugular but we have to get you to the ship,” the medic said in obvious relief.
“No,” stated the lieutenant with an air of finality.
The medic ignored the lieutenant and turned to two of the team members. “You and you, grab that field cot by the wall. He was referring to an old-fashioned folding field cot. We’ll improvise a stretcher.” Turning to the lieutenant who was trying to get up the medic said, “Sir, if you continue to move about you are going to rupture the vein that woman nicked. If that happens out here in the field, you are a dead man. Nothing I can do will save you. Do you understand me, sir?”
“I feel fine,” the lieutenant protested but he did notice that he was beginning to feel weak.
The two men threw off the bedding and quickly brought the cot to the lieutenant’s side. The men gathered around and as gently as they could they lifted the lieutenant and placed him on the cot. The medic picked up the lieutenant’s pistol and gave it to him, knowing the man would hate being defenseless until he was back aboard the ship. The lieutenant smiled in gratitude at the gesture.
“One of you alert Maggie. Tell her that I think the lieutenant’s transverse cervical artery has been nicked. I’m not sure that’s the right artery, hell I can barely see in here, but definitely one was nicked. Tell her I am treating the wound and he will be transported back to the ship ASAP,” the medic ordered.
The lieutenant opened his mouth to protest but the sergeant asked, “Lieutenant, if it were one of us what would you do?” Shaking his head the sergeant said, “Your injury is too serious to carry on with the mission. You’d order any one of us out of the field. Leave it to us.”
The lieutenant sighed and said, “You’re in charge. That woman knows Clarissa. She is vital from an intelligence standpoint. Search her for weapons and get her back to the ship. The rest of you can carry on with the mission. Let the snipers carry me. One of you escort the woman out. Another escort the male prisoner. Cut their legs free but tie a rope to their wrists to pull them back if they try to run.” Then he asked, “The women?”
“All four are dead, sir,” replied the sergeant.
“Doc, Maggie says to immobilize the lieutenant and get him back to the ship. He is to keep his pulse down as much as possible. She asked if you drugged him to slow his heart rate.”
“Tell her I said no,” the medic said. Turning to the men assigned to carry the lieutenant to the ship he said, “He’s ready guys. Get him to Maggie.”
***
Pete was just feet from the entrance to the chamber when the Doberman ran out and turned the corner. The animal stopped for a moment and then began to walk slowly toward Pete. Somewhere within the cavern system, they heard the sound of gunfire erupt. Pete shot the dog in the head and quickly rushed the entrance. Rounding the corner, he darted inside and saw two men and five women facing another exit to that chamber. They were listening as the gunfire ceased from further down the labyrinth. Beside Pete, the men fanned out to cover the enemy.
“Don’t even think about moving,” Pete warned and one of the cultists spun around trying to aim a pistol at the peacekeepers. Pete fired his pistol and knocked the man backwards. He fell hard and did not move.
“The rest of you drop your weapons and put your hands over your heads,” Pete said. Two Rottweilers ran around from the other side of the women. The peacekeepers opened fire as the heavy dogs jumped toward them. Jim’s booted foot caught one of the animals in the side, and deflected the dead dog that had been killed as it leapt into the air. The male cultist and four of the females pulled either guns, or knives and attacked the peacekeepers. Gunfire erupted once more in the room as the peacekeepers opened fire to defend themselves.
“Sir, one of the women got away and ran through the exit,” one of the peacekeepers informed Jim.
“We’ll catch up with her. She’s trapped in here between us and Lieutenant Wilcox’s group,” Jim stated. Check these people for papers, and look about the room for anything of intelligence value.” He ordered.
There was a desk in the room. Someone had apparently brought it into the cavern, and assembled the desk in place. On top of the desk sat a laptop computer, and a small stack of papers. The desk drawer was locked, but one of the men pried it open thus destroying the lock and a section of the wooden frame in the process. The drawer contained some loose papers and a small spiral bound notebook with a black cover. All of these items were taken. The room also contained several small beds and footlockers. They would have to return for a more thorough search. It was time to push deeper into the labyrinth.
***
The lieutenant’s men pushed deeper into the cavern system. They paused when they heard the sound of someone running toward them from around the next bend in the passageway. The sergeant was once more in the lead. He switched off his light, as did the man behind him. The sergeant inched his body along the corridor wall, as the sound of the running footsteps grew louder. A figure ran around the corner and the sergeant launched his body at the shape. He tackled the runner landing on top of the madly struggling form.
Flashlights flicked on and illuminated the sergeant and the woman who was struggling beneath him. She was trying to get her fingers past his uniform collar to reach the side of his neck. Men grabbed her wrists and pulled them away from the sergeant who had his hands full holding the woman’s head down to keep her away from his throat. She was screaming and hissing in fury as she snapped at him.
“Sergeant, this one has those razors too,” one of the men said. He pulled his fighting knife and neatly trimmed the index fingernails slicing away those deadly blades. The woman screamed
in fury and tried to turn her head to bite the man’s leg.
The sergeant wanted to get up but the woman was thrashing about so much he was forced to remain on top of her until his men could grasp hold of her limbs to control her. When they had a firm grasp, he leapt up, and even with the precautions he had taken the woman tried her best to knee him in the groin. He just barely managed to escape that indignity.
The men turned her over on her stomach and tied her hands behind her back. They gagged her and then they tied a length of rope to her ankles thus hobbling her feet so that she could walk but she could not run. Next, she was searched for weapons and one of the men found a knife sheath strapped to her leg beneath her skirt. She glared at him as he lifted her skirt to remove the sheath and weapon. “Don’t worry lady. I assure you that I have no sexual desire for the likes of you,” he said in contempt. He added, “All I want is to see you hang for what you did to the peacekeepers on the interstate.”
For the first time, the woman’s eyes betrayed fear.
They moved out again. One of the men took charge of the prisoner. The rest of the men moved deeper into the labyrinth. Minutes later, they saw a light approaching their position. A man stepped into view and stopped. He shouted a greeting and pointed his flashlight at his own face. It was Pete. “I see you guys caught our loose rabbit,” Pete said referring to the woman, who glared in fury as he illuminated her face with his flashlight.
Turning serious, Pete asked, “Where’s the lieutenant, and the rest of your men?”