by Jan Domagala
“We’ll have to check first, sir, you understand,” replied the guard standing to the right of Norsky.
Before he could access the comm channels Norsky struck, slamming the heel of his hand into the throat of the guard to his left then punching the other guard full in the face slamming his head back against the wall. Both guards went down quickly and he opened the door to Stryder’s cell.
“Come on Captain, it seems my loyalties have changed,” Norsky said.
Stryder came at him with surprising speed, his right hand balled into a fist striking him square on the jaw rocking his head backwards with such force he was sent staggering across the corridor to slam into the wall opposite. Norsky was caught completely off guard by the speed of the blow and could do nothing to dodge or block it. His head hit the wall across from Stryder’s cell further adding to the effect of the punch. He slid down to the floor as his eyes rolled up inside their sockets and he was out for the count.
Hardy came around the corner the second she heard the commotion just in time to see Stryder calmly strolling out of his cell. Without turning to look at her he said, “What took you so long?” He knew she was there without the need to look.
“I got caught up in traffic,” she said with a smile beginning to blossom across her full sensuous lips.
He turned to look at her and smiled.
“C’mon, more guards will be coming soon so we need to get the hell outta here. Grab their weapons and let’s go.” He stooped down to retrieve the pistol and assault rifle from the nearest guard while Hardy did the same with the other one.
“Where to now, Kurt?” she asked
“I seem to remember the route we came in by, so all we need do is retrace our steps back to the entrance and the spaceport where we should be able to find our transport off this dump,” Stryder said with complete confidence.
“And what if we meet some opposition en route?” Hardy asked more than a little concerned by the simplicity of his plan.
“Simple, we remove it,” he said as he started to walk off.
“Er, please tell me you’re not planning on us taking on the entire base on our own?” Hardy said catching up with him.
Stryder looked across at her and his smile told her all she needed to know. He was just going to barrel his way through and anyone who got in his way had better watch out.
“Oh shit!” she said. She jacked the slide on the assault rifle to prime the battery clip and was ready to go.
“Have you any idea where we’re going?” she asked as they steadily made their way down the corridor.
“Yes I do, strange but I seem to remember clearly everything from the moment when we arrived,” Stryder answered.
“How do you mean, strange?”
“Well, I wouldn’t normally remember details with this much clarity. I remember every step of the way in here and that’s unusual for me. I’ve normally a good memory but this is like I’ve got double my normal capacity. Normally I’d remember certain details that blend together to give a mental picture that makes the whole, but this is phenomenal! Every single detail is etched into my memory like an engraving, a permanent record of our journey through this base.”
“Well, it should help us find our way out but what good will it be if we meet any resistance?”
“We’ll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it.”
“That could be sooner than you think,” Hardy said as they neared the end of the corridor.
Stryder put his hand up to shoulder height, his fist clenched in a Marine signal to stop the advance. He was using hand signals, which told Hardy they must be quiet so as not to alert the enemy. They both stopped in their tracks and Stryder’s brow knitted as he concentrated. He was listening for something; Hardy realised he was listening for any sounds around the corner out of sight.
Stryder held up two fingers indicating that there were two people approaching from the direction they were headed.
Hardy brought up her assault rifle ready to fire and Stryder did likewise.
NORSKY REGAINED CONSCIOUSNESS, saw the two guards he’d taken care of and knew he was in deep trouble. Stryder had got the better of him and was on the loose in the base somewhere. There were two courses of action he could take; the first was to raise the alarm and take his chances with General Solon and the subsequent consequences and the second was to find Stryder himself and carry out the termination order. In that way he might negate the consequences or at least lessen them.
Slowly he got to his feet, a little unsteady with the after effects of the blow from Stryder. Norsky was still trying to decide what to do when a third choice came to him. He could raise the alarm and still go after Stryder himself. With the alarm raised, the base would be closed off and it would make chasing him down a little easier.
With that choice he covered all the bases and kept his ass covered too, the best he could under the circumstances. Accessing his NI he called the base security centre and raised the alarm.
Within seconds the audible alarm was screeching throughout the integral speakers situated throughout the base.
WHEN THE ALARM WENT off Stryder and Hardy looked at each other, an unspoken thought passing between them. They knew the shit had just hit the fan and an almost impossible task had just been made even harder.
Stryder went around the corner fast. There were two guards in front of him. They had stopped as they received instructions on the alarm status over their NIs. Stryder fired his assault rifle on burst fire sending several shots of pulsed plasma into the two unsuspecting soldiers. The energy blasts stitched across the two soldiers chests cutting them open as they were sent flying backwards in a mist of blood. They were dead before they hit the floor.
Hardy was just a step or two behind Stryder unable to match his speed. It was over by the time she reached his side.
“Wow! You don’t take prisoners do you?” she said as she viewed the aftermath of his little action.
“Not got the time here. Things have just got worse,” he replied, concentration knitting his brow as he listened, trying to pick out sounds beneath the strident alarm.
“We’ve got company coming?” Hardy looked both ways down the corridor to see what he meant; when she saw no one she looked at him quizzically.
“Some soldiers are coming at us from both directions. I can’t make out how many, the alarm’s messing with my hearing but I know they’ll be here in less than a minute,” he said when he saw her expression.
“You can hear that, above this noise?” she said incredulously.
“Yes, don’t ask me how but my hearing, along with my other senses, was boosted with the original test and somehow they’ve gone off the chart since being here. Anyway haven’t got time to ponder that now, we have to move.”
“Where do you suggest if they’re coming at us from both sides?” she asked urgently.
“We need a map of this base,” he said stating the obvious.
“What if we try to access the main computer?” Hardy suggested. Stryder thought about it for a second then said, “Might work, but we’d have to distract them from searching for us, give them something else to think about for a while.”
“What have you got in mind?” Hardy asked hoping he would come up with a plan soon because she had nothing to offer. All her training meant for nothing at that moment, her mind was a blank as panic was beginning to grow inside her.
“First things first,” he said as he strode towards the edge of the corridor. He leaned back against the wall at the edge of the corridor, his assault rifle held high across his chest, and she could tell by the expression of intense concentration on his face that he was listening to the sounds of the approaching soldiers. Suddenly, he strode around the corner, his assault rifle aimed down the corridor and he fired a continuous stream of pulsed plasma bolts which stitched across the soldiers’ chests sending them flying backwards in a mist of expelled blood. If they had been wearing body armour they would have survived the attack, as it was, the
y only wore regulation uniforms, which were no protection against the high intensity bolts.
Stryder walked down to them to check their vitals and to search for something.
“What’re you looking for?” Hardy asked as she followed him down towards them.
“The security codes for their combat comm channels. If we can access them, we can cause all sorts of mayhem until they realise their system has been compromised,” he replied from his squat position as he checked the fallen soldiers.
Standing to his full height he said, “Nothing, damn!”
“Have you tried accessing the comm channels anyway?” Hardy asked what seemed to her an obvious question. He looked at her as if she had lost a cog, then a thought occurred to him.
“Never thought of that,” he said and concentrating he accessed his NI searching through the comm channels available to him for one that he could use. All this information was downloaded directly to the brain so that it seemed like a thought.
“Any luck?” she asked and with a wave of his hand he quietened her. He probed the channels for one particular channel that would give him the results he required. They were slightly different to those used by the Confederation, similar in most ways but different enough so that any interloper or hacker would be spotted by the security protocols and it was these protocols that he was desperately trying to avoid. The particular channel he was searching for would give him access to all the security personnel on the base and he could direct them to bogus locations and, most importantly, away from them.
A smile suddenly crossed his face, followed by deep lines of concentration across his brow as he connected to the channel he had been searching for.
“All personnel report to the main lab area immediately!” he ordered. Then turning to Hardy with a broad grin on his face said, “Done!” Beads of sweat spotted his forehead, a testament to the fierce concentration and mental effort required to fulfil the task just completed.
“Are you sure?” she asked a little dubiously.
“I’m sure. I’m monitoring the channel so if anyone on the base uses it, I’ll know, just like using our own combat channels when a unit is in action and the members of that unit are linked. I’m now linked to their combat channel with one notable exception,” he explained.
“Which is?”
“They don’t know I’m logged in.”
“How is that possible? I thought it was set up so each member of the unit knew where the others were for logistic reasons?”
“Not sure how I’m doing it, I just know that I’m shielding my presence from the others. Don’t knock it; if it works it can only be good for us.”
“That means you have much greater control over your NI than they realise, you must be able to access parts of your brain that were never deemed possible before,” she observed.
“You could be right; it’s a fact that we only use ten per cent of our brain’s capacity so perhaps with the enhancements I can now reach some of that hidden potential. Anyway that debate can wait until we’re outta here. Let’s concentrate on getting to the spaceport and off this planet. Once we’ve done that we still have to navigate our way through Alliance space.”
“Yep; we’ve got to get to the border so Col Sec can come and get us,” she said, which brought a surprised look from him.
“Are you serious? You know the rules; if we get captured we are forgotten. There will be no rescue attempt. They’ll be changing all the security protocols we know in case they sweat them out of us. If they even thought about coming after us where would they start to look? We’re deep in enemy space and any encroachment would cause an interstellar incident that would lead to all out war. Col Sec is not about to put all those lives on the line for two Marines. We know the score, you and me; we are on our own. As much as I hate to admit it, it’s up to us.”
Hardy was taken aback slightly, she had thought about what he’d said, knew the truth of it but had kept some hope alive that if they managed to escape from the base, that there was a chance they could be rescued. It was that glimmer of hope that had kept her going. Now though, that hope had been shattered by his harsh words, words that crushed every last vestige of hope remaining in her and she visibly collapsed from the inside.
Stryder saw it and reached for her placing a hand on her shoulder softly saying, “We’re not dead yet though, I didn’t say we won’t get out of this, I just said we can’t rely on Col Sec to come for us.”
With tears brimming in her eyes she choked back the panic and fear and said “But what can we do?”
“We get the hell off this planet and then find our way home, or at the very least back to Confederation space, the rest will take care of itself.”
She nodded her head slowly as the panic receded, warded off by his confident words.
“Okay,” she said gathering herself again, summoning up reserves of courage even she didn’t know she had. Once more, standing tall and proud, she was ready to continue the fight.
“Right, let’s go,” he said leading her on.
22
“What the hell is going on?” shouted General Solon as he heard the alarm’s shrill signal echo throughout the base. Accessing the comm channel through his NI he contacted the Security station. “Report,” he said simply.
“We’re investigating the cause as we speak, sir. Something has happened at the main lab, all personnel have been ordered there,” replied the officer in command.
“Who issued the order?” Solon wanted to know.
The silence told him more than words ever could.
“We’re investigating that also, sir. As yet I can find no officer who issued that order, I don’t understand it,” came the reply.
“I think I know,” Solon said.
“Who sir?” asked the officer.
“Never mind that now, just get a team of your best men over to Stryder’s cell and secure it immediately, is that clear?” Solon ordered curtly. The tone of his voice told the officer not to argue or question, simply to comply.
“Yes, sir, immediately,” he replied as the call was disconnected.
“Damn!” Solon said angrily as he slammed his fist down onto his desk. He grabbed his jacket and left the office, he’d take charge of this personally but first he had to see what the commotion was down at the main lab. In the pit of his stomach he knew what had happened but he just needed to confirm it, then put in place actions to rectify it.
The lab would be the place to start.
He strode out of his office and what he saw sent a chill through him. There were soldiers milling around in disorder, rushing here and there seemingly following orders but from whom there was no way of knowing.
Anger rose within him like a volcano getting ready to erupt and he surged forward through the Marines. When they saw who was barrelling through them they soon made room for him to pass unhindered.
When he reached the lab he saw guards surrounding the exits preventing anyone from breaking the hastily erected cordon. Pushing his way through he entered the lab.
“What’s the meaning of this?” he barked angrily indicating all the soldiers.
“An alarm went off; I thought you sent them here,” replied the lab tech in charge.
“No, I didn’t send them here, but someone did. Whoever sent them must have access to the private channels through their NI.”
“Who could do that, surely not one of your own men?” replied the tech.
“Whoever did is in big trouble. The important thing now is are the test subjects ready to be initialised?”
“I’ve done all I can with them, we have to wait now to see if the serum actually works. From the initial scans, their autonomic responses have increased off the charts. They should have increased strength, agility and reflexes. As for anything else it’s too early to say, I can’t guarantee that anything else will generate within them so the results you’re seeking may not be forthcoming.”
“There’s one sure way of finding out,” Solon said turning to
the five soldiers who had been given the serum. He stood in front of the leader, Captain Anders, and said, “Captain your first task is to bring me the head of Captain Stryder. I do believe he may have escaped, the how isn’t important at this time, just bring me his head. I want him dead, is that clear?”
“Perfectly, sir! Is this mission for me alone, sir, or do I take the rest of the team?” Anders asked.
“This is a team mission which you will command. Now go, and report back to me directly,” Solon said stepping aside while the team walked briskly out of the lab.
“Now we shall see if all this has been worth the effort,” he said. Then, looking at the tech added, “Prepare another batch of serum, I want it ready for mass production within the hour.” He then left the lab to return to his office.
HAWK HAD CALLED A SECURE clean up unit to take the body away and remove any evidence of the shooting. He then escorted Watkiss back to HQ. Once he was sure she was secure he went to the morgue to view the body of Temic.
Doctor Marcus Randolph was the attending ME, a small man in his fifties with thinning grey hair and shrewd eyes. He was just about to start the preliminary exam before disposing of the body. A veteran of twenty years he had seen death in all its guises so nothing seemed to faze him anymore.
As Hawk entered his domain he looked up from the slab where Temic was laid out beneath a cotton sheet, his slate grey eyes taking in the soldier as he entered purposefully.
“Come to view your handiwork I take it,” he said returning to the job at hand.
“On the contrary, Doc, I’m here to see if we can salvage anything from this,” Hawk replied shrugging off the jibe.
“Such as?” Randolph asked not bothering to look up. He was little concerned with the matters of the agents who sent a stream of work his way; he just had to deal with the after effects of it.
“Is there any chance we can save his NI? I need to salvage the call logs and anything else we can glean from it,” Hawk replied.