by Don Viecelli
*****
Inspector Madison saw two different colored landing zones on opposite sides of the space lab. He radioed Captain Parrish and told him his plan. As soon as they received permission to land, Leroy would land his shuttlecraft on the Red platform and Captain Parrish would land his crew on the Yellow platform. They would stay in constant communication with their earphones on. He was ready to proceed.
Inspector Madison sent a verbal command to the control tower. He knew the people in the tower could see them. “This is Inspector Leroy Madison of the Federal Drug Bureau. I have a search warrant to inspect your premises. I am requesting permission to land.” A brief silence followed. They waited tensely.
“This is the control tower. What is the reason for the search warrant?” a male voice answered. Leroy knew he was stalling for time.
“I have a warrant to inspect for illegal drug production. Please open the hangar doors on both sides of your facility.” Leroy didn’t mention Ingrid. Another moment of silence passed.
“Permission granted.” The tone was resigned. The lights imbedded in the landing zone platforms turned green. The two police shuttles moved in for landing. The large hangar doors on both sides started to open.
“Everyone prepare for boarding,” Leroy shouted into his microphone. Jack checked his weapon again. The space marshals carried laser guided pulse rifles and side arms. They could kill or stun targets depending on the setting and distance. Jack carried his trusted semi-auto with live bullets. It may be old fashioned, but the noise alone would scare people. He was ready.
“How many people do you think are on the lab?” Jack asked.
“A space lab this size could have thirty to forty people on board, Jack. Most will be lab workers. Five or ten will be armed. We should be able to handle it.”
Leroy’s shuttle approached the landing zone and slowly set down on the pad. The landing gear locked. The shuttle taxied into the hangar and parked. Captain Parrish acknowledged landing on the other side. Jack noticed three other shuttlecrafts parked in the hangar. Ivan’s shuttlecraft was one of them.
Inspector Madison shut down the engines. He jumped out of his seat and turned to his team. “All right, men, listen up. We go in pairs, just like the drill. Cover each other’s back. I want two of you to stay here and guard the shuttle. Put a locator beacon on each of those parked shuttlecrafts for tracking purposes. Everyone on board this lab must return to Mars for questioning, so check them thoroughly for weapons before placing them on one of the shuttlecrafts. Any questions?”
They all grunted acknowledgement. They were experienced marshals and had been through this type of situation dozens of times before. They were ready for action. The green light came on in the hangar. Air pressure was equalized. Leroy checked in with Captain Parrish. His crew was inside the hanger and ready to move also.
Leroy led the way. “Stay with me, Jack. You can identify Ivan and the others.”
Jack followed Leroy out of the shuttle to the main entrance to the lab. The door opened. No one greeted them, which was hardly surprising. There was a long corridor, well lit, leading into the interior of the space lab. At the first intersection, Leroy instructed his men to go right. Leroy and Jack went straight. They were looking for the way to the control tower, which would also contain the communication room. Up ahead they saw the sign pointing upstairs to the control room. They climbed the stairs and walked cautiously to the door with weapons drawn. Leroy moved to one side of the door with Jack on the other side. Leroy knocked loudly and said, “Space marshals! Open the door. We want to talk to you.” No answer.
Leroy tried the latch. It was unlocked. The door slid open. Leroy took a quick peak into the room and several laser blasts hit the door all around him. Leroy fired back into the room. Leroy cried out a warning over his mike, “We’re taking laser fire in the control room! Proceed with caution! Acknowledge!” Other team members returned acknowledgement. Whoever was on this lab was hostile.
“Did you see who’s firing?” Leroy yelled to Jack.
“I saw two men on the left behind the monitors.”
Leroy lowered his voice and told Jack to cover him while he entered the room to the right. Jack nodded and started shooting his weapon at the two men behind the monitors. The sound of real bullets made them hesitate. When they ducked behind the console to avoid the fire, Jack signaled Leroy to make his move. Leroy dived into the room and rolled to the first set of desks firing his laser gun in the general direction of the two men. He made it safely. The two men saw Leroy enter and started firing in his direction. Leroy returned fire and Jack saw his opportunity to follow Leroy. He scrambled and rolled behind the desk with Leroy and sat on the floor to reload his gun.
“I’m getting too old for this kind of thing,” Jack said breathlessly, his heart pounding in his chest.
Leroy just grinned. He was actually enjoying this. “Keep firing. I’m going to circle around.”
Just as Jack started firing, the two men decided to make a hasty retreat out a back doorway. In seconds they were gone. Puzzled, they stood up and looked around. Jack noticed a large red light blinking on several of the monitors. He went over to look at it. It was a warning light. He turned up the volume control. “Warning!Warning! Twenty minutes to self-destruct! Please evacuate the station immediately!”It was a countdown. The alarm was sounding throughout the space lab. They could hear it now in the corridors outside the control room.
“Shit!” Leroy swore over his headset. “The fools activated the self destruct command. We have less than twenty minutes to find what we need and clear out of here. Does everyone copy?” Acknowledgements all around came back. Leroy called for one of his men to return to the control room.
“Leroy, I have to find Ingrid. I’ll meet you back at the police shuttle.” Jack didn’t wait for an answer. He bolted out the door and headed down to the main corridor. He knew Ingrid was here somewhere. He would look in every compartment until he found her. He prayed he would have enough time.
Leroy understood, but he couldn’t follow just yet. He was too busy giving instructions to his men, telling one to try and stop the countdown sequence, telling the others to look for occupants, arrest them, get them to the shuttlecrafts, and telling everyone to collect what evidence they could before the lab blew up.
Leroy barked commands over his microphone. “Come on men, move! You know what you have to do. Mark the time. Everyone return to the shuttles in fifteen minutes.”
Pandemonium was occurring inside the space lab. People were running for the shuttle hangars in a panic. Leroy had seen this before. Drug dealers rigged their labs with explosives in case of discovery. They would try to escape during the panic and blow up any incriminating evidence, and hopefully, any law enforcement people caught in the confusion. The dealers rarely cared about the workers in the drug labs. Every person was on his or her own. Leroy yelled out final orders to his men and ran in search of Jack.
Chapter 28
Jack heard the alarm warning over the loud speakers in the corridor every sixty seconds. Red emergency lights were flashing and sounds of people yelling and running in panic could be heard up ahead. He found another compartment and opened the door. No one was there. He hadn’t found the main dining area or any offices yet. He was in the sleeping quarters. Jack kept moving.
Occasionally, Leroy checked in over the headset to see how Jack was doing and where he was located. Jack gave his position as best he could. He was making his way toward the center of the lab. Ivan’s office or sleeping quarters had to be somewhere nearby. On the other hand, Ivan or Ingrid could be anywhere. They could be in the production lab, which was probably located below this deck. They could be trying to escape. Jack was beginning to worry that he would not find Ingrid in time.
The alarm warning sounded again. “Warning! Warning! Fifteen minutes to self-destruct. Please evacuate the station immediately!”
Jack heard people running towards him. This corridor led to the shuttlecraft hangars. H
e ducked into one of the sleeping quarters as several people rushed by. He kept his gun at his side. None of the people were armed. They must be workers. They didn’t notice him. Jack continued up the corridor. He found the main dining area and entered the room. Several chairs were lying on their backs as people had rushed to the exits. Trays of food were still sitting on the tables. The serving counters were empty. Jack turned to leave the room. He saw an armed man appear in the doorway. He looked familiar. It was Wolfgang. Sudden recognition appeared in Wolfgang’s eyes as he aimed his laser gun at Jack and fired two quick blasts.
Jack jumped behind a counter as Wolfgang fired. The laser blasts just missed Jack’s back. Jack returned fire, the bullets smashing into the metal door beside Wolfgang. Wolfgang crouched and fired again. Then he dived behind a table.
Throw down your gun, Wolfgang! You can’t escape.” Jack wanted to take Wolfgang alive, if possible, to testify against Ivan, but Jack knew this man would not give up without a fight.
“I’ll take my chances!” Wolfgang fired two more blasts at Jack and coolly studied his options. He decided to flush Jack out for the kill. Wolfgang rushed the counter from the other side, at the same time firing his weapon.
Jack saw Wolfgang’s reflection in the glass panel hanging above the serving counter. He didn’t hesitate. As soon as Wolfgang made his move, Jack rolled away from the counter and took aim.
Wolfgang saw Jack rolling on the floor and fired. A laser pulse just missed Jack’s head. Wolfgang was approximately twenty feet away. Jack fired, hitting Wolfgang once in the chest. He cried out, a stunned look on his face. Wolfgang dropped his weapon and fell to the floor. He let out a gasp and then his whole body went limp. Jack approached cautiously and kicked the gun away. He quickly checked Wolfgang’s pulse and knew it was a fatal shot. He checked for Wolfgang’s ID and found three drug vials in his money belt. Jack put everything in his pocket. Then he heard Leroy’s voice. “Jack, I heard shots. What happened?”
“I just shot Wolfgang. He’s dead.” He would have to leave the body behind. Jack hurriedly moved on to find Ingrid.
Meanwhile, the space marshals had their hands full. Captain Parrish and his men worked their way down to the drug lab. Their job was to check and secure the lower deck. They encountered two gunmen. After a brief fire fight, one gunman was killed and the other wounded and captured. Captain Parrish found the drug lab and arrested several people trying to escape. One man said his name was Doctor Tanaka. Captain Parrish told the doctor to collect samples of whatever drugs they were producing and put them in a bag while Captain Parrish’s men collected all the computer memcards and records they could find. The prisoners were escorted back to the second hangar where another shuttlecraft was parked beside the marshal’s. The rest of Captain Parrish’s men worked their way to the upper deck and linked up with Leroy. They were checking as many rooms as they could as they made a clean sweep of the space lab.
“Warning! Ten minutes to self-destruct!”
Leroy’s men had been just as busy. They encountered four more gunmen, killing two and capturing two. One of Leroy’s men had been wounded. To Leroy, the engagement looked like a delaying tactic. The gunmen had not tried to fight their way to the hangars with the unarmed people who were desperately trying to get off the space lab. So far, Leroy counted at least thirty-one people who were arrested and placed under guard on the six shuttlecrafts parked in the two hangars. Each shuttlecraft could hold eight to ten people. Counting his men, the total passengers stood at forty-three. Leroy wasn’t sure how many more persons were still on the space lab. It would be close.
“Warning! Nine minutes to self-destruct!”
Time was running out. Try as he could, Leroy’s computer expert could not stop the countdown. Once started, it would only end in destruction, unless one knew the stop code. None of the captured gunmen or any of the others under arrest knew the code. It was hopeless. Leroy put two men in charge of each departing shuttlecraft and told them to leave for Mars immediately. Leroy and two men went in search of Jack. So far, Ingrid, Ivan and possibly others were still at large. Obviously, they had to get off the lab, and if they were not planning to use the shuttlecrafts in the hangars, then they must have another means of escape. Leroy had less than nine minutes to find them or leave. He called Jack on his headset. “Where are you, Jack?”
“I’m near the center deck. I see a sign pointing to ‘Manager Offices’. I’m going to check it out. Any sign of Ingrid or Ivan?”
“No. They didn’t come this way, Jack. I’m coming with some men. I’ll be there in a two minutes. Be careful.”
“Warning! Eight minutes to self-destruct!”
Jack proceeded carefully down the corridor. He approached the first office. He opened the door. No one was there. He stepped inside. He didn’t see any signs of Ingrid or Ivan. He stepped back into the corridor and walked to the second office. He opened the door. He saw Ingrid standing in a corner. She turned to face him. There was a look of surprise, then fear. She tried to warn him, “Jack, look out!” He reacted a second too late. Ivan was on the other side of the room. He saw Jack and fired his laser gun. Jack tried to jump out of the way and fire back. The pulse grazed Jack’s right arm, cutting through the skin. His gun fell to the floor. Jack grabbed his arm in pain.
Ivan walked up to Jack with a broad smirk on his face. He motioned for Jack to step inside the room. “Why, if it isn’t Detective Helms. You never give up, do you?”
“It’s over, Ivan. The marshals have this place under control. Give yourself up.”
“Not a chance. I’d say it’s all over for you.”
“Ivan, don’t hurt him!” Ingrid pleaded.
Ivan looked at Ingrid and smiled. “I’m sorry, but you see, I don’t have a choice.” He turned to Jack. “I told you not to follow us. Now I’m going to end this annoying little game of ours.” Ivan pointed his gun at Jack, his finger on the trigger.
Jack braced for what was coming. He knew what Ivan was going to do. There was nowhere to run. He looked at Ingrid. She was holding a gun.
“Drop the gun, Ivan, or I’ll shoot!”
Ivan hesitated. He looked at Ingrid and saw the gun. His smile vanished. “My, my. It looks like I underestimated you, Ingrid. Don’t do anything foolish. I’m willing to make a deal. What do you say?”
It was a delaying tactic. Jack saw it in Ivan’s eyes. Ivan was waiting for Ingrid to take her eyes off him. Ingrid looked at Jack. Jack saw Ivan move his arm. He yelled, “Look out!” and lunged for Ivan’s gun. The gun went off, just missing Ingrid. They fought for control of the gun, knocking each other into the wall. Jack forced the gun upwards and Ivan fired again. The laser pulse just missed Jack’s head. They continued to struggle, but Ivan was too strong. He finally knocked Jack down and prepared to shoot him again.
Suddenly a laser pulse flashed behind Ivan and hit him squarely in the back. He yelled out in shock and pain and dropped his gun, but the blast didn’t kill him. He had put on a protective vest under his shirt. The blast had only knocked him sideways into the doorway. He stared at Ingrid, a look of disbelieve on his face. He looked at the gun on the floor and knew he couldn’t reach it before Ingrid fired again. That decision saved his live. He jumped through the open door just as another laser blast burned into the wall where his head was a moment ago. They could hear him running down the hallway.
Jack looked at Ingrid. She was holding the gun Jack had given her on Mars. She stood there in shock at what she had done. Her whole body was trembling. She looked at Jack with tears in her eyes. Jack walked up to her and gently took the gun away. He took her in his arms and held her.
“He would have killed you,” she whispered in his ear.
“I know, Ingrid. He would have killed us both.”
“Warning! Seven minutes to self-destruct!”
“Come on. We have to go.” Jack noticed the duffle bag on Ivan’s desk. Ingrid saw the question in his eyes.
“It contains the drugs and my father’s m
emcards, and Ivan’s records. We need to take it with us.”
“Okay.” Jack picked up the bag. When they turned around, they saw Tom standing in the doorway with a gun in his hand.
“I’ll take that. Lay your weapons down. Put the bag on the floor and slide it to me—carefully.”
Jack did as he was told. He faced Tom. “It’s over. Let me take you in.”
“I don’t think so. With these drugs I can start over somewhere else.”
“Warning! Six minutes to self-destruct!”
“Look, I don’t know how deep you’re in. Maybe they’ll go easy on you.”
“I’m in pretty deep, but I didn’t know they were going to kill anybody. You have to believe that, Jack.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Just give me a two minute head start. I’ll take the emergency shuttle and it’s the last you’ll hear from me.”
As Tom leaned down to pick up the duffle bag, a booming voice stopped him in his tracks. “Don’t move! Lay down the weapon and put your hands in the air!” It was Leroy. He was pointing a laser gun at Tom’s back. Tom looked at Jack, still holding the gun.
“Do as he says, Tom.”
Tom hesitated for a moment, thought better of it, and slowly laid down his weapon. He stood up with his hands above his head. Leroy quickly walked up, pulled Tom’s arms behind his back and handcuffed him. He turned Tom over to one of his men and walked over to Jack and Ingrid.
“Looks like you’re hurt. Is it bad?”
“I’ll live. Thanks.” Jack turned towards Ingrid and grabbed her hand.
“Where’s Hellstrom?” Leroy asked.
“He’s gone. I’ll tell you about it on the shuttle.”