Alpha Threat

by Ron Smoak

  “Which war?” Dane asked hoping he wasn’t going to hear what he expected.

  “World War II, of course.”

  Dane’s theory was confirmed. Still he was shocked. “You mean to tell me that the Germans set up this place after World War II and have been here ever since?” he asked in disbelief.

  “Yes,” answered the man, clearly puzzled at Dane’s shocked facial expression.

  Dane looked back at Hugo. “You getting this?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” answered Hugo. “Holy crap, what the hell have we found here?” He looked at Dane. He knew this confirmed what Dane thought but he didn’t want to let these two know that they weren’t surprised.

  “I don’t know, but I do know this is much, much bigger than I thought. Dana and Randall are in worse trouble than I imagined.”

  “And what are you two doing here?” asked Hugo.

  The man stood up. “I must get back to the kitchen,” he said, hoping to get out of the room. The girl stood too.

  “I guess you have to go too,” said Dane.

  “Yes, I must return to work.”

  “Work, what kind of work do you do?” asked Hugo.

  “I am a technician and he is a cook,” she answered quietly.

  “You two sit your asses down,” barked Dane. “You aren’t going anywhere until I learn more about you and this Fortress Alpha. You can talk now or you can sit here until we leave and you go with us. It’s your choice. Do you understand?”

  The two looked at each other. The man reached out and held the girl’s hand. “We will cooperate if you don’t hurt us.”

  “I got the door,” said Hugo as Dane began to interrogate the technician and the cook.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  Tuesday, July 12, 2011

  The Jungle, Brazil; 10:00 a.m.

  Ben and Tecal sat silently in the rain under a small tarp that was part of a tent. Their camp, as it was, sat beside a stream underneath several large palm trees and lined with a few oversized ferns. The site provided extremely good cover. The noise of the rain beating on the tarp overhead blocked out much of the background jungle noises. Tecal’s men were dispatched into the jungle back in the direction of Dane and Hugo. There had been no contact with Dane and Hugo since Ben had retreated to the stream to wait.

  “I hope the guys are okay,” said Ben. “Hopefully they have made contact with someone by now. I have a bad feeling that something has happened.”

  Tecal looked at Ben. “Mr. Dane is good man. He will be back soon. You see.”

  Ben smiled. “Damn, I hope so.” Regardless of Tecal’s words of encouragement, he was still concerned. Ben constantly monitored the GPS frequency of Dane and Hugo’s unit for their location. Dane was instructed to check in with a GPS signal if everything was all right, but there had been no contact in hours. It was possible Dane didn’t want to use the GPS since he thought the men in black might be monitoring the frequency. If Dane used the GPS, not only would Ben know they were all right and where they were, but the bad guys may be able to find them as well. That made sense, thought Ben, trying to rationalize why there had been no contact. At least that was what he wanted to believe.

  The rain was letting up slightly. Both Ben and Tecal heard an odd sound at the same time. It was one of Tecal’s men running back into the camp. Tecal pulled him under the tarp and began talking to him. The man was speaking very fast and was very animated. Ben thought the worst.

  Tecal and the man talked for a few minutes. Then he sent the man back out.

  “What’s happening?” asked Ben excitedly.

  “He found two men in black tied up,” explained Tecal. “Looks like Mr. Dane caught two bad men. Tracks show Mr. Dane moved on. Also say many other bad men in jungle. None near here, but he saw three groups of three men around trail waiting for us to come. Not good.”

  “Damn,” said Ben under his breath, staring out into the jungle toward the trail. “Those bastards really want us bad. They must be protecting something important. I wonder what the hell it is.”

  Tecal nodded in agreement. “Second man should be back soon. Maybe he has more to tell.”

  Ben stood up. The rain stopped but the humidity of the Brazilian jungle seemed to squeeze the life out of everything. It was oppressive. You felt you could cut the air with a knife. Ben remembered a summer once many years ago in Savannah, Georgia, where the temperature was in the high 90’s with 100% humidity and no breeze. At the time, he thought there was no place on earth that was more miserable. He was wrong. The Brazilian jungle is worse, hands down.

  He turned around and picked up his pack, still under the tarp. He removed the radio. He was bitching about not hearing from Dane when he realized he had not contacted Lee back at base camp.

  He turned on the radio and adjusted the squelch to get rid of the static. He ensured the proper frequency was tuned.

  “Ben to base camp, Ben to base camp, come in base camp, come in Lee, over...”

  There was no answer. He decided to call again.

  “Ben to base camp, Ben to base camp, come in base camp, come in Lee, over...”

  He waited. About a minute later he heard Lee’s voice.

  “Base camp to Ben, base camp to Ben, God, where have you been? I’ve been dying to hear from you, over…”

  Ben smiled. “Hi, Lee. All is okay here. Dane and Hugo have gone ahead to make contact. One of Tecal’s men reports they found the dangerous guys and went on. So far we have not heard from Dane or Hugo, over…”

  “Understand. All okay. Do you need anything? Over...”

  Ben took a few steps trying to get rid of some of his tenseness. “Roger, Lee. We are waiting on Dane and Hugo. We don’t need anything now. Everything back there okay? Over...”

  Lee responded, “All okay here. I’m in contact with Princeton. They are sending personnel down now. I don’t know what their intention is yet. Over...”

  Ben grew concerned. “Lee, do not let anyone follow us. It is very dangerous. We need to find out what we are up against before we send anyone else into the jungle. Do you understand? No one comes in no matter what anyone says. Over...”

  “Roger, Ben. Understand. If they get here before you get back, I will keep them here. Any idea when you will be back? Over...”

  Ben answered, “No. We are waiting for Dane and Hugo to return. Hopefully they will be back soon. I will call you back tomorrow and let you know where we stand. Over...”

  “Not a problem. Call me back tomorrow to let me know what is going on. Over...”

  “Will do, over and out.”

  “Roger, over and out,” Lee responded.

  Ben placed his radio back into his backpack. So the Princeton guys were sending someone down. That’s all we need; some administrative bureaucrats getting involved to help us out. Bullshit! They haven’t a clue as to what is going on. He hoped they would all be back at base camp soon to help Lee with those folks. Then Ben smiled and laughed to himself. What was he saying? Lee could handle anyone short of the President of the United States when they got here in the jungle. She was one helluva lady even though she was his sister. Ben went back over to the tarp and sat down to wait for Tecal’s other man to return to report in. He looked over at Tecal. “Hey, what’s for lunch?”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  Tuesday, July 12, 2011

  Fortress Alpha, Brazil; 10:00 a.m.

  Hugo used a pallet jack to move several stacks of flour and other supplies around in the back of the storage room. They decided to make this area a small base of operations. The sheer size itself lent its use as an excellent hideout. Since the room was a secondary storage area, according to the cook, Dane and Hugo decided that it was as safe as they were going to find. Besides, if the cook and his girlfriend thought this was a good place for a discreet rendezvous, it was good enough for Dane and Hugo.

  Hugo set himself up behind some flour sacks near the door so that he could hear anyone coming down the hall and trying to enter the room. Dane was
in the back with the two captives going over the setup of Fortress Alpha.

  “You are Americans,” said the cook. “Why should we tell you anything?”

  Dane silently pointed his weapon at the girl. He did not say a word. The cook’s eyes got big and he swallowed hard.

  “I think you are smart enough to answer a few questions or…” Dane looked him in the eyes.

  “Why do I care what happens to her?” the cook said indignantly. Dane smiled and glanced at the girl.

  “Well, number one, she’s pretty. Number two, you guys did not show up unannounced. If I were a betting man, I would say you two have a thing going.” The cook swallowed hard. His bluff had been called. The girl sat there quietly.

  “Okay. She’s my girlfriend,” said the cook meekly.

  Dane sat back. “Well, in that case, I would think that you would want to tell us what we want to know so no one gets hurt.” Dane had no intention of hurting the girl but using her to get info from this guy was another thing. The cook sat there and said nothing.

  “Ich spreche nicht. We have nothing to say,” said the girl defiantly. “You go to hell!”

  “Yeah, right, two tough guys,” smiled Dane. Dane stood up over the girl.

  “You said you were a technician,” started Dane. “What kind of technician?”

  The two folded their arms and sat without saying a word. They were acting like indignant children. Dane was getting impatient.

  “Listen to me very closely. This is not a game. If you talk, you will be released unharmed. If you do not talk, well, one of you will be on the receiving side of some pressure and the other will talk. Do you understand me?”

  The two sat there.

  “Okay,” said Dane shouldering his weapon. “I’ll let ‘Hugo the Butcher’ go to work.” The two looked at each other and looked back at Dane. Hugo, listening to the conversation, stepped out of his lair and walked over to the two captives and pulled his combat knife from a scabbard strapped to his lower right leg. He took his thumb and ran it across the razor-sharp edge. He looked at Dane.

  “I’ll start with the bitch,” his voice menacing. He reached over and grabbed the girl by the hair and pulled her up. The cook almost fainted as Hugo ran the backside of the knife over her cheek.

  “Wait; no, please, wait,” he cried. The young girl was scared to death and sobbing. The cold steel stung her face slightly. She thought Hugo had sliced her face. She waited for the flow of warm blood. Hugo stopped and Dane looked at them.

  “Talk or she gets sliced up,” hissed Dane. “Last chance.”

  “Okay, okay, please stop. Please let her go. I’ll tell you anything,” cried the cook. “Don’t hurt her.” Hugo dropped the girl down on a flour sack. She immediately crawled over to the cook, checking for blood on her face, sobbing all the while.

  “Now talk,” demanded Dane, “or we’ll cut her to ribbons.” Hugo stood behind Dane trying to keep from laughing. These kids were scared to death. And even Dane knew they weren’t going to slice anybody up. He hoped they didn’t call his bluff.

  Dane began asking questions and the answers flowed like a river. The questioning continued for twenty minutes.

  Dane and Hugo learned there were thousands of personnel in the complex and the prime objective was research with various elemental transformations. The girl worked with one of the groups responsible for generating power for the transformations. That is what interested Dane the most.

  They also learned the complex was huge. It was completely underground except for a hangar level that housed several helicopters and other land-based vehicles. Ninety percent of the personnel at the site were born and raised in this complex. They were well trained in their particular occupations and educated in at least two other occupations. The cook was trained as a lab technician as well as a horticulturist. As a lab technician he had knowledge of some of the core alchemy work being done.

  “So,” continued Dane, addressing the cook, “what exactly did you do as a lab technician?” The cook, still scared, fidgeted in his seat.

  “I worked in the gold lab,” he said. “I worked with the gold transformations.”

  Dane was puzzled. Gold transformations?

  “What kind of gold transformations?” he asked. “Transformations into what?”

  The cook looked at Dane as if he were stupid.

  “Not to what. From lead to gold,” he answered calmly. The girl nodded in agreement.

  Dane sat back. From lead to gold? What the hell were these idiots talking about, alchemy? That was impossible. Dane pressed him more. ”You mean changing lead to gold? Is that what you are saying?” He looked at Hugo, who was as surprised at what he had heard as Dane.

  “Yes,” answered the cook.

  These folks were turning lead into gold! And they had succeeded, according to the two captives. So that is the big secret with all the gold, thought Dane. Things were definitely getting clearer.

  “Bullshit!” said Dane, trying to get a reaction. “That’s impossible. People have been trying to do that for centuries.”

  “Yes, I know,” said the cook, now feeling a bit more comfortable. “Dr. Swingler and Dr. Koch made the discovery in the late 1940’s after the war. They brought all of their research teams to Brazil along with the German gold. They used the captured gold to build this complex and carry on the research for all of these years.”

  Dane was listening intently. “Okay. So you guys brought the stolen World War II gold here and used it to build this place? Do I understand this correctly?”

  The cook and the girl both nodded in agreement. “But that was before we were born, of course,” added the girl.

  “How did they get the gold here?” asked Dane.

  “They brought it over on submarines as the war was ending. The Führer was supposed to come but he could not get out of Berlin in time,” the cook explained.

  “So you ‘make’ gold here; is that right?” Dane asked again still in disbelief.

  “Yes, we do,” the girl stated, stepping into the conversation. She seemed very sure of herself.

  “And you work in the power station that runs all this?” Dane asked the girl.

  “Yes,” she answered proudly.

  Now Dane understood the secrecy. He understood the men in black and the security. This was much, much bigger than he even dreamed. This explains why Dana and Randall disappeared. Or did it?

  “Do you know about any captives taken in the last few days?” Dane asked the two.

  “I heard about some people brought here after they came too close to the complex, but in the past those people were disposed of immediately. Why do you ask?” the girl queried.

  “Not your concern,” said Dane, now very worried that Dana and Randall were disposed of. “Where are captives held in the complex? Are they near here?”

  “There are visitors’ quarters on Level Six. That’s where most guests are housed. But captives? I’m not sure where they might be. There are some sublevels that are off limits to most of us. Only security and power technicians are allowed down there. If they are down there, it would be impossible to get down to them. Even I cannot go down there,” the cook explained. “Have you seen anything?” he asked his girlfriend.

  “I heard that several people were brought down to the security area sublevels several days ago. One of the new girls in Security told me at lunch, but I didn’t see them. They could have been complex personnel that got into trouble. That’s where the jail is located,” she said.

  Dane was afraid she was right. His only hope was Dana and Randall were on Level Six. If they were in the jail area, that would not bode well for them.

  “These Level Six guest quarters, are they near here?” asked Dane.

  “We are on Level Two very near the middle of the complex,” said the cook. “You would have to go down four levels and find the room they are in.”

  “What else is on that level?” asked Dane pointedly. He wanted to know all he could if they were going to try t
o get to Level Six.

  “On one end is housing for families, dining halls, recreation areas and some offices. On the other end are offices, a library and several other areas, mostly areas for the people who live here.”

  “So there are a lot of people moving about Level Six?” Dane asked.

  “Yes. Levels Six, Five and Seven are primarily housing levels. There are hundreds of people on those levels all the time,” said the cook, now hoping to dissuade these two men from trying to get onto Level Six.

  Dane considered the cook’s answers but did not outwardly show any reaction. Hugo was standing near the door, listening.

  “I have to go,” said the cook. “I am long overdue. My supervisor will be looking for me.”

  “Me too,” said the girl. “I am late.”

  “He may have to look long and hard for you, my friends,” said Dane, “because you are coming with us.”

  The girl looked at the cook. The cook’s eyes got huge. He was terrified. “We cannot leave this place,” he said fearfully. “They will kill us.”

  Dane looked the cook in the eyes. “Only if they catch us. Remember that. You two cooperate and you have a good chance to live. If not, I assure you that you will die.”

  Dane turned to Hugo. “Hugo, we are leaving.”

  “Ready, Boss,” answered Hugo, checking the door.

  Dane brought the cook and girl forward. “You do exactly as I say or I will kill you immediately. I can tie your hands or keep them free…my choice. Do you both understand?”

  “Yes, I understand,” answered the cook.

  “Yes,” answered the girl. She clasped the cook’s hand.

  “One slip and one of you dies, right then and there,” said Dane in a serious tone. The cook and technician nodded their understanding.

  Hugo opened the door, checked the hallway and away they went.

  They backtracked to the same small access room where they came in. Hugo climbed the short ladder and popped open the hatch. He checked the area and all four were out and away within a few seconds. But, as before, the flashing security light was noticed by the guards.