Alpha Threat

by Ron Smoak

  As folks ran about, Hugo double-timed down the hall until he found another set of stairs. He ducked in the stairwell and leaned against the wall. He could still hear the alarm outside in the hall. Hugo wished someone would shut that thing down. The noise was driving him crazy. He pulled his map and took a quick look at what was on this floor. Mostly, there were science labs for the most part. That explained the folks in white coats. He ran his finger along the central hallway looking for an alternate way out when he ran across an interesting area on the map, Main Power Generation. Bingo, he thought. What’s the best way to cause total confusion underground? Turn out the friggin’ lights!

  Hugo smiled to himself. He had a flashlight but he bet none of the others down here had one. He remembered seeing emergency lights, though. They operated on battery power in each unit so it would not be totally dark. But still it would screw with folks’ minds down here and that’s all he needed. He could create a bit of confusion and may be able to get out alive.

  Hugo roughly folded the map and jammed it back into his vest. He took a look out the small window in the door and took a deep breath. Again when he burst out of the stairwell the white coats were so startled they began falling over themselves trying to get out of the way. Hugo held his weapon high aiming in the direction he was running. He was very surprised he did not run into any guards or armed soldiers. But he was sure they would be on their way as soon as his presence was reported. Hugo hurried down the hall and turned right and stepped up to a double doorway labeled Stromerzeugung 7-79. The label was in German but Hugo knew by the map it was the power station for the complex.

  He leaned against the right-side door. It was locked. He looked around and, seeing only a few people standing several meters away, he stepped back and fired two shots into the lock. The two shots sounded like a sputter with the silencer, but the door lock was mangled, parts of the lock flying in all directions. Hugo pushed the door and it opened, revealing what looked like a multi-level factory deep within the complex. There was a loud humming noise in the background. He stood in amazement for several seconds until an older man about sixty in white overalls popped around the corner of a piece of equipment and was face to face with Hugo.

  “Wer zum Geier sind Sie?” he sputtered. Hugo reached out to the old man and gently led him back into a small corridor between the door and the equipment.

  “Sprechen Sie Englisch?” Hugo asked in German. The old man looked at Hugo.

  “Yes, I speak English. What are you doing here?” he asked nervously.

  “I was sent here to guard the plant,” said Hugo smiling. “We have intruders in the complex and we believe they are heading this way. But first I have a small job to do.”

  “Oh, my goodness. But you don’t work here. I must call the guards,” said the old man, clearly not totally understanding the situation. He stepped forward toward the telephone on the wall behind Hugo.

  “No sir,” Hugo said sternly. “You cannot call anyone. Only emergency communications are allowed. And this is not an emergency.” The older man looked at Hugo with a puzzled look on his face. Hugo tried to change the subject. “Hey, what do you do here? This is the power plant for the entire complex?”

  “I’m senior operations master of the power station,” the old man said proudly.

  “Oh, so you know how this entire station works?” asked Hugo nicely, waving his hand across the area below.

  “Oh, yes. I have to know that,” the old man explained.

  “Well, why don’t you please tell me how it works,” said Hugo calmly, realizing the old man was not a threat and if treated with respect, he might tell him what he needed. “If I am to protect you and your station, I should know a bit more about what I am protecting, don’t you think?”

  “I told you who I was; now you tell me who you are,” said the old man.

  “I’m a security guard leader, Captain Werner, sent down here to guard the power plant. We are under attack and those in charge ordered me to come down here. “

  “Strange,” said the old man confused. “I was not told of this. I should have been told of this,” he said, looking at the clipboard in his hands. He was clearly confused. “I don’t see anything here…”

  “We are under emergency orders,” interrupted Hugo matter-of-factly. “All normal operations are superseded by the emergency orders.” Hugo tried to change the subject again. “This is the first time I have been in this quadrant. It is very impressive,” he said, looking around the area.

  While the rest of the building was very much like a regular building, this part was a factory. Huge pipes ran overhead. Rather than the office/hospital smell of the rest of the building, there was a slightly oily smell and the humidity was definitely higher. The noise was at times deafening.

  “Yes, I see,” agreed the old man. “As you can see, this is the plant that produces all of the electrical power for the entire complex.”

  “Wow, this is very impressive,” said Hugo, walking away from the old man farther into the room. He kept an eye on the old man as he came to a railing on an overlook. He was taking an awful chance the old man may see through his ruse. Hugo looked down. He gasped inwardly as he saw five levels below this one, all centered around a huge cylindrical tower at least four stories high. “I have never seen anything like this.”

  The old man hesitated a few seconds and then walked over closer to Hugo. “That is because this does not exist anywhere else in the world. It is a geothermal power station modified to yield unlimited power.”

  “Unlimited? How can that be?” asked Hugo. “Energy sources need fuel replacement periodically.”

  The old man smiled meekly. “No, I don’t think this power source will run out any time soon.”

  Hugo acted puzzled. “I don’t understand, sir. You mean this power station can run forever?”

  “In theory, yes, it can. In practice, mechanical parts will wear out and will need replacement. But the source of the power is unlimited as we know it now.”

  “How’s that?” asked Hugo.

  “Our power comes from the volcanic action at the core of the earth. We drilled down to the level where we were able to reliably tap into the molten rock under the earth. Then we pump water down under pressure and it all gets turned to steam. The steam is used to run these turbines to generate unlimited amounts of power,” the old man said, motioning toward several steam turbines down on the lower levels. “Other countries such as Indonesia and Iceland are working toward this model, but no one has this technology. We are the world leaders, except we don’t share the technology with anyone. In fact, there is technology here that is highly secret. It is the key to the generation of unlimited power.”

  Hugo noticed movement to his right. Two white coat technicians were walking toward them. “Here are two of my technicians now,” said the old man proudly. The technicians slowed their walk and looked cautiously at Hugo. Armed men were not the norm in these areas. Hugo let his weapon fall to his side.

  “Do not be alarmed,” said the old man. “This is Captain Werner, a guard leader sent down here to protect us. Evidently we are under attack.” The two technicians seemed to relax a bit. “What do you need?” asked the old man.

  “Sir, number four turbine is due for maintenance next week,” started one of the technicians. “I wonder if we can begin some of the preliminary work this afternoon. It would put us ahead of schedule.”

  “Fine idea,” said the old man beaming. “See, my staff is on top of everything.” The technicians both smiled at Hugo and then turned and headed back down the far steps to a gantry way two floors below. Hugo smiled back without saying a word.

  Hugo decided to make his move. “Sir, I’m afraid I must go down to the lower levels now to check out the security. Do you want to accompany me?” Hugo hoped the old man would just stay up here.

  “You go ahead. I have other pressing needs about the plant. Please let me know if you have any questions or needs,” said the old man. At that, he turned and wa
lked away, reviewing his clipboard.

  Hugo smiled to himself. You know, sometimes it doesn’t take force to get what you need. Sometimes you can sweet talk your way in. And Hugo was the sweet talk king! Ladies or gentlemen, it did not matter. Hugo shouldered his weapon but made certain he could get at it quickly. He strolled down the walkway, stopping here and there to take a good look at the layout. His thoughts were to get down on the generator floor and try to blow up the portals down to the volcanic rock. That would cripple the power station and render the complex blind. All of the sensors and alarms would be out of service. Then they all stood a better chance of getting out of the complex alive.

  Dane... Hugo decided to check his radio in case Dane had signaled him and he had not heard it in all of the earlier commotion. No message. He wondered what Dane was up to. Since being separated Hugo had no idea where Dane was or his condition. He decided to contact him.

  Hugo keyed his radio. “Contact,” he sent. There was a short pause that seemed like forever.

  “Contact green,” the response came from Dane. Contact green meant all was well. Hugo gave a sigh of relief. At least he was alive and well. His location was still a mystery. Hugo decided to risk another call.

  “Delta, Hotel,” called Hugo.

  “Rog, Hotel,” a raspy answer sputtered from the radio. Hugo decided the poor quality was due to his location deep within the complex.

  “Status,” called Hugo.

  “Package safe, egress on,” responded Dane. Dane had Dana and Randall and was in the process of getting out of the complex.

  “Rog, Delta, same here.”

  “Delta, Hotel, Bravo here,” the call came from Ben outside in the jungle. “Hot, repeat hot at egress one.”

  That was trouble, thought Hugo. Dane rescued Dana and Randall and they were trying to get out. He was trying to get out as well. Ben, on the other hand, was in a hot situation outside by the hatch and taking fire. Not good.

  Hugo figured it was time to close this joint down.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR

  Monday, July 18, 2011

  Inside Fortress Alpha; 9:45 a.m.

  Dane checked his ammo and waited while Dana retrieved her slippers. This gave Randall a few minutes to regain his strength. Dana joined Randall and looked at him.

  “Babe, you okay?” she asked, caressing his head. Randall looked up with a big grin.

  “Can’t think of a time I’ve been better.”

  Dane turned and smiled. Thank God his sister and brother-in-law were safe.

  “You lovebirds ready to fly?” asked Dane.

  “Is a pig’s butt pork?” answered Randall using one of his colloquialisms he was famous for. “Hell, we were ready yesterday.”

  “Okay, here’s what we have.” Dane stepped over to the two sitting by the wall and took a knee. “Hugo and I came in through an access door on the hangar deck.”

  “Hangar deck,” Randall asked perplexed. “Are you saying we are on an aircraft carrier?”

  Dana, puzzled, looked at Dane for the answer.

  “No. I better start over. We are in a very large underground complex in the Amazon. It is run by a group of neo-Nazis hell bent on world domination. As if they didn’t learn their lesson back in World War II. Anyway, these Germans are as deadly as the World War II Nazis and equally well financed. In fact, they are making gold here to use to destroy the world’s economy so they can take over.”

  Dane looked over at Dana and Randall. They were totally enthralled with his little dissertation. Their eyes were firmly focused on Dane.

  Randall was stunned. “Wait… did you say making gold?” Dana was astonished. She could not believe what she was hearing either.

  “Yes, I did. But that’s a conversation we can have later,” answered Dane, trying to move on.

  “Anyway, it seems you two stumbled upon this complex unknowingly and were captured. Now, for the life of me, I do not know why they didn’t just kill you and leave it at that. But they didn’t, thank God. We came looking for you and found the complex and recruited a small band of folks to try to get you out. It’s us against hundreds of Germans,” Dane continued. “Hugo and I came inside to get you. Ben Jamison and several of his native friends are covering our escape back in the jungle. Oh, Tim Dothan is also with Ben.”

  “Tim’s here?” exclaimed Dana.

  “Yes, along with Dr. Nance and Dr. Weeks. They are all back at the base camp.”

  “Damn, we sure did cause a stir, didn’t we?” said Randall sheepishly. “Maybe we should have gone to Peru like you wanted. I should have known better.”

  “You can’t blame yourself. No one knew all this was here,” explained Dane, “not even the U.S. or Brazilian governments, as far as we know. There were a few clues over the years but no one ever put two and two together until you guys disappeared. Then Hugo and I did. The Brazilian government simply wrote you guys off as an accident. We never got around to asking the U.S. government, at least officially.” Dane was referring to his CIA contacts. Dane stood and took his weapon off of his shoulder. Randall got up slowly and helped Dana up.

  “All that is history…now we have to leave,” said Dane. “You guys up for it?”

  “We are so very ready,” said Dana smiling.

  “Good. Randall, grab one of those weapons over there and collect all of the ammo you can find. Dana, get a weapon too. We may have to fight our way out. You guys know how to handle these guns?”

  “Yeah,” quipped Dana as she picked up a German HK MP-7A1submachine gun, pulled back the bolt, removed the extended magazine and checked the ammo. Dane’s eyes widened as she reinserted the magazine and released the bolt, placing a live round in the chamber. “I’m ready,” she announced, her finger on the safety. Randall followed suit with the other guard’s weapon.

  “Damn, little sister, I guess you are,” grinned Dane.

  Dane stepped over to Maas’ body. His eyes were still wide in an unbelieving stare. Dane searched Maas’ pockets, not really knowing what he was looking for. But one could never tell what one might find. All he found was a crumpled printout of a few radio messages the Germans had picked up earlier. Dane smiled to himself. He knew it! Their radio silence earlier paid off. He imagined what might have been if the group had discussed their plans and operations over the open radio. Things could have been disastrously different. Then Dane came across a set of keys. He decided to take them in case he might need to get through a locked door. Dane assumed Maas’ keys would fit everything in the complex. He was right.

  “We ready?” Dane asked as he stood up over Maas.

  Dana stepped over and stood beside her brother. She pointed her weapon at Maas’ body. “That bastard was going to kill us if you had not gotten here. I never thought I would say this about anyone, but I’m glad he’s dead. I don’t even want to think about what would have happened…” Dane stopped her in mid-sentence with a bear hug.

  “Don’t think about it, Dana. You are safe for now. But we need to get our asses out of here.”

  “Hell, I’m packed and ready to travel,” declared Randall. “Let’s hit it.”

  Dane led the group through the large stone doorway and down the hall toward the elevator. “Stick close. There’s no one else down here but when we get to the higher levels we are going to be in chaos.” He turned to see Dana and Randall looking at him wide-eyed.

  “I’m as ready as I can be,” said Randall, mustering all the bravado he could. Randall was not the military type. Dana smiled meekly. Such a dichotomy, little Dana smiling and hefting an automatic weapon that made her look even smaller. The group moved swiftly down the hall and stopped at the corner. Dane popped his head around the corner and withdrew quickly. He could see the corridor was empty and the elevator door at the end.

  “It’s clear. Let’s go catch the elevator and get out of here,” Dane said as he led the group in a dead run down the hall. They stopped in front of the elevator. They were lucky. The door was wide open. The group got in. Dane look
ed at the control panel. They were at the bottom of the complex. They needed to get to the top. Dane knew that this elevator went from the sub-basement to the hangar level but was not certain of where on the hangar level. He decided to go to the top and find their way out.

  “Okay, here’s my plan. We are at the bottom of the complex now. This elevator will take us to the top level, which should be the hangar deck. That’s where Hugo and I came in,” explained Dane. I’m not certain where the closest egress point is located but at least we will be only one level underground. I figure we can find a way out. That is if we don’t run into a large group of Germans who disagree with our leaving. So once I close the door I want you two to stand on this side of the elevator.”

  Dane motioned to the left side of the elevator. “I will be here. I can’t guarantee where the elevator will stop. Hopefully it will give us a non-stop ride, but I doubt it. So be ready if the door opens and the bad guys are waiting for us. They shouldn’t be expecting us, which gives us an advantage. Is everyone clear?” Both Dana and Randall bobbed their heads, still contemplating what they were about to experience.

  Dane leveled his weapon at the doorway, reached over and pressed the hangar level button. After what felt like an eternity the elevator doors closed and the car began slowly to rise. Dane and the group watched intently as the lights denoted their movement up. Two levels, four levels, then the elevator stopped. “Get ready!” said Dane as he aimed his silenced MP-5 at the door. Dana and Randall followed his lead. The door opened revealing a startled group of two women and a man dressed in white coveralls. They were unarmed. One woman screamed while the man turned to go get help. Dane took his finger off the trigger of his weapon and reached over and closed the door. The car began to rise again.