by Ron Smoak
There was a collective sigh of relief among the elevator passengers as the car began its upward climb.
“Ready?” Dane asked rhetorically as the group saw the panel lights move to the hangar level. The door opened.
They were immediately faced with an enormous cavern of a room. This was the hangar deck, more than four stories tall, not a hallway as they had experienced up to now. The elevator was in one corner of the room but was out in the open. Dane pulled the stop button so that the door would stay open in case they needed to use it again to escape.
He scanned the area. He saw a black helicopter over to their right. The way to the left was clear. Dane motioned to Dana and Randall to follow him as he dashed to his right, closely following the wall until they were behind the helicopter.
There was activity everywhere. It actually did remind Dane of an aircraft carrier hangar deck. He could see maintenance crews working on equipment and helicopters. Several vehicles and aircraft tugs were moving throughout the hangar level. So much for sneaking out unseen, he thought. He continued to scan the room.
“Holy crap!” remarked Randall, beginning to see for the first time the enormity of the complex they had stumbled upon. “This place is huge.” Dana said nothing. She too was in awe of this underground world.
Dane’s eye caught something. It was a flight of steps that went up to an opening four stories above the hangar floor. He had no idea where the stairs led but he was happy they went up and there was cover at the top. The staircase was about thirty feet farther to their right but very close to a group of technicians working on a large Russian-made Hind heavy-lift helicopter.
Dane pointed the stairs out to Dana and Randall. “Our way out,” he said. Dane surveyed the area further. Between them and the Hind were two small jeep vehicles and a large wooden crate over against the wall. Dane figured they could easily get to the crate and move behind the two jeeps but the last several feet to the stairs were in the open. And then there were the stairs themselves. They were attached to the wall of the hangar in plain view of the entire room. Once they began their climb to freedom, they would be in a clear kill zone for anyone with a weapon on the hangar level. What they needed was a diversion. Dane knew exactly what to do next.
The small group gathered together closely. “Okay, we are leaving now. You see the stairs over there? That’s our way out. We will sneak behind the crate here and past the two jeeps. Once we are in position I will throw a grenade down the hangar deck that will get everyone’s attention while we scramble up the stairs to that door up there,” he said, pointing to the top of the stairs. “You ready?”
“Let’s go,” said Randall.
Dana chimed in, “Ready.”
Dane reached into his vest and pulled out a grenade. Still in a crouch, the threesome scurried behind the large crate and on along behind the jeeps. They were now a few feet from the mechanics working on the Hind. They could hear the conversations clearly in German between the workers. Dane looked at Dana and Randall and nodded. Both gave a thumbs-up signal.
Dane pulled the pin on the grenade and threw it as hard as he could down toward the far wall of the hangar level, about fifty yards away. Dane saw the grenade hit the floor and skitter between several fifty-five gallon drums. Almost immediately there was a deafening explosion. Flames bolted from the area of the explosion and flaming fuel raced across the floor of the hangar. People ran in all directions. An alarm klaxon sounded. Chaos ensued.
“Go, go, go!” screamed Dane. Without hesitation the trio raced in a full run to the stairs and began climbing. As they turned to take the next flight of steps, they saw two burning men screaming and running through the flames. Others were running toward the men with hand-held fire extinguishers to douse the flames. Heavy black smoke was beginning to overwhelm the area, rising to their level on the stairs. The acrid black smoke served to shield the fleeing group from those below.
They kept climbing, climbing for their lives. They were only one flight from the top when Dane noticed an armed German stepping out of the doorway above to see what happened. Dane raised his silenced MP-5 and fired twice. The man fell back from the railing of the stairs and onto the top landing.
Seconds later the group reached the top. Dane ducked into the doorway hoping to find a clear way out. Dana and Randall stood outside on the stairway landing, horrified at the mayhem below.
The grenade had landed among several aviation fuel barrels. When it exploded, the blast sprayed burning fuel all over the area, igniting a jeep and another helicopter which was armed with machine guns and rockets. The rockets exploded causing a massive blast that either killed or injured nearly everyone on that end of the hangar level.
Fire and smoke filled the area. No one saw their escape since those that were not killed or injured were fighting the fires. Some personnel had broken out hoses and were beginning to spray the deck with water. Several men clad in silver fire suits were breaking out other fire equipment and clamoring onto firefighting rigs. The fire alarm klaxon was still blaring. The scene was utter chaos. Neither Dana nor Randall had ever seen such destruction and loss of life.
Dane stuck his head back out of the door. “Come on,” he yelled over the din of the hell below them. The heat was getting intense.
The group ran through the door. Dane closed it behind them. The roar of the fire and the klaxon subsided. Dana felt that she could think again. “This way. I found a hatchway out.” They ran down a short hallway to a set of stairs leading up to a closed hatch. Dane ran up the stairs and looked for a lock. He had Maas’ keys so he felt they should be able to unlock the hatch. To his dismay, he noticed a keypad lock on the wall just under the hatch cover. Damn, he thought. Not as easy as he thought it might be. He stepped down to Dana and Randall.
“Randall, you watch that door. I don’t expect anyone to come up but they could try to use it to escape the fire. You must kill anyone that sets foot through that door. Do you understand me?” asked Dane. “Can you do it?”
“Yes, I got it,” said Randall as he stepped down the hall a few steps and leveled his weapon at the doorway. Randall wondered to himself if he really could kill a man.
“Dana, you step back into the hall. I’m going to have to blow this hatch.” Dana stepped back without comment. Dane took out a small cube charge of C-4 explosive and rolled it between his hands to make a “snake”. He stepped back up the stairs and carefully ran the “snake” of C-4 around the inside of the hatch. He jammed a detonator into the explosive and pulled the O-ring on the fuse. Bounding down the steps, he grabbed Dana and stepped back down the hall. There was a loud bang and immediately another alarm went off, this time a high-pitched siren. Also two red LED lights began flashing in the hall. Dane released Dana and ran around the corner, looked up and saw jungle! They were free!
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
Monday, July 18, 2011
Inside Fortress Alpha; 10:20 a.m.
Hugo felt the blast almost before he heard it. The huge room housing the power station vibrated as if there was an earthquake. Within seconds, alarms were going off everywhere.
He wondered what the hell happened. The rumble had to be an explosion. He hoped it meant Dane had Dana and Randall and they were attempting their escape. Several technicians were running from machine to machine and checking dials on the equipment below. From where he stood on the gantry above, he could see the excitement and the large probe-like cylinder, the heart of the power station. It seemed to go down forever. That was the key, he thought. Blow up the central core and that should do the job of blacking out the station.
Hugo moved deliberately further to his right, down two flights of stairs and onto the main station base level. He did not run to not call attention to himself. There were only a handful of personnel on the floor. None seemed interested in him since he carried a shouldered weapon and was merely walking. They were either scared to death that something was going to go wrong down here and cause a disaster or they just didn’t see him with t
heir focused work on the machines.
He decided he could take advantage of this chaos. He walked over to the side of the room. He planned to move around the perimeter, get to the core itself and set his charges. He stopped beside two huge pipes coming through the floor and checked his satchel. Great! He had two one-pound blocks of C-4 and a couple of detonators. Now all he had to do was get to the core.
He scanned the room and saw a bank of generators and control systems in a row slightly to his right. The line extended out to within ten feet of the core. He surveyed the personnel in the area. He could only see two technicians, both working furiously on something. He planned to walk right past them, hoping they would not notice him.
Hugo removed his vest and laid his satchel down on the floor. He doffed gear he did not need to use to escape. Pushing the gear behind the piping, Hugo knelt down and pushed a detonator into each block of explosive. This was not the prescribed way to handle C-4 but it would have to do. Normal ops would have been to place the explosives, then arm the package with the detonators. But he wanted to get everything ready before standing out in the open setting charges.
He completed the rigging of the two C-4 packages, each with a small timer. He set both timers to forty-five minutes. He checked them again, quickly. He had forty-five minutes to get the hell out of there. All he had to do now was get across the room, slide up beside the core cylinder and place the charges. Then he would get out of there fast.
The blaring of the alarm was endless. Hugo wondered why someone had not turned the damn thing off. But on the other hand, the alarm was causing such a chaotic effect, most everyone would not even pay attention to just one man moving through the equipment.
Hugo shouldered his weapon, picked up his two packages and took one last look around. There were no technicians in sight. He stood and hurried out behind the generators. He stopped and looked again. There was no one stirring around the core. He quickly ran behind the systems cabinets and right up to the core cylinder. There was a pulsating sound coming from it. He reached out and felt heat coming from below the floor. Scanning the area again, he knelt beside the core and placed one charge on one side and another on the other side of the huge cylinder. He pressed the timer switches and the timers began. He checked around the room again. There was only one technician over by the wall more than twenty-five feet away. He had his back to Hugo.
Hugo sprinted back behind the cabinets and past the row of generators all the way back to the wall. It only took him a few seconds to backtrack to the stairway and gallop up two floors. He pulled his weapon from his shoulder, set the safety off and took one last look at the power house. He pressed his shoulder against the door and ran down the hall. All he could think of was getting the hell out of there. He decided to try to get out through the motor pool, which was several floors up on the back side of the hangar deck. Hugo had no idea the mess Dane had left him on the hangar deck.
CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
Monday, July 18, 2011
Outside Fortress Alpha; 10:25 a.m.
As the small group entered the jungle, Dane could hear gunshots far off to his left. It must be Ben and his group.
“Bravo, this is Delta, status.”
There was a long pause. Finally Ben answered.
“Delta, Bravo here. Basically clear. What is your status?”
“Bravo, we are clear. Heading toward rendezvous point Mike, repeat, clear, heading toward rendezvous point Mike. Acknowledge.”
“Delta, acknowledge, meet you at Mike.”
“Well, that may be the best news yet,” smiled Dane as the group knelt in a small grove of bushes. “Ben and his group are okay and will move toward our rendezvous point.” Dane looked at his watch. It was 10:30 a.m. He pulled out a small map and a compass. Leaning his weapon against a tree beside him, he knelt on one knee and used the other knee as a small surface to place the map and compass to take a reading. He looked up. “We need to go this way,” he said, pointing to the southwest. “Keep your heads down and stay quiet. We are not out of this yet. This jungle is crawling with Germans. They know we are somewhere out here and they will do anything they can to keep us from getting away. Stay close and we will move out.”
Dana and Randall nodded in agreement and followed Dane into the jungle. Dane thought it best they avoid established trails, which slowed the group to a crawl. But since the Germans were patrolling the trails, this route was much safer.
Dana thought it was good to hear the sounds of the birds and insects. Surprisingly she missed that banter while she and Randall were held below ground. Being outside again gave her an ecstatic feeling of freedom. She even relished the heat, humidity and the smells. She turned to Randall and smiled. She admired him so much. Throughout this ordeal he remained upbeat and did what he could to protect her.
Her thoughts went back to Maas for a second. She quickly banished them from her mind. That pig would have killed Randall, raped her to death; a horrible death. Screw him.
Before this trip, she had never seen a man die. But she was glad she watched Maas die. Even though it was a violent, horrible sight, she was glad he was dead. She hoped he rotted in Hell.
Randall was holding up well after his encounter with the guards not an hour ago. She started to ask how he was but remembered that Dane said no talking. She refocused her mind toward getting through the jungle.
After sliding through the jungle for about thirty minutes, Dane brought them all to a halt. “We are not far from our rendezvous point.” There was a shot in the distance. They all turned toward the noise, wondering if it was Ben and his team. Then there was a slight stirring sound from slightly ahead. Dane motioned to the group to get down and under cover. Dana and Randall dropped and rolled under a low fern.
Dane raised his weapon, ready to fire. His eyes scoured the jungle for the least bit of movement. He had to wait until he saw who or what was out there. It could be Ben or one of his men. Or it could be a German. The group was frozen; waiting. A few seconds later there was a familiar sound.
“Mr. Dane…”
Dane’s ears picked up a voice in the subtle tones of the jungle. He lowered his weapon a bit as one of Tecal’s men slipped from under a bush and was facing the group. There were smiles all around.
“We are very glad to see you,” said Dane in a whisper. “Is it safe? Are there any Germans around?”
“Yes, safe here. No German. All back there or dead,” the small native said in broken English, pointing behind the group. “I watch here. No German.”
Dane smiled and patted the native on the shoulder. “That’s great news. Thank you.” He turned to Dana and Randall and saw all smiles. “Guess you heard the news.”
“Even at a whisper, it sounded like a cry from the mountain tops,” said Randall. “I am so damned relieved, thanks to you, Dane.” Randall reached over and gave Dana a huge hug. “I think we have finally made it, babe.”
“Okay, okay, that’s enough of that until we can find you guys a room,” Dane joked with a smile. “We need to move along to our rendezvous.” Inside Dane felt a huge load release from his shoulders. They had gotten Dana and Randall out relatively unscathed. This was a day he would never forget.
With Tecal’s man leading, the group trudged through the jungle for nearly an hour until they came to the rendezvous point. As they burst through the jungle bushes into the clearing they saw Ben, Tim and Tecal sitting under a large Kapok tree.
“Ben!” cried Dana as she recognized their base camp manager. She ran into his arms as he was standing up.
“Damn glad to see you, Dana, and you too, Randall,” said Ben, smiling from ear to ear. “Lee will be ecstatic when she sees you two.” Ben shook hands with Randall as Dana hung around Ben’s neck. Dana began to sob, tears flowing down her face.
“Oh, Ben, it was awful. Manolo is dead. They killed him for no reason. Plain shot him in the head,” she explained. Ben’s face went from happiness to doom. He had loved Manolo like a son. Now he was gone. He fought
to maintain his strength even with tears welling up in his eyes.
“That’s okay, Dana. That’s okay. We’ll talk about that later,” he croaked.
Dane looked around. “Any sign of Hugo?” he asked, realizing his best friend was not present.
“No, we haven’t heard anything. I feel no news is good news in his case,” said Ben, releasing Dana. Tim walked over with Tecal.
“Damn, that is you, Tim,” remarked Randall, grabbing Tim’s hand and giving it a good shake. Then they hugged each other. “I couldn’t recognize you in that getup.”
Dana gave Tim a big hug as well. “How the hell did you get here?”
“I heard you had a party going on,” smiled Tim. “You know me, never one to miss a good party.”
“You are hurt,” said Dana, seeing all of the blood on Tim’s face and temporary bandage.
“It’s just a nick that bled a good bit. We couldn’t leave you two out there without trying to find you,” Tim said with a huge smile. “Wait until we get back to the base camp. There are more folks there.”
“And Tecal,” said Dana quietly, reaching out and stroking Tecal’s head. “Thank you, Tecal. Thank you very much for coming to help us.”
Tecal smiled widely, baring his blackened teeth. “Missy Dana, we very happy you okay.” She gave him a big hug as well.
Dane’s thoughts turned toward Hugo. With no word, he must still be in the fray. When he last saw him he was still deep within the complex. He knew Hugo could take care of himself; he had proven that many times before. But this was different. He had absolutely no contact with his best friend. He looked at his watch. It was 11:30 a.m. He instinctively looked up to find the sun to validate the time. The sun was hard to see through the jungle canopy, but he could tell it was directly overhead. At least he knew his Omega watch was nonetheless keeping time.