“I thought so too, but it’s not unheard of, especially on some of the more isolated stations. The shield access code has been sent to us from ADF HQ, so we should be able to lower the station’s defensive screens from up here.”
Sheridan was becoming uneasy. Something in the back of his mind told him to tread lightly. “Sir, how many Marines do you have onboard?”
“Including you two gents, I have nine,” said Barnes.
Cole shook his head. “Let’s hope we don’t bump into any opposition down there. Sir, can you spare a couple of medics? There could be injured personnel who require assistance.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem.”
Sheridan stood. “Sir, if you’ll excuse Master Sergeant Cole and me, I think we’ll head to the launch bay to suit up and begin our battle procedure prior to deploying.”
Barnes stood and offered Sheridan his hand. “Good luck, Captain.”
“Thanks, sir,” replied Sheridan as he shook the Captain’s hand. “Let’s hope we don’t need it.”
Thirty minutes later, the shuttlecraft containing Sheridan’s people touched down on the base’s landing pad. With no way to be sure if the life support was still active, everyone inside the crew compartment was dressed in self-contained survival suits.
Sheridan spoke into his helmet mic, “Okay, Private Donatelli, see if you can activate the docking arm from in here.”
“Right, sir,” responded a young Marine sitting at a computer terminal.
Cole unbuckled himself from his seat, moved over to the door, and looked over at the airlock. A couple of seconds later, he reported, “It’s moving.” He turned and looked over at the inexperienced Marines he had met barely a half hour ago. “Stand up and ensure your weapons are on safe. Remember, this is a rescue mission. Whatever happens in there, make sure that you follow Captain Sheridan’s orders to the letter.”
The docking arm touched the side of the shuttle and locked in place. “Pressurize the passageway,” ordered Sheridan.
Donatelli gave a thumbs-up.
Sheridan moved over beside Cole and saw that the control panel by the door showed green. He pressed a button. The door slid open. Sheridan, as always, went first. At the other end of the passageway, he tried turning the handle on the airlock door but found it wouldn’t open. He spoke into his mic, “Donatelli, can you open the airlock?”
“I’ve tried, sir,” replied the young Marine. “For some reason I can’t access the airlock from my terminal.”
Sheridan stepped back. He locked eyes with a man behind him, pointed at the door, and said, “Open it.”
The Marine nodded. With a large metal key in his hands he moved to the door and inserted it in the manual release. After a couple of turns, the door opened. Another Marine with a handheld scanner walked to the entrance and moved his device through the air. She looked over her shoulder at Sheridan. “Sir, the atmosphere is breathable. I’m not picking up anything harmful on my scanner.”
“That maybe so, but until I say, no one is to remove their helmets,” replied Sheridan. He moved the two Marines by the door to one side and stepped inside the installation. The corridor was well lit. When he didn’t see any immediate signs of opposition, Sheridan moved aside to allow the rest of his team access.
“Okay, I’ll take first squad and one of the medics with me to the right,” said Sheridan. “Master Sergeant Cole, second squad, and the other medic will check things out to the left. We’ll RV somewhere in the middle. Remember people, no shooting unless fired upon!”
With that, Sheridan led his team down the corridor. It didn’t take them long to find the ghastly aftermath of the attack. Bodies with holes shot through them were found just outside of their living quarters. It was obvious that they hadn’t stood a chance against whoever had attacked the base.
Sheridan stopped and keyed his mic. “Sydney, this is Sheridan, we’ve found some of the installation’s pers. They look like they were shot to death.”
“Shot by who?” asked Barnes.
“I don’t know. But judging by the wounds, whoever did this knew what they were doing. I’m heading for the control room to see what I can learn from the base’s computers.”
“Roger that. Keep me informed.”
Cole entered the conversation. “Same thing back here, sir. Everyone is dead.”
A chill ran down Sheridan’s spine. He had heard of people snapping and killing all of their fellow crewmen on isolated posts. The thought of a killer still at large on the base made him grow wary. “Okay, people, I want all of you to be careful. There could be a killer hidden somewhere on the base. Follow your rules of engagement. Non-lethal weapons followed by lethal for self-defense only.”
He pointed down the corridor and continued his search of the base. They passed a few more bodies before they made it to the command center. Sheridan and the medic moved inside covered by the rest of the Marines. They found Oliver’s body slumped over a computer console with a knife sticking out of the side of his head.
Cole and his team soon arrived at the door. He made sure a perimeter was set up before walking over to Sheridan’s side. “Captain, how many bodies did your people find?”
“Including this one, seventeen.”
“We found eighteen, so by my count, that’s all of them.”
Sheridan shook his head. “This doesn’t look right. If this person is to blame, why didn’t he just shoot himself? I’ve never heard of anyone committing suicide by jamming a knife into the side of their head.”
“Nor I. But stranger things have happened. I once heard of a guy who used an industrial laser to cut himself in half.”
“Did anyone ever tell you that you’re full of cheery stories?”
Cole shrugged.
Captain Barnes cut in. “Mister Sheridan, Where are you right now?”
“Sir, we’re in the command center. The base is dead, there are no survivors.”
“Have you touched anything in there?” There was anxiety in Barnes’ voice.
Sheridan and Cole exchanged a puzzled look before responding. “No, sir. We just got here. Is something wrong?”
“We’ve been ordered to cease our rescue mission and depart the station immediately.”
Curiosity got the better of Sheridan. “Sir, who has ordered us to stop?”
“The order comes directly from ADF Headquarters. The destroyer, Amazon, has arrived in orbit to take over the investigation. A team is already on the way down to the base.”
“That’s fast,” mouthed Cole.
“Roger that, sir. We’re on our way back to the shuttle,” said Sheridan.
“The shuttle won’t be there,” explained Barnes. “I had to have it moved so the team from the Amazon could use the landing pad.”
“Couldn’t they wait five minutes?”
“Evidently not.”
At the airlock, Sheridan watched as a shuttle capable of carrying a platoon of Marines landed. He couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about. There was no one left alive to rescue.
“Here they come,” announced Cole as the door to the shuttle opened and a group of Marines in survival suits emerged. Behind the lead pair was a small six-wheeled transport. On it was a sturdy-looking container.
“Open the airlock,” ordered Sheridan.
Cole pressed a button and the door slid aside.
Right away, Sheridan could see that this was no ordinary rescue team. The man leading them was a full colonel. “Good day, sir. I am Captain Michael Sheridan. My Marines and I have been ordered to hand over the investigation to you and your people.”
“That is correct,” replied the colonel. “Were there any survivors?”
“Not a one, sir.”
“What state is the command center in?”
“Aside from a Lieutenant with a knife sticking out of his head, I’d have to say that it looks undisturbed, sir.”
The colonel stepped close. Sheridan felt himself become uncomfortable as the senior officer stared at him through his h
elmet’s faceplate. “Did you or your people touch anything in there? Anything at all, Captain?”
“No, sir. We had just arrived when we were ordered to leave.”
“Then you are relieved, Captain. Once my team has transferred over here, I will have my ship depart so your shuttle can land and you can leave. I have informed Captain Barnes that you and your Marines should go through decontamination protocols before you take off your suits. It may seem a bit much to you, but I thought it best to err on the side of caution.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Make room,” said Cole to the Marines standing in the hallway.
Sheridan stepped back against the wall and stood there as the colonel led his team down the corridor in the direction of the control room. He felt someone nudge his arm. He turned his head and saw Cole motioning with his head at a couple of men from the rescue team who were carrying large metal boxes in their hands. Sheridan’s eyes widened when he saw the symbol for biological hazard painted on the side of the cases. In an instant, he knew whatever had happened here was far larger than just the murder of the base’s personnel. Something else was at play. What it was, he had no idea, but it seemed to have the attention of a lot of high-ranking officers and now, Sheridan as well.
Chapter 3
After several hours in his survival suit, Sheridan was more than happy to crawl out of it and get cleaned up. Sydney’s hangar bay had been turned into a makeshift decontamination center. Each Marine had to walk through a series of ultraviolet lights and chemical absorbent gel-wash stations until they could safely remove their survival suits. As he had expected, there wasn’t a single trace of a biological or chemical agent on any of his personnel or their equipment. Sheridan and Cole went through the process last. They waited until they had the shower area to themselves so they could talk in private.
“What a waste of perfectly good suits,” griped Cole. “After this cleansing they’ll be good for nothing.”
“Better safe than sorry,” said Sheridan, scrubbing his face with a washcloth. The warm water washing over his face felt good. “I wonder what was down there?”
Cole shrugged. “Dunno. Not sure I want to know either. I always get creeped out when I see people walking around with biohazard markings on their kit.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t see anything on the base that would have made me think they were testing or designing bioagents.”
“Think about it, sir. They were really insistent about getting us out of the control center and off the base as quick as they could. I’m willing to bet that there’s more to the installation than meets the eye.”
Sheridan turned his shower off and grabbed a towel. “I wonder if Captain Barnes knows what’s going on?”
Cole turned off the tap and ran a hand over his face. “Let it go, Captain. It’s not our problem anymore. In case you’ve forgotten, we’ve got bigger fish to fry back home on Earth.”
“I hadn’t forgotten about Harry. It’s just that something odd is going on, and I’d like to know what it is.”
Cole shook his head. He knew when Sheridan got fixated on something he would not let go of it until he had his answer. “Finish toweling off and get dressed. I’m famished and we still need to come up with a plan.”
Sheridan tossed his towel into a bin with the others. “A plan for what?”
“Sir, I still stand by my assertion that you’re the brightest officer I’ve ever worked with, but sometimes you miss the glaringly obvious. Mister Williams knows we’re coming. Hell, he practically sent you an invitation when he allowed himself to be filmed during the assassination attempt outside of ADF Headquarters. He could have masked himself, but he didn’t. If we get off this ship when it docks in Earth’s orbit and return to Earth on a scheduled shuttle run, we’ll never make it to the surface alive. In my humble opinion, the intelligence spooks at HQ have seriously underestimated the threat from these Chosen sleeper agents. I willing to bet your pension that they’re everywhere.”
Sheridan was speechless. Cole could be a bit of a conspiracy theorist from time to time, but on this he had to agree with him. He had been so consumed with Tarina and her friend’s fate that he hadn’t stopped to think what he and Cole were going to do when they reached Earth.
“I take it by the stunned look on your face that I’m right,” said Cole, reveling in the moment. “Now get dressed. I want a bite to eat before we make our escape.”
Sheridan hurried after Cole. “What escape?”
“It’s all part of the plan that I haven’t told you about yet.”
“When were you planning on sharing your grandiose plan with me, Master Sergeant?”
“After dinner, naturally.”
Back in their cramped quarters, Sheridan and Cole sat down on their cots and drank from the mugs of coffee they had brought back from the ship’s galley.
Sheridan glanced at his watch. “As we’re going to be docking at the Tranquility Station Spaceport in the just over thirty minutes time, I was wondering if you would like to share your cunningly brilliant plan with me.”
Cole set his cup down. “The way I see it, we need to keep ourselves in the shadows as much as possible. If we go about our business as members of the ADF, we’ll be easy to find and track. However, if we disappear and stay hidden then perhaps we can get a leg up on Mister Williams and his cohorts.”
“I’m sorry, you’re losing me.”
“It’s simple, sir. We take a page from the enemy’s playbook. I know some less than reputable people who can set us up with new identities. We can obtain fake identification cards and contact lenses to hide who we truly are. I bet he can also provide us with some micro-jammers to mess with the police scanners and cameras.”
“And just who are these people?”
“Let’s just say, I know a few ex-Marines who were turfed from the service for stealing military property and subsequently selling it on the black market.”
“Can you trust them?”
Cole shook his head. “Probably not, but they’re not Chosen agents, of that I’m sure. Their only allegiance is to the almighty credit.”
“Okay, say we go along with your plan. What about Admiral Oshiro? He’s expecting us to report into Fleet HQ.”
Cole smiled and handed Sheridan his tablet. “Write a note to your dad and let him know you’ve decided to take a vacation and that you’ll contact him when the time is right. I’m sure he’ll read between the lines and let Admiral Oshiro know what’s up.”
“If as you say the Chosen are monitoring everything, won’t they come to the same conclusion?”
“Yeah, but there’s nothing they can do about it. By the time they and your father get the message, we’ll already be gone.”
Sheridan’s head was swimming. It was clear that Cole had been thinking about this for some time. “Gone where and how?”
“We’re going to Russia, and we’re going to get there the most direct way possible.”
Sheridan stood. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I would never make light of a sub-orbital jump. You’re lucky that I couldn’t get my hands on a couple of sets of high-orbit jump gear or we’d be jumping from over one hundred kilometers up. As it is, we’re going borrow an escape pod and jump from it when we’re about sixty kilometers above the Earth’s surface. We’ll free fall for a couple of minutes before deploying our chutes and gliding the rest of the way down.”
“I’ve only done this a couple of times before and it has never been from that height.”
Cole placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Consider this on the job training, Captain.”
Sheridan was speechless as he followed Cole down into the depths of the ship so they could use a pod without being observed.
Twenty minutes later the ship’s XO’s voice came over the PA system. “All hands, we have come out of our jump and will be docking at Tranquility Station in the next ten minutes. All those going ashore should assemble in the hangar immediately.”
&nb
sp; “That’s our cue to leave,” said Cole as he opened a panel on the wall and deactivated the failsafe to prevent the pod from being launched without clearance by the ship’s computer. Next, he reprogrammed the pod to allow a manual launch. Cole smiled when the pod’s door opened and the alarm didn’t go off. As far as the people on the bridge were concerned, the escape craft was still working as it should. Designed to hold fifteen people, an escape pod could be programmed to land on a planet’s surface or act as a life raft for several days, giving the crew time to be rescued.
“Where did you learn that little trick?” asked Sheridan, following his friend inside the pod.
“After a few drinks, a friend of mine once bet me that I couldn’t hotwire an escape pod. He lost and I won a case of Scotch, which in my younger days did not last very long.”
Both had changed into high-altitude jump clothing. Built to withstand the bitter cold, the suits had slender rebreathers built into them to allow the jumper to breath during the long descent. While Cole inputted the craft’s flight plan, Sheridan moved over to a window and looked outside. He smiled when he saw the blue glow of the Earth below them. After over a year away fighting the Kurgans, it was a welcome sight. Just off to their left was the Tranquility Station, a mid-sized city in space. Built like a giant spinning wheel with arms that connected to a tall central hub, the spaceport was home to over a quarter of a million people. There were dozens of docking ports spread throughout the spaceport. Sheridan grimaced when he looked below the station and spotted three carriers and more than twenty of the fleet’s larger capital ships either in the spacedock or waiting their turn to be repaired. The fight to hold onto the outer colonies was not going as well as he had thought.
“Okay, I’m done,” announced Cole.
“What’s our flight plan?”
Cole moved over by the window. Below them, they could see the glare from the enormous solar-power plants covering most of what had been the desolate regions of the Arabian Desert. It combined with two other ones in the Gobi and Sahara to supply power to billions of people around the world.
Vengeance (The Kurgan War Book 4) Page 2