Neptune's Massif

by Ben Winston

  The one thing that no one had counted on was the discovery that the freighter wasn't just an oil tanker. That is to say, it was set up to haul a substantial amount of crude oil, but that wasn’t the only thing it was taking away from Earth.

  Several Lampreys equipped with sensor pods had been fired into the area to get a good read on the ship and the base. Because of the rock shelf running over the base, a full schematic of the base wasn't possible, but most of the command and control areas were thought to have been mapped. Sensors did show several large tunnels leading away from the main base and deeper into the sea floor.

  However, what got the most attention was the large caverns full of cryogenic equipment that was being loaded into the freighter. No one needed to be told what was in those cryo-units.

  After putting the team on ready alert, Alan called Ty and asked that Ian be included in the call. It surprised Ty since this would be the first time Alan and Ian had actually spoken, but this was obviously something Alan felt was critically important.

  When both men were finally on the comm, Alan asked Andreya to share the detailed report of their recon mission.

  "Gentlemen, we were able to get a good reading on the ship, and the parts of the base closest to the surface. So we should have a good idea what to hit and how to do it. However, the reason I'm calling in person is because of these," Alan said and highlighted the areas in question.

  "Andreya tells me these are large storage areas filled with cryogenic stasis equipment that is being loaded into the freighter. Each cryo-pod has a human in it. These bastard are kidnapping hundreds of people every trip. If that freighter gets destroyed in orbit as per our original plan, all those people will be killed. I feel we need to move now; before that ship departs the base," Alan replied.

  "Fuck!" Ian replied. "We had an idea they might be taking a few people, but nothing on this scale. This changes things. I can send you about a battalion of Marines if you need them. Ty, what do you have we might be able to send him?"

  "Nothing that can get there in time, Admiral. If they are on schedule, that freighter will be departing in the next six hours... Hang on a sec." He turned and typed something on his console. "Control, get me Orion, priority right now!"

  "Aye Sir!"

  "Orion here, what's up Colonel?" a male voice asked.

  "Change course and go to full emergency speed, head for the mid-Atlantic Ocean on Earth. Commander on station will be Lieutenant Commander Alan Carlson of the Poseidon. He will brief you in transit. You’re not set up for this, so you'll be slower than he is, but he'll need the help."

  "Orders understood, course and speed changed. Two hours, twenty minutes to splash down, Colonel."

  "The faster the better, Orion. Carlson will call you as soon as I finish talking to him. Anders out." Ty looked back to the screen with Ian and Alan on it. "I forgot the Orion was on the way back from a Phoenix refit."

  "I appreciate the help, Ty, but we read several hundred human life signs down there," Alan added.

  "I see that, Commander," Ian said. "I'm working on it. We might have to bring the pods up to the moon to open them, that way we'll have the medical center there if they need it. These tunnels leading off and down look like mines. That means that some of the humans down there are not in the pods. Everything I've heard about how the Caldarians treat their slaves tells me you are going to need serious medical assistance, too. I'm trying to get as many shuttles as I can ready, I'll stuff them full of Marines for the trip down, and they can deal with the wounded first for the trip back. We'll work the rest of this out after we know what we are facing.

  "Lieutenant Commander Carlson, this mission is hereby authorized on your discretion. Raptor mandates apply. Alan, you do whatever you need to do down there to ensure the safe retrieval of those people. That is now your mission objective. Securing the base is secondary. If you need anything else, call Star Dancer Control or Phoenix Base and order it." Ian sighed. "I would have wished to meet you under better circumstances, Alan. This is a nightmare you're about to dive into; make sure your people are ready for it."

  "How do you mean, Sir?" Alan asked.

  Ian looked him in the eyes. "If even half of what we have heard is true, then you will be literally entering Hell when you go into those mines, Alan. The Caldarian slave masters don't even consider humans to be living beings. Punishments were very harsh and cruelty is unknown to them. Any images you might have seen of Hell in books or whatnot could very well seem like a comic book compared to what might be down there." Ian said.

  Alan sighed and nodded. "I understand Sir, I'll try to warn my people. I'll have Andreya coordinate with Phoenix Base for the wounded. With your permission, Sirs, I need to get this mission planned and rolling."

  Ian nodded. "Good Luck, Alan, and I do really mean it."

  Alan nodded his understanding.

  "Raptor Control, Raptor Poseidon is on mission; details to follow. List Orion as assisting," Ty said over the other channel. He turned back to Alan. "This one is going to bad, my brother. Remember, Caldarians don't surrender, ever."

  "Understood," Alan replied. "Admiral, the Caldarian Ambassador warned of a potential self-destruct in this base. Considering the Caldarians love of really big firecrackers, anything on the surface could be in danger if they detonate before we pull this off."

  Ian nodded. "Thanks for the reminder, I'll make sure the appropriate people are warned, but frankly, I doubt the ships will be able to get out of the area in time, if there are any there. Just don't let them detonate, okay?"

  Mid-Atlantic Rift

  Atlantic Ocean

  Near Neptune's Massif

  Planet Earth

  Sol System, Sol Sector

  Alan sighed as he watched the Raptor Orion link up with Poseidon fifty miles to the south and two-thousand feet below the surface of the ocean. Typing on his command computer, he switched to a scan of the surface for two hundred miles from their target.

  He shook his head as he counted nine contacts in that area. The problem was that they were close enough to Norfolk and New York that the US Navy and Coast Guard would be patrolling the waters. There were also three or four major shipping routes that crossed the danger area. There was simply no way anyone was going to keep those ships out of the area. Not when they had cargoes to deliver.

  The most concerning contacts Alan could see were the two US Navy Attack subs that were patrolling the area. Currently the subs were too far away to detect anything here, but if something went wrong, and either of those two detected anything, they could expect the entire fleet out of Norfolk to be parked right on top of them in short order.

  Time was running out.

  Alan had allowed enough time for the Orion to arrive and get into a position where they could assist, and Alan was procrastinating. Sensors indicated that the huge Theta-4 freighter was almost full and would be departing the base soon. If that happened all the people it might be carrying were as good as dead.

  "Bossman, Orion is on station and set. We're ready," Andreya reported.

  Alan nodded to himself. "Understood. Javelin Four, Javelin Three. are you in position?"

  'Javelin Four' was one of his team that would place explosives on the hull of the freighter in places that would disable the big ship’s engines. 'Javelin Two' would fire a special Lamprey into the control section of the base through a large window that over-looked the freighter. That special torpedo would allow Andreya to take control of the computer network eventually, but she should also be able to freeze up the system long enough to prevent the self-destruct from being activated. The base was deep enough for there to be little light from the surface, so while a freighter was docked with the base, huge flood lights illuminated the area around the docking points.

  "Javelin Three, affirmative. Ready when you are," came the reply.

  "Javelin Two; both missiles armed and ready." In order for Javelin Two to get the control package into the control room, the window would have to be blown out first. Tha
t would flood the control room, but there was no guarantee it would kill the Caldarians in the room. It was assumed that the doors would automatically close if there were a breach. If not, then Andreya would have to see to it. Andreya would be responsible for the base computer systems, while the Orion performed a full assault on the freighter; breeching the ship in what should be the engineering passageway. Poseidon would take position above the whole operation with her weapons hot. If the freighter did manage to break free of the base and try to take off, the Poseidon would prevent it.

  Fifteen shuttles, five of them Marine assault craft, from the moon base as well as Star Dancer would be waiting, sitting on the ocean floor a hundred miles to the southwest. Star Dancer would also have fighter cover deployed and was even now moving into position in orbit above the mission site. Alan needed to launch the attack before the Caldarians figured out what was going on.

  "Okay kids; don't try this at home. Go! Go! Go!" Alan said and pushed his thrust control all the way forward. Beside him the four remaining Sharks also shot forward as their magnetic engines suddenly forced water through the ducts.

  Alan and his team shot around the hull of the big freighter heading for the main lock of the base. It was a large, open bay with an airskin-like shield to hold the atmosphere in and the water out. Alan had wondered why they built this instead of a sealed lock, but it really didn't matter, and they would certainly be taking advantage of it.

  Above the ship, Javelin Two's Lampreys blew the window out of the control room just as several explosions ringed the engines of the big ship.

  "Freighter disabled. Proceeding on mission," Javelin Three reported only a fraction of a second before Javelin Two made her report.

  "Assault unit, fire stun missiles," Alan ordered and triggered his weapons. Two small missiles shot out from under each Shark and into the bay in front of them. The small missiles were designed along the lines of a flash-bang grenade only a bit more powerful. Inside the bay, only seconds before the Sharks themselves entered, there were several small explosions, knocking the beings in the bay to the floor, most of them unconscious.

  Amid the smoke from the missiles, the Sharks burst into the bay and quickly but gently dropped to the floor. Alan and another of his team ran to the main corridor entrance. The three remaining team members jumped out of their ships, grabbing their weapons, and ran for the corridor entrances. The other two officers dealt with the Caldarians and began moving the humans toward the back wall of the bay to make room for the shuttles to land. They also administered first aid as they could.

  "Main Bay secured. Marine shuttles and one med unit to the main bay," Alan ordered.

  "Base computer secured. Self-destruct is disabled. No survivors in the control room," Andreya reported.

  "Freighter computer is locked out, and Orion has isolated the cargo bays. Since it looks like these assholes can't take the pressure at this depth, I'm dumping the ship, Commander." The Orion commander, Major Geran reported.

  "Understood, just don't let it sink, we need to rescue those folks," Alan replied.

  "Will do, my team is now available, where do you need us?" Geran replied.

  "Come into the main bay, I'm showing a larger than predicted concentration of Caldarians near the mines," Alan replied.

  "Forty seconds, Commander." Geran replied.

  "Sheryl, Steve, secure the cryo units and the cargo bays holding them. Once the Marines arrive, head for the mines; we might need you."

  The two nodded and headed for a different corridor as the rest of the team finished up moving people out of the way. Just as they began moving down the corridor, a Raptor with its wings folded entered the huge bay, spun around, and landed against one of the walls. The ramp was already lowering as the ship came to rest. Orion had arrived.

  "Welcome to the party, Orion," Alan said over the comm.

  "Couldn't let you have all the fun, Bossman." The AI Orion replied as the team ran to join Alan and his four teammates.

  "Poseidon, enter the main bay and prepare to assist with the wounded. Andreya coordinate," Alan ordered and motioned everyone to move forward.

  The assault went off exactly as Alan and Andreya had planned it. The only surprise was the number of people in cryo-stasis awaiting shipment off world. Roughly twenty-three hundred men, women and children were in hibernation; many of them corresponding to open and active missing person’s cases.

  As they had planned, they were simply loaded and sent to Phoenix base for reanimation in the medical facilities there. Once they were released from the medical section, they would be offered the opportunity to join the Terrans or to be returned to Earth to resume their lives. Alan had considered these folks to be the lucky ones. The other humans found in the base... well, he didn't see how any amount of therapy would ever be enough to help them.

  Another four hundred and forty-five people were taken from the lower chambers and the mines. When Alan and his team finally made it into that chamber, Alan began to understand what Ian had tried to warn him about. Chained to the wall by their hands and feet were what was left of seven humans. Alan could only guess at sex, because everything between the collarbones and the thighs was cut open or missing completely. The layout of the base forced the rest of the slaves to walk past this grisly sight to get from their sleeping area to the work area.

  When the rescuers entered the holding facility, most of the prisoners moved back into their sleeping areas. As the team moved through the frightened people, they found several people in what appeared to be a profound state of catatonia; one was lying atop a hysterically screaming young woman. (When Andreya had flooded the base with her scans, the young woman was being assaulted by one of the ‘foremen’). When Andreya took over the computers for the base, the control signals for the implants in the 'foreman' stopped, leaving them catatonic. All of the captives were dirty and nude. They were so frightened that many seemed to be on the verge of hysteria themselves.

  “Alan, there are still about thirty or so back here in the tunnels,” one of his team reported. “I haven’t made it all the way to the bottom though, so there might be more. There seem to be a lot of different tunnels, too.”

  “All units, this is Alan; patch me through your external speakers so I can try to calm these people. Report when ready.”

  When he had received the ready signal from his team Alan took a deep breath and crossed his fingers. “May I have your attention please? We are here to rescue you. We have liberated this base from the creatures that kidnapped you. We have food and water, as well as medical personnel waiting to help you. Please follow the instructions of the men and women wearing the armored suits. Again, we are here to help you; no one will hurt you. If you need assistance, please simply ask one of us, and we will do what we can to help you. Please follow the instructions of the people in the armor; we will help you.” Alan repeated the message in a soft but firm tone, trying to gently get the people to focus on his words. When he finished he had the team return to normal comms. "Okay everyone, let’s try to get some of these people out of here and back to the shuttles. Medical, are you set up yet?”

  “Medical here, Commander; yes, we’re ready. Any idea how many will need our help?”

  “A lot! I need you to send as many litter teams as you can in here; we have about a dozen or so that can’t walk, at least that I know about. There may be more.”

  “Commander,” Major Geran said, “We are in the other mining area, we're going to need a lot of medical personnel here as well." He paused, but continued quietly. "We're going to need a lot of body bags as well."

  “Yeah, it's pretty bad over here too, Major. Try to get rid of most of the horror before the survivors have to go past them again, I'm sure it really doesn't matter, but I don't want to hurt these folks any more than we have to," Alan replied.

  "Understood and agreed, Commander. We'll get on it. Geran out."

  Some quick-thinking person put a few holodrones at all the cross corridors, so the corridor out seem
ed like one long hallway with no doors, leading straight to the larger hanger. All Alan’s team had to do was get the people to walk down the hallway. All of the horrors Alan had spoken of were covered by the holograms.

  Several drones, each pulling several hovering stretchers, followed three medtechs into the housing block. One of the medtechs approached Alan.

  “Sir, our scanners count four hundred thirty-five remaining humans here, there are several that are in critical condition. We will be getting to them first. However, these people have been far more traumatized than I'd imagined. Could you please call for a few Marines to assist us? In the condition some of these folks are in, they might attack us because they don't understand what's happening to them."

  “That’s a good idea; how many Marines do you need?” Alan asked.

  “Eight for now, Sir, I've already sent instructions that any more techs coming back here should be accompanied,” the man was looking back over his shoulder to the Raptor officers as they used their suits AG units to get the mutilated bodies off the walls. Alan could see the man was almost in tears. He put a hand on the man's shoulder. "Focus on helping them and try to ignore the horror around you. Helping these people is the important thing. For now, nothing else matters or even exists; understand?" he said gently.

  The medic nodded. "Thank you, Sir,"

  Alan nodded and the tech left. Everything seemed to happen relatively quickly after that. The people, as if in shock, simply did whatever they were told to do. The medical team set up a triage and sent the worst of the refugees ahead of the rest.

  By midnight, the only people left to rescue from the base were those in the cryo-units. Andreya had downloaded the database from the computer and was working with Elias on the moon to decode it.

  Engineers sent down from the moon, with the assistance of several drones modified for use in deep water, and disconnected the feeder line to the base from the main oil pipeline. Once that was finished, the remaining oil was removed from the tanks and returned to the United States. As it turned out, not all the people in cryo had been taken from the United States either. In fact, only about six hundred of them were American. The rest were from different countries all over the world. Even with the facilities available to the Terrans, it took the better part of a week to get all the cryo units moved up to the moon. Even then, not all of them could be removed from stasis right away. Because of the sheer numbers of people involved, it would take the better part of two months to get everyone revived and healthy enough to discharge from the medical center. Surprisingly, almost half wanted to remain as part of the new Terran society instead of returning to Earth and their old lives. They did, however, contact loved ones and planetary officials to let them know they were still alive and had chosen to remain either on the moon or were moving to one of the other facilities in the sector.