by John Foster
West and his team ran forward and saw that many of the vapor creatures were streaming out of a side room not far ahead and were moving in the direction that the Terrans were coming from.
“I wonder where they’re going in such a big hurry,” said Curt watching them warily move down the passageway.
“I don’t know but if the Sovar are after us and we can assume they probably are, they’ll enjoy the company that’s going to greet them,” said West as he ran down the darkened passageway.
“That chamber the vapors are coming out of may be some kind of control room and may be the place we’re looking for. Get your weapons ready, whatever these Nafti are, they’re a nasty bunch and we’ll need to be prepared,” said West.
They paused at the doorway and waited for West to continue, “We’ll cover the door with Curt and Volkum on either side. Cesar and I will enter with weapons drawn and out of your lines of sight. Anything that moves gets blasted. Any questions?” asked West. Seeing them shake their heads, West checked his weapon and made ready and as quietly as possible they moved the last few steps down the corridor. There was a faint light coming from the ceiling of the cave and it was apparent it was some type of fungus that had an iridescence.
If what happened to Curt was any indication they could be in serious trouble if there were many captives in that room. And if the clones or lizard creatures were armed, it might be the end of their little expedition. They approached the door and it was almost dark inside but they could see something or someone highlighted in the room with faint sounds coming from it. Curt and Volkum took up positions on either side of the door and Amal prepared a globe light that she would throw into the room blinding their opponents and giving them the edge they would need to confront whatever lay ahead.
West nodded his head and yelled, “Now!”
Amal threw the light into what she thought might be the middle of the room, West and Cesar darted into the room on opposite sides of the door as they had planned. As their eyes adjusted they could see a lone man in an odd bulky vest of some sort standing in the middle of the room facing them and whose head was covered with long dirty hair which was shaking and tossing as if he were having some type of fit. West aimed his pistol and could hear the man muttering to himself or whispering to them but it looked as if the man were screaming but only whispers were coming out. The other team members filed in watching the man from the edges of the room. West approached and saw that there was something familiar about the man although he was terribly emaciated and dirty. The vest the man was wearing was clean and neat and West started to look at it carefully realizing that while the man was shaking his head and mouthing sounds, he was not moving, not one inch. Madison was inching towards the side of West looking at the captive in front of them with a look of puzzlement on her face. West glanced towards her and said, “Something about him?” Madison nodded her head and continued to look at the obviously distraught man. Amal looked at the human and then around them at the various instruments and components and said, “It’s some kind of laboratory.”
The man in front of them continued to whisper frantically and then gasp for air as he spoke. West and Madison continued to look at him and then Madison put her hand to her mouth, “My gawd, it’s Thomas!” and then ran to him and hugged him. West taken aback at the suddenness of the outburst immediately saw that it was indeed Thomas, now delivered from the dead.
“Thomas! You’re alive!” yelled West. West could see that Thomas, with sunken, red rimmed eyes, was crying and looking more and more distraught. West could see and sense that there was more to this than they knew and drew Madison from Thomas who suddenly looked relieved.
“Thomas, what’s wrong? Can you move?” asked West, seeing how haggard, gaunt, and disheveled he was.
Madison looked up at West as if sensing his sudden detachment and now worried that she had missed something.
They could hear Thomas whispering to them in a hoarse coarse voice, “You must leave immediately, I’m wearing a bomb of some kind.”
“What?” asked West backing away a step.
Thomas only could shake his head, tears flowing as he tried to mouth more words. “The monster told me that pulling the blue ring would disarm the bomb but I believe that it will actually detonate it. He’s a monster and I don’t believe that he was truthful. You must leave and leave now,” said Thomas in a tortured voice.
Madison leaned forward and started to grab the blue ring to pull it but West caught her hands and stopped her.
“Wait, you wait, you understand!” shouted West at Madison his eyes fixed on her. She looked flustered at this sudden outburst.
“No, don’t you understand, this is the way to free him! We must pull the ring and get him out of here.”
“No, this is too easy and from what Amal said this is the kind of trick they would pull,” said West looking to Amal for confirmation.
Amal nodded her head and said, “Yes, they would do this and kill all or most of us at the same time. This is precisely the tactic they would use,” said Amal, her face dark and severe.
Madison shook her hands free of West and swung to face him, “You’re just going to let him die? Just stand there and let him blow up. We’ll I’m not going to,” and she reached again for the blue ring but West stopped her and pulled her back to Volkum.
“Volkum, take Madison outside so I can take a look at this vest and the rest of you leave too in case this goes up.” At these words, Madison struggled against Volkum and yelled at West, as she was pulled from the room, “You can’t leave him here, you can’t, I’ve already lost him once, I won’t allow it,” she screamed at him. West nodded at Volkum and then with Cesar’s help took her out in the passageway. He could hear her still yelling at him and his stomach knotted.
West turned to Thomas and could see that he was looking calm and contented.
“You’re right, she’ll understand eventually that you were right. They mean to kill me and as many of you as they can. The Nafti said that the ring could only be pulled after five minutes of you walking in,” Thomas croaked out the words in a harsh grating sound. “That time will be up soon and the device will explode. You must leave now, I’m content that I’ve done my job.” Thomas’s eyes were firm and his mouth set. “At least I got to say goodbye, this time.” West looked over the vest and could not see any wires or other control mechanisms. West circled him looking for a means to disarm the device. “You must go, the time is almost up and you’ve got a bigger job to do. If the bomb doesn’t go off then you can try to rescue me again, but it will blow up, the Nafti are brilliant and mad.” Thomas’s head drooped and he looked up one final time and then said, “Goodbye.”
“I have to try,” said West as he continued to look over the odd vest.
“The vapor creatures have left, they are key to the Nafti conversion of their captives, they wouldn’t leave them here to die and that’s why there are none here now. That’s how I know he was lying, you have to leave and leave now!”
West hugged him and then ran for the door and was knocked through it as the device detonated filling the hallway with debris and broken rock. Madison crumpled to the ground. Volkum and Cesar picked her up by the arms and started to lead her away down the darkened corridor.
Tuslo heard the explosion in the distance and turned and looked back down the corridor they had just transited and laughed as he said to himself, “Till we meet again.”
Captain Petrov and his men stood still when they heard the distant explosion down the narrowing passageway. When nothing else was forthcoming they started in a dead run to see what was happening.
West and his party were also running. Madison had shaken loose from Volkum and Cesar and was moving on her own but wouldn’t speak to West or any of the others. West caught her eye once and her grimace felt like a hammer crushing hope. After that she wouldn’t acknowledge him or speak. She just looked determined and followed Curt and Volkum.
Amal sensed a change in the air after half
an hour of running, jogging, and running. They stopped for a short break and Amal said, “I feel a breeze from the direction we’re headed. We’re on the right track to leave here.”
West bent over and holding his hands to his knees, nodded in agreement, “At least we’ve gotten one good break.”
“Ready?” the squad nodded except Madison who would only look at the darkened wall in front of her. West looked at her, sighed, and then said, “Right, let’s get out of here.”
In a short while they could see sunlight beaming into the passage and they ran harder to gain that moment of sun even though an alien one. At the entrance, they slowed and Volkum crawled out of the cave and scouted the area. He soon returned and reported, “It’s open woodland with trees and, in the distance, is the City where the Paradig is.”
“Alright, we’re going to move from tree to tree and only if there is no air traffic, if you see a fighter, then duck into cover or fall flat if you can’t make it. Cover yourself with anything to blend in to the environment. One more thing, Cesar lay a grenade at the entrance tied to a trip wire that will slow down the pursuit,” said West.
Madison looked up at him while he was talking, her face flushed and her voice quaking, said “Haven’t you blown up enough people today?” and with that she turned and started to run towards the city. Cesar looked to West and simply nodded and then set about setting up the grenade.
When Cesar was finished, they moved out in single file without speaking. Each was exhausted but at least they had some hope they’d find safety and help back in the City. They eventually could see the tail of Paradig just jutting out over a hill next to the City.
“We’re almost there,” said West to the others, they were all grim faced as they continued their journey.
After several hours of traveling the weary team dragged themselves to the crest of a little hill and looked down into the city and at the Paradig that was sitting before them. West could see people moving about and was about to yell down to them when he realized that they weren’t his crew but Sovar troopers marching into a smoking Paradig. His ship had been captured by the Sovar.
THE BATTLE OF THE ALAMO
Dragaan stood in the bridge of the Paradig and surveyed the equipment scattered about the various consoles. The Terran Captain, a person called West had abandoned the craft and Dragaan thought he knew why. If West had decided to defend the ship, it would now be a wreck and never fly again. Left alone, there was always the chance that the Terrans could take it back and escape. This was not going to happen, at least not as long as Dragaan was alive. Most of the ship’s computer banks had been scrubbed and there was not much intelligence that could be salvaged. It was apparent that the crew had taken refuge in the below ground corridors and passages that Dragaan’s men had detected when they arrived. As to where the earth crew had gained entrance to the subterranean complex was not much of a mystery. The anti-aircraft weapons on the roofs and scattered about on the ground had given ample evidence of their escape hole. The weapons platforms had not fired since they were controlled from the Paradig. The Sovar troopers were forming up next to the red building preparing to breach it and force their way in. Dragaan had started with 100 men and they were now down 10 plus the patrol he had sent after West and his party. They had not heard from the patrol and their status was unknown.
The whereabouts of West and where the tunnels went was also unknown and it would be impossible to predict where they might emerge. Dragaan didn’t like the idea of such a resourceful group behind him when he forced his way into the underground tunnels and eliminated the Terrans below him. His ships were under constant attack in orbit by the Soshi and would soon be forced to leave the area if they sustained too much damage. The earth agent had reported that they had been seeking an alien ship, that it was located underground, and Dragaan was determined to stay as long as possible until he had secured the ship and hopefully the weapon.
The signals officer approached and saluted, “Message from Captain Petrov, Commander.”
“Read it to me.”
“The enemy have escaped into the desert about 5 ground units from the city and are likely headed in your direction. We have sustained three casualties from a booby trap and are returning to the city to rejoin your attack group. Message terminated.”
Dragaan turned to his senior officer and said, “Order a patrol to recon the area between us and the desert.” Pointing to the hill looking down at the Paradig. Dragaan walked to the ship entrance with the officer and peered at the hills wondering how close the Terrans were. The Officer saluted and walked down the ramp and started to assemble a patrol. Dragaan gave instructions to the signal officer to relay their current position to Captain Petrov so that they could join up.
The Troop Ship Captain approached Dragaan and saluted, and said, “Sir, we have searched the ship and found nothing of real use or value.”
“Very good Captain, continue to see if you can make repairs.”
“Oh, one more thing, we found an alien skeleton in some kind of laboratory near the cargo bay of the Terran ship. It has some kind of thick crust on the bones. Do you want me to incinerate it?”
Dragaan raised his head a little and tapped his chin with his finger, and then said, “No, leave it alone for now. We may wish to study it ourselves at some point.”
“Very good, Commander,” said the Captain who saluted and turned and walked away.
West and the team watched as the Sovar patrol started to form up. “Hmmm... I think they’re going to be visiting this area soon. We’d better get out of here,” said West looking around the small hill they were on.
“Where we going, Chief? And how are we going to get to the Cyclops?” asked Cesar looking anxiously around.
“First things first and that means getting off this hill and down into the city.”
Looking around the hill they were on and the various buildings below them, West realized that once they made it into the city it would be difficult to be found but finding an alternate entrance to the alien ship was going to be much more difficult.
“Okay, we’re going to move down this hill to the left and then crouch down and move to the dunes that are encroaching on those low buildings to the left. Once we get there, we’ll develop the next step. Volkum you go first and find the best way.”
Volkum nodded and moved off running fast in a crouch position with his weapon out.
“The rest follow and I’ll bring up the rear with Curt,” said West.
Madison got up, dusted off the dirt from her arms and without looking at West moved to follow Volkum. West watched her and shook his head. Cesar was standing next to West and watched the scene play out, “She’ll come around.”
“I hope so, we need to band together right now and I need her,” said West. He desperately wanted her to be as before, but he knew that Thomas’s death had changed that, possibly forever. He sighed and wondered if their friendship would ever be right again.
Volkum had stopped between two low buildings that the dunes had started to cover and had hidden from anyone on the street in front. The rest of the team assembled and they all hunkered down in a circle to discuss the next steps. West took out his HDA and started to scroll through some of the menus. He stopped and then laid out his HDA in his palm so that everyone could see it.
“This is approximately where we are now.” Pointing to a spot on the device, “This is the red building here,” again pointing to another spot, “This is the overlay of the radar scans we took the first day on the square and the area up to the red building.”
“But we don’t have scans of this area,” said Madison who spoke but didn’t look at West.
West was relieved that Madison joined the conversation, and pressed on, “Right, but look at these vertical shafts from the edge of the square where the Cyclops is, and the red building where the main shaft is to the ship.”
“How does that help us? We’re not near the Red building,” said Cesar.
“Don’t you
see these vertical shafts are repeating as you get farther from the square. It means there’re shafts all over the place that reach the passages that go below the one we used to reach the Cyclops. You can see here that the deeper tunnels are all connected. We can use the HDA to guide us in the right direction and then we might be able to find another shaft that will take us to the area of the Cyclops and we can search for another entrance or as a last resort use the original entrance that we found.”
“What about the lizard men? What if they’re still down there?” asked Madison sounding alarmed and looking at West.
“We’re better armed than they, but ultimately we don’t have a choice. Conversely, we know the Sovar are better armed and trained than we are, and so I see this as the only option.”
Curt spoke out, “I know I’m not the team leader but I’m with West, we need to get out of here, there’s a patrol that will find our tracks soon and this looks like our best shot.”
They all turned when they heard the shouts of men coming their way.
“Well, decision made,” said Volkum looking glumly in the direction of the noise.
Knowing there were shafts, and where they were, were two different things, as they soon found out. West wasn’t too concerned about the patrol finding them as there were hundreds, if not thousands of buildings in this part of the city and it was but a matter of keeping out of sight and a bit of luck. They eventually found a street or wide boulevard, with stately buildings on either side that appeared to be either government or research facilities. Inside the structures the rooms were uniform, complete with furniture consisting of tables and chairs, and looked as if the place had just been abandoned. The heavy dust and sand were mute testimony that the evacuation had occurred in the distant past. Both West and Madison bumped into each other more than once when they entered a room and saw equipment or items that could be valuable sources of information on the Kaa’s culture as they ran to these tables and looked at the items. Although they were in a hurry and Madison was still shocked by the death of Thomas, the impulse to examine alien technology was too great to ignore and they would start to look the devices over. When they would do this, Amal would hiss at them to hurry.