“...I know.”
“...that we need to make our next priority mission...”
“...I know all about it...”
“...While we still have the jump-ring distance...”
“...No! You’re next mission will be piloting a new CSMO to Mathilde, with a new mining crew...that’s what you’re going to do!”
“...send me and the team of MY choice to 52 Europa, and we’ll kick their asses this time!”
“Tucker!”
“General! That complex is transmitting another signal to Earth. If we don’t stop it, our friendly neighborhood cyborg will be coming to a theater near you soon...”
“TUCKER! I already know about the alien complex, and its signal. We initiated it!”
“What? Hey...whattya mean you know all about it?” Tucker gave the General a sideways glance.
“We didn’t want to tell you. We never thought you’d travel to that asteroid.”
Tucker paused for a moment, his eyes began to fluctuate a slight green hue, his blood boiled with emotion, “You mean to tell me,” he began, with gritted teeth, “that you knew all this time, there was another complex?”
“You didn’t have the security clearance.”
“No security...” Tucker paused again, his hands turning into fists, “what!?”
“Now just calm down, Colonel.”
“Calm down!?” Tucker turned to an imaginary person, “He wants me to calm down?” then he turned back to the General, “After you have me come in here and start yelling at me, that I blew this mission, you knew?!”
“What’s the matter with your eyes?”
“What about my eyes?”
“Major!” the General shouted toward his door, “You better get in here!”
Cassie wasted no time in entering McKenzie’s office, and then she saluted, “General?”
“At ease, Major. Is it my imagination? Or is there something about the Colonel’s eyes...”
Tucker faced Cassie. She took his face in her hands, returning his gaze, keeping her fear to herself, “General? I...I don’t see what you’re talking about.” She leaned close to Tucker and whispered to him that his eyes were on fire, the green fire.
“Really,” Tucker exclaimed.
“No, General,” Cass said, moving her head about as if she was concentrating on trying to see what the General saw. “I’m afraid I don’t see anything. What am I looking for?”
“Let me see,” McKenzie said, spinning Tucker around, “His eyes are turning green!”
Tucker stepped back from the General, “Sit down, General,” he ordered.
Cass looked up at Tucker, “Whattya doing, Colonel?”
“Don’t worry, Sassy. I got this.”
“What’s going on?”
“What’s going on, General, is that you’re going to allow us to carry the Salvage-5 in the new CSMO’s landing bay. I’ll have my own assault team in place. We’ll fly the CSMO to Mathilde, and get her mining ops underway. Then my team will depart and travel through the jump-ring and face off with these aliens...once and for all.”
The General returned a glazed look, “Yes, that’s exactly what I just said. You’re mission is to fly out with an assault team. Hidden on the CMSO, you’ll get the mining operation up and running. Then you go and destroy that complex.”
“I thought you’d see it my way.”
“You’ll have to wait seven months. There won’t be enough time to have a new CSMO finished before this window closes.”
“Deal. That’ll give me enough time to find Dr. Rhodes and put my team together.”
“Dr. Rhodes died before you left on this mission.”
“Presumed dead, doesn’t mean he is.”
“What do you need with the doctor?”
“I was thinking of having this chip removed in my head, but the more I think about it, the more I want to keep it.”
“Chip!?”
“Yes, chip...as in alien technology type chip...”
“Tucker, you said...” Cass interrupted.
“Never you mind, Sassy. I know what I’m doing.”
“Colonel, are you saying you’ve been chipped?”
“Yep.”
“I need to bring you to our lab, right away!”
“Sit, General,” Tucker again said with authority. An authority General McKenzie couldn’t resist.
“Now, you will let me plan the assault team mission and it will be hidden under the guise of a new CSMO mining plant.”
“Yes...I understand...” the General replied, once again mesmerized by Tucker’s voice.
“You will not remember anything else about this meeting...”
“Right...”
“Only the mission...you will not remember my eye color, nor will you remember anything about me being chipped...”
The General shook his head, his eyes dazed like pinwheels.
“That’s good, General. You just sit here and cogitate on our mission. I’ll be in touch soon.”
The colonel’s eyes returned to normal. He turned and smiled at Cassie, then blew more smoke from his stogie.
“Colonel,” McKenzie said, standing to his feet, he offered Tucker his hand. “As always, it’s been a pleasure.”
The two shook hands. McKenzie returned their salute, and the two turned and walked out of his office.
“Geez, Tucker. What did you do to him? He’s never been this nice to you.”
“What?”
“Tucker...”
“Okay, okay. So I used the technology and turned him into a pussy cat...at least when he’s around me, that is.”
“Tucker! You’re incorrigible.”
“I know...isn’t that what you love about me?”
Cass swatted his arm as they walked down the corridor from the General’s office, “No, that’s not what I love about you.”
“Then what?” he begged.
“I haven’t figured that part out yet...but you’ll be the first to know.”
“I’ll bet,” he said, puffing hard on the last little bit of his cigar.
They stopped to wait for the elevator. The doors opened and they quietly entered the car. Then the doors closed, and headed down to the main floor.
When the elevator doors opened, the crowd of people waiting for the car were greeted by the two embracing and kissing passionately.
Tucker broke the lip hold and turned to the crowd, “I think you’d better wait for the next one,” then returned to Cassie as the doors to the elevator closed, leaving the dropped jaws of everyone in the corridor behind.
# # #
SNEAK PEEK
I hope you enjoyed Salvage-5: The Next Mission, I’ve included a special preview for the third installment of in the Salvage-5 franchise.
Salvage-5
Another Mission
by
Brian K. Larson
Chapter 1
Seattle, WA
Downtown Alley
Earth Date: 03/19/2066 19:25
A silver haired, short but stocky man lurked behind a dark alley in the heart of downtown Seattle. Looking over his shoulder to ensured he wasn’t being followed, he descending the few cement steps, bringing him to a door at the bottom of a staircase. He picked the old lock and slowly swung the door open. The creaking snapped and popped, making him wince at the disturbing noise.
“Geez, don’t they ever oil these hinges? Where do they find these people?” he said to himself.
The room was dark, only being illuminated by the soft lights coming from a machine that was covered with white sheets. Next to the sheet covered machine was a computer console and keyboard. He sat at the computer station, illuminating the room further as the screen came to life.
He pressed a few keyboard commands, and then stood to poke his head under the sheet. He made a few adjustments, and then returned to the computer console.
Turning on the camera, he began recording a message, “Bennie,” Colonel Petersen leaned forward, looking close
to the camera that was imbedded into the computer screen, “I know you’re alive, son...just don’t know where to find ya...but I do know you use this accelerator from time to time...heh, heh, you know me, I never could get myself a data pad, so that kind of makes it hard for you to find me too. Look, son, there’s a lot that’s happened...just know that it’s too complicated to contact you...or I would have...you have to know that, son.” Tucker turned away from the camera and then back, “I don’t have much time. I hope the day will come that you actually find this recording. Anyway, I want you to understand...I have to go back....I can’t leave her there. It’s been an awfully long six months...but we had to wait...you know, these orbits, trajectory and such...so they wouldn’t let us go back, oh yeah...the date’s March 19th 2066. Salvage-5 is set to depart on the 20th. They took the ship from me...they won’t let me go back anymore...especially after botching the last mission. So I’m stealing the Salvage-5 tonight after I get buzzed off Jamaaludeen’s accelerator...I don’t know if we’ll ever see each other again. But in case we don’t, I love you son...never forget that, okay? Okay! I think someone’s lurking outside...got to get AMP’d and outta here!”
Tucker ended the recording and hid the message deep within the memory core of the machine. He reached over and picked up the cable that was draped on the desk, reached around to the back of his neck and plugged it into his jack. Then he launched the code, sending a quick AMP charge into his alien chip. His eyes changed to a bright green color.
As soon as the accelerator finished with the AMP sequence, he pulled the cord out of his socket and quickly left the dark cellar.
Tucker looked down the alley each way and noticed a black van approaching from one end. In a panic, he ran to the side of the building and began scaling the brick wall like a spider, climbing it with no effort.
Five stories up, he reached the roof and flung himself over the edge. He looked down at the policemen scouring the area.
He saw one of the men pointing at the roof, “Up there!” he heard one shout.
“After him!” another pointed.
Tucker didn’t wait to see how they planned on pursuing him, and took off across the rooftop. Coming to the edge, he leaped across to the next roof and continued running.
The men climbed back into their police vehicle and drove down the alleys, attempting to follow the man jumping from roof to roof.
After the fourth rooftop jump, Tucker turned and ran in another direction. He leaped across to an apartment building with a much larger gap between the two, and two stories shorter. Landing with a roll, Tucker quickly got back to his feet and noticed the fire escape and ran to climb down.
Traversing the second story fire escape, he climbed on the ladder and rode it to the ground. He winced as the ladder clattered on its way down.
Jumping the rest of the way to the pavement, he gave the ladder a shove sending it back up. When he turned around he saw a car heading toward him with its lights turned out.
The vintage, all electric Prius pulled up to Tucker and the driver rolled down the passenger window. Tucker leaned down and saw a nerdy teenage-looking boy with black horned rimmed glasses sitting behind the wheel.
“Lieutenant Buster Clark, reporting for duty, Sir!” the unassuming boy said.
“Buster, thought you’d never get here!”
“Climb aboard my star ship, we’re heading to the skies!”
Tucker opened the door and hopped in just as another black van turned the corner from behind.
“Go! Go! Go!” Tucker urged.
Buster slammed the electric accelerator and slowly moved to speed.
“Geez, Buster? Where in the hell did you get this antiquated jalopy? Can’t this thing go any faster?”
“Well, Commander, it might help if you...you know...” Buster motioned to Tucker’s eyes and then wiggled his fingers at the car’s electronics.
“Oh...right,” Tuck nodded, and then closed his eyes and held his hand over the indicator panel, shooting a bolt of AMP’d energy into the car.
Buster nearly lost control as the car rocketed forward, “Whoa Nellie!”
“Keep it together, Lieutenant!”
“Oh, don’t worry about me, Commander,” Buster said, pushing his glasses up.
“...and keep both hands on the wheel, will ya?”
“You got it, Commander...remember? I can pull my own weight, Sir.”
“Umm, yeah...right.”
Buster adjusted his rear view mirror, “They’re still gaining on us!”
Tucker turned in his seat, “Not for long,” he smiled, extended his hands out in front of him, and sent a wave of energy down his arms aimed at the quickly approaching van.
The powerful wave hit the van causing them to careen off the road, slamming into the corner of a building. Buster exited the alleyway and turned toward the freeway.
“You got a freeway access code, wiz-kid?”
“Yes, Sir,” Buster answered, “Punch in 7-5-8-9-9-7-1-5-7-7.”
“Okay, sure...ummm, you wanna give me those again?”
“Oh, sorry, Commander. 7...5...8...9...9...7...1...5...7...7...got it?”
“Yeah, yeah, that’s it. We’re authorized, nice job, kid.”
“Thank you, Commander,” Buster said as he quickly sniffed up his nose.
Buster turned onto the ramp and faded into the night, blending in with the rest of the freeway traffic. He removed a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed a few small beads of sweat from his brow.
Tucker looked over at the Lieutenant, “Why Buster, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you sweat before...nice!”
“Well, Commander, we’ve been through a lot...”
“Yes, we certainly have...”
“...but the one thing that always makes me the most nervous are the cops.”
“You’re more nervous being around the cops, than you are being around cyborg clone alien things?”
“Well, yeah! At least with the cyborgs, we can kill ‘em...well sort of kill, but I guess if you really come down to it...”
“Okay, okay, Buster. I get that you’re nervous. Just keep your eyes on the road, shall we?”
“Oh, sorry, Commander, sure thing.”
Tucker reached in his jacket and pulled out a half smoked stogie. He held it with his lips and lit it with the tip of his finger, “I’m really beginning to like this chip thingie.”
“Commander,” Buster said, pinching his nose, “Do you mind?”
“No, not at all.”
“No, I mean, can you roll down your window, Sir?”
“I can...”
“Please?”
Tucker cracked the window and blew a plume smoke outside.
“Thanks, Commander.”
“No problem, kid. How much longer to the base?” Tucker asked, drawing in another drag from his prize cigar.
“I think we can make it in two hours, Commander.”
Tucker pointed forward, “Then drive, James.”
“It’s not...”
“I know, I know...you need to get a since of humor, Buster.”
“...James.”
“Geez, where do they find ‘em?”
Buster looked once more in his rear view mirror, “Uh oh.”
“Uh oh, what?” Tucker asked, cranking his head around.
“I think we’ve got another tail, Sir.”
“Hmmm, you may be right, wiz-kid.”
“What should I do, Sir?”
Tucker pointed to the side of the freeway, “Take the next exit and let’s see if they follow us.”
“Okeydokey,” Buster said, careening the car across the lanes of the freeway.
Tucker held on to his arm rest, “You mind? I’m trying to keep my stomach contents, well, in my stomach!”
“Sorry, Sir. I didn’t want to miss the exit.”
“I would have been alright if you took the next one, Lieutenant.”
“Oh, sorry, Sir.”
Tucker turned and looked at a
car that followed them down the off ramp.
“I think you’re right about the tail.”
“See, I told ya...”
“Alright, alright, you pull your damn weight already.”
“Thank you.”
“Take a left.”
Buster turned off the ramp to the left and stepped on the accelerator and sped down the lonely road.
“They’re still on our tail, Sir.”
“Fine, fine...stop the car.”
“Stop the car, Sir?”
“Yes, stop the damn car.”
“Here, Sir?”
“Yes, here! Right here!”
Buster slammed the breaks and skidded to a halt.
The car following them slammed on their breaks and skidded, stopping just in time. Tucker was already standing outside their car when a black hair woman stepped out from the driver’s seat, “Are you crazy? You nearly made us have an accident!”
Another man opened the passenger door and stepped out with the woman, “It would have been nice if you actually owned a damn data pad, Colonel.”
“Sam? Samuels? What are you guys doing out here?” Tucker said, puffing on his cigar.
“We know what you’re up to, Commander.” Captain Rothschild said.
“...and we can’t let you do this, Commander.”
“Wait, what? Since when do I need your permission?”
“...since you decided to steal SSV-5,” Samuels said, folding his arms.
“You’re not going...”
“Sorry, what?” Tucker interrupted, “I don’t think I heard you right, ‘cause that’s not what I was thinking, I’m going...I’m AMP’d, so you can’t make me stay here while she’s still out there...no way, no how...”
“Tucker!” Captain Rothschild countered, “We’re not letting you go there alone...Sir...”
“Oh. Well now, that does shed a little more light, doesn’t it?”
“Even if you were AMP’d continuously, you will still need help flying her. That’s why we’re following you.”
Samantha smiled, “We’re coming with you.”
“Ah, gee guys, I don’t know what to say, but no, I’m not risking your sorry asses out there!”
Salvage-5: The Next Mission (First Contact) Page 21