by Oliver Tuson
“These might help. According to the terminal, they run off a different low powered frequency, so the jammer won't be an issue.” Jasper gave a nod of admiration towards them. “They overcome the thick rock that should block the signal with a rebroadcasting station on each level to boost the signal around the facility. It’s impressive. A good set up.” Jasper was clearly impressed. The tech lover enjoying the new toys he found. Clarke smiled at the bravo team member before turning to Millerchip.
“The way I see it, I’ll take bravo out and turn the power on. There’s enough ammo to give four men a fighting chance against those creatures. Although, I plan on sneaking down there as quietly as humanly possible.” Clarke pointed at Millerchip’s injured arm.
“You’re still wounded. Williams can stay with you and tend to the woman until we get back. Once the powers on you can make the call to the Green Zone and keep an eye on the cameras, communicate over the radios and watch our backs.” Millerchip went to speak but stopped, knowing Clarke was right.
Jasper half raised his hand to get Clarkes attention. “Don’t think I’m trying to get out of a fight, but these controls are somewhat complex.” Jasper looked at Millerchip with a soft smile. “Not saying you can't do it sir, just that I might be….” He rotated his hands helping to find the right words. “More efficient. You will need to operate the door locks and talk the team through the power reboot. Once the powers on you might need to redirect some of it to only activate the systems we need. Then the cameras run off a different terminal. And then the satcom and jammer…” Millerchip held up his hand to stop the solider from going on.
All the men nodded at the idea, knowing Jasper was the man for the job. “Fine, I’ll take your space.” Millerchip said as he rolled his injured shoulder and arm, testing the joint and muscles. He grimaced in pain instantly causing Williams to step up and stop him.
“I’ll go. Jasper’s got the knowledge for this room and is our best shot at getting down there and back alive. Millerchip, no offence but you’ll need both arms to fight off those things if they find us.” He pointed at the woman still unconscious in the office. “I’ll give her a final check over before we go.” The final member of charlie team looked into Millerchip’s eyes. “Besides, I want some revenge on those creatures for charlie and alpha.” The remaining soldiers of the task force gave a slow nod, thinking of their fallen comrades.
“We all want revenge. And we will get it one way or another.” Clarke added.
“Right. Let's make it happen then gentleman.” Millerchip said, agreeing with the plan.
They all set about stocking up on ammo and distributing grenades between the volunteers. Williams checked over his two patients then gave Millerchip a nod of satisfaction at his bandaged injury. Soon they were ready to go. The four men tested their radios and got a positive reply from Jasper on the master set on the desk and lined up back at the airlock door. “Stay safe lads.” Millerchip said as he stood next to Jasper.
“We got this.” Clarke replied as the door hissed open before the four men.
12
Power
16:30, 15th August 2003
Control Room, Hades Facility, Northern Iraq
“Ready gents?” Jaspers voice spoke into the four men's headsets as they stood in the airlock contemplating the dark journey ahead.
“Do it Jas.” A moment later the outer airlock door opened with its familiar hiss. The loud noise cut through the silence, almost announcing the soldier's presence to the creatures roaming the corridors of the hellish facility. Clarke could imagine them, stalking around out there. Lurking behind corners and in the vents. Ready to leap out of the shadows and give them a horrific death. He tightened his grip on his rifle.
“Where’s Frosty?” Williams whispered as the team stepped out into the centre again. The dim red light was still turning around the room, offering just enough light to see. Frost’s body was gone from the doorway of the stairs leading up. Clarke’s heart sank as he thought about one of those monsters dragging his comrades' body away. Maybe up into a vent like the corpse they found earlier. Where the creature could enjoy its meal undisturbed. Clarke’s stomach turned at the thought. There were no words. The four men simply said nothing. They just stood for a moment in silence thinking of their friends' demise.
“Take the door marked ‘Facilities and Lower Levels’.” Jasper, unaware of the scene before them, said over the radio. His voice dragging them back to the now. Clarke had his weapon in his shoulder as he dragged his eyes away from the empty stairwell and looked around the atrium for the door. The rest of the team followed suit and began scanning for any threats waiting for them. Clarke found the large double door and moved silently towards it. All too aware that any noise could bring those monsters back. And Clarke wanted to avoid those creatures for as long as possible. The panel on the side was still flashing red at him.
“Open it,” he whispered over the net. It flashed green and with a loud metallic thud, slide open revealing stairs leading down into darkness. The noise echoed around the centre making Clarke tense up in anticipation of the monsters as the rest of the team stacked up behind him as he moved silently through the door way.
A deathly shriek erupted from somewhere behind them, no doubt interested in the sound of the door opening. The creature’s noise cut through the silence and tore at the men's nerves as they spun round to greet it, weapons raised.
“Close it now Jas!” Clarke said as the last member hurried through. The door thudded shut leaving them at the top of the stairs. They all shared a quick look. The realisation that they were not alone, once more crushing down on them.
Clarke led them down the stairwell. The team moved as professional soldiers. Silently stepping as they did. Their boots rolling from heel to toe to soften their steps. They left their torches off, relying only on the dim red lights lining the way down. As much as they felt on edge in the almost dark areas. They knew the torches were a double-edged weapon. They allowed the men to see and identify targets, but they also acted as a beacon to their location. And Clarke didn’t want to take any risks, instead using the darkness as their friend as they crept through it.
Seven flights and they were still descending. The air getting cooler the deeper they went. Clarke could feel the fatigue from the day hitting him as he went. His legs aching as he silently kept creeping down. Three more flights and the stairs opened up into another centre. The atrium was almost identical to the one above. The same red emergency lighting casting shadows around the area as the team moved into it. Opposite them, set in to the wall was a huge elevator. Big enough to fit his car in, Clarke thought as he read the sign. ‘Research and Development. Authorised Personnel Only’. He noted it was locked and sealed shut, more security and safety measures than he had seen on other doors. He looked about the rest of the centre.
A series of large metallic security doors ran around the outside. Clarke could just make out a few of the signs above the doors. ‘Air Filtration, Water Pump Station, Incineration and Power Station’. The size of the facility and its complexity hit Clarke. This huge operation, with all its requirements and infrastructure to achieve its objectives… whatever they were… hidden inside a huge mountain in the desert. Impressive, he thought to himself with a degree of guilt of his admiration for the place that killed his comrades. He nodded towards the door marked ‘Power Station’, sending the team creeping towards it. All of them searching around the area for any sign of the creatures. “Jas,” Clarke’s voice was just a whisper, but in his head it sounded loud. Loud enough for those things to hear? Could they even get to them now with the doors shut? Clarke didn’t want to take any chances.
“Send boss.”
“We are down in the centre now. Crack the power door.”
“Roger that boss, and…. opening!”
The large sliding doors slowly opened. Their rollers and bearings must have been well maintained as it made little noise this time. Beyond the doors the area was pitch black. The red lights of the centre
only just enough to illuminate the first few meters of the power room. All four men lined up along the border of the door staring into the dark, listening to the sounds of any threats within. Nothing. Just Silence.
He stared into the blackness a moment longer. No choice he thought, as he flicked on his rifle’s torch on. He knew it was risky. He could see better, but those things could also see him. Like a giant runway to his location in the pitch black before them. The others followed his lead. All four beams cutting into the blackness and illuminating patches of the dark.
The room was huge. It reminded Clarke of a dark aircraft hangar from when they went parachute training last year. A giant open space with a high ceiling. Their torches only illuminating tiny patches of the huge dark area and not strong enough to see the far wall somewhere beyond them in the darkness. Along the sides ran banks of large generators that disappeared into the darkness. If there were creatures in here, they could be hidden anywhere. Between the generators, in the shadows, in the darkness watching the soldiers.
Clarke took a deep breath as he stepped in, weapon raised, looking over the sights ready to fire upon anything that might jump out of the shadows.
A control room branched off to the side. A large reinforced glass window revealing banks of computer terminals and control stations for the generators within. The team moved towards it, slipping through the door and quickly securing the room. Williams stood by the entrance looking out for any creatures stalking them from the shadows as the rest investigated the various terminals and switches.
“Think we can reboot it?” Hawkins said quietly as he looked at all the red blinking lights around the room. Sanchez moved towards the main console. “No idea brother.” He started flicking controls and pressing buttons until one of the screens came to life. ‘System Power Failure… Master Reset Required’.
“That's a start.” He kept working on it as Clarke went back to Williams and looked out into the dark unknown. He didn’t like the thought of not being able to see the far wall. And the unchecked areas between the generators that could be hiding anything. The four of them would be trapped in this room if anything came out of the darkness suddenly.
“Keep trying Sanchez. Hawkins cover this door. Williams and I are going to go and secure the area.”
Williams nodded in agreement as the two of them moved out silently. Their lights flickering around the massive room as they ventured out. They checked between each large generator as they went. Clarkes heart rate was raised, his pulse beating hard. Each time he flashed his light between the machinery he expected one of those things to leap out and tear him to pieces. He took a breath to try and calm his nerves.
“You feel that?” Williams whispered next to him. He could. A warm breeze was greeting them the closer they got towards the far side which at last was being illuminated by their torches. They kept going. The cooler air giving way to the warm. Towards the back wall, the lines of generators were damaged. The evidence of a recent fire still visible. The walls were still stained black from smoke which Clarke could still faintly smell.
“Think that might have killed the power? A fire amongst the generators?” Williams asked as he illuminated one of them. Clarke nodded his agreement as they kept going down the line of generators towards the rear wall. The warm breeze was stronger as they found its source.
From the far corner of the giant room a tunnel emerged. Its entrance cracking the flooring and walls. As if an explosion had burst through the ground. Rubble from the rock of the mountain laid about the opening which was the size of a large truck. Clarke lent over the side, his torch light searching the darkness below. He couldn't see the bottom. Just a long rocky tunnel that descended almost vertically.
The warm air flowing up reminded Clarke of a spring day back home. Far from this nightmare. Far from the depths of this mountain and the death that was stalking them.
“Hey Jas,” Sanchez’s voice cut across the net. “I’ve just about worked this thing out. Just need the authorisation codes to issue the reboot command, but they are not here. Anything up there in that control room?”
“Wait one,” came the reply as Jasper set to work searching his terminal. Williams leaned in close to Clarke as they both looked down the tunnel. “What do you think is down there?”
“I don't know. But I’m more concerned with what caused it.” Williams went to speak but Jaspers voice came over the radio again.
“Got it Sanchez. Enter the following codes then hit the master reset switch. From there, the power should restart and I can activate these systems and redirect power if needed.” As Jasper gave the codes over the radio to Sanchez, Clarke and Williams continued to stare down into the abyss below. Clarke had a bad feeling starting to form.
“Look…” Clarke pointed his torch towards the tunnel floor, running steeply off almost vertically. “What are those marks in the rock?” Large grooves, almost like massive scratches were cut into the rocks.
“Done! Rebooting in five seconds!” Sanchez’s voice was full of victory. The two men continued to look at the marks in the rocks. Then the realisation hit Clarke. Claw marks. Huge claw marks running all the way up the tunnel and ending by the two men's feet. “Shit! Sanchez wait! Wait!” But he was too late.
The power kicked in. Generators whined to life shattering the silence as they built up to a constant drone of deafening mechanical noise. Lights started to flicker to life around the massive room causing the darkness to disappear as the power started flowing through the underground facility once more. Clarke turned to Williams as they both realised they were not alone.
Jasper sat at the terminal in the control room counting down the seconds after Sanchez rebooted the power. All of a sudden, the banks of monitors flashed to life. A series of clicks sounded around the room as various computers and tech gear came back on. The life line of power finally flowing again. “YES!” Jasper threw his arms up in victory as all the systems in front of him became live. Millerchip smiled at his enthusiasm whilst placing a hand on his shoulder. “Good work lad, get those CCTV cameras going and find our boys.”
“Sure thing… a few seconds… and … there!” The wall of monitors flooded with various angles of the facility. Jasper recognised a few of the pictures. Stair wells, reception area, the security entrance they passed through, the centre just beyond the airlock. An image of the collapsed entrance was there causing Jasper to shudder at the thought of almost being buried alive. The conference area still had the corpses of those creatures they had slain.
Then Frost appeared. Laid out on the floor. Standing over his corpse were two of those creatures. Both savagely tearing into his flesh. Feasting on his body. Jasper’s stomach turned as a feeling of nausea washed over him at the sickening sight.
“You fuckers!” Millerchip screamed in rage at the sight of his alpha team member being decimated on the cold floor. He slammed his fist on the table making Jasper flinch. “Where the fuck are those bastards!” He spat through gritted teeth as he picked up his pistol and moved towards the airlock.
Jasper shook his head. “I don’t know. Not all the cameras are marked.” He looked at the alpha leader. “Even if we did, that's a suicide mission.”
“Fuck that, open the door and I’ll find him!”
“Sir, he’s gone. There's nothing you can do for him.” Jasper’s voice was soft as he tried to reason with the man. Millerchip shook his head as he looked at the monitor. The creatures working their way through their prey. He slammed the butt of his weapon against the door in helpless rage.
“And we need you here. The rest of us need you here.” Jasper turned back to the controls and shut the camera feed. The mutilated remains of Frost disappeared. Millerchip clenched his fists in anger. He looked over at the woman still unconscious in the office. The facility’s employee lying motionless on the desk.
“Whoever caused this, whatever this place is, someone will pay for this!” He said as he walked back to Jaspers side. “Find them.” Millerchip ordered, his voi
ce now almost a whisper, clearly biting back his range of emotions bubbling inside of him. Jasper played with the CCTV controls and a second later six of the screens suddenly displayed the image of the massive power room. Sanchez and Hawkins were side by side walking towards Clark and Williams, who looked on edge at the far side of the room.
“What the fucks that?” Millerchip tapped the corner of one of the monitors as he stared at the screen. “Jesus!” He clicked the radio and shouted over the radio net. “Above you! Sanchez, Hawks! Look up!”
Clarke spun around as he heard Millerchip's panicked voice and looked up above his two team members.
The massive creature was wedged in the corner of the room. Hanging between the wall and ceiling. A massive black bulk of wet looking scales that shined in the new bright lighting. Eight massive thick scaly legs erupted from it. Ending in broad, sharp iron like spikes that were dug into the wall keeping it in place. Its head was lizard like, long and narrow, set with rows and rows of teeth. A set of smaller arms with clawed hands, almost like five pincers, come out from just below its neck. The arms and head looked too small against the creature's massive bulk. As if they had been stuck on as an afterthought. A thick long tail with a similar iron spike hung down from under its body.
It looked directly at Clarke. As if it had been waiting to be seen before making a deafening roar that vibrated around the room, even audible over the noise of the whining generators.
“Light it up!” Clarke dropped to one knee and opened fire. Bullets thudded into its scaly body. Williams mirrored Clarke, sending his own stream of bullets tearing towards the new horror. The creature roared in rage as it moved its huge spike like legs. It drove them into the concrete wall. With speed it half crawled, half slide down the side. Its sharp spikes leaving gashes in the concrete that broke around it sending rubble tumbling down. It smashed onto the ground behind Hawkins and Sanchez who were running backwards to regroup with Clarke whilst shooting at it.