Overrun
Page 36
"I think what we have to do here is plan for the possibility that this facility may be destroyed," Lt. Commander Corrado said forebodingly from the front of the battle-rocked room. Bright flames on the monitor cast an eerie illusion of their jagged tips licking over the sides of both his shoulders in the dimness. The smoke from cigarettes made it seem more like reality. "The ignition of the Death Wall may not save us. Right now we have to plan for that. Everything else should be set aside," he said pointing at Rone and Kobus. "There is a good chance the J.G.U. will get through."
"That does raise questions, doesn't it?" the quiet strong voice came again from the back of the room.
"Please continue Dr. Korcheck," Corrado said taking a step back and inviting him with a wave of his hands to come up and take the floor.
"They could quite possibly be up there forever," Korcheck continued to speak before Corrado finished his sentence. Korcheck pushed his chair away from the table and stood. He stepped slowly to the front of the room talking as he did.
"We might not have been lying to their families when we told them they died a few years back." Corrado moved away and sat down when Korcheck reached the head of the table. "Their fate might really be decided.
“If the security of this dome is compromised, there will be nothing for them to come back to," he looked around the room eyeing each person in the room. "We will all be dead. And all the years we've put into this. All the people who are suffering or have already died will have done so for nothing. And then the question will be ‘why?’.
“If the Beam Cannon Hardware is never used, in so many years there might not be anyone left alive on this planet to even ask it. The J.G.U. are nowhere near capable of producing technology like this. It's the reason they are here."
The room was silent. Long bits of burned ash dangled from still lit cigarettes. The monitor at the front of the meeting room had finally been switched off.
"But think about this. I mean really thing about it. The Beam Cannon Hardware will still be up there completely unmanned. An easy salvage for the J.G.U. if the war for us does not go well. A simple space retrieval once they figure out its coordinates."
Explosions rocked the dome for another time. Hands grabbed for coffee on the table and an anchor to keep bodies from flying from their spots at the table. Near the back of the room, another one of the female scientists began to cry softly near Korcheck’s vacant seat.
"But that's just it, Korcheck," Kobus spat. "They don't know anything about this."
"They will if the security of this dome is compromised."
"What if we are destroyed?" Kobus fired back again. "Everyone that ever knew about Project Hideaway will be dead. If we wake the pilots up, they could come down here and bring the technology right to them. Hand it right over to the J.G.U. End the war immediately by giving them precisely what they want."
"Not necessarily," Korcheck argued. "Safeguards have been built into the Hideaway systems to prevent this type of unauthorized return."
"Those safeguards can easily be defeated and you know that. What kind of a deterrent is death, when you, as far as you know, are the only two people left alive either in your country or on the planet. There is nothing for them to lose.
With this in mind, there is that chance, a great one in my opinion, they will risk unauthorized return and try to come back. We can't risk that happening."
"The nukes would prevent that, Doctor," Rone spoke up again. "Any tampering with the safeguard equipment or the follow-through of unauthorized mission plans would result in annihilation of the ship. And this scenario is almost guaranteed not to happen due to other safeguarding measures aimed individually at the pilots.”
But right now, they are vulnerable in space. Especially if they are down. There is nothing to prevent the J.G.U. from flying right up to the sleeping ship and taking it over."
"What nukes?" Korcheck asked suddenly looking startled. "The implementation of nuclear devices into the Beam Cannon Hardware is not something ever…”
"If the pilots are awake, no matter what the safeguards are, their is always the possibility they can come down!" Kobus shouted ignoring Korcheck and slamming his fist on the table. What if the plan fails and the United States ends up losing this war. You will be risking paving the way for J.G.U. success. Their kind would ultimately survive while the memory of ours will forever be lost."
"You would rather have no one use this technology?!" Korcheck raised his voice back at Kobus. "You would rather the entire world should die in the case of our government's defeat. This is the kind of immoral and irresponsible thinking that has brought us to this point today, Kobus!"
"Dr. Korcheck," Lt. Commander Corrado stood from the table and moved towards his initial place at the front. "That will…"
The loudest explosion yet interrupted his sentence and threw him to the floor. Chairs overturned and throngs of legs lifted backward into the air.
The force of the explosion knocked Korcheck from his feet and across the table in front of Kobus.
"Korcheck!" Kobus, one of few who managed to continue standing, raged. "Your leftist views are of no use here!” His finger jabbed at every word with rabid accusation towards the young scientist’s face.
Korcheck, sprawled across the top of the table, rolled over to face Kobus. The blast had thrown him so close the tip of his nose was less than a few inches from being touched by Kobus’ outstretched finger.
"Be advised, all dome personnel!" a mechanical voice sounded from the corridor and every communication channel open in the room. "The Death Wall has been lit. Repeat. The Death Wall has been lit. Stand by for battle status reports. Tower report to commence in sixty seconds."
Lt. Commander Dome Leader Steven Corrado reached across the table and helped Korcheck roll himself off and back to the floor.
"I'm sorry, Chris," he said. The room shook again. Many of the scientists began to abandon the meeting and head towards the door content in the knowledge their own personal views would not alter the tide of this debate. "I think we're going to have to keep them down. Maintaining their hibernation and leaving them up there with the chance they may never wake up is a small price to pay for the safety and security of their cargo."
"I disagree," Dr. Rone said standing and walking towards the front of the room. A small group of men and women stayed behind to witness the outcome of the discussion.
"There is no more time to disagree," Kobus hissed through closed teeth.
"He's right, Dr. Rone," the Lt. Commander agreed.
"Sir..." Korcheck tried one last time.
"Sir," Dr. Rone said interrupting Korcheck and stepping purposely ahead of Kobus. Her petite determined figure then separated him from the dome commander. "I think the best thing we can do is wake them up. At least give the hardware some thinking breathing guardians if anything. Guardians against being discovered."
"Or guardians against ever being used," Korcheck added.
"Doctors Rone and Korcheck," Kobus' voice was calmer and more controlled. "…taking the chance that these two men may float in their sleep for all eternity is necessary when considering the fact that waking them up could risk the possibility of the technology, our technology, falling into the hands of the J.G.U. If we die, then by God so will they."
Rone, Korcheck, Kobus, and the small group of remaining scientists stood in a half circle before Lt. Commander Dome Leader Corrado at the head of the room. For the next moment, they all were silent. The confusion and ruckus coming from the outer corridors were becoming more intense.
"I agree," the dome commander said firmly. "Does anyone else wish to be heard?"
The faces of the remaining were rigid, but no one spoke. Some resignedly shook their heads while others looked apprehensively towards the door.
"You're talking about the future of life on our planet…" Korcheck pleaded his case one last time. Kobus had already turned his back and headed towards the corridor.
The lights to the meeting room dimmed again and w
ent completely dark. A few seconds passed, and then the emergency lighting cast an orange glow about the room. More scientists headed for the door leaving only two to remain with the dome commander.
"Everyone back up your data," the Corrado called after the retreating personnel. "All cloaking shields are down, so send it up to the satellite and ship archives…"
The commander walked from the table and moved towards the door. He turned to look back at Rone and Korcheck still standing in the darkened briefing room.
"…just in case," he finished. "Return to your stations, doctors. Make your back-ups. While there is still time."
And with that he was gone, the meeting to decide the fate of the Hideaway having now become officially complete.
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Table of Contents
Copyright
Ozone Failure in 2201
Plan Zero Implementation
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
EXCERPT FROM OVERRUN: Project Hideaway