by Jan Domagala
“Then what are these guys doing here, and why did they kill Wilson?” De Boer wanted to know.
“I haven’t pieced it all together yet, but I don’t think the answers to your questions will be found in here,” Hawk replied.
“Where then?”
Hawk shook his head. “I don’t know, but I swear to you that I’ll find out and when I do someone will pay.”
De Boer saw the intensity in Hawk’s eyes and realised that he wouldn’t like to be the person responsible for this and to have to face Hawk and his retribution. Ignoring the sudden chill speeding through his blood De Boer said, “In that case we’d better get the hell out of here.”
“Sir, here they come,” said Patterson from slightly ahead. From the marines’ position they had a good panoramic view of the entire lay of the land before them and could see the advance of the mercs as they entered the chamber’s entrance.
“Get ready men, pick your shots and make ’em count,” De Boer said in encouragement to his team.
“Hold them off for as long as you can while I try and find us a way out of here,” Hawk said as he went deeper into the chamber. Most cave systems had multiple entrances and exits but the trick was finding one that hadn’t caved in or one that was wide enough for a grown man to crawl through. Hawk said a silent prayer that OMEGA hadn’t collapsed all the other exits when they made this chamber in an effort to make it more secure. The only thing preventing him from believing this was the fact that now he was sure this place was merely a decoy and therefore there would be no need to secure it. Hoping that would turn out to be true, he kept on looking for that elusive exit.
The three Recon Delta marines waited until the advancing mercs were clearly visible before opening fire with their Remm Mk II assault rifles. With short measured bursts of pulsed plasma fire they struck each man in the centre of their chest sending them hurtling backwards in a haze of blood. Clearly their body armour was not as good at absorbing the blasts as that worn by the Recon Delta marines as they were dead before they hit the ground and before the others knew what was happening. The other mercs made a hasty retreat out of harm’s way until they could gauge the level of opposition.
“We’re holding them off for now, Colonel, but I can’t say how long that’ll last,” Johansen said through the combat channel, sub-vocalising so that the mercs couldn’t pick up any chatter between them.
Before De Boer could say anything, Hawk replied, “Still working on it.”
* * * * *
Rygar was lying flat on his stomach just outside the chamber entrance along with his men. Baring his teeth in a predatory smile he said, “Blow the shit out of that chamber. If they want what’s in there, then let’s make sure they get to keep it for a long, long time.”
“You got it, sir,” said the merc next to him and signalled to the rest of them who, like Rygar, had grenade launchers fitted to their assault rifles. They pumped grenades into the launchers and fired.
The grenades arched towards the entrance and landed just inside rolling in the direction of the three Recon Delta marines.
Johansen saw the first one land, followed by another then another and then he lost count as his eyes widened with the realisation of what was about to happen.
“Incoming!” he shouted as he and his teammates got to their feet and hurled themselves towards the inside of the chamber just as the first explosion rocked the walls around them.
6
Wilde was sitting at his desk waiting for confirmation from Rygar that the chamber had been destroyed. He was getting anxious for evidence that the mission would be a success. He had so much riding on it that he could not afford the slightest failure in any aspect of his plan.
He had all the information he needed to start the next phase of his operation against Col Sec and he couldn’t wait to get it under way.
The megacorp that Eisenhower owned held a huge amount of contracts for the military on both sides of the divide. Wilde had often thought that if the CEO had wanted to make a success of OMEGA, he had all the hardware available at his fingertips to provide the firepower needed for any action he chose to take against any government on any planet. It had irked him to the nth degree that Eisenhower had chosen to remain hidden and act behind the scenes rather than take a stand against Col Sec. That was something that he hoped to rectify in a very few hours. He planned to use some of the hardware that they had been holding back in the development stage for Col Sec and the Alliance; new weapons that Wilde was sure they would have no defence against, weapons that he was sure would bring the much-vaunted Col Sec to its knees.
Using his NI he made a call to one of the Rovers. “Rover 5, it’s time,” he said once the call was securely connected. He didn’t need to wait for confirmation that it had been heard, the NI did that automatically when the call was placed via the satellite, scrambling it immediately so that it couldn’t be overheard. Again this was technology that he had held back from his customers, the military, for his own personal use without the knowledge of Eisenhower.
Rover 5 was one of several strains of clones that Wilde had manufactured without Eisenhower’s knowledge. He had instigated a programme whereby the clones were engineered with specific abilities. Eisenhower wanted the Rovers just to be the public face of OMEGA, the identity who would deal with the clandestine operations that the group ran, but Wilde saw the opportunity to form a unit of clones who could be the face and also other facets of the group such as the teeth. Rover 5’s were the teeth; they were the warriors. He planned on them being the new breed of team leaders, loyal to him alone, able to be manufactured swiftly and replaced instantly from an almost endless supply, stockpiled in secret, each as lethal as the one bred before.
He was nearly ready to put the final phase of his operation into play, but first he had to get rid of the one obstacle in his path to ultimate power. Rover 5 would be the instrument by which he would do that.
He sat back pleased with himself at how things were progressing when the sensor in the door told him that his daughter was about to enter.
As the door opened and she walked into the room, not bothering to announce her presence, as was her usual style, he was again struck by the resemblance to his dead wife.
“I thought we were going to lunch?” she said, with just a hint of the petulance she was prone to. Having grown up in a wealthy family she was used to having things her own way most of the time.
“I’m sorry, my dear, but I’m a bit tied up at the moment, we’ll have to postpone today. Perhaps tomorrow?” he replied. He may have been a stern master to those beneath him, but with his daughter he was the same as most doting fathers, putty in her hands.
She came forward to stand in front of his desk, her arms folded across her firm breasts and the expression on her face was that of a spoiled child, pouting almost to the point of looking miserable.
“But you promised,” she said tapping her right foot.
“I’m sorry, Tanya, I’ll make it up to you in a few days. I’m swamped at the moment but in a day or two my schedule will be cleared and we can go and do something together, okay?” he replied trying to smooth out her ruffled feathers.
“I’ve heard that before Dad. Don’t do this, please! You always cancel when we’ve made plans, even for the simplest of things like taking a few hours out for lunch. If you’re not careful I’ll begin to think you don’t want to spend time with me,” she said and paused before smiling her dazzling smile, indicating he was out of the woods and would not be subject to one of her furies, something she had inherited from her dead mother.
“Okay, this time I’ll let you off, but in a couple of days we’re going to Callistos. We’ll spend some time in the sun, swimming in the clear waters of the ocean, snorkelling, lazing about on the perfect white sands of the beach. It’ll do you good. Promise me. If you make me a promise I know you’ll keep it,” she added smiling hopefully.
“You sound like an advert for the tourist board,” he joked.
“Promise me,” she demanded.
“Okay, okay, I promise, now go on and leave me in peace or I won’t finish in time for our trip, and you don’t want me to have to break my promise now, do you?” he said, smiling for the first time.
“Okay, I’m out of here. I’m off to lunch. If you can’t make it I’ll just have to make do with what’s-his-name from Security.”
“Who, Taylor?”
“Is he the cute one on the front desk?”
“I don’t know about ‘cute’ but he does work on the front desk.”
“Yea that’s him then.”
“He can’t, he’s on duty.”
“You want me to be safe don’t you? And besides, it’s so boring having lunch on my own, you don’t know who may come up and want to chat with me.”
“Okay, go and tell him I gave him new orders to escort you to lunch and not to let you out of his sight at all.”
“Don’t worry Dad, I’m sure he won’t,” she said with a cheeky wink that left her father wondering if anything was going on between the two of them.
Tanya Wilde twirled around and left the office far happier than when she had arrived. Wilde called Taylor through his NI.
“My daughter is on her way down, you are to escort her to lunch. You are not to allow her out of your sight for the briefest of moments, is that clear? This is not important, it is so far past important that it’s beyond your comprehension. Is that perfectly clear to you?”
“Perfectly sir, I won’t let her out of my sight,” Taylor replied nervously.
“Yes, she said you’d say that, just make sure you don’t,” Wilde said then broke the connection.
Using his NI to connect via subspace to Rygar, he said, “Give me a sit. rep.”
“The chamber is destroyed, sir. We’ve blocked the entrance but the interior has been destroyed along with those inside,” Rygar replied.
“Those inside? Explain,” Wilde said his voice rising slightly.
“When we arrived there was a group of Col Sec marines entering the chamber. We destroyed the vehicle they arrived in then blew up the chamber blocking the entrance. You’d need heavy excavation gear to clear away the entrance to get inside now, so whoever’s in there, if the grenades didn’t kill them, won’t be getting out.”
“And you’re sure of that because…”
Rygar paused before answering, “They have to be dead, there’s no way they could’ve survived.”
“Confirm that report and check all possible alternative exits before you vacate the area. No one, and I repeat no one must escape from that chamber alive. You make sure they are all dead before you return here. I don’t care how you do it but you don’t come back here without proof that they are dead. Do I make myself clear?”
“Perfectly, sir.”
“Then carry on soldier,” Wilde said, breaking the connection. Rygar was probably right in his assumption but he had to be sure. There could be no slip-ups, not this close to the end, not when he was so close to ultimate success.
* * * * *
Outside the door to his office Tanya Wilde stood, having returned to tell her father that she loved him. She overheard the conversation, all of it.
She was in shock. At first she thought she had misheard him but as the conversation progressed she was left in no doubt.
When she arrived at the door to his office she had heard her father speaking, so rather than interrupt him she had decided to wait until he had finished his call. Then she overheard him order the deaths of those men and she was aghast.
Her father couldn’t have said those words, not her father. She wanted it to be a mistake, but clearly that wasn’t the case. She had heard correctly. Her father had said those words, the words that had destroyed her long-cherished image of him.
Not knowing what to do or say she turned and quietly left the room heading for the elevator to go back downstairs. She walked as if in a trance, knowing that she couldn’t remain there any longer.
* * * * *
Wilde finished the call and noticed that his daughter was leaving the outer office again.
How long had she been there and had she heard anything?
If she had, what would he do?
She was his daughter; surely he couldn’t order her death too?
Could he?
Before he came to any decision over this new and very disturbing development he had to learn just what she had overheard, perhaps then he could make a more informed decision.
As much as he loved her, and he loved her more than life itself, he knew he could not allow her to jeopardise the success of everything he had worked so hard for over the past decade. He had endured too much at the feet of Maxwell Eisenhower. He would have to prevent her from spilling the beans to anyone. He must speak with her and hope that she would see sense over this. If not then he would have to take drastic measures. As much as it would pain him to, he could not allow anyone to get in his way, no matter who it was.
7
Hawk heard the warning shout from Johansen then the first explosion and knew they were in deep trouble. Inside the confines of the cavernous chamber the sound of the explosions was amplified enormously. The walls shook from the concussive blasts and large chunks began to fall around them.
“We have to move NOW!” screamed Hawk, hoping his voice would carry above the deafening explosions. He needn’t have worried though as it was a thought that had occurred to them all and they moved to the rear of the chamber hoping to escape, or at the very least, find refuge from the falling rocks and blasts.
De Boer was at Hawk’s side as was Johansen, but Patterson and Gates were lying on the floor closer to the entrance. Patterson had his back ripped open by shrapnel from the explosions and Gates was lying to his side crushed beneath a huge chunk of rock that had been blasted free from the wall.
“I swear to God those bastards will pay for this,” said De Boer as he saw the bodies of his men.
“Get in line, Colonel,” Hawk replied with barely contained fury emanating from his ice blue eyes.
They found a tunnel at the back of the chamber and managed to squeeze through as the explosions ripped apart the main chamber. It was narrow but they could feel a slight gust of air as they went deeper.
“We may have found a way out that they overlooked,” Hawk said as he led them down the tunnel. They had to stoop as they travelled further along the narrowing passage, but they began to feel fresher air stirring around them as they squeezed their bodies down it. Soon they were on their knees in a half crawl but their hopes were high that they would get out of their predicament.
The light was fading as they entered the tunnel, intensified by all the dust thrown up by the explosions, but as they crawled down the tunnel that seemed to fade away and light from ahead began to force itself through the haze so they could see where they were going.
Hawk led the small group followed by De Boer then Johansen. They had managed to keep hold of their weapons, which they planned to use at the first opportunity against their attackers.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, they reached the end of the passage, but then their hopes faded when they saw there was nothing more than a mere slit in the rock wall facing them.
“Shit!” exclaimed Hawk when he saw the narrow aperture.
De Boer looked over Hawk’s shoulder to see what had caused the exclamation and said, “Great, a fucking dead end.”
Hawk looked behind him at the Colonel and said, “Is that the attitude they teach in Recon Delta now? We’re not dead yet, we’ll get out of here I’m sure.”
“Oh this I’ve got to hear, just how do you intend getting out of here then? Do you plan on squeezing through that slit?”
“Sort of,” Hawk replied with a grin.
“Excuse me?” De Boer said, a little confused.
“Pass me your Remm.”
Passing the assault rifle to him, De Boer backed down the tunnel as he realised what Hawk planned to do. He hoped his actions wouldn�
�t make their plight any worse than it already was.
Hawk ramped the assault rifle up to full power and ensured it had a full battery pack inserted then fired a continuous burst at the slit.
The pulsed plasma bolts struck the slit and blasted through the rock blowing a wide rent in the wall.
The walls started to shake from the energy being blasted into them and chunks of rock began to fall around them.
“Out now, move fast,” Hawk said as he scrambled free from their confines quickly followed by the two remaining members of the team.
As the wall collapsed after them, closing up the exit, they all breathed a sigh of relief as they watched from a few feet away and safety.
“Well, Colonel, we did it,” Hawk said.
“Yes, now it’s payback time,” De Boer replied. Hawk realised he was glad he wasn’t the one to face the wrath of this man.
* * * * *
Rygar and his men heard the blast from the assault rifle and knew what it meant.
“Over there, the bastards found a way out, unbelievable,” he said. “Make sure their escape is short lived,” and they headed straight over to where the Recon Delta men had escaped their tomb.
* * * * *
“Colonel, do you think it’s wise to engage an enemy who has superior forces and superior fire-power in a frontal assault?” Hawk asked, hoping to give the Colonel time to think before he rushed off to fight in anger.
“Captain, I’m not about to allow these bastards to get away with attacking us and killing three of my men,” De Boer replied, clearly angry at both the mercs and Hawk for not wanting him to exact revenge on said mercs for the losses his team had endured.
“Fools rush in but a wise man runs away to fight another day,” countered Hawk.
De Boer rounded on him, his eyes blazing with fury.
“Are you telling me to run away?” he snarled, his teeth clenched tightly together as an animalistic bloodlust threatened to engulf him.
