by Jan Domagala
“Crash? You said crash,” Aswan said in a panicky voice.
“You noticed that did you, I did hope to slip that one past you.”
“Are you mad?” Aswan asked in a voice rising an octave.
“I’ll let you know in about thirty seconds,” Kurt said.
“How long before we hit?” Natasha asked.
“Oh about twenty five seconds,” he replied.
Through the forward viewport, they could see the ground below racing toward them at an alarming rate. A huge forest was directly below seeming to stretch for miles, covering vast amounts of ground. The trees looked to be huge with an interwoven canopy of branches that on first appeared to be impenetrable.
“They’ve stopped shooting at us,” Natasha noticed.
“Yes, they think we’re dead,” Kurt answered.
“What do you think?” Natasha asked, almost afraid of the answer.
“I’ll let you know in about twenty seconds, hang on now.”
The viewport exploded inward as the lifeboat crashed into the trees in a bone crushing impact and disappeared down inside the canopy.
Kurt’s last thought before they struck, was to activate his tracker in his NI. If General Sinclair were to mount a rescue, he would need to know where to look.
The Outlaw attack craft watched as the lifeboat struck the trees then peeled off and headed back out into space, confident no one could, or would survive the crash.
13
After the catastrophic attack on the Confederation Headquarters on Earth, by the group known only as, OMEGA, drastic steps to ensure the security of the Confederation, had to be taken.
The Confederation building would be rebuilt, but not on the old site. That would remain a shrine to all those who lost their lives on that tragic day. The work must go on though, so a temporary site was chosen. The Capitol Building in Washington DC was commandeered for Confederation business whereas Col Sec was moved to Area 15, deep beneath the Nevada desert.
General Sinclair, the head of both Recon Delta operations and Col Sec Intelligence Division, had an urgent meeting with World President Takagi after the attack, almost before the dust had settled. He managed to push through his ideas for increased security, both at home and throughout the Confederation. He also used the opportunity to green light an operation he had kept under the political radar for the previous couple of months, ever since his last conversation with, and the inspiration behind the operation, Kurt Stryder.
Sinclair picked a team from Recon Delta for this operation, plus certain members from Intelligence Division, a unit that would work under the radar and therefore not have the hindrance of jurisdiction to worry about. They would be able to go and work anywhere. Originally, he would have kept them as an ultra top-secret unit, on a need to know basis, but with the new security measures President Takagi had given the green light to, Sinclair decided to make them overt, rather than covert, with the authority to override any red tape. This gave them the ability to go and work anywhere as he planned but also to call upon any local resources, to use if the need arose. It would be a Combined Action Unit, dealing with matters of Ultra High Security and would be given special resources to deal with them.
The team was given a derivative of the serum administered to Kurt Stryder before training began. Because the original strain had proven unpredictable, a much weaker version was administered to them and this time they were confident the results would be controllable. With an increase in muscle mass and bone density along with increased dexterity, reflexes and thought processes, the team began to train and learn how to use these new abilities to their best advantage. To speed up the process they trained in heavy ‘g’ environments.
The first series of tests proved the serum worked extremely well. The increases were not massive amounts, but taken against the results of tests taken before the serum was given, used as a control, the results showed an increase of at least fifteen per cent which meant better than the best athletes in the world.
After a few months they were almost ready to go operational, just one final test lay before them.
Colonel Anton De Boer was given the duty of overseeing General Sinclair’s personal security. He was also in charge of the security of the new Col Sec HQ. He was also to oversee the teams’ final test, which had started half an hour earlier.
“Teams One through Five, check in please,” he said through the battle com channel accessed via his NI. Since the OMEGA incident and learning that, the terrorist group was supplied with the very same tec and munitions from MaxCorp that they had supplied to Col Sec, all the security protocols had to be rethought. Everything from com channels to shield densities; from tracking chips to jump drives. Everything had to be recalibrated to ensure that Col Sec’s military, research and civilian projects were safe from the threat of being tampered with, navigated around or plain and simply broken. Col Sec had to ensure that they lived up to their name and made the colonies safe.
“One here, secure sir.”
“Two here, secure sir.”
“Four here, secure sir.”
“Five here, secure sir.”
“Three, report your status,” De Boer snapped when the rest had called in.
“Three report your status, immediate,” he said again, this time with more force. Something had gone wrong and he had lost one team already.
General Sinclair had told him this team was good and that they would get round his men within the hour. The Colonel was understandably adamant that his men were the best and that this mysterious team, would not get past them. Of course, when the general had asked how certain he was and would he care to wager, the colonel had bet a weeks’ salary.
They couldn’t be as good as Sinclair said they were, could they? De Boer thought. It just was not possible for them to get past five checkpoints in a Top Secret, Ultra High Security facility within one hour, without being detected.
The smile on the general’s face when he had accepted the wager should have warned him. Now this mysterious team had gotten past Team Three.
Quickly running through his mind where each team were supposed to be, he recalled where the missing Team Three should be, at the entrance to Level Ten. Right outside General Sinclair’s office.
How on earth, had they got there, undetected?
“All Teams, urgent, leave two men to hold your position, the rest converge on Three’s position,” De Boer said and taking out his sidearm, the new Sig P999, the standard issue, and jacked the slide to prime the battery clip then started walking. No team of upstarts was going to lose him a week’s salary but worse still, he was not going to lose face in front of his men. It was just not going to happen.
He was already on Level Ten. He had been monitoring events the moment the test began, on a computer terminal with a bank of monitors that gave a view of the entire interior of this new facility. Not once had he seen even a glimmer, of anything untoward. How this team got past Three, was beyond him but he was determined to find them and ask that, very same question.
As he entered the corridor from his room it was as he had expected, deserted. All personnel had been evacuated to another level, Level Four, for the test’s duration. The team had started the test on Level Five, one level below. The objective of the test was for the team to get around or neutralise the teams guarding the levels below Level Five and reach Sinclair’s office on Level Ten.
Up ahead lay the entrance to this Level, a huge elevator shaft with double doors wide and tall enough to drive a ground hauler through. Lying on the ground were the prone forms of Team Three, all four of them.
Racing over to them, he checked their vitals and was relieved to find they were all okay, out cold, stunned but okay none the less.
“What the fuck happened here?” he asked of no one. “All Teams, where are the men you were sending?” he said through the battle com. When there was no response, he said again, “All Teams, respond.”
“Sir, all exits are sealed, I’m not sure how but we can’t get to you.”
Team One’s leader replied followed by the other leaders with the same result.
“Holy shit!” De Boer exclaimed as he set off at a sprint for Sinclair’s office. If he got there in time maybe, he could head off this team before the deadline.
Upon reaching the office door a thought sprang to mind, something that had been nagging at the back of his mind since learning that Team Three was down, Where was this new team?
As the door opened, the answer stood before him.
“Well Colonel, it pains me to have to say this but it looks like you lost the bet,” Sinclair said from the comfort of his cushioned chair seated behind his large ornate mahogany desk. Standing to attention before him, their backs ramrod stiff and toward him were four people, three men and one woman, the team in question.
De Boer stepped inside the room in sheer disbelief; he looked at the rigid backs of the four individuals before him, who had not moved since the door opened. As he looked at the General, he noticed he was wearing the broadest smile he had ever seen.
“Pay up,” Sinclair said still smiling.
“Certainly sir, on one condition.”
“You want to know who they are and how they did it,” it was a statement rather than a question and it was the obvious one, to which the Colonel simply nodded in reply.
“This is Captain Jake Riley, Lieutenants Mack Cooper, Joseph Vance and Angelina Torres. How they did it? I’ll let them explain that,” Sinclair said introducing his new team with more than a little pride.
Riley turned to face the Colonel and said, “It was relatively easy sir. I had Lieutenant Vance hack into the security protocols of the mainframe and take command. He accessed the video feeds then had the monitors show continual feed from just after the level was evacuated, altering the time and date code to compensate, making it appear they were showing a live feed. Then we accessed the main maintenance tunnel and while you were watching an empty corridor from a couple hours ago, we were able to sneak up on your men. They’ll be fine in a while sir, we only stunned them. Once we reached our destination, Vance initiated a lock down to this level.”
De Boer could not believe what he was hearing and just stood staring open mouthed.
“Colonel, meet the Wildfire Team,” Sinclair said.
14
De Boer finally found his voice and, with some chagrin said, “Good work.”
“Thank you sir,” Riley replied suppressing a smile as he sensed the colonel’s discomfort.
“One question,” De Boer said regaining some of his composure.
Riley looked at Sinclair as he assumed the question had been directed at him. Sinclair said, “And that would be ‘how’ I assume. How did they get past all the new security protocols that our best tec guys put into place after the OMEGA incident, am I right Colonel?”
De Boer nodded in agreement.
“Well this was a test in two parts; firstly to test the new protocols to see if they were good enough to stand up to any incursion by enemy agents and secondly, to see how good the team was in action. Suffice it to say, that both lived up expectations, but that doesn’t mean we can be complacent. There could be another OMEGA out there just waiting to strike, and we still don’t know how much of the tec sold to OMEGA was also sold to other terrorist groups or even the Alliance so we need to be constantly on our guard. Does that answer your question Colonel?”
“Somewhat, but I find it hard to understand how you can be so, pleased they breached the new security protocols in little over thirty minutes sir,” De Boer said with a worried frown.
“It’s what we trained them to do. I’d have been disappointed if they had taken longer. The real test was to see how they fared against other Recon Delta marines, those who hadn’t undergone this special training.”
De Boer was about to protest but Sinclair halted him with a wave of his hand, then said, “I mean no disrespect to you or your men Colonel. I have the utmost respect for your abilities and for those of your men. Your loyalty and that of every Recon Delta marine is beyond question but this team has been trained to be better and for now, that’s all I can say. Suffice it to say they passed with flying colours and as of this moment, they are active.
“Colonel, I have high hopes for this team, they will be a huge asset against OMEGA or any other threat we may face in the months to come and no doubt, you’ll have the opportunity to work together at some point, but for now, I’m sure you want to see to your men. Congratulate them from me for their outstanding performance,” Sinclair explained.
Realising he’d been dismissed De Boer saluted, turned on his heel and left the office.
Sinclair sat at his desk still smiling.
“Well I think you’ve earned a few days R and R so go on, get the hell out of my office and go have some fun and I’ll see you back in my office, eight am sharp, three days from now,” he said.
Vance looked at the other two members he knew would relish the chance and said, “Well you heard the man, let’s move it,” He didn’t bother to ask Riley for he knew he would probably stay on base to get some reading done, or maybe even some extra training. He had often joked that Riley had ‘Government Issue’ stamped on him somewhere, for the man never seemed to be off duty.
“You coming Cap? Vegas is near here, at the very least we could grab a beer, c’mon Jake, it’ll do you good,” Cooper said.
“You guys go ahead, I may get some extra time on the test range with the new Sig,” Riley said.
The new Sig P999 was the new sidearm issued to all Col Sec operatives, supplied by RandCorp. A smaller, lighter version of the P996 which, had just one power setting, ‘maximum’ with a twenty shot capacity from a fully charged battery clip.
Since the OMEGA attack, Col Sec had changed suppliers of tec and munitions from MaxCorp, who had also supplied OMEGA, to RandCorp and so far, the changeover had gone smoothly.
“Jake your rating on that weapon couldn’t be any higher. I’d lay money on you being able to shoot the balls off a mosquito with that thing, without singeing the damn things legs,” Sinclair said.
“From how far sir, twenty paces? I think any further and he might singe the legs. His eyes aren’t what they used to be you know, must be his age,” said Torres to which the other two replied with sombre expressions and nods of their heads.
“Definitely his age,” Vance said.
“They only want me along sir to prevent them getting into any trouble, and Vance never has any money anyway,” Riley countered trying to maintain the composure a team leader should have.
“Go babysit your team Jake, have a few beers, get laid, including you Torres. Just get back on base by oh eight hundred, three days from now,” Sinclair said, still smiling.
“In three days even you should be able to get laid Mack,” Vance joked, slapping his friend on his back.
“Seeing as how you insist sir,” Riley said finally giving in. They all saluted then turned to leave.
“Right you lot, we meet topside in one hour. That should give even you Vance, enough time to look presentable. Then we hit Vegas an hour later,” Riley said once they left the office.
“Look out Vegas, here we come,” Vance laughed at the prospect of three days away from base. They’d had no free time since training began months ago and he for one, intended to enjoy himself.
Riley was the first to reach the surface complex that was Area 15. As he exited the elevator, he wandered outside to taste the cool night air. It was good to get outside and feel fresh air on his face, he thought, as he tilted his head up to take in the slight breeze coming in off the desert. After any prolonged time in enclosed areas, he always had a hankering for wide-open spaces. It wasn’t claustrophobia so much, as a need to breathe real air as opposed to recycled air.
His blonde hair was badly in need of a cut and reached his shoulders curling over his ears. Being in a Recon Delta team though, meant for some, there were special dispensations over appearance. They could be called upon at a moment’s notice to go under cover in a
ny environment, and be able to blend in. His training as leader of Wildfire Team had kept him too busy to even think of visiting the camp barber, he literally had no spare time for anything other than a quick shower before training began, and another before collapsing on his bunk at the end of another, eighteen hour day. For that reason alone, he was glad to be getting out. His halfhearted refusal of Cooper’s offer to join them had been made, because it was expected of him. They would’ve suspected an ulterior motive had he instantly agreed.
Little thought had gone into his attire, he had simply jumped under a hot shower, shaved, and then got dressed in whatever was at hand in his wardrobe. This meant he had on a plain open necked, short sleeved, light blue tee shirt, a pair of light tan chino’s and a pair of moccasin style loafers on his feet. He wasn’t particularly bothered what he looked like, he wasn’t out to catch anyone’s eye, not tonight, not for a long time, not since, but he wasn’t even going to think about that. Tonight he just wanted to relax and chill with his friends.
“Looking good Jake,” Torres said from behind him. He had been so wrapped up in his thoughts he had not heard the arrival of the elevator, or the door opening. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw her standing behind him, her eyes wandering up and down his body and lingering a little longer than was appropriate, on his behind.
She had her jet-black hair hanging loosely around her face, down to just past her slim shoulders in masses of lustrous waves. Her dark flashing eyes were large and expressive, her lips full and sensuous and her toned body was athletic but not tomboyish, an extremely dangerous mix which more than a few men had found to their regret. Not some air headed bimbo and definitely no pushover, she met, and interacted with everyone at the same level. Generous to a fault, he considered himself lucky to be counted among the few she called friend.
When he saw what she was wearing, he knew, that all thoughts of a chilled and relaxing night, were just not going to happen.
A tight fitting yellow top, which had a plunging neckline, displayed just the right amount of cleavage. She wore tan pants that were tight and showed off her curves to great effect. The ankle boots she wore had a small heel so that when she stood next to him, at five feet eight inches, and with the boost from the heels, she could almost look him straight in his green eyes.
