by Terence West
"Then they will be eliminated, Sir."
"Impressive. Don't forget, you are my lone man on the inside. Don't fail me or you will suffer the same fate as your targets."
"I won't, Sir. You can count on me."
"I sincerely hope so, Private. Hunter out." He tapped several keys on his computer killing his mic. Leaning back in his chair he studied the shot of the craft. He watched as Jake slowly passed through the frame. He reached over and tapped a button pausing the video feed. Anger burned in him as he stared at Jake. "No one makes a fool out of Colonel Rick Hunter."
* * * *
"Major Griggs!"
Griggs ran around the side of the craft toward Jake and PFC. Black. "What is it Private?"
Black stood up out of the pile of dirt she had accumulated at her feet. "Sir," she pointed at the hole in the side of the craft triumphantly, "we're in."
"Good work, Private. Inform Lansinger and Altone of our progress and let's get inside." He watched as Black took several steps away from the craft and keyed her mic. Stepping up to Jake, he patted him on the back. "You're looking a little pale, Silver."
Jake cleared his throat. "I'm fine, Sir. I've just never done anything like this before."
Griggs consoled him. "None of us have, Lieutenant. None of us have."
Black returned to the group. "Major, Altone and Lansinger report ready. There's something strange, though."
"What is it Private?"
"My signal is very poor. I could barely get a signal to the others, and I was having a lot of problems with disruption."
Jake fielded the question. "Could be that the ship is somehow interfering with communications."
Griggs turned to look at the craft looming over them. "Could be lieutenant. We have to remember what we're dealing with. We could encounter anything inside this craft." Griggs kicked at the dirt. He was nervous, but he didn't want anyone to know. "Private, why don't you go set up an antenna on that ridge. It should boost our signal."
"I'm on it."
Jake leaned in close to Griggs. "Do you have any idea what's inside?"
Griggs shook his head. "A day ago Hunter had a Recon team here investigating, but they were pulled out early and we were assigned."
"Hunter knows something that he's not telling."
Griggs nodded in agreement. "But what?"
They turned and watched as Black ran down from the ridge. "We're ready, Sir. The signal is already better."
"Well, let's get inside." The three figures stood in front of the hole in the craft. Black pulled her weapon off her shoulder and cocked it as she stepped toward the hole. She was followed inside by Jake with his pistol drawn, then Griggs.
The inside of the craft was dimly light except for random shafts of light that shot out of the walls at random angles. The hallways were huge. They were tall and wide. Probably built for a large being, Jake assumed. The wall seemed to be made of some kind of organic material. Running her hand across them, Black found that they were oozing with some kind of slime.
Wiping her hand off on her trousers, she retrieved a small black flashlight from her vest. Flicking it on, she was startled. "What the hell is that?"
Griggs turned his attention from the walls to the thing up ahead in the hallway. Jake let out an audible gasp as he caught sight of it. The three slowly moved toward it with weapons raised. It wasn't moving, whatever it was. Griggs knelt down next to it. Reaching up he grabbed the flashlight from Black and began to inspect it.
"It's an alien boys and girls."
The small being lay sprawled out on the floor with its head turned away from them. Shining the light across its chest, Griggs saw that it had massive damage to the left side of its body. Reaching over, he touched the head and gently rolled it over to face the three. Gasping, they all jumped back away from the dead creature. Its head was massive compared to the rest of its thin body. The huge black lidless eyes stared at them from the soulless corpse. It had a large gash on its head that had cracked its skull, allowing part of its brain to spill out onto the floor. A blue substance they all assumed was blood caked the wounds and the floor around it.
"What happened here, Major? Why did this ship crash?" Jake couldn't take his eyes off the dead being in front of him.
"It was attacked by one of ours. The patrol helicopter thought is was a civilian craft and tried to warn it out of our airspace, but when it didn't deviate from its course, they shot it down taking themselves down at the same time."
Jake was horrified. "We did this?"
"I'm afraid so." Griggs shined the light up ahead in the hallway. "Let's get moving. We've got a lot of ship left to explore." Griggs handed the flashlight back to Back and pulled out one of his own. Jake followed suit pulling out his own and clicking it on. "Let's split up, we can cover more ground that way. Remember to keep in constant contact with each other. I don't want anything happening to one of my people in here. Black you keep heading down the hall, Silver you go the other way, and I'll see what's behind this hole in the wall." Everyone nodded then turned to go his or her separate ways.
* * * *
"Dan! Get over here man!"
PFC. Dan Altone stood up on the rise near the small antenna that Black had set up. Turning his head he saw PFC. Jack Lansinger waving at him from near the base of the craft. He began to slowly jog down the hill toward Altone. "What's up Jack?"
Lansinger lifted a small piece of metal up out of the dirt. "I was just walking past here and I spotted this." Turning it he saw that something seemed to be written on one of side of it. "This is alien writing! Damn cool." He handed it to Altone and stood up next to him.
Flipping it over in his hands, Altone stared at it as it glimmered in the moonlight. It was shaped like a triangle and was about two inches in diameter. "You better hang on to this. It could be very valuable." He began to hand it back to Lansinger when he dropped it in front of him. "Sorry, Man."
Lansinger shrugged. "It happens." He began to reach down to get it when he heard Altone cock his gun. Feeling the cold barrel of the gun in the back of his head, he raised his hands to show that he had no weapons. "What the hell are you doing?"
Altone pulled the trigger sending Lansinger to the ground in a heap. "Just following orders, man." Returning the gun to its holster he made his way back up to the antenna. Lifting up his booted foot he crushed it with one swift blow. Turning his attention back to the craft, he began to make his way down the hill.
* * * *
Jake was legitimately scared as he made his way down the corridor. He was holding his pistol in his right hand while he had the light in the left. The speaker in his ear crackled to life with Griggs' voice. "Report."
Jake listened as Black reported in. He keyed his mic. "Silver here."
The walls seemed to have patched of very thin areas scattered through them. The thin areas were emitting a strange orange glow. Walking up to one of the patched, he ran his hand across it. It was pliable to the touch, but unbreakable no matter how hard he pushed. Leaning close, he tried to see through the semi-translucent surface. He jumped back as he saw a figure cross behind the patch. Jake's heart was racing. He hit his mic. "Major, there's something alive in here besides us."
"What was it?"
Jake tried to catch his breath. "I'm not sure, but it looked like one of those things!"
"Stay on it Silver! We want one of them alive!"
That was not what he wanted to hear. "Yes, Sir. Silver out." Shining the light up ahead of him he saw a Y in the corridor. Moving ahead, he shined the light down both halls. Door number one, or door number two, he asked himself.
* * * *
PFC. Wendy Black was moving quickly down the long corridor she was in. Beads of sweat rolled down her forehead. As she had moved away from the door, she had noticed the temperature had steadily been rising. Coming around a corner she encountered an immense room. The room was easily a hundred feet across and thirty feet high. It was different from the rest of the ship in that it had smoo
th black walls instead of the patchwork walls she had previously encountered. Stepping into the center of the room she found herself standing in a large circle carved into the floor.
Looking around the circle she saw carved relief that vaguely reminded her of Egyptian hieroglyphs. Kneeling down, she ran her hand over the smooth lines in the floor. She heard a clicking sound as she passed her hand over a second one. Stepping back she watched as the hieroglyphs began to quickly light up.
The room around her began to flicker to life. What looked to be large viewing screens began to power up around the sides and rear of the room. Individual screens showed the outside view of the ship and system statistics. "Wow, this is great."
She tapped a button on her belt turning on her mic. "Major, this is Black. Do you copy?" She waited for Griggs to reply but heard only static. "Major Griggs, this is Private Black. Do you copy?" Nothing. "Damn. Something in this room must be interfering with my signal."
She started to make her way out of them room to get a clearer signal when a loud crackling sound caught her attention. Spinning around, she caught sight of a huge view screen behind her twinkle to life. "What the hell?"
A giant image of the Earth appeared on the screen. She watched as it spun peacefully in the void of space. A low rumble began to fill her ears as she stared at the screen. Suddenly the Earth was ripped apart at the center in a fiery explosion. Fragments flew in all directions, leaving the view screen empty. The image was replaced by what looked to her like film footage of World War II. The film was black and white and scratched as it showed soldiers being shot and blown up as well as planes bombing entire cities into submission. The image flashed again, this time showing canisters of toxic waste being dumped into one of the oceans and polluting of the environment.
She was in awe of the images flashing before her. "What does this all mean?" A single word in white lettering flashed across the black screen. She gasped as she took several steps back. "Extinction? I don't understand!"
A voice startled her. "You don't need to."
She flipped around to see who it was. "Altone? What are you doing here?" She relaxed. "Why did you abandon your post?"
"It's very important that we talk."
He was acting strangely. She cautiously took a step back. "About what?"
"Wendy, I've always liked you and I don't want to see you come to any harm. That's why I'm here."
"That's very nice of you to want to protect me Dan, I just—"
"No, that's not it," he cut her off. "I'm here to make you an offer."
She slowly put her hand on her weapon. "What kind of offer?"
He looked around to make sure no one else was listening. "We have an infiltrator in our midst. The powers that be back at the base have instructed me to seek out and destroy this infiltrator and his partner. I want you to help me."
"What are you talking about, Dan?"
"Our new Lieutenant, you know, Silver, he's not who he says he is."
She leaned a little closer. "Who is he?"
"He is a Private Eye sent in to infiltrate the base and bring it down."
"What? How could one man bring down a whole base?"
"That doesn't matter now. All I need to know is that you will help me stop him."
"Or what?"
"Or you'll have to be killed too."
Her eyes widened. "I don't know about this. It all seems awfully strange."
Altone nodded. "I understand. I'll give you a little while to think it over."
She turned her back to him as she thought over the information that had just been presented to her. Slowly Altone reached up to his belt and uncoiled a thin piece of nylon rope. Wrapping it around his hands he raised it up and slowly moved toward her. With one fell swoop he had the rope around her neck and was choking her. She gasped for breath as she struggled to break free. Balling her fist, she threw several elbow jabs into his ribs. His hands were like steel as he pulled. She felt the lack of oxygen begin to hit her brain. Trying to think quickly, she squirmed to the right and sent her left hand backwards into his groin. The rope went slack as he doubled over in pain. Seizing her chance, she flipped around and sent a kick into his mid-section sending him toppling to the floor. She kicked again, this time hitting him in the head. He rolled over on his back moaning in pain.
Taking a step back, she watched him for a moment. Lifting her foot, she readied herself to kick again. Quickly he rolled over and grabbed her foot knocking her off balance and sending her to the floor. Jumping to his feet, Altone swiftly removed his pistol from its holster and aimed it at her.
"Sorry Wendy." He pulled the trigger.
* * * *
Jake stopped dead in his tracks. Up ahead in the hallway he could feel something staring at him. Quickly lifting his light he caught a glimpse of a small gray creature as it darted around the corner away from him. His adrenaline took over as he rushed head long after it. He was running full bore, but was falling behind.
Rounding the corner, he caught the creature leaping into a small hole in the wall. Jogging up to the hole, Jake cautiously peered inside. It was a long tunnel. His light flashed across the creature as it moved deeper into the tunnel. Dropping down on his hands and knees he made his way into the tunnel.
The tunnel was oozing with some sort of slime that was pooling at the bottom. Jake tried not to be disgusted by the feeling of it as he waded through it. It was making the bottom of the tunnel very slick and difficult for him to traverse to quickly. Shining his light ahead of him, he saw the creature moving quickly and easily through the tunnel.
He took a deep breath but quickly exhaled it. He had noticed it when he first entered the ship, but the rank smell of the ship had steadily grown worse as he had traversed deeper inside. The smell was starting to turn his stomach. It vaguely reminded him of a moldy piece of fruit. He stopped to catch his breath. The smell was making it increasingly harder for him to breath.
He shined his light around the tunnel. It was scarcely big enough for him to fit in. He quickly began to move again, not wanting to loose sight of the creature. Pointing his light in front of him, he caught sight of the creature's foot as it swiftly rounded a corner in the tunnel. He moved as quickly as he could through the tunnel toward the corner. Rounding the corner, he brought his light to bear, but saw nothing.
"Dammit, I lost him." His flashlight began to flicker, then died. He pounded it against the wall trying to make it work. It remained dark. Replacing the light on his belt, he cautiously turned to look behind him. Darkness. Turning ahead, he caught a small light. His heart began to race. "I hope that's the light at the end of the tunnel."
Cautiously he began to inch his way toward the light. He moved his right hand slowly forward in the slime. He rested it on what felt like some kind of tube. He slowly moved his hand along the length of it. He unexpectedly felt it move.
Jumping back he accidentally slammed his head against the roof of the tunnel. He tried to stifle the pain as it thundered in his head. He held his body perfectly still. Beads of sweat began to roll down his forehead. He carefully started to back out of the tunnel when the flashlight on his belt slipped off and splashed into the slime.
The flashlight sparked to life. Jake's eyes went wide as he stared at the creature directly in front of him. The creatures almond shaped black eyes studied him as his pear shaped head bobbed back and forth like a bird's. One of his spindly arms reached out for Jake. Trying hard not to gasp, Jake slowly backed away from the creature. The creature cocked its head to the right. Shifting around, it quickly moved toward Jake.
Jake panicked. "Get back!" It reared back and emitted a shrill scream from its tiny mouth. "Jesus Christ!" Jake jumped back and fell face first into the slime. Lifting himself out of the sludge, he gasped for air and quickly wiped the slime out of his eyes. By the time he opened his eyes it was gone.
Chapter 14
He stared at his empty desk drawers. He had been in the same office for his entire career at the base. It had
grown to feel like his second home. Emptying the last of his possessions into a small brown cardboard box, he carried it over to where several other boxes sat stacked in the corner. Seating himself at his desk, he stared at his now barren office. He had once been told that you could judge your life by how long it takes to pack. It had taken fifteen minutes. He wasn't sure what that meant.
Davis stood up from his desk and walked over to his door. Twisting the knob, he slowly opened it. Stepping out into the hallway he moved toward the exit at the end. Lifting his spare ID card out of his pocket he slipped it through the control box next to the door. Two red led lights blinked on instead of the usual green light.
"What the hell?" He slid it through again with the same response. He stared at the two red lights. Reaching up, he tapped in his personal access code into the keypad. The red lights appeared again. "Damn."
He strode briskly back to his office and slammed his door. Picking up the receiver on his desk he dialed the number for the control room. The phone rang several times before some one picked it up. "Control room."
"This is General Davis. Let me speak to General Perry."
"Hold on a minute, Sir."
The phone went silent as he was put on hold. Davis waited patiently for Perry to pick up. "Hello?"
"Perry?"
"Yeah, Tom. Go ahead."
"What the hell is going on? Why have my pass codes been removed from the system already? I still have a whole day here at the base!"
The phone was silent for a moment. "Tom, I'm going to level with you. I have assumed full operational control of this facility. That means you are no longer needed, so your access has been limited to your office until you're shipped off."
"Jesus Christ! I've been working here for fifteen years! I already know what goes on here! You're not keeping me out of anything that I don't already know about!" Davis' anger was building.
"Calm down Tom. I did this in the facilities best interest. You are to be transferred off base in one day. That means I need to be able to do my job without your interference."
"You can't do this to me!"
