Dom’s anger flared and he ground his teeth. “Just let me use a fucking telephone so I can call the Pentagon.”
“Watch your language, sergeant, or I’ll see you in chains,” the lieutenant threatened. “You’re no James Bond, and the world won’t end if you don’t get to speak to your precious Special Forces group,” he mocked.
Dom reached across the desk and grabbed the young officer by his shirt front, lifted him off his feet and pulled him across the desk. He held him one handed off the ground and pointed a finger in his face. “You WILL get me a phone or so help me God, I’ll snap your neck like a twig and stuff what’s left of you into a fucking trash can. Do we understand each other, sir?”
The young officer hung at the end of Dom’s arm, trembling, knowing true fear for the perhaps the first time in his adult life, too afraid to respond. Dom shook him like a rag doll to get his attention. “Are you hearing me?” he raged.
“Y-yes, staff sergeant, I hear you. One phone, coming right up…just p-put me down.”
Dom dropped the man and he crumpled to the floor, his legs unable to hold him. He looked up at Dom who was still not in the mood to be trifled with. When the officer made no move to stand, Dom reached down and picked him up to his feet and the man actually whimpered and cowered from him, as if Dom were about to strike him.
“The phone?” Dom asked.
“In here.” He led him into the next room. “This one will call internationally.”
Dominic sat in front of the phone and exhaled hard, straining his brain to think of the numbers to the Pentagon and who exactly he should be calling. He only knew of one of the senators that sat on their Oversight Committee since Franklin blew his brains out, but he didn’t know how to call them. He strained his brain trying to think of who he could call at the Pentagon that could help him. He only could remember the number to their CDO at Tinker, but nobody was answering there…he knew they had bugged out. He sighed and shook his head.
He knew two of the men with Team 2, but they had left already as well, and even if they hadn’t, he didn’t know how to get in touch with them. His frustration rose as he realized he had what he wanted and couldn’t do anything with it.
He sat at the desk, the phone receiver in his hand and wanted to cry. “Fuck!” he yelled.
He lifted the receiver above his head, ready to slam it onto the body of the phone when a light bulb went off above his head. He may not know where the squads went, but he knew one thing for sure…wherever they went, they would still have to be able to respond to threats. And all of the field agents called into one phone number. An 800 number so they could call from a pay phone if they had to. And that was one number that even HE could remember. 1-800-MON-STER. Dom prayed that wherever they went, they still had someone manning the phone line.
6
Security officer Kevin Moore lay back in his bed, the painkillers he was given starting to kick in and his eyelids starting to droop. His head still throbbed from it being bounced off the concrete steps and his wrist throbbed in time with it to each beat of his heart. He exhaled deeply and settled in for a much needed nap just as the door to his room flew open and a boisterous James McDonald sauntered in.
“Whatcha doing, Moore?” He had a smirk painted across his rough features.
Kevin snapped alert when the door flew open but relaxed when he saw McDonald. The hair on the back of his neck stood up and he felt very wary of the man, but he did his best to at least act relaxed around him. “I’m trying to rest, James. They doped me up pretty good.” He let his eyes nearly close again. “What are you up to?” he asked, not really caring.
“Oh, I’m out digging up dirt on our wanna-be commandos.” He flopped down on the edge of the bed, startling Kevin awake again. “I hear the bastards that roughed you up came and paid you a visit,” he said in an accusatory tone.
Kevin cracked a grin at him. “Yeah, they did.” He nodded toward the gift basket. “Said they felt bad for busting me up and brought me that stuff.”
McDonald got up and went around the bed, noisily digging through the gift basket. “What the fuck? They break your arm and bounce your head off the wall and think they can make it all better with some fucking fruit and a balloon?” he spat before throwing the basket across the room and against the wall. “What did you tell them?”
Kevin shrugged at him lazily. “I dunno, man. Thanks, I think.” His head lolled to one side and he tried to feign sleep.
“What?!” McDonald startled him again. “You told the fuckers, ‘thanks’? For what? For breaking your fucking arm? What? Are you a pussy?”
“Dude, relax.” Kevin tried overplaying the drugs in his system. “It’s all good. I just wanted them to leave so I could sleep. Docs have me doped up too much to give a shit about anything right now.” He never liked McDonald and didn’t trust him or his temper, but he didn’t want to risk a physical altercation with a broken wrist and his wits dulled on painkillers. He knew he wouldn’t stand a chance.
“So you just bent over and told them to stick it to you again, did you?” he spit at him. “Just like the little bitch that you are.”
Kevin opened his eyes and gave him a bleary eyed stare. “Fuck you, Ronald McDonald…I would have told them to go fuck themselves if I could have seen straight.” He allowed his head to wobble to emphasize the painkiller’s effect. “But it got rid of them faster to just say, ‘thanks’ and then let them leave.” He sighed heavily and then pointed a wobbly finger at him, “Just like you should go. My head is killing me and you’re harshin’ my mellow.”
McDonald seethed as he glared at the man lying in the bed. “Docs don’t usually give that much painkiller for a broken wrist.”
Moore cracked an eye and smiled a dopey smile at him. “Feels good when mixed with the stuff they give you for a massive concussion…”
McDonald continued to study him for a moment before he turned and left his room, letting the door slam as he left. Moore listened to him stomp down the hall before he let out a long breath and finally let himself relax somewhat. He never trusted McDonald before, but if word ever got out that he had told the operators about the standing order he had been given…he would find himself shot on the spot. ‘Training accident’ they would call it, but it would happen, he had no doubt. Moore just hoped that the operators were true to their word and had the new base CO demand that Roberts and McDonald be replaced ASAP, or his life wouldn’t be worth a bucket of warm piss.
*****
Laura found herself exploring the side rooms and hallways off of the main cavern of a room that Diane had shown them. She was amazed that such a structure could exist carved into the surrounding hills and not be utilized, but she understood how such a huge structure could be more of a hindrance than a convenience. Simply sectioning off the huge expanse into usable workspaces would be costly, and for all intents and purposes, the main expanse was the size of a small town.
Matt and Diane had walked to the end and explored what little the facility had to offer while Tufo explored the rooms and hallways on the other side of the expanse. Laura had just reentered the main portion again when Mark approached her. “I’m beginning to question the integrity of this place,” he said.
“Why’s that?” she asked, eyeing the steel reinforced concrete walls poured to withstand a nuclear blast.
“When I went into one of the side rooms, the walls were cracked and starting to actually crumble. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that the concrete was substandard.”
Laura nodded. “Government efficiency. Always go with the lowest bidder,” she chuckled.
Mark shook his head. “This main portion appears to be in good condition and some of the side rooms are too,” he informed her. “A couple of the stairwells are in decent shape and I went down a level and it’s actually still dry down there.”
Laura shot him a questioning look. “There’s a downstairs?” She was shocked. “There aren’t stairwells on the west side.”
Mark no
dded. “Two sets of them. One on the north side and one on the south. There’s a level below us and a level above, but they are a mirror image of the rooms along the side of…this!” he exclaimed with his arms spread out. “You could hide a fleet of jumbo jets in this place.” He spun around, staring up at the high ceiling.
“I know. I’m not sure I buy the whole story that this was supposed to house a shadow government in case of nuclear war,” she muttered. “Why would they need a huge central room with fifty foot tall ceilings?”
“Parking spaces for their personal aircraft, I guess.” Tufo smirked. “Who knows…our government is really good about going over the top with bullshit. And this looks like a bullshit project to me.”
They both turned as they heard Mitchell and Flemings returning, talking about how the facility had underground tunnels that connected it to others similar to it. “The facility that is directly under Groom Lake connects to this one as well. The other two are in pretty bad shape, but one of them is probably usable.” She said.
“There are more?” Mark asked.
Matt shot him a grin. “Oh yeah.” He was nodding his head. “According to Diane, this one is stripped out but probably in the best shape structurally. One is shot and unusable. Another is smaller, but usable and it’s stocked with supplies. The one under the base…” He glanced at Diane before continuing.
She nodded and picked up where he left off. “The one directly under Groom Lake is the one we would like to keep them out of if we can. After I mentioned it to Colonel Mitchell, he expressed an interest in activating it and perhaps using it for the Squads. It is somewhat smaller than the others but it interconnects to them all. And it is fully equipped.”
Matt nodded. “And the best part is…the main access is directly under the bunker that we’re using now. Taking over the underground portion and moving the entire operation into one area just makes sense.”
Laura saw the logic. Keep the Monster Squad contained to one small area and away from the rest of the facility, away from contractors and other base personnel and restrict the interaction as much as possible, just like Tinker. “So is this something we should start doing now? Moving everything to the underground facility, or…”
Matt shook his head. “No. We can wait until after we deal with this Sicarii threat. Then, before the non-essentials start coming back, we’ll do what we can.”
“Are we talking easy access to the bunker or are we going to have to blow something up?” Mark asked Diane. “‘Cuz I like blowing shit up.” He shot her a wicked smile.
Diane laughed. “No, there are double reinforced blast doors that separate the two, but they are easily opened. The bunker was actually the main ingress to the underground facility prior to sealing it off.”
“Damn,” Mark swore, “I really wanted to blow something up.”
“Maybe next time, Mark,” Matt said. “Okay, people, I think we’ve seen enough. Let’s seal it up and head back to the base. Laura, as our visitors start approaching, let’s get them directed out here and hidden away. Diane, if you can, get with Logistics and Supply and make sure we have enough resources for the number of people we are expecting. If necessary, we can have crews ready 24/7 for offloading supply planes, but I want everything covered. Medical supplies, food, toilet paper, you name it.”
“Got it,” she said.
“Mark, make sure we keep the operators sharp. Get with Jack and get us a training facility that will keep these guys honed to a razor’s edge. Use the Elves if you have to, but I want them challenged every step of the way.”
“On it boss,” he said.
“Elves? Now there are elves, too?” Diane’s eyes grew wide.
“Oh, yeah. I knew I forgot to tell you something,” Matt said, shaking his head. “You know that big white hangar out by the runway…”
*****
Evan and Thorn worked diligently with the different prototypes until they found what they felt was the proper avenue of attack. As Evan carefully sliced the wood into blanks to make crossbow bolts, Viktor entered the lab.
Rufus glanced up to see him come in and crossed the lab to greet him. “Come, mon ami! Wait until you see what we have built for you.”
Viktor followed him to the back wall where Rufus opened a large locker. Inside was a carbon fiber crossbow with an oversized stock. Rufus pulled it off of a storage rack and handed it to him. “The stock can be broken down to be made smaller or extended out larger for a man your size,” he stated proudly as he handed the weapon to him.
Viktor lifted it and was impressed with the lightness of the weapon. He gave Rufus a curious look, “Does it have the strength required to fire a bolt to any distance?”
Thorn smiled at him and turned to Dr. Peters. Evan stopped slicing the wood and turned off the band saw. “Actually, we test fired it with a reinforced wooden bolt that is very similar to the ones we hope to create from the pieces of the cross here,” he said, indicating the wood he was slicing. “I think you will be satisfied with the performance.”
“What distances can you achieve with it?” He sighted along the bow and adjusted the height of the reflex sight mounted on top.
“It’s quite accurate well past a hundred yards,” Dr. Peters stated. “We would have tested it further, but that was the furthest we could shoot while still indoors.”
Viktor nodded in understanding. “And this test was done with wooden bolts?”
“Ah, yes. Resin reinforced wooden bolts, but yes. Wooden bolts were used in the test firing,” Evan clarified.
Viktor seemed pleased. He slung the crossbow over his shoulder and moved about to see how restrictive it proved to be. He seemed satisfied with the results. “Impressive for such a short amount of time.”
“I had begun the prototyping before we left,” Evan said. “Monsieur Thorn helped me finish it once we arrived and got the lab set up.”
“And now what are you working on?” Viktor asked.
“I was just about to cut the blanks for the bolts,” Evan informed him. “And, as we discussed, I plan to keep the saw dust and see if we can extract the blood from it and mix it with the resin to give it a one-two punch.”
Viktor approached the area Evan was working from and noted that he was wearing full length coveralls and welding gloves. His eyes covered with goggles and a filter mask sat beside the saw. “Precautions?”
Evan lowered his eyes and Viktor swore he nearly blushed. “Just being cautious.”
Viktor nodded as he studied the blank that had been sliced off. “Where will you be turning them?”
Thorn stepped forward. “There is a lathe over here. I believe it will be sufficient to turn the blanks to a suitable shaft.” He indicated with his arm the small lathe set up on a bench. “And we have the materials to finish the bolts ready. Silver tips, fletching…everything we need to complete them.”
“And once I can extract the blood from the dust, I’ll incorporate it into the resin and we’ll coat the bolts with at least two coats,” Evan added.
Viktor seemed satisfied with their work so far. But he was more curious of their plans for the silver coin that he had brought back. He still feared that stealing it may have been a moot point if they couldn’t use it as a bullet. “What of the coin? Have you devised a plan for it?”
Thorn smiled as he wrapped an arm around Viktor’s shoulder. “Mon ami, you should see what the good doctor has in store for your silver coin.” He patted his shoulder softly. “The man is a genius.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say that.” Evan nearly blushed. “Rufus is the one who gave me the idea when he asked if I could put it on a chain.”
Viktor stared at the two vampires waiting for one of them to explain it to him. Finally he simply asked, “So what did you do with it?”
Evan startled. “Oh!” He jumped to the table holding his notebooks. “It’s just a preliminary drawing and sets of plans, but I think you’ll like the idea.” He flipped through the pages until he found his sketches and laid the bo
ok out for Viktor. “Silver chain, as Monsieur Thorn requested. The silver coin in the middle.”
Viktor studied the drawing, his eyes growing wide, a smile slowly curling at the corners of his mouth. He tapped the page vigorously with his finger. “And you can build this?”
Evan nodded, “Quite easily, I believe.” He glanced at Thorn and gave a slight smile. “The technology isn’t that difficult really.”
A slow rumbling chuckle began deep in his chest and Viktor found himself laughing. He looked up from the notebook and clapped both vampires so soundly on their backs that they feared he may have broken something had they been mere mortals. “Wait until Max gets a load of this!” he bellowed.
*****
“Dom is where?” Jack asked the Duty Officer disbelievingly.
“Italy, Chief. He’s at Aviano. I just got off the phone with him and he isn’t very happy. Apparently Team 2 left him at the hospital,” Lieutenant Gregory stated.
“Son of a…” Jack caught himself. “Where is Colonel Mitchell?”
“No idea, Chief. I’ve called his office, I’ve tried his radio, nothing,” Gregory explained.
“And Laura? Tufo? Any of them?”
“I can’t raise Ms. Youngblood either, and…Tufo? What the hell does he have to do with anything?” Gregory asked.
Jack paused and then shook his head. “Never mind, LT. Okay you’re the Command Duty Officer, so make a command decision, call Aviano, talk to whoever you have to, but get his ass on the next flight stateside and then redirect his ass here. Pronto!” Jack said.
Gregory smirked at him. “Already done, Chief. Dominic is already preparing for a flight that leaves in…” he glanced at his watch, “fifteen minutes.”
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