A Scream of Angels - 02

by Joseph Nassise

  I wanted to take a moment, however, and give you an idea of what we’re up against.â€

  Behind him the plasma screen came to life. “What you are about to see are the last few minutes of footage that was recovered from Corporal Jackson’s helmet cam after the failed incursion into the lower levels of the base. I think you will find it worth your time.â€

  The video was full of interference, both from whatever was disrupting communications inside the perimeter of the base and from the poor lighting conditions in the room itself. The camera was close to the floor, shooting upward, and it was clear from its erratic motion that Jackson had been injured by this time and was probably rolling around in agony. He couldn’t have been aware the camera was still recording, for there was no conscious effort to point the lens at the action unfolding around him and it didn’t stay in one position for more than a few seconds at a time. None of that really mattered, however, for Cade was only interested in a single segment and when he got to it he froze the screen.

  The camera had caught one of Jackson’s squad members standing on the other side of the room, firing at something off-screen. The man was too far away to tell who it was, but there was no mistaking the fact that he was screaming at the top of his lungs; they could be heard on the audio feed even over the sound of all the gunfire.

  “Watch closely,†said Cade, and he gave the signal for the tape to roll again.

  As the men watched, something rushed onto camera from the left side of the screen, en-veloped the knight in a shadowy embrace, and disappeared again almost as fast as it had appeared.

  Except this time it didn’t go alone.

  It took the soldier with it.

  Cade let them watch it once through and then took them through it a second time on a frame by frame basis. It didn’t do much good; they didn’t get any further details at that speed than the former. It was as if the shadow was only that, a shadow, and it had no physical substance for the camera to lock on to. Yet that couldn’t be right, for it took more than a shadow to carry off a 200 pound soldier in full combat gear, particularly while being pumped full of lead from the machine pistol the soldier was carrying.

  Silence had descended on the room by the time Cade stopped the footage.

  “We’ve been through it backwards and forwards, three different ways from Sunday. And I have to be honest with you; we don’t have a clue what it is. We’ve got several people doing an extensive search of the Order’s physical archives, looking for clues, but the online database held nothing that could help us and I’m not holding my breath waiting for a miracle.

  “We’ll be going into unexplored territory and facing an unknown foe. Communications will probably be erratic and we won’t be able to call for reinforcements if things go to hell.†Cade held them all with his gaze, and then let a grin spread slowly across his face, putting a bit of jocularity into his voice at the same time. “But if it was going to be a cake-walk, they wouldn’t need us in the first place.â€

  That got a rousing cheer out of the men from Echo. When things got bad, the Order called in the troops. When the troops couldn’t handle it, they called in the Elite Strike Teams.

  The best of those was Echo.

  Cade turned to face Olsen. “How long will it take you to get NOMAD ready?â€

  The sergeant didn’t even have to think about it. “Half an hour to prep the main systems, another 45 minutes to fit the weapons platforms. Call it an hour and a half to be safe, maybe less if things go smoothly.â€

  “Good enough.†Cade addressed the group once more. “We’ll use NOMAD

  to do an initial search of the location and then, if it seems clear, we’ll go in ourselves. The command squad will lead, with first squad in close support. Any questions?â€

  There weren’t any and so the team was dismissed to begin their preparations.

  Duncan had heard of the Order’s unmanned vehicles systems but had never worked with one personally and so he asked to tag along with Olsen during the system prep. The other sergeant was only too glad to have a second pair of hands for the tasks ahead.

  The Near-autonomous Observation and Mobile Armament Delivery system, or NOMAD for short, was one of the best operational robotic systems to hit the major military markets during the last three years and the Order had managed to acquire several of them for its own purposes. Built on a rectangular base, it was small enough to maneuver through confined spaces of less than a meter in width and could make a neutral turn in just under a meter and a half.

  Its reinforced treads allowed it to manage trenches, curbs, or stairs with equal efficiency and its meter-high rotating turret provided the perfect platform for both two-way audio and multiple optical systems. The vehicle’s top speed was just over five kilometers per hour.

  Duncan and Olsen spent the better part of an hour prepping and testing the main control systems, assuring that all of the basic movement commands could be carried out without difficulty. NOMAD could be controlled through a cable, fiber optic, or radio system, with a complete range of up to 1000 meters, providing plenty of distance to assure the safety of the oper-ator. For today’s mission, they were going to be using the fiber optic system, as Mason had mentioned the interruption of the radio communications from the first team to and they did not want a repeat of that situation. Once they had tested the motion systems, they moved on to the vehicle’s sensors, cycling the optics through visual, infrared and ultraviolet spec-trums. Everything checked out fine.

  NOMAD sported a fully articulated arm that could be extended up to six meters in length and rotated a complete 360 degrees. The arm ended in two pincher claws for grasping and lifting objects weighing up to 150 kg. Seven weapons mounts were also available and it was to these that Olsen next turned his attention. While Duncan continued practicing with the control systems Olsen radioed Cade and then spent several moments discussing the firepower options. They would be infiltrating a closed structure and had no real idea of what to expect by way of opposition, so they finally settled on a diverse payload that would cover as many options as possible yet not cause extensive damage to the structure around it should the firepower prove to be necessary.

  After seeing that video, no one doubted that it would.

  The only question was whether it would have any effect at all.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  INCURSION

  Captain Mason suggested that they wait until morning to make the incursion, but Cade was adamant that they act as soon as possible. He had little doubt that some of the captain€™s concerns stemmed from the fact that less than ten hours ago he was lying near co-matose in a hospital bed. Had he been in Mason’s place, he supposed he’d be a bit concerned as well. But the truth was other than a bit of soreness, he felt fine. Better than he had in a long time, in fact. There was no reason to delay the investigation on his account and more than one reason to move ahead quickly. They had no idea what kind of enemy they were facing or what their enemies’ ultimate objectives might be. For all they knew, tomor-row morning might bring a full scale attack from the depths of the base and that was a chance Cade was not willing to take, so as soon as he heard that NOMAD was operational, he ordered the team into place. It was time to do the job they had come here to do.

  The plan was to approach the base within the relative safety of a pair of HWMMVs. Their armored exterior and high mobility would provide significant protection should they come under attack during the initial entry and would also provide a means of exit should that prove necessary. The command squad would be in the lead vehicle with First Squad bringing up the rear. Once inside the base, they would set up position roughly 100 feet from the entrance to the building where Mason’s men had come under attack. From there they would deploy NOMAD, using the robot for the hard task of entry into the building. If things came bac
k all clear, then and only then would Echo physically enter and investigate.

  The men loaded the trucks quickly and then climbed inside. Both crews had been ordered to have a man standing half-in and half-out of the upper hatch, so that they could keep an eye on the storm overhead while watching the shadows around them in the afternoon sunlight.

  Cade didn’t want the team to be taken by surprise, buttoned up in their trucks like a bunch of turtles, and he took the observation position in the lead vehicle himself, knowing he’d feel better being able to eyeball things himself rather than have them relayed over the radio. He gave the order and beneath him he felt the vehicle rumble into life.

  It was only a short distance to the entrance of the facility and the team reached it without mishap. The wide gate had been secured in the open position by the ill-fated squad that had come before them and so Cade simply waived both vehicles through without stopping. Fast and hard, he thought, that was the way to do it. Give the enemy as little time as possible to adapt to their presence. He tried not to think about the face he’d seen in the clouds or his gut feeling that the enemy knew all he needed to know about their little escapade. There was nothing Cade could do about it anyway.

  The base had very few roads to begin with and only the main one that ran through the center of the base like a dividing line hadn’t been reclaimed by the shifting desert sands.

  Housing and recreational facilities were on the right hand side of the street, administration and support buildings on the left. The buildings they passed were in bad shape; paint peeling from tired walls, roofs slowly decaying into the interiors, empty windows staring at them as they slowly drove past. Jackson’s squad had been through them all, front to back, and Cade knew there was nothing there to either interest or concern them at this point. No, their destination was the larger building about another hundred yards ahead on their left. From the audio and video footage they’d salvaged from the previous attempt, it was clear that the facility had once served as the base motor pool. Its interior was divided into several garage bays complete with power lifts, old barrels of oil, and shelves of parts on every wall, while the central, common area could have held a good dozen half-ton trucks or similar vehicles. How Jackson’s team had even found the hatch that had gotten them into so much trouble was uncertain; the record of their excursion was spotty at best. From what they could see, it appeared to be in the middle of one of the aforementioned bays, but that was yet to be confirmed. They’d be relying on NOMAD to give them a better idea of what they were facing.

  Cade kept a constant watch on the twisting column of darkness that rose over the buildings to the south, about four hundred yards away from them. While in the chopper he’d been close enough to see that the column was stationary, but that didn’t mean it would stay that way. He half expected it to suddenly start acting like the twister that it resembled and become mobile. Oddly there was no sound accompanying it and that made him more than a bit nervous. Something that big, something displacing that much air, should have growled with a life of its own the way a big tornado will. This one was silent and if he needed any proof that it was unnatural, this did the job nicely.

  Riley took them to the designated location and then swung the HWMMV around so that it was facing back in the direction they had come. The position would make it easier for them to get out of there quickly should the need arise. The driver for First Squad, Chen, did the same, though he kept his vehicle half a dozen yards behind Riley’s preventing the enemy from hitting them both with the same attack.

  Cade lowered himself back inside the vehicle and moved up to the front passenger seat.

  He pulled the microphone from the dash and contacted the command center.

  “Echo to TOC. We’ve reached the target and are starting phase two.â€

  “Roger that, Echo. Good luck.â€

  The transmission was full of interference, as expected, and Cade knew they wouldn’t have the option of using the broadband radio for much longer. Rather than wait until they’d lost touch with Mason, who was operating as tactical operations command for this mission, he ordered his men to make the switch to the tight beam tactical communications system integrated into their helmets. This would allow them to stay in touch with each other even if they lost contact with the TOC.

  Once each man had reported in, he gave the order for them to form a perimeter in front of the motor pool. Riley, Duncan and Cade set up in defensive positions around the lead vehicle, being careful not to block Wilson’s line of fire from his position in the turret of the second.

  Once they were ready, it was time for Olsen to go to work.

  After lowering a ramp from the rear compartment, he knelt in front of the command console and used the controls to power up the strange looking contraption sitting in the cargo space of the HWMMV. NOMAD’s engine rumbled to life and then settled down into a barely discernable hum. Because of the interference they’d already been experiencing with the radios, he’d opted to use the fiber-optic interface and so he gave the leads one last look to be certain they weren’t tangled. It wouldn’t do to lose connectivity with the machine because he’d been lax in his checklist.

  Once he was satisfied, he drove the robot out of the cargo area and sent it on its way.

  The vehicle was controlled through three different LCD screens, representing a forward, backward, and alternating side view from the vehicles’ on-board cameras, and a small joystick, much like a video game. The control box was just a bit too large to hold for any long period of time, a design flaw Olsen was still miffed about, and so he was obligated to kneel before the console to operate it comfortably. This prevented him from having a weapon in hand, but he trusted the others to watch his back and he did have NOMAD’s firepower at his disposal if necessary.

  The huge rolling bay door that provided access to the interior had been jammed open during the previous incursion. Olsen took advantage of that fact, rolling NOMAD up within a few feet of it and then extending the robot’s telescoping arm beneath the door. When he triggered the camera mounted on the end of the arm he was able to see inside the building.

  Expecting to see the bodies of Jackson’s squad still lying where they had fallen several days ago, Olsen was surprised to see that the floor ahead was clear. He swiveled the camera, checking out as much of the interior as possible. Sunlight poured in from the windows high on each wall, banishing much of the darkness in the center of the room but creating deep shadows inside the various garage bays and preventing him from seeing what each might contain. Similarly, it was difficult to see what might be lying in wait on the catwalk high above, as the incoming light blinded the camera to some degree.

  Olsen called Cade over and the two of them discussed the situation briefly. Neither man liked the idea of sending in the troops just yet; the fact that the bodies were missing disturbed both of them. It suggested that the shadow creatures possessed at least a rudimentary intelligence level, which made them more dangerous. For all they knew the shadow creatures could be lying in wait in the various work bays, waiting for more unsuspecting prey to wander into their den.

  They decided to send NOMAD inside the building, to test the reaction of anything that might be waiting inside. If there was no response, Echo would then advance.

  CHAPTER NINE

  NOMAD

  Olsen guided NOMAD forward under the garage door and into the building proper. He advanced the robot into the center of the room and then brought it to a halt. With all of its on-board cameras active, he slowly turned it through a 360 degree arc, giving him a good look on all sides.

  The facility appeared just as it had in the video footage they’d seen; a central common area surrounded by eight bays for servicing vehicles, four on the left and four on the right. It was the last bay on the left that they were most interested in, for that was where Jackson€™s squad had loc
ated the mysterious hatch, but they were going to have to check all of them out to be certain the facility was secure before venturing inside themselves.

  Though heaven knew just what they were looking for, he thought.

  He switched NOMAD’s video cameras into infrared mode and did another slow 360

  degree turn, checking for heat signatures that the visible light camera might have missed.

  Nothing unusual showed up on any of the screens.

  Olsen nudged one of the controls with his thumb and the camera tilted upward until it was pointed at the ceiling. He repeated the same sequence of action, a visible light search followed by an infrared one, but again found nothing unusual.

  “Looks clear,†he said to Cade, who was watching over his shoulder.

  “All right, let’s check the bays. Start on the right and work your way over to those on the left.â€

  “Roger that.â€

  Olsen directed NOMAD into the first bay on the right, scooting it around the vehicular hoist in the center and taking care to check behind the oil drums stacked against the rear wall. He used the manipulator arm to open the doors of the tool cabinet and to check under a discarded tarp in the corner.

  Not finding anything of interest, Olsen drove NOMAD back out of that bay and into the second, repeating the search in the same manner as the first. One by one, he declared each bay empty of any noticeable threat.

  Finally, he came to the last bay on the left.

  Olsen brought NOMAD to a halt just outside the entrance to the bay and used the spotlight to examine the interior, just as he had with each of the others. The vehicular hoist seen elsewhere was missing here. Gone, too, were the barrels and tool cabinets. In their place was the floor-level trapdoor that Jackson’s squad had uncovered during their ill-fated sweep.

  The hatch itself was still open, just as the squad had left it.

  Olsen took his hands off the controls for a moment and flexed his fingers, working out the tension that had built up during the last half hour of work.