The Cross of Mithras Vol. 1: EOD Operation Welcome to Hell

by Douglas Howell

  “Shut up. Nobody asked you.” Wexler snap back.

  Martinez looked like he was about to say something. Then Mendoza spoke, “I really don’t care. I just can’t wait to get down there and hook up with the ladies.”

  “Aw yeah boy, you know it.” Brewster said all smiles.

  Martinez leaned forward with a smile and said, “There’s a woman over there at the bar. Why wait?” He then smiled a little bigger and then he looked at her. She turned and noticed that Martinez was looking at her with that killer smile of his. Her eyes widen as she looked away with a smile on her face, as she thought that he liked her.

  “You know, I think I will.” Mendoza said.

  “Five bucks says she slaps him.” Ellis said causing them to laugh a little.

  “You’re on.” Caparzo said.

  “Go get ‘em tiger.” Wexler said with a smile.

  Mendoza started to get up when Bryce came over to them.

  “Hey guys, what’s up?” Bryce said.

  “We were about to watch Mendoza get slap in the face.” Martinez said.

  “Aw, come on now, I think she likes him.” Caparzo said looking back at her.

  “Did you hear about Commodore Parker?” Bryce asked them. “He got in trouble with the mafia at some whore house, while doin’ a naughty with some tart.”

  It caused all of them to laugh out loud. Martinez was the first to speak, “Is he all right?”

  “Yeah, he just lost all of his money. Nothing too serious. Hey look, I just wanted to tell you that your rooms are ready.” Bryce responded.

  “Well it’s about time.” Caparzo said, as everybody got up to leave.

  “Yeah, I just can’t WAIT to go down there and get drunk.” Wexler said, annoying Behlmer and causing him to shake his head.

  “Hey do any of you know what’s wrong with Captain Adnrwal? She doesn’t seem like herself.” Bryce asked, but no one responded they all just wanted to get off that damn space station as soon as possible and get to their rooms.

  (11)

  They finally arrived at the Roosevelt; it was a fabulous hotel near the water front. From the front of the hotel you could see the lighthouse, it serve no purpose other than that of a photo-op for tourists. The Roosevelt has its own pier for luxury liners whose destination is one of several small get away islands for a few of the guests. The Roosevelt has its own opera house, theater, park and stores to shop at, but only if you are a big spender. The Roosevelt after all, was design for the rich.

  The owners of the Roosevelt allowed Task Force ZH-3C to stay there because they know who runs the city, and who protects it. They’re afraid of the day when Project 21 leaves. They’re afraid because of the crime, and not because of the EOD. So they try their best to get Project 21 to stay, or at least to clean up the crime in the city. Say what you will about Roscadia, but it is the owners of the Roosevelt who sincerely cares for both the moon and the city.

  Each of the members of Task Force ZH-3C arrived at the Roosevelt at different times in the day. Five of them, Vaistll, Commander Taylor (British), Ramirez, Lieutenant Hayes (Canadian) and Lieutenant Sanchez got their rooms before they arrived at Vegas. Each of the 35 members of Task Force ZH-3C got their own rooms. It just goes to show the generosity of the owners of the Roosevelt to those who protects both the moon and the city.

  When each of the members of Task Force ZH-3C arrived at the Roosevelt, they all had different reactions. All would agree that it was a very beautiful hotel. The lobby was just fabulous with its black marble columns, white marble statues and the beautiful paintings. Some of the members wanted to do some exploring. Most of them just wanted to go to their rooms so that they could enjoy their few days that they had at Roscadia. Only three of them, Vaistll, Ramirez and Bryce didn’t go to their rooms straight away. All three share one thing in common; they cross the t dot both the I, and lower case j. Bryce wanted to make sure that they had all of the supplies for their mission. If not, then Roscadia would be the first and only place where they could pick any up. Ramirez didn’t go to his room because he wanted to make peace with himself first. Vaistll didn’t go because there was nothing in the city for her to do. Her original plan was to hang out with some of the men of Task Force ZH-3C. But those plans changed when her feelings concerning her species came back to haunt her. So now her plan is to stay in her room until it’s time to leave, she’s not the only one with that plan.

  Crewman Choy was the only other member of Task Force ZH-3C who would stay in his room until it’s time to leave for his mission. He was a Chinese soldier who encountered the EOD once and it shattered his world. The horrors that he saw, the friends that he lost, it will all haunt him for the rest of his life. It leaves no doubt in his mind who the EOD really is. He finds it hard to take orders from former EOD agents because of his hatred for the EOD. He will take them, but that doesn’t change the way that he feels.

  This will be Choy’s first mission with Project 21. It gives him, his chance to strike back at an evil secret society that has destroyed so many lives for so long. His desire to seek revenge consumes him, just like Commodore Parker was consumed with the desire to escape Roscadia even if it meant going AWOL. But at least Choy knew why there were no former EOD agents in Roscadia. Before Task Force ZH-3C left to go to Roscadia, Taylor asked about it, and Ramirez told everybody why it was; because Roscadia has recruitment potential for the EOD.

  Choy’s desire to seek revenge consumes him so much that it could cost him his life. Even if he knew that, he wouldn’t even care. He just wanted revenge. Commodore Parker desire to leave Roscadia not only could it cost him his career, but also could cause him to betray Project 21 and join the EOD. And if he knew that, he too wouldn’t even care. He just wanted to get away from Roscadia.

  (12)

  Commodore Parker got back at his office in the late evening. He didn’t want to go home. He found out that he had a message from Fleet Admiral Hamilton and he couldn’t wait to read it. Angry, upset and very disappointed at how his day went, he wanted something to pick his spirits up. His stress and frustration, combined with the boredom, was causing him to deeply resent Roscadia. Coupled with his experience of living there, he was nearing his breaking point. He was at that point where all it could take was something to push him over the edge. And he was about to receive it.

  Desperate to leave the Vegas star system he put in a request for a promotion. But the problem was that he went over the head of four of his COs. When Fleet Admiral Hamilton (who is one rank from becoming a CCO) received Parker’s request, he was quite annoyed by it. Hamilton rejected Parker’s request after reviewing his Officer Simulated Training. He did it because of Parker’s poor performance during the training. Hamilton mentioned that Parker “needs more experience with using ground forces efficiently.” Being stuck in the Vegas star system made that difficult. Even the compliment of, “your skills as Fleet Captain made you the best suitable candidate to guard the Vegas star system,” felt like an insult to Parker. But it was the part that said, “until your skills in combat, rather actual or simulated, improve significantly, you are stuck in the Vegas star system until further noted,” boiled Parker’s blood. To him, that was the greatest insult of them all. When Parker went over the head of his COs, Hamilton felt that it was necessary to reprimand him. Parker knows that will go on his permanent record making it that much harder for him to be promoted. It shows, and proved, his insubordination, which, because of where he is, is true.

  Commodore Parker finally has had enough of the Vegas star system. He does not want to spend another day there, let alone a month, or a year. So he will end up spending the next day thinking about what it would mean for him if he joins the EOD. He’s lonely, and he wants somebody special in his life. Someone to call his own, especially a wife. He knows that if he betrays Project 21 the EOD will give him someone special. At least, that’s what he thinks. In truth they will give him someone all right, but not in the way in which he thinks. The person that the EOD would give
him is one who would get him to open up in order to see what value he really has to them.

  What Commodore Parker doesn’t know is that he has little value to them. The only value that he does has to them... is as a Fleet Captain. Which means; when they determine his value, he will be demoted to Fleet Captain. What’s worst for him is that in all likelihood, he will spend the rest of his days as a Fleet Captain. And maybe... just maybe... he might find someone. But no matter what, he will live the rest of his days in fear of betraying the EOD. They’re experts at knowing who will, and who won’t, betray them. Only those born into the EOD community can truly escape it. What Commodore Parker doesn’t realize is something that all former EOD members know: no matter what the reason is - why you wish to join the EOD - you will be a whole lot happier if you didn’t.

  Yes indeed he would be a whole lot more happier. But once Parker, like everybody else, joins the EOD he will learn quite quickly that he can never leave it. He will regret the day that he did joined them. But not once did he ever wanted to, or would like to go back to Roscadia. He had too many bad memories of the place. Memories that he would love to forget, but never can. And it’s all because of what is fixing to happen to him over the week.

  My Life, My Friends, My Crew

  (1)

  Vaistll was sitting on the couch in her room at the Roosevelt. She was watching a movie that she hasn’t seen in little more than a century. The movie came from her private collection and it was called, “Yoke the Horse.” It came out in 2009 when there was a Democrat in the White House. It was about how a Republican President wanted to keep the Republicans in control of Congress and the White House during, and after, his administration.

  Before the mid-term elections, the President started a war with a third world country. Victory, as one would suspect, came swiftly and decisively. That victory helped the Republicans retake control of Congress. Then, before the next Presidential elections, he promptly started another war with some other third world county. That war helped both him and the Republicans, stay in control of the White House and Congress. Now he needed two more wars; one before the next mid-term elections, and the other before the next Presidential elections. He did not care if the Vice-President ran or not, he just wanted the leading Republican Presidential candidate to win. But things didn’t turn out quite the way in which he planned.

  His first two wars went from bad to worst. Both of them was poorly planned and managed. On top of that, there were just too manly leaks during his administration. Combined with his actions to stop those leaks, it caused too many people to jump ship on him, and then betray him. What ultimately brought him down was the murder of one reporter and a police detective. That movie reminded Vaistll of the first decade of when she arrived on the Earth, so very long ago.

  The only reason why she got the movie is because of the Republican President who put both her, and especially Project 21, through hell when she arrived on the Earth. Before September 11 of that year, President Langston was amazed that she existed and that she was in US custody. After that horrific day, and knowing that there is a chance that the Apollinarians are up to no good, he wanted to send her to a secret place where they could conduct experiments upon her. Anything that was done to her, as he reasoned, would not be considered a human rights violation since she was not a human being. When Project 21 found out what his attentions where, they decided to take matters into their own hands. They knew what the consequences where if anything happened to her.

  Project 21 decided to hide her in Seattle by putting her on welfare. They then got her on SSI disability since she has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. They then put her in low income housing. They helped her to, not only get her Green Card, but also to become an American citizen. They scan the data on her to a disc, then encrypted it, put it in a small fire proof safe and gave it to her. They then created “Safe Houses” for her. Those Safe Houses where created to give the impression that they were hiding her in one, when they knew that was not true. When President Langston found out that Project 21 was hiding her in a Safe House that is when all hell broke loose.

  When Langston found out what Project 21 did, he was furious. He threatened to have them convicted of treason. He threaten to have them sent away to be tortured to find out what they know of her. But the people who knew where she was, and the ones who knew her, would not cave in to his threats. He told them that he could easily find her by using the FBI, CIA and NSA. Project 21 reminded him that the EOD has already infiltrated those agencies. So the EOD might become the one who end up with her, if those agencies found her. Looking at the evidence that Project 21 showed him that confirmed that those agencies has been infiltrated; he ordered the Director of those agencies, and the Attorney General, to bring the EOD to justice. Unfortunately he underestimated the EOD, and a lot of good people got killed. After that he basically learned his lesson, but the damage to those agencies was too great to be easily repaired. Project 21 was powerless throughout that time period because they were too busy defending themselves. From 2001 to the mid-term of 2006 he would not change his mind. And so the EOD became stronger, while the US Government became weaker.

  Vaistll during that time period was getting use to her life upon the Earth. She didn’t have much where she lived at, but it was far more than what she had back on her planet. To her, she lived like a queen. To everybody else, she was living below the poverty level. She was quite happy with what little things that she did have. But it bothered her that she couldn’t keep any pets. She was the type of a person that needed something to love. She would have been quite happy if she had more company, but she hardly ever got any. There was nobody where she’d lived at, that she wanted to socialize with. Project 21 agents hardly came over to visit her because they didn’t want to take any chances by having their movement tracked. In her spare time she would go down to the library and read and/or surf the web. She didn’t make enough money to buy a car, so she had to ride the bus. Of course she had a love-hate relationship with the bus. She hated it because she felt that if she had a car, then she could get to where she is going much faster. The part that she loved about it (until it got old) was the look on people faces, especially during the summertime when she wore shorts and a tank top. Oh, she heard a lot of very interesting comments about her height, ‘Hey how’s the weather up there?’ is the one that she heard most often. When she heard that comment she would say something like, ‘Fine. I think I can see Tacoma from up here.’ She took it all of those comments in good spirits, no matter how nasty they could be. It just reflected upon the type of a person that she is.

  Vaistll tried her best to past the time away the best way that she could. She knew that she may end up having to wait three to seven years before things change for her. There were times in which she got depressed. Looking into a mirror as she uses the nano-cloaking device and seeing a human staring back at her. It caused her to question her identity since she couldn’t be her true self out in public. She had nobody to relate to. It’s no wonder that she became depressed and an alcoholic again. At other times she felt like putting her survivor training to use by hiding out in the forest. Not once did she ever have the feeling that she wanted to go back to her home planet - not once. It was not because of what she had on the Earth, or the technology, but rather it was how she was treated back on her planet. She feared going back to her home planet more, than being caught by Langston’s cronies.

  She passed the time away watching movies at her apartment. Her favorite types of movies are: horror, comedy and action adventure. When it comes to horror movies she doesn’t like demon possession ones at all. When it comes to vampires movies there is only a half dozen that she likes. But it is those damn zombie movies that bother her the most. She didn’t care for them that much, they were on the bottom of her list. After she saw a few of them, she kept on having bad dreams about them. She thought that was strange since other horror movies didn’t have that same effect upon her. One day she finally figure it out, it was somethi
ng that somebody said to her back on her home world. It was said at a time in which she was developing PTSD. What that person said was, ‘The dead walks.’ It didn’t change the way she felt about zombie movies. After all, the only thing those zombie movies where to her, were just one type of a horror movie for her to watch. But still those words, ‘The dead walks.’ If only people knew why it gave her nightmares... If only people knew why she won’t talk about that time period… If only she would open up and tell someone... One day she would tell someone, but it turns out to be Ramirez while they where on Roscadia.

  For Vaistll, living where she did at the time, it caused her to feel like a prisoner. The only reason why she felt that way was because, every time she tried to socialize, people’s attitude kept on pushing her away. She learned a lot about humans from watching TV, reading books, and magazines. She watched mostly educational programming, comedies (she’s one of those type of person who loves to laugh), and the news. She didn’t care too much for sports; after all she’s an intellectual. With women, they were too much like the fllaistl on her planet, so it told her that she won’t be able to fit in with them. Fllustl’s are not some girly-girl; they’re more of a tomboy. She thought that it was down right rude and disrespectful, when people thought that she was a shemale, or something else like that. Just because she’s 6’8,” and a tomboy, people think that she is a shemale. At least with a Project 21 agent she could tell them what she always does to people (who knows that she is an ET) who thinks that, ‘That’s your species, not mine.’ So why on Earth would she want to socialize with people like that, who treat her that way? Why indeed.

  Vaistll had mixed relations with Christians. One of the members of Project 21 is a Catholic. He is a loyal, devoted, loving family man with a gentle heart. He became her close friend and gave her hope during those trouble times with President Langston. He never tried to convert her. He was curious about what type of religion she practiced. Nor did he say anything negative about it. When he asked about the monotheist religion that she used to practice, he became amazed by its philosophy. He was good to her, and he became her first true friend on the Earth. But her relations with other Christians were poor, mainly because they treated her like crap. There was this one Christian who lived in her apartment building who once asked her, ‘Do you go to church?’ and Vaistll, being honest, said, ‘No,’ and then she (the Christian) said, ‘Why not?’ Vaistll didn’t say anything, or thought much about it at the time, but it summed up her relations with some Christians - disrespectful and hypocritical. They were hypocritical in the sense of; this one woman once told her that Christians love to talk about their religion, but when you talk about yours, they act like they don’t want to hear it. Vaistll didn’t say anything because to her at the time, it sounded like hearsay. Later this one man in her apartment building asked her about her religion, and Vaistll told the truth, ‘I’m a pagan. I believe in…’ He then cut her off and said, ‘Well I believe in God and Jesus. And I’m glad that my soul is saved.’ After that Vaistll started to think that maybe it isn’t hearsay after all. In another incidence this preacher’s wife asked her, ‘Did you accept Jesus into your heart?’ Once again Vaistll told the truth; ‘No,’ and then the preacher’s wife went on for about 10-20 minutes, talking about a bad day that she had with her car and how this group of good Christian boys came to help. Vaistll wasn’t paying any attention; she found it to be so rude and disrespectful of the woman. Vaistll found herself thinking to herself, ‘How do you know that they where Christians? Did you ask? Would it matter to you if one of them was a Jew or a Muslim? If you had a bad day with your car and a group of atheists came to help you out, would you seriously tell them to get lost? Why do you assume that they are Christians?’ Later, before the preacher’s wife left, she tried to push some religious stuff on Vaistll. She said, ‘Hear take it,’ and Vaistll had to tell her more than once, ‘No.’ Vaistll was at somebody’s place at the time, trying to socialize, so it was not like she could just get away.