“I didn’t know.” Hayes said. He was on the verge of crying.
Ramirez said nothing. He only turned around and walked off shaking his head. He was then followed by Sanchez. Caparzo bent down and picked up Sanchez’s field manual and looked through it. When he found what Sanchez was talking about he showed it to everyone who was there. When he showed it to Hayes, he dropped the field manual in front of Hayes and then walked away.
Hayes stood there a beaten demoralized man. He realized what all of them realized: he just got them all killed. He dropped to his knees crying in despair. But nobody cared. They said nothing and walked off. After that moment, Hayes will never be the same ever again.
(6)
Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty arrived at the spot where the bicycles were placed across the waterway. They rode to where Wexler stop at on the road that head north. When the road turned to the west, it continued for 4.5 miles before it came to a harbor. On the eastern side of the harbor was the mouth of a river. It was the same river that Moriarty saw when he was on the bridge that is west of the pier. West of the harbor is a bridge that heads north.
The three of them searched the harbor and found nothing of value in the form of intelligence. They did found a cargo ship that could ferry all of their equipment and supplies across the waterway. The cargo ship also has cranes that can assist them in loading and off-loading their equipment and supplies. The only drawback is that they couldn’t load the Quad-Walkers since they were too big to load unto the cargo ship.
After they finished searching the harbor they got back on their bicycles and headed across the bridge. On the other side of the bridge, on the eastern side, is a marina. To the west of the marina they noticed a parking garage. When they checked it out they found some cars and trucks. Ellis made the decision that they should continue on by car.
To the northwest of their position is the suburbs. To the northeast and east of their position is a park. On the eastern side of the park is the coast. The park is thirteen miles from the marina. The road that they came from is the only road in or out of the region.
Moriarty had to do the driving as they were traveling around the suburbs. At one point Moriarty stop the car, backed up, said ‘Holy shit!,’ and jumped out of the car. He then went into a yard looking at some graffiti on a wall of a house.
“Moriarty… what in the hell are you doing?” Ellis asked him.
“Sir… it looks like none of the Special Forces who came here before us, is a former member of the EOD.” Moriarty mentioned.
“So what does that have to do with anything?” Wexler asked.
“Project 21 keeps a secret from all their agents who were ever part of the EOD. The EOD knows that Project 21 knows about the secret but does nothing about it. The EOD uses graffiti symbols. That a symbol that you see is a word or a meaning. Sometimes it would be an order.” Moriarty said.
“So what does that graffiti says?” Ellis asked.
“The first symbol stands for information. The second symbol stands for outbreak and/or infection.” Moriarty said.
“Alright. Let’s go in and take a look.” Ellis said. Both Ellis and Wexler started to go into the house but Moriarty didn’t.
“Sir… there’s more. The reason why Project 21 never tells anyone about those graffiti symbols is, because if they did than the EOD would change them. The reason why the EOD doesn’t care is that it tells them who is, and who isn’t, a former member of the EOD. By me telling you about those graffiti symbols, I just sign my own death certificate.” Moriarty said under his breath.
“I wouldn’t worry too much about that. You know that we would take good care of you. So don’t worry about it.” Wexler said.
“You don’t know them the way that I do. You two were never apart of them. So you don’t know what they are capable of.” Moriarty said so low under his breath that they could barely hear him.
“Then why would anybody choose to be apart of them?” Ellis asked.
“They don’t in most cases. Look sir, it’s all the about family. Could either one of you two walk away from your family and never see them again? Some people can… most cannot. It’s like a cult… but it’s not.” Moriarty said.
“Well… let’s go inside and check this place out and see what we can find.” Ellis said.
The three of them went inside the house and began their search. It was Moriarty who found a journal that talked about what went on there. Moriarty gave the journal to Ellis who briefly looked at it. Ellis then gave it to Wexler as the three of them left. When they were leaving, Moriarty took a spray can and put a line over the other two symbols. He then painted a symbol near the other two.
“Where do you want to go now sir? The harbor.” Moriarty asked Ellis.
“No. Let’s go back to where we got our bicycles, while Ol’ Man (Wexler’s handle) look through the journal for Intel.” Ellis said.
Before they got to where they got their bicycles, Wexler mentioned that he found something. There is a underground laboratory southwest of the suburbs. Ellis asked why isn’t there a road that leads from the suburbs to the laboratory. Moriarty told him that it is a form of a control mechanism. It doesn’t control the people. It controls the spread of the outbreak. It’s the spider to the fly tactic. It brings the infection to a control vector.
They sat in the car for a couple of minutes while Wexler looked through the journal trying to find how far they have to travel to the road that will take them to the underground laboratory. Including anything else that might be of value.
“I found it. It says that there is a crossroad that is, ’41 miles west of the pier’. It doesn’t say if the crossroad is a four way street or not. But it says to take the road that heads north.” Wexler said.
Moriarty left after Wexler said that. After several minutes passed by, Wexler found how far the road goes north at the crossroad – ten miles.
While they were traveling along the road they came to a crossroad that went to the south. Moriarty came to a stop and called out how far the crossroad was from the pier – eight miles. Ellis marked it and Moriarty continued on. Twenty-two miles later they came across another crossroad that headed south. Once again, Moriarty came to a stop, called the distance and Ellis marked it.
Eleven miles later they came across the northern road that heads to the laboratory. (The road was not a four way street. Neither was the other two crossroads.) Ten miles later they came across a fork in the road. Moriarty turned left and headed down the road that leads to the underground laboratory. Seven miles later, with the road curving to the northwest, they came across the entrance of the underground laboratory.
Moriarty had no trouble in getting them inside the laboratory. Moriarty then led them to the main computer room. When they got there Moriarty just stood there for a long time.
“What’s the matter?” Wexler asked Moriarty.
“Nothing sir.” Moriarty said under his breath.
Moriarty then opened a panel that bypasses the computer’s security software. He then did something which caused computer’s AI to activate.
“Illegal activity detected. You have twenty seconds to put in your access code or security will be sent to your location.” The male computer voice said.
Moriarty then did something to the computer. When he was done he turned around and looked at both Ellis and Wexler as if though he will never see them again. He then went over to the computer console and started to hack it.
“Private First Class Moriarty. Philip R. Canadian. Access granted. Welcome.” The male computer voice said. Five seconds later an alarm went off.
“Alert! I am not able to access your file Pfc. Moriarty. Please correct.” The male computer voice said. After it said that three times another alarm went off.
“I will now attempt to contact Starbase VXN-2212/O for you file.” The male computer voice said.
While the computer’s AI was saying all of that, Moriarty was trying his best to download (and stop the AI from contacting the
starbase) all the information on that orange-cinnabar powder. But it wasn’t easy not by a long shot. It was actually far more difficult than normal.
“This is Sayaka Cyber Doom Omori. Who re-activated you?” Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty heard over the computer’s intercom system.
When Ellis and Wexler heard her name it put the fear of God in them. With Moriarty it turned his face white with dread.
“Pfc. Moriarty. Philip R. Canadian.” The male computer voice said.
“One moment please.” Omori said to the computer.
“Video uplink requested.” A female computer voice said. It repeated it until Moriarty activated the uplink. When he did they saw Omori on the video screen.
“Pfc. Moriarty. What team are you with? I know that you are no longer with us anymore. And I know what you are trying to download. Answer my question and I will be merciful.” Omori said.
“I’m with Task Force ZH-3C ma’am.” Moriarty said with a knot in his throat.
“Who’s the Captain?” Omori asked.
“Vaistll Adnrwal ma’am. She’s an extraterrestrial.” Moriarty said, deeply scared and trembling with fear at the though of who she is and who she is with.
“Oh… her. Yeah you can go ahead and download that. But it won’t do you any good.” Omori then laughed and disconnected the video uplink.
“Access granted to file: Dragonfly number 0968.” The male computer voice said.
Moriarty was then able to completely download the file. Although neither one of them was in any real danger, they got out of there as fast as they could. They then quickly headed back to their car.
“Where do you want to go sir?” Moriarty asked Ellis.
“Take us back to the pier. Then I’ll make my decision. In the meantime I’m going to look through this file to see what we are dealing with.” Ellis mentioned.
Several yards before they reach the bridge, Ellis told Moriarty to stop the car. He then told them that the orange powder will only kill the Dragonfly virus and an infected host ONLY. Ellis also said that the last remaining traces of the Dragonfly virus has been calculated to have been eliminated about six weeks ago with a plus or minus of two weeks. The three of them then took off their nano-suits.
“Let’s go to the harbor and get a boat.” Ellis said.
Moriarty then took them to the harbor. Neither one of them talk for the remainder of the trip. When they got to the harbor they boarded a cargo ship and headed back to base camp.
(7)
When Sanders got lost in the thunderstorm he went north without realizing it. At times he would look up at the sky wishing that he had GPS navigation. With him losing his bearings he knew that for every yard that he travels while being lost, its going to take four yards for him to find the correct pathway to take in order to get back to base.
Although he hated that rule of being lost, he did found something that would have been missed if he wasn’t lost. He heard a sound through the thunderstorm while he was standing still trying to figure out where to go. He could tell that the sound was man made and was coming from a hill that was nearby. The sound did not come from Task Force ZH-3C.
When Sanders got on top of the hill it became obvious that the sound is coming from inside the hill. When he got to the source of the sound the ground under him gave way and he fell down a large air duct. Lucky for him the air duct was wide enough to were he wouldn’t hit the sides.
The air duct was part of a junction of a subway system. The bottom floor was flooded and the water was at least 10 to 12 feet deep or more. The water was icy cold and Sanders grasped for breath when he came to the surface of the cold water. He then quickly swam, climbed out of the water, and quickly undressed. Sanders knew that the wet clothes is dangerous for him to have on.
Sanders started to look for anything that could burn. When he found enough stuff to burn, he started a fire to warm himself back up. When he was warmed enough, he grabbed his clothes and placed them near the fire to dry them out. When his clothes were completely dry, and he was warm enough, he got dressed. He stayed near the fire for awhile and when he reached a comfortable temperature, he started to look around the area trying to find a way out. He then realized were he was.
The subway junction that he was in, was under construction. Sanders was in the control room on the second level. The lower level had no roof that separated it from the upper level. He could tell that a subway line ran to the south-by-northeast in the lower level. In front of the control room was a track that he missed by a foot when he fell into the water. The track ran to the north and to the south. The southern route look as if though it might head to the small fishing town that Blue Team is at. Sanders put out the fire and decided to leave.
After traveling for some time on the southern line, Sanders came to a uncompleted part of the line. He had no way to continue on. He did found a supervisor’s PDA. Although it was broken it still provided useful information to him.
The supervisor’s PDA said that the line that is underwater goes to a underwater laboratory that could hold at least two thousand people. The facility was an empty shell waiting for all internal equipment to be placed inside it. The supervisor’s PDA said that they been having problems with the pressure. It was causing water seepage in the tunnel that led to the laboratory. The supervisor’s PDA also mentioned that all work was stopped when trouble broke out in the two small towns.
Sanders is stuck between a rock and a hard place. He had no way to climb out of the air duct that he fell through. No way to communicate with anyone. He has to rely upon his rations and water. He has no idea how long the northern line is. Or what is at the other end. And the only choice that he has to get out of the subway is to try the northern line.
When Sanders got to the northern line he had to activate the night vision on his visor in order to see. It was a long walk for him. He eventually came to the entrance of the tunnel that ran underwater. The underwater part of the tunnel ran for 45 miles. All sea tunnels use pressure to speed the train through it. For Sanders, as he was walking through the sea tunnel, it felt like he was carrying an extra hundred pounds of weight – like that of his gear.
When Sanders got out of the sea tunnel he was tired and exhausted. Having no idea how long the tunnel travels under ground he decided to rest. He eat some of his rations and drink some of his water. He then lied down and went to sleep. When he woke up he continued on for another 8.3 miles before he came to the next junction.
Although the northern junction was above ground, it was partly destroyed when a drop-ship crashed into it. There was a subway train there, but it was partly destroyed. A tunnel that continued north was blocked by the wreckage of both the drop-ship and the train. Sanders looked around for the remains of the Marines. When he found any remains he collected their dog tags.
When Sanders left the junction and went outside, he tried to communicate with either Galactic Prime and/or Task Force ZH-3C, but to no avail. All he got was static. He then started to look around the area. He then noticed that he was at a military base. The whole area was devastated as the Marines try to secure a landing zone for the Special Forces. Some of the buildings were destroyed. One building was crashed into by a drop-ship. Burned out vehicles were everywhere along with the remains of the EOD Defense Force. Sanders seen battles before, but nothing like what he was seeing.
Sanders collected as much of the Marine dog tags as he could. One Marine drop-ship was seriously damaged, but it was still intact enough for Sanders to collect the crew manifest. Sanders then went to a nearby hill. When he got there he could see the coast. Out of curiosity he decided to go to the coast to see if there is anything there. When he got to the coast he saw a piece of a spaceship. At least 70 feet of it was sticking out of the water.
As Sanders was traveling back to the road that led to the military base, off-and-on he would see the wreckage (sometimes body parts) of the Marine invasion force. He then decided to travel north where the wreckage was more concentrated. Up the road he
saw a destroyed anti-air gun.
When Sanders got to the anti-air gun he stood there looking up at the sky. This one single gun was the gun that had to be destroyed so that the Special Forces could land and do their job. Looking at all the devastation around him and as far as the eye could see, Sanders realized what it took in human lives for Task Force ZH-3C to be able to land on Golden Hyperion. He then started to cry because of it.
Sanders spent the good part of the day looking for anything that could ID the fallen Marines and/or the Special Forces. He felt like he owed it to them. When he was finished he looked for a place to eat and get some needed sleep.
When Sanders woke up he immediately left and traveled on the only road going south. The road that he was on led him to a suspension bridge. Part of the bridge was destroyed by something (most likely a drop-ship). Sanders made a recording saying that he was okay and that he was going to go back to the military base and look for something to assist him in crossing the bridge. He then took the PDA and threw it across the gap in the bridge.
After Sanders found what he was looking for he returned back to the bridge. When he got there he saw White Team coming up on the other side of the bridge. He then raised up his laser rifle over his head and waited for them.
After White Team helped him to get across the gap, Sanders told them what had happened and what he had found. They then told him that Coté was fine and what Venito did.
“You mean she lost all of our weapons and ammo?” Sanders asked them.
“Just enough for two teams.” Cole mentioned.
The Cross of Mithras Vol. 1: EOD Operation Welcome to Hell Page 48
