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

by Douglas Howell

  “What shadow was killed this time!?” Murphy yelled through the intercom.

  “Sir, it was Pfc. Daniels.” A Corporal said through the intercom.

  “I’m getting so fucking sick and tired of this shit! It’s like someone is shooting at a shadow like every fucking hour! Goddamn it!” Murphy yelled at the Corporal. He then turned to leave.

  “It’s so fucking irritating! Those goddamn assholes are shooting at shadows and then these fucking alarms goes off! Jesus fucking Christ!” Murphy cried out in frustration.

  The stress had caught up to and surpass everyone on Galactic Prime. No one could sleep and when they did they got no more than four hours of sleep. They’re constantly afraid of waking up dead. They go to sleep and they’re in a nightmare. They wake up and they’re in a nightmare of insanity. The stress that they are under is far worse than when Task Force ZH-3C was on board. Ramirez may have called it a boat load of obscenities but now it is the personification of it.

  “Murphy to the bridge on the double.” Mad Dawg ordered him over the ship’s com-system.

  “Oh fucking hell, now what!?” Murphy cried out.

  When Murphy got to the bridge Mad Dawg could tell that he was too deeply pissed off to be spoken to because of the stress that he was under.

  “You wanted to see me sir.” Murphy said.

  “First, don’t say anything. I want you to calm yourself down and that’s an order.” Mad Dawg said.

  “Sir…”

  “I said not to say anything until you calm yourself down.”

  “I’m calm now sir.” Murphy said after a couple of minutes.

  “I know that you are under a lot of stress, we all are.”

  “I can manage sir.”

  “I’m going to tell you something and it will put you under even more stress. But I need you to stay calm and DON’T overreact. Got it?”

  “Yes sir. What do you want to tell me?”

  “You need to brace yourself first.”

  “I have sir. Go ahead and tell me.”

  “Debernardo. Tell him what you found.”

  “Yes sir. My team and I found another EOD transmitter that was well hidden. We also discovered that the Commando unit hacked our intercom system. We found this attached to an intercom in one of the maintenance ducts.” Debernardo said. She showed him a device that can allow a unit to listen in on a intercom system.

  “Fuck!” Murphy cried out in frustration.

  “We also discovered that it was sending a signal to the transmitter that we discovered.” She said. It caused Murphy to cry out of stress and frustration.

  “Murphy. I want you to stay here. Debernardo, take over for Murphy.” Mad Dawg ordered them.

  “Sir that won’t be necessary. I can handle it.” Murphy said.

  “Murphy, you’re collapsing from stress.” Mad Dawg said.

  “Sir, I’m needed out there.” Murphy said in a calm voice.

  “Yes of course, but not when you are collapsing from stress. You can’t leave this bridge until you are calmed down.”

  “Sir, I am calmed down.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “Sir, shouldn’t I get back to the expulsion of our unwelcome guests.”

  “Murphy, I’m going to say this for your own good. You are collapsing under stress. And whether you like it or not, I’m going to let Debernardo take over until such time as your stress levels have reduce to an acceptable level. So I want you to sit down and that’s an order.”

  “Captain… my stress IS under control.”

  “Braddick… Debernardo.”

  “Yes sir.” Braddick and Debernardo said at the same time.

  “If the Lieutenant don’t sit down, I want both of you to make him.”

  “Roger.” Both Braddick and Debernardo said together.

  “Alright! I setting down.” Murphy said as he started to sit down.

  “Debernardo, take over for Murphy and get rid of our guests.”

  “Yes sir.” Debernardo said.

  Debernardo spent the time tracking down the security personnel to tell them not to use the intercom. What annoyed her the most was that the total number of maintenance ducts, and the way in which they ran through the ship, made her job even more harder.

  The Marines and Space Core chooses security over convenience when it comes to the maintenance of a ship. They’re afraid of the possibility of infiltration, so they made it difficult for any infiltration unit to enter the maintenance duct area.

  There are two different types of maintenance ducts; the main line and the secondary line. The main line is six feet in height while the secondary line is four feet in height. Once again, it is over security not convenience. If a infiltration unit were to enter the maintenance duct area, than the security team would be able to secure the critical systems.

  The major drawback to the design is, that it’s not efficient when it comes to repairing the ship. It is also rare for any team to infiltrate either a Marine or a Space Core ship. It does happen, but not enough to change procedures. It is the military who influences the design of the ships, not common sense.

  Project 21 has a lot of problems with using a Marine and/or a Space Core ship. They could build one, but it is forbidden in their charter. Nor can they have a Starbase. The military is the greatest obstacle in preventing Project 21 having their own ships and starbases. What’s more, the military won’t take their recommendations on design improvements seriously. The military sees Project 21 as an extension of itself, not what it is - an independent agency.

  The EOD has none of those problems. Their ships are design to make the repairing of a ship to be fast and efficient. They have no maintenance ducts. Instead they have a separate hallway for the engineers. The drawback is that it is not efficient at assisting the security team at expelling an infiltration unit. If an infiltration unit were to get on board an EOD ship they would have no trouble (minus run-ins with the security team) in moving around.

  Another strength of the design of an EOD ship is that each room is typically larger. Or if they prefer, there are more rooms. So who has the superior design? The EOD has better quality ships. While both the Marines and Space Core ships have better security. It breaks even.

  The sad irony for the crew of Galactic Prime is that, if the shoe was on the other foot, it would have been far easier for them to expel the unwelcome guests. The ability for an infiltration unit to move between the main hallway and the maintenance hallway in a EOD ship may be lapse of security, but it also allows for the EOD security team to do the same. What’s more the maintenance hallways have a blast door at strategical locations throughout the ship. Both a Marine and a Space Core ship cannot have a blast door in their maintenance duct. It is a duct not a hallway.

  Yes there are those rare times in which a ship has been infiltrated, but not to a EOD ship. Of course it has nothing to do with fear of the EOD, but everything to do with the design of their ships. Project 21 knows that. They have complained about it. But no one will listen. It is the design of Galactic Prime which makes it difficult for both Murphy and Debernardo to track down the Dragon Clone.

  “Murphy, do you have a problem in setting still?” Mad Dawg asked.

  “No sir.”

  “Murphy, what the hell is wrong with your chair?” Mad Dawg asked after more than thirty seconds.

  “Sir, my chair is fine.”

  “Then why can’t you sit still?”

  “Sir, I just want to get back to work.”

  “You can. But only after you calm down.”

  “Sir, I am calm down!”

  “Don’t you dare yell at me boy. And because you did that, it proves to me that you have not, repeat have not calmed yourself down.”

  “Sir, I’m sorry for raising my voice at you but I just want to get back to work.”

  “I understand that you do, but you must understand my position. An officer is collapsing from stress due to work related stress. You are not going back to work unt
il you calm down. And you are not calm down enough.”

  After five minutes passed by, Mad Dawg got up, went to the conference room, got a media player with headphones, and made Murphy listen to it. Mad Dawg had him listen to calm soothing music. Twenty minutes later it became apparent to Mad Dawg that Murphy has calmed himself down. Mad Dawg then allowed Murphy to return back to duty.

  Debernardo (and later Murphy) spent their time tracking down and informing the security team not to use the intercom. They have them search for any additional hacking devices attached to the intercom and searching for more transmitters. Periodically someone would find a hacking device. One security team, acting on a hunch, went to the gun ports on both sides of the ship and found something that ran a death chill down everybody’s spine. They found explosives attached to the armaments. If they were to detonate the whole ship would have been destroyed. Afterward, both Murphy and Debernardo decided to talk with Mitchell.

  “Is there a way to use our helmet-com instead of the intercom system?” Debernardo asked Mitchell.

  “On a EOD ship, without a doubt, but not on a ship like this. Marine and Space Core ships will not permit it.” Mitchell responded.

  “Why not?” Murphy asked.

  “Because the helmet-com can interfere with the intercom system.”

  “So why don’t they interfere on a EOD ship?” Debernardo asked.

  “Because they don’t suffer from budget cuts and politicians.”

  “Can you make the conversion?” Murphy asked.

  “Yes, but it will take some time.”

  “How long?” Debernardo asked.

  “Three to six hours, depending upon the type of equipment we have and the state that they are in.”

  “You have two hours.” Murphy ordered her.

  “Sir, there are no shortcuts with this type of equipment. If we make a mistake we could lose both the helmet-com and the intercom system.”

  “Then you got three hours and not a minute longer.” Murphy ordered her.

  “But sir…”

  “I said, ‘you got three hours’.”

  “Yes sir.”

  Three-and-a-half hours later, Mitchell and her team finished the work. In that time period two more transmitters were found. Twenty minutes after Mitchell and her team finished the work, Debernardo was in the EOD drop-ship investigating a hunch when she realize something. She then quickly headed to the bridge to talk to Murphy (Mad Dawg was sleeping in his quarters).

  “Sir, we need to talk.” Debernardo said to Murphy.

  “What about?”

  “I need to get your opinion about something.”

  “Okay, I’m listening.”

  “I’m starting to believe that we are dealing with one Commando and not a unit.”

  “Why do you think that?”

  “When you look at the size of an EOD drop-ship, in the sense of the volume of what it can and cannot carry, and if you look at the total number of EOD transmitters that we found, it implies that there is not enough room for a unit, but there is enough for one person.”

  “Could there be any other way that they could have sneak those transmitters on board?”

  “No sir.”

  “Okay, I believe you about the transmitters, but how could one person carry one and place them in the locations that they have been found at?”

  “I don’t know sir. Maybe were dealing with some new type of a cyborg?”

  “Impossible. Our ships sensors would have detected a cyborg.”

  “Omori perhaps? Like some device that she created that can mask a cyborg.”

  “Wouldn’t our security team have found it by now?”

  “Not if it was on the cyborg.”

  “And if it’s not a cyborg?”

  “Then sir, it can only be some type of an human-hybrid. And Omori is smart enough to create both a cyborg and a human-hybrid.”

  “Well… that would make sense. Could there be another explanation?”

  “Only one sir – a traitor.”

  “Well… if that’s the case… than we are all dead. I’ll go and tell the captain.”

  After Murphy woke Mad Dawg to give him the suspicions of Debernardo, Mad Dawg ordered him to inform Captain Adnrwal. As Mad Dawg, Murphy and Debernardo started to think about it more, that they are dealing with one Commando and not a unit, it made sense. It would explain everyone shooting at shadows. The three of them sat down to discuss how they could trap this one single Commando unit. Their plan worked. But it created a new nightmare for them.

  (5)

  “Ma’am, we got Galactic Prime on the com! Captain Burton wants to talk to you!” Brewster said.

  The ship-to-ground communications had just been repaired on Galactic Prime. White Team, Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty were five miles from the harbor when the message came in. When Vaistll got the message, Taylor and Ramirez came with her.

  “Green Team… out now!” Ramirez ordered them.

  “But sir…” Nakada was saying.

  “I said now Ensign.”

  “Yes sir.”

  Neither Vaistll, nor Taylor or Ramirez wanted Green Team to be around them when they talk to Mad Dawg. They didn’t want Green Team to overhear who is on that starbase. As soon as Green Team left, Vaistll pushed a button that contacted Galactic Prime.

  “I’m so glad to hear from you.” Vaistll said to Mad Dawg.

  “Same here. So what was that explosion that we detected?”

  “Lieutenant Hayes accidentally lost our weapons and ammo. I mean… that he lost enough for two teams.”

  “Any KIA or injuries?”

  “No KIA, but Guerrero was seriously injured. He will be fine so long as he takes it easy.”

  “Do you have any Intel on who is on that starbase?” Mad Dawg asked. He wasn’t sure if she knew.

  “Yes. Do you?”

  “Unfortunately so. When you guys landed she hacked our com-system and shut it down. We had to reinstall the computer core OS system. And now… we have a EOD Commando unit on board.”

  “How bad is it up there?”

  “Nothing too serious. No engagement of the enemy yet.”

  “Can you help me in tracking down those anti-air guns?”

  “Sure no problem. But given our situation it might take longer than normal.”

  “I kind of figured that it would.”

  “We’ll try to contact you later with any updates.”

  “Alright then. Goodbye.”

  “Goodbye.” Mad Dawg said.

  Vaistll then left along with Taylor and Ramirez. Ramirez then used his helmet-com to contact Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty to see how much longer will it take for them to arrive. Ellis told him that they and White Team are about five miles from the harbor. As soon as Ellis got back he, along with Wexler and Moriarty, went to talk with Vaistll, Taylor and Ramirez.

  “So what did you guys find?” Taylor asked Ellis.

  “Not much sir. Eight miles from the pier there is a road that goes 5.5 miles south. The only thing at the end of that road is a auto-repair shop. It can also repair helicopters.” Ellis said.

  “How do you know that it can repair helicopters?” Ramirez asked.

  “One of them was there sir. And by the looks of it, it looked like it was being worked upon.”

  “What about the other dead end roads?” Vaistll asked.

  “Thirty miles from the pier is a road that heads 14.3 miles to the south. At the end of that road is a police and fire station, a hospital, and a administration building. As to be expected, we found only non-lethal weapons at the police station. There were documents missing at the administration building. We assumed that the Special Forces who came before us must have taken it.”

  “Why do you say that?” Taylor asked.

  “Because the place have all the hallmarks of someone searching for Intel.”

  “What’s at the end of the road that leads to the west?” Vaistll asked.

  “Seventy-eight miles from the pier there ap
pears to be the headquarters for this region ma’am. We didn’t find any Intel. I guess that the Special Forces beat us to it.

  Seventy-four miles from the pier is a road that heads north for 17.8 miles. As to be expected there is a mass transit terminal there. I don’t know if the Special Forces did it or not, but the monorail is setting at the terminal and it’s still operational.”

  “Did you check out where it leads to?” Ramirez asked.

  “There was nothing to indicate where it leads to sir.”

  “Anything else that you guys discovered?” Taylor asked.

  “No sir.” Ellis responded.

  “Alright, you guys can have the rest of day off.” Vaistll said.

  “Ma’am… we didn’t check the security station.” Moriarty mentioned.

  “Why not?” Vaistll asked.

  “Because there’s nothing there as to be expected.” Ellis said.

  “Actually that’s not totally true. There is an written rule that the security personnel has. The security personnel would write down the comings and goings of the laboratory. Especially any VIPs. They also would write down any incidence that may or may not occur there. The flight path and direction of any air vehicle that may go there. They do that to improve the efficiency of the security.” Moriarty said.

  “Yeah… that would be right.” Ramirez said.

  “Well Moriarty… I’m going to leave it up to you. If you want to go, and Ellis and Wexler don’t mind going with you, then you can go” Vaistll said.

  “Sir do either one of you want to go?” Moriarty asked both Ellis and Wexler.

  “Wow… you must really like being our chauffeur. Sure I don’t mind going.” Ellis said with a smile.

  “I’m leaving it up to you.” Wexler said to Moriarty.

  “Alright. Let’s go.” Moriarty said.

  “Get some rest first. And just remember that our base camp will be move to the monorail.” Vaistll said to them.

  “Copy that.” Ellis said.

  “Now let’s go and inform everyone.” Vaistll said.

  “Everyone front and center for a debriefing!” Ramirez said over the helmet-com.