Wanda

by carl smothers

  Suddenly a pack of six mantises broke into the clearing and attacked the sub-humans. The kills came quickly, and the sub-humans retreated. The mantises called to the rest of the pack, who returned the calls. It was obvious there were a lot of them, and very close.

  They were surrounded by a large pack of mantises, and they didn’t have the ammo to fend them off. If the mantises didn’t get them the sub–humans surely would — at least what was left of them. The growls and roars were so loud it hurt Harry’s ears.

  Much to everyone’s surprise, instead of charging the men, the mantises started eating the sub-humans, and ignored them.

  The major signaled the team and they sneaked quietly away into the jungle before the rest of the mantis pack arrived and decided they needed more food. As strange as it seemed, the mantises had saved their lives.

  Good thing the mantises liked those things so much or all of us would have been on the menu. Harry had never been so terrified. He wiped sweat away with his tattered sleeve. He was miserable and scared. “Ronnie, are you all right?”

  “I haven’t had so much fun since my last root canal. Think I need another pain pill.”

  The group turned and headed towards the shuttle. They were getting close.

  Twenty minutes later, they heard growling sounds behind them. The sub-humans had regrouped to resume the hunt. The predators closed and started short incursions towards them. They were wise to the weapons and working a new strategy to attack with the least casualties.

  The assault went on for over an hour; the men fired sparingly into the jungle to keep them at bay. The sub-humans sensed their prey was losing the ability to ward them off. Slowly, deliberately, they closed on them, like Indians circling a wagon train for the kill. The team kept moving towards the shuttle firing only enough to maintain respect from the predators. The animals continued to circle, growling and howling. Obviously, they were trying to draw them out.

  Suddenly a sub-human rushed the group and hit Ronnie, knocking him to the ground. The animal tore his pack off and tried to rip his throat out. Ronnie screamed, unable to defend himself. “Harry, help!”

  Harry pulled his knife, tackled the animal, wrapped his arms around its neck and pulled it off Ronnie. He stabbed at it as the sub-human snapped and clawed, trying to get a piece of him. Harry grunted and growled like the big beast he fought to save his friend. The two rolled around on the ground, screaming and growling in distress as they fought. Before anyone else could react, Donovan jumped on the animal, stabbing it with her knife. Harry wrapped his legs around the sub-human’s stomach and Donovan crawled on top, grabbing its mouth fur to keep it from biting. Then she hit it with her knife. The animal ripped at her back with its claws. She screamed in pain as they fought to the death.

  The Sergeant Major dropped his weapon and ran over to help kill the thing. Finally, the animal fell limp. Donovan pulled it off Harry, her eyes wild with excitement and her knife dripping with blood. Blood ran down her forearm and soaked the back of her uniform.

  Ronnie, rolled over, blood was dripping from his face. Harry reached down to grab his friends hand and helped him to his feet. He wrapped his arms around Ronnie and hugged him, damned grateful his friend was still alive.

  “You saved my life,” Ronnie said, his voice trembling from fear. “I thought that bastard had me for sure.”

  “I’d never stand by and let you be hurt or killed. Not if there was anything I could possibly do about it. ”

  “Man my face feels like hell. Bet I have a big scar on my forehead.”

  “I’ll dress your wound as soon as we get aboard the shuttle.

  The two looked into each other’s eyes with a bond of friendship that could never be broken. Donovan stood beside them shaking, trying to calm the adrenalin down. She still held the combat knife tightly by her side. Ronnie turned and hugged her, then softly kissed her on the cheek. “Thanks Donovan,” he said. “I owe you my life.”

  Startled, Donovan simply replied, “You’re welcome, Ronnie.” She smiled, touched the spot where he had kissed her, and then picked up her weapon.

  The shooting started again as other sub–humans made coordinated pincer movements against the group.

  “Are you three seriously hurt?” the Sergeant Major asked. Everyone shook their head no. “Well let me do a quick field dressing and we’ll get going.” The Sergeant Major put a quick dressing on Donovan’s arm, treated her back and put a patch on Ronnie’s forehead.

  “We have to move out now.”

  After an hour, the ship was twenty meters ahead. They moved towards it as fast as possible. The ammo was gone. The sub-humans were growling and snarling just out of sight.

  “Knuckles! Open up. This is Tobey. We’re being pursued and we’re out of ammo.”

  “Air locks open. Hurry, so I can close it before those bastards get here, or we’ll be fighting them inside the ship.”

  The men ran into the hatch. Knuckles was waiting for them and closed it almost immediately.

  “Let’s get the hell out of here, Knuckles. Those things are smart, and they may figure out how to disable the ship.”

  “Roger that, Major.”

  The sub-humans tried to open the door and claim their prey. Their claws furiously scratched at the metal hatch. The scratching stopped. What’s going on? Harry looked out a portal and saw them scurry up the hill. They halted at the top and threw big stones at the shuttle. The rocks caused others to start sliding — a landslide was in the making. Dirt and rocks broke loose and slid towards the ship.

  “Knuckles, get the hell out of here!” Harry screamed. “They’re starting a landslide.”

  Knuckles jumped into the pilot’s seat and activated the main engines. The Oriskany lifted off as tons of rock and dirt slid down the hill with a fury. Another ten seconds and they would never have left. Knuckles pushed the throttle forward and the shuttle began the journey back to the orbiting starship.

  “Orion, this is Oriskany. I have the men on board, and we’re heading for rendezvous in twenty minutes. Over.”

  “Roger, Oriskany. We’ll be ready to receive you. Orion, out.”

  Harry sat in his seat and closed his eyes in relief. He had never been through such an ordeal. He had gained a tremendous respect for the soldiers, but did not understand how they could make a career out of this sort of life.

  Ronnie looked at him and grinned. “You gonna make it, dude?”

  “I think so. I sure thought we were toast down there. Now I know what it’s like to be on the bottom of the food chain.”

  “Tell me about it. I think we’re lucky as hell to be sitting here right now. Sure glad we had the spec ops guys with us. We were pretty naïve, thinking we could go down there by ourselves.”

  “Amen,” Harry replied nodding his head. “Sergeant Major?”

  “Yes, Doctor?”

  “I’m really sorry about the men you lost. I just wanted to tell you that I’m very grateful to you and your guys. We’d all be in some creature’s stomach right now if it hadn’t been for you and your team. Thank you for keeping us alive.”

  “That goes for me too, Sergeant Major.” Ronnie added.

  “You’re welcome, gentlemen. That’s our job. Just another great day in spec ops.” The Sergeant Major smiled, pulled out a fresh cigar and stuck it in his mouth.

  Funny, he doesn’t even look tired, Harry thought.

  The flight back was peaceful. Harry watched the Sergeant Major changed the dressings on Donovan’s wounds. She would need a lot of stitches and physical therapy to repair her arm. The rips in her back would also require some stitch work. When he poured the fiery antiseptic on her wounds, Donovan didn’t flinch.

  T Bone, who was sitting next to Donovan, looked at her wound with a smirk. “That thing that bit you probably died of poisoning. You think?”

  Donovan just smiled, slipped her hand into her pack and felt the big snakehead.

  When they landed in the cargo bay of the Orion, Captain Starling and Scot
t Kimberly was there to greet them.

  Chapter 49

  Starship Orion

  “Gentlemen, it’s good to see you,” Starling said. “Things were certainly getting a bit dicey down there. Welcome home. You look like you need a shower and some fresh clothes. Everyone get a good rest, and then let’s meet in my conference room later so you can fill me in on all of the details.”

  Harry walked over to Starling and extended his hand. “Captain, I want to thank you. You saved our bacon by planting that beacon on me.”

  “I was in a similar situation five years ago on a planet we were surveying. TZ 1321, I think. The magnetics were unstable, so I took a beacon with me. When the magnetic variation went screwball, the beacon was the only way we found our way back. I figured I should take a similar precaution with you.”

  “I’m sure glad you did. Thank you again. Scott, great to see you.”

  “About time you two birds got back. I was beginning to think you were homesteadin’ down there. I was gonna ask if you’d staked a claim.” He chuckled, and then hugged both Ronnie and Harry. “That was one scary ass walk you went for.”

  “You don’t even want to know,” Ronnie, quipped.

  The captain went back to the bridge and ordered, “Let’s go home, Knuckles.”

  “My pleasure, sir. I sure won’t miss this place.”

  “A dollar will get you two we’ll both be back sometime soon.” The captain then activated the main screen and contacted Mission Control. “Marc, we’re about to leave orbit and start home. The away party’s back aboard, but I’m sad to report Private Shawn Gunn was killed.”

  “I’m very sorry about you men,” Marc said. “Please give Major Tobey my condolences. I’ll let everyone know your status.”

  “Roger flight. Orion is headed home.”

  Chapter 50

  STL Mission Control

  Wormhole Development Facility

  New Mexico

  For the first time in days, Pepper relaxed as she sat in her chair staring at her monitor. She had been extremely concerned that both Harry and Ronnie would die on that miserable planet. I have to let Wanda and Carle Anne know Harry’s on the way home. They’ll be overjoyed. She got up from her console, went into the rest room and cried. Her man was coming back to her. She finally regained her composure, dried her eyes, washed her face, and then returned to her station. She and Wanda still had serious work to do. Pepper was desperate to identify the traitor before he could kill again, or perhaps destroy the Orion during its journey back to Earth. This was his final chance to sabotage the project.

  Wanda had uncovered a second virus — designed to hide in the data stream until activated. When triggered by WNS system functions, it down linked the wormhole system code to the Waziristan Valley weapon facility every time they obtained the latest navigation data.

  The history log data provided clear evidence the covert thefts started soon after Harry and Pepper relocated to STL.

  So clever, Pepper thought. Wanda’s tied it all together. If we only knew who was behind all of this.

  “Tarnak, look at this. Someone’s been stealing our system code. It appears to be going to a location at the Central Arab League Headquarters. I don’t think that’s the final destination, but we can’t trace it beyond there. Why would anyone be trying to steal this technology? ”

  “I don’t know, Pepper. Have you isolated the virus?”

  “Yes, and we’ve installed safeguards to prevent it from reactivating. They won’t get any more of our code.”

  “I hope we have this virus stuff under control. However, if we don’t identify the saboteur, it’s going to start all over again,” Tarnak said. “I wonder what the real motive is behind the code theft.” Tarnak scratched his head.

  Deep in cyberspace, Wanda worked the log-on history and crosschecked all passwords and access strategies. Finally, she found a clue. Someone had accessed the system using a routine test password and input a simple test subroutine. To cover his time of entry, he had attempted to trick the access analysis program into thinking the entry occurred at a different time than it actually was — a time that would have placed him in a scheduled meeting elsewhere. However, he made a simple mistake. The saboteur forgot to erase the change history to the log-on times he made. Reversing the attempted covert action, Wanda uncovered the actual time of entry. The saboteur wasn’t aware that a double delete had to be made, but, also, even that change would have had to be deleted. It was an infinite loop. I guess the trap Harry and I designed was effective, she thought.

  Additional dissection uncovered an obscure time code in the virus’s main token that linked it to the exact time of the user’s entry to the system. She also found code the virus used to disassociate itself from the test routines it was imbedded in at download. She correlated all of this information with the retinal identity checks completed at log-on, and then placed a simple note on Pepper’s console.

  ‘I’ve uncovered the traitor’s identity. You are not going to like it! W.’

  Pepper was stunned. Wanda’s investigation made the identity of the traitor quite clear. Even so, she did not want to believe the evidence — as obvious as it was. Why would such a person do this horrible thing? She saved the file, made a copy, and then went to Marc’s office.

  Marc looked up from the report he was reading as she walked through the door. “What’s up, Pepper? Get some new information?”

  “I did, but it’s not good.” She brushed back her hair.

  Marc sat his Qtab down and gave her his undivided attention. “What is it?”

  “We’ve isolated the second virus.”

  “That’s great news. What’s not to like? Are we clean now?”

  “Yes. I also know who the saboteur is. I have evidence of who did it, how he did it and when. I just don’t know why.”

  Marc took a deep breath and extended his hand. “May I see your data?”

  There was no question about it. Sadly, Marc looked at Pepper and shook his head in disbelief. He paused for a moment, ran his palm across his forehead, then called security.

  “Lieutenant, I want you to arrest Dr. Lars Johansen and bring him to my office immediately.”

  “Dr. Johansen?”

  “Yes!”

  Pepper and Marc sat silently. Neither wanted to accept what the data so clearly showed. Lars Johansen was the traitor and murderer.

  An hour later, the security guards finally escorted a very angry Lars Johansen into Marc’s office.

  “Vat’s the meaning of this insult?” Lars screamed. “You have no right to arrest me like a common criminal.”

  Marc looked at the data Pepper had presented to him. “We have definite evidence that links you with the acts of sabotage committed against this project.”

  “That’s pure bullshit, Marc. There’s no way you can connect me to those things.”

  “You’re wrong. We have absolute proof you inserted viruses in the system when it first went unstable. Your virus was also responsible for the antimatter torpedoes failing to defuse, and you probably greased the antenna assembly that caused Lieutenant Jones’s death. We also know you used a similar virus that caused the navigation malfunction and system shutdown, which nearly caused the Orion to be lost in space. Further, we have proof you used a virus to steal the system design code and down linked it via the United Arab League Headquarters in Saudi Arabia. However, we also know that’s only a pass-through. I seriously doubt the Saudi’s even know about it.”

  Marc handed Lars the tablet. As he read, a vein in his forehead popped out and his face flushed. If looks could kill, Marc would have been a dead man.

  “Who is my accuser?”

  Pepper spoke before Marc had a chance. “It was me, Lars, and I must say I’ve never been as disappointed in someone as I am you. Why? We trusted you explicitly.”

  Lars thought a moment. “Well, I guess there’s no sense in denying this further. When I was three years old, I was kidnapped from my parents who were in gove
rnment service in Pakistan. The kidnappers killed my folks and spent years educating me about their philosophy and religion. I finally accepted their philosophy and adopted their cause. As I grew up, they sent me to college and paid for my education. After I got my PhD, my sponsors arranged work for me in various countries. We obtained a Visa that enabled me to go to the U.S. and hire on at NSTA. We needed a high level mole in your organization, so we could monitor and steal technology developments.”

  “Who are you working for?”

  “The Movement of Allah.”

  “Why this project?”

  “You will have that answer soon enough, but not from me.”

  Lars dropped the tablet Marc had given him. A guard instinctively glanced down. When he did, Lars hit him with his fist and grabbed his gun. “Drop the guns or I shoot Marc,” he said. “Get your hands in the air.”

  The other two security guards dropped their guns and raised their hands.

  Lars turned his attention to Pepper. “We knew you were the only one capable of detecting our viruses, so I tried to kill you in Albuquerque. Well, you won’t escape a second time. You and that damn Wanda program have caused us enough trouble.”

  Marc carefully reached in his desk drawer and wrapped his hand around his 9 mm pistol.

  Lars clenched his teeth, and then pulled the trigger twice shooting Pepper in the chest. She screamed and fell — face up and arms spread. He spun around to shoot Marc. Before he could fire, Marc quickly aimed his 9 mm and shot Lars in the head. The impact of the bullets threw him against the wall. He fell to the floor with a hard thud. The back of his head was gone, and what oozed out on Marc’s carpet was not pretty.

  Marc jammed the gun in his belt and ran to Pepper. She was unconscious and bleeding badly. He checked her breathing. “Quick. Call medical and tell them to get to my office immediately. Code red! We have a person down with gunshot wounds to her chest, and another person dead.”