With a sound like a rush of gears, the metal door rose from the floor and sealed them into the space. A moment later, light blinded the pair of Marines.
“Ugh, my freaking eyebolla’s.” Riot winced at the brightness. Despite her anticipation of the light, it seemed she was still unprepared. “Come on, the elevator is down the hall.”
Riot blinked a few dozen times, trying to get her pupils adjusted to the light as she led the way based on her limited exposure here. They were in a long corridor with lights set into the walls as well as the ceiling. A pair of small-caliber turrets mounted in the ceiling moved along, following their progress.
A dark, circular dome was mounted upside down on the ceiling, housing a camera that tracked their every move.
“Was the bright-ass light really necessary?” Riot gave the camera the finger. She motioned to Vet with the thumb on her opposite hand. “This guy’s only got one eye left, so let’s try to keep it healthy.”
The pair finally reached the white elevator doors. A single, circular button with the symbol of a spear pointed down. Riot jammed it with her thumb five times just to be sure. It lit up under her command.
“I was wondering where we were going.” Vet shook his head, the scowl that was more his normal face than an expression creased his forehead. “Should have known you’d be taking me to a secret, underground military bunker.”
“Yeah, well, one of us has to keep things interesting, now that the Earth is free from an alien invasion and all.”
The elevator doors dinged open, providing access to its interior. The elevator was a large, square box with a series of numbers on the inside panel.
“Holy Syndicate almighty.” Vet scowled at the long rows of buttons and their corresponding levels. “How far did they have to drill into the ground to get seven levels beneath us?”
“Beats me.” Riot hit the button with the number seven on it, once, twice, then repeatedly to get the doors to close. “Hey, do you think the more I press the button, the faster the doors close, or is that just all in my head? Either way, it makes me feel better if I hit it a bunch of times.”
Vet shrugged, still trying to grasp the magnitude of how massive the Bulwark really was.
“Seven levels,” he said, more to himself than to Riot. “How long have they been working on this?”
The elevator doors came to a close. The steel box began to descend into the earth.
“And that’s just the levels that we know of.” Riot tapped the side of her head with the pointer finger on her right hand. “How many secret levels do you think they have in here? Let that cook your noodle for a minute.”
“A secret base like this has to have cool alien tech,” Vet murmured to himself. “They just have to.”
“Wait, listen?” Riot held a finger to her lips as the steel box continued to slowly lower. “Hear that?”
“I don’t hear anything.” Vet cocked his head. “Nothing.”
“Exactly,” Riot shouted, shaking her head in frustration. “My one request: add elevator music. And they couldn’t even do that. Oh well, come on, this is going to blow your mind.”
The elevator came to a stop. The doors slid open.
3
Riot led Vet from the elevator and over the raised catwalk. Below them was a room full of technicians with headsets working diligently at their screens. The catwalk extended the length of the massive room, with outlets in multiple areas providing stairs to the ground floor.
A young woman with blonde hair and a smile so cheerful it made Riot want to punch her, popped up from the first stairwell on their right.
“Oh, hello there. You must be Master Sergeant Riot.” The woman couldn’t stop smiling. She adjusted her black-framed glasses before turning to Vet. “And you must be the mechanic she went out to retrieve: Corporal Mohammad Vetash?”
Riot looked the woman up and down again. She had to be in her late thirties. She wore a grey uniform free of any military insignia. She was tall and slender without being athletic.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Riot said, raising an eyebrow at the woman. “Who’re you?”
“Oh my, is that blood on your uniform?” The woman stared, wide-eyed, at the crimson spray of red that had erupted out of the man’s nose earlier that day. “Are you hurt, Master Sergeant?”
“I don’t get hurt,” Riot said, folding her arms over her chest. “Who are you, lady?”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, how rude of me.” The woman smiled once more, or maybe she had always been smiling. She extended a hand. “My name is Deborah Miller, I’m one of the scientists here at the Bulwark. When we saw you arrive, Captain Harlan sent me to come escort you to his office.”
Riot looked at the cheerful woman again. She didn’t bother accepting her hand of welcome. If all went well, Riot would be out in the field again soon and would never have to see her and her smiling face again.
“Well, come on, let’s go, Miller.” Riot motioned her forward. “We’ve got a secret mission to perform. The Syndicate were defeated, but it seems our problems have only just begun.”
“Oh, right.” Deborah lowered her hand and motioned Riot and Vet to follow. “If you’d walk with me, I’ll take you right to his office.”
Riot and Vet followed Deborah in silence, the latter taking everything in like a kid in a candy store, the former already trying to anticipate what Captain Harlan would have in store for them when they arrived at his office.
Deborah rushed down the flight of metal stairs. She led them through the floor of workers pounding away at their keyboards. There were so many different screens to look at, Riot was surprised that they could keep track of all the information.
Massive screens showing maps of what was left of the United States, of countless countries in varying degrees of repair, and even of solar systems. The images were set on every wall of the room.
The trio made a beeline through the room and to a set of doors that led into a hall. The first door on their right was already open.
“Come on in,” a familiar voice said to the approaching group even before they could see who was welcoming them.
Riot walked into Captain Harlan’s office. It was small, clean, and orderly. A single desk faced the door. On the right wall was a massive American flag, worn and peppered with a dark sprinkling of what Riot knew was blood. Behind the desk was a wall of medals and books. That was it. No extra seating, no liquor stand, nothing.
With a smile, Captain Harlan stood from his desk. He looked friendly and unassuming, medium weight and height coupled with his kind face had given more than a few of his opponents a false sense of security.
Riot was with the captain during the last battle with the Syndicate. She had seen the war rage in his eyes, firsthand. It was a memory she would never forget.
Here, in his office, with his clean-shaven face and perfectly combed hair, he almost had her fooled.
“Sir!” Riot and Vet stood rigid at attention with a salute across their brows.
“At ease.” Captain Harlan returned their salute and nodded toward Deborah Miller. “I see you two have met Miss Miller.”
“Yes, sir.” Riot turned less-than-amused eyes toward the peppy scientist. “We’ve met.”
“And it looks like you found Corporal Vetash.” The Captain turned his cool gaze on Vet. “You come highly recommended, Corporal. So high, in fact, you were the first name on Master Sergeant Riot’s list.”
“Thank you, sir.” Vet nodded toward Riot, who stood beside him. “I’m ready to do whatever needs to be done.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Captain Harlan motioned toward the door. “Miss Miller, would you be so kind as to show Corporal Vetash to his quarters? I’d like to have a word with Master Sergeant Riot. Alone.”
“Of course.” Deborah ushered Vet out of the room and closed the door behind her.
“I’d offer to bring in a seat for you, but I don’t think you’d take it anyway.” Captain Harlan remained standing, as well. “You look like y
ou have a million questions on your mind.”
“You’re right, I’m fine standing. I’ve been sitting all day.” Riot pursed her lips in thought. “And you’re right about that second part, as well. Permission to speak freely, Captain?”
“Permission granted.” Captain Harlan rubbed at his eyes with the pointer finger and thumb of his right hand, and for the first time Riot saw how tired he really was. He hid it well, but now that Deborah and Vet were gone, it seemed he was willing to lower his guard if only for a moment. He sunk into the chair behind his desk. “What do you want to know first?”
“Well, for starters, why I’m here. When you first showed me the Bulwark and told me to start assembling a recon unit a few days ago, I thought we were going to be doing something big.” Riot hesitated before continuing. “Captain, what are we getting into?”
“We’re about to embark on a journey, Riot.” Captain Harlan leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. “A journey outside this solar system.”
4
“I’m sorry, Captain, it sounded like you said we’re going outside of our solar system.” Riot leaned in with wide eyes. “I may have taken too many concussion grenades to the old eardrum.”
“You heard me right.”
“We have access to spacecrafts that can make the journey?”
“Thanks to our friends in the Syndicate, we do now.”
“Oh, yeah. Our good friends in the Syndicate.” Riot remembered her so-called training at the hands of the Syndicate. She could still taste the green jello and beans. “I’m not going to pretend I understand space travel; that’s way beyond me. So where exactly is this journey supposed to take us?”
“To planets we think may be willing to ally with Earth.” Captain Harlan reached into a drawer and produced what looked like a long piece of flat metal. He placed it on his desk and pushed a button on its smooth surface. Instantly, a holographic screen popped up, floating in the air between them, and he began pushing buttons and moving images. “Special Purpose Exploration And Recon, or SPEAR, was formed as soon as we understood the truth the Syndicate brought with them.”
Riot stared in awe at the floating image in front of her. Captain Harlan stood, again maneuvering the computer-like controls until he came to a halt on a particular sleek Syndicate spacecraft. The hologram was still transparent, but with Captain Harlan turning the image, he was able to provide various views of the craft.
“The truth is something we have always suspected, but have only recently been able to confirm.” Captain Harlan swiped away the image of the craft to a view of a million stars. “We are not alone in the universe; it’s crowded out there. An endless list of threats, and a much shorter list of possible allies.”
Riot was a Marine first and forever. Put a M27 or SAW in her hands and she knew how to take care of business. Put a view of the known galaxy in front of her and she had no idea which way was up. The floating hologram looked gorgeous, but to her eyes, it was really no more than a bunch of cool, twinkling lights.
“You want to go and explore the galaxy?” Riot was trying to wrap her mind around the idea. “Oh, crap, you want ME to go and explore the galaxy.”
“Well, the universe, actually.” Captain Harlan swiped his hand over the hologram control again. This time, lines of alien text popped up in a dull red light. “Thanks to the Syndicate, we have found evidence that a much larger, much meaner force than the Syndicate exists in our universe. It’s only a matter of time before it comes to Earth. We need allies, Riot, and we’re not going to find them here sitting on our asses.”
Riot was never one to cave in to pressure, neither had she ever experienced a panic attack. When things got brutal, she got just as brutal herself. The conversation she was having at the moment, though, was overwhelming.
One thing the Corps had taught her was that she was capable of handling anything; she was mentally tough enough to tackle any objective and bend it to her will. This was no different.
“All right, Captain.” Riot licked her dry lips, nodding along with her words as if only by vocalizing them could she fully get on board. “We’re going out into the unknown universe, to ally with unknown life forms, in preparation to eventually fight an unknown enemy.”
“That’s about right, but we have a little more information to go on than that.” Captain Harlan took a deep breath before continuing. “You’re the right person for the job, Riot. I need you to take a team and protect our scientist as she goes out and makes contact with these alien races.”
“Wait a minute.” Riot’s eyebrows shot upward as light bulbs exploded in her mind. “You’re not talking about Deborah—oh, no, you are talking about Deborah.”
“Miss Miller is the best scientist we have, hands down. She’s the leading mind in decoding and learning how to use a lot of the Syndicate tech.” Captain Harlan shook his head as if there was no other way around it. “She has to be the one to go. In an ideal world, she would be a Marine, but hey, not everyone can be perfect. She’ll need you and your squad to look after her. You let her do the talking, and you drop the hammer if she comes into danger.”
“I’m going to be a babysitter.” Riot blew out a long sigh, still struggling with the fact that she was going to be leaving the Earth itself. “I will be a babysitter, Captain. I’m sorry if I’m speaking out of line, it’s just a crap-load to take in right now.”
“I understand the feeling.” Captain Harlan shook his head. “When the bomb was dropped on me, it took me a few hard minutes to get my head on straight. This is the world we live in now, Riot. Aliens exist, faster than light speed travel is possible, and intergalactic war is coming, whether we are ready or not, so let’s choose to be ready.”
“Yes, Captain.” Riot bottled all of the feelings of doubt and fear, hiding them deep down, like the healthy girl that she was. “What do we do next?”
“I’m glad you asked. We need to finish assembling your team so you can prepare for your journey. We need to get you into space as soon as possible.”
“About the remaining slots in the squad.” Riot braced herself for the response she knew she would get. “I have a few names of men I’d like beside myself and Vet.”
“I’m sure you have. Who?”
Riot paused, trying to think how best to break the news to the captain in such a way it would seem like a good idea.
“Your hesitation is speaking volumes.” Captain Harlan raised an eyebrow. “Who do you want?”
“Chief Warrant Officer--I mean Corporal Sean Rizzo, Captain.” Riot looked Harlan directly in the eyes so he would know how important picking her own team was to her. “Despite his demotion and previous issues with authority, he’s the best pilot I’ve ever seen; he’s selfless, and one hell of a fighter.”
“Corporal Rizzo? Why does that name sound familiar? Wait, you don’t mean the chopper pilot who went down, kamikaze, in the first confrontation with the Syndicate, do you?”
“I do.”
“I thought he was dead, or wounded so badly he wasn’t able to fly anymore.” Captain Harlan scrunched his brow in thought. “I remember there being more.”
“Sean Rizzo is a hero, sir.” Riot pushed back the sadness she felt when it came to recalling the events surrounding the man. She remembered every detail, every piece of the story, scene by horrific scene. “Our position was being overrun. We were dying by the second. There was so much blood on the ground, the dirt beneath us was being turned into mud. Is it still considered mud if it’s dirt mixed with blood and not water? Anyway, we didn’t have a chance.
“His chopper was already going down," she continued. "He aimed it at the biggest Syndicate ship he could and bought us enough time to get out of the kill zone. He didn’t even hesitate. When I close my eyes, I can still see the flames that engulfed his chopper.”
“But he lived,” Captain Harlan said, finishing Riot’s story. “I remember the file now. He lived, because you went back for him and pulled him out. He received some pretty serious injuri
es to his entire body, but specifically to his throat. He can’t talk or fly anymore, can he?”
“He’s not saying much these days. Physically, he can fly, but no one is giving him the opportunity to.”
Captain Harlan drummed his fingers on his desk. “Who else do you want?”
“I’d also like to take a medic with us. Corporal Chen Wang.”
“Absolutely not.” Captain Harlan shook his head hard. “Unlike Corporal Rizzo, I remember Wang. I even know exactly where he is. Ask me how I know.”
“How do you know, Captain?”
“Because he’s in our brig.”
5
“Well, that’s unfortunate.” Riot rocked back and forth on her heels and toes. Her mind raced in a dozen different directions for the reason her friend might be imprisoned. “You’re going to make me ask what Wang did to get thrown into the brig, aren’t you?”
“I’ll save you the breath and just tell you.” Captain Harlan balled his right hand into a fist. One by one, his fingers rose as he listed off the long series of infractions. “Sneaking off base to get his jollies off with the local citizen populace, gambling while here in the Bulwark, concealing contraband, stealing tech from the Corps for personal use … oh, and starting his shift still high.”
“Captain, Wang can be a handful, there’s no doubt about that.” Riot shifted, uncomfortable in her own boots. How far was too far when being blunt with the ranking officer she considered a friend? “However, what we’re going to do is pushing the boundaries of sanity. We’re going out into space. We’re all broken people, we’re all a little crazy to be doing this, let’s be honest, but maybe that’s what we need right now. Maybe a little crazy will see us through until the end?”
Captain Harlan gave Riot a hard stare. His eyes bored through hers to the point where she thought she might even need to look away. There was intensity there, yes, but also some heavy thought going on.
“I’m not saying yes to either one.” Captain Harlan pushed himself up from his desk. “I will, however, think about your requests and have an answer for you tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I suggest you get to know Miss Miller, because she’s going with you, whether you like it or not. You’re free to go. You remember the barracks level.”
Bring the Thunder (War Wolves Book 1) Page 2
