Chapter !

The guard puffed on his cigarette blowing out streams of smoke into the cold night air. Rain fell in great sheets all around him. He stood under the roof of the little guard house. ‘Constant rain...’ He observes to himself. His rifle was slung over his shoulder. It got heavy after holding it for a few hours. ‘Air guns…’ Had he known that he couldn’t bring any plasma weapons he wouldn’t have come? The guard sighed. Had he known that he picked the most boring job on earth he wouldn’t be here freezing in the damn rain. “That’s what you get for being a guard in the Bermuda Triangle.” He said. He chuckled to himself. ‘That’s also what I get for being a Merc.’ He stared at the sky. Black storm clouds covered the entire sky. No sunlight or not very often. It could rain for days on end with no sun. Then it would clear for a day or two and go right back to dark and cloudy. He blew out some smoke. He’d seen enough storm clouds to last him a lifetime. If he ever got away from this place he was going to live in the Sahara. He sucked in some more smoke then blew it out through his nose.

He had also seen enough of that crazy man Kirk as well, his crazy inventions most of all. The pay was okay but not much to spend it on. The clothes and guards quarters were nice and furbished. But still Kirk was an asshole always pestering them, always complaining if things didn’t happen the way he wanted. The only good thing about Kirk was the fact that he knew how to guard his stuff. Every door in the facility had a keycard lock for starters; there were cameras in every corridor no privacy. They even had barriers with pulssonic lasers for the bars, an inconvenience sometimes. Some doors had locks that the guards didn’t even have access to. He could only imagine what kind of stuff went on in those rooms. Kirk even had a private elevator to his own private lab. Only Kirk has been in his own lab no one else. He was very strict about that. Then there was that secret facility, the one that was off limits even to the guards. Some of the guards said that animal sounds could be heard from there. Mac said that he could hear loud shrieks and banging. The door to that facility was reinforced to work as a small blast door. Whatever was in that facility they didn’t want anybody going in there?

Then the other night, after he had spent the night with one of the female scientists, she had told him that Kirk was experimenting with quantum energy and Transtime dimensional energy. She had told him that he was always doing experiments every hour of the day with or without a research team. He had only heard of Quantum and Transtime energy once in his life and he hadn’t cared enough to remember what they were. All the same he was becoming increasingly wary of Kirk. He always got bad vibes when Kirk was around. But no one really cared just as long as they were getting paid. Same went for him. As long as he got paid and Kirk kept his distance, it was all good.

He stamped out his cigarette. There was a beeping coming from the guard house. He turned around to look inside. A memo was being printed out.



<<>>……………………………………



He heard a creek in the fence door behind him. He turned to see who it was. It was Saul the other guard on duty tonight. “Outer area all clear,” He said as he walked toward the west gate, heading to the generator. “Yo Saul, the Generator plugs need to be replaced!” He yelled over the pouring rain. Saul raised his hand in acknowledgment.

The printer beeped again. He picked up the paper.



<<>>…………………….



He stared at the memo. ‘Lab specimens?’ ‘What lab specimens?’ He heard a clatter in the direction Saul had just gone. He shouldered his rifle. Saul’s weapon was lying on the floor. A loud thunder clap prevented him from hearing the large animal creeping up on him from behind. As he walked up to the gun he didn’t see the large animal creep closer then leap at him. The last thing he felt or saw was the agonizing pain in his back and the concrete floor beneath his feet.











The armored assault vehicle came to a stop next to the Fort Derek office building. A sergeant came and opened the door for General Mathis. He stepped out and took a look around. Mathis was forty-five a well accomplished General in the Marine Corps. He walked into the building. Inside were cubicles were sergeant and lieutenants filed paper work and filled out reports. It looked like any regular office building except that everyone was wearing black camouflaged uniforms. At the end of the rows of cubicles was a stenciled metal door.

Mathis knocked three times on the metal door. “Enter,” he heard a voice say. General Mathis Stepped in. Colonel O’Neil looked up from the paperwork he was filling out. O’Neil was on his feet in a second standing at attention.

“At ease colonel,” Mathis said. O’Neil sat back down.

“Too what do I owe the pleasure?” O’Neil asked gesturing him to sit down across from him.

He obliged and sat down, “Alpha squad has been picked for a special assignment.” He said leaning back in the chair and clasping his hands over his chest.

“What assignment would that be?” O’Neil asked sitting up straighter, taking extra care of paying attention.

“Your Alpha squad, Colonel Charles’s Delta force, and Colonel Carter’s Ark Angles are going to be providing assistance for Donald .J. Lorth, head of Intec Industries.” Mathis said. O’Neil sat there for moment thinking about the situation. Charles and Carter were old friends.

General Mathis stood to leave, “All tactical information will be given to you at 2000hrs tomorrow evening.” General Mathis saluted and left.

O’Neil was a little confused but he got over it. O’Neil’s, Charles’s, and Carter’s teams were the best in the force. Not to mention he had a feeling that they were going for publicity as well. The army or navy could do a standard security job. Usually Special Forces weren’t used as guards. But these days anyone with a little pull and a lot of money could get whatever they want. Sure, why not, it would be like a vacation anyway. He thought. God knows after that nuke plant almost blew up on their last mission it kind of took it out of his team; they defiantly need some R-and-R. He picked up his pen and continued writing.







In the AAV Mathis took out his cell phone. The line was secure and untraceable. He dialed in a number. He waited a second.

“Code in please.” The voice said.

“5824/b,” Mathis said.

The voice said. “Status report,”

“My man will get the research and bring it back. You needn’t worry just make sure you have the money.”

“900K will be deposited into your account on receiving the package.”

“I look forward to it.” Mathis said. He turned the phone off. He settled back into the seat. For fifteen years he had been selling out information and equipment to anonymous buyers on the black market. He’d made a fortune. Being a general wasn’t exactly all it was cracked up to be. Atleast when you were suspected of corruption. He was corrupt of course. But how anybody had suspected was still a mystery to him. But that didn’t matter. Once he sold Kirk’s priceless research he would be set for a long time.

“Corporal, make sure to stop at my house first. I’d like to make a change in clothes before I reach the restaurant.”

“Will do General,”

Oh yes, things would defiantly be good from here on end.




Arrival




Colonel O’Neil sat with his eyes closed as the striker rumbled down the road. He led a Special Forces team. His team and two others had been picked for a special assignment. Donald .J. Lorth head of Intec industries was doing a publicity stunt. What that stunt was he didn’t know. But if his team was picked the stunt must be really dangerous. Or he could afford the best protection known to man. These days you could never tell. Colonel O’Neil’s team name was Alpha squad. Not only were they the best in the field but they were the best genetically enhanced team in the world.

In the late twenty-first century the American military started doing genetic testing on human subjects. With ten years of diligent work they could genetically and biologically enhance soldiers. Certain Special Forces teams have been enhanced to make them more deadly in the field. When one is enhanced all your five senses become inhumanly sensitive. Your sight becomes sharper, your strength doubles, your speed increases, even your intelligence levels increase. Each person also has a special ability that is unique to that person. His was invisibility. Not true invisibility. His skin and clothes reflect the area that they surround, giving the appearance of invisibility. Any quick movements and he would be seen by anyone looking. The only problem was that you couldn’t choose your abilities. Whatever ability you got was a reflection of you. He never thought that he ever wanted to be invisible but oh well.

The only way to tell if someone has been enhanced is by their eyes. Because of the Biological and Genetic enhancement their eyes glow silver. A sort of byproduct of the enhanced cells giving off too much energy, the glow is a great intimidation tool seeing a bunch of silver eyes in a low lighted room staring at you is unnerving. Makes for a quick interrogation,

O’Neil liked this new assignment because he was going to be reunited with some old friends. In his profession a few allies were better than none. The striker stopped, the ramp was lowered. O’Neil was the first to get out. It was late afternoon. General Mathis and Colonel Eisenhower were standing at the end of a large concrete jetty with a ship just a little bit smaller than an air craft carrier. Two more strikers arrived a few seconds after theirs. From one striker came a tall man with blonde, buzz cut, hair. O’Neil recognized him at once. Colonel Charles O’Malley.

From the other striker came out a woman with short, light brown, hair. He recognized her as well. Colonel Samantha Carter. Both Charles and Carter were old friends of O’Neil. They had fought together in the Russian-American wars. They all saluted one another, back slapping would have to come later. When there was time.

They all stood at attention in front of the General and Colonel. “At ease,” General Mathis said.

The colonel spoke next, “You have all been chosen to protect the ship behind us.” The colonel said. “This is your main objective.”

“Permission to speak freely sir,” O’Neil asked.

“Permission granted.” The colonel said.

“What’s the destination of this ship?” O’Neil asked.

“The Bermuda,” Eisenhower stated.

“The Island,” O’Neal asked.

“The Triangle,” Eisenhower corrected.

They all knew about the Bermuda triangle. It was the most dangerous place for any piece of unprotected hardware in the world. The stories of ships sinking and planes crashing near that area were wide spread. A submarine carrying a powerful E.M.P device had sunk somewhere near the center of the triangle. No one knew why but the device had been activated. The device was powered by Pulssonic energy. Pulssonic energy supposedly recycles itself so the E.M.P field that engulfed more than seventy-five percent of the area known as the Bermuda triangle, it made the legends a little more real.

The General spoke next,

“The ship has been built to protect the ships systems from the E.M.P fields.” The General said. “Your mission is simple enough is to protect the ship, protect the crew. There are briefing pads in all your cabins. You will be armed with some of the best equipment we have. The Commander of the vessel can give the team leaders more info on equipment.” The General and Colonel saluted and walked off the jetty.

O’Neil hadn’t seen Charles or Carter in five years. It was nice to be reunited with them. When the three of them were together anything was possible. Charles and Carters teams were also enhanced, O’Neil new for a fact that Carters special ability was super calculation allowing her to predict an opponent’s move by even the slightest body movement. It made close combat her specialty. But he didn’t know what Charles special ability was. He didn’t think Charles had told anyone. If they were lucky they might see his special ability on this mission.

“Mad Dog O’Malley how long has it been? O’Neil asked.

“O’Neil Paris I can’t even remember the last time I saw you, but I’m still willing to bet you’ve never been to Paris.” Charles laughed at his bad joke.

“Sure like I never heard that one before.” He rolled his eyes. “Well I remember the last time I saw you and if I remember correctly I had to carry you two kilometers to the med station because you got shot in your ass!” O’Neil jibed.

“Well I think you’re very incorrect.” Charles retorted.

“Oh, no he ain’t.” Carter said. “I remember when he brought you in.”

“And haw the hell would you remember?”

“I remember because I’m the one who pulled the bullet out of your ass you Irish tosspot!” She laughed. “I also remember because your ass was so hairy that it still haunts me even to this day!” They broke into historical laughing.

“Samantha Carter now I remember why they use to call you The Bitch.” O’Neil said.

“And don’t you forget it you yank.” That sent them into another round of hysterics. Sam was born in America but grew up in England.

“We should probably get on the ship.” Charles suggested.

“I agree,” O’Neil said, “Alpha squad fall in,” He shouted.

“Ark Angles pick up your feet,” Carter shouted.

“Delta force, move it out,” Charles shouted.

They walked up the gangplank side by side. Their teams were already reminiscing with each other. The deck of the ship was entirely metal and polished to a gleam. He could still see some sailors still mopping near the front. Seeing that made O’Neil think back to his younger days when he was in boot camp. Every morning at six they’d dump a bucket of water on him to wake him up then have him scrub the bathroom floor with a tooth brush no bigger than his hand. He quickly learned that if you didn’t want a cold bucket of water as your alarm clock every morning then get up before six and start scrubbing. He scoffed at the memory. ‘Even if you did they found new ways to make your life miserable.’ He guessed the treatment was the same for all branches. The hatch to the inside of the ship was automatic. It slid up when they approached. A sailor was waiting to show them the way to their cabins. The corridors were metal same for the doors to all the cabins. The sailor showed each one of them to their assigned cabins.

O’Neil stared at the number on his door. ‘589’ He could remember that. His door didn’t have a usual tap pad lock like other ships. It had a lever that he had to lift. ‘Well limiting the electronics probably mean less room for problems.’ He thought.

When O’Neil entered his cabin he found a data pad on a little metal desk. He gave the cabin a once over. It was small with a porthole for a window and a small metal dresser for his clothes. A small cot against the left wall served as his bed. He tossed his sack on the bed and sat down at the little desk. He picked up the Data pad. He clicked the large center button at the base of the pad to turn it on. It glowed to life. The first page contained schematics of the ship. He touched his finger to the screen and moved it to the right to go to the next page. The second page contained the reason that they were there. Same as the Colonel said. Protect the ship and the crew. He turned the page. The third page contained a brief history of Intec Industries.

Mr. Lorth’s Company was making a new line of ships that would protect against E.M.P blasts. This was the first in a whole line to come. It would provide a major advantage to the military if there ships were protected from E.M.P missiles. They were there to show the public just how important this ship is to the military. After reading through the data pad O’Neil turned it off and left his cabin. He walked down the corridor following the signs on the walls till he came to the bridge. The Commander of the ship was a grey hared old man named Arnold Hancock Arnold, a true Texan, was in his fifties but he was healthy and strong. Arnold was a retired Navy Commander. They picked him because in his day he was the best Commander in the Navy.

“All ahead full.” He ordered.

O’Neil entered the bridge just as the ship was leaving the port. O’Neil saluted.

“Permission to come aboard captain,” O’Neil said.

“Permission granted Colonel,” Arnold intoned.

O’Neil said. “I’ve come to ask you some questions about our technical support.”

“Ask away Colonel.” Arnold replied.

“Will we be armed with plasma rifles?”

“Afraid not Colonel, we’re not going to war.” He chuckled. “Though I’d personally sleep safer knowing we had plasma rifles.”

“Then what kind of weapons will we have?” O’Neil asked.

“Smart guns, they’ve been modified to match the specific frequencies on your targeting goggles. It’ll make hitting your targets a little easier. There is a good assortment of weaponry in our armory.” Arnold assured him. “Don’t worry Colonel you won’t be going in there with only your dick in your hands.”

“Well that’s good to know. I don’t think my dick would be an effective weapon unless my target was a gorgeous woman.” O’Neil teased.

Arnold laughed. “No I bet it wouldn’t.”

“What about communication?” O’Neil asked.

You’ll be having state of the art Headsets and Handsets.” Arnold said.

“What about informational equipment?”

“Ah, your technicians will have hand scanners with information on any organic or inorganic item on earth or in its data base. To make it better the hand scanners only need to scan an object once to give you information about the object.” Arnold said.

O’Neil nodded, “So what can you tell me about this Lorth character?”

“Well he’s filthy rich for one. He’s near the end of his rope wants to leave behind his legacy, so I figure.”

O’Neil nodded. “What about his company?”

“Didn’t you read the data pad?” Arnold asked.

O’Neil snorted. “Yeah I read the little propaganda on the pad. But I don’t give a rat’s ass about their little advertisement I care about the reason this man could afford one of the best special force teams in the world.”

Arnold raised an eye brow. “You guys really that good?”

“Have you ever heard of Alpha squad?” O’Neil asked.

“Nope,” Arnold shook his head.

“Exactly,”

Arnold nodded his head. The government kept the names of all their Special Forces teams secrete from the public. Still some names slipped out. Even though Arnold was retired he still had ears in the navy. He knew the names of several Special Forces teams. It’s quite amazing what you could find out when you have a bottle of whiskey and a box of cigars. If Arnold hadn’t heard of them then that meant that O’Neil’s team was in the category of Bureaucratic absence of presence. In other words they were here but they were not here.

‘Spooks,’ Arnold thought.

He told O’Neil. “It’s huge; they have dealings in Africa, Europe, Asia, Japan, and the Russian Empire.”

Rounded Rectangle: Intec INC

“What do they sell?” O’Neal asked.









“His company makes everything from electronics to Hydro propulsion. Every piece of equipment on this ship is made by his Company.” He pointed to a logo on the side of a Radar console.

O’Neil understood a little, this was Lorth’s last big stunt before he keeled over.

“Thanks for the information Commander. I’ve got only one question left. Where’s the armory?”

“Right next to the generator room, Can’t miss it.” Arnold said turning back to his crew. O’Neil saluted and left.

He found the armory with little difficulty. Inside were racks with weapons trunks full of munitions and benches for his men to sit on. He surveyed the weapons on the racks. Usas-12s, M16s with m203 grenade launchers, Mgl-mkls, MG-43, Negev’s, MP7s, MP5A3s, Mini-guns, P90s, GLock-45, all were installed with number pads to punch in frequency channels for their targeting goggles. They had a great assortment of weapons. There was no doubt about that. Too great,

That bothered him. Why all the weaponry. He expected the M16s and the spas-12s. ‘But why all these other weapons, especially the Mini-guns? Something wasn’t kosher about all this. Why enhanced special forces teams. Why not the Army or Marines or Navy seals?’ He thought to himself. They could do just as good a job. ‘No, there’s is something else going on here. And I’m going to find out what.’ He picked up a handset from a little rack and turned it on. Hope fully Carter had her handset on her.

“Cater are you there, over?”

“Carter here, what do you need colonel?”

“Could you have Rick meet me in my cabin I’m in need of his abilities?”

“Roger that colonel he’s on his way.”

O’Neil turned off his hand set and began walking back to his cabin. Once he and Rick were in his cabin he told Rick about his conversation with Arnold about Lorth and about his suspicions. Rick’s special ability was complex puzzle solving. By giving him ample amount of data he can tell you what a person’s possible intentions are. The future is a constantly changing thing. No one could really tell the future. But using facts to determine an outcome of an event was a simple thing for Rick. He already foiled three assassination attempts on the

pope and is sometimes an adviser to the president himself.

“Rick, do me a favor, and tell me what the hell is going on.” O’Neil said.

Rick nodded his head. He closed his eyes. His eyelids began to flutter very fast. His mind was now processing all the data that was just given to him. Once he’s done sorting the data his mind would create several possible scenarios and pick the most likely one through means of elimination. He had never been wrong so far. He opened his eyes.

“The facts lead me to believe that the military has lost something of great importance. Lorth is providing transportation and security; In return he gets credit for helping in a top secret operation causing good publicity for his company. We’re most likely here to retrieve whatever is lost and eliminate any threats or obstacles in the way. The information leads to the conclusion that terrorists are involved or Russian spies.” Rick stated.

This satisfied O’Neil. This sort of thing happened all the time. Lorth’s Company was finished making a ship E.M.P proof and so they offered to give him free publicity. Basically they were on a standard retrieval OP.

Well at least the trip would be a total waste of their time.

“Thanks Rick, I appreciate the help.” O’Neil thanked him.

“No problem colonel.” Rick said. He saluted and left the cabin.

O’Neil turned off his lamp crawled into bed and slept.







O’Neal was awakened by a loud beeping. He sat up in bed. The intercom by his bed was beeping. He looked at his watch. It was 12:32am. He pushed the transmit button on the intercom.

“O’Neil here, what’s the big emergency?”

“Colonel, I apologize for waking you but your needed on the bridge.” Said a voice from the intercom.

“I’m on my way.” He replied. He stretched and rubbed his eyes. Well he guessed it was time to get to work. He got up and left the cabin. When he got there it was in pandemonium. Everyone was talking and moving about. People were looking at the Radar others were looking out the window with binoculars. A sailor led him to a back room where Arnold, Charles, Carter and a white haired old man were waiting.

The white haired old man wore a set of wire rim glasses and held a cane in one hand. He wore a fitted brown suit. His shoes were black and polished.

“Perhaps someone would like to explain what’s going on?” O’Neil asked.

“It’s as if we’re at Death COM one.”

Arnold said. “Radar picked up a large unmoving mass just off the port bow. We looked through Binoculars to find that it is an Island.”

There was a table in the center on the room. Arnold pushed a few buttons on a panel on one side of the table. A holographic picture of the island appeared. Arnold put on a pair of strangle looking black gloves.

“With our latest Holo-satelite scanning systems we can construct a perfect 3D model of the island right down to the individual trees.” Arnold explained. “We found something interesting on the southern half of the island.”

With the gloves he touched a spot on the holographic Island. The Holographic-island spun to show the southern half then zoomed in to show that near the edge of the water was a dock that led to a large facility.

“The facility is two mile in length.” Arnold explained. “But the facility under ground is only a mile down.” He touched the facility with his finger twice and the Hologram zoomed in to show three square sections connected to each other by three long bars. “The tree long bars represent an elevator system.” Arnold said.

“Alright now I’m officially confused.” O’Neil said, “Earlier I asked Rick to come by my cabin and he told me that the facts pointed to the military losing something and we were here to retrieve it. He’s never been wrong before.”

“Well you’re not that far off.” The old man said.

O’Neil assumed he was Lorth.

“Doctor James Kirk is on that island and you must retrieve him.” Lorth said,

Dr James Kirk. That was one name he hadn’t heard in twenty years. He’d hoped that he wouldn’t have to hear it ever again.

Lorth broke off his train of thought.

“A few months ago I found some odd files in my company memory banks. Large orders of material and hardware were being shipped to this location, although it was merely Latitudes and longitudes.”

He cleared his throat. “At first I didn’t know what to make of it so I had my nephew come and take a look.”He stopped for a minute, “The name on the requests was James Kirk. My vice president had been selling him these things behind my back and putting all the money into a private fund for himself. He had stored all the files of the request to use as black mail to squeeze more money out of Kirk after he retired. He was arrested and I volunteered to help so that my company would get some good publicity instead of bad publicity.” Lorth cleared his throat again before he went on. “Kirk is a one of a kind man. Some people have called him the Deviance of the new age. He was well known for his expertise on Genetics and gene-splicing. Thanks to him we have the Gorga hybrids that secrete a sap that actually over a period of time cures certain cancers. He spliced together several different plant species that were know to help prevent cancer. Then using some modern science he made the Gorga hybrid. Thanks to the Gorga Hybrid my lung cancer no longer gives me trouble.” Lorth sighed. “Had he not gone insane he would have gone far especially in the medical field.” Lorth said. “His experiments, before he was nearly arrested, were on splicing animal genes then cloning the animals in question.”

“I thought you needed a license from the government saying you could clone?” Charles asked.

“That is why he was going to be arrested. But he got wind of the plan somehow and apparently staged his own death. No one has seen him in twenty years, until now.” Lorth explained.

“So we go in, grab Kirk, get back to the ship, and leave?” O’Neil asked. “Precisely, Good old fashions smash and grab.” Lorth chuckled. “Like my younger days,”

O’Neil nodded his agreement. They were acting as military police on this mission. Oh well, at least they could add “Catching a top ten criminal” to their resumes. This might be a good opportunity for him and his team. If all went well.

“What’s our E.T.A?” O’Neil said.

“Twenty minutes.” Arnold said. “When we get there Charles’s team will do the Probing.”

Charles nodded. “I’ll go get my team ready.”

“Any security detail is considered dangerous. Shoot on sight.” Arnold informed him, “Also any scientists you find are to be arrested and brought back to the ship.”

“Understood commander, any other information?” O’Neil asked.

Arnold shook his head. O’Neil saluted and left.







In the armory Charles and his team were suiting up.

“Control, this is Delta leader, do you read me?” Charles said into his head set. “Delta leader, this is control, we read you loud and clear.” A voice replied.

“Control, we are now commencing Audio-visual activation.” Charles said, “Delta force helmet-cam activation on three… 1… 2… 3.” He counted. They all flipped a small switch inside their helmets. “Control, Helmet-cam statues,” He asked.

In the control room of the ship the sailor watched as all six screens came to life. Each one showed what the team members were seeing.

“Delta leader, Helmet-cam statues is a go.”

He nodded to his team. “Delta force targeting goggle cynic.”

They all began punching in the frequency numbers for their goggles on the number pads on their guns. Charles reached up and activated his targeting goggle. Instantly a circular targeting cursor began darting everywhere giving tactical information on every object in the room. He began cycling through the vision modes, night vision, and thermal vision.

“Delta, what are your targeting goggle-statues?” Charles asked.

They sounded off one after the other. “Targeting goggle-statues is a go.”

“Control, we are ready to commence weapon-cam activation.” Charles said. “Delta, on my mark, activate, weapon-cams, 3… 2… 1… mark.” They all pointed their guns at each other. “Control here, weapon-cam statues is a go.”

“Roger Control, operation prep complete.” Charles said.







In the control room O’Neil and Carter were listening to Charles preparations. If all went as planned they would have Kirk in an hour or so.

“Sailor, what’s Delta’s status?” Arnold asked.

“Delta is suited and ready for deployment.” A sailor replied. “Weapon and helmet-cams is operational Commander.”

“Prepare for docking procedures.” Arnold said.









Probing



The ship came up alongside the dock. The dock was made of Acleum metal. Acleum metal was the strongest metal of the new age. It was virtually indestructible. On the dock were two giant Acleum magnetic clamps. The clamps would attach themselves to the ship holding it firmly in place. A ramp was lowered to the dock. Two sailors ran down the ramp and activated the clamps. In hurricane weather the clamps would hold the ship firmly in place. Most ports had clamps for their ships. Charles led his men down the ramp. At the end of the dock was a twelve foot high fence.

Charles could see the guard house through the fence. He was surveying the scene when he noticed something odd.

“The light in the guard house is off.” He murmured. “Maybe it’s a wild night of partying for the guards; you know, do a little dance, and make a little love.” Rico suggested. Charles rolled his eyes at the under aged joker.

“Alright, Rico and Samuel you’re with me” Charles said. “You three join us in five.”

The remaining three watched as Charles, Rico and Samuel went through a gate in the fence and disappeared behind the guard house. Five minutes later the three of them were entering through the gate. When they passed the side of the guard house what they saw sent a chill through them. The entire side of the guard house and the pavement were drenched in blood. There was a Six by four foot hole in the fence near the guard house. The windows of the guard house were shattered.

Jackson, one of the men, said, “Let me guess, this is your handy work.”

Charles was holding a rifle it too was covered in blood.

“Ha, Ha, I wish this was my handy work.” He said darkly, “All of this blood but no sign of the bodies or even the entrails.”

“So then who were they fighting?” Jackson said.

“This wasn’t a fight. These guards didn’t hit anything before they were butchered like damn cattle in a smoke house.” Charles said. He opened the cartridge to show that it still had a full clip. “Whatever killed them came through that hole, ripped right through the steel fence.”

“What made you think it was a ‘what’ and not a ‘who’?” Jackson said.

“There’s a memo for the guards.” Charles said. “It tells them that the generator is dying and that the lab specimens are loose.”

“What kind of specimens?” Jackson asked.

“It didn’t say, but whatever they are they’re strong enough to rip through steel.” He explained.

“Well the hole is nice and clean, but I still say you could have done this.” Jackson teased.

“Very funny,” He retorted.

“Stop playing around. You’ve got work to do. Just make sure to be extra careful around there.” Lorth said over the headset.

Charles nodded at Jackson, “You three check out that generator while we check out what’s past that other gate.” Charles said. He pointed with his thumb to a second gate just behind them.

Jackson made a mock saluted and walked past Charles and the other two. Around the corner was another gate.

They passed through the gate into a vast storage area packed with rows of storage bins. There was a strait concrete path leading to a lower concrete bunker. They stopped at metal door marked ‘GEN room1’. Jackson opened the door. A long staircase led down into darkness. Jackson ordered the other two men to switch to night vision. They followed the stairs downward. It was damp inside the bunker. No one had been here in a while. The walls were smooth concrete. Hurricane lamps hung from the ceiling.

The generator was a large cylinder ten feet in diameter. There were five panels on the generator. He opened one panel. He pulled out a cylindrical plug the size of a shoe box.

“I never thought I’d see one of these again.” Jackson said.

“What the hell is it?” Sanchez asked.

“This plug holds over fifty thousand volts of electricity.” Jackson explained, “Back during the Siberian trench wars these plugs were inserted into special plasma canons that would be set up on a high hill somewhere. Whenever enemy ships came along they would transfer the electricity in this plug into one powerful blast.” “It looks like we need to replace the spent ones with charged ones.” There was a shelf with five identical plugs on them. When they inserted the last plug they expected the generator to work but it didn’t. Jackson walked around the generator and found an old fashion gasoline pump. He chuckled at the inefficient technology. He bent down and pushed a button. Nothing happened. He looked the pump over and, ‘yes, there it is.’ A small valve at the back connected to a pipe. He turned the valve. Compressed air began to hiss out. When a liquid began to come out he sealed it up. He pushed the button again. The generator wired then sputtered then rumbled to life. The lights in the sealing came on. He was lucky his great grandfather had a love for machines from the nineteen hundred and twenty first centuries. They turned off their night vision. “Alright let’s get going.” Jackson said. They left the bunker. They were walking down the concrete path when something ran past them knocking them over.

“What the fuck was that?” Sanchez exclaimed. Whatever it was it was large.

“I bet it was one of the specimens. Come on guys let’s get after it.” Jackson said. They got up and ran after it. “Dog House, this is snoopy, we’re in pursuit of one of the specimens, over.” Jackson said into his Head set. “Snoopy, this is Dog House, I advise extreme caution, over.” Charles said into the headset.

“Roger that Dog House, Snoopy out.”









Charles Rico and Samuel were following a wide concrete path with high fencing on both sides when Jackson sent the alert. He hoped they would be alright. Beyond the fencing to their right was a sheer drop to the ocean below. On this side of the island the ground elevated to create a miniature cliff face. It was probably a twenty foot drop. The top of the fencing was covered with long rolls of barbwire. At the end of the path was a large, metal, double door. There was a smaller door built into the larger door. He opened the smaller door. On the other side of the door was a large loading dock, closed in with four tall concrete walls. In the center was a large platform. To the right of the platform was a small control room.

Charles led his men to the control room. Inside the control room was a pair computer terminal. In the center of the control room was a vertical glass map of the lower facilities. Charles was looking at the terminals. The terminals controlled the large platform which was a large elevator to transport cargo to the lower facilities. Rico examined the terminals.

“Sir, one thing I don’t understand, why so much out dated equipment?” Rico said. He was staring at one terminal as he spoke.

“What do you mean?” Charles asked.

“All these Terminals and the large cargo elevator it’s all outdated.” He explained.

“Well I’m sure that when they built this place it was state of the Art.” He commented.

“The terminals yes, when they first came out Sixteen years ago they were state of the art, but the platform is at least fifty or ninety years out of date.” Rico said, “Sir, I think they were cheated on several of the equipment used in this facility. And since they probably didn’t know it I bet there are glitches everywhere. That will most likely explain why the specimens are loose. If all the security relies on the electrical equipment and the equipment is junk then there will be problems.”

“You think that the security systems that kept them locked up failed do to a glitch in an out dated circuit?” Charles said.

Rico nodded then began typing on the key pad for one of the terminals. On the screen popped up the start up menu. Charles read what was on the screen.



LAB1 activation,

LAb2 activation

LAB3 activation



These were flashing on the screen. Rico pushed the Level B1 activation on the screen. Instantly a blue line with a little dot at the top appeared on the Vertical Glass map.

“Ah, we now have access to Level B1. He pressed the B2 and B3 Activation icons on the screen. Again a little blue line appears with a dot.

“Excellent Rico, good work we’ll get Paris and Carter to help us with these area.” Charles said slapping him on the back.

Rico continued to type accessing messages and memos sent to that Terminal. It was all standard electronics, food, and medical supplies for the infirmary down in the lower levels. Then he came across a memo about Elevator statues.



Warning: turbine engine blocked please notify engineering



“What the hell is that?” Charles said.

“The Turbines in the engine must be blocked?” Rico suggested.

“I’ll check it out.” Samuel said. He exited the room through a side door.

“You know Sir; I think it’s all hardwired to the whole network system.” Rico said.

“Meaning what, exactly?” Charles said.

“Meaning, I can access any terminal in the mainframe from this one.” He explained. “That right there is one flaw anybody can use any terminal to gain access to any other system. They could do all sorts of damage and nobody would be able to know who did it. But I think I can access some of the security systems from here.”

“Well then do it.” Charles said.

Rico started typing again. “Alright, there was a warning sent to the security terminal a couple days ago.” Rico put it up on the screen.

Charles stared at the red lettering,



Warning: unauthorized holding pen entry, please notify security



“If I didn’t know any better I’d say that someone let them out.” Charles said.

“So would I Sir” Rico agreed.

“Question is, if somebody did let them out, whom and why? But the biggest question is what the specimens are?”

“I’ll try and see if I can gain access to the scientific terminal.” He started typing again. This time it took him longer than before. This time the alert that showed up on the screen was unsatisfying.



Alert: Level A accesses code required. Login



There was a space with the word.

Login

Rico sighed.

“Sorry sir, looks like they got a tight security protection for that area.” Rico said. “That’s alright Rico. I would have been disappointed if Kirk didn’t have more than standard security.” Charles said. “Is the elevator working yet?”

“One second, I’ll check.” He punched in a couple of keys. “Yes the turbines have been cleared. Samuels probably on his way back.” Rico said.







Samuel had left out the side door of the control room. He saw that there was another door at the other side of the loading dock. The door led to a stair case going down. The way was lit. He found the elevator engine easy enough. It was the size of a house. The turbines were clogged with dust and cobwebs and all manner of other things that he could not identify. He even thought that he saw yarn in the mess as well. At first he thought of cutting it with his bayonet but that didn’t work. There were leaves and plants growing in there. He started thinking of other ways to unclog the turbines. When thinking he usually fiddled with his lighter. He did this for about ten minutes when he realized what he had in his hand. All the things clogging the turbines were flammable he lit the junk on one turbine then the other. He watched as the fire slowly spread and engulfed the turbine blades in bright red flames. When the turbines weren’t clogged anymore and the fire died down he turned on the engine. The turbine blades spun slowly then faster and faster till they were a blur. The loud hum they made filled the entire room. He turned around and left. He was nearly back to the control room when something heavy fell on him he was so startled that he fired his gun. The gun shots echoed around the area. Whatever it was he frightened it because he could see something at least his height run for the door. It was so fast he couldn’t see what it was very well. His goggles didn’t know what it was either because it didn’t give any information on the fleeing animal. Plus it didn’t help that the area was poorly lit. Charles and Rico came out of the control room at that instant.

“What happened, we heard the gun shots!” Charles exclaimed.

“I think it was one of Kirks specimens.” Samuel called, getting back to his feet.

“I’ll notify Jackson and the others. I haven’t heard from them since they were in pursuit of the other one.”







Jackson, Sanchez, and Bill had been chasing this thing through the rows of containers. They never got a clear shot. Whatever this thing was it was big and fast. Jackson estimated from the glimpses that it was at least seven feet tall. It had to be a spliced creature, whatever it was, because their goggles didn’t have any information on it. He wasn’t sure but he swore that it was reptilian. With each glance he thought he saw ruff snake like skin. He was very sure it had a long tale.

“Snoopy, this is Dog house. What’s your status?” Charles asked.

“We’re still in pursuit!” Jackson exclaimed breathlessly.

They were just following it around a corner when it was gone. They stopped and looked around them. No sign of it.

“Perfect, we lost it!” Jackson exclaimed, “And to make matters worse I think we’re lost.”

“Dog House, we just lost it…And we’re kind of lost here.” He said into his headset.

“How the hell can you be lost?” Charles exclaimed.

“We chased the specimen into a row of containers. We chased it in circles and now were lost.” He explained exasperated.

“Alright, I’ll have Rico come down on your signal… Head East and you’ll come to the fence, and then follow it west.” Charles said.

“Roger that Dog house thanks.” He replied.

“Alright let’s get going.” Jackson said. They walked east as instructed. For five minutes then they could see the fence. He was moving between two crates when once again something rushed past him. This time he turned with it and fired. It disappeared behind a corner. But he had hit it. There was a small trail of blood. Obviously he didn’t do much damage but at least enough to follow it. He motioned for Sanchez and Bill to follow. So the trio sprinted after it following the little blood trail.

“Dog house, we’re in pursuit again!” He exclaimed into his headset.

They followed the trail to another fence. Once again there was a hole in the fence with the blood trail leading strait to it... But this hole was eight by six, much bigger than the last one. Meaning this creature was bigger than the one that killed the guards. ‘That’s not too reassuring.’ He thought.

“Lost it again, is it just me or do we just keep losing our quarries.” Jackson said. Bill shrugged. “At least you hit it this time.” Jackson rolled his eyes. He motioned for them to follow. They walked along the fence until they found the path again. They were right back to where they started when something hit the top of Jackson’s helmet. The hit brought him to the ground. In surprise he fired his gun. With all the metal containers and concrete the bullet blasts were magnified. To any creature who has never heard such a sound it would have been frightening. The specimen ran in fright. They heard excited hoots. ‘Hoots?’ thought Jackson. It wasn’t an owl that was for sure.

“What the hell is on my helmet?” Jackson said.

“It looks like tar.” Bill said.

“Hold still and I’ll scan it.” Sanchez said. He moved the little red line slowly over the black substance. The hand scanner beeped to show result.

“The substance is full of Hematotoxin, causes blindness, temporary paralysis, and unconsciousness.” Sanchez stated, “You’re lucky it didn’t get into your blood stream chances of recovery are close to nothing.”

“Lucky the damn bastard had bad aim.” Jackson said, “What kind of animal spits Hematotoxin?”

“I’ll check the scanner.” Bill said. He typed on the little word pad.

“Apparently snakes secrete Hematotoxin. Kirk must have made this specimen like that.” Bill told Jackson, “If only we saw what it was.” Bill turned his head sharply then snapped his fingers. “You did see the specimen!” Bill exclaimed.

“Say what, have you blown a fuse?” Jackson asked. “We never got close enough.” But Bill wasn’t listening.

“Control, this is snoopy, over.” Bill talked into his headset.

“Control here, go ahead Snoopy.” The voice replied.

“Have you been watching the monitors?” he asked.

“With interest Snoopy,” Lorth replied.

“Replay the moment when Jackson shot the specimen, over” he said.





The sailor watching the monitors replayed and froze the spot where he shot the animal. He could see the animal but the flash from the gun obscured the image.

“One second Snoopy I’m running visual enhancement sequence.” The sailor said. He typed in a sequence of numbers. The picture clarified somewhat. But he still couldn’t tell what it was. But the one thing he could see very clearly was four long talons.

“Sorry Snoopy, nice idea but the muzzle flash is in the way. What I can tell you is that it has four long talons, four on each arm.” The sailor said.

“Roger that control, Snoopy out.” Bill shrugged, “It was worth a try.” He said.

“Hell it was a good idea, nice thinking.” Jackson said.

“Snoopy, this is Dog house, over.” Charles said.

“Snoopy here, go ahead Dog house.” Jackson replied.

“Head back to the dock we’re going to infiltrate the facility.” Charles ordered.

“Roger that we’re on our way, Snoopy out.”



Charles, Rico, and Samuel were standing in front of an elevator door. On the side of the door was a touch screen. Rico kept on pushing the different icons with the same result. Just to their left was the guard house and all the blood from the guards. He looked away. He then spun his head back. There were foot prints in the blood not human and recent. The prints led off in the direction of the second gate, where Jackson and the others went.

“Jackson heads up I just saw fresh tracks of blood heading in your direction keep your eyes peeled.” He said.

“Thanks for the heads up.” Jackson replied. Charles took one last look at the direction the tracks led and put his attention back on the elevator door. Rico still couldn’t get the door open.

“Alright, Rico hook it up to the scanner and give it to me.” Charles said. Rico took out his hand scanner and hooked a wire from the scanner to the screen. Rico handed the scanner to Charles. He took it and began to type. Suddenly the screen was filled with thousand of lines of code moving fast across the screen. Charles eyes began to dart here and there. He began to push the number icons on the screen one after another slowly. He pushed six icons and a new message showed up.



Access granted



Rico had seen it happen over a thousand times. Charles special ability was that he could read computer code. He had helped them get into a lot of locked places on several missions. The screen showed new icons to push.

They read.



First floor

Second floor

LAB1

LAB2


The LAB2 Icon was colored red.

Charles guessed that it meant that it was locked off. He could try and access it but in the past some levels were booby trapped. If you tried to force your way in the door or passage to the place would be locked off indefinitely. No point in pushing your luck. He thought.

Charles pushed the First Floor icon. The elevator door opened. They entered. The door closed and the elevator moved down to the first floor. On one wall was a map of the entire facility above ground. The elevator stopped. The door opened. They were in a lobby. Two sofas and several armchairs were scattered about. The place was covered in dust. This place has been empty for quite a while. At the end of the hall was a passage way. They moved toward the passage way. The floor was made of white tile. The hallways were white as well. The hallway seamed to stretch on. The hallways were lit by sealing lamps but some were out and others were dimming. This place had obviously been neglected for some time. There was a metal door to their left. It needed a code to open. So once again he brought out the scanner. It took only a second. He punched in the code and the door slid upward. They had found the security control room for the first floor. There were six monitors three on each side of the room. The monitors were all blank. Rico sat down to one of them and began to type. The screen showed a startup menu.



Security-cam Startup

Security-door startup

Security-barrier startup

Security-lock startup



He pushed the Security-cam icon. One after another the monitors showed shots from the different parts of the facility.

“Good work Rico, now get the other systems back online.” Charles said.

Rico next pushed the Security-Doors icon. On the monitors several door that were ajar shut themselves. Next he pushed the Security barrier icon. On the monitors certain corridors had red laser barriers.

“Pulse-sonic laser barriers, these boys aren’t playing around.” Rico said. Last he pushed the Security-lock icon. On the monitors security card slots that had green light above them turned red. “All Security systems are back on line. The monitor began to beep. Red lettering appeared on the monitor.



Warning: Aux power low please divert to main power



“Snoopy, this is Dog house; I thought you turned on the power, over.” Charles said. “Dog house, this is Snoopy, we did turn it on.” Jackson said.

“Charles they did turn the power on.” Rico said. But it was the Auxiliary power. The generator for the main power must be off.”

“Well where is it?” Charles asked. Rico began to type. He soon pulled up a schismatic of the facility.

“They’re just down the hall and to the right” He pulled up the section of map that revealed their location. “It’s a bit of a walk.”

“The security locks are activated.” Charles said. “And we don’t have the codes.” “Ah, that’s where I come in” Rico said. He took a card out of his pocket. He slid the card into the hand scanner. He then hooked the scanner to the monitor. He typed some things into the scanner. The monitor began to swirl with numbers. But they began to disappear gradually, until only six numbers remained. 614586. Rico typed some more figures into the scanner then removed the card. “This card now contains the security code for the locks.” Rico said. Charles took the card from him and examined it. It was a Credit. All currency was exchanged through credit cards. So the name of the American currency was switched from dollars to credits. Some disposable cards like a gift card hold five credits others tenor even fifty. You can always put more money into a disposable card but after a certain amount of time the card expires and you can no longer put any more money.

The card that Charles was holding in his hand was a visa five credit deposable card it was obviously expired.

“Rico you’re a genius.” Charles said.

“That’s why I’m here.” He retorted. Charles smacked the back of Rico’s helmet jokingly. They followed Rico out.

On the side of each wall next to the barriers were keycard slots and a number pad, one on each side of the barriers. He put the card in the slot. The laser disappeared. When he took it out the laser repapered after five seconds. It was at least a two minute walk to the door of the generator room.

“Alright I’ll stand guard out here and watch for guards or specimens.” Charles said.



Rico and Samuel entered the room.

This generator was slightly smaller than the one Jackson fixed. He checked the charge on the plugs. They were empty. Rico and Samuel switched them out. This one didn’t have a gasoline pump. There was an electric hum then the humming grew into a load murmur that would drive any man insane if he had to listen to it for hours. . Over the sound of the electrical drone they heard the automatic weapons fire outside the door. They bolted for the door. Rico smashed the door open. Outside there was no sign of Charles. There was a smear of blood on the wall and a pool of blood on the floor. There was also a large trail of blood leading down the hall. Whatever Charles was shooting at he hurt it bad.

“Snoopy, this is Dog house; meet us in the lobby on the first floor ASAP!” Rico exclaimed into the headset. They met up with Jackson and the other two in the lobby.

“Charles is gone.” Rico said.

“Hold on what you mean he’s gone.” Jackson asked.

“I mean we heard gun fire but when we got out he was gone. There was blood on the floor and a trail of blood leading down the hall, But Charles wasn’t there.” Rico said.

“We need to look for him.” Sanchez said.

“Calm down we’ll go look for him. Just calm down and compose yourself. No point rushing after him.” Jackson said.

“We’ll follow the blood trail. If we can’t find him then we’ll check the security cams in that control room you found.” Jackson said, “Let’s get moving.”

The five of them started moving down the hallway.

“Control this is Snoopy, Delta leader is MIA we’re going after him, over.” Jackson called in.

“Roger that Snoopy, if you need technical support just holler.” Carter’s voice said.

“Actually, tell us what you see from Charles head and weapon cam.” Jackson said. There was a silence for a moment.

“Snoopy, I’m sorry to say it but we aren’t getting anything from either cam.” “Can you tell us what he last saw?” Jackson said.





The Sailor activated the camera screen. He pushed the rewind button. Pictures began to flash past. He stopped it. Something small, green, and fast crashed into the weapon-cam. He switched to the helmet-cam. With this view he saw a big, green... what a crocodile. No, it was standing on two legs. What was this a splice between a crocodile and an ostrich? Suddenly the camera was pointing at the sealing. Then it was moving toward the big green creatures head. It repeated this motion several times, until the sailor understood what he was seeing. Charles had been hitting it with his helmet. Then the screen went blank. He destroyed the cam with all the bashing.





“Snoopy, this is control, Delta leader was attacked by something.” The sailor said.

“What do you mean something?” Jackson asked.

“I mean we don’t know what it is, just be cautious.” Carter’s voice said over the headset.

“Understood control, keep us posted, Snoopy out.” Jackson said, “Alright, they got a visual but they don’t know what it is. So keep your eyes peeled” He cautioned. He signaled them to move out. They walked back down the hallway to the trail of blood. They followed the trail of blood down the white tiled corridor. ‘All this blood,’ Jackson thought.

“The Major must have got it good.” He said. They rounded a corner. Up Ahead they saw a long leathery tale sticking out from around the corner. It was lying on the floor and unmoving. He motioned for them to move forward. The creature whatever it was had long jaws with sharp pointed teeth like a crocodile. The tale was long and thick. The hind legs were long and muscular. It had five land talons on each arm. On both its big toes was a large curving claw.

Jackson knelt next to it. He examined the body. Its middle section had several bullet holes. Its wounds were oozing blood. “This must be the guy that attacked the Major.”Jackson said. The skin was a light brown with faded black stripes. It’s shin was ruff and dry like a snakes. This wasn’t the thing they were chasing, to small. He thought. But it must have been the thing that killed the guards. It was the right size for the hole outside by the guard house.

There was a clatter in the room to their right. He got up shouldered his gun and walked down the hall. He kicked open the door.

It was a small infirmary. A large curtain blocked of a portion of the room. He supposed that was where they operated. The others filed in and spread out. He inched his way over to it. It swayed a little. He stopped raised his gun at the curtain. His heart was pounding in his chest. The adrenalin pumping through his veins made his hand shake. ’Calm down.’ He told himself. ‘It’s alright it’s just the air conditioning.’

He let out the air he had been holding in. He sucked in a deep breath and let it out nice and slow. He lowered his gun. He looked up at the vent. It was shut. The vent was shut there was no air conditioning. ‘Oh fuck me!’ Was the last thing he thought .One of the same creatures that they found in the hall burst through the curtains? It leaped onto him latched its talons of both of his face and ripped open his chest with those massive curved claws on its feet. Behind him two more charged in from the hall and launched themselves at Rico and Sanchez. Samuel and Bill ran to help them when one crashed through an air duct above Bills head. It sank the Talons of one palm into Bills scull and ripped open his throat with the other. Samuel turned to fire when four massive talons burst through his chest. And iron jaws closed around his throat. With a violent tug Samuels head was torn off his shoulders.