“Take us up.” O’Neil shouted. The pilot and wedge entered the cockpit. They lowered the ramp for the others to enter. O’Neil and the others entered and strapped themselves in. The pilot inserted the key. The propellers started spinning slowly then faster and faster until they were a blur. The sound of the engine mixed with the sound of the propellers all but drowned out all noise. The Chinook lifted off the ground. The pilot pushed the joystick forward. The helicopter tilted forward a bit then took off. O’Neil took off his helmet and set it on his lap. The team was all strapped in. He leaned his head back against the hull. It was over it was all over. Soon this would all be just another scar among many.
Wedge was looking outside the window of the cockpit the Chinook was flying over the last stretch of the facility. Wedge saw something coming out the corner of his eye it was large and it was coming fast. He had a feeling that this thing was trouble. Wedge shouted over the drone. “Brace yourselves!” The Chinook spun violently to the right. Alarms were going off. Red warning light began to blink. The pilot was desperately trying to steer it back on course. Wedge grabbed his joystick and turned with him. Then the Chinook spun violently to the left. Then something crashed right through the front window of the cockpit. Wedge was hit by whatever crashed through the window. He was unconscious the moment it hit him. He let go of the joystick.
Shards of glass flew past O’Neil. The world was a crazy mixture of screams and spinning red lights. The Chopper was spinning he felt the force pull him back against his seat. He knew something had crashed through the front window of the cock pit. He tried to undo his straps. Something hit the back of his head. He felt a sharp pain then slowly his world began to grow dark. He was only aware of those blaring alarms. Then he could hear nothing at all he sank gratefully into blackness into nothingness welcoming the piece he found he found there.
Little Hope
O’Neil opened his eyes. He couldn’t see anything. The back of his head aced. He was disoriented. He reached up to turn on his helmet light when he realized he wasn’t wearing his helmet. He couldn’t see his gun. He felt strange there was a pressure on his chest. Not like something was on it but like he was hanging dangling. He searched for the pocket on his vest that held his penlight. He found the pocket. He turned on his pen light and flashed the beam around. He was still in the chopper. But something wasn’t right. Then he saw his team still strapped to their seats below him. The chopper was on its side! Now he understood why he felt like that he was still strapped in his seat. He felt dizzy and disoriented. Things seemed to be coming in and out of focus. He shook his head to clear it
What a damn day, what a fine damn day. He thought.
He put the Penlight in his mouth. He brought his knee up to his chest and grabbed his knife from his boot. He started cutting the straps holding him to the seat. He braced himself for the fall, cut the last strap. He fell and landed on his feet. He swayed a bit the movement sent the room spinning. He placed his hand on the wall or the ‘ceiling’ to steady himself. Everything was confusing right then. The back of his head aced he didn’t know why. He reached behind his head and felt something wet. He brought his hand back and looked at it with the pen light. There was blood on his fingers. ‘Perfect’. His head was bleeding. He took the light from his mouth. Nick was the closest to him. He knelt down and shook him a little. Nick slowly woke up. “O’Neil? What the hell happened?” Nick asked.
“I have no idea.” He helped Nick up. “Check on the others. I’ll see if wedge and the pilot are alright.” O’Neil told him. He walked carefully over to the cockpit. Wedge was slumped in his chair. “O’Neil shook him a little. Wedge groaned and coughed. “You all right there wedge?” O’Neil asked him.
“Fine, except for the acing pain in my head,” Wedge said.
“I feel your pain.” O’Neil assured him. Wedge looked a little pale. Since the chopper was on its side he was leaning a little to the left.
He looked over at the pilot, his head was bent at an awkward angle and he wasn’t breathing. O’Neil rubbed his eyes. ’Of course the pilot would be dead; of course the chopper would crash’! He was officially pissed off. He turned around “All right who ever isn't dead sound off.” O’Neil practically shouted.
“Barely breathing,” Jessie said “But otherwise I’m alright.”
“Feels like a Hound dog did the flamingo on my head.” Biggs intoned.
“No broken bones here.” Tom chimed in.
“Hell of a ride,” Nick said. “But no injuries here… that I can feel,”
“Is anybody up for round two?” Mack asked. There was a course of groans to go with that idea.
“What about Carter and her team?” O’Neil asked.
“We’re all fine here O’Neil.” She said from somewhere in the dark.
“What about Kirk and the other two?”
“Where fine here Colonel.” Lee said.
“Kirk’s gone sir.” Nick said “The emergency hatch has been opened.
He sighed and groaned a little bit in frustration. He needed to sit down before he fell down.
“Well now what do we do.” O’Neil murmured. There was silence. Nobody had the answer to that.
“Just like the S.O.B to run off.” Someone said. He wasn’t sure but he guessed it was Carmen.
“Does anyone have any ideas?” O’Neil asked. He didn’t expect an answer.
“We could stay here.” Mack suggested. In unison O’Neil’s team said. “Shut up Mack!” Mack grumbled a little.
O’Neil sighed in defeat and laid back. The chopper was totaled, it would be two days before the Nexus even came looking for them, and their ship was gone. He laughed a little at their predicament.
“Um, Colonel are you feeling okay?” Jessie asked. He sounded worried. As if he would suddenly start River dancing. He chuckled with exhaustion. “I’m perfectly fine Jessie.”
“I’m sorry guys I didn’t even see the thing that hit us until it was too late.” Wedge said. “I just saw something coming at us from the corner of my eye and instantly sent out the alert.” There was some mumbled “it’s alright” and “It wasn’t your fault”. O’Neil’s head was throbbing now and he all but wanted to scream from anger, pain, and exhaustion.
“Jessie you got any pain killers?” O’Neil asked.
“Yes. Was all he said? A scream nearly escaped his mouth. He was in no mood for any of Jessie technicalities. It came out as a half gargled growl.
“Alright, alright, pain killers coming right up!” Jessie squealed. He rummaged in his bag. When O’Neil was in one of his moods you either got out of his way or get run over. Everyone had a saying back at the base.”You can stand next to him or behind him but don’t ever stand in his way.” “Heads up,” Jessie called. He tossed the bottle. It banged against his head and landed on his chest. O’Neil chuckled darkly. He twisted off the cap and tossed some of the worthless shit into his mouth. Pain killer still didn’t help a lot with any of the pain. It only dulled the pain they didn’t stop it. He was still half chuckling as he swallowed the pills. O’Neil had to admit to himself that this was singularly the worst situation he had been in, ever! That’s why he was breaking down like this because his mind was involuntarily going over all the statistics and they were not in their favor. It was too much just too much. With all of the impossible missions that they always send him and his men on it was just too much. If he got out of this place he was retiring. “O’Neil?” Nick was staring at him with worried eyes. “It’s alright Nick tend to the others.” He said. He tossed Nick the bottle. “Here have some.” The throbbing in his head was subsiding a little. “Did I ever tell you about my wife?” He asked Nick. “You should have met her she was beautiful. Long dark hair, sky blue eyes…”
“O’Neil!” Nick was grabbing the edge of his vest and haling him up right. “Don’t you quit on me now trooper!” Nick said it in a fierce whisper. That snapped O’Neil back to the moment. ‘Don’t you quit on me now trooper’. O’Neil had said that to him during the Russian-American wars. Whenever Nick gave up because the situation seamed hopeless O’Neil would say that to him. O’Neil held up his hand. Nick grasped it in a firm grip. ‘Just like old times’. O’Neil thought. “Who said anything about quitting?” O’Neil asked.” Our situation’s bleak but who said anything about quitting? Alright, Alpha squad, move out.” He said to them. There was movement in the Darkness. Everyone started turning on their helm-lights. Nick found O’Neil’s gun and helmet and handed them back to him.
They climbed through the emergency hatch above their heads. Their Chopper had fallen in the jungle. The propellers were destroyed. There was no chance that she would ever fly again. There was very little hope of ever getting off this island. They trudged through the jungle. If they were lucky they might find the facility. They were surrounded by ferns and shrubs. They walked through the jungle till they came upon a large metal facility. They walked west following the bulk of the building. They came upon a heavy metal door. It had a panel for a security code. “Lee do you know the password for this place?” O’Neil asked. Lee was still carrying Carmen somewhere behind him. “Sorry Colonel this place was off limits for scientists like me.” Lee said. “Only kirks scientists were aloud in there.”
“I can take care of that.” Charles said.
He hooked up his scanner to the key pad. The screen on the hand scanner was swarming with lines of code. Charles slowly reached out and typed in a series of figures on the key pad. The key pad beep and the message,
Access granted
Was displayed on the screen
“What the hell is this place?” O’Neil murmured. He was staring at the rows of cages.
“So this is what was in here.” Lee said. “Everyone could hear snarling and other animal sounds coming from this place but I don’t think anyone imagined this. This explains why there are so many dinosaurs the little holding pen area that I saw a few times was much too small for all the dinosaurs I’ve seen.”
O’Neil was examining one of the cages. Each cage door had a little panel with a small glowing red light. ‘There all automatically locked’ He thought to himself. He walked between the rows of cages. Inside the cage floors were padded with straw. The cages ended at a little lounge area with a computer console for the cages locks. The walls to their right were splattered with blood.
“Well who ever took care of this place is in some ones belly.” O’Neil said. To their left was a similar metal door.
“Looks like that’s our way out,” O’Neil said. Through the door was a stair case that sloped at an upward angle. They trudged up the stair case at the top was another metal door. Through that one was the courtyard of the main entrance. The courtyard was enclosed by a large concrete wall. There was a large hole in the wall. The Rex most likely made it. “Alright everyone we need a place to hold up for the night.” O’Neil said. “On level B1 there is a sleeping quarters for the scientists.” Carmen said. “It’s the perfect place to hold up for the night.” Then that’s where we’re going.” O’Neil said. They passed through the large double glass doors that had the Intec industries logo on them. They passed through the security check point. They took the elevator down to the B1 level. Carmen directed them to the Sleeping quarters. Inside the sleeping quarters were vending machines for soda and sandwiches in plastic bags. “Are those any good?” O’Neil asked pointing to the vender with the sandwiches. “The bags are air tight and are made to last for decades, compliments of Intec Industries.” Carmen explained. O’Neil walked over and smashed the pad lock with the butt of his gun. He tossed a sandwich to each person there. “Alright everybody tonight get some sleep, tomorrow we search for Kirk again and this time we put a tracker and some restraints on him.” O’Neil said. He sat down and ripped open the sandwich bag. The sandwich smelled fresh as if it had been freshly made. He took a bite. ‘Amazing,’ He thought. It was turkey. The flavor was amazing, again as if it had just been made. He finished his sandwich and chose a bunk. He turned on the safety on his pistol and automatic rifle. The bed was memory foam, same for the pillow. It was soft and comfortable. He removed his helmet and set it on the ground. He reached into one of his vest pockets and brought out a picture. In the picture was a woman, with long dark hair, soft blue eye, and a wide smile on her face. In the picture she was pregnant. He was standing next to her with one hand around her shoulder and one on her large stomach. He was smiling. The woman was his wife. ‘Tonya.’ the name stuck in his memory even now. As he stared at the picture something crossed his mind. He hadn’t smiled very often in the past sixteen years. Not since the day… He put the picture back in his pocket. He lay down in the bed. ‘Hardly a smile in sixteen years,’ He closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Unspoken past
The sky was dark over head. Explosions could be heard in the distance and the sound of gun fire was a constant drone. O’Neil sat huddled in a small crevasse he dug in the side of the trench. He was puffing on a cigarette. He promised himself that he would quit when the war was over. ‘For Tonya,’ it started to slowly drizzle outside. He heard the thump of boots on the soon to be very muddy ground coming his way. A dark figure ducked into the crevasse and sat a cross from him. “Hey O’Neil how you been?” O’Neil thought he recognized the voice but he couldn’t be sure. He fished out his lighter and lit a portable oil lamp since all electrical power was being procured for the plasma clips they were all equipped with shitty gas or oil lamps for light. The light from the lamp shone on his friend Nick Valentine.
“Pretty good how about you?” O’Neil said. Thinking about the storm that would be here soon did make him feel good at all.
“I’m fine but I got some news from command.” Nick replied.
“Great let’s hear it.” O’Neil said. News from command usually meant an upcoming battle.
“It appears that the Imperials are advancing on our position in large numbers.” Nick informed him.
“How large,” O’Neil asked.
“Two whole regiments and an at least a dozen Armored calve.” Nick said.
“I take it that’s the bad news.” O’Neil said.
“Oh, just you wait it gets better.” Nick said. “Our regiment is going to defend the part of the trench line that the imps will be attacking.”
“Just peachy,” O’Neil grumbled. “They do know that our first platoon is in Volgograd and we just yesterday, lost half of our men?”
“Oh, command knows of our situation, and first platoon can’t be spared to help us and as for our weaponry we only have two javelins to fight those tanks with. To top it all off as you are the commanding officer, second lieutenant Pairs, you are the one with the honored duty of telling the men.” Nick informed O’Neil.
“Do I at least have the option of asking what I want on my tomb stone first?” O’Neil asked jokingly. He knew exactly what he wanted on his tombstone.
“You know you’d think that would come standard in the serving your country package.” Nick teased. “But alas my doomed comrade neither of us have that option.”
O’Neil chuckled. “You’d think the world would be more just.”
“True that,” Nick agreed.
“So when’s this imminent assault on the lines?” O’Neil asked.
“Midnight, precisely two hours from now,” Nick replied looking at his watch.
“Alright let’s go tell the troops.” O’Neil said wearily.”Apparently the Russian are impatient to get their asses kicked again.” He ducked out of the crevasse and flicked away the cigarette.
Nick laughed. “You’d think that after the Siberian trench wars that they would give up.”
“How long ago was that?” O’Neil asked.
“Three years tomorrow.” Nick said.
They walked down the trench line. The trenches were lined with barbwire. Beyond the trenches was a pine tree forest. Explosions and gun fire could still be heard in the distance. To their right was the pit where they dumped the bodies of enemy who were killed close to the wires or fallen comrades. The stench that came from that direction was a constant reminder that war could be an ugly thing, ugly but in the rare instant necessary. War had a way of pulling people together, especially the soldiers. O’Neil was close friends with all the members of his platoon. The path forked to the left. A large circular area covered with a green canopy of cloth on four foot poles acted as the central command area for the foxtrot regiment. Twenty men were gathered in the small area. Sand bags were mounted around the area providing some protection. Even though the Russians were unified into an empire now they still were a pretty pore country and could not afford to equip all their troops with plasma rifles. Most of their infantry was armed with AK74s and other outdated weaponry. Even their tanks were merely T-74s painted over. But the explosive shells that they fired made them a problem no matter how old they were.
At the entrance to the area were two mounted browning machine guns. Several small oil and gas lamps were lit in the command area several little burners were cooking rationed soup in little metal soup cups. When O’Neil and Nick entered the command area all the men gathered around them.
“Alright boys two imperial regiments with a dozen armored calve are going to be paying us a visit.” O’Neil told them. “Our orders are to defend this area. I won’t lie to you we have no backup, no tactical support and no hope of winning. So if any of you want you can try and get a head start to Volgograd and meet up with first platoon?” Nobody spoke or made any motion to move. O’Neil nodded his head. “Alright we’ll fight them hear. If the Intel is correct then they’ll appear at this area. We’ll try to get rid of as many armored calves as we can.” O’Neil said. “I want the first and second browning machineguns to concentrate on the infantry and the third and fourth to concentrate on ripping the armored calve to shreds. Everyone else will not make themselves known until the imps are close to the wires.” There was a course of “yes sir” from the men. They instantly went about the business of preparation. They piled more sandbags around the area, stationed the other two machine guns into place. When the time was right they would launch their flares for the machine gunners to see their targets easier. O’Neil helped pile sandbags around the machine guns for protection. It was drizzling harder now and there was the sound of distant thunder. A storm was coming and it was coming soon. The next two hours were spent preparing for the battle ahead. By midnight the machine guns were in place the sandbags had been reinforced the javelins were loaded and ready to fire. Three lookouts with night vision goggles were positioned to radio in which direction the enemy would be coming. The rain was pouring now. They were all wearing ponchos and wide brimmed hats to keep the rain out of their eyes. Over the sound of the pouring rain they heard the crack and groan of falling trees. Then they could all hear the metallic clanking and roar of the armored calve. Judging from the direction of the sound they would be coming out of the woods directly in front of the command area. The scouts were the first to see the scattered line of soldiers emerge from the trees. The scouts radioed in that the enemy had been sighted. O’Neil pulled out a pair of binoculars. He could see them. They were walking in a disorderly line. Not even worried about an attack. The scouts waited until a good amount was out of the trees before they fired their flares. Ones the bright lights of the flares illuminated the enemy soldiers it was open season on their ass. The machine gunners opened fire on them. The URSA unlike the imperials could afford to arm all their troops with plasma weapons. The browning machine guns were plasma machine guns as were all the other weapons O’Neil’s platoon used.
Even O’Neil’s M16 and his Glock fired plasma rounds.
It gave a huge advantage for the URSA. Plasma when fired at the enemy burned through anything. A few men could easily rip a tank to shreds with plasma rifles, but a dozen tanks… that would be a challenge. The imperials were at first surprised and scattered. But they quickly gathered their wits and began to fire back. They formed into a rather sloppy line. As suspected they had old fashion bullet firing weapons. The two regiment split up one charging for the trench while the other provided cover fire. The regiment charging for the trench scattered so as to give more trouble for the gunners. The first few tanks began to emerge from the trees. The men armed with the javelins wasted no time. They loaded the launchers and fired. O’Neil wasn’t that far away and could hear the usual chatter. The projectiles were loaded into the javelins. When they had a lock on targets they fired. Two of the tanks were instantly cooked. The missiles in the javelins were loaded with a new impact explosive. It was nitroglycerine based with special plasma capsules that burst on impact. The tanks metal halls were melted and smoldering. Any one inside would be burned to a crisp. As more tanks began to emerge the third and fourth machine guns began firing at the closet ones to them. O’Neil and Nick were down in the trench with the rest of the platoon. O’Neil poked his head over the trench and saw that the enemies were about twenty feet from the trenches.
“Foxtrot weapons free!” He yelled into his radio. He got up from his crouch and fired at the closest imps he could see in the light from the flares. The rest of the platoon did the same. Streaks of red flashed across the field. He fired at a retreating imperial soldier. The bolts of fire went right through the man leaving charred circles on his body. The one and only problem with plasma rifles was that they were extremely loud. No silencers could be made for something that’s as hot as the sun. Turned to the right and burned a hole in an imperials skull. The browning machine guns continued their relentless assault. Five of the tanks that emerged from the woods were reduced to smoldering hunks of scrap. The enemy infantry were crawling on the ground to avoid fire. One of the tanks fired of a shell and with great disappointment the shell blew up the men firing the javelins. The enemy infantry were retreating to the shelter of the trees.
“Hold your fire.” O’Neil said into his radio. “Machine guns move into second position.”
The enemy would now bombard them with artillery fire from their tanks. There were several large crevasses for the men to take cover in. As expected the bombardment began. The shells exploded in the trenches. If his men had still been there they would be dead. O’Neil had instructed the men to scream and yell and give an appearance of being attacked. Even he shouted as loud as he could. But it was harder not to laugh. When the bombardment ended they all quietly took up their new positions. The imperials confident in their victory charged head on. O’Neil waited then gave the command.
“Open fire!” He shouted.
All four machine guns let loose on them. But just as they did so did the tanks. This time the screams were real. Two of the machine guns were out of commission. At least six men were blown to bits. A man’s arm wacked O’Neil on the side of the face. The imperials reached the trenches and cut the wire. The imperials were in the trenches. O’Neil and Nick were cut off from the rest of the unit. O’Neil and nick retreated down the line for a better firing position. The imperials must have suspected that it was a trap. They were defiantly getting smarter. Most of the officers commanding the Empirical forces were full of piss and vinegar. They had no Idea how to lead an army. ‘Looks like they sent in a professional,’ O’Neil thought. A bullet landed in the back of Nick’s thigh. He fell to the ground. O’Neil knelt to help him.
“Go! Get the hell out of here!” Nick shouted to O’Neil. But O’Neil wasn’t having any of it. He put an arm under Nicks.
“You listen to me dam it! Don’t you quite on me now trooper! On your feet soldier! I said on your feet trooper!” O’Neil hauled Nick to his feet and all but carried him to a small wall of sandbags.
The artificial sand in the sandbags acts like putty when wet. The bullets get stuck in the putty giving sufficient cover. The imps were in the trench just ahead of them several were advancing on O’Neil’s position. He fire full auto on them. They scattered and fired back. What were left of the platoon were scattered and facing similar problems. The metallic clank and roar of the tanks was heard loud and clear over the gun fire. The tanks in the forest were advancing. Nick was firing his side arm at the imps that had them cornered. There was a crevasse behind them but that wouldn’t help their situation the enemy would have to do is throw a grenade in and that’s all she firkin wrote. O’Neil checked the status bar on his rifle. The red line that indicated how much electricity in his clip could be turned into plasma. He was down to according to the bar half a clip. And he had no another clips. He carried one concussion grenade and his pistol had only twenty rounds but that was it. Nick never used his side arm so nick still had a full clip. But once his clip ran out they were dead. And if the tanks got closer the machine guns on top would defiantly get them. Behind O’Neil the trench extended on but if he had to carry nick they wouldn’t get far and he wasn’t going to leave Nick behind. It seemed that they weren’t going to avoid death this time. He set nick down and rested his gun on the sand bags. Two of the imperials tried to rush them. He shot them down. He was trying to conserve his shots. One had a grenade and was ready to through. Nick shot him in the head. The imp fell back and dropped the grenade. The others ran back to escape the blast. It blew up sending a shower of mud. They ran back and fired at them. He ducked his head behind the sandbags. Amongst all the other sounds O’Neil heard a steady thumping noise. He strained to hear it better. Several bullets wised over his head. He sunk lower behind the sandbags. The imps were taking all his attention. Outside the trench one of the tanks blew up. The imps looked surprised. So was O’Neil. None of the concussion grenades had that big a blast. A wall of plasma fire sliced and diced the imperial in its path. He looked up and saw a cobra attack chopper hovering above the trenches. Two more tanks blew up as a second and a third appeared. The imperials panicked by the arrival of reinforcements. They scrambled out of the trench and made for the forest. Two more attack choppers appeared to rise up from the forest. They fire on the imps trying to retreat. They were gunned down by the wall of plasma fire. The cobras destroyed the imperial tanks and killed off the infantry. O’Neil’s radio crackled.
“Lieutenant O’Neil, sorry were late, command figured since they couldn’t spare any infantry they decided to send the air Calvary.”
“You arrived just in the nick of time boys.” O’Neil said into his radio.
“Happy to help,” Said one of the pilots. “We took Volgograd a few hours ago, Baker and Dog Company will be looking after it so your first platoon will be here by the afternoon.”
“Happy to hear it,” O’Neil said. The cobras flew off. O’Neil hauled Nick up and slung Nicks arm over his shoulder. He helped Nick to where the other members were gathering. Only six of them were left. But they looked worn and beaten some were bleeding from multiple wounds. Despite the odds they made it through together. So Volgograd is ours. He thought. If they held Volgograd even for a week the USRA would be able to poor in troops and supplies. The USRA would be able to expand outward from Volgograd. The war would be over in a matter of months. He reached into his pocket for a cigarette. He held it in his hand for a moment then dropped it on the floor, ‘Might as well get a head start.’
An unhappy tale
O’Neil’s eyes flew open. He sat up strait and hit his head on the underbelly of the bunk above him.
“Shit,” He rubbed his head. He looked around.
He was still on the island. Odd, he would be dreaming of the past at a time like this. Although he was sure that it wasn’t uncommon for soldiers to have dreams of past battles, every now and again. He of course has had many dreams of the past. But still why that battle and why now. He took the picture of his wife out. He stared at it. It wasn’t something he did very often. If you opened old wounds they heart more and last longer. But for some reason when he stared at her thinking of her smile thinking of her laugh and the way she would grin at him over her shoulder when she was gardening. It didn’t feel like opening up an old wound. He felt almost as happy as he felt back then. Again something that didn’t happen very often. He never felt so happy thinking of her.
“Will you tell me about her?” Said a voice,
He looked up. Nick was leaning against one wall staring at him. O’Neil never talked about her if he could help it. But again he found the erg to talk about her.
“Her name was… Tonya she was an army brat. I knew her for nearly ten years. I first met her when she and her father got transferred to a base in Baja. My dad was a marine.” He chuckled. “Can you imagine it a grunt and a jarhead best friends.” He ran a hand through his hair. “As you can imagine that pissed off my dad, when we got older we both joined the service. She joined the army, and I joined the marines.” He chuckled. He glanced at her picture for a minute. “We started seeing each other whenever we were on leave. When I turned twenty one and was already a first sergeant I asked her to marry me.” O’Neil chuckled again and smiled. His smile extended all the way to his ears. He looked almost like a kid. In the ten years that Nick had known O’Neil, he had never seen such a smile on his face… ever. A smirk was all you could get out of him if you were lucky. His expressions were always stone cold. Come to think of it he never even heard him laugh.
“She told me that would be rather difficult since both branches despised each other. So I simply said to her that I would have to resign. I was going to be the one to do it; after all being in the army was her dream. She had always told me how joining the army had been her lifelong passion. But she beat me to it. She resigned; I was furious, not at her but furious at the thought that she thought she had to give something up. I told her so. That, “Being in the army was her dream.” O’Neil lifted his head to the sealing as if he could still see her. She said to me. ”O’Neil being in the army was my dream but now I’ll make a new dream with you. And part of that dream involves kids.” He sighed almost as if he was still there. “It was a dream come true. She got pregnant with a baby girl.” O’Neil looked at Nick now. “Do you remember that one battle in the trenches near Volgograd when we were out number by two regiments?”
“Yeah in fact a few weeks later it was V.R. day.” Nick said.
“When I got home it was just three weeks later that my daughter was born.” O’Neil stared at the ceiling. “Tonya died in child birth but my daughter lived. Oh she looked so much like her mother.” The smile came back now. “Parenthood can be frightening and dangerous.” O’Neil said with a chuckle. “There was a time when I would have gladly taken on a dozen regiments of imperials. But when I think about it I would do it all over again, but I would do it better.” This time he laughed at the memory. To Nick the sound of O’Neil laughing was almost like seeing a dog whistle, something strange and scary at the same time.
“It was a hard thing to try and raze a child by myself. I would practically beg some of the female officers for advice. Lucky for me they were all too willing to help a bachelor parent raise a kid.” He ran a hand trough his hair again. “Whenever I had to work late at the base I would ask one of them to look after her. But she kind of resented that. She wanted to be with me and only me.” He looked at the ceiling again. “Abigail was her name; she was the spitting image of her mother. Same blue eye same long dark hair, well she cut her hair short but it was still the same.”
“Sounds like you had a part of Tonya in Abigail.” Nick Said. O’Neil chuckled.
“I did have a part of her.” He sighed.
“The early years were great I was her hero. Then she became a teenager and started her period.” He chuckled again. “If hell froze over she would be the one to melt it whenever she got into one of her tantrums. That’s right around when I met Sam. I got the Idea that this was probably be the time for her to have a motherly kind of hero. So I sort of conned Sam into posing as my girl friend. I put those two together as often as I could. When Abigail turned sixteen she got into another tantrum and… we had a fight… I’ll never forget it.” He paused before going on. “She said she hated me for never being there and for being with Carter instead of mom. She went off into a rant of how if I hadn’t been in the marines and had been here with her then maybe she would have lived.” His face was full a pain.”I never thought that bringing Sam into her life would have such a negative effect. I thought that since she was becoming a young lady she would want a mother around instead of her father.” He sighed.”I had two sisters and when they reached puberty they were always hanging on my mother for womanly advice. They always steered clear of our father he couldn’t help them he was a man what did he know? Since they were ladies now mom was the role model for them, so I thought Sam was perfect for the job. She’d show Abigail how to be a lady and Abigail would spend all her time with her. That’s what I thought would happen. I was wrong. After the fight she fell in with a bad crowd. She’d sneak out at night to cause trouble. She got into drugs and gangs. She’d stay out all night and come home early in the morning.” He stared at the floor as he spoke. “Then one day she disappeared.” His face was so white he looked like an egg. “I had the M.Ps search for her for months. But always it was the same thing no one saw her and nobody knew where she was. Four months later they found her… She was dead. She’d overdosed on heroin. They found her in some guy’s apartment.” Now his face was went dark with the memory. “I took him to a remote place in the woods and tortured the man until he told me what happened. For four months she had be with him. When she had first arrived at his place looking for fix she had no money. So she traded her body for the drugs.” His voice took on a deadly tone. “For four months he got to fuck her and pump her full of drugs. The worse thing was that she wanted it. She could have left. She could have run away wised up like others have. But she didn’t wise up she stayed with that man and it killed her. The man had a…unfortunate accident his car went over the cliffs into the pacific. We buried her next to her mother. It’s been five years. After she was gone I signed up for Special Forces and here I am now.” O’Neil put the picture back in his vest pocket. There was a sniffle from behind. O’Neil turned his head and Nick looked up. Alison one of Sam’s team members was sniffling. Now that he was paying attention both teams were a wake and staring at him. Sam was leaning against the wall a single tear ran down her cheek. Carmen was leaning against lee’s shoulder.
“I should never have agreed to help you.” Sam said. “But the thought of a nice guy like you trying to raze a head strong teenager was unpleasant.”
“Don’t…” O’Neil croaked.” You were trying to help; it isn’t your fault.”
“You never told me what happened.” She said. There were sobs in her voice but she was holding them back.
“You didn’t need to know because it wasn’t your fault.” He repeated.
“It wasn’t yours either.” She said. “You were just trying to do what was best for her.”
“I’m the one she needed but instead I hid behind you and the other officers.” He said. Contempt for himself was thick in his voice.
“People make mistakes O’Neil the point is to learn from our mistakes.” She told him.
“She’s right O’Neil it wasn’t your fault.” Nick said. “Abigail made her own choices and they were the wrong choices.”
There was a course of agreements to this statement. O’Neil stared at his team.
Nick put a hand on his shoulder.
“You did the best you could for a beginner, next time things will be different. The point is to never give up. When life gives you lemons make lemonade.” Nick quoted.
O’Neil just nodded his head he hadn’t the words to express his feelings.
“What time is it?” He asked instead. He looked at his wrist watch. The crystal was broken. He blew out a breath. He took off the watch and tossed it on the bed.
“It’s ten in the morning.” Sam said.
“Alright our mission today is to get Kirk back.” He said. He rubbed the back of his head. “But the question is where could he be?” No one spoke. The only way off the island was the chopper and it was a wreck now.
“That no good dirty asshole,” Carmen exclaimed. “I know where he is and what he plans to do.” She sat up straighter. “There’s another way off the Island or a possible way. We built a Hovercraft for the work men to get around the island better. It was also a little experiment for the military division. But we never got around to testing it.” She made a face. “But don’t worry the launch bay that the Hovercraft is at is right next door to the harbor for visitors. Although we never got any visitors but my father said once the experiments were done we would have ship loads of visitors with large pocket books. So there is a customs area to unsure no visitors leave or enter with dangerous or valuable items.” She stood up and winced with the movement. Lee was at her side. “But don’t worry the door’s to launch pad can only be opened by a certain code, and my, oh so important father never took the time to learn it. He’s probably still there trying to break it.”
“Then that’s where we’re headed.” O’Neil said. “So where is this customs room?
“It’s on the LAB3 level.” Carmen said.
More complications
Kirk opened his eyes it was dark and there was very little light. He reached into his lab coat and brought out a little glow stick. He cracked it and shook it. He was still strapped to his seat in the chopper. He chuckled. The Pteranadons did their job well. He knew that they would attack the chopper. It was a risk to trust that he would live. But after all he had the power to be a God. Why should death scare him? He undid his harnesses and exited through the emergency hatch above him. It was a tricky business climbing up to it but he managed. After he pulled himself up he closed it again. He looked around. They had landed in the jungle. There was a slight breeze that rustled the tree leaves. The moon was out but its light was dimmer than usual. That was alright he knew his way around in the dark. He carefully climbed down the side of the chopper. The propellers were shattered and bent. Several trees had been deforested by the propellers. He strolled of into the jungle. Kirk knew all the entrances to the tunnel system. He had spent hours studying them. There was an entrance close to where the chopper had just crashed. Before the chopper had gone out of control he had managed to get a glimpse of where they were. He parted the ferns next to a tall palm tree to reveal a hatch. He turned the wheel and lifted the hatch. A long vertical ladder stretched down a concrete passage lit by little lights in the walls. He climbed down the vertical ladder at the bottom was a large steel door. He turned the wheel and pushed it open. He was once again back in the tunnel system. There were several of these hatches in case of emergencies. If you knew where all of them were you could virtually go to every part of the island. He followed the tunnel west to get back to the B.3 security room. He thought of going to that Hovercraft the other scientists had been working on. He didn’t know much about it but he was sure it wouldn’t be that difficult to solve-not for a genius like him anyway. ‘He and Carmen…’ He left Carmen in the chopper. He stamped his foot on the ground. ‘Damn it.’ How could he have forgotten to get her? He blew out a breath. Oh well he’d just get the Hovercraft ready then collect her. Kirk didn’t really care for anybody except Carmen. He didn’t know why but she was one of the only things that mattered to him, aside from his experiments. It was strange because he hadn’t really cared about…He cut off that train of thought instantly. No point in looking back. He strolled into the security area for the customs room. He typed in the password on the keypad. The metal door slid up. He stepped in. on the walls were monitors for several sections of the facility and the island it’s self. There was a metal door with a specially built scanner that scans the visitors before they enter. He walked over to the panel and typed in his pass code. The screen flashed red and a computerized voice said.
“Access denied.”
He banged his hand on the console it didn’t work. He tried another pass word. It didn’t work either. He tried hacking the system. But that didn’t work. He wanted a system that would be protected from even the best hackers. Well here it was and now he couldn’t even hack it. Now he was upset. He checked his watch. It was only a few hours till the morning. There was nothing he could do now all he could really do was get some sleep and try again in the morning. He exited the customs room and made for the elevator. He took it to level B2. He passed through the security room with ease since he no longer needed a card. He crossed the hall and entered a room marked experimental energy. Inside the room were tables strewn with note pads and diagrams. In the center of the room was a small generator. It was here that he and many of his staff did their experiments. At the very back of the large room was a reinforced metal door. He typed in the code on the keypad. The door slid up. He entered. This was his private lab. Here he did whatever he wanted. There was a small bunk on the left side of the room. In one corner was a large computer terminal where he did his research. There was a little metal desk with his research pads. He lay back on his bed and slept.
He woke up around nine-forty five. He sat up in bed and had a revelation. The weapons division for the facility invented a weapon that channels Transtime Dimensional energy. It was the perfect way to get past his little obstacle. He got up and was about to head for the door when another idea struck him. He ran over to his terminal. He inserted a data chip and up loaded all of his research files. They would be worth quite a bit of money. And since the URSA was after him he can’t bargain with them. If they could simply take the information from him no point in making any deals. Oh well he could think of a couple other countries who would pay a handsome price for his research. When the data was done being transferred he put the chip in his pocket. He left his lab. He walked to a room just across from the room he had been in. He entered the code and entered the room. The room was lined with weaponry all experimental. Most of the weapons didn’t work. At the back of the room was a large safe. Fortunately he knew the code. The keypad beeped and he pulled the cover open. Inside was the T-rifle since its real name was far too long for the researchers to keep on saying day after day they shortened it. It was a large cylindrical tube with a pistol grip and a trigger. At one end was the barrel. On the side was the dial to control the amount of power. He hefted the gun. One shot from this and the door to the harbor would be nothing more than scrap metal. He chuckled. He’d simply get the Hovercraft ready to go then he’d collect Carmen and they’d both get off this island. He was about to leave when he spotted something on the table, an injector with a magenta liquid inside. On the side of the injector was the letters QE2541. He picked up the injector and put it in his pocket he knew full well what was in the injector and he knew it would come in handy. He left the room. Kirk took the elevator down to the B3 level and entered the customs room. He activated the gun it took a second for it to charge its energy all the way. He heard the door slide open behind him. He turned around. He was surprised at what he saw but never the less his plans were still on track.
O’Neil and the others entered the customs room to find Kirk there. He was carrying some kind of weapon. When he saw them surprise was clear on his face but then he got this gleam in his eye. He shouldered the weapon and aimed it at them.
“Colonel O’Neil, it was so good of you to deliver my daughter to me.” Kirk said.
O’Neil didn’t know what that weapon did but there were more of them then him.
“Your trapped Kirk you don’t know the code and we do.” O’Neil said. “So just come along quietly. I’m sure that the Supreme Court will make a bargain with you.”
Kirk chuckled darkly. “You still don’t get it. Why do you think I created these creatures? To be used as weapons I specially engineered them for it. Why else do you think they were able to destroy your ship, or kill your Special Forces team, as for not knowing the code to the door that’s easily remedied?” He pointed the gun at the door and fired. An electrical blast shot out from the gun. It hit the door. In an instant the door was gone. Nothing at all was there. The door had disintegrated right before their eyes. All that was left was a large gaping hole. The hole was smooth and clean. As if the door had never even been there in the first place. Kirk pointed it back at the others. O’Neil did waste a second more he had to get that gun away from Kirk. He ran at full speed and kicked the gun out of kirks hands. He kneed Kirk in the chest. Kirk fell to the ground clutching his stomach. O’Neil trained his gun on him.
“Now Kirk you can go back to the main land alive or in a body bag.” O’Neil said. “It makes very little difference to me.”
Kirk started to laugh. O’Neil didn’t like that, why was he laughing?
“You fool you’re dealing with a God.” Kirk said. He pulled an injector out of his pocket. He stabbed it into his neck. After injecting himself he tossed the injector away. Kirk grunted and hunched over as if he were sick. Then he lifted his head and looked up at O’Neil meeting his eyes. Kirks eyes were had a glassy eyed look like they were made of glass or marble. He’d seen that look before. People get the same look when adrenalin starts pumping through their veins. With inhuman speed he knocked O’Neil on the ground. With even greater speed he ran at the others. He knocked them all down in an only a few moments. Then in another moment was standing with Carmen in one arm and the large gun aimed at all of them. O’Neil couldn’t get up when Kirk knocked him down that all but winded him. He was still trying to breathe. His lungs felt tight like an iron vise was squeezing them. So strong, so fast he took them down faster than he had ever seen. None of them had even the time to react. Kirk was smiling a big toothy grin.
“You’re probably wondering what just happened?” He said. “Since you’re all going to be here for a long time I’ll go ahead and tell you. When I created my specimens I incorporated Quantum energy into their basic DNA structure. But only a little, it gave them enhanced strength, speed, and intelligence. So my staff began to experiment on what else it could do.” He chuckled again. “The potential was limitless. But we needed something for future customers to take interest in.” He was gloating now. He was standing there cool as a cucumber. He was taking his sweet precious little time, enjoying his moment of victory. “Quantum energy can be manipulated into many different forms. So we made a serum. It is a concentrated dose of quantum energy that when injected into a person can give them enhanced abilities. I just injected myself with such a serum. It acts like adrenalin but ten times more potent. Everything in your body starts working at an accelerated level. Wounds heal faster because your cells are growing faster than they normally do. Your eye sight becomes sharper your strength increases your speed doubles.” Now he was laughing. “But like adrenalin it wears off. That is why I picked up this. He hefted the gun. “It’s called the T-rifle, by concentrating Transtime dimensional energy it makes a deadly weapon, as you can plainly see.” Oh O’Neil could see in fact he could see quite clearly.
“You let the specimens out.” He croaked. He still had trouble breathing.
“Very good Colonel, You’re finally catching on. Although don’t go thinking that I’m a monster. Oh no, no I’m not a monster I sent memos to all my fellow scientists to report to the B2 level. But unfortunately all of my work staff are idiots. None of them read their memos. So now my work staff is gone.” He sighed and shook his head. “I had hired the best mercenaries to serve as guards only the mercenaries were suppose to die not my staff. Me and my staff would round them up after wards and put them back in there pens. I had it perfectly planned. Oh well but at least I have the tapes of all the mercenaries being killed, and the tapes of your Special Forces team. They didn’t even last a minute against them.” He set Carmen down. “Here’s something I suggested to my staff to make.” He took out a second injector. “I always keep one on me. When you process Quantum energy so it only enhances cell regeneration it allows a person to heal him or herself with in minutes. He injected Carmen with it. After a moment she cried out and fell on her side. She writhed on the floor groaning. Kirk knelt next to her. He made hushing sounds as if to a baby.
“Don’t worry love it’s merely your body healing it’s self. The pain won’t last long.” She didn’t cry out but she was instead hyperventilating. She was squeezing her fists until they turned white. The pain must have been intense. Kirk stood up. “Like I said Colonel I’m not a monster I’m merely a God. But my children didn’t listen to me and they suffered the consequences of their actions.”
“You’re a Devil, that’s what you are…, a Devil.” O’Neil said to him. O’Neil could breathe easier now.
Kirk just chuckled. “A God or a Devil, well I guess to each his own.” Carmen groaned and stood. She swayed a little like she would fall over. Kirk put an arm around her. “I’d love to stay and chat a little more but I and my daughter have a boat to catch.” He steered her off to the hallway that lead to the harbor. Kirk grinned at O’Neil over his shoulder. “It’s funny, how even… fate, is not without irony. O’Neil watched as they disappeared around a corner.
Subject: chapter 3 
