“The doors are metallic, although we haven’t tested them to see what sort of metal. Billy and I can guide you to the cells. Whilst we show you the cells, my Sergeant can show your second in command round the base. For what it’s worth, I’d like as much of the ordnance that’s lying about to be removed but that there be enough left in strategic locations so that we can destroy this base and, therefore, this gateway to our universe if we have to. Whilst this isn’t a permanent solution to the threat of invasion, it should slow down the enemy sufficiently that we can have time to prepare for their arrival.”
A figure stepped forwards from behind the Major “Captain Lockwood at your service, Ma’am.”
“Good to meet you, Captain. Sergeant, please escort the Captain round and show her as much as you can. I suggest that we met up again in the large office that we found in thirty minutes and decide how we are going to tackle the rescue operation. Major, please follow me” replied Sarah, as she headed towards the rear of the base.
As Sarah, Billy and Auryn and the small group of marines he had asked to follow him left the airlock at the rear of the base, Sarah and Billy removed their helmets and gestured for the marines to do the same. Sarah moved towards the cells and, as they entered the main cellblock corridor, showed Auryn round.
Having shown him around, Sarah led Auryn to the main office. As he entered, he was taken aback by the scale and grandeur of it.
“There was a lot of intel in here but it’s been removed by my team and is on board my ship” explained Sarah.
A few minutes later, they were joined by Sergeant McDowell and Captain Lockwood.
“If anyone would like a drink, there’s a working drinks machine on the table in the far corner” explained Sarah, pointing to the machine “Major, do you think we can get Will out safely?”
“Yes, I think we can, but he’ll probably be unconscious when we do, so we’ll need to carry him. Also, I don’t know how long it will be before they realise there’s something happened in the cell corridor. If they do realise, they may decide to start the attack immediately. We need to make sure that, if we’re compromised, then it’s only an inconvenience, not a major setback. Does he have a suit?”
“He was wearing one when he was captured but we’ve no idea whether he’s still wearing it or, if not, where it is. I suggest we need to make sure by having a spare ready, just in case.”
“No problem. Captain, how easy would it be to set this place to blow?” responded Auryn.
“There’s enough ordnance in this place to blow it sky high. A few well-placed bombs will trigger a cascade and take everything out. If anything, we need to remove as much as we can, otherwise the crater the explosion would make would be visible from space, even out here.”
“OK. Get onto it, Captain. I need a small team, say five marines, to help me out. Any more and we would be tripping over each other in the cell block. Can you liaise with Captain VanDelden to get the four ships on the surface airborne, so we don’t have to worry about them then, with Sergeant McDowell organise readying the base for destruction. As soon as we get back, I want to be able to get out of here and back into space. Once there, we can set it off by radio. I don’t want anyone of ours to be hurt. How long will it take you to set charges?”
“Not long, Major. The slow part will be to get rid of the excess ordnance.”
“Can we use the landers to move it to a safe distance?”
“That shouldn’t be a problem, now the forward hangar is fairly empty. If we do that, we should be able to reduce the amount to be sufficient in about an hour or so.”
“OK, have two teams, a small team to set the charges and the rest to remove as much of the ordnance as we can. You have one hour to remove as much as possible. At that time, I’ll take my team onto the other side and effect the rescue. Any non-essential personnel should be shipped out but need to be near enough to help us escape safely ourselves. To speed up our withdrawal, get a shuttle to the rear hangar, with a pilot ready to take off at a moment’s notice. I want all the other landers and marines to be on the surface about a hundred metres from the base ready to take off at a moment’s notice but near enough to help us out should it be necessary. Sarah, Billy, I think it would be best if you were to get to the Sea Lion as quickly as possible — this could get messy and our suits are armoured, whereas yours aren’t.”
“OK, Captain. It would only confuse matters if we were all involved at that stage. I think a quick getaway is called for and I would hate to get in the way” replied Sarah.
“I certainly don’t want to be here when it all starts up — I’m a radio engineer after all and I can’t think of any good reason why I should be here when you get back, other than to greet Will” replied Billy.
“OK. I suggest you see what you can do to help out and then leave the base in about three quarters of an hour.”
Fifty eight minutes later, standing in the cell corridor, Auryn called Captain Lockwood on the radio “Everything set, Captain?”
“Yes, Major. My unit is waiting to assist just outside the airlock to the admin area you’re in. The rest of our troops are now back on the surface in the landers as you asked. The lander you asked for is ready and waiting. Bombs are primed and ready for radio triggering in a staggered pattern once we leave the area, with the rearmost set to go off first, with the rest following at fifteen second intervals, which should give plenty of time to get out of here. I have the trigger. All the police officers and Billy been taken to the Lion and will meet us there.”
“Excellent. Thank you, Major. Lieutenant, it’s time to go.”
As soon as he closed the link, Auryn looked to his group of marines, said “Time to go” and pressed the button on the remote that would, he had been assured, send him to the alternate reality.
As he did so, his surroundings changed so that, instead of just the six of them, there were also three guards at various points along the corridor, including one at a computer workstation.
“Now” he shouted to his Sergeant. In response, the Sergeant threw a primed stun grenade to the floor, expecting the guards to fall to the floor almost immediately. Nothing happened.
“What the hell happened there?” asked Auryn.
“Must have misfired, Sir. We’ve had a few recently. I suspect a faulty batch” replied the Sergeant.
By now, any thoughts of a stealthy attack were long gone, as the guards opened fire. What was more disconcerting was that the guard at the workstation had managed to trigger the alarm, so it was only a matter of time before they would be joined by other guards.
“Defensive positions” screamed Auryn, firing back at the enemy. Fortunately, the armoured marine’s suits could protect them from small arms for a few minutes but he still found it disconcerting when they were being fired upon.
Within a few minutes, the three guards were lying on the floor, having been hit by the stun rounds the marines were using.
“That didn’t go quite according to plan. Sergeant, make sure that no-one can get in here. The last thing we need is for their friends to join the party. Let’s find Will and get the hell out of here” said Auryn heading for the nearest cell door. His suit was equipped with a small speaker-microphone, that allowed him to use it to talk to those not using his suit radio system and he used it to call out Will’s name.
Hearing the gunfire and general commotion outside his cell door, Will moved to it to try to work out what was going on. Unfortunately for him, the marines were fully suited, as they had expected to need the protection they afforded from the stun grenade, and were communicating by their suit radios. Not knowing what was happening, he moved away from the door and tried to hide as best he could, although the design of the cell gave him no real options in this regard.