Ronnie and Stan both nodded. No one needed to explain what the Lake Oswego Incident was.
“You sure this is really a good idea?” Stan asked next. “I mean, this wasn’t part—”
“Watching Paul and Lewie die back there wasn’t part of the plan either,” Eddie shot back. Stan backed off, and Eddie saw that he’d come on too strong. “Listen, I can—”
“I know,” Stan said, and clapped him on the shoulder.
“Get up there,” Ronnie said next, and Eddie nodded before getting into the UFO. The men closed the UFO fighter craft’s top and then Eddie started to work the controls.
“Back up,” Stan said, pulling Ronnie back a bit.
The two men then stood back and stared as Eddie got the thing fired up. There was no sound, just a faint, reddish glow emanating from under it. Then, faster than a blink of an eye it seemed, the craft shot up three feet.
“Whoa!” both men said, and then the craft spun around and shot off into the desert night.
36 — Changing Course
The men of CAT-3 ran on, over the large cement floor that was marked off with street lines. It was the main highway into and out of the base… for humans that is. Already they’d left the port area and blasted-out HUB doors way behind. The ceilings were now twenty-five feet above them and the first ramp leading down to Level 2 was just ahead. Mark hit it first, and didn’t look back to see if any of his men had followed him, though all had. There was Andy and Billy keeping pace, though staying just at his heels. Behind them ran Aaron, Jerry and Johnny. And all six of the men were staying as close to Turn as they could. For Turn that was both a source of pride and one of frustration. It’s true that he wanted to use his super soldier status to protect the men, but he also wanted to use his cybernetic legs to shoot ahead of them, clearing the way of all dangers. It was a noble thought, and also a stupid one. That’s what he had to keep reminding himself as they ran on, his pencil-thin mustache beading with sweat more than usual.
BEEP-BEEP
The men stopped right at the same time Mark threw his hand up into the air in a fist, the sign for them to do so. He quickly reached down to the satellite radio in a leg pocket and got it out.
“Mark, orders have changed.”
The men could hear the Dutchman’s voice — Mark’s father — on the other end of the line. It was the older man’s tone, however, which really struck them all, and made them nervous.
“Go,” Mark said.
“CAT-2 has reported that the number of captives is in the range of 30,000—”
“My God!” Aaron gasped.
“—and there’s just no way we’re going to get them all out.”
“How many can we get?” Mark asked over the radio.
“Right now we’ve got as many as we can rushing to the underground platforms, to awaiting trains sent in from the other bases.”
“Where does that leave us?”
The men of CAT-3 stared at their commander in awe, and especially the calm he was displaying under pressure.
“In a good position to get as far into that base as possible, do the most damage as possible, and in the least amount of time possible.”
“And captives?”
“Save as many as you can — orders are to blow the base at the hour.”
“We read you, sir,” Mark said, then the father and son signed-off and the men were left standing on the circular vehicle ramp to Level 3, staring at one another and wondering what they’d do. Turn stepped forward.
“Sir,” he said to Mark, “I can move the fastest, I can—”
Mark shook his head and put up his hand. “No, Turn — we need you with us, always.” He looked to the others. “We all need to stay together, one false step or one side hallway and those Grays can have their way with you.”
Turn nodded, for he fully understood what was at stake if the men were left alone — he’d seen it firsthand in Montana.
“This is what we’ll do,” Mark said as he started down the ramp again, his machine gun held out in case something should jump out at them, “Level 4 is coming up, and it’s there that they do a lot of their experiments on humans… the ones they haven’t changed physically yet. Our chances of making this mission mean something lie there.”
“And Levels 5, 6 and 7?” Aaron asked.
Mark shook his head. “We’ll never make it down to Level 7 where the train platforms are — we were never supposed to. Levels 5 and 6 are Nightmare Hall and the Hall of Horrors. If Walter and Charlie can make even the slightest of dents in those terrible operations then we’ve also got something to crow about.”
“And if they don’t?” Jerry asked.
Mark gave him a hard look. “Then the actions we take in the next few minutes will mean so much more.” He looked down at his watch, frowned, then met their eyes again. “We’ve got twenty minutes, gentlemen — when that time is up this base is blown, whether we’re topside or not.”
37 — Material Acquisition Team
“Get down!”
The special forces soldier began to look up but then training took over and he pulled his head back instead. Some kind of laser bullet or blast struck the steel and cement wall and sent fragments of it flying about.
“Watch it!” Stu shouted back at him, though with this time a shake of the head.
Stu watched him turn his attention back to his covering fire, and however many Grays and Reptilians were still pouring forth. The few men of the Material Acquisition Team were fanned-out about the first level of the base, strategically placing explosives, anticipating the pull-out and ensuring they’d damn-well be ready for it… and damn sure they’d not have to come back again. Stu was one securing explosives, and that time he just got a little too carried away. Vowing to not place them so close to the active fire areas, he turned around to head back toward the port. Doing so, his eyes glanced down at the bits of wall that’d just been blown away. He cocked a brow and was about to turn away when something else caught his attention — a small panel set into the wall, something that looked like a compartment of some sort. Looking over to see Ronnie still firing away at some of the additional Reptilians that’d just arrived, Stu took the few steps to it and then bent down, prying his fingers around the edges. To his astonishment, the thing ‘popped’ right open, revealing that it was indeed a small compartment. And inside was–
“What’s that?”
Stu turned about, his heart-skipping a beat.
“God — you scared me!” he said, seeing Stan standing there.
Stan scoffed, but ignored the words and instead pointed down at the now-open compartment and the small metallic object sitting there.
“What the hell is that thing?”
Stu frowned. “If it’s what I think it is, then we’ll want to get it back to the port area and secure it as fast as possible.
He put the device under his jacket and then hurried past Stan, back toward the port.
“What the hell is it?” Ronnie asked, looking down at the small device. It was small, round and metallic and looked like a landmine of some sort, although much shinier and expensive. The metal looked to be steel but had a blue sheen to it. On the very top, the highest point on the small dome-shaped device, was an electronic display of some sort, red letters just like the movies.
“Here’s where it works,” Stu said, turning it over. “Best I can tell it’s a CED, kind of like a mini-nuke and a—”