“Commander, if you can level off the shuttle, we can lower the rear ramp and step off into the tower,” Situlas said excitedly.
“Roger that,” Furier said as she brought the shuttle around and backed it up to the gaping hole in the side of the ship.
“Little bit closer,” Fabris said, as he pulled the manual lever to lower the rear ramp. The ramp slid down, leaving the back of the shuttle open to the elements. The cold wind rushed into the shuttle, not that they could feel it through their armor.
Fabris, standing on the edge of the ramp, looked down to the barren tundra below. “Must be at least a 150-foot drop, be careful.”
“I wish we had some safety harnesses,” Genu said as he gripped a handle bar by the ramp. “Look there, we can see straight into the galley.”
“Commander, we need to get a little bit closer. We are about seven feet from the tower wall. It’s not safe to jump yet,” Fabris said into his COM.
Commander Furier slowly edged the shuttle closer to the wall. “I can’t get any closer, and we got too much wind. It could blow us into the wall.”
“This should do it, four feet and we can jump,” Genu said.
“Jumping from a small shuttle onto a large stationary deck is one thing. Jumping back onto this moving shuttle from that deck will be something else entirely,” Fabris said, as he eyed the jump with suspicion.
“Commander, I’m jumping now. Hold her steady!” Genu yelled as he ran through the empty cargo bay to gain momentum for his jump.
Genu leapt from the shuttle and landed squarely in the galley, dropped to one knee, then rolled. The roll was not just from the momentum of the jump; the deck was no longer level, but had settled into an angle. Walking on the decks of the Impegi would be like walking up or down a steep hill.
Genu stood to his feet and held up both of his hands in the universal victory sign. The galley looked like a cyclone had run through it. All the furniture, plates, equipment and chairs had slid down to the lower side. The downward slope at which the ship had settled was not so steep that Genu could not stand on it; it just made walking more difficult.
Fabris jumped next and landed with equal grace, “Made it!” Catrix and Situlas both jumped from the shuttle.
From the ramp, Lignos said, “I’m next.”
“No, Lignos; no one else is going.”
“They may need my help.”
“They will definitely need your help when they are jumping back onto this shuttle, as it is bobbing up and down in the wind. The rest of you stand by the ramp and receive the supplies they bring to us.”
“Boarding party, we need food, clothing, blankets, medicine, and weapons. Retrieve them if you can, and bring them back to the shuttle.”
“Roger that, Commander.”
Over the next 20 minutes, the team recovered boxes of food, clothing, blankets and medicine. The team on the ship tossed the boxes and containers to the crew on the shuttle.
“I don’t see any weapons,” Commander Furier said over the COM.
“There is a collapsed bulkhead three decks down that is blocking the armory,” Fabris said.
“That reminds me, in the cargo hold we had some light armor and short-range attack craft. I wonder if any of that survived?” Commander Furier remarked.
“Hell, given that we are thousands of miles from friendlies, and I’m sure the locals are on their way, I’d love to find out,” Fabris said.
“And so, we will,” Commander Furier said. “So, we will.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Over the Pacific Ocean
Lightning Squad was seated in chairs along the interior walls of the craft, facing each other. The compartment where they sat did not appear to be triangular like the exterior of the craft.
Williams timidly sat in the sidewall seat next to the mountain of a man, known only as Bob. Bob was not wearing the hardened armor of a FALOS suit, but unlike the fixed-wing jet exercise, he was wearing a light-weight fabric armor and cold weather gear. Bob’s helmet that shielded his eyes displayed the same HUD and COM system as the rest of the squad. Next to Williams, Bob still looked like a giant.
“Hello,” Williams said to Bob. Bob turned to face Williams to acknowledge the greeting, but only grunted. Bob had what appeared to be a permanent scowl on his hard, weathered face.
Williams pressed further, “So, you are going to be working with us on this mission?”
Bob grunted again in recognition of the question and then tilted his head forward, his attempt at a nod.
Williams, determined to figure out the huge man, asked, “I see you are not wearing armor, why is that?”
“No need armor.” Bob’s deep voice and enunciation made each word sound like a sentence unto itself.
“Good evening, men,” a voice filled each of their HUD units. Then a live video feed flickered on the HUD in each of their helmets. It was a man they had never seen before.
“My name is General Byrd; I serve in the Air Force’s Space Command division. Your squad has been selected to execute a critical mission. Mission failure could upset the balance of global power for centuries. A few minutes ago, an interstellar space craft crashed in Far East Russia. This ship contained a rare and valuable element, known as Element 115. Element 115 is used in making ultra-lite, super strong anti-gravity fighter craft. The country that possesses this shipment will control the skies for the next 100 years.”
“This is Major Morgan Slade. Why was my squad picked for such a critical mission? We have not completed training. How do you know what was on a crashed interstellar space ship?”
“Excellent questions, Major Slade. You were not our first choice. Honestly, you were not our second choice, either. Unfortunately, due the extremely short window of opportunity to recover the cargo, your team was the one that could be scrambled the fastest. To answer your second question, we were expecting the shipment; it was coming from one of our off-world trading partners.”
“Off world trading partners, what the fuck?” Davis whispered. Of course, everyone could hear him. “Sorry,” he mumbled.
“You are in a TR3C anti-gravity plane. It was designed as part of the Aurora program. It will have you over the target area of Far East Russia in about 30 minutes. The nuclear-powered plane is incredibly fast and virtually undetectable by enemy radar. You will be on the ground before the Russians know you are there, hopefully, before their troops arrive on the scene. The mission, while it may be difficult to execute, is simple in plan: recover the Element 115 before the Russians realize it exists,” General Byrd explained.
“Secrecy is important on this mission. We cannot offer you support without starting World War Three. Your priority is to make certain the Russians do not discover your location. If you are discovered, then it will only be hours before you are overrun by their military. There is over 100,000 pounds of Element 115 on the crashed ship. You must locate and recover it before the Russians arrive. Engaging the Russians would be an act of last resort. If you are captured, we will deny affiliation.”
“What about the FALOS armor? If caught, won’t they be able to identify us by those?” Snap asked.
“We are not the only ones on the planet with that technology. It would be a stretch, but we would sell it.”
“Roger that, but how do we transport 100,000 pounds of Element 115 out of Russia undetected?” Snap asked.