Suddenly, painfully, Haas’s mind flooded with one clear, crisp image. The image of Lieutenant Colonel Craig Lewis on top of a naked Mrs. Haas, humping her harder and harder like some wild animal while her fingers clutched his black ass and she cried out in carnal ecstasy.
She’s been fucking him, Daddy … all the time when you weren’t home … she loved it, Daddy … they laughed at you.
Haas pulled his pistol. Both Lewis and Sanchez went for their sidearms as well but they reacted too slowly.
Kurt Haas’s first shot went straight through Lewis’s forehead with uncanny accuracy. A crimson shower of gore sprayed across the table at Sanchez. The corporal raised a hand in reflex while firing two rounds randomly across the room.
Haas fired a trio of shots into the wall above his target, suppressing the corporal behind the table.
Forget him, Daddy! Come save me! Hurry!
The colonel left the break room at a fast clip. After a moment, he came upon two sentries with M16s responding to the sound of shots fired.
Haas barked, "Corporal Sanchez has shot Lieutenant Colonel Lewis. He’s considered armed and dangerous. Shoot on sight. I’m heading to the vault to check on security. Let the others know."
Haas walked away before they could reply, knowing the story would not hold, but hoping it would add to the confusion. That confusion was all he had left. That and a few more bullets.
As he moved through the sterile, bright hallways, a series of alarms roared to life, as well as warning lights at intersections. The red flashes mixed with the pale walls to create a surreal feeling of walking through a high-tech nightmare.
He made several turns and passed through a set of double doors before coming upon the area known as "the vault." One guard stood in front of a lone steel door, glancing about nervously at the sirens, the lights, and his approaching CO. But, Haas thought with some vague pride, this soldier stood ready to do his job despite the fear conjured by those alarm bells.
"Sir?"
"This post secure, son?"
"Sir, yes sir! Is this a drill?" He asked, sounding hopeful.
"No, son, I’m afraid it isn’t," Haas answered as he looked into the sentry's eyes, which were, truth be known, much more in control than his own. "Apparently Corporal Sanchez has gone haywire and shot Colonel Lewis. We’re trying to find him now, but this may be bigger than we think." He put a hand on the young man's shoulder: "I need you to do your job, soldier. I need you to stop anyone from going through this outer door. We don’t know how many people are in on this."
The guard nodded in the affirmative with a commendable level of confidence.
"Good. I’ll be right back."
Haas opened the steel door behind the sentry and walked down a short, wide hallway. At the end of the hall loomed yet another thick security door, this one with a reinforced viewing window. Colonel Haas pounded on the door. He knew two soldiers were stationed on the other side. The question was whether they had paid attention to all their special training.
A freckle-faced young soldier peeked out the window in the door. Haas punched the intercom button and ordered, "Open this door. We have an emergency."
The soldier hesitated. If Haas wanted to enter, he should have the appropriate key card. The problem was that Haas was not the officer in charge of sublevel five for that shift. That officer had been Lieutenant Colonel Craig Lewis, who was currently on his way to a different level altogether.
Haas realized that he should have thought to take the security card from Lewis’s body, but in his urgent flight to the vault he had let this important detail slip.
Daddy…there’s…no…air… in…here.
"Listen, soldier," Haas commanded in a deep tone that required all his effort. "Colonel Lewis has been shot dead by Corporal Sanchez, who is now in possession of the entry card. This is an a-fucking numero uno emergency. Open this door right now or you had better not ever come out of there."
The soldier did not hesitate this time. Haas heard the bolt slide. He also heard the protests of the other soldier on duty in the area known as the "vestibule." It had earned that designation because it stood as the last security point between the rest of the complex and the vault door leading to the quarantined sectors.
Inside the vestibule were two large consoles that viewed another room through thick windows. Between the two consoles and windows waited another steel-reinforced security door. The entire room filled dimensions slightly larger than the average bedroom.
The second soldier — a veteran — stood at attention as the door slammed shut behind Colonel Haas.
"Sorry, sir. Procedure dictates that no one enters this room without the proper—"
Haas shot the veteran in the chest. The soldier fell onto a console, then rolled onto the floor. He kicked violently at first, but then his motion subsided to the twitching of a few fingers and a low groan.
Haas turned the gun on the first guard. He pointed it directly at the kid's shocked and quickly turning green face.
"Listen, soldier, this is an emergency situation that that asshole didn’t comprehend. All standard procedures are null and void. You shall do exactly as I say right here and now or I will splatter your gray matter over this floor. Do you understand me?"
The soldier nodded.
Haas moved to one of the consoles while keeping the gun pointed at the freckle-faced soldier.
The guard Haas had already shot remained alive, barely. This was of no concern to the colonel. He pushed the body away from the chair, then sat down, never moving his aim away from soldier number two.
"Take your place at your console, private," Haas said, motioning with his gun, "and prepare to open the inner door."
Haas referred to the door between the two consoles; the one that opened to the vault room.
As with launching a nuclear missile from a silo, opening the inner door required the simultaneous turning of two keys. Haas retrieved the first key from the top of the console where he sat. The second soldier kept his around his neck. He fumbled with the chain, dropped it once, but finally held it in his hand.
Haas slipped his key into a silver hole on the console in front of him and ordered the other soldier to do the same. The sight of his buddy’s blood on the floor served as a great motivator and the soldier did as told.
"Turn on three," Haas commanded, then counted.
The freckle-faced kid turned his key in perfect unison with Colonel Haas.
As soon as the door’s heavy bolts released, a new set of alarms tore through the complex.
Daddy…come get me now before it’s too late!
"Sorry, son," Haas said as he stood again. "I can’t have you letting anyone in here just yet. You see, my daughter’s locked up behind that door and I have to get her out."
The colonel shot the freckle-faced kid in the knee. He screamed as he collapsed.
Haas turned the heavy latch on the now-unlocked inner door. It swung open and he entered the vault room.
Several rows of track lighting, thick perforated soundproofing panels, and three different security cameras decorated the pure-white chamber. In the upper corners of the room sat strange round metallic pods. Those pods, Haas knew, housed a series of defensive devices.
Everything in the room, including Haas himself, concentrated on a large metal door that resembled a small bank vault, yet it was much, much more.
Haas approached it despite a lonely voice in his head warning him to stand down. That lonely voice was easily cast aside by the sound of his daughter's voice.
Daddy … you’ve come … let me out of here, Daddy! LET … ME … OUT!
Haas gazed at the door's fine steel finish then ran his hand across the surface. It felt cold and smooth.