The Assassination Factor (3)
“We must have materialized our floater in front of it.” The Doctor said, with a chuckle, “We can manipulate where the portal opens by looking through that scanner.” He pointed to a box with a view port on it that looked like binoculars. “Next experiment, we will see about that.” “Sorry Doctor, we are out of time.” The General said sharply, “All units are on high alert. We have our personnel coming in three days to use your little gizmo here, and see to an important Federation mission.” “It is far from ready General.” The Doctor said tersely, giving him a frown as he took off his glasses to clean them, “We are still unsure on many factors of this machinery, how long the portal stays open and if we can reopen it at the same coordinates… Li…” “I know all that, Doc but we’re just going to have to field test it.” The General said, “We have a team ready to move on an important mission and it is of a vital importance.” “”This is a civilian project, and is not subject to…” “…Military law.” The General finished, “It is now, under Federal Law since it resides on this post, Doctor. It is just a minor change in the past, perhaps two hundred years, to protect the Federation from a dark betrayal. A known terrorist organization from this century has opened up time and has sent a member back to recruit one of the founders of the Federation, if that happens, the Fed will fall and many worlds with it, including Earth into war, and destruction. We have to stop them. If we don’t it could destroy the world and innocent blood will be shed for nothing.” “You have three days doctor to perfect your gizmo here, until our team arrives. I’m sorry Doc, its going to have to be used for just that, and there is a chance that in the process that the time and space we know may not exist after we send our team through.” The General said abruptly, and he turned with his entourage and filed out of the chamber leaving a very disturbed Doctor Connors with his team of scientists who watched the exchange. All wondered how it would be possible when the machine was hardly ready and what use the military would get out of it in such a short time. Little did they know of the orders or the team assigned who was on their way. Back in San Francisco, Major Christopher and Lieutenant Sparks walked into the tram terminal that was built under the headquarters building and walked across a mezzanine deck to another door leading to the base hospital. As they stepped in through the doors, they returned salutes as they passed others ranks in the hall by lower and upper ranks. They return from two high level briefings about the Star gate, man-made and based on the texts and Hieroglyphs of Egyptian writing. They would be leaving in a matter of hours now, heading to the Nevada desert in which this gate was carefully hidden. Major Christopher saw the intensity in his spotter’s eyes when they left the meeting about the Star Gate and he nodded his head to the look of wonder she gave him. He knew what she was thinking and deep down he was having the same lack of confidence. “We’ll know in a few hours what we are up against, Sparks. Just relax. Everything is going to be fine.” He told her, “After this project is over, hopefully, the assignments we get will not be, and shouldn’t be so bad. Hopefully there should be a perk for saving the Federation.” “I just keep wondering what we’re going to find with this man-made gizmo and as we traverse time.” She said, “I hope it’s not what I think it is.” “We won’t know till we get there Sparks.” He replied and motioned to her toward the stairs that connected the Headquarters Tram Deck to the Mezzanine Deck that connected Federation Headquarters, Hospital, and the Academy located at this base. He eyed two cadets who stood nearby, both watching the trams entering and exiting the terminal. The Major frowned as a feeling of dread washed over him. He reached for his pistol at his side, and drew it rapidly from the holster. He motioned to Sparks as shots rang out and they were suddenly pinned down in a cover fire. “Holy shit… It’s an ambush! It’s DOOM!” The Major called out to Sparks who nodded and from her place across from him, returning the terrorist’s fire. A few more shots rang out from another position and Christopher aimed his weapon and squeezed the trigger as he hit one of them in the chest, ducking just as shots ricochet near his head against the stone wall. “Major Christopher to Base… Security Alert! Red alert!” He said, “Pinned down by fire in the tram deck! Send Security squad, platoon strength!” He grimaced at the lack of response on the radio. It was a trap, both knew it, and yet they kept firing. Security forces arrived on the scene, after about twenty minutes of machine gun fire riddled the tram platform and through many people, trying to get to the two that would be the ones to stop the move by the Terrorist organization. Security spread out as they too returned fire. Civilians and uniformed personnel continued to dodge and scatter in all directions to avoid the fire that lanced out across the bay. Major Christopher aimed his weapon as a DOOM agent grabbed a young woman and he took a shot, hitting the kid in the head, felling him as the woman gasped who was promptly splattered with his blood. Together they moved out and fought back, the fire lasting well over fifteen minutes before it suddenly ceased and a terrorist ran toward a loaded tram full of people, intending to blow it up. Security cut him off and shots rang out and the uniformed terrorist fell with a smoking hole in his back. Security had the other two in custody, until an explosion rang out to kill everyone in a twenty-five foot blast as an explosive device was detonated. When it was all over, Major Christopher stood up and holstered his pistol at his side and walked down the stairs toward the open Trams, and toward the smoking bodies of the terrorists. “You alright Sparks?” He asked and she glanced down at herself. “I-I think so.” She stammered, “I didn’t think DOOM would try so soon, sir. Jesus, the platform is a mess.” Around the platform there were smoking holes from the gunfire and splatters of blood covering the wall and ground. A smoking blast radius from a fragment grenade detonated by a terrorist was all that remained of him and the two security men who had them in custody, along with twelve civilians that were partially blown to bits or into pieces, also smoldering as they lay on the granite flight deck. “Me neither, but we had better get on the ball and on route to Vegas, and from their take an airlift to the Base.” He told her, “Before they regroup and try again.” “I’m for that Major.” She stammered, holding back the tears of fear that welled in her eyes. The Major would have forgiven her if she didn’t cry out, the ambush a close call to death as she wanted to come, and he would have understood her fear. He was just as afraid, and yet he tried not to show it, closing his eyes to still his rapidly beating heart that pumped in his chest. “Don’t worry about our gear. I had it already sent ahead.” He said, and a moment later an explosion shook the building as smoke filled the hallway and corridor. The briefing room where they had been working had been bombed, trying to get at them, but luckily they were out of the area on duty when it happened. Screams of pain and smoke and fire cracked through the passage as they were knocked to the deck, and they glanced up at the group of soldiers, the guards from Headquarters to protect them grimaced as they pointed to a waiting passenger ship nearby. Laser fire rang out and bolts lanced out across the bay again. Another explosion hit near them about twenty feet away from them. “Get out of hell out here.” He shouted, as laser fire cut him down through the smoke filled corridor. Christopher and Sparks both ran to the tram whose door closed behind them. A hum and vibration rippled through the ship as it began to move. A couple of soldiers stood in the ship with them and both saluted. Christopher had his pistol aimed at both of them. “You better be loyal to the Federation or you are both dead.” He said, grabbing one and keeping the pistol at his throat. Sparks covered the other one. “Don’t shoot Major. We’re on your side.” The soldier croaked, and the Major nodded to Sparks. “Cover them. They move, kill them.” He motioned to the door after a moment and both soldiers had a look of terror on their faces. He glanced at the door. He pushed the emergency release button and the door decompressed to open. “Get out.” Christopher declared abruptly, and he moved to push the one uniformed soldier from the tram, the other he literally threw out of the door as the tram launched from the station. He slammed his hand on the switch to close the door behind them. There was a whoosh sound as an RPG just barely missed it as the ship banked and the Major ran to the controls, shooting the door and entering the empty cockpit. He sat in them and he touched the control making the vehicle spin sharply, as another RPG just missed and he hit the throttle, a sonic boom echoing across the San Francisco Bay. “Hang on!” He said and the youthful Lieutenant gripped the seat as the tram rose upward into the sky. Around Sparks she glanced at the interior of the deserted passenger tram. The tram is what he had been on before many times, long and open, with several seats on either end with an open section in the center where they gull-wing doors open and allow entry of passengers and cargo. He walked back to the controls and his hands danced over the controls as it banked and sped on to its destination. Sparks sat on a seat on one end as Major Christopher piloted the tram, utilizing the electro-paths that provide it with power, he hit another switch and their transport opened up with wings as it broke from the power grid and manually launched into independent flight. The wings were there if the power grid failed and the transport could fly on its own power to land them safely where they were going. It banked clear and climbed rapidly into the sky into the Clouds overhead. The only thing heard over the city was that of another sonic boom thundering across the sky as it rocked away from San Francisco. “Jesus that was close.” Sparks said, “Apparently they know a lot of what has happened recently, the assignment and the orders.” She said, and he nodded. “ETA to Vegas is one hour.” He said, “I have the course programmed to the base coordinates though after we reach Vegas.” “Good.” The ship that carried them sped along through the sky, keeping in the clouds as the Major piloted it. He glanced at the console. There was a small radar screen, but it was black, apparently the anti-collision control had been destroyed in the laser fire. “Damn.” He muttered, and he grimaced at his passenger who sat in a seat nearby, holding onto the seat against the G-forces the ship produced as it made abrupt moves through the sky. The hum of the inertia dampener hummed into life briefly with each move. An hour passed quickly as they Vegas without interruption and they both let out a breath of relief, relieved there was no pursuit force. The tram was hard to track, designed the same and many tracking on all four corners of the Earth bringing transportation to each nation of the world. They were surprised and wondered if they were just being observed to see where their tram was going to infiltrate the base in the middle of the Nevada Desert. They had no idea they were being observed from afar as sensors probed the desert and their craft. “Good we made Vegas. I’m setting secondary coordinates.” Sparks said, breaking the silence and he managed to turn and nod. She moved to the console and her hands danced across the controls as she sat in the co-pilot’s seat next to him. The console beeped after a moment and a green light appeared on the console. “Flying time is twenty-minutes.” He responded, reaching up to push a couple of buttons and tune the radio that was provided. There was a crackle and quickly the Major spoke. Sparks observed the frequency as one she was not familiar, it was a coded frequency to boot. She did not understand what was happening, other than they had barely avoided a trap at the Tram Station of San Francisco, thanks to the DOOM Organization. “Major John Christopher to base three-one-six, on coded frequency one twenty three, point six.” He said, “Please come in.” “I repeat, Base, three-one-six, please come in. Alpha Code… one, six, three, five eight… request immediate landing at destination.” “Who are you trying to call Major?” She asked and he glanced at her silently. “The base we’re supposed to go to.” He said, “Apparently they don’t want to risk detection, so we maintain course and reduce speed.” “How’s our fuel?” Sparks asked and he grimaced. “Not good, we are almost down to a third of a tank of reserve energy. We’d better land soon, or it’s a crash landing.” “I hope so too sir.” The tram flew slowly along the ground, the sand, sage, cactus and rock darting by as the ship moved toward the coordinates. There seemed to the duo still no response to their messages and their presence as they flew further into the desert. Major Christopher touched the controls again and outside the tram dipped sharply as it seemed to plummet to the ground, and it sped low along the ground at a reduced speed. “Prepare for crash landing in about fifteen to thirty minutes.” Major Christopher said, “We don’t have enough fuel to return to Vegas. I’ll try to do a controlled crash and from there we’ll head toward the base on foot.” Sparks nodded, taking her seat to hold on. As the ship descended toward the ground, she heard the retro engines fire. They both did not feel a thud as the ship was gripped by a tractor beam, making it hover in the air for a moment and a panel below opened in the ground, bringing it safely to the ground. The ship as it came to rest on the rail designed for Tram Travel throughout the United States and Federation hit its mark with a gentle thud. Hitting the button the engines faded, and the hum died away leaving only silence as he nodded to his companion. “That was some landing.” Sparks said with a smile and he shook his head. “I didn’t do that… at the last moment we were caught in a tractor and set down after a panel opened for us.” He said with a smile and stood up from the chair, but not without turning to hit a switch allowing the gull wing doors to open allowing them to exit. It allowed, however, five guards and a burly, grizzled Colonel named Randall Travis to enter with a younger man beside him. All were clad in the green and gray or green and black uniforms. Major Christopher nodded as Catherine stood abruptly and both saluted formally. The Colonel returned the salute and managed a grim smile at the duo. Around them in the bay, ground personnel worked on the various planes and other vehicles parked here, including the tram. “Welcome to Shangri-la.” He told them with a chuckle and both nervously smiled, “We’ve been expecting you, after we received reports what happened at San Francisco, we feared the worst.” The Major nodded formally, “I apologize for not allowing you to land sooner. We wanted to be sure you were alone too.” “Yes sir, we had our difficulties.” “Your gear is here and in your quarters.” The aide said, “If you require freshening up or require to rest, I can lead you to it.” “Thanks.” The Major said and he saw the Colonel motion for them to follow, after shooting an annoyed look at his aide. Around them as personnel worked, the overhead hatch closed with a thud, and the lights blinked on around them, lighting the chamber. Together the Aide, Colonel, his entourage, all walked toward another doorway into a nearby chamber. He was leading them to the turbo-lift that would take them to below levels. On the surface smoke as an explosion shook the surface as a simulated crash was placed several miles from the base, including two bodies that would be burned in the fire to simulate their death. Just in case DOOM came to investigate and try to infiltrate the base.
Copyright © 1991 Nathaniel A Miller |