Alpha Threat (63 page)

“Mr. Ben!” called Tecal.
 
“Mr. Ben, we have to go.
 
Go now.
 
Many, many Germans coming.
 
My man see two trucks filled with men with guns.”
 

“Damn,” said Ben turning to Tim.
 
“You hear that?
 
Think you can make a run for it?”
 

“Yeah, we better vamoose,” answered Tim, holding a handkerchief to his head near the left side of his hairline.
 
“We’ve done all we can here.
 
Let’s go.”

Monday, July 18, 2011

Inside Fortress Alpha;
 
8:20 a.m.

Hugo had held the far superior force at bay for a while now.
  
There was a lull in the fighting as both sides took a breath and recalculated their actions.
 
After Dane went down the stairs, Hugo was inundated with troops coming from both directions.
 
He barricaded himself in a technical services area, sealed with the exception of the doorway he guarded.
 
He kept one eye on the hallway and one on the stairwell across the hall.
 
He looked out again and drew no fire.
 

“Okay, Hugo.
 
It’s time to get the hell out of here,” he said to himself as he rose and checked his silenced MP-5.
 
With that thought, Hugo burst from the room and threw himself across the hall into the stairway door.
 
This time the door flew open and Hugo rolled into the stairwell.
 
Immediately gunfire erupted from below.
 
Hugo hugged the wall and climbed the stairs to the next floor.
 
At the door he looked through the small wire-reinforced window and saw normal looking people walking by: normal by way of not having guns in their hands.
 
He could also hear an audible alarm on this floor.
 
He pressed his face against the glass and took another look.
 
He saw a few folks dressed in gray coveralls, some in white technician coats hurrying down the hall.
 

By now he hoped Dane had found Dana and Randall.
 
If not, then they probably wouldn’t find them at all.
 
Hugo placed this in the back of his mind as he cracked open the door and stepped out into the hall, aiming his MP-5 submachine gun right and left down the hall.
 
Personnel scrambled in all directions.
 
Hugo was a bit puzzled.
 
These were definitely not soldiers.
 
They looked like normal workers.
 
He decided to go to his right for no particular reason.
 
He had a map inside his vest but this was not the time to sit down and read it.
 
He needed to move and move fast.
  

As folks ran about, Hugo double-timed down the hall until he found another set of stairs.
 
He ducked in the stairwell and leaned against the wall.
 
He could still hear the alarm outside in the hall.
 
Hugo wished someone would shut that thing down. The noise was driving him crazy.
  
He pulled his map and took a quick look at what was on this floor.
 
Mostly, there were science labs for the most part.
 
That explained the folks in white coats.
 
He ran his finger along the central hallway looking for an alternate way out when he ran across an interesting area on the map,
Main Power Generation
.
 
Bingo, he thought.
 
What’s the best way to cause total confusion underground?
 
Turn out the friggin’ lights!
 

Hugo smiled to himself.
 
He had a flashlight but he bet none of the others down here had one.
 
He remembered seeing emergency lights, though.
 
They operated on battery power in each unit so it would not be totally dark.
 
But still it would screw with folks’ minds down here and that’s all he needed.
 
He could create a bit of confusion and may be able to get out alive.
 

Hugo roughly folded the map and jammed it back into his vest.
 
He took a look out the small window in the door and took a deep breath.
 
Again when he burst out of the stairwell the white coats were so startled they began falling over themselves trying to get out of the way.
 
Hugo held his weapon high aiming in the direction he was running.
 
He was very surprised he did not run into any guards or armed soldiers.
 
But he was sure they would be on their way as soon as his presence was reported.
 
Hugo hurried down the hall and turned right and stepped up to a double doorway labeled
Stromerzeugung 7-79
.
 
The label was in German but Hugo knew by the map it was the power station for the complex.
 

He leaned against the right-side door.
 
It was locked.
 
He looked around and, seeing only a few people standing several meters away, he stepped back and fired two shots into the lock.
 
The two shots sounded like a sputter with the silencer, but the door lock was mangled, parts of the lock flying in all directions.
 
Hugo pushed the door and it opened, revealing what looked like a multi-level factory deep within the complex.
 
There was a loud humming noise in the background.
 
He stood in amazement for several seconds until an older man about sixty in white overalls popped around the corner of a piece of equipment and was face to face with Hugo.
 

“Wer zum Geier sind Sie?”
he sputtered.
 
Hugo reached out to the old man and gently led him back into a small corridor between the door and the equipment.
 

“Sprechen Sie Englisch?”
Hugo asked in German.
 
The old man looked at Hugo.
 

“Yes, I speak English.
 
What are you doing here?” he asked nervously.
 

“I was sent here to guard the plant,” said Hugo smiling.
 
“We have intruders in the complex and we believe they are heading this way.
 
But first I have a small job to do.”
 

“Oh, my goodness.
 
But you don’t work here.
 
I must call the guards,” said the old man, clearly not totally understanding the situation.
 
He stepped forward toward the telephone on the wall behind Hugo.
 

“No sir,” Hugo said sternly.
 
“You cannot call anyone.
 
Only emergency communications are allowed.
 
And this is not an emergency.”
 
The older man looked at Hugo with a puzzled look on his face. Hugo tried to change the subject.
  
“Hey, what do you do here?
 
This is the power plant for the entire complex?”
 

“I’m senior operations master of the power station,” the old man said proudly.

“Oh, so you know how this entire station works?” asked Hugo nicely, waving his hand across the area below.
 

“Oh, yes.
 
I have to know that,” the old man explained.
 

“Well, why don’t you please tell me how it works,” said Hugo calmly, realizing the old man was not a threat and if treated with respect, he might tell him what he needed.
 
“If I am to protect you and your station, I should know a bit more about what I am protecting, don’t you think?”

“I told you who I was; now you tell me who you are,” said the old man.
 

“I’m a security guard leader, Captain Werner, sent down here to guard the power plant.
 
We are under attack and those in charge ordered me to come down here. “

“Strange,” said the old man confused.
 
“I was not told of this.
 
I should have been told of this,” he said, looking at the clipboard in his hands.
 
He was clearly confused. “I don’t see anything here…”

“We are under emergency orders,” interrupted Hugo matter-of-factly.
 
“All normal operations are superseded by the emergency orders.”
 
Hugo tried to change the subject again.
 
“This is the first time I have been in this quadrant.
 
It is very impressive,” he said, looking around the area.
 

While the rest of the building was very much like a regular building, this part was a factory.
 
Huge pipes ran overhead.
 
Rather than the office/hospital smell of the rest of the building, there was a slightly oily smell and the humidity was definitely higher.
 
The noise was at times deafening.
 

“Yes, I see,” agreed the old man.
 
“As you can see, this is the plant that produces all of the electrical power for the entire complex.”
 

“Wow, this is very impressive,” said Hugo, walking away from the old man farther into the room.
 
He kept an eye on the old man as he came to a railing on an overlook.
 
He was taking an awful chance the old man may see through his ruse.
 
Hugo looked down.
 
He gasped inwardly as he saw five levels below this one, all centered around a huge cylindrical tower at least four stories high.
 
“I have never seen anything like this.”
 

The old man hesitated a few seconds and then walked over closer to Hugo.
 
“That is because this does not exist anywhere else in the world.
 
It is a geothermal power station modified to yield unlimited power.”
 

“Unlimited? How can that be?” asked Hugo.
 
“Energy sources need fuel replacement periodically.”

The old man smiled meekly.
 
“No, I don’t think this power source will run out any time soon.”

Hugo acted puzzled.
 
“I don’t understand, sir.
 
You mean this power station can run forever?”

 
“In theory, yes, it can.
 
In practice, mechanical parts will wear out and will need replacement.
 
But the source of the power is unlimited as we know it now.”

“How’s that?” asked Hugo.
 

“Our power comes from the volcanic action at the core of the earth.
 
We drilled down to the level where we were able to reliably tap into the molten rock under the earth.
 
Then we pump water down under pressure and it all gets turned to steam.
 
The steam is used to run these turbines to generate unlimited amounts of power,” the old man said, motioning toward several steam turbines down on the lower levels.
 
“Other countries such as Indonesia and Iceland are working toward this model, but no one has this technology.
 
We are the world leaders, except we don’t share the technology with anyone.
 
In fact, there is technology here that is highly secret.
 
It is the key to the generation of unlimited power.”
  

Hugo noticed movement to his right.
 
Two white coat technicians were walking toward them.
 
“Here are two of my technicians now,” said the old man proudly.
 
The technicians slowed their walk and looked cautiously at Hugo. Armed men were not the norm in these areas.
 
Hugo let his weapon fall to his side.
 

“Do not be alarmed,” said the old man.
 
“This is Captain Werner, a guard leader sent down here to protect us.
 
Evidently we are under attack.”
 
The two technicians seemed to relax a bit.
 
“What do you need?” asked the old man.
 

“Sir, number four turbine is due for maintenance next week,” started one of the technicians.
 
“I wonder if we can begin some of the preliminary work this afternoon.
 
It would put us ahead of schedule.”
 

“Fine idea,” said the old man beaming.
 
“See, my staff is on top of everything.”
 
The technicians both smiled at Hugo and then turned and headed back down the far steps to a gantry way two floors below.
 
Hugo smiled back without saying a word.
 

Hugo decided to make his move.
 
“Sir, I’m afraid I must go down to the lower levels now to check out the security.
 
Do you want to accompany me?”
 
Hugo hoped the old man would just stay up here.