Authors: Christopher Forrest
Tags: #Science Fiction & Fantasy, #Science Fiction, #Adventure
Savage Bay (16 page)
OPS CENTER, ABOARD THE ALAMIRANTA
Quiz eyed the enemy submarine on the flat-screen to the right of his station.
“Troops moving from the sub into Savage Bay,” said Quiz. “Approximately twenty commandos, fully armed.”
“Did you hear that, Mr. Hawke?” said Mrs. Caine.
“Affirmative,” said Hawkeye. “I imagine they’ll be coming through the cargo bay. That should buy us some time.”
* They could be going
anywhere
in the base. So many places to hide. Or die. Savage Bay is a real hell. *
You’re right. Not terribly optimistic, but right.
“Tracking their movements,” said Quiz.
“Another interesting development is showing on my instruments,” Touchdown said.
“Your developments have been decidedly negative,” remarked Mrs. Caine.
“As is this one,” said Touchdown. “I’m showing a radiation leak from the aft section of the sub. Only twenty-five rads, which is pretty harmless.”
“Is that why Dragons are leaving the ship?” asked Caine. “Is the leak perhaps more serious
inside
the ship?”
“Unknown. The Chinese may simply be venting a small amount of nuclear material from their reactor. Could be standard operating procedure.”
“Until further notice,” Caine said, “no operating procedure at Savage Bay will be regarded as standard. Take extreme caution, Hawkeye.”
Laughter came through the speaker.
“Extreme is what Titan does best,” said Hawkeye.
* The man has a point *
He always does.
TITAN SIX, SAVAGE BAY
“Where’s the passageway up into the mountain, Nigel?” Hawkeye was eager to find Dominique Caine.
“It should be within five meters of us,” the IT specialist replied.
“Look for a utility closet of some kind,” advised Cruz. “Anything from janitorial to storage to an electrical station.”
“There’s an ordinary wooden door right in front of us,” said Tank. “No keypad. Just a knob.”
The door read:
CIRCUITS 100-150
CAUTION
HIGH VOLTAGE
“Try it,” said Cruz.
Shooter opened the door, rushed into the room, assault rifle lowered. “Empty.”
Surprisingly, the electrical station had a back door — and it was wide open.
“An invitation?” asked Gator.
“If it is, we’re accepting,” said Hawkeye. “Let’s go. There’s company come late to the party down in the cargo bay.”
Hawkeye in the lead, the team entered the passageway, which sloped upwards at a thirty-degree angle. Long, broad steps were spaced ten feet apart. Light bulbs protected by wire mesh weakly illuminated the passage. The team advanced twenty yards up the gradual incline.
“Look out, Hawkeye!” cried Touchdown. “They’re everywhere!”
OPS CENTER, ABOARD THE ALAMIRANTA
“Red avatars!” said Touchdown. “Now entering the angled passageway from several rooms and smaller corridors. Talk about hornets swarming from a nest!”
The renewed holographic display clearly showed Chinese forces converging on Titan Six.
“The Americans must have had one hell of a contingent here decades ago,” said Cruz. “So many rooms.”
No one responded to her remarks. All eyes were fixed on Touchdown’s flat-screen display.
TITAN SIX, SAVAGE BAY
Commandos emerged into the passageway in front of Titan Six — and behind.
Gator, Pyro, and Madison wheeled around and commenced firing.
Shooter, Tank, Hawkeye, and Battenford fired straight ahead.
“Crossfire’s a bitch!” called Pyro.
Eighteen Dragons opened up fire in the passageway. Nine commandoes - three lines with three soldiers each — fired with savage determination from the front; nine more attacked from the rear.
The sound of gunfire was deafening in the confined space. At Savage Bay, it was midnight on New Year’s Eve, and the Chinese soldiers were attempting to ring in an unholy New Year with deadly force.
“I’m hit!” cried Madison.
“Everybody drop on the count of three!” Hawkeye yelled.
The Dragons advanced. The first line of three in both the front and rear fell, dead in their booted tracks.
“One, two, three!” Hawkeye cried. “Now!”
The Dragons kept firing straight ahead, taking out the next line of their own forces on either side.
“Keep firing!” ordered Hawkeye.
Gator had time to swing his SAW into position and sprayed the last three Dragons with a barrage of deadly steel. Their arms flailed like out-of-control puppets. Blood spattered everywhere.
Ahead, flowers of blood also bloomed in a dozen different spots on Dragon uniforms as a hundred bullets ripped through their bodies.
The acrid smell of gunfire filled the passageway. Shell casings rolled down the inclined steps in the eerie silence that suddenly hovered within the passage.
“Touchdown,” said Hawkeye. “Can we get up now?”
Silence.
“Touchdown?”
“Yeah, Hawkeye. You can get up. I show no other avatars.”
“You okay, Madison?” asked Hawkeye.
“They got me in the shoulder.”
“I’ve been hit in the same leg again,” Pyro said, staggering to his feet.
“Releasing additional pain killers and antibiotics into Pyro’s bloodstream,” Touchdown announced. “Extra clotting factor as well.”
Shooter shrugged as she shouldered her assault weapon.
Tank glanced at her nonchalance.
Shooter grinned. “Scenario forty-seven in Shotgun Alley.”
“But does Chantal get a bedtime story every night?” asked Tank.
“I’m a
good
mama,” Shooter said, pointing a finger at her comrade.
“That you are,” admitted Tank, smiling.
***
“Let’s find out what’s so special about this passageway,” said Hawkeye.
The team searched several rooms, most being living quarters. Up ahead, however, was a high-tech lab with stainless steel walls.
“Good Lord!” uttered Madison.
On wall-mounted plasma screens and holographic displays like the one in Ops, the iconic, spiraling double helix ladders for
“Did you know about this lab, Dr. Madison?” asked Hawkeye.
“No. This is an unwelcome revelation to me.”
Battenford examined one of the computers. “These aren’t even connected to the off-grid network I spoke of a few minutes ago. Only to the mainframe on Level One.”
“Aim your helmet cams at those screens,” said an excited Dr. Ambergris. “We need to record this.”
Thirty seconds later, every screen in the lab went dark.
Replacing the double helixes was the image of Commander Saturo Aiko. Her lifeless round eyes stared at the team, appearing to see nothing and yet everything.
“No peeking,” Aiko said in flawless English.
She smiled, the white scar on her cheek forming a distorted C-shape. “You’re outnumbered, Titan Six. I advise you to lay down your arms.”
“Why don’t you go f — ”
The voice of Hawkeye broke off abruptly. The screens went totally blank.
OPS CENTER, ABOARD THE ALAMIRANTA
“Radiation level now at 100 rads,” Touchdown said. “If the radiation goes no higher and spreads slowly, then Titan probably won’t be affected.”
“
Probably
is not a word I can live with,” Caine said.
“The two guards below the conning tower are no longer there,” Quiz said.
“The sub’s systems are becoming operational,” Touchdown said. “The entire aft section is emitting an electromagnetic signature that matches that of a submarine about to put out to sea.”
Quiz leaned back in his chair, hands clasped behind his head. “I don’t see how it can go anywhere with that steel door clamping its tail. Maybe the internal systems are operational because the Chinese are trying to purge the sub of radiation.”
“Stay on top if it,” Caine said. “We don’t know
what
they’re up to.”
“Except that they’re loading gear through a hatch behind the conning tower,” said Quiz, pointing to his screen.
Five Dragons were boarding the sub, each carrying large leather bags.
“I’ll lay money that they’re carrying Genesis data,” Ambergris stated.
“Not a bet I would take,” said Caine.
TITAN SIX, SAVAGE BAY
The door to the lab slid shut.
“Swipe your card, Doctor,” said Hawkeye. “Let’s get out of here.”
Madison made the swipe, but the door didn’t budge. He tried it a second time with the same result. He manually punched keys on the pad’s number grid, but the door was immovable.
“We’ve been locked in,” said Tank.
“I think we’re in a spot of trouble,” declared Battenford.
Hawkeye rolled his eyes.
“Ops, is there any other way out of the lab?” Hawkeye asked.
“Checking,” said Touchdown.
A moment elapsed. Then another.
“Negative, Titan Six,” said Touchdown.
“Let me blast that sucker,” said Gator.
“Have at it,” said Hawkeye. “Everybody else move to the side and get behind a counter.”
Gator opened up his M249. The door’s interior was slightly pitted at the end of sixty seconds.
“That door should be in fragments,” Hawkeye said, his ears ringing.
Tank approached the door. “I think it’s made of some kind of titanium alloy.”
“This is obviously no ordinary lab,” said Madison. “Whatever was on those screens must have been tantamount to the Holy Grail of Genesis research.”
“In other words,” said Hawkeye, “somebody left you out of the loop.”
Madison nodded. “My guess would be Dr. Boren. It appears even Dominique was in the dark.”
“Radiation levels have risen, Mr. Hawke,” came the voice of Mrs. Caine.
“Get back to us when you have some
good
news,” Hawkeye said.
There was silence in the team’s helmet COM systems.
Complete silence.
OPS CENTER, ABOARD THE ALAMIRANTA
Caine turned to Cruz.
“Any ideas?”
The lovely Isabella reached behind her head and bunched her long black hair into a ponytail. She then rubbed her face with the palms of her hands and sighed. “Some of the more important rooms left out of the blueprints had sophisticated ventilation systems so equipment wouldn’t overheat. These systems would be serviceable only from the room’s exterior.”
“I’m not showing anything outside that room,” Touchdown said.
“I’m talking about a ladder attached to the rock wall,” Cruz said. “Too many metallic ores in the mountain’s outcropping. A ladder wouldn’t be visible to any imaging outside the room.”
“They need to make a hole in the lab’s rear wall,” said DJ.
“We copy,” said Hawkeye.
“If there’s no ladder,” said Caine, “my daughter’s life may be forfeited.” She paused. “If she’s not dead already.”
TITAN SIX, SAVAGE BAY
“Feel like ruining a wall?” Hawkeye asked Gator.
“It’s what I live for.”
“Good. Make a small hole several feet to the right of the ventilation grate in the ceiling. If there’s a ladder, we don’t want to pulverize it.”
Gator nodded and held up his SAW as the others once again stepped aside. Gator pulled the trigger, releasing a powerful ten-second burst. A jagged two-foot opening was created in the lab’s rear wall.
Hawkeye moved to the hole and stuck his head and right arm through. He shone a slim but powerful flashlight at the brown, jagged interior of the mountain. The air behind the lab was cool and damp.
“She’s right,” Hawkeye said. “There’s a ladder leading to the top of the lab near the ventilation system. It probably controls the airflow for the entire passageway. But . . . ”
He paused.
“But
what
?” asked Tank.
“The ladder isn’t more than ten to twelve inches wide. And it’s old and rusty. I’m not sure it would hold the weight of one person let alone seven. Plus we’re carrying even more weight when you factor in our gear.”
“Then we go one at a time at intervals of thirty seconds,” Tank said.
“I’m staying behind,” Pyro said.
“The hell you are,” Hawkeye said emphatically.
“I’ve been hit in the leg twice,” Pyro countered. “I’m mobile thanks to the BioMEMS, but that doesn’t mean I can handle a ladder.”
“Well, you’re going to have to try,” Hawkeye said. “As a former Marine, I still adhere to Corps’ principles: no one gets left behind.”
“He’ll have to go first,” reasoned Tank. “Should he . . . um . . . you know, slip or something, then he could fall on the rest of us.”
Hawkeye nodded. “Agreed.”
The order of descent was determined: Pyro, Shooter, Tank, Madison, Battenford, Gator, and Hawkeye.
Ten minutes later, all team members plus Battenford and Madison were hanging precariously to a ladder mounted against the reddish-brown rock inside Es Vedra.
Using the strength of his hands and one leg, Pyro let himself down slowly and carefully one rung at a time. He didn’t slip.
It was Dr. Madison who lost his grip. He held on by one hand as his body swung to the right, crashing into rock.
The ladder vibrated, the right railing dipping three inches. It had become partially dislodged from the mountain.
86
th
FLOOR, JIN MAO TOWER, SHANGHAI,
Admiral Chen Hwai-su stood before the desk of Li Soo Yang.
“I take it you have something to report, Admiral?”
“Yes.”
The Admiral was short but muscular. He stood in full dress uniform, his hat removed, revealing a bald scalp.
“Proceed,” said Yang.
“Our missiles are fueled and standing by. We can launch whenever you give the word.”
“Is the second submarine in place?”
“It is currently in the Mediterranean. One bird should suffice to destroy the
Alamiranta
. It will have the electronic signal of a North Korean missile. Torpedoes are available and ready as well.”
Yang nodded. “Catherine Caine would stop at nothing to recover the data we have appropriated from Triad Genomics. It is regrettable but necessary.”
“I concur,” said Hwai-su.
“Our submarine at Savage Bay must first be totally clear of Es Vedra.”
“Naturally.”
Yang looked thoughtfully at the Admiral.
“We will be able to extricate our submarine from Savage Bay, will we not?”
“We’re working on it. There are some complications.”
“Make things uncomplicated, Admiral. And quickly.”
Hwai-su bowed and left the office.
TITAN SIX, SAVAGE BAY
“Stay very still, everyone,” said Hawkeye into his COM mic. “Doctor, regain a two-handed grip and don’t move.”
“Okay.” Madison’s voice drifted up with a slight echo. “But my shoulder is starting to hurt pretty bad.”
The air in the narrow crevice in which the ladder had been secured against the rock felt even colder now that the team had left the temperature-controlled lab. The only illumination in the area came from the helmets of Titan Six members.
“Pyro, how far down does this damn ladder extend?” Hawkeye asked.
“I don’t see the bottom,” Pyro answered. “Could be ten yards — or a hundred and ten.”
“Keep descending,” said Hawkeye. And remember — slow and steady wins the race.”
Pyro, his injured leg angled behind his body, continued to lower himself. Ten second later, Shooter slid carefully down. In turn, each member above her waited ten seconds before moving downwards.
When it was Tank’s turn, he moved down one rung. Suddenly, the rust-covered rung he was standing on broke free from the ladder. The weight of his body pulled him down, and the rung his hands were gripping came free as well.
His body ricocheted against the solid rock beneath the lab and then against the ladder. His hand reached out to grab a rung, but his grip was tenuous. Tank fell farther and slammed against rock. Battenford clawed blindly, his fingers curling around Tank’s wrist as Tank drove his foot forward, landing two rungs below the Brit.
Tank breathed heavily. His forehead was bleeding, his head having been gashed by the unforgiving walls of Es Vedra.
“I’m secure,” Tank said. “Bloody, but secure. Thank God for Dragon Skin.”
“Is everyone else still with us?” Hawkeye asked.
One by one, everyone replied.
“New plan,” announced Hawkeye. “Pyro is going all the way down, or at least until he sees someplace safe where we can get off this ladder. Until then, everyone else stay still.”
Pyro descended into the darkness as the others remained motionless.
Another explosion shook the mountain violently — and the ladder as well.
OPS CENTER, ABOARD THE ALAMIRANTA
“Where is Titan Six?” asked Caine.
“Audio contact only,” Touchdown replied. “They’re outside the complex. Our telemetry can penetrate the mountain, but right now . . . ” He sighed. “Right now, they’re basically one with the mountain.”
* Om. *
It’s not the time or place, my friend.
“Where does this ladder end, people?” Caine said. “Best guess.”
“Level Three,” Quiz said. “If it’s a service ladder, it probably runs the height of the complex.”
“Still, it might be accessible from any of the levels,” offered DJ.
“Touchdown,” said Caine, “where is the main repair facility at Savage Bay?”
“Level Three, but I don’t think the architects intended for a repair crew to climb long distances for repairs or maintenance.”
“Four entries to the ladder,” Cruz said, clapping her hands together at her epiphany. “One for each level and one to the catwalk above Level Two. There’s only one problem.”
“Only one?” said Caine.
“The entries won’t be visible from the ladder,” said Cruz. “Repair crews wouldn’t enter the crevice and seal themselves in. In fact, there’s probably a lighting system for the ladder, but it would only be switched on from the repair center. The entry points to the service ladder are hatchways with metal grips on the
inside
of the complex only.”
“And if Titan Six can’t see them and descends all the way down?”
“They’ll end up in the cargo bay,” said Touchdown.
“With the new contingent of Dragons,” said Caine.
“Exactly.”
TITAN SIX, SAVAGE BAY
Pyro froze as the mountain shook again. The bottom rung of the ladder fell from beneath his feet, but his hands had a firm grip on the ladder. He carefully pulled himself up one rung so that his feet had sure footing again. A clanging noise sounded below him. Aiming his head downwards, his helmet light showed that the ladder had not merely lost another single rung. The entire ladder beneath him had fallen away.
“This is the end of the line,” he said into his mic.
“Explain,” said Hawkeye.
“The ladder’s gone. Snapped right off beneath my feet.”
“Climb back up a few rungs so that your weight isn’t pulling on what is now the bottom of the ladder,” Hawkeye ordered. “There are obviously some structural integrity issues where you are.”
“Roger that.”
Pyro found that ascending the ladder with a wounded thigh was much harder than lowering himself. It called for far greater strength, but the muscular Japanese soldier was up for the challenge.
Six rungs higher, he paused. He smelled fresh air, just as he had in the dark corridor outside the lab on Level One. He inhaled more deeply. A thin stream of air was definitely seeping from the complex. It had a different quality than the damp, cold air in the long crevice.
He removed a flashlight from one of the utility packs on the front of his battle vest.
“I see a square metal shape in the concrete behind me,” Pyro said. “Not very big. About three feet by three feet.”
“It’s a hatch to gain access to the ladder,” Cruz broke in. “You’re probably near Level Two.”
“There’s no handle on this side,” Pyro confirmed.
“The hatch pulls away from the wall from the inside,” said Cruz. “A repairman would first yank down on a handle to retract bolts from the wall and then pull inwards.”
“Do you have a micro-drill in your backpack?” Hawkeye asked.
“Yeah.”
“Try drilling several small holes in a circle to the left of center,” Hawkeye suggested. “Then drill more holes in the circle’s center. Maybe you can punch your way through and grip the handle.”
Twisting his body like a contortionist, Pyro managed to unfasten the left strap of his backpack and then wiggle gently so that the right strap slid down his arm. He secured the pack to the rail of the ladder with a carabiner.
He removed the parts of the micro-drill, assembled them, and began to execute his commander’s orders. This was the hard part. With the ladder attached to the rock, Pyro had to angle his body sideways to drill into the metal hatch behind him. His wounded thigh was beginning to spasm.
The drill bit made no more noise than a droning mosquito. Another question, however, was far more vexing: was anyone inside the complex standing near the hatch, watching metal shavings drop to the floor.
Pyro stopped his task abruptly. Dragons were passing by, speaking rapidly in Chinese.
Their speech grew louder. One of them laughed. They had paused right next to the hatch.
Pyro exhaled, his hands sweating.
Gradually, the voices grew fainter.
Pyro counted to thirty and resumed drilling. Time was not a luxury he could afford. The entire ladder might give way at any minute.
He returned the drill to his backpack. Aiming the light of his helmet cam at the hatch, he made a fist with his right hand and inhaled deeply several times. He had learned the martial arts as a boy in Japan, but nanobot injections had tripled his strength. Forcing all concentration on his fist, he punched hard at the center of the circle he’d made. His hand broke through on the first try. A circle of light twelve inches in diameter illuminated the dark crevice.
Pyro stared through the hole. “I see the chapel straight ahead. Level Two.”
Pyro heard footsteps echoing in the hallway in Savage Bay.
He shut off his flashlight and helmet light, leaving the crevice in complete darkness. He then leaned to his left as far as he could, removing his body from view.
The face of a Dragon appeared just beyond the hole, peering intently through the hatch.