2288: The Skotadian Experiment Read online

  After Moriarty traveled for six miles (10 kilometers) from the pier, he came to a small bridge. He noticed that there was a police barricade on either side of the bridge. While he was standing in the middle of the bridge, he used the binocular function on his visor and looked up and down the river. The river came from the southwest and then ran to the northeast. He also noticed that the river was connected to the other river in the southwest. When he was done he headed back. Moriarty shared all the data that he collected with Wexler. After ninety minutes passed by, both of them decided to go and look for Ellis. After they traveled a little way they caught up to him.

  “What did you find?” Wexler asked Ellis.

  “Nothing but ghosts,” Ellis responded.

  “What do you mean, ‘nothing but ghosts’?” Wexler asked, puzzled by Ellis’ response.

  “Never mind. Let’s just head back to Sanchez and show her what we found,” Ellis said.

  “Don’t you want to see what we found, sir?” Moriarty asked Ellis.

  “Like I said, let’s just head back to Sanchez. Then I’ll take a look at it,” Ellis said.

  All three of them left and headed back to Lieutenant Sanchez. Ellis remained quiet throughout the trip. He appeared to be lost and confused about what he had seen on his search. Four miles south, when Ellis was traveling on that road, he saw a police barricade. Ten feet on the southern side of the barricade was a car with the driver’s side door opened. On the right side of the car was a corpse lying on its stomach. Ellis squatted down, rolled the corpse over, and saw that the person was shot dead. He then stood up, stopped recording, and pressed on. Just behind the car, the road went downhill. Ellis could see that there was a shopping district three miles away. The road that he was on was near the coast. Then for the next two miles (3.2 kilometers) the road went through a forest. Over the next four miles (6.4 kilometers) the dead-end road curved to the southwest and ended at the shopping district.

  When Ellis got to the shopping district he saw a scene straight from a horror movie. Cars that were either shot up or burned. Human remains scattered everywhere. Blood stains on the streets and on the walls of buildings. An orange powder (he collected some of it) on the streets where the rain didn’t wash it away. It looked like a war zone; a killing field.

  Ellis then noticed that only a few of the corpses were armed. None were police officers or any type of security personnel. The place looked like someone came in and try to kill everyone from both the ground and sky. One person appeared to have shot him/herself in the head. While Ellis was walking around and recording what he was seeing, he started to notice something. Although everybody was being murdered in cold blood, nobody was panicking. Baffled, confused, and tired from walking in a bio-suit in hot weather, he went to sit down on a park bench that was nearby.

  There was a corpse on the bench that he was sitting on. From the looks of its clothing it must have been a woman. In her left arm was the corpse of an infant. The infant had a rope tied around its neck. In the woman’s right hand she held a knife that she’d used to stab herself in the chest. The skull of the woman was turned to the right with its jaw open. It gave Ellis the impression that it was looking at him. He then tried to turn its head away from him, but the skull fell off. He bent down, said that he was sorry, and put it in the lap of the corpse. After he finished resting, he headed back to the pier.

  When Ellis, Wexler, and Moriarty were halfway across the waterway, they took off their bio-suits. When they got to the boat house they met up with Ramirez.

  “What did you guys find over there?” Sanchez asked.

  “Sir, ma’am, it’s best for both of you to look at the video of what we saw,” Ellis said.

  “Why?” Ramirez asked.

  “Because it looks like something must have driven the people insane,” Ellis said under his breath.

  Both Ramirez and Sanchez looked at the video. When they were done, Ramirez told them to get something to eat and get some rest because he wanted them to go back and do more recon.

  (4)

  Before Ellis, Wexler, and Moriarty left to head back across the river, Lieutenant Hayes returned and informed everyone that the ground where Venito lost her quad-walker was so saturated that there was a landslide, and the quad-walker was lost. He then informed them that, although he and those who he was with looked for a way down, there was no safe way for anyone to get down the embankment. Trying their best to contact Galactic Prime on several occasions to inform them of their situation, the team was only met with static each time. Demoralized, they decided to continue on with their mission.

  While riding on the bicycles that they had found earlier, Ellis, Wexler, and Moriarty quickly headed to the port to check out the vessel that Martinez saw earlier. It was there that they found a car that they could use. Once at the port, they went straight to the vessel and learned that they would not be able to load the quad-walkers onto it. They also found some Intel that one of the Special Forces had left behind for them. It stated that there was a laboratory 41 miles (66 kilometers) from where they were. They then left to head there with Moriarty doing the driving. Once there, they had no trouble in getting inside since no one was there. Moriarty then led them to the main computer room. When they got there, Moriarty just stood there for a long time.

  “What’s the matter?” Wexler asked Moriarty.

  “Nothing sir,” Moriarty said under his breath. He then opened a panel that bypassed the computer’s security software. He then did something which caused the computer’s AI to activate.

  “Illegal activity detected. You have twenty seconds to put in your access code or security will be sent to your location,” the male computer voice said.

  Moriarty then did something to the computer. When he was done he turned around and looked at both Ellis and Wexler as if he would never see them again. He went over to the computer console and started to hack it.

  “Private First Class Moriarty, Philip R. Canadian. Access granted. Welcome,” the male computer voice said. Five seconds later an alarm went off.

  “Alert! I am not able to access your file, PFC. Moriarty. Please correct,” the male computer voice said. After it said that three times, another alarm went off.

  “I will now attempt to contact the TIA starbase for your file. Please wait,” the male computer voice said.

  While the computer’s AI was saying all of that, Moriarty was trying his best to download all the information on that orange powder and stop the AI from contacting the starbase. But it wasn’t easy not by a long shot. It was actually far more difficult than normal.

  “This is Sayaka Omori. Who re-activated you?” Ellis, Wexler, and Moriarty heard over the computer’s intercom system. When Ellis and Wexler heard her name it put the fear of god in them. It turned Moriarty’s face white with dread.

  “PFC. Moriarty. Philip R. Canadian,” the male computer voice said.

  “One moment please,” Omori said to the computer.

  “Video uplink requested,” a female computer voice said. It repeated it until Moriarty activated the uplink. When he did, they saw Omori on the video screen.

  “PFC. Moriarty. What team are you with? I know that you are no longer with us anymore. And I know what you are trying to download. Answer my question and I will be merciful,” Omori said.

  “I’m with Task Force ZH-3C ma’am,” Moriarty said with a knot in his throat.

  “Who’s the captain?” Omori asked.

  “The Wol’ga’con Vaistll Adnrwal ma’am,” Moriarty said, deeply scared and trembling with fear at the thought of who she was and who she was with.

  “Oh, her. Yeah, you can go ahead and download that. But it won’t do you any good.” Omori laughed and disconnected the video uplink.

  “Access granted to file: Dragonfly number 0968,” the male computer voice said.

  Moriarty was then able to completely download the file. Although neither one of them were in any real danger, they got out of there as fast as they could. They then quickl
y headed back to their car.

  “Where do you want to go sir?” Moriarty asked Ellis.

  “Take us back to the pier. Then I’ll make my decision. In the meantime I’m going to look through this file to see what we are dealing with,” Ellis mentioned.

  Several yards before they reached the bridge, Ellis told Moriarty to stop the car. He then told them that the orange powder would only kill the Dragonfly virus and an infected host. Ellis also said that the last remaining traces of the Dragonfly virus had been calculated to have been eliminated about sixteen weeks ago, plus or minus two weeks. The three of them then took off their bio-suits.

  “Let’s go to the port and get that boat,” Ellis said.

  Moriarty then took them to the port. Neither one of them spoke for the remainder of the trip. When they got to the port, they boarded a cargo ship and headed back to base camp. In some small way, they were glad that Bryce had those suits packed.

  (5)

  As soon as Ellis could, he told Vaistll, Ramirez, and Taylor about Omori. It sent a chill down their spine. Nevertheless, they knew that they had to keep going. Besides, they knew that sooner or later the Hammer of Doom would return. They just didn’t expect for it to return so soon. But then they started to think about Galactic Prime and how they couldn’t contact them. The more they thought about that, the more they realized that if they could still pick up a signal from the ship, the Marines in all likelihood did not surrender. Unless Lenkov and Omori were trying to set a trap for them. But even that didn’t make any sense. It wasn’t like either one of them to do something like that. They’re on the Hammer of Doom for crying out loud! So why in the universe would they feel compelled to do something that they considered to be so low? It wasn’t like them to do that. What if Lenkov and Omori were ordered to do it? No dice there.

  On four occasions they said no to Dark Core. They were the only couple, let alone individuals, to ever do that. So why obey an order that they knew was not necessary for them to do, because they correctly saw it as an overkill? Vaistll, Ramirez, and Taylor were just too deeply perplexed about everything. Omori and her reaction, not being able to contact Galactic Prime, the fate of Colonel McIntyre. The three of them had a lot of thinking to do on the vessel as they were heading to the nearest point in relation to the laboratory.

  Once they arrived at their destination, Ellis, Wexler, and Moriarty wanted to check out a security building that was nearby. They would have done this the last time that they were there, it was just that seeing, and knowing, that Omori was there was too much for them to have thought about. In effect, they lost their cool, and they knew it. After receiving permission, they left and took their sweet time in responding to what they found. It was as if they were lost in a world into themselves, and no one could enter. Not even time itself. Fearing that they may be lost, or worse, captured, Ramirez was fixing to send someone out to find them when they finally heard from them.

  “Hey! I found weapons and . . . ammo! Enough for five teams! Who’s the man!?” Ellis shouted out when he got back. No one could believe him. At least not until they saw him holding a Skotadian weapon in his hand.

  “Well, what the? I can’t believe it,” Vaistll said in complete disbelief.

  Twenty-three minutes later they got another big break. “Ma’am, I got Galactic Prime on the radio!” Trivelli almost shouted out of joy.

  “Mad Dawg, you were starting to worry me. Is there something wrong? I’ve been trying to contact you but to no avail,” Vaistll said to him.

  “No. Nothing is wrong. Don’t worry about us. We’ve just been having some problems with our communications,” Mad Dawg responded. It was obvious that he was under stress and he didn’t want to talk to her.

  “We still haven’t found Colonel McIntyre, and although we lost a quad-walker that was carrying some of our weapons and ammo, we just found some Skotadian ones,” Vaistll said, hoping to cheer him up.

  “Well I’m glad to hear that. Look, I’ve got to go and fix this . . . um . . . problem that we’ve been having.”

  “Oh. What type of problem?”

  “What the fuck just happened?” Mad Dawg said to one of his Marines.

  “Sir, it’s the Comman. . .” The Marine was saying. Galactic Prime discontinued the call. Or was it their little so-called problem that did it?

  “Mad Dawg? Galactic Prime? Can you hear me?” Vaistll was saying.

  “Ma’am, I’m getting a communicational error message,” Trivelli informed her.

  “What kind of error message?”

  “Significant disruption within their communications that meant either they are under attack, or the ship was destroyed by space garbage or rocks.”

  “What!? Oh my god. What’s going on up there?” Vaistll said, in shock and disbelief. She had to call both Ramirez and Taylor in to get their opinions. She got the obvious response from both of them. It was one that she knew had to be the truth, but she needed to hear it from them. Would Lenkov and/or Omori do something like that? The response from both of them is a resounding no. Lenkov and Omori have the Hammer of Doom, so why would they need to knock out the communications of Galactic Prime, when just the sight of the ship was all that was needed to chase away the Marine ship? No, the only person who would do it is Colonel Blackburn.

  The Coldest of Revenge

  (1)

  “Unknown Marine dropship, this is the Hammer of Doom. State your intentions or be destroyed,” the Ensign informed the dropship.

  “I’m on a secret mission for Colonel Blackburn. I will now put in my SIN,” the Dragon Clone informed the Ensign.

  “Your SIN has been accepted, but you still need to dock with our ship. Do not disobey us. Comply immediately.”

  “I will dock with your ship.”

  The Dragon Clone was taken to the bridge’s conference room to be debriefed by Lenkov, Omori, and Captain Maxwell. They needed the Intel on his mission so as to enlighten them on what Colonel Blackburn was up to. Whatever he was up to could not be discerned from the debriefing, but they now had confirmation that it was linked up to the unknown weapon within Ishtar’s atmosphere. What’s more, this weapon would be used against the Hammer of Doom. And Galactic Prime was the bait. That was confirmed by the Dragon Clone, insisting that the weapon would be used against the Marine ship.

  Confronted by the Intel that Lenkov, Omori (in terms of the nature of the hacks and the software that was downloaded into Galactic Prime), and Captain Maxwell had, the Dragon Clone realized that he was being used by a possible traitor. Giving his, along with all the other Dragon Clones’ support, he would now take orders directly from the Hammer of Doom. With him out of the way, Lenkov and Omori worked out the next course that must be taken in order for their plan to work.

  (2)

  Both Blue and Green Team had just left on foot after they ate breakfast. They wanted to get a head start on what would be a long trip. And they didn’t want to be caught by the enemy at night while on foot. They would rather be at some type of a base camp. Having to reprogram the light-rail (it didn’t want to take them to their destination), they traveled for no more than 14 miles (22.5 kilometers) before the train came to a stop. The track was destroyed, and they couldn’t get the train to back up and head back to their base camp. Leave it to Sanchez, the one that they didn’t like, to figure it out.

  “So what are we going to do now ma’am?” Coté asked.

  “Sprout wings and fly over there,” Sanchez responded in her typical way.

  “You mean we came all this way for nothing?” Kaminski asked.

  “So why weren’t we told that it would lead to a waterway, ma’am?” Nakada asked Sanchez, fearing her typical response.

  “Because Mad Dawg hung up on the captain before she could ask him,” Sanchez said to him. He was kind of relieved that she didn’t respond in her typical manner.

  “So why don’t we just climb over and then cross on the tracks ma’am? We do have the equipment, and besides, it’s faster than going back ju
st to get a boat,” Sanders asked.

  “Not a bad idea. Alright get on it.” Sanchez ordered them.

  Both teams got across without incidence. They also radioed back to base that the track was destroyed. When they got across the waterway, they noticed that it was a junction with one line heading north. Sanchez decided to take that route instead of the western route. The track traveled four miles (6.4 kilometers) along the coastline before coming to terminal with another track that headed west. What really got their attention was a road that led to a small military outpost.

  “Martinez,” Sanchez called out to him.

  “Yes ma’am.”

  “Check for any activity at that outpost and the surrounding areas.”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  He left the terminal and then sliced-the-pie[12]. He didn’t notice any activity, so he traveled up the road which headed north along the coast. It then headed northeast for 2.5 miles (4 kilometers).

  “What the hell is taking him so long?” Sanchez said out loud after forty-five minutes.

  “Ma’am, do you want to send someone up there and look for him?” Nakada asked.

  “Give him fifteen more minutes.”

  “Coast is clear ma’am. Head north along the road,” Martinez said after two minutes over the radio.

  When they got close enough, they noticed a small abandoned military base. While they were searching the base, they noticed that the Special Forces had already taken care of the base and any Skotadian forces.

  “What do you want to do now ma’am?” Nakada asked.

  “It’s getting late. So let’s just set up camp here. At the break of dawn I want you and Green Team to explore the surrounding area. If you see the enemy, do not, I repeat do not engage them. I only want to know what’s out there in case the captain wants to move the base camp here. And don’t travel no more than one day’s journey,” Sanchez ordered Nakada.