Mission Origin View (Final Days Trilogy) (19 page)

Buru cut the communication link and
thought. Is Dr. Kastriva’s disappearance linked to the Earthers? Surely not, the envoy team just escaped…unless…unless…the Earthers are somehow in contact and working with the resistance. Yes, he reasoned. The resistance has Kastriva, and this Earther so-called envoy team has been a distraction. His evil grin returned at the thought of having more poor souls to torture once they were all captured.

Combat Control Center, SRS
Stephen Hawking

1835
—February 21, 2372

“
Captain, Stephen has updates from the S-TIC,” Ensign Young reported.

“
What are the updates, Stephen?” Mary asked.

“
Captain, intercepted communications are reporting Doctor Kastriva missing, and his guards were killed. Also, the envoy team is attempting an escape,” Stephen answered.

“
Ensign
Young, contact Sergeant Tidwell. Advise him of the envoy team’s escape and have him relay the message to Captain
Neubauer,” Mary ordered.

“
Yes, sir,”
Ensign
Young said as he prepared to send the message.

“
We’ve created some excitement down there,” Mary said with a grin. “Let’s see how the CTU is going to react.”

“
Stephen, have you completed our escape scenarios?” Mary asked.

“
Yes, Captain. I’ve formulated forty-two escape plans based on all possible situations that may be occurring when you order the ship to leave the system,” Stephen answered.

Marine Extract Team, Canton Mie Biosphere

1840
—February 21, 2372

The extract t
eam was approximately half way to the breach when Captain
Neubauer received the encrypted burst message from Tidwell. Sending a halt chime, the team
stopped in an alley and hid behind a garbage container.
Neubauer disabled his armor’s camouflage and took off his helmet. The other team members did the same. Dr. Kastriva sat, breathing hard, trying to catch his breath while he looked at the faces of his rescuers.

“
I was just informed that the envoy team has escaped, and we’ll assume they’ll make their way to the breach point,” Neubauer whispered to his marines and then added. “Doctor, are you all right?”

“
Yes, I’m fine,” Kastriva answered between breaths. “Where are we going?”

“
We’re headed for a VTOL that’ll take us to an orbiting ship,” Neubauer said.

“
Why did you come for me?” Kastriva asked.

“
Again Doctor, all your questions will be answered on the ship. My responsibility is to get you there,” Neubauer said with a smile.

“
Gunny, when we reach the breach, set up a defensive perimeter while we wait for the envoy team. I’ll have Kindle
take Doctor
Kastriva
to
Bernice
while we wait. If we run into any trouble that we can’t handle, Tidwell can leave with the doctor and pick us up later,”
Neubauer said as he looked at Xia.

“
Yes, sir,” Xia said.

“
Okay, let’s get to the breach,” Neubauer said.

The team
placed their helmet’s back on and disappeared. 

Science Division Building, Canton Mie Biosphere

1845
—
February 21, 2372

“
Kill you?” Gideon asked the guard. “What’re you talking about?”

“
Not actually kill me but make it
look like
you’ve killed me,” the guard said, then pulled her helmet off.

Gideon was right
, the guard was a woman.

She
began to explain. “I’ve wanted to join the GFF for years, but I knew if I just deserted, the CTU would kill my family in retaliation. If you could help stage my death, I could join the GFF, and my family will be left alone.”

“
I’m not following you. What is the GFF?” Gideon asked.

“
It’s the
Gliese
Freedom Fighters resistance movement. It’s now planet wide, and this is my chance to join without harming my family,” she answered.

As she spoke, Gideon noted the young woman
’s dark hair and fair complexion. He mulled over what she was saying and then asked, “If I agree, how can you help us?”

“
I can get you a change of clothes and out of this building,” she answered.

“
Agreed, but I suggest you not double-cross me or…” Gideon raised the weapon higher toward her head.

“
I’ll help you. Don’t worry,” she answered as she used her right hand to push the muzzle of the weapon away from her head.

“
What about your friend I knocked out?” Gideon asked.

“
He’s a loyal CTU subject,” she said with disgust. “I suggest you tie him up and leave him. We need to get out of here fast.”

Gideon turned to Commander Steward and
asked, “Commander, could you find something to use to tie up the other guard after you’ve finished putting his armor on?”

“
Already taken care of, Lieutenant,” Commander Steward said with a smile.

“
Where to, Sergeant?” Gideon turned back to the guard.

“
There’s a maintenance room further down the hall. I can disable all the alarms from there. Then we can make our way out undetected. And, by the way, I’m Staff Sergeant Thompson…Carrie Thompson.”

Seconds later, Commander Steward was wearing the other guard
’s armor and was ready to go. Dr. Harper and Dr. Jones were on their feet—in shock but ready. “Lead the way,” Gideon told Carrie.

Carrie led them down the hall
, and before she rounded a corner, she stopped and said in a whisper, “The maintenance room is right around the corner, and there’s a surveillance camera over the entrance. I suggest you push me around a bit in an attempt to make me open the door. When I refuse, hit me in the head with the weapon, blast the door open, and take out the surveillance camera.”

“
With pleasure,” Gideon said.

The envoy t
eam rounded the corner, and Gideon shoved Carrie toward the door. “Open the door!” Gideon demanded.

“
No!” she replied.

Gideon used the butt of his weapon and struck her on the jaw. She fell to the floor as blood began flowing from her mouth
. “Open the door, or I’ll kill ya” Gideon said as he pointed the weapon at her head.

“
You’ll have to kill me, Earther; I won’t open it!” she replied and then spat blood.

Gideon turned around in an instant, blasted the door open
, and then destroyed the surveillance camera over the door.

“
Was that too hard?” Gideon asked Carrie as he reached down to help her up.

“
No, that was about right,” she said as she wiped blood from her mouth with an armored hand and stood. She then entered the maintenance room, followed by Gideon and the rest of the envoy team.

“
There are standard uniforms in that locker,” Carrie said. She then pointed at a small locker in the corner of the room and sat down at a communications console.

“
I can disable all the building alarms and monitoring systems from here,” she said as she began working.

Gideon watched as a display indicated systems being turned off floor by floor. Meanwhile Commander Steward had
Dr. Harper and Dr. Jones slip the standard gray CTU citizen uniforms over their blue mission uniforms. As soon as they had finished, the commander grabbed another gray uniform and threw it to Gideon. Gideon slipped the gray jumpsuit on as he continued watching Carrie work.

“
Her hair is too long, and she can’t wear those glasses,” Carrie said as she looked at Dr. Jones over the console display. Using her right hand, Carrie reached behind her neck, pushed her hand under her armor, and pulled out a knife. She gave it to Gideon.

Gideon smiled as he took the knife and passed it to Commander Steward.

“I’d at least like my knife back after you’re done with it,” Carrie requested.

“
Sure,” Gideon answered, now trusting her a little more.

“
You heard what the guard said. We’ve got to cut your hair so you’ll blend in with the CTU population,” Commander Steward said as Dr. Jones resisted him by taking a few steps back.

“
Please, Heli, let him cut your hair,” Dr. Harper begged.

She stepped forward and closed her eyes. The
commander used the knife and quickly cut her hair to the standard shoulder length of all CTU women.

D
r. Jones then took off her pair of glasses and put them in a pocket. She squinted a bit in an attempt to adjust her vision. 

“The alarms and surveillance systems are off. Follow me,” Carrie said as she stood.

“
In a minute,” Gideon said as he sat at the communications console. “I want to send a message to my ship and set up a diversion that’ll help us get away.”

“
We don’t have time for this. I’ll have to give you access codes and…,” Carrie replied but saw that Gideon was already on the CTU communications network and quickly accessing all types of systems.

“
He’s some kind of genius,” Commander Steward explained with a smile as he offered Carrie’s knife back to her.

“
If you say so,” she responded as she took the knife and placed it back in its sheath in the armor behind her neck.

Gideon first sent an encrypted message to the vigilante S
-TIC he had planted earlier. He commanded it to send a secure message to the
Stephen Hawking
, stating that the envoy team was headed to the breach points for extraction. They would start with the closest first. Gideon then programmed the S-TIC to send false CTU security messages that the escaping team had been spotted on their way back to their VTOL at the spaceport. Recalling the drive from the spaceport to the CTU building, Gideon selected the street name and building he recalled from memory as he programmed their decoy escape route that would be reported. In fact, the team would be headed in the other direction to the first of the possible breach points.

“
Okay, done,” Gideon said a minute later and turned to Carrie. “Let’s go.”

Carrie put her helmet
on and began to lead the team out of the building. Gideon followed closely behind her, holding the weapon to her back. He didn’t fully trust her yet.

Carrie walked down corridors toward the center of the building. They soon reached
a small hatch located on a center wall of the seventeenth floor. She moved her right forearm, which contained an access chip, over a scanner embedded in the wall beside the hatch. The small hatch slid open. “This is a communications cable maintenance-access hatch. The cables run down to the basement of the building.” Carrie said.

Gideon stuck his head in the hatch and looked down; small
biochem light p
anels
spaced every few meters gave just enough light to see the cables. Gideon noted a ladder running parallel to the cables. It would be a tight fit, but it looked like they’d be able to use it to get to the bottom floor.

“
Lead the way, Sergeant,” Gideon said as he motioned Carrie to enter the hatch.

Marine Extract Team, Canton Mie Biosphere

1900—February 21, 2372

The extract t
eam made it to the biosphere breach without being detected. Xia immediately deployed Gault and Manelly into defensive positions as Captain
Neubauer
materialized, took his helmet off, and helped Dr. Kastriva into an environmental suit.

“
Doctor, I’m going to open the breach. I’ll close it as soon as you’re in, and one of my men outside the biosphere will take you to a waiting VTOL. Do you understand?”
Neubauer asked as the doctor seemed confused again.

“
Yes, I think so,” Kastriva answered.
 

Neubauer sealed the
doctor’s
environmental
suit, opened the breach hatch, and helped him in. As soon as he was in, Neubauer closed the hatch behind the doctor. “Kindle?” Neubauer transmitted on the platoon channel.

“
Sir?” Sergeant Kindle responded from outside the biosphere.

“
Doctor Kastriva is in the breach. Get him out and take him to
Bernice
. As soon as he’s secure, take off his environmental suit and bring it back; we’ll need it to get the envoy team to
Bernice
.”