The Cross of Mithras Vol. 1: EOD Operation Welcome to Hell (60 page)

  Sanders spent the good part of the day looking for anything that could ID the fallen Marines and/or the Special Forces. He felt like he owed it to them. When he was finished he looked for a place to eat and get some needed sleep.

  When Sanders woke up he immediately left and traveled on the only road going south. The road that he was on led him to a suspension bridge. Part of the bridge was destroyed by something (most likely a drop-ship). Sanders made a recording saying that he was okay and that he was going to go back to the military base and look for something to assist him in crossing the bridge. He then took the PDA and threw it across the gap in the bridge.

  After Sanders found what he was looking for he returned back to the bridge. When he got there he saw White Team coming up on the other side of the bridge. He then raised up his laser rifle over his head and waited for them.

  After White Team helped him to get across the gap, Sanders told them what had happened and what he had found. They then told him that Coté was fine and what Venito did.

  “You mean she lost all of our weapons and ammo?” Sanders asked them.

  “Just enough for two teams.” Cole mentioned.

  “So what are we supposed to do then? Throw our shoes at them?” Sanders asked.

  “Did you find any weapons and ammo?” Liebowitz asked Sanders.

  “No sir. There’s nothing over there except for the remains of a battle that was fought long ago. Let’s just get back to base. I just want to call it a day.” Sanders said.

  “Alright. Let’s go then.” Liebowitz said. And with that they all left.

(8)

  Task Force ZH-3C (minus White Team) was quite stunned and surprised when they saw Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty showed up in that cargo ship. Ellis was standing at the bow smiling really big. Wexler was piloting the ship and Moriarty was assisting him. When they got to the pier, Kaminski along with Van Hoven and Anderson, assisted in securing the ship to the pier.

  “Can we deliver or what? Hey y’ll… whose the man? Come on now… whose the man?” Ellis said with a big smile.

  “You guys are. Hey… where did you guys find that ship?” Coté asked.

  “What this ol’ thing? Ah we found it abandoned.” Ellis then looked at Ramirez and said. “Hey sir… why don’t you come on board and take a look at this beautiful ship. And she is beautiful might I add. She can get us across this waterway without trouble. No headaches, no bull… just love. So how ‘bout coming on board sir?”

  Ellis was trying to get Ramirez to come on board so that he could tell him in private that both Lenkov and Omori is on that starbase. He didn’t want to say anything out loud because he knew how it would effect everyone. Ellis is the type that when he finds something too important to mention in front of the team he would try to get either Vaistll, Taylor or Ramirez to come with him so that he can tell them in private. Ramirez knew him well enough to know all that.

  “So what was that orange stuff?” Ramirez asked.

  “Noting sir. It helped to kill something called Dragonfly – a virus. We’re all safe from it.” Ellis said.

  “Good work. Each of you. But I want the three of you to stay on board while I go and talk with the Captain and see what she wants to do next.” Ramirez said.

  “Roger.” Ellis said.

  Ramirez went back to the crossroad to talk with Vaistll. She was there with Chief Warrant Officer Chu and Warrant Officer Brewster as they try to figure out a way to have the Quad-Walkers move through the city without damaging anything. They were also trying to figure out a way to move all of their equipment across the waterway.

  “Ma’am I need to talk to you in private.” Ramirez said to Vaistll. They then went to find a place where they could talk in private.

  “Ma’am… Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty just got back. And as luck would have it they found a cargo ship that can help us across the waterway. They said that the orange powder was nothing.” Ramirez informed her.

  “So what was the orange powder?” She asked.

  “Something that kills what Ellis called a Dragonfly virus.”

  “Did they said what the Dragonfly virus is.”

  “No ma’am.”

  “What about the Quad-Walkers? Can we get them across the waterway?”

  “Not from the looks of the cargo ship. But it does look like it can load our equipment.”

  “Damn.”

  “Ellis didn’t mentioned if there was anything on the other side of the waterway that could move our equipment. But I think that they might have found something too important to mention in front of the team.” Ramirez said.

  “Why do you say that?”

  “It was the way in which he was behaving.”

  “Alright. Let’s go and see what he has. Chu! Brewster! Get over here!”

  “You wanted to see us ma’am?” Chu asked.

  “Yes. Get back to the boat house. We’re abandoning the Quad-Walkers. Ellis found a cargo ship that we can use. I need the two of you to assist in loading our equipment.” She ordered them.

  “Roger.” Both Chu and Brewster said together.

  They then left and headed back to the boat house. Vaistll and Ramirez went on board the cargo ship and talk to Ellis. Ellis told them everything that happened, including how Omori behaved. Vaistll then ordered them not to tell the others including Taylor. Either she or Ramirez will tell Taylor. Vaistll and Ramirez then left to talk with Taylor who was in a office in the boat house.

  “We can’t wait for White Team to get back. We should begin to move our equipment right now.” Taylor said.

  Vaistll, Taylor and Ramirez hated moving so slowly, but they had no other choice. The lack of Intel prevented them from moving more quickly. Each of them knows that the longer that it takes the more problems will arise. What’s more they have a limited supply of food and water. If move any faster than it would mean certain death.

  “What about Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty?” Ramirez asked.

  “Let them get some rest and send in a group from Green Team.” Taylor responded.

  “No. Ask Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty if they want to go back and if they do tell them to get some rest.” Vaistll said.

  “Why not just send in someone else?” Ramirez asked.

  “The three of them work well together and I don’t want to send someone else in and have something go wrong.” Vaistll responded.

  “Something might happen with Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty.” Ramirez mentioned.

  “Maybe so but I don’t’ want to jinx it.” She said.

  “You don’t really believe in that mystic mumbo jumbo do you? About October 17 being some type of a curse.” Taylor asked.

  “Yes and no.” She said slightly under her breath.

  “What!?” Taylor said shocked that she would believe in something so absurd.

  “No in the sense that I really don’t believe in it. Yes in the sense that there are too many coincidences that suggest that it is true.” She said.

  “What kind of answer is that?” Taylor asked in a confused manner.

  “Yes, October 17
th
is the day that curses and bad luck is born… but it also includes Murphy’s Law. Our mission officially started on that day and so far we’ve been having the type of trouble associated with Murphy’s Law.” She said knowing that it is not good enough for Taylor.

  “It’s all just a coincidence! Nothing more. Don’t read into things that are not there.” Taylor said.

  “Look… choosing who to go is a trivial manner. So there’s no harm in asking them if they want to go.” Vaistll said. She was hoping that would put a end to it, but it didn’t.

  “If we were to choose someone to go now, instead of letting Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty rest, then we can get that out of the way at the same time we could load our equipment.” Taylor said.

  “Maybe so. But my mind is already made up. Ask Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty if they would like to go. If they don’t then it will be fine with me and we can do it your way. Agreed?” Vaistll said hoping that Taylor would drop it.

  “Yeah. Sure. Alright.” Taylor said.

  Vaistll took a breath let it out and said. “Then let’s get it over with now.”

  Vaistll didn’t feel like arguing over anything else with Taylor. So she decided to end the conservation before he say anything else. The three of them got up and went outside. They then climbed aboard the cargo ship to talk with Ellis.

  “Hey Ellis.” Ramirez said to him.

  “Yes sir.”

  “Do you guys want to go back over there and do some more exploring?” Ramirez asked.

  “Sure… after we eat.”

  “I guess I have to do the driving then.” Moriarty said in a disappointed manner.

  “What are you talking about? You like being our chauffeur.” Ellis said with a smile.

  “Sir… I’m tired from all of that driving and I would like to get some rest.” Moriarty said.

  “Sure… I don’t mind.” Ellis said with a smile.

  “I want the three of you get some rest.” Taylor ordered them.

  “Sir I’m good to go.” Wexler said.

  “Maybe so but I still want you to get some rest.” Taylor said.

  “Yes sir.” Wexler said.

  Four hours after Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty eat and got their rest, White Team returned with Sanders. Everyone was glad to see that he was still alive. Sanders told them what had happened and what he had found. Although what he had seen and experience yielded no valuable intelligence, it still provided a sense of composure to them. It gave them the names of the Marines and/or Special Forces who died over there. Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty decided to leave soon after White Team returned.

  While Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty was resting, Blue Team was loading the equipment onto the cargo ship. Ramirez sent Trivelli, Blumenthal and Bernstein up to the harbor to get a car and bring it down to the pier on that side of the waterway.

  Half of Task Force ZH-3C knew something about that community. All the roads are nothing more than a dead end street. That the only way to leave town is by monorail. The reason why the town was designed like that is to control an outbreak. They also knew that there is a security station over there with weapons and ammo. But typical EOD procedures dictate, that at the start of an outbreak all the weapons and ammo are to be removed. Once again, it is a control mechanism.

  Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty went over there to search for the monorail. And in a way, against all hope, to see if there is still some weapons and ammo at that security station. But they knew that was highly unlikely. The EOD is not that sloppy nor careless.

  While Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty were searching in that large town, Task Force ZH-3C was moving their base camp again. But this time around, although they have to abandon the Quad-Walkers, they got the privilege of trucks that can move everything around far faster.

  It appears to them that everything is moving at the right speed. But without their weapons and ammo, and without their ability to communicate with Galactic Prime, it is moving too quickly. For a few of them, including Hayes, they’re starting to feel as if though they are rushing to their deaths. They want to slow down the pace and wait for Galactic Prime to fix their communication. They prefer one team to go out to destroy those anti-air guns, then those drop-ships can land without incidence. What they want in their mind’s eye, they will get. Even if it means the unthinkable - another mutiny. And if they get it, then the whole team will be slaughtered.

(9)

  Mad Dawg was on his way to the communication room and he was upset with the slowness of the engineers work. He knew that there was a powerful explosion that occurred near where Task Force ZH-3C is, but did not know what caused it. He knew that some form of a communication was sent from the starbase to a underground laboratory but he did not know what type of communication. He gave his word to Vaistll that if she needs him to call and yet he can’t do that. He doesn’t even know if she needs his help or not.

  “What do you got Murphy?” Mad Dawg asked Second Lieutenant Murphy.

  “Sir we’ve tried everything to defeat Omori’s multi-virus.” Murphy said. He was tired, exhausted and seriously stressed out from dealing with Omori’s multi-virus.

  “Why is it so hard to defeat multiple computer viruses?”

  “Because they were created by Cyber Doom Omori.”

  “That’s not what I asked.”

  “Because they communicate with each other and they’re all different.”

  “I kind of figured that they would be different. And why don’t you try to break the communicational link between them?”

  “We’ve tried that sir. Let me put it to you simply, everything that we thought up, she figured out a way to counter it.”

  “Okay then. I’m going to ask you a simple question and I want only a yes or no answer. Because of the nature of the situation I’m going to have to order you to answer the question in the way in which I told you. Do you understand?”

  “Yes sir. What is your question?”

  “If you say no to my question then understand that I will be forced to take a very dangerous course of action that may jeopardize this ship and crew. Do you understand?”