Session 8 (June 2, 2008)
Chapter 21
The training exercise had involved a lot of sweat, hiking over the nearby mountains under the hot Nevada sun. The members of Alpha Team returned to their base tired and eager to get cleaned up, but as they made their way through the lounge they encountered three men clad in X-COM uniforms. One was familiar; Jürgen Ritter nodded to them as they entered. One of the others was a tall, good-looking man with Spanish features and deeply tanned skin, while the last was a veritable giant of a man, a huge blond whose uniform looked to be straining a bit around his thick biceps. “Well now. What do we have here?” the tan one asked. He poked the big man with an elbow. “Hey, Sveinn, they don’t look so tough, eh?”
“Not so big, anyway,” the giant rumbled. He had a thick accent, something Nordic.
Vasily blinked. “We help you?”
“We’re Model B, new and improved,” the tanned fellow said with a smirk.
“Ah, hey there, guys,” Jürgen said. He made the introductions, identifying the tanned soldier as Eleazar Perez, the big Nord as Sveinn Ögmundsson. “We’re the second unit, apparently. Beta Team.”
“Second letter in the alphabet,” Catalina noted.
“Congratulations,” James said. “You’re all in for a treat.”
Eleazar saw Vasily looking up at Sveinn. “They grow ‘em big up in Iceland,” he laughed.
“Ha,” Sveinn said. “They need big man. I help.” He made a cracking noise with his fingers that sounded a little bit like bones snapping.
“So,” Eleazar said. “I hear that you guys are keeping a hundred Chinese workers busy at a bandage factory in Shanghai.”
“Yeah, I’m surprised we’re all still alive,” James said.
Catalina looked Sveinn up and down. Her eyes lingered on the pistol strapped to his hip. “Gosh, he has a big… weapon,” she said.
“Har, you like big guns?”
Cat smiled and waggled her eyebrows. “Me like,” she said.
“We’re here to show you old timers how it’s done,” Eleazar was saying.
“We’re supposed to get berths in the East Wing,” Jürgen said. “I’ve been off-base for a few weeks, they’ve done a lot of changes since then.”
Vasily jerked his thumb at the east door. “New barracks, down by firing range,” he said.
“Much obliged,” Eleazar said, facing Vasily. The two men looked at each other, neither flinching from the hard stares.
“Ah, have you seen two women?” Jürgen asked. “One African, the other… well, she was on American television, you might have seen her. At least, that’s all she told me. Seemed to think I should have known who she was…”
“Oh, what’s her name?” James asked.
“Alyssa.”
“Alyssa Milano?”
“No, not that one. She was on that show, where the people try not to get booted off? They do athletics, and the like?”
“So now we’re hiring actors?” James asked.
“I guess she was a soldier before. At least, she knew how to handle a gun.”
“Have you all met Agent Drake yet?” Buzz asked.
Eleazar shrugged. “All I met was some creepy guy in a suit and dark glasses. And some giant robots with attitude.”
“Ha, big metal man, he smash up good. Real good,” Sveinn said.
“Didn’t he just?” Catalina said with a laugh.
“Anyway, I guess you guys need to take a shower or something,” Eleazar said with a laugh. “Come on lads, let’s go find our bunks. Nice meeting you, Alpha. You see the ladies, send them our way. I’m sure they’ll ask about me.” With a grin, he led Sveinn into the corridor that led to the East Wing.
Jürgen lingered a moment. “Don’t mind them. Perez is okay, and Sveinn isn’t as dumb as he looks, or sounds.”
“No problem,” James said. “I think you need an attitude to handle the pressure. Good luck with the new squad.”
Their communicators buzzed quietly, and Director Garret’s voice came over their earpieces. “Alpha, I know you’ve put in a long day, but we have a few matters that require attention. Please report to Briefing Room 1 in five minutes.”
“Gah, I need a shower,” Catalina said, pushing past the others, who were quick to follow.
The mood in the briefing room was serious, and there was a clear tension between the members of Alpha Team on one side of the long conference room table, and Agent Drake, who sat alone near Garret’s spot at the head of the table, with two empty spaces between her and the X-COM department heads. The initial reports were delivered perfunctorily, with Kim and Grace giving updates on the base’s ongoing research and manufacturing programs. The base was growing, with plans for new labs and workshops to expand capacity, while Stan talked about creating a new medical bay separate from the research facilities.
“We can only do so much with our current resources,” Garret said. “Whatever we work on, something will inevitably be a low priority. We have to trust in our decisions.”
“Organizational funds are tight,” Kim said.
“As I recall, the United States government has been very generous of late,” Agent Drake said.
“Bought with alien tech,” Buzz muttered.
“Yes, and we’re very appreciative, Agent Drake,” Garret said.
Catalina leaned forward. “I thought we had a whole global coalition behind us? I am sure that if you inform the partners fully of what is being developed here, the funds will be there.”
“Well, we’ve had some problems there, Agent De Farrago.”
“Oh? What, may I ask?”
“The global political picture is complicated. China is still being cagey with our allocation. They’re now behind on two monthly payments. They haven’t left the consortium, but they are being stubborn.”
“Maybe they’re concerned that the United States is using X-COM to increase their own arsenal,” Catalina suggested.
“We’ve also had reductions from India and Russia,” Garret continued. “They feel that X-COM is not doing enough in Asia.”
“They should be grateful that we’re the only ones who are actually doing anything,” Drake said.
“What they want us to do,” Vasily asked “Get on bike, ride over? They need better radar men.”
“Maybe if we could help out there?” Jane asked. “Not like our Australia mission could be considered a riveting success story.”
“We are working with our partners,” Garret said. “Our negotiations with the EU have proven fruitful. We've signed an agreement to allow us to establish a second X-COM base in France.”
“Pfft,” Catalina said.
“Base in France, huh,” Vasily said. “Beta Team live there?”
“We’re still working on assignments. Once Beta is finished, they may be redeployed. For now, they will be your backup.”
“We’ll have another Skyranger entering service shortly,” Grace said. “Might save you some work.”
‘Yeah, maybe get a regular night’s sleep now and again,” Stan added.
“Will the big one fit in it?” Catalina asked.
Grace laughed. “Yeah, definitely going to have to put in a few boosters for him.”
“The down side is that these initiatives have strained our budget,” Garret said. “For the moment, we’re going to put some austerity measures into place here.”
“What?” Catalina asked.
“No more movie DVDs?” James added.
“Break out the Costco cards,” Drake said.
“We’re going to put everything we can into the field teams, of course. You will get first priority on all resources.”
“We not want weaken base security!” Vasily said.
“No, Vasily, we’re not going to stint on our defenses either. I am talking about non-essential supplies, limits on non-core research and manufacturing priorites, and cutbacks on extra gear.”
“The United States government will continue to pay for any alien technology that you recover, of course,” Drake said. “So think of that as an incentive program.”
“I’m sure they will,” Catalina said.
“On another topic,” Garret said, “I’ve read your reports on the Australia mission. You did a good job under tough circumstances. Doctor White?”
Stan looked up from his notes. “I was saying earlier, that the data they had on the aliens was… remarkable.”
“Didn’t help them much,” Catalina pointed out.
“I was thinking,” Stan continued, “working with Doctor Wagner's team. That if we researched our Sectoid prisoners, I might be able to develop a scanner that reads alien brain waves.”
Vasily blinked. “And… what that do?”
Drake, however, snorted. “Brain waves? That’s beyond science fiction, now you’re talking fantasy, Doctor.”
“I know it sounds crazy,” Stan persisted, “but it might help us to identify aliens we encounter, or their ships.”
“We are working on plans for a device that we are calling a ‘Hyperwave Decoder,’” Kim said. “We will keep you posted on our results.”
“Are you suggesting adding it to the handheld scanners?” Catalina asked.
“I think we might be able to do better, Miss De Farrago,” Stan replied, “and integrate the tech into the new battle suits.”
“Great,” Grace said. “More feature creep. You’re killing me Stan, you know that?”
There were a few tentative smiles around the table, but they died quickly as an indicator flashed brightly on the main command console. Kim was there in a flash, opening the communications channel. The face of one of the communications technicians appeared on the screen. “Report,” she said.
“We’ve just gotten a feed that you’ll want to see, Doctor Wagner,” the technician said. “On channel one.”
Kim flicked a switch, and a moving cityscape appeared. The video looked like it was being shot from a helicopter, and the text in the corner indicated that the city shown was Phoenix. Multiple streams of smoke rose from the streets below.
“ALIEN ATTACK IN PROGRESS,” appeared across the bottom of the screen in bright yellow letters.
“Oh, my god,” Grace said.
“This is Caroline Thompson of KNXV-15,” a woman’s voice came over the speaker. “What you’re seeing is the site of the alien attack in south Phoenix, where a little more than ten minutes ago, an alien ship descended from the sky and started dropping pods along several streets… We’re getting confirmation of aliens on the ground, but we’re…”
The visual suddenly shifted hard, as if the helicopter had banked suddenly. The announcer’s voice grew more flustered. “What is it, John? Are you under attack? We…” There was a pause of about five seconds, as the video was replaced with a studio scene, the newscaster sitting at a desk with a look of barely-contained panic on her face. “We’re getting word that the military has ordered all air traffic out of the area. We’ll keep you appraised as the situation develops…”
Agent Drake had shot out of her chair, and retreated into a corner of the room, speaking into a cellular phone she’d whipped off her belt.
Kim muted the audio, and looked down at the secondary screens on the console, which were now filling with data. “It appears that local authorities are surrounding the are. The United States military is responding.”
““Why didn’t we have any warning of this attack?” Catalina asked.
“I don’t know,” Garret said. “Kim, get Ranger 1 prepped.”
“Already working on it, Director,” she said, tapping buttons on her screen.
“It’s going to be hard for the government to deny this,” Jane said. “Phoenix is the fifth-largest city in the country.”
“Change in alien tactics,” Vasily said. “I not like this.”
“We’ll worry about that later,” Garret said. “Get suited up, and into Ranger 1. We’ll work out the jurisdictional aspects while you’re en route.” He glanced over at Drake, who was talking quietly rapid-fire into the receiver of her phone.
“This one could get bloody,” Stan said. No one offered any disagreement.
