Lazybones
Adventurer
Thanks for the bump.
* * * * *
Session 10 (June 16, 2008)
Chapter 33
The mood was somber as Doctor Sandesh was loaded onto a gurney for transport. The scientist was still in the same condition as he’d been when Vasily had found him, comatose and unresponsive. An IV had been inserted into his arm, and the nurses carefully buckled straps over Sandesh’s arms and legs, to keep him from moving suddenly during transit.
“All right, let’s get him to the med bay,” Stan White said, bending to pick up his medical bag.
The corridor was fairly crowded, but the guards and staff that had gathered parted to let the gurney through.
“What was he doing at the weapons range?” Jane asked.
“He wasn’t a violent man,” Chief Hallorand said. “I don’t think I’ve seen him even hold a weapon.”
“Was he checking the target dummies’ mechanics?” Catalina suggested.
“No, he had nothing to do with this work,” Hallorand said. He turned to a guard. “I want this area cleared and secured,” he said quietly. “Check the surveillance scans for this part of the base.”
“There’s nothing unusual added or missing in the weapons locker,” Jane said. “None of the weapons have been fired recently, as far as I can tell.”
“He wasn’t shot,” Hallorand said. “No obvious wounds at all, White said. And in any case, someone would have heard a shot, with the Beta barracks right around the corner. We had to institute a rule against using the range after eighteen hundred hours, too many complaints.”
“I know this sound paranoid,” Vasily said, “But since you do that research on alien language, alien containment been upgraded any?”
Hallorand frowned. “No, but it’s the most secure location on base.”
A guard came running up. “Sir!”
“What is it?” Hallorand asked.
“Sir! Something’s wrong with the security tapes!”
“What?”
Vasily cursed, and Catalina said, “Why am I not surprised?”
The guard went on, “The comm tech, he said that someone had run a program, it interfered with the security recordings. He said it started in the lounge, about four hours ago.” Buzz groaned, but none of the others heard him as the guard continued, “It spread, and messed up the whole grid. We lost the whole night for most of the base!”
“Base security has been compromised,” James said.
“I agree,” Hallorand said. “I’ll notify Director Garret.”
He started to leave, but Buzz quickly stepped in front of him. “Chief… we better talk.”
“Can it wait, Buzz?”
The hacker swallowed nervously as all eyes turned to him. “No sir, I don’t think so,” he said.
Five minutes later, the members of Alpha Team were crowded around the compact desk in Chief Hallorand’s office. With the mood brewing in the office, it was feeling smaller by the minute.
“So you’re telling me you disabled the security system?” Hallorand all but yelled at Buzz. For once, the hacker didn’t flinch; perhaps the experience of being repeatedly shot at by strange alien species had hardened him somewhat. He seemed anything but confident, however.
“I… well, as I told you, someone has been hacking into the system and stealing files, I had all but traced them down.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone? Me, or Director Garret, or Doctor Wagner?”
“Well, I just found it and wanted to talk with the team about it, without the chance of someone overhearing. We had decided to tell you in the morning, and then Doctor Sandesh went missing…”
Hallorand kneaded his brow with his fingers. “I suppose it is water under the bridge now. But in the future, when something like this happens, Buzz, you can wake me up..”
“I think Sandesh was a target,” Buzz said. “You might want to assign him some protection?”
“I’ve already stationed guards in the medical bay, and will double them,” Hallorand said. “I have to report to Director Garret. I suspect he’ll want to talk to you as well. Don’t, ah, wander off, eh?”
Dismissed, the five of them paused in the hallway outside of Hallorand’s office. “Question is,” Catalina said, “was this a coincidence, or did someone else know that the security recordings were disabled?”
“If someone did modify my program, they’re good,” Buzz said. It was a simple program, but they would have had to access it this evening to manipulate it, and move fast.”
Catalina shook her head. “If they did, then they know something is up.”
“Wait, so it not you who turned off cameras?” Vasily asked.
“The program I wrote was to make everything a bit fuzzy so we could talk, not disable the entire system. It would surprise me if it ‘went rogue’ on its own, but I can’t tell without getting into the system. Unfortunately, I might not have my usual access from now on.”
“We… we missing something,” Vasily said.
“Hold on,” Catalina said. “We were in the lounge. No one came past us.”
“Um, yes, people came past us,” Jane pointed out. “You forget the Betas?”
“They came in, not out.”
“So, that just narrow down to Beta team, all tech workers and whoever was sleeping at time?” Vasily asked.
“Sandesh could have come here before we started our game,” James said. “All the nurses said was that he had a headache earlier.”
Buzz sighed. “I am so tired I can’t think straight.”
“We should search now,” Catalina suggested. “Check all of the rooms in the east wing.”
“Search not easy if base lockdown,” Vasily said.
“We should verify—” Catalina began, but she was interrupted by approach of Michael Garret down the corridor. The Director was coming straight toward them.
“Quite a night, I hear,“ Garret said.
“Is all gone bad,” Vasily said.
“Well, it’s going to get a lot livelier. We’ve got a bogey.”
The mood inside the briefing room was full of the usual tension, with everyone focused on the big screen where Kim Wagner was tracking the alien ship’s progress. “What’s the current heading and speed?” Garret barked, as he preceded the tired members of Alpha Team into the room.
“Heading across the Pacific, looks like California. Southern California.”
“Time to intercept?”
“Three minutes.”
“American response?”
“We’re tracking six F-22s inbound,” Wagner said, indicating several green lines heading across the display. “But our interceptor is faster.”
“Shouldn’t we be heading to the hangar?” James asked.
“It’s still over the ocean,” Garret said. “If the interceptor hits, there won’t be anything left to find. You’re here in case…”
Wagner interrupted him with a raised hand, and touched the tiny feed in her left ear. “Interceptor-1 is taking fire!”
The room grew quiet for a moment. “Report,” Garret finally barked.
Wagner stared at the data scrawled across her screen. “Interceptor-1 has been destroyed. It didn’t even get within missile range.”
Grace stood in the back of the room, her arms folded close around her chest. “If our bird didn’t get close enough to shoot, with those avalanche missiles, the USAF won’t have a chance.”
“All right team, it looks like you’re up,” Garret said. “What’s the latest on the UFO course, Kim?”
“Its heading will take it across the Tehachipis, down into the Inland Empire, looks like.”
“At least it’s not heading for LA,” Grace said.
“All right,” Garret said, “Wherever it lands, I want you there, Alpha.” He activated his communicator. “Ken, we need the Ranger ready for immediate dustoff.”
“I got the alert, she’ll be ready in two minutes,” Ken’s voice came over the room’s speaker.
“We dismissed?” Vasily asked.
“You are. Get to your ship.”
A little less than an hour later, the Skyranger blasted through the early morning sky, the rising sun behind them as they flew rapidly west. The ship jolted and bumped through turbulence as they passed through pockets of warming air.
They were ready, their armor and weapons double- and triple-checked, their gear stashed and ready close at hand. Ken gave them periodic reports over the intercom, which grew more grim with time.
“The bad guy has entered California airspace. Hope they brought their suntan lotion.”
“Looks like the ship tore through the American welcome party. It’s bigger than the earlier ships.”
“Prepare for burn and descent. Coordinates indicate that the alien has descended within Riverside county.”
“The alien has set down. It’s… oh my god.”
The members of Alpha Team looked up at the speaker. “What?” James said.
There was a brief pause before Ken spoke again. “The alien’s landed at… Riverside Elementary School.”
* * * * *
Session 10 (June 16, 2008)
Chapter 33
The mood was somber as Doctor Sandesh was loaded onto a gurney for transport. The scientist was still in the same condition as he’d been when Vasily had found him, comatose and unresponsive. An IV had been inserted into his arm, and the nurses carefully buckled straps over Sandesh’s arms and legs, to keep him from moving suddenly during transit.
“All right, let’s get him to the med bay,” Stan White said, bending to pick up his medical bag.
The corridor was fairly crowded, but the guards and staff that had gathered parted to let the gurney through.
“What was he doing at the weapons range?” Jane asked.
“He wasn’t a violent man,” Chief Hallorand said. “I don’t think I’ve seen him even hold a weapon.”
“Was he checking the target dummies’ mechanics?” Catalina suggested.
“No, he had nothing to do with this work,” Hallorand said. He turned to a guard. “I want this area cleared and secured,” he said quietly. “Check the surveillance scans for this part of the base.”
“There’s nothing unusual added or missing in the weapons locker,” Jane said. “None of the weapons have been fired recently, as far as I can tell.”
“He wasn’t shot,” Hallorand said. “No obvious wounds at all, White said. And in any case, someone would have heard a shot, with the Beta barracks right around the corner. We had to institute a rule against using the range after eighteen hundred hours, too many complaints.”
“I know this sound paranoid,” Vasily said, “But since you do that research on alien language, alien containment been upgraded any?”
Hallorand frowned. “No, but it’s the most secure location on base.”
A guard came running up. “Sir!”
“What is it?” Hallorand asked.
“Sir! Something’s wrong with the security tapes!”
“What?”
Vasily cursed, and Catalina said, “Why am I not surprised?”
The guard went on, “The comm tech, he said that someone had run a program, it interfered with the security recordings. He said it started in the lounge, about four hours ago.” Buzz groaned, but none of the others heard him as the guard continued, “It spread, and messed up the whole grid. We lost the whole night for most of the base!”
“Base security has been compromised,” James said.
“I agree,” Hallorand said. “I’ll notify Director Garret.”
He started to leave, but Buzz quickly stepped in front of him. “Chief… we better talk.”
“Can it wait, Buzz?”
The hacker swallowed nervously as all eyes turned to him. “No sir, I don’t think so,” he said.
Five minutes later, the members of Alpha Team were crowded around the compact desk in Chief Hallorand’s office. With the mood brewing in the office, it was feeling smaller by the minute.
“So you’re telling me you disabled the security system?” Hallorand all but yelled at Buzz. For once, the hacker didn’t flinch; perhaps the experience of being repeatedly shot at by strange alien species had hardened him somewhat. He seemed anything but confident, however.
“I… well, as I told you, someone has been hacking into the system and stealing files, I had all but traced them down.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone? Me, or Director Garret, or Doctor Wagner?”
“Well, I just found it and wanted to talk with the team about it, without the chance of someone overhearing. We had decided to tell you in the morning, and then Doctor Sandesh went missing…”
Hallorand kneaded his brow with his fingers. “I suppose it is water under the bridge now. But in the future, when something like this happens, Buzz, you can wake me up..”
“I think Sandesh was a target,” Buzz said. “You might want to assign him some protection?”
“I’ve already stationed guards in the medical bay, and will double them,” Hallorand said. “I have to report to Director Garret. I suspect he’ll want to talk to you as well. Don’t, ah, wander off, eh?”
Dismissed, the five of them paused in the hallway outside of Hallorand’s office. “Question is,” Catalina said, “was this a coincidence, or did someone else know that the security recordings were disabled?”
“If someone did modify my program, they’re good,” Buzz said. It was a simple program, but they would have had to access it this evening to manipulate it, and move fast.”
Catalina shook her head. “If they did, then they know something is up.”
“Wait, so it not you who turned off cameras?” Vasily asked.
“The program I wrote was to make everything a bit fuzzy so we could talk, not disable the entire system. It would surprise me if it ‘went rogue’ on its own, but I can’t tell without getting into the system. Unfortunately, I might not have my usual access from now on.”
“We… we missing something,” Vasily said.
“Hold on,” Catalina said. “We were in the lounge. No one came past us.”
“Um, yes, people came past us,” Jane pointed out. “You forget the Betas?”
“They came in, not out.”
“So, that just narrow down to Beta team, all tech workers and whoever was sleeping at time?” Vasily asked.
“Sandesh could have come here before we started our game,” James said. “All the nurses said was that he had a headache earlier.”
Buzz sighed. “I am so tired I can’t think straight.”
“We should search now,” Catalina suggested. “Check all of the rooms in the east wing.”
“Search not easy if base lockdown,” Vasily said.
“We should verify—” Catalina began, but she was interrupted by approach of Michael Garret down the corridor. The Director was coming straight toward them.
“Quite a night, I hear,“ Garret said.
“Is all gone bad,” Vasily said.
“Well, it’s going to get a lot livelier. We’ve got a bogey.”
The mood inside the briefing room was full of the usual tension, with everyone focused on the big screen where Kim Wagner was tracking the alien ship’s progress. “What’s the current heading and speed?” Garret barked, as he preceded the tired members of Alpha Team into the room.
“Heading across the Pacific, looks like California. Southern California.”
“Time to intercept?”
“Three minutes.”
“American response?”
“We’re tracking six F-22s inbound,” Wagner said, indicating several green lines heading across the display. “But our interceptor is faster.”
“Shouldn’t we be heading to the hangar?” James asked.
“It’s still over the ocean,” Garret said. “If the interceptor hits, there won’t be anything left to find. You’re here in case…”
Wagner interrupted him with a raised hand, and touched the tiny feed in her left ear. “Interceptor-1 is taking fire!”
The room grew quiet for a moment. “Report,” Garret finally barked.
Wagner stared at the data scrawled across her screen. “Interceptor-1 has been destroyed. It didn’t even get within missile range.”
Grace stood in the back of the room, her arms folded close around her chest. “If our bird didn’t get close enough to shoot, with those avalanche missiles, the USAF won’t have a chance.”
“All right team, it looks like you’re up,” Garret said. “What’s the latest on the UFO course, Kim?”
“Its heading will take it across the Tehachipis, down into the Inland Empire, looks like.”
“At least it’s not heading for LA,” Grace said.
“All right,” Garret said, “Wherever it lands, I want you there, Alpha.” He activated his communicator. “Ken, we need the Ranger ready for immediate dustoff.”
“I got the alert, she’ll be ready in two minutes,” Ken’s voice came over the room’s speaker.
“We dismissed?” Vasily asked.
“You are. Get to your ship.”
A little less than an hour later, the Skyranger blasted through the early morning sky, the rising sun behind them as they flew rapidly west. The ship jolted and bumped through turbulence as they passed through pockets of warming air.
They were ready, their armor and weapons double- and triple-checked, their gear stashed and ready close at hand. Ken gave them periodic reports over the intercom, which grew more grim with time.
“The bad guy has entered California airspace. Hope they brought their suntan lotion.”
“Looks like the ship tore through the American welcome party. It’s bigger than the earlier ships.”
“Prepare for burn and descent. Coordinates indicate that the alien has descended within Riverside county.”
“The alien has set down. It’s… oh my god.”
The members of Alpha Team looked up at the speaker. “What?” James said.
There was a brief pause before Ken spoke again. “The alien’s landed at… Riverside Elementary School.”
