The Cross of Mithras Vol. 1: EOD Operation Welcome to Hell (63 page)

  “Sir, at the debriefing I suggested…”

  “Hayes, put a sock in it! We know what you were suggesting at the debriefing!” Ramirez said. He was getting very upset with Hayes.

  “Well, what about the rules and regulations sir!?”

  “I know what the rules and regulations are and don’t you dare suggest that I don’t!” Ramirez yelled at Hayes. Ramirez was starting to get pissed off with him.

  “I wasn’t suggesting that you didn’t sir!”

  “Taylor… Ramirez… come with me.” Vaistll ordered them. She then led them to a spot where they could talk in private.

  “I seriously believe that Hayes has not yet let go of the fact that he lost our weapons and ammo. If he keeps this up he could inadvertently lose Red Team to enemy fire.” Vaistll said.

  “We could do a switch-a-roo and give him command of White Team.” Taylor suggested.

  “What about Liebowitz?” Ramirez asked.

  “Give him command of Red Team.” Vaistll said.

  “Do you think he can handle them?” Taylor asked.

  “If he can then he deserves a promotion.” Ramirez mentioned.

  “If Hayes inadvertently lose Red Team then the same would apply to White Team.” Taylor said.

  “Well… we sure enough cannot afford to lose Red Team. Now can we?” Ramirez said.

  “We still need the manpower that White Team can provide us with.” Vaistll said.

  “Then what do you suggest we do with Hayes then?” Ramirez asked Vaistll.

  “Do the switch-a-roo and tell him that he can get command of Red Team back as soon as he can get his act together.” Vaistll said. Taylor nodded his head in agreement. All three then left to inform the team of their decision.

  “We have made the decision that Hayes will be given command of White Team and Liebowitz will be given command of Red Team.” Vaistll informed everybody. Hayes was the only one who was shocked and surprised by the news. It deeply hurt him.

  “What!? Ma’am that would disrupt both teams!” Hayes said quite loudly.

  “Hayes, our decision is final. As soon as you can get your act together then, and only then will you get command back of Red Team.” Vaistll said.

  “Ma’am… my act is together. This move is not necessary.”

  “We think that it is Hayes.”

  “Ma’am… I must strongly protest this move.”

  “Noted. But it changes nothing.”

  “Ma’am… why do you think I need to get my act together? What did I do?”

  “Hayes, I want you and White Team to go down to the check point RIGHT NOW. Do I make myself clear?” Vaistll ordered him.

  “Did I lose Red Team  because I lost our weapons and ammo? I said that I was sorry ma’am. How many times do I have say that I am sorry?” Hayes cried out.

  “Do as your captain says and that’s an order.” Ramirez ordered him.

  “Captain.” Hayes cried out.

  “Hayes!” Ramirez yelled.

  “Yes sir.” Hayes said with his head down. Both he and White Team then left.

  As White Team was getting their gear and preparing to leave, Hayes told them that he needed to go to the bathroom. He then left and found a place to where he could cry without anyone noticing him. At that moment in his life he hit an all time low.

  When Hayes returned White Team was ready to leave to go to the check point (the bridge closest to the pier). They had to provide security in case the EOD tries to pull a fast one on them, and to remove all obstacles on the road so that the trucks can move without incidence.

  When White Team left, the other three teams received their orders. Blue Team was allowed to rest for the rest of the day. Green Team had to set up the communications and stay by it in case Galactic Prime should call. Red Team had to go to the shopping center and look for food and water. When they got back they had six tons of food, water and basic necessities. Everything started to look up for them. If White Team had known that Red Team bought back food and water it would have changed the tone of their conversation.

  “You guys know that I am sorry for losing our weapons and ammo, don’t you?” Hayes asked White Team when they were done. Nobody said anything, they all had mixed feelings about what he did.

  “I just don’t see why I have to lose command of Red Team.” Hayes said.

  “Sir, you kept on pushing it and ended up pissing off the captain, Taylor and Ramirez.” Bryce said.

  “Then why should I have to lose command of Red Team when all I did was to disagree with them?” Hayes asked them. Nobody said anything because they didn’t have an answer to that question.

  “You know… when I was in debriefing with them, at one point Taylor agreed with me. And when he did Ramirez took him outside and told him something and then Taylor changed his mind. Why? I did asked Taylor what Ramirez told him and he told me to drop it. I got in trouble just because I wanted to know what Ramirez told him.”

  “What did the captain say, or do, sir?” Weng asked.

  “She told Taylor to go with Ramirez. At first Taylor didn’t want to go, but she ordered him. When they got back, Taylor’s face had turned white with fear. And now look at how he is behaving.”

  “I didn’t notice sir. How was he behaving?” Lucarelli asked. Lucarelli did noticed that Taylor was behaving differently, but he wanted to know what Hayes noticed, or claimed to have noticed, about Taylor’s behavior.

  “He was behaving like we were all going to die. If that’s the case then we have every right to know what was told to him. After all, maybe one of us might have an idea of how we can save ourselves. But to keep it all silent is to suggest that they don’t care about our opinions. And that’s not like any one of them. So what are they hiding from us?”

  “So what are you saying sir? They want us all to die… including themselves?” Cole asked.

  “Look they won’t listen to us and…”

  “You mean to you sir. They won’t listen to you.” Bryce said.

  “Bryce, I’m an officer, including Sanchez, Nakada and Liebowitz. If it is important than we have every right to know. Keeping something from us can endanger the Task Force. But to keep it from you, and by you I mean non-officers, will not necessary endanger the Task Force. Understand?”

  “Yeah.” Bryce said.

  “Like I was saying, if they won’t listen to the officers, and we’re running out of food and water and… Like I said… I’m sorry for losing our weapons and ammo. Why can’t they wait until we hear from Galactic Prime?”

  “Sir… what good is it going to do us for us to contact Galactic Prime when they can’t land? At least not until we destroy those anti-air guns.” Robinson asked.

  “I never said, nor did I ever get the chance to say that they should land. But where are those anti-air guns? Do any of you know? Those guns are camouflage.”

  “Sir, if they were camouflage then Galactic Prime should have detected something.” Cole said.

  “Modern technology with the EOD using modern stealth technology, yes of course. Galactic Prime, or any other type of our ships that came before us, should have detected any stealth technology. But what if the EOD is using older technology, like camo-netting? You know our ships can’t detect camo-netting. And besides, we can’t destroy what we can’t find. And it don’t do us any good to go looking for them when we have no idea of where they are, or what we are facing.”

  “Then what do you propose for us to do sir?” Bryce asked. Hayes had no answer because he didn’t know. His lack of an answer opened a very dangerous door.

  “Sir… are you suggesting that we should rebel?” Mendoza asked.

  When Hayes didn’t responded to what Mendoza asked it had a chilling effect upon everyone. It made it sound as if though he was saying yes they should. Nobody said anything about the thought of them rebelling because neither one of them wanted to rush to their deaths.

  Fifty-seven minutes later, Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty returned. Nobody told them why Hayes is there and Liebowitz isn’t. White Team could finally return to the harbor, but they were thinking about doing the unthinkable.

(4)

  The alarms were going off on Galactic Prime to everybody’s dismay. It was the type of alarm that warned the crew that someone fired their weapon. The computer told the security team the location of the weapon that was discharged. What deeply irritated the security team is the fact that, every so once in a while, someone shot at a shadow.

  “What shadow was killed this time!?” Murphy yelled through the intercom.

  “Sir, it was Pfc. Daniels.” A Corporal said through the intercom.

  “I’m getting so fucking sick and tired of this shit! It’s like someone is shooting at a shadow like every fucking hour! Goddamn it!” Murphy yelled at the Corporal. He then turned to leave.

  “It’s so fucking irritating! Those goddamn assholes are shooting at shadows and then these fucking alarms goes off! Jesus fucking Christ!” Murphy cried out in frustration.

  The stress had caught up to and surpass everyone on Galactic Prime. No one could sleep and when they did they got no more than four hours of sleep. They’re constantly afraid of waking up dead. They go to sleep and they’re in a nightmare. They wake up and they’re in a nightmare of insanity. The stress that they are under is far worse than when Task Force ZH-3C was on board. Ramirez may have called it a boat load of obscenities but now it is the personification of it.

  “Murphy to the bridge on the double.” Mad Dawg ordered him over the ship’s com-system.

  “Oh fucking hell, now what!?” Murphy cried out.

  When Murphy got to the bridge Mad Dawg could tell that he was too deeply pissed off to be spoken to because of the stress that he was under.

  “You wanted to see me sir.” Murphy said.

  “First, don’t say anything. I want you to calm yourself down and that’s an order.” Mad Dawg said.

  “Sir…”

  “I said not to say anything until you calm yourself down.”

  “I’m calm now sir.” Murphy said after a couple of minutes.

  “I know that you are under a lot of stress, we all are.”

  “I can manage sir.”

  “I’m going to tell you something and it will put you under even more stress. But I need you to stay calm and DON’T overreact. Got it?”

  “Yes sir. What do you want to tell me?”

  “You need to brace yourself first.”

  “I have sir. Go ahead and tell me.”

  “Debernardo. Tell him what you found.”

  “Yes sir. My team and I found another EOD transmitter that was well hidden. We also discovered that the Commando unit hacked our intercom system. We found this attached to an intercom in one of the maintenance ducts.” Debernardo said. She showed him a device that can allow a unit to listen in on a intercom system.

  “Fuck!” Murphy cried out in frustration.

  “We also discovered that it was sending a signal to the transmitter that we discovered.” She said. It caused Murphy to cry out of stress and frustration.

  “Murphy. I want you to stay here. Debernardo, take over for Murphy.” Mad Dawg ordered them.

  “Sir that won’t be necessary. I can handle it.” Murphy said.

  “Murphy, you’re collapsing from stress.” Mad Dawg said.

  “Sir, I’m needed out there.” Murphy said in a calm voice.

  “Yes of course, but not when you are collapsing from stress. You can’t leave this bridge until you are calmed down.”

  “Sir, I am calmed down.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “Sir, shouldn’t I get back to the expulsion of our unwelcome guests.”

  “Murphy, I’m going to say this for your own good. You are collapsing under stress. And whether you like it or not, I’m going to let Debernardo take over until such time as your stress levels have reduce to an acceptable level. So I want you to sit down and that’s an order.”

  “Captain… my stress IS under control.”

  “Braddick… Debernardo.”

  “Yes sir.” Braddick and Debernardo said at the same time.

  “If the Lieutenant don’t sit down, I want both of you to make him.”

  “Roger.” Both Braddick and Debernardo said together.

  “Alright! I setting down.” Murphy said as he started to sit down.

  “Debernardo, take over for Murphy and get rid of our guests.”

  “Yes sir.” Debernardo said.

  Debernardo spent the time tracking down the security personnel to tell them not to use the intercom. What annoyed her the most was that the total number of maintenance ducts, and the way in which they ran through the ship, made her job even more harder.

  The Marines and Space Core chooses security over convenience when it comes to the maintenance of a ship. They’re afraid of the possibility of infiltration, so they made it difficult for any infiltration unit to enter the maintenance duct area.

  There are two different types of maintenance ducts; the main line and the secondary line. The main line is six feet in height while the secondary line is four feet in height. Once again, it is over security not convenience. If a infiltration unit were to enter the maintenance duct area, than the security team would be able to secure the critical systems.