Titan Six (13 page)

Touchdown

SURP Rail System

Touchdown was seated in the front maglev car as the three-car train sped at a speed of 357 miles per hour, far exceeding the safety limits for the rail system.  He was rapidly approaching the Colorado state line when he began to feel the dizziness that others had reported.  He’d received Grace’s latest BioMEMS injection, but she’d also given him some additional meds to help with nausea and dizziness caused by those approaching the cube for the first time.  He popped a gelcap, took a deep breath, and tried to relax.  He ignored the strange sights he saw outside the window.  The rational part of his brain knew that no Somali pirates were lurking in the government’s secret rail system.

Central Intelligence Agency

Langley, Virginia

“Where in the name of God are we?” Gwen asked, turning to Hackett.

“A system of corridors that was abandoned thirty years ago when the Company expanded its underground facilities and began to modernize its internal surveillance systems.  The cameras down here are no longer operative — not even connected to the security grid anymore.”

The two agents ran through the maze of dark, musty corridors with only the aid of Hackett’s weak flashlight.  The air was stale and difficult to breathe.

“The location of the kitchen hasn’t changed, however, and these corridors lead there,” Hackett decalred, wheezing.  “Even CIA spooks get hungry.”

Hackett slowed as he approached a door directly ahead.

“This leads to executive dining rooms,” he said.  “They’re seldom used, especially at this time of day.”

He nudged the door open and motioned for Gwen to follow him through the empty dining areas as he made his way to a locker room where chefs donned their hats and aprons.

“I think it suits me,” Gwen said as she stood before a mirror.  She was wearing a standard white chef’s apron, buttoned high on the neck, and a chef’s hat.

Hackett, dressed in similar attire, straightened his tall hat.  “When we go into the kitchen, grab a utensil or a pan and walk calmly.  Follow me — I’ll be heading to the receiving dock.  The only way out is to hide in a delivery van.  We’d never make it past the checkpoints if we used an automobile.”

Gwen grabbed an aluminum mixing bowl while the Chief seized a long steel carving knife.  They waded through the bustle of people working the line — chopping, calling in orders, shuffling pans over industrial ranges, and serving plates on the glass order-up counter.

Two minutes later, they stood on the loading dock, scanning the many vehicles that supplied the kitchen’s freezers and pantries.

“Over there,” Hackett whispered.  “There’s a pastry delivery van.  That’s our ticket out of here.”

The pair walked into the back of the van, pulled the rear doors shut, and crouched below several boxes.  The back of the van was separated from the front by a wire mesh screen.

After five tense minutes of waiting, Gwen and Hackett fell backwards as the van lurched forward.  Gwen looked at Chief Hackett and smiled.  They were almost home free.

The van came to an abrupt halt, causing Gwen’s heart to beat as fast as a hummingbird’s.  The rear doors were pulled open, light spilling into the rear of the vehicle.

“Take them,” Grady McManus said, standing on an asphalt road leading away from the loading dock.

Fully armed MPs roughly dragged Gwen and Hackett from the van.  They were just as quickly pushed into the rear of another van, black and unmarked.

“It was a damn good try,” Gwen said.  “Thanks anyway.”

“You’re welcome,” Hackett said, his face a study in worry.  “But remember the old saying: Close only counts in horseshoes.”

Titan Four

SURP Station 872

“We’re going in, gentlemen,” Blade announced.  “Tomahawk, do you have Resolution?”

“Right here, Blade.”

“So we’re going to destroy this . . . whatever it is?” said Eagle Eye.

“Affirmative,” said Blade.

“But we get Titan Six out first, right?” said Demon.

“If possible,” Blade said in a flat voice.  “Either way, however, we blow this mother up.”

Tomahawk looked at the package he carried, marked RESOLUTION.  The plasma weapon was one of the deadliest in Titan Global’s arsenal, and it was designed to accomplish just what it’s name implied: a final resolution to a conflict when clear victory was no longer deemed possible.

Blade, followed by his team, pressed the hydrogen circle on the front face of the cube in the proper prime number sequence.

They were in.

Titan Six

The Tube beneath Mount Elbert

Titan Six and their captives emerged from the elevator and found themselves in a wide, circular room.  Portals were arranged ten feet apart on the round wall.

“Hold tight, T6,” said DJ.  “Plotting a way out of the cube, but it’s going to be tricky.  Like threading a needle.”

* * *

* Over there.  Go through that portal straight ahead.  Slowly, so as not to attract attention. *

We’re going to the library?

* If my calculations are correct, yes. *

* * *

“Senex override protocol seven,” Burmaster called out loudly.  “Soldiers only.”

Hawkeye and Tank exchanged worried glances as the wall of the circular room began to change colors so fast that it appeared to be a psychedelic collage.

The members of Titan Six drifted a foot off the floor, completely paralyzed.

Fifteen Sents entered through one of the portals and removed the cuffs from Burmaster, Beemler, and Marshall.

“Take them to Lab Ten,” Beemler told the Sents.  “Prepare them for Sentient Assimilation.”

Titan Six

The Tube beneath Mount Elbert

Hawkeye opened his eyelids with difficulty, feeling weak and confused.  He was lying on a metal slab, his arms and legs clasped tightly in restraints.  He turned his head to the right, his neck stiff and sore, to find his team members lying on adjacent slabs.  Each had several IV tubes running into the veins of their arms and legs.  Their helmets had been removed, so communication with the Ops Center was impossible.

Hawkeye recalled being unable to move while suspended in air.  Burmaster had issued a verbal command, activating some kind of cube defense mechanism.

As Hans Beemler strolled among the slabs, Hawkeye also remembered hearing the scientist say that he might perform experiments on Titan Six.  Beemler’s next words validated Hawkeye’s memory.

“You will notice, Titan Six,” Beemler began, “that there are several drips hanging above you, drips that I will shortly administer to each one of you.”

Beemler grinned as he spoke in a condescending, professorial tone.  He made no eye contact with his test subjects as he strolled about the lab, head tilted up as he addressed Titan Six.  His words were academic and dispassionate, as if he were lecturing a class.

“The amber liquid,” he continued, “will destroy all of the nanobots in your system.  And yes, we have scanned your body and know all about your physical enhancements and BioMEMS.  It’s really very primitive by our standards, of course, but you’re in luck.  Once the nanobots are cleared from your system, you will receive other IV drips — yes, the silver, blue, and clear liquids hanging above you — that will turn you into hybrid beings similar to the sentinels you’ve seen, although you will have far more cognitive and processing abilities than the Sents, and you’ll be taller and stronger.  We’ve tried this before on some of our soldiers, but without success.  I’ve recently perfected the process, however, and you will be the first humans to have your entire bodies modified using the technology of our joint benefactors, the Ancients.”

Beemler moved to a position between the slabs where Hawkeye and Tank lay.  He glanced down at them through his thick glasses, a devilish grin of victory illuminating his face.

“The blue liquid,” Beemler explained, “will transform your bones — your entire skeletons, to be precise — into a metal-organic framework, or MOF.  The resulting bone structures will be stronger and more pliable than your present skeletal compositions.

“The clear liquid will then transform your internal organs and tissues into hybrid compounds of metal and living tissue.  You won’t be what science fiction has traditionally termed cyborgs — no, not at all — but rather a true reflection of the technology used by the Ancients.  You will be sentient humanoid beings no longer based on carbon, but rather on a fusion of DNA and metallic alloys.

“Finally, the silver liquid will coat your skin and the newly created matrix within your bodies with a metal patina, for lack of a better word, that will offer strength but elasticity.”

“Why don’t you go to hell?” Gator said.

“I do not believe in hell,” Beemler said calmly.  “Only in pure scientific rationalism.”

“The Ancients had a highly developed sense of spirituality,” Shooter pointed out.  “You obviously aren’t interested in who they really were.”

Beemler cocked his head, raised his eyebrows, and nodded confidently.  “I think your premise is absolutely correct.  This cube is, for all intents and purposes, a military facility serving the needs of the twenty-first century.  Our goals are not spiritual, nor do we aspire to apply the esoteric knowledge of the wonderful race of beings to whom you allude.  Our approach is far more utilitarian.  Changing the hearts of the world through ancient metaphysical principles is already failing.  No, we seek to change not the hearts, but the minds of humanity.”

“I think you’ve got a keen understanding of George Orwell,” Hawkeye said.  “Senex is nothing more than Big Brother, secretly manipulating society for the sake of raw power.”

“Actually,” Burmaster said as he entered the lab, “we genuinely wish to steer mankind in a productive direction, but I must admit that the only way to accomplish our goals is through the use of raw power, as you so aptly put it.  Dr. Beemler, I think it’s time to begin the Sentient Assimilation Procedure.”

“Excellent,” Beemler said.

The scientist moved to the head of Hawkeye’s slab, raising his hand to the valve at the top of the IV tube emanating from the plastic bag containing amber liquid.

“There may be some minor pain involved in destroying your nanobots,” Beemler explained.  “And, unfortunately, there will be considerable pain when your skeletal structures are modified.  After that, the procedure will be relatively simple.”

Beemler held the valve between his thumb and index finger.  “Now to begin.”

Titan Four

The Cube beneath Mount Elbert

Titan Four cautiously advanced deeper into the cube, stepping through one portal after another.  Within minutes, they would encounter some of the heaviest fighting in the careers.

Titan Four stood in a hexagonal room when Sents and commandos assaulted them from the left and right respectively.  Demon opened up his machine gun, while Jet and Tomahawk fired their assault rifles at the commandos.

Blade and Eagle Eye knew of T6’s encounters with the sentinels and reached for their TR5 laser rifles.

Almost like toy soldiers on a play battlefield, commandos dropped one after another from the heavy fire laid down by Demon, Jet, and Tomahawk.  They’d killed five Serbian soldiers, then ten.  Still, the Serbian mercenaries kept pouring through portals.

“I’m hit in the leg!” Demon cried above the thunderous battle.

“They got my arm!” Jet screamed.

“BioMEMS activated,” DJ said from the Ops Center.

Blade and Eagle Eye knew that they needed to locate Titan Six and destroy the cube, the latter being their primary mission.  Time was not a luxury, so they fired at the Sents with their laser rifles on maximum settings as they ducked and rolled away from the photon blasts issuing from the sentinels’ deadly tubes.

Like the commandos, wave after wave of sentinels poured into the hexagon.  Blade and Eagle Eye vaporized each new wave, the Sents glowing red before they suffered complete molecular disintegration.

“I can lead you to the lab where Titan Six is,” DJ told Blade, “but you’re going to encounter resistance every step of the way.  I recommend, Titan Four, that you keep both laser rifles and conventional weapons at the ready.”

“Affirmative,” Blade said.  “Everything’s on the table.”

“Very well,” DJ said.  “Enter the pneumatic tube to your right and ride up thirty-six levels.  That’s where T6 is.”

Titan Four rushed into the open, waiting elevator.