Omega Page 21

  Hawk caught the movement in his peripheral vision and dived into a roll just as Wilde snapped a frantic shot at him.

  Rolling straight into a crouch and still holding the Sig, Hawk returned fire at the pilot’s chair, his first two shots striking the back smashing it to pieces, but Wilde had already moved.

  Quickly searching for Wilde and at the same time aware that his present position was unprotected, Hawk dived for cover just as Wilde fired another couple of shots at him, each bolt striking the deck where he’d been just moments before.

  Seeing the muzzle flashes gave him a better idea where his attacker was and in which direction he was moving. He fired a snap shot off at where the muzzle flashes had been then anticipated where the next ones would come from and aimed there.

  Wilde appeared from behind a workstation to the left of where Hawk had last fired.

  Seeing him just in time Hawk quickly readjusted his aim slightly and fired again.

  The pulsed plasma bolt struck Wilde in the centre of his forehead exploding his head in a spray of blood and gore.

  Wilde was sent flying backwards hitting the deck hard. He was dead before landing.

  Rising to his feet, the Sig aimed at the ceiling, Hawk’s eyes never wandered from where Wilde lay. He knew the shot was good after seeing the result of the impact, but at this late stage in the game he was taking nothing for granted. As that thought was running through his mind a warning siren echoed throughout the ship.

  “What’s that?” asked Sinclair from the doorway to the flight deck.

  Hawk was searching the controls for any sign of what it could be and then saw a digital readout with a warning light flashing above it.

  The readout was counting down.

  “Somehow a self-destruct has been activated, must’ve been wired into Wilde’s life signs,” Hawk said as an explanation.

  “You mean he was fitted with a bio monitor?” Sinclair asked.

  “Yes, all the top executives at MaxCorp had them fitted to keep an eye on them should they fall sick or be injured,” explained Tanya from behind the General.

  “This one must’ve been tied into a self-destruct, probably one on board the Nemesis too,” Hawk said as he looked around for a way to terminate it.

  From the door Sinclair asked, “How long do we have?”

  Calmly Hawk looked at him and replied, “One minute twenty-nine seconds.”

  Putting an arm around Tanya’s shoulders to comfort her Sinclair said, “I’m sorry, my dear.”

  “For what?” Hawk asked then he keyed his ear bug and said, “Captain Jefferson, when you’re ready sir, make it quick please, we have less than a minute before this ship blows.”

  “Jefferson, on the Valkyrie?” Sinclair said in surprise.

  “Who else do you think attacked us, sir? I’ll explain fully once we’re aboard the Valkyrie, right now we need to move.”

  The three of them quickly left the flight deck and headed towards the docking hatch where a green light was flashing showing that the Valkyrie had docked and ready for them to board her.

  Opening the hatch Hawk bustled the other two through, then followed closing the hatch after him.

  “Okay Cap, take us away from here as fast as you can,” Hawk said through the ear bug com. The Valkyrie was moving away on full thrust as Sinclair asked Hawk, “How long?”

  Hawk glanced at his chronometer and said, “Any second now.”

  The shockwave from the blast struck the escaping craft but luckily her shields were able to protect her so she sustained no damage.

  By the time the trio reached the bridge it was all over. Captain Jefferson rose from the command chair when he saw them enter and stood to attention.

  “Officer on deck,” he said and the rest of the bridge crew did likewise.

  “As you were, gentlemen,” Sinclair said and as they returned to their duty posts he asked, “Now would someone please explain to me what just happened?”

  “Simple really, sir, when Colonel De Boer was en route to the Nemesis he contacted me and I gave him a sit-rep. He’d already alerted Captain Jefferson that he may be needed to help evacuate us from the Nemesis, but when I told him of Wilde’s plan to escape he told me he would gain control of the Nemesis and make her captain tell him the location Wilde would be escaping to, then pass that on to Jefferson so he could jump ahead. It was the Valkyrie who attacked and disabled us after we escaped from the Nemesis,” Hawk explained.

  “Congratulations Captain, you did good work. Please relay my thanks to the rest of your crew. Contact Colonel De Boer on the Nemesis and tell him to get a ship here ASAP to investigate the wreckage of that transport. I want the entire area searched thoroughly, if Wilde had a base out here anywhere I want it found and destroyed,” Sinclair said.

  “Right away, sir,” Jefferson said.

  “Now, we head home and start to rebuild.”

  “What about Tanya, sir?”

  “I’ll do what I can to ensure she is looked after. There will be no charges brought against her, she was completely innocent of her father’s actions and therefore is free to go on her way. I’ll see about freeing her father’s assets for her personal use so she is financially solvent when she begins her new life, that’s the least we can do after all we put her through.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Hawk said. He looked at her; she was standing slightly apart from them. It was already starting, he thought, the distancing herself from him after he had killed her father.

  “Sir, Colonel De Boer reports the Nemesis secure and the Odyssey and Atlantis are en route here to begin the investigation of the wreckage site and start the search for the hidden base. They’ll be here in less than an hour,” ops said.

  “Why the delay?” Sinclair enquired.

  “They’re waiting for more marines to arrive from Fort Bragg and Ford Trenton, sir. He says that he wants a full battalion ready to go if a ground assault is called for.”

  “That’s fine, just tell him that time is at a premium here and we don’t want to give them time to evacuate. If they’re here I want them found and dealt with. I won’t have them coming back to bite us on the ass again because we were lax.”

  “Aye, sir, relaying message now.”

  “General, Matt and Miss, would you care to wait in my quarters until it’s time for us to leave? It’s not much, as you can imagine, but at least you can relax for a while,” Jefferson said.

  “Thank you, Captain, most generous, but I see no point in us waiting around. If a base is nearby we’re ill equipped to do anything about it and we would only be subjecting ourselves to needless danger. This location has been forwarded onto Earth and cruisers are en route so let’s just leave it to them shall we. Our time can best be served back on Earth.”

  “As you wish, sir,” Jefferson replied then turning to the pilot said, “Take us home.”

  27

  Upon arriving back on Earth, General Sinclair met with Colonel De Boer for a quick debrief of the actions up to and after the taking of the Nemesis. Once he had all the available facts he set about securing the area.

  The Nemesis was placed away from shipping lanes with a ship stationed nearby as guard to prevent any unauthorised access, while a repair crew went to work restoring her systems and extracting data from her computer logs. There was still so much about OMEGA they didn’t know and needed to know if they were to combat it, should it still prove to be a viable threat.

  Work on the Confederation Headquarters building was started, clearing the site and identifying all the remains.

  This had to be done first before it could be made safe. What to do after would be a decision for when all the dead had been properly identified and their relatives notified of the tragedy.

  Hawk took Tanya to a safe location until everything had been settled and he left her in the capable hands of two Col Sec agents with orders to keep her safe, twenty-four seven. That having been done he returned to Col Sec HQ to continue his work.

  Colonel De Boer
returned to command the marines who went on the Atlantis and Odyssey to search for any signs of a hidden base in the area near where the transport exploded with Jonas Wilde on board. There was a solar system close by with at least five planets that could have a hidden base. None were E class planets but that didn’t preclude them from being host to a structure that could sustain life. On the one hand, it would be a good idea to have a base on a planet where no one would think to look. On the other hand, it would make the task of locating it that much harder because nowhere could be discounted from the search area.

  It would take weeks for the search to be completed so De Boer asked for more ships to help out on a rotating pattern. His request was granted with two more cruisers being added to the roster allowing down time for the crew and marines.

  Sinclair had to report to President Takagi on the present status of events.

  “Glad you could come, General, please take a seat,” Takagi said as Sinclair entered the President’s Oval Office at the White House. No longer the home and residential headquarters of the President of the United States of America, it was now home to the World President and office to EarthGov. The Confederation was run by a council whose head chairperson was the World President, with smaller matters, more personal to Earth alone, being run by EarthGov.

  “Thank you Mister President, hope you don’t mind but I asked Matt Hawk to accompany me as he led the operations against OMEGA and was involved at every level,” Sinclair replied before taking a seat before the large mahogany desk.

  “Not at all, I’m sure his input will be most valuable and help me to understand this terrible situation a little better,” Takagi said, his face a mass of worry lines as concern was etched across his normally serene features. A slightly built man in his early fifties, he was remarkably fit due to his daily regimen of karate exercises. His inky black hair was swept back from a high forehead. Deep brown eyes looked at the two men before him, the epicanthic folds accentuating his Asian heritage.

  As the two men sat down heavily in the offered chairs Takagi took in their dishevelled appearance, their bloodstained faces and said, “My God, you look like hell. Can I get you anything, a drink? When was the last time you two ate a decent meal or slept?”

  “Not sure, sir, we’ve been a bit busy, as I’m sure you’re aware,” Sinclair replied with a sigh as he suddenly realised just how exhausted he felt.

  “Of course, so let’s make this brief so that you can both get some well earned rest,” Takagi said.

  “I’m afraid that may not possible for some time yet, sir,” Sinclair started but the President held up his hand to halt him.

  “That’s not up for discussion, General. I cannot afford to have you making mistakes because you’re fighting fatigue at the same time as you’re fighting OMEGA, so you General Sinclair and you, Matt Hawk will go home from here and get at least eight hours sleep. Do I have to make that a Presidential Order?”

  “No, sir,” Sinclair replied with a half smile.

  “Now then, where are we with this whole situation?” the President asked.

  “Okay, what we know so far is that Jonas Wilde operated a group known to us as OMEGA. Somehow he was siphoning assets from MaxCorp to fund it. Using the same assets that MaxCorp was providing Col Sec with, he made OMEGA the viable threat that it became.

  “Apparently Wilde had an unlimited supply of money to fund this organisation. He probably cooked the books so that the money appropriated for certain projects was overestimated making the budgets larger so that he could supply both Col Sec and OMEGA with the same items.”

  “Do you think Maxwell Eisenhower was aware of what he was doing?” Takagi asked bluntly.

  “Up to this point we have no way of knowing either way and until we can get to question him I’m afraid that question will have to remain unanswered, sir.”

  “I understand, but please make that a priority,” insisted Takagi.

  “I assure you Mister President that it is one of many priorities I have at this time, sir,” agreed Sinclair.

  “What else have you learned of this group?”

  “Not only was it extremely well funded but it had operatives implanted inside Col Sec itself. At this point we are not sure how deep that infiltration has gone but it’s something we are actively investigating. We also know that they had a cloning operation that was really quite impressive. As far as we know it had two levels of clones each called Rovers. The basic model was a normal humanoid model that we presume was built for administrative duties at managerial level. The other model, the Rover5, was the military version. Matt has more insight on these than I do, sir.”

  “And what have you learned about these Rovers, Matt?” asked Takagi.

  “The basic model is your average team leader, sir, intelligent, articulate and intuitive all built around the same matrix, much the same as the Rover5s except in the latter’s case physical attributes had replaced mental acuity. So far we are not aware that they share any memories or experiences but it’s something we are working on. How far their individuality extends once they’re activated we’re not sure either. We do know the Rover5s were genetically engineered to be stronger and faster than the basic model and with a higher pain threshold made them quite tough to kill. At this point in time we don’t know how far this cloning operation extends or even where it is. We think it must be secreted somewhere in one of the many MaxCorp research facilities probably under a false name to keep it hidden from prying eyes and, until we talk to Eisenhower, we won’t know. Wilde had an alternate base where he could have a similar operation going,” Hawk explained.

  “How’s the search for that coming along, General?” Takagi asked.

  “We’ve been working for two days straight with rotating shifts, three cruisers on, one off. It’s a slow process, sir, and if it’s there we’ll find it. We do know that no ships have been seen leaving the area, so either they’re dug in deep and hoping we don’t find them or biding their time to make a run for it.”

  “Or they could be planning to fight to their deaths,” suggested the President with a dour expression.

  “No, I don’t think so, sir. I tend to gravitate towards the first thought that they’re dug in deep and are waiting for us to pass them by. We’ve dealt them a major blow, sir. We’ve captured the Nemesis, killed their first attack force along with their commander-in-chief. They’ll need time to regroup and rethink their strategy, e.g. do they appoint a new leader and continue or do they disband and go their separate ways? Either way they’ll need to keep their heads down until they decide. To act now without clear leadership would be suicidal for all concerned.”

  “Okay, I see your point,” agreed Takagi. “What about Confederation Headquarters, what’s happening there?”

  “We’re still in the process of clearing the site, making it safe and identifying the dead, sir. Again it’s a long process.”

  “Of which I’m totally aware and my sympathy goes out to the families of those who lost their lives but I must be practical here and point out something we are all aware of and that is that we have to carry on, so I suggest that Col Sec be moved to a temporary location along with Confederation Headquarters until a more permanent solution can be found,” Takagi insisted.

  “I’ve already made provisions for Col Sec to be relocated in our underground base at Area 15, sir. I would suggest that the Confederation Headquarters be moved to the Capitol Building here in DC. It can be renovated and refitted to the needs of the residents and, with the modifications to security I can provide, it can be functioning within the week at most, a few days if they work around the clock. In that way, sir, business will revert to normal more quickly. We can extend the existing structure to accommodate the extra staff much quicker than if we had to start from scratch with a whole new building.”

  “Very good, I’ll get my team on that right away,” Takagi agreed gratefully.

  “Sir, one more thing,” Sinclair said almost reluctantly.

  “Yes, General,
what is it?”

  “Sir, we’ve learned a valuable lesson from OMEGA, in that we shouldn’t place all our eggs in one basket. MaxCorp supplies a staggering quantity of our munitions, equipment and tec to Col Sec which gave OMEGA the opportunity to become the powerful threat it is,” Sinclair explained.

  “You said ‘is’, do you think they still are a threat?” Takagi asked leaning forward in concern. He was just beginning to feel they had the situation under control and now this!

  “Until I have positive proof that Jonas Wilde is dead, the base is found and destroyed, that Maxwell Eisenhower was not involved and that Col Sec has no more moles, I can’t be certain of anything, sir. I’ll proceed under the assumption that they are still a threat,” Sinclair answered as concisely as he could given the information he had to work with at the time.

  Takagi sat back and steepled his fingers under his chin as he contemplated what had been said. Finally he spoke, “I see, please continue.”

  “With your permission, sir, I would like to contact RandCorp with a view to them supplying Col Sec. I do not wish to sever ties with MaxCorp until we have other suppliers who can step in to supply our needs with the volume we require and to our exacting standards. Besides, it’ll give us a chance to keep an eye on MaxCorp to see if they still have ties to OMEGA,” suggested Sinclair.

  “You suspect Eisenhower then?” queried the President.

  “Let’s just say I find it hard to believe they could hide an operation as huge as this from the man in charge. Even if they could, they must have someone else in place now that Wilde has been revealed as commander-in-chief, to carry on their work. Rooting out all the moles in a group as insidious as this will take some time, sir,” agreed Sinclair.

  “I take it then that you want the contact with RandCorp kept on the quiet?”

  “Initially, until they’ve agreed and I’m certain they can meet our needs and standards. Once we’ve seen some samples and tested them, the rest of the operation can be handed over to admin. I know it sounds a bit OCD, sir, but until I’m confident the security aspect has been covered I’d prefer to take charge.”