Underground Bride by Loretta Johns

Author:Loretta Johns
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pahoa Paradise

Chapter Eighteen

Horlas

There was nothing of interest for the observation team to report all night, nor was there a reply from the human government in the morning. I hadn’t expected there to be. Politicians were good at asking for things and expecting you to give, but when the time came for reciprocation, well, that was always a different story. Having anticipated this, I’d gone down to the surface with the tactical teams before daybreak. We were going in, whether the local politicians liked it or not. Nine in the morning local time, I double-checked with Jorel that the human authorities had not included a response in the daily debriefing packet along with their general intelligence report, also due this morning. They had not. Three minutes later, as they counted time, Jorel sent the US president an encrypted message bearing my signature, informing him that we were officially invoking our wartime powers in this case. Then the Fleet went radio silent on the human channels of communication.

At ten minutes past, I gave the signal, and the first team entered the tunnel. There was no resistance. We found the outer metal doors just as Mandy’s brothers had described. There had been a change there, though. They had been welded shut now. No one was going to come in or out without destroying the door. Not that it was a problem for us, we’d come prepared, bringing laser cutting tools designed to cut through ships’ hulls made of much more robust materials. The door melted open, and soon they were inside. I could see what was happening thanks to the body cams they wore. There was no one there.

“Fan out, check the habitation section. Keep your masks on,” I ordered. The second team went in, taking the stairs down. The second level also appeared deserted. Where was everyone? The doors had been sealed from the inside, so it only made sense that at least one person was still there. By all accounts, there should have been over a hundred at least. The third team followed, going down to check the third level. That was sealed from the outside. They got it open to find it seemingly empty until they got to the first set of quarters. Everyone was dead in their beds.

“Ventilation was blocked off,” came the report. “Except for a few that may have pumped something in.”

“I’m reading high concentrations of methane and carbon monoxide,” another voice said. “Looks like they set it up so if anyone investigated, it would look like their scrubbers failed. The quarters are all locked, with some kind of security override. We had to force our way in. I think they pumped the gases in directly, sir.”

I closed my eyes. This made no sense to me at all.

“Tac Team Two here, sir. I’ve reached the quarters on the second level, and there are people inside. They are alive but resisting. Repeat, alive but offering resistance. We are employing stunners.” I could hear them exchanging fire.

That’s all team four had been waiting for.

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