Alternate Reality

Chapter 14: "Following Stale Breadcrumbs"

Location: Ruins of New Mombasa Kenya

Time/ 5:27 GST

Day/Year Mar 13th 2553(or 3073)

Specter leaned back in his leather chair as he eyed Victor and Peter who sat across from him on his couch in his lounge. "Tell me," he wavered unexpectedly, "What should I do, now that I know of Word of Blake influence in this universe?" He tapped his fingers agitatedly on the smooth polished wood coffee-table before him. "What are your orders?"

Victor smirked. "We had always known that the Word of Blake were advanced, but to think that they have known about other universes first hand for some time is quite startling. They have probably infiltrated every office in this society. After-all, time was in their hands and they probably chose when to send their people in." Victor nodded to Peter who sat easily to his right.

Peter picked up the conversation where his brother had left off. "Specter, John, we cannot allow the Word of Blake to control this universe, they would be completely free to take ours because we would not be able to tell where they were. They could mass their armies right outside of our worlds in this universe and then transport into ours, we could not stop them. We need you to expose their influence, we need you to stay here and bring them down."

"Are you serious?" Specter asked incredulously. "I'm not a fit spy..."

"You'll have to grow into it Specter, you're thirty-seven now, still young enough that you can learn. We'll set up a drop point where we will send equipment for you and your team. But we have to return and fight them in our own realm. No one expects a mercenary unit to do what we are asking you to do, we will provide all you will need, only you'll have to dig deep, break laws, and maybe even break your way out of prison, anything if you can find the root of the Word of Blake's influence and eliminate it." Victor pressed.

"I cannot refuse." Specter stated calmly. "But I'm not used to being given missions like this..." He faltered as he could not find a word to fit his meaning.

"You'll do fine." Peter answered and patted Specter on the shoulder as he stood and walked out the door. "Only come back if it's done or you need more men Specter, of course that means you'll have to get the information from the Word of Blake. We cannot give it to you for fear you might abandon your mission." He sighed. "Sorry."

March 14th 2553: 13:12 GST

Location: Oslo: Norway

Specter moved with the rocking motion of the boat. It swayed as it plowed through waves of frigid water, and twisted his stomach in unrealistic contortions. He clasped a hand over his mouth as he resisted the urge to vomit, he cursed himself. I should be fine! I live through battles, I fight in battlemechs on all fields, I fall through the atmosphere in hot-drops, and I suffer through the very depths of Dante's Inferno when I fire one set of lasers on a summer day! Why do I suffer when a boat moves back and forth?

He swayed and leaned against the metal table that occupied their unofficial headquarters. Castle stepped uneasily into the room with a nauseous look. He nodded politely and gripped the edge of the table.

"Maybe we should've gotten a Sub sir." She smiled knowingly as she noticed his green face.

"Yes well, where are the others?" Specter looked over her shoulder to see three more people enter the room: Falcon with her slanted eyebrows, high cheekbones, and elfish features, Beowulf with his upper-class British style of combed short hair, a trimmed beard, and custom-cut suit. And Last, Bullseye with his informal outfit of dark bluejeans, a black polo t-shirt, and unshaven stubble and his hair gelled forward into a kind of point.

"Our contact have supplied us with information on the new whereabouts of the SPARTAN program. It appears that they, by the direction of Mrs. Parangosky have moved to a remote island about fifteen kilometers to the northwest of our seaboard position. By satellite images, we've determined that the best way to find access is to swim in environmental suits from five hundred meters away from the isolated section on the southern tip of the island." Specter surveyed their sick faces, that is except for Falcon who seemed perfectly fine.

"Sir, won't we freeze to death?" Bullseye asked as he whipped a comb out of his pocket and fixed his hair.

"Not if we wear our suits... and swim fast." Specter's uncertainty leaked out and into the room. "I don't like it any more than you do, but this is the only way onto the island. That's the easy part. We have to find a way into the facility. Our contact has provided us with four suits of prototype SPI armor. It is best suited for stealth so please don't reveal yourselves, the active camo should help, but silence is key." He paced before the table, growing more calm as his mind was focused away from the rocking of the ship. "We need to access the air ducts and filtration systems and enter the maze of utility tunnels. This facility is honeycombed with many layers of tunnels, vents, shafts, rooms, ladders, elevators, and even more so clustered with guards and checkpoints. They are trained well and their sole purposed is to keep people out."

"Sir?" Falcon piped up as she stood rigidly next to Beowulf.

"Yes?" Specter inclined his head to allow her comment.

"We are armed, quiaff?" She asked encouragingly.

"Minimally." Specter crossed his arms. "I want knives, equipment, and one sidearm of choice; that is one quiet sidearm of choice." He narrowed his eyes. "Got it?"

"Yes sir!" They replied.

"I want zero comm chatter when we're out there; get used to red lights and green lights." Specter nearly doubled over laughing when they all did the sign-language for 'green'. But he knew he had to keep his face blank no matter what. "We'll be reaching the island in about twenty minutes, so suit up and meet me on the deck."

(On Deck)

Castle's voice came over the comm with a hint of amusement inside Specter's helmet of his Semi-Powered Infiltration suit. Or SPI armor. "Commander, is this what you referred to as environmental suits?"

"Sure is." Specter laughed. "That is because it works like it and can't take the damage an Elemental's armor can."

Beowulf cut in. "What else beside an Elemental's battlesuit can take such punishment?"

"Nothing besides a tank, or a light mech..." Bullseye trailed off.

Specter stepped toward the railing. His suit was completely sealed. And he was still getting used to moving around in it. He had activated the camo, and had difficulty trying to keep his bearings. "Alright, clear the comms and follow me, I want no more broadcasts." Specter leaned over the railings and dove: his armored, invisible form cut through the waves and entered the chill depths. He cut his arms and legs into a fluid motion as he swam to an even depth of about three meters, and followed his Nav marker displayed on his HUD.

They had decided that the short swim would be fun, but Specter was pleasently surprised to find his suit integrate keep a steady warm temperature. They swam in formation, gazing past the floes of ice and even seals that spun around them, oblivious to their presence. Ahead they could see the looming landmass, an island of wind-chisled rock that jutted out from the sea. As they reached the point of rock where they were supposed to land, Specter noticed several out buildings, and manmade structures filled with equipment filling the island. There was even a large dock filled with men as they unloaded crate after crate filled with unknown goods.

Specter scanned the docks and noticed a set of guards watching the work with bored posture. That's odd He thought.

Rain and wind attacked his lance as they crawled up the rocks, thankful that the sun was hidden behind the clouds because it made it even harder for their wavering forms to be seen. To the left of the set of guards was a secluded maintenance hatch hidden behind machinery and busy workers. Specter changed the Nav point and had it sit directly on the hatch. Three green lights winked on his HUD, and he started their roundabout trek. Unfortunatly they found the best way to get to the hatch was by running between the busy machinery as the workers built more sections of the facility. It seemed like the best time to get in.

Specter leaned over a rock and thought, not for the first time, of Frodo and Sam as they looked on the Black Gate, wondering how they would get through. He had read the books several times, and in this case he decided they were looking at the pass of Cirith Ungol instead of the Black Gate.

He stepped onto the deck, but because of the loud construction work no one heard him. He ran for the grate signaling it was good-to-go to his lance-mates. He dodged and weaved through a series of men and machines as he focused on his target. He slid to a stop next to the maintenance hatch and started to unscrew the entrance. All the workers were so focused on their respective tasks, Specter was able to unscrew all the things which would hold the door in place. He placed the screw in a small compartment of his armor and sent the signal to his lance.

He opened the door only long enough for Falcon to dash in, before he closed it. He waited for several seconds to make sure no one had noticed before he led Beowulf sneak in. He checked again and let Bullseye in. Then he placed magnets on the back of the grate, opened it, and snuck in before making sure the grate was completely secure.

He looked around in the dark tunnel. His lance were already ahead of him waiting at what was likely an intersection. He could tell because his HUD showed their position with little blue arrows. Specter searched his HUD and activated his nightvision, Bullseye was facing him enhanced with green color waving with his active camo off. He had ordered them earlier to switch it off when able so it would not overheat; Specter hated overheated equipment.

They all snuck down a corridor, careful to save the nav location of their exit in their map. The path led down a long corridor branched with many exits, up, down, left, right, but their given schematics led them through the maze to one last grate. half an hour had past during their time inside, and Specter ordered them to reactivate their active camo. They stood in a tall part of the maze, and before them in the gloom was a wall with a small hole near the cieling. Specter jumped, and quietly slid into the hole. He found himself inside a cramped passage that led through an uncovered grate to a dark and emtpy room. He slid carefully out and climbed down head first.

He was in some kind of warehouse deep in the denter of the complex. But according to his plan, they still had to take a path down into the heart of the island. Five meters left, and ten forward was a small shaft about a meter in diameter, it led all the way down the length of the complex, and they had to repel and exact three hundred meters down before reaching their desired access point. He leaned in the shute through a small hole and bolted climbing lock just a meter above the entrance hole. Specter had known, more specifically been informed, that there were numerous amounts of coiled cable he could use to rappel the desired distance.

He retrieved one coil of 100-meter long cable and securely fastened it to the lock he had bolted just above his opening. When he was finished, he retrieved his Automatic Ascention Clamp from his belt and gripped the clamp and his cable. He slid down precisely 98 meters and while he hung from his belt that was connected to his locked clamp another two meters he bolted another locking point for the cable. He secured the end of the 100-meter cable and slid up 100 meters and exited the shute.

Several more minutes went by as he let his lance-mates do what he had just done to extent their reach to two hundred, and eventually three hundred meters. When their line was finished, Specter and the others who were waiting at the top slid down one after the other until they all exited into an empty office cloaked in complete black. Specter motioned for Beowulf to peek outside the office and check the hall.

Beowulf slipped outside, his position arrow shrinking and bobing as it moved away. The green light flashed from Beowulf, and everyone else sidled out. Their objective was the empty and unfiished office of Vice Admiral Parangosky. Their goal was to see if she was tied in with the Word of Blake, and to bug her entire office with bugs that would only be activated when it detected body heat.

Specter snuck into the unfinished office and retrieved his complete collection of bugs. He had to deactivate his camo in order to see his hands, and he set to work opening one of the pens that filled a metal container. He delicately placed a inside of the case, in such a way that it would not be seen it the pen were opened, or refilled. He placed a bug inside of the lamp's head which sat next to a dead computer., and every other item that could fit something, he even placed some inside cracks in the metal of the desk, in the chair, and in the wall and floor.

Fifteen minutes of hard laborious work passed as they dutifully finished their objective.

Specter had just started wiping his hands with satisfaction when he noticed the light of the office flash on, blinding him as he had been working with nightvision, and an older woman's voice cut into his ears.

"Stand down Spartans." She ordered.

Specter looked at her, she had raised a rather large shotgun and had four real Spartans behind her with raised rifles.

"Just what are you doing in here?" She demanded. "My office is off limits." She walked straight up to Specter. "Just what is your designation?"

Specter realised that his contact had given them Spartan armor, hence the confusion. Hah! That was smart.

"Ma'am." Specter stated politely.

"Tell me." Her voice was harsh, cutting like a plasma sword. The Spartans behind her raised their weapons in a more menacing fashion.

"They're not with us ma'am." The leader stated in a monotone.

"Take them to the cells, and isolate them. I will talk with them later." The Vice Admiral turned her back and waved Specter off as if he were of no importance.

Specter turned his thoughts away as rough hands grabbed his wrists and forced them behind his back, oddly enough he had the impression that his captors were short, and looked too young to be wearing ther armor... almost like teens. He discounted the thought when his personal escort shoved him through the door and pressed a gun between his shoulderblades.

Sorry it's taken so long for me to update. But I hope it's getting more interesting. And of course I was going to come back to the whole spy thing, but, Specter's not perfect.

Please review, every single one is appreciated. Besides, it is incentive for me to write, and you guys want that, right, RIGHT?

-Tremble wolf