Base Treachery
Larry Mann
Back to X-Com Page
"X-COM: UFO Defense" and "X-COM: Terror From The Deep"
Copyright (c) 1994 MicroProse and Mythos Software

"X-Com Saga" Copyright (c) 1994 Russ Brown
"X-Com Saga II: Tales From The Deep" Copyright (c) 1996-97 Larry Mann

ASPECT EIGHT:: Base Treachery

- - -

	Steffie finally began to come back to consciousness, but it was not an 
easy task. There seemed to be a dark haze over her awareness, making it 
difficult to think straight. She could tell she was underwater again, and the 
smooth vertical surface she was lying against suggested she was back in 
the containment capsule--
	Suddenly she jerked back to full awareness, her black eyes opening 
wide. Her hands were shackled behind her back, but she managed to get to 
her feet and look around frantically. She saw almost immediately that this 
was not the containment facility she had become familiar with in the past 
weeks. It was larger, more complex... and several of the other containment 
vessels held occupants as well.
	Where had she been taken?? The last thing she remembered was 
that scientist barging into Dr. Takaya's bathroom with a stunner, and then 
oblivion. Where was this place? Had the Elemental been trying to prevent 
her being taken here? If so, what danger was she in now?? She still felt that 
odd haze in her senses, almost as if cotton had been stuffed into her head 
and muted everything slightly.
	She took a better look at the occupants of the other capsules she 
could see from where she was. There were several creatures to be found 
here. She recognized the giant form of a Hallucinoid floating indifferently in 
one tank, its innards giving off a gentle phosphorescence, as always. It was 
a beautiful animal; she could not help noticing that. The Xarquids -- giant 
chambered Nautiluses -- were too, in their own way. In another tank was the 
unmistakable form of a Tentaculat, moving back and forth within its cylinder 
as if it were pacing. Steffie shuddered at the sight; those monsters made her 
very nervous. There was also one male Gillman here, who seemed to be 
looking back at her with interest, and a little curiosity.
	What really captured her attention, though, were the cylinders which 
contained beings like her.
	She could see at least three, one male and two females. All were 
shackled as she was, and unclothed. Steffie quickly looked down at herself 
and saw, with considerable relief, that she still wore the bathing suit she had 
been provided with on arrival at Atlantia. She noted also that all three were 
bald; it was most noticeable in the male, who seemed to have no body hair 
of any kind. Steffie had discovered early on that she no longer had hair 
under her arms or in her pubic region; why she still had her head hair was a 
bit of a mystery, though, especially after seeing these others. Perhaps she 
had escaped before that could happen to her? (But what about the others in 
the colony who'd also had hair?)
	They all seemed to be just sitting there, staring straight ahead with 
mostly blank expressions, their gills closing and flaring in a regular 
breathing pattern. All wore psi-suppression collars, just as Steffie did. She 
had to wonder who they were, who they had been before they had suffered 
this fate.
	"Hello? Can you hear me?" she called. She didn't know if the 
vocoders on these tanks would work, but she had to try and contact them.
	Almost as soon as she'd done that she saw movement, and turned to 
see the Gillman gesturing at her. He held a webbed finger to his mouth in a 
gesture any human would recognize, and then pointed at something behind 
Steffie. Steffie followed his pointing finger to a security camera mounted on 
the upper corner of the wall, slowly sweeping back and forth. She turned 
back to the Gillman and nodded her comprehension.
	The Gillman appeared to say something then, using exaggerated 
mouth movements. Steffie watched closely, and she was fairly certain he 
had said "You still have free will, Dreamer?" (The way he cocked his head 
to one side indicated it was a question.)
	Steffie looked down at herself again, then back at the Gillman. 
`Dreamer' was the name she had been called by the aliens several times. 
She supposed it must be her race name. Her memories told her that it was -- 
the ones the aliens had implanted, that is. Answering his question required 
only a simple nod.
	At this, the Gillman seemed surprised and his mouth actually formed 
a smile. "We must talk--" he started to gesture, then glanced at something 
behind Steffie and immediately stopped moving. Steffie turned to see the 
door to the facility opening, and a group of people strode in. Half were in X-
Com duty uniforms, the other half in white lab coats. The apparent leader -- 
for the stance of all the others was obviously subordinate to him -- was a 
youngish man with blond hair and an officious air about him which Steffie 
instantly disliked. She also recognized among the scientists the bastard 
who'd stunned her, and that helped to mute some of her fear, turning it into 
anger at the sight of him. If she could just get these damned cuffs and collar 
off...
	"Ah, good," the leader intoned. "You're awake. Welcome to 
Tsunami, Miss Dreyfus. I am Robert Collignon, Captain of X-Com."
	"Why have you brought me here?" Stefanie asked acidly, the faintest 
hint of gold light illuminating her dark eyes for one moment. She was further 
irritated by the scientists' excited chittering amongst themselves, and their 
gawking at her like she was some sort of lab animal. She'd stopped being a 
lab animal when the Elemental had set her free, and by damn she was not 
going to go through that again if she could help it.
	"Patience," Collignon intoned calmly. "Soon the rest of the players 
will have arrived, and then everything will be made clear."
	Steffie didn't like the sound of that at all.
	Nor, for that matter, did the Gillman behind her, as his cowl knit in 
consternation, although Steffie had no way of knowing or feeling that.
	"Captain," one of the officers held a hand to his head for a moment. 
"Leviathan Zero-One is approaching."
	Collignon smiled a small smile. "Excellent."


TWO HOURS EARLIER
X-COM AQUATIC BASE "ATLANTIA", NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN

	Himiko Nagano was not a woman given to worrying about the combat 
or command fitness of her fellow troopers. Usually it was the other way 
around, since she was the well-known loose cannon of their little group. But 
today Lyu and Zen were definitely not themselves. Lyu in particular, 
because she was acting crazy again. Everybody had gotten a little edgier 
ever since that raid on the alien communications site, because of that black 
flash they'd all felt for a second, but now both Lyu and Zen had a tightly 
controlled fear in their eyes. Himiko found herself both wanting and not 
wanting to know what they had seen in the Mediterranean.
	To add to the mess, the scientist from Tsunami had left the base, 
taking with him the Manta, and the prisoner Lyu had directly ordered full 
protection for, and Himiko hadn't even found out about it until the order to 
transfer the Manta and Leviathan back to Tsunami -- along with transfer 
orders for several high-ranking troopers including herself -- had come in. By 
then the Manta was already leaving. All while Himiko had been in acting 
command of the base. How something like *that* could go completely 
unnoticed by anyone was beyond her, but it had. She would have been 
mortally embarrassed if she weren't so busy being scared of what was 
happening to Lyu, who seemed to be bordering on full-blown hysteria now.
	"I'm coming with you, dammit!" Zen almost shouted as he kept up 
with the fast-moving Lyudmila, who was now headed back toward the 
Leviathan, still in her armor.
	"No!" Lyudmila shouted back. "You'll be putting the base at risk 
unnecessarily!"
	"Like you're not?! You are *not* going there alone, *Commander*," 
Zen practically spat the words. "We have to stick together, you need backup 
and that submarine has plenty of room!"
	"Zen, I need you *here*," Lyudmila grated. "You've seen it! You 
know what's going to happen!"
	"Yeah, I've seen it and I see you walking right into their goddamned 
*trap*!!"
	"Guys! GUYS!!" Himiko hollered. "Listen to yourselves!!!" To hell 
with military protocol. She really wasn't sure she wanted to know what `it' 
was. But she *was* sure she didn't want this kind of bickering going on 
where everyone on the base, particularly the rookies, could hear. The 
shouting had already attracted the attention of too many people.
	"I don't know what you saw down there," Himiko went on, trying to 
keep her voice calmer than she felt. "I don't *care* what you're talking about 
right now. But I do know one thing: X-Com needs soldiers more than it needs 
heroes!"
	Lyudmila and Zander had no reply for a moment. How many times 
had they said those exact same words to an overambitious rookie?
	After a long silence, Zen spoke quietly. "She's right, Lyu. We gotta 
get a plan."
	"I have to go to Tsunami," Lyudmila went on, calmer but still 
insistent. "They've taken Stefanie there, and if Collignon is doing what I 
think he's doing, we're in serious trouble. We need to prep for a possible 
evacuation and garrison our troops for defense, and they need a leader. 
Sorry, Himiko," she added when the latter looked downward.
	"No, you're right," Himiko sighed, her earlier embarrassment 
creeping back in. "Gun in my hand, bugs shooting at me, *that* I can handle. 
But I can't run a base." She looked up. "Let me go with you, Lyu. They 
want me at Tsunami anyway."
	"Fine," Lyu sighed, then looked thoughtful. "I never did find out; who 
all got transfer orders?"
	Himiko counted on her fingers. "Me, you, Zen, Marcelle, Dujardin... 
Escobar got called back... the tanks and a lot of heavy equipment got called 
back too... wait a minute, except for Ensign Ramirez that leaves only Able 
Seamen and rookies on the duty roster here!" The full significance of the 
orders was creeping in. "And no psis either! What's he *doing*? If this 
place gets attacked--"
	"I'm starting to think that's what he *wants*," Lyudmila said darkly, 
rubbing her chin. The more familiar cool and calculating side of Lyudmila 
had re-emerged, much to Himiko's relief, but her eyes told of a hundred fears 
and emotions which were warring for her attention.
	"So what do we do, Lyu?" Zen asked at length.
	Lyu thought some more, then turned to Himiko. "Get me the 
manifests for Stores."


LEVIATHAN ZERO-ONE
ON APPROACH TO TSUNAMI

	"You okay, Marcelle?" Himiko asked, noticing that Marcelle had 
started rubbing his temples.
	"Dunno," Marcelle answered. "I feel like somebody stuffed a bunch 
of cotton in my head. Gets worse as we get closer to the base."
	"Must be a Mind Shield," Himiko said.
	"Different from the old ones, though..." remarked Lyudmila from the 
controls of the Leviathan, in a less than positive tone. "It's a lot more 
powerful... more effective." The other crew members weren't sure what to 
make of it. But they all knew that, at this point, they should be ready for 
anything.
	"Leviathan Zero-One," Lyudmila keyed the comm, transmitting the 
usual security codes. "Requesting docking clearance, authenticating now."
	The comm speaker crackled and a voice, flat and almost 
emotionless, could be heard. "Leviathan Zero-One, codes accepted. 
Proceed to sub pen two. Tsunami out."
	"Sheesh," Marcelle remarked once the connection was cut. "Have 
some Valium, why don't you? Guy sounds like Mr. Spock."
	"I didn't like the sound of that," Himiko remarked.
	"Neither did I," Escobar replied. "I'd really like to know what the 
hell's going on."
	The ocean doors slowly slid open, and the sleek submarine glided 
through, into the base. It took only a moment for the submarine to position 
itself and rise up, halfway out of the water. Mooring cables were quickly 
attached and the sub powered down, secured.
	"All right, people," Lyudmila turned to the troopers and spoke quietly. 
"Form up and file out, keep quiet, and whatever you do, *act natural*. I don't 
like what I'm feeling."
	The Leviathan's main hatch hissed open and a gangplank was 
lowered to accommodate the troops. Lyudmila led, followed closely by Zen 
and Escobar, then Himiko and Marcelle, with Dujardin (who was still limping 
but his armor hid that fact quite well) bringing up the rear. They filed out 
quietly, although a few quick glances at their surroundings were spared.
	They found themselves being approached by a small knot of people. 
In the lead was Collignon, followed closely by the scientist Korsakov. Four 
more uniformed troopers with Blasta rifles stood guard over an easily 
recognizable blue-skinned humanoid--
	"Elemental!", Steffie cried and started to walk forward but was 
promptly restrained by the guards. A huge wave of anger welled up in 
Lyudmila and nearly crashed down, but she held it in check.
	"Ah, so you *are* familiar with each other," Collignon remarked with a 
smirk. Steffie shrank back, realizing she might have made an error. 
Collignon turned back to Lyudmila, his tone becoming a bit icy. 
"Withholding of information concerning high-ranking aliens is a serious 
crime, Commander Mannski. In another time and place this would merit 
serious disciplinary action, however I'm willing to overlook it this time, 
provided you follow my orders better than you have been."
	"What's going on, sir?" Lyudmila almost demanded. This whole 
thing got more rotten with each passing minute.
	"You will find out shortly, Commander," he answered. "That is why 
you and your troopers have been brought here..." He paused, looking over 
the line of troopers. "Where is Lieutenant Zander?"
	"He was injured on a mission earlier today," Lyudmila lied. "I felt it 
prudent to leave him at Atlantia where he could receive full medical attention. 
Moving him would have been counterproductive."
	The Captain said nothing for a moment, then sighed. "Very well, I 
suppose we'll be able to manage. Come, I'm sure you're wondering what 
this is all about, and there are quite a few things you need to know."
	With that, he turned around and the others followed him back into the 
inner reaches of the base, the minds of the troopers from Atlantia now full of 
questions, questions which Lyudmila suspected she already knew the 
answers to, but she had to be certain...

	The personnel present in the command center took more than a few 
troopers by total surprise. In addition to the five human troopers, all sitting 
immobile like Secret Service agents and bearing the insignia of psi-troopers, 
there were three blue-skinned humanoids like Steffie, all clad in what looked 
like X-Com wetsuits. Escobar was sufficiently taken aback by the sight to 
voice his thoughts: "What the hell is this, Captain?? Where did these... 
things... come from and what are they doing in our uniforms??"
	"Patience, Lieutenant," Collignon replied calmly. "I know most of 
you aren't afforded the precognitive power of your Commander and so don't 
have as much of an advantage." Several involuntary glances were sent in 
Lyudmila's direction. Lyudmila, for her part, kept her gaze fixed on the 
Captain. "But all will be made clear in due course. Isn't that true, 
`Elemental'?"
	Lyudmila did her best not to glare, instead replying evenly: "What 
exactly *is* going on here, sir? I really would like to know."
	Collignon smiled a private smile. "Commander, soldiers," he turned 
to each of the small group in turn. "I would like to introduce to you the future 
of X-Com, and to the weapons which will turn this war back in our favor." He 
gestured toward the seated human troopers, who got to their feet and met 
Lyudmila's gaze evenly. "I would like to introduce Lieutenant Christel 
Hafner, Ensign Carl Spanburg, Ensign James Estavez, Lieutenant Greg 
Ayliffe, and Able Seaman Sylvie Bouton. They are the `Elementals'."
	Lyudmila arched an eyebrow. So did several of the other troopers 
behind her, and Steffie as well, who had been seated next to the other 
humanoids.
	"Like yourselves," Collignon went on, speaking mostly to Lyudmila 
now. "These troopers have demonstrated a very high psionic potential -- 
they are all rated at P-9 or higher -- as well as high physical strength and 
stamina. We have invested a considerable amount of time and money into 
their training, and it has proven worthwhile." He turned to the psi-troopers 
and nodded. Lieutenant Hafner nodded in response and turned to face the 
humanoids.
	Stand, she said, calmly and quietly, her voice reverberating with 
psionic amplification. The three blue-skinned humanoids abruptly got to 
their feet, standing straight up and looking impassively across the table at 
the psi-troopers. Steffie, for her part, winced and seemed to be resisting an 
invisible hand trying to pull her out of her own chair, a faint golden glow 
creeping into her eyes.
	Stand! Hafner repeated more forcefully, a faint red glow creeping 
into her own eyes. Steffie started to get shakily to her feet, her breathing 
coming in shallow gasps.
	Enough! Lyudmila snapped angrily, her own voice tipped with 
psionic energy for a moment. Collignon nodded to Hafner, who immediately 
relented, and Steffie fell back into her chair, her gills flaring, panting like a 
fish deprived of water.
	"As you can see," Collignon said with a smirk which Lyudmila fought 
a brief urge to punch off his face. "These troopers are quite capable of 
controlling anything the aliens currently have to throw at us, including these 
Dreamers."
	"`Dreamers', sir?" Escobar asked. There were several things he'd 
obviously been kept in the dark about during his training and tour at 
Tsunami. Why hadn't he seen or noticed any of these people before now?
	"Yes, Lieutenant," the Captain replied. "That is the name the aliens 
have given them. These creatures are apparently the aliens' vision of the 
ideal species for this planet. They *are* quite hardy creatures, capable of 
surviving on both land and in water. Of course, all the ones we've been able 
to capture have proven to be mindless slaves..." He looked directly at 
Steffie. "Except for one, for whatever reason. It would appear that this will 
be the fate of all humans unless some action is taken quickly. It's hard to 
say how much longer we have before the colony vessel resurfaces."
	"What colony vessel?" Marcelle asked.
	"Ah yes," Collignon said. "I suppose I should start at the beginning; 
much of this data has been kept highly classified.
	"Some 65 million years ago, the then dominant life forms on our 
planet began to die out. We always thought this was because of a large 
meteor, or perhaps a comet. It was neither: it was a crashed alien colony 
vessel named T'Leth."
	Steffie was heard to inhale a little more sharply. Collignon paused to 
allow the lesser troopers to mumble among themselves. When the group 
quieted down again he continued: "The aliens tried to colonize this planet 65 
million years ago, but a freak accident -- a massive solar flare according to 
the Lobstermen we've detained -- caused the navigation systems of the 
vessel to fail, and it crashed into the Yucatan, sinking into what would 
become the Gulf of Mexico. Most of the life on the planet was wiped out in 
the nuclear winter that followed, and the Gillmen -- who were the dominant 
sentient race at the time, for those of you who didn't know -- were forced into 
symbiotic relationship with the new arrivals; before long most of them were 
mindlessly loyal, just more components of the shared mind like our blue-
skinned friends here."
	"Shared mind..." Marcelle said. "A central brain, just like last time?"
	"Not exactly," the Captain replied. "In the first war the controlling 
entity was just a low-level cyborg brain, not particularly efficient or 
intelligent, but capable of managing a small recovery and harvesting 
taskforce. What we're facing now, however, makes the Cydonian Brain look 
like a child's toy computer. At the heart of that city-ship is a colonial 
overmind, a Great Dreamer, which is connected to every single alien on this 
planet."
	"If this thing is connected to every alien, then how do we know 
*these* aliens aren't under its control right now?" Escobar asked, gesturing 
at Steffie and the other humanoids.
	"Two reasons, Lieutenant," the Captain answered. "First of all, psi-
waves and energy emissions from the Molecular Control Net cannot enter or 
exit the area surrounding this base, thanks to our Negative MC Generator."
	"I was wondering why I felt like I had cotton stuffed in my head," 
Lyudmila remarked.
	"And secondly," Collignon went on. "The Great Dreamer is not in 
actual control yet. It isn't alive."
	"I don't understand, sir."
	"The thing is not alive," Collignon explained. "But it is not dead 
either. It's in a sort of suspended animation, connected to the outside world 
peripherally, through the MolNet... and through the dreams of the psi-aware. 
Have any of you ever read H.P. Lovecraft?"
	There was a brief moment of non-comprehension, and then it dawned 
on several people.
	"`That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange eons even 
death may die.'" Marcelle said, paling.
	"Holy shit," Himiko said. "You're not serious, are you sir?"
	"The Gillman word for Dreamer is `Tulu', Lieutenant Nagano," the 
Captain went on, deadly serious. "To say `Great Dreamer' in their language, 
you add a `K' emphasis. What does that make?"
	"K'Tulu," Lyudmila nodded quietly. It was all so clear. She turned to 
her uneasy squadmates. "Looks like Lovecraft was more right than he 
knew."
	"We have to get to T'Leth," Collignon said. "And destroy K'Tulu 
before he has a chance to awaken. Because if he does... then this planet 
*will* belong to the aliens."
	"Sir," said the unemotional voice of the communications officer. 
"Tracking multiple USO signatures across the globe. Transmission 
Resolvers indicate retaliatory strikes against Atlantia, Vishnu, and El Nino, 
and strike patrols checking other sectors."
	"Any vessels approaching this sector, Owen?" the Captain asked.
	"Negative, sir," Owen replied calmly as Lyudmila crowded over to 
the geoscape map, the mention of Atlantia being under attack having gotten 
her attention very quickly. "The MC Generator is working perfectly."
	As Lyudmila watched, two of the red crosses marking the USOs 
changed to green `X's as the attackers arrived over their destinations -- 
Vishnu and El Nino, the small automated, and unprotected, listening posts in 
the South China Sea and South Pacific. There were several blasts of static 
and unidentifiable alien transmissions from the comm systems, and then the 
two blue boxes marking those bases vanished from the map.
	"Vishnu and El Nino have been destroyed, sir," Owen said. "Atlantia 
has been evacuated and is taking heavy fire."
	"We'll have to assume the base will be destroyed," Collignon 
nodded grimly, turning to Lyudmila. "This is why I requested the troops I 
requested, Commander. I suspected something like this might happen."
	"You put our major hardware at my base long enough to attract their 
attention, didn't you sir?" Lyudmila growled quietly.
	"That's right," Collignon replied, unrepentant and looking ready to tag 
her for insubordination. "Commander, I'm sorry about Lieutenant Zander 
and whoever else may have been left at that base, but there's no time to 
mourn the wounded or the weak. We have to move quickly now."
	At this point he turned back to the assembled troopers and raised his 
voice again. "As you may have heard, there's just been a full-scale assault 
launched at several of our bases. They undoubtedly think they've destroyed 
our major strength. They're in for a surprise. If you'll all follow me, we need 
to organize quickly. Hafner, keep an eye on the Dreamers."
	Lieutenant Hafner nodded, and remained in her place as the rest of 
the troopers filed out of the room, leaving the command center occupied only 
by herself, Steffie and the other Dreamers, and Owen.
	Owen sat, still quiet and impassive, monitoring the new flurry of USO 
activity on the geoscape, allowing the surviving Transmission Resolvers to 
work on deciphering the various transmissions which were now racing 
through the conduits of the MolNet at a much higher speed. Only when he 
was quite certain the room was vacant, except for those who had been 
ordered to stay, did he listen more closely to the strongest of the 
transmissions coming over the MolNet.
	A'k sl'hafn, k'lat'sk. Sl'hafn a'k'wakh. A'k sl'hafn, k'lat'sk. Sl'hafn 
a'k'wakh.
	Sleepers hear, and answer. Sleepers awaken.
	Owen keyed several commands into the comm system, which 
obediently followed his orders, opening a low-band communication channel 
and sending out a carrier wave to a predefined location. An answerback was 
not long in coming, and new data began to filter in, being assimilated by the 
geoscape computers, which obediently began to update the maps. The data 
connection ended a moment later and was replaced by a voice.
	A'kl'hash, sl'hafn. N'lha jiad'nak tr'sta.
	Acknowledged, Sleeper. Show the path.
	For the first time, Owen's mouth twisted into a dark grin. He turned to 
another console and toggled a set of switches to their OFF positions.
	Christel Hafner abruptly became aware of an odd presence behind 
her, which she hadn't noticed before, and turned toward the communications 
station, where it seemed to be coming from.
	The last thing she heard was the sound of several psi-suppression 
collars shorting out all at once.

	"Suppression collars or not, is it wise to leave one guard over 
them?" Lyudmila asked as she loaded a case of Pulsers into the Leviathan. 
There was a lot of ordnance still to be loaded onto the submarine, and 
Lyudmila was beginning to feel a bit anxious, as though time were growing 
very short.
	"Lieutenant Hafner is quite capable of controlling all of those 
Dreamers with minimal effort, as are all the Elementals, including yourself, 
Commander," Collignon answered, checking another item off a list. "They 
are helpless without a connection to the overmind, just like all the other 
aliens."
	"And on that note, how exactly are we supposed to destroy this 
thing? As I recall, the legends talk about this creature being indestructible."
	"Once he's awake, yes. What we need to do is destroy his 
connections to his army before he has a chance to wake up; there are eight 
major power conduits connecting his crypt to the power systems of T'Leth 
and to the MolNet; if we can eliminate those, T'Leth will be destroyed and 
take K'Tulu with it, and the alien army will fall apart. Simple."
	Lyudmila snorted. "Easier said than..."
	She trailed off into silence then, as a combination of two different 
sensations fell into her mind in a not-quite-harmonious manner. The first 
was a sense of clarity, a loss of the black cotton which had fogged her head 
all the while she was here. The second was a sense of danger, imminent 
danger, and panic. The latter she fought down almost as soon as it popped 
up, but it didn't go away easily, and she realized then that the panic was not 
hers.
	"What's the matter, Commander?" the Captain asked, nonplused at 
her abrupt silence. All of the other psi-troopers were similarly frozen as well
	"The shield..." she said quietly, mostly to herself.
	At about the same time the alarms went off, a scream ripped through 
the mind of every psi-active person in the base: NO!! ELEMENTAL!! HELP 
ME!! Then there was gunfire.
	"STEFFIE!" Lyudmila was running before anyone even had a chance 
to think.

	Almost as soon as Steffie had felt the strange but somehow familiar 
presence she knew there was danger. She was unsure whether to try 
mentioning that fact to the woman seated across from her; Hafner seemed 
unwilling to tolerate any action from her other than staying perfectly still. 
She had done so the whole time, trying to ignore the increasing discomfort 
as her skin and gills continued to dry out. The woman had obviously felt the 
new presence and knew its source, for she had turned in the direction of the 
man named Owen.
	Then all hell had broken loose. The psi-suppression collars of the 
slave Dreamers suddenly sparked and broke apart, along with the hand-
shackles they all wore. Hafner had gotten halfway to her feet when she 
abruptly jerked and froze in place for a moment. Then one side of her skull 
had exploded outward in a fountain of red, at the same time Owen had pulled 
out a sonic pistol and pumped three shots into her body, killing her instantly. 
Owen's eyes were glowing orange, and his mouth was twisted into an evil 
grin.
	Again, her alien-implanted memories gave her the name of the thing 
she was facing: Sleeper. An infiltrator, equal in power to a Dreamer but 
completely human in appearance. A creature which was designed to blend 
in with the nations of the world and induce them to cooperate with the aliens.
	Or, in this case, to sabotage the humans' efforts to resist.
	Hmph, foolish humans, the Sleeper sneered. Only a few more 
loose ends to deal with. He leveled his weapon at Steffie.
	NO! Steffie shrieked, and bolted out of her chair, very thankful that 
only her hands were shackled, as it made her escape into the outside 
corridor much less difficult. With her powers suppressed by that infernal 
collar she wouldn't stand a chance against that abomination. She had to get 
away. She had to get to the Elemental... to Lyu. ELEMENTAL!! HELP ME!!

	A psionic assault struck Lyudmila violently as she drew near the 
command center, and she just as quickly threw it off with an equally strong 
shield. Gunfire sounded within, and then Lieutenant Ayliffe came stumbling 
through the door, a gaping wound in his side, falling face first onto the 
decking. Behind him, one of the allegedly "safe" Dreamers appeared, 
aiming a sonic pistol toward his head.
	He never got the chance to complete the kill, however, because 
Lyudmila whipped her own sidearm from its holster and pumped three shots 
into the alien's head, spraying bone and brain tissue across the wall. 
Somewhere in the back of her awareness she heard the Captain's voice 
shrieking at her; she ignored it.
	More shooting echoed through the corridors; it sounded like it was 
coming from the general vicinity of the containment facility, if Lyudmila 
remembered the layout of Tsunami correctly. But the mental activity within 
the command center captured a far more important measure of her attention. 
She spun on her heel and lunged through the door, immediately diving for 
cover at the foot of the table as sonic blasts tore through the space which 
had been vacated by her head the moment before. In an instant she 
assessed the situation: the corpses of four human troopers and one 
Dreamer sprawled throughout the room, red and orange blood pooling 
everywhere. Another Dreamer was accounted for in the hallway, as was 
Ayliffe. That left one more Dreamer... and Steffie.
	So much for Collignon's grand plan.
	"COMMANDER!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU--" came the near-
hysterical screeching of the Captain as he bolted through the door, and then 
stopped dead in stupefied horror at the carnage he saw. From her position 
underneath the table, Lyudmila saw the gunner at the communications 
station -- Owen was his name, she remembered -- stand and chuckle darkly. 
She chanced looking out from her hiding place and saw that he had an evil 
smile to match the laugh.
	"Owen?!?" Collignon gasped in stunned disbelief. "What--"
	"What have I done?" Owen said, chuckling, and his eyes took on an 
orange glow. "Merely my job, that's what. We've known every move you've 
made since the beginning, fools, and now it's time to end this feeble attempt 
at resistance once and for all."
	"TRAITOR!!" Collignon howled in insane fury, bringing his gun to bear 
on the Sleeper. Blasts of sonic energy howled over Lyudmila and sprayed 
Collignon across the wall.
	"I'm not a human, you fool," Owen growled. "Only humans can 
betray." He was turning his gun toward Lyudmila when more shots rang out 
from the doorway and caught him in the chest, spraying orange blood over 
the control consoles. He fell to the floor, his weapon clattering away. Lyu 
glanced back toward the door to see Himiko lowering her Blasta rifle. 
Sensing the threat had passed, Lyu got to her feet and strode toward the 
downed alien.
	"we've already won..." he half-chuckled in a gurgling wheeze, blood 
leaking from his mouth. "surrender now--hhhkk--Elemental... make it eas--
*kaff*--easy on yourselves..."
	"No thanks," Lyudmila growled, put her pistol to his head, and pulled 
the trigger. The Sleeper twitched violently as the shot rendered his brain 
into so much hamburger, then went limp. Shoving the body away, Lyudmila 
began punching controls on the geoscape console, studying the tactical 
display. Multiple red crosses had appeared, as well as a large number of 
purple boxes identifying enemy bases, at least twenty more than had 
previously been accounted for. The red crosses, for their part, all registered 
as dreadnoughts. And they were all headed for the base. She rotated the 
globe 180 degrees, bringing the Atlantic Ocean into view. Atlantia had 
disappeared from the map. "Shit..."
	"What's our next move, Lyu?" Himiko hurriedly asked as she joined 
her.
	"Get everyone and everything we can cram into the Leviathan," 
Lyudmila replied tensely, quickly flipping several dozen switches, arming 
the base's defense systems. "The PWTs won't hold off six-plus 
dreadnoughts for long. We've gotta get the hell out of here."
	"Commander!! Get over to Containment--" Escobar was shouting but 
stopped in his tracks at the carnage in the command center. "Good lord, 
what *happened*?!"
	"No time to explain, Escobar," Lyudmila replied, picking up Owen's 
dropped Blasta rifle and slinging it over her shoulder. "We've got about five 
minutes left until the bugs have this base for dinner. Get everything loaded 
into the Leviathan and fast!"
	"Yes ma'am!" Escobar saluted sharply.
	"And what were you saying about Containment?" Lyudmila asked, 
her mind immediately switching back to the problem she'd backgrounded for 
the duration of the fight.
	"There's an alien there who wants to talk to whoever's in charge, I 
guess that's you now, ma'am," Escobar replied, noting the Captain's corpse. 
"He's got Stefanie."
	Lyudmila arched an eyebrow. "Right, I'm on it. Get to work!" she 
snapped, then tore down the corridor toward Containment.

	"Status!"
	"He's right inside," Dujardin answered, his gun aimed at the closed 
hatchway to Containment. "He's got a pistol and he took out the last 
Dreamer but he's got Steffie and I'm not taking any chances." Indeed, as 
Lyudmila looked in the nearby window she could see a Gillman standing 
there with a sonic pistol. He didn't have the gun pointed at Steffie but his 
posture left no doubt he would use it if threatened.
	"I'll take it from here, Dujardin. Get back to the ship!"
	"But what about--"
	"MOVE IT!" Lyudmila snapped. "If I'm not back there in four minutes, 
go on without me! That's an order!"
	"...yes ma'am!" Dujardin hesitated for only the barest instant before 
saluting and hurrying back down the corridor.
	Once he was out of sight, Lyudmila keyed the door intercom, keeping 
her weapons holstered. "I'm alone," she said.
	"She's telling the truth," Steffie's voice crackled dimly over the 
intercom. A moment later the door opened and Lyudmila stepped inside. 
Around her were strewn numerous shattered containment vessels, along 
with the corpses of the aliens which had been held there. She turned to face 
the Gillman, who was apparently sizing Lyudmila up. "It's all right," Steffie 
said, though to whom was unclear.
	"We don't have much time," Lyudmila said quickly. "What do you 
want?"
	"To help you," the Gillman replied in a surprisingly human voice. 
"My name is Rann. I'm sorry for threatening your friend but it was the only 
way to be sure you'd hear me out. My people have been mindless slaves to 
these alien invaders for sixty-five million years. I personally am tired of 
being a slave. This planet belongs to us, not them; let me come with you 
and I'll tell you all I know about them, their strengths and weaknesses, 
everything. I swear this to you." He engaged the safety on his pistol, and 
handed it to Steffie. "I have nothing except my word to convince you..." He 
glanced at Steffie again. "...and perhaps the confidence of a fellow victim."
	Lyudmila looked at Steffie, who nodded back solemnly. She knew 
instinctively that the Gillman was telling the truth; she didn't need Steffie to 
tell her that.
	"Then let's go," she nodded. "We need all the help we can--"
	She was interrupted by the sound of the PWT cannons firing, and the 
base rocked violently as a loud explosion occurred nearby. "Shit! They're 
already here!!" Lyu snapped. "Come on!!" Unslinging her rifle, she charged 
down the corridor toward the sub pens, with Rann and Steffie close behind.

	"Where the hell is the Commander?!" Marcelle shouted as the 
explosions echoed in his ears.
	"Keep loading that sub!!" Himiko hollered back, picking up a Sonic 
Cannon and slamming a new power clip into it. Moments before, the doors 
of the base's primary airlock had exploded outward, and a small horde of 
Aquatoids and Calcinites had swarmed in. Himiko pressed herself against 
the wall of the submarine and primed a Pulser, lobbing it overhead. It 
clattered amid the dispersing group of Aquatoids and blew, scattering them 
across the deck. Unfortunately more Aquatoids swarmed in to take their 
places.
	"Path's blocked!!" Escobar shouted, gunning down a Calcinite which 
had been running toward him. It fell in a spray of green ichor. "No way to 
get past the airlock anymore! The Commander's still down there!"
	"Damn it!" Marcelle growled, shoving one last tub of ordnance into 
the submarine, leaving just barely enough room for the soldiers. "That's it! 
We're loaded!!"
	"Then let's get the hell out of here!!" Escobar responded.
	"Not fucking yet!!" Dujardin yelled back.
	"Damn it, Dujardin! You heard what the Commander--"
	Escobar's angry retort was abruptly cut off as gunfire from the 
opposite side of the airlock cut down several Aquatoids. The remaining 
Aquatoids suddenly froze, and then turned their weapons on each other. 
Alien screams filled the sub pen for several seconds, silenced when another 
Pulser clattered into the midst of the battle group and blew them all to 
kingdom come.
	"Hold your fire!" Himiko shouted as three shapes emerged from the 
conflagration. In the lead was Lyudmila, followed closely by Stefanie, and a 
Gillman. The three charged at full speed towards the submarine as more 
explosions rocked the base.
	"EVERYBODY IN THE SUB!!" Lyudmila roared, her eyes glowing a 
dull red. "THE GILLMAN'S WITH US! LET'S GET THE HELL OUT OF 
HERE!!!"
	The troopers all crammed themselves into the Leviathan, and 
Lyudmila slammed the hatch shut. Lyudmila flew to the controls and 
powered the sub up. It tore free from its moorings and quickly sank into the 
water, which reverberated with explosions and the sound of weapons being 
fired. The ocean doors opened in the next second, and as soon as they 
were navigable Lyudmila punched the throttle wide open.
	The Leviathan shot out of the opening like a bullet, screaming 
through the waters towards the surface and relative safety. One of the closer 
alien dreadnoughts spied the submarine and turned to pursue.
	"Shit! Bandit on our six!" Himiko snapped. "He's got a lock on us!"
	"Not for long..." growled a voice behind them. The troopers, and 
Rann, turned to see an angry look on Steffie's face, her eyes glowing yellow. 
Go away!
	Sure enough, the dreadnought suddenly slowed down and began to 
change course. Unfortunately for the alien vessel, this made it a very easy 
target for the base's PWT cannons. As the troopers watched, two torpedoes 
slammed into the vessel and blew it into a thousand fragments.
	Then a series of explosions rocked the waters, and sonic beams 
punched through Tsunami's outer hull and compromised its interior. Within 
seconds the power generators had been swamped by water and shorted out, 
all remaining systems within the base going offline. In its last seconds of 
life, the computer keyed emergency self-destruct charges placed throughout 
the base. Flashes of white and yellow lit up the water for several moments 
before the remains of Tsunami Base were obscured by a wall of bubbles, 
which the alien vessels sailed through like victorious sharks.
	Stifling the sense of loss which threatened to overwhelm her, 
Lyudmila kept the throttles wide open, angling for the surface. In a matter of 
seconds the submarine broke through the surface of the water and became 
airborne, sailing into the sky. No more alien vessels pursued the Leviathan, 
probably considering it not worth the effort. After all, they had accomplished 
their mission: the human resistance movement was all but crushed.
	In silence, the troopers looked through the rear camera view at the 
ragged halo of bubbles and debris on the ocean surface which marked the 
former location of Tsunami. Nobody dared say a word for several long, 
agonizing moments.
	Finally, Himiko broke the silence. "What do we do now... Captain?" 
she asked quietly.
	Lyudmila looked back at her, then cast her glance back into the body 
of the sub. The troopers all had their eyes on her, as did the newly defected 
Gillman Rann, and Steffie. It took a moment for it to sink in: by default, she 
*was* Captain of X-Com now. Everyone was looking to *her* for direction 
now. For a moment, she didn't know how to respond.
	Then she turned back to the controls of the submarine, activating the 
comm system. "This is Leviathan Zero-One. Acting Captain Lyudmila 
Mannski, calling any viable X-Com forces from Atlantia or Tsunami, please 
respond."
	Static.
	Lyudmila sent the message again, more forcefully this time. 
"Captain Lyudmila Mannski to any X-Com forces, please respond. Is there 
anyone else left?"
	More static for a moment, and then a crackling sound gave way to a 
familiar voice: "That's affirmative, Zero-One... Triton Zero-Three 
responding."
	"Zen..." Lyudmila heaved a huge sigh of relief. "What's your status, 
Zero-Three?"
	"Atlantia's gone," Zen replied, despondent. "We hoarded everything 
we could, per spec, and got the hell out. They ran right over us, Lyu. Zero-
Three awaiting orders."
	Lyudmila let out a long, slow breath. It really was all up to her and 
what was left of her command, now. "Proceed to Contingency Site Alpha," 
she said. "We'll regroup there. Further orders will follow."
	"Roger that, Zero-One," Zen answered. "Proceeding to CS Alpha. 
Zero-Three out."
	Lyudmila cut the connection, then laid in a course for the emergency 
landing site and engaged the autopilot. As the flying sub swung onto its new 
course, she sank back in her chair, the burden of command already 
beginning to weigh on her shoulders.
	The human race might already be out of time.


END EIGHT


END