UFO-2 crashed into the ocean. It was unsalvageable, but at least it would never return to wreak havoc on Earth's citizens. Crispin's mission was the recovery of UFO-3. Three members of his team were women. That made Crispin nervous. The decision to include them was Rictor's, and Crispin hoped he would never regret it.
"Sewter, secure the entrance. Johnson, take the right." Sewter and his cover made for the ship. Johnson and her cover circled around to the right to help secure the area. Crispin took Beckett around the left. Left worked for him.
The staccato of an M-8 caught Crispin by surprise. "Sectoid down," announced Johnson through the comm. He had not entirely expected resistance outside the UFO.
This ship was cross-shaped, Crispin saw as they approached. Sewter stood a fair distance from the door to the ship, while Crispin took up position alongside it. When Johnson arrived, Crispin opened the door and stayed clear. He checked Sewter for a cue. "Door's clear." Crispin slipped inside, Beckett right behind him.
Unlike the last ship, this one was subdivided. The room branched left and right, a door on either end of the back wall. He moved further in. "Check right." Beckett scanned down the right while he looked left. "Section," he announced. It was another Gray. He triggered the range finder within the amount of time it took to fire an HE point-detonation round. The Sectoid's chest exploded.
Johnson entered next. "Johnson, with me. Beckett, through the door at my signal." Johnson waited four meters away while Crispin moved directly in front of the door. "Go." The door opened before he had a chance to operate the opening mechanism. He reflexively jumped back at the motion – in other words, he fell down in surprise. The motion saved him from chirping bolts the PhDs called a plasma weapon. He took aim at the Sectoid, but could not fire. It was too close, he should have switched to his PDW.
Twenty-seven rounds pumped into the Gray. Crispin recovered from the encounter before she did. By the time her clip was emptied, Crispin was on his feet. Even with no more bullets in her gun, Johnson was still pulling the trigger, fear and anger on her face. He slung his M-25 and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks."
She snapped back to reality, looking ashamed at what she had done. She reloaded her rifle. "Ready, sir." Crispin nodded and unholstered his PDW. He entered the room the alien came from. It was a small chamber with a second exit along the right wall. Beckett declared a Sectoid down.
Crispin opened the second door. A small corridor spanned to the left, to an open control room. As he stepped inside, he saw a Sectoid corpse near a terminal. Beckett was already there. Beckett indicated a door opposite the terminals on the near wall. Crispin pulled out the shoulder stock and braced his gun before opening the door.
A Sectoid was working on the red pillar that was the alien power source. Crispin sprayed a trio of 6.8mm rounds into its skull before the creature noticed him. "UFO-3 secure. Give me a headcount." All of his soldiers checked in.
Crispin's people held the area secure until the recovery team arrived. Another ninety minutes, they were debriefed in European Command. Afterwards, General Rictor had Crispin, Johnson, Beckett, and Sewter report to his office.
"I'm shipping you four out to OCS. More than 25 soldiers are being shipped in, and I want officers who know what's going on. Todd, I want you to go through administration training, and to take all the Science 101s. You should be back on the first of March. The rest of you will be done in two weeks."