Disappearing Acts

Delta Squad worked their way down into the installation, searching every room. The top three floors were made up of living quarters. They were devoid of life, and eerily undisturbed and orderly. It was as though no one had lived here for a week; that the base personnel had simply packed up and left. Actually it appeared they had even forgone the packing, seeing as all sorts of personal things had been left behind. Interestingly enough, the only items that were gone was the food in the kitchen. Even the meat locker was empty. After the kitchen had been searched, Rasczak turned to Coles and asked, "How many floors does this bunker have?"

The executive answered, "Ten. We entered through level 3A and we are now on 1A. After this we'll be under ground. Barracks are on levels 1B and 2B. Medical bay is on levels 3B and 4B. Levels 5B to 7B are the research labs."

"Alright," Rasczak then shifted his attention to Greene, "Corporal, take Rico and Higgins and continue on to the medical bay. Flores will stay with me and Coles and we'll search the barracks."

Coles seemingly horrified asked, "L-lieutenant Rasczak, why are you splitting up the squad? Are you sure that's wise?"

The Roughnecks present were equally horrified. Coles had called Rasczak by his name in front of them. To the Roughnecks, Lieutenant Rasczak was simply the "Lieutenant", nothing more and nothing less. To do otherwise just wasn't done. But worse than that, he was questioning the Lieutenant's orders. This was blasphemy on the highest order. They had to remind themselves that Coles wasn't a Roughneck, even if he was wearing the power suit and had done the drop with them.

The Lieutenant patiently explained to the WYC representative, "This way we can cover more ground quicker. Besides, the split still leaves three in a group, and I'm sure that's safe enough. You got a problem with that?"

Coles, although somewhat reluctantly, answered, "No."

"Good, than let's get going."

Greene went on ahead with Rico and Higgins following him. Rasczak, Coles and Private Dizzy Flores started their sweep of the barracks. When Flores was out of earshot, Rasczak pulled Coles aside, and said to him, "Have you forgotten our agreement? Question my orders in front of my people again and you will regret it."

Rasczak didn't wait for Coles' answer and instead continued with the search.

Meanwhile Greene, Rico and Higgins had made their way to the medical bay. They scanned the area and they found yet no signs of life. They walked through the corridors. On level 4B, Rico entered an operating room and was stunned by what he found. He called Greene and Higgins to come and when they did, they had the same reaction. In stark contrast with the relative orderliness of the rest of the base, this room had been trashed. Tables were overturned, computers smashed, operating tools spewed on the floor and what appeared to be dried human blood was splattered across the room. Greene looked at the chaos of the room and cursed in disbelief, "Holy hell, what happened here?"

Higgins glanced around and then noticed something, "Corporal, there's a surveillance camera on the wall."

Greene looked up and sure enough, there was indeed a camera. However it was broken too. Oddly enough it seemed to have been hit with some sort of energy blast. Perhaps a bug plasma weapon? Greene remarked, "Well, that's interesting, but I don't see how that helps us."

"Well, if there's a camera, it stands to reason that there is surveillance control room of some sort. If we can find that, we might get some answers."

Greene wanted to kick himself, but instead said, "Now, why didn't I think of that? I'll call up the Lieutenant."

After doing so, Rasczak's voice came through the communicator, "What is it, Corporal?"

"We just found an operating room that has been practically torn apart, sir. We also think that there is a surveillance control room around here somewhere. We wanted to know if Coles knows where to find it."

Rasczak acknowledged and repeated Greene's report to Coles who hesitantly replied, "Well, there's one at the end of the 4B corridor but I don't think it'll be worth it."

"Why not?"

There was a slight pause before Coles answered, "Uh, because only authorized personnel can access the surveillance system, and I'm afraid I'm not one of them."

Rasczak reiterated Coles' reply to Greene. At that point Higgins said, "Lieutenant, I think I can access the system."

Rasczak asked, "How's that?"

Higgins explained, "Well, I'm an amateur hacker. In fact, I break into computer security systems as a hobby, but I'd appreciate it if you all kept that between us."

"Son, if you can get into the surveillance system, your secret will be safe with us. Get to it."

"Yes, sir," Higgins answered and he, Greene and Rico went on their way.

At that moment, Rasczak received a call from Jehal. He answered, "What is it Sergeant?"

"Sir, Lieutenant Law and his Lancers have arrived at the base and he wants a word with you."

"Good, patch me through to him," Rasczak said and then the voice of Lieutenant Garth Law came though, "Rasczak, there's something strange going on."

"You think so too? What's happened?"

"We've lost contact with the K-9 platoon. I've tried to raise them, but I'm getting nothing."

The K-9 platoon is missing? Good Lord, what is going on here?, Rasczak thought to himself and then said, "Do you have any idea why?"

"No, but I've sent squads Alpha and Bravo to look for them. Squads Charlie and Delta are with me."

"Alright, after they finish, I suggest that you continue to scout the area with your whole platoon."

"Agreed. Anyway, have you found any survivors yet?"

"Not yet. All the base personnel seem to have vanished into thin air. I'll keep you posted. Rasczak out."

Meanwhile, Higgins and his fellow Roughnecks found the surveillance control room. They entered it, and Higgins sat down front of the main computer and immediately fell to ground as the weight of his power suit crushed the chair. Rico and Greene chuckled and the corporal then sarcastically asked, "Higgins, you do realize that your suit is basically a ton of metal, right?"

Higgins got up from the floor and glanced at the demolished seat and answered, "I completely forgot about that. I guess I'll have to stand," and then got to work on the computer.

He then remarked, "Some security. All that's protecting the system is a password. What's this planet's designation?"

Rico answered, "LV-521."

"LV-521, right," Higgins answered and within a minute, he had gained access, "There you go. I would have done it faster, but it's hard to type in this suit. Well, what do you know, not only do we have the surveillance system; we have medical records, guard reports and other interesting information. But first let's find out who or what was responsible for that mess."

Higgins called up the video records and opened the ones concerning the wrecked operating room. He found the file that contained the final moments the camera in there had recorded. He played it.

Notes: If any of you are still scratching your heads wondering what the story crossover is, it should become obvious next chapter. Lots of action on the way, and hopefully I'll have the next update done by sometime next week. Keep the reviews coming, I really appreciate them.