Chapter 10
Objects In MotionDisclaimer: Yeah, Landmark owns it all. This is the same disclaimer you read all over the internet and web. Let's be truthful, though – this could have been a great show that Landmark and Mattel let slide into oblivion. Shame on them for being before their time in the entertainment business.
--
They all gathered in the briefing room when Scout and Kasich announced they had completed their analysis of Mentor's files. Jon was pleased to see his team together again, knowing Pilot was close by and being cared for by Sanctuary's medical staff. They were intact, having dodged a close call.
By now, Hawk seemed more at ease among Sanctuary's people, although he remained at a distance from Tobias. He expected nothing less from his second-in-command. He had come to know Hawk would act accordingly, even with those he did not exactly trust.
Scout looked completely comfortable with Kasich, as it was clear the two had formed a bond through technology and the passion for it they both shared. Even in the darkest moments of war, there was the element of camaraderie that superceded even the most horrible events. For this, Jon was glad. He pondered for a moment the idea that he and Tobias shared a connection. They were both commanders of units, tasked with making their teams work under extraordinary circumstances to overcome impossible odds.
He could not figure out Tobias with all their interactions. She was an enigma of contradiction. The evidence Mentor had displayed was startling and sickening. Tobias had made no defense against what he was sure she knew he would find. She had to know Power had the ability to look into the past and see what she had done. Perhaps she had invited it, making him a participant in her atonement process. It was as though she was begging all to look at what she had done and pass judgment. Her dark side slipped into the open at will, where she paraded her guilt but without fanfare. It was matter-of-fact, a display of truth, no matter how ugly.
Jon found himself looking at her, studying her. She caught him and returned the look. Tobias looked down at her lap. He was positive she knew he had found the evidence files. He did not know how she could have been aware that Mentor had shown them, but her demeanor spoke volumes.
Finally, there was Tank, who chose to stand to the side for the briefing. Jon had seen the man when he was angry, but this time he saw something different in the lieutenant's eyes. It was a smoldering ember of anger that was being held from conflagration solely by Tank's will and discipline as a soldier. Tank had sworn revenge, and Jon did not blame him for wanting such exact justice. The discipline would keep Ellis on the straight and narrow when the time for action came, when he would follow the orders given to him. There was no guarantee, however, what Tank would do given the opportunity of close quarter combat with Dread's finest.
Tobias brought the room to order. "Ladies and gentlemen, the analysis of available intel on Volcania has been completed. Sergeants Kasich and Baker are ready to show us the options. Before they proceed, I'd like you all to meet Mentor, Captain Power's computer core. Mentor has been linked to Sanctuary's systems to better serve the mission."
At her words, Mentor's face appeared on the large presentation screen.
"Greetings, Doctor Tobias," it said.
Scout stood and walked near the presentation screen. "Mentor, play final Icarus impact analysis," he commanded.
Volcania's damaged hull was centered on the screen. Mentor began the monologue of results.
"The Icarus device caused considerable damage to Volcania's external structures. The object was slowed on reentry by Soaron's defensive maneuvers. However, the attempt did not deflect the satellite enough to spare Volcania from significant impairment."
A wrap-around view of Volcania began moving on the screen, showing the entire facility and the damaged areas caused by Icarus.
"Because of the damage, new construction was necessary to close large holes in the hull. A complete analysis of data concludes that all previously known points of entry into Volcania have been altered, heavily secured or are no longer in existence."
A look of sheer frustration and disappointment washed over Tobias's face. There was even a sense of weariness in her at the setback. Jon shared her feelings, identified with what it meant. If the teams could not get into Volcania, they could not stop Dread's transfer and endgame would be near.
Blalock took a sip from the mug in front of him. "What about heavy bombardment, an aerial attack? Captain Power has a ship."
Mentor's image returned to the screen. "The area most likely to house the instruments needed for the transfer is too deep to be penetrated by conventional weapons. Even Icarus did not damage the area. In order to effectively disable Overmind's process, full infiltration and destruction of the transfer core processing unit is necessary."
A quiet murmur went around the room as the obstacles became clear to the teams.
"Mentor," Tobias called over the voices, quieting them, "scan section one-zero-four of the schematic. Tell me what you find there."
Mentor complied with a wireframe layout of Volcania as it analyzed the request. The model whirled in a circular motion as section one-zero-four was located and a detailed zoom was applied. One-zero-four came into focus. Located at the foundation of Volcania, it sat on the side opposite the major entrances. A small rectangular area in the middle of the section lit up and blinked white against the black background.
"Section one-zero-four appears to be a pressure door, Doctor Tobias. It is reinforced and cannot be opened by available weapons," Mentor answered.
Tobias rubbed at her upper lip in contemplation. Then she said, "What are the odds that the door's security is controlled by the central core?"
Jon saw Blalock freeze, the mug in mid-motion.
"Intelligence reports have not indicated any activity in that area for a number of months," Mentor replied. "Therefore, it is likely that the security measures have been transferred to secondary systems."
Tobias nodded and continued with her line of questioning, ignoring Blalock's alarm. "What about beyond that door, down the rest of the corridor?"
"Early intelligence indicated the presence of additional pressure doors leading to sub-level four. However, no security checkpoints were present."
Blalock's silence ended. "That's not an option, Doc. It's out of the question," he said strongly.
Jon saw anxiety in Blalock's eyes, though he did not understand the reason for the lieutenant's adamant rejection of whatever Tobias was suggesting.
"What's not an option?" Jon asked, seeing the lieutenant's anxiety.
Tobias and Blalock trained their sights on one another until Tobias finally gave him a gentle, sad smile and concentrated on Jon once more.
"Overmind has a weakness, and that is arrogance," she said. "It likes the glorious jobs, ones that deal with battle and carnage. The tasks it considers beneath its abilities get assigned to a secondary autonomic system. I'm willing to bet that pressure door at section one-zero-four is on that system. Overmind will need all available resources to kick Dread into the next plane of existence."
Tobias seemed to have a firm grasp of the plan, but Jon was still confused. "I'm still not following," he admitted.
She reached up to the side of her head to where the silver plate covered her temple. He heard the quiet click of the latch as she opened the tiny hatch. The red light extinguished on the plate as she casually tossed it onto the table. It spun around several times on its convex side before coming to a stop.
Tobias pushed away her hair and turned her head slightly to show Power and his team a small metal hole embedded in a metal plate. She pushed her index finger into it for emphasis.
Scout gave a low whistle. "A cerebral port," he said, astonished.
"Very good, Sergeant," Tobias complimented. "It's a Model 1A-400, one of the first of its kind. It's capable of interfacing quite well with Volcania's systems. The problem to this point has been the fact that our core isn't able to handle the complexity of the connection."
Hawk scoffed. "If you think you're using Mentor, forget it."
"If we don't use Mentor," Tobias countered sharply, "there won't be any of us left to care." She focused on Jon. "Captain, Mentor would only be used as a pass-through, just enough to negotiate the connection. Overmind wouldn't even know Mentor was in the neighborhood, and the autonomic systems would be none the wiser once I disable the trace protocols."
Power was not willing to take only Tobias's word on the matter.
"Scout," he said, "is this possible?"
Baker pondered the possibilities. "Yes, sir, it is. Mentor's able to do it now that it has a core to house the software."
Hawk was upset, vehemently objecting. "Jon, you can't be seriously considering this!"
Jon admitted that he actually was entertaining the notion, and seriously at that. He looked carefully into Tobias's eyes. He saw truth there, for she had yet to give him a reason to doubt her. While Hawk was not so trusting of her from past experience, Jon found himself able to set aside the montage of evidence in Mentor's archive of her guilt. More than truth, he saw determination in her plan, that entering Dread's world via her own mind was the only way to get the teams physically inside the fortress.
He held up a hand to silence Hawk. "What's the risk to you, Doctor?"
Tobias gave another sad smile. "Does it really matter? Mentor says there's no way inside using the old methods, and one-zero-four is about the only area I can think of that's not likely to have six hundred troops guarding it."
"It does matter," Jon insisted. "If there's another way, then I'm not willing to risk unnecessary harm to any one of us." He gave a surreptitious glance at Hawk. "Including Doctor Tobias."
"Ask Mentor what the alternatives are, Captain," Tobias challenged.
He did just that. "Mentor?"
Mentor waited a moment before responding, analyzing the total volume of available data. "Doctor Tobias is correct. The odds of success are marginally better using section one-zero-four as an entry point. There are no other points of entry available at this time without direct confrontation with Dread forces."
Blalock threw his hands up in the air in frustration. "This is insane! If that connection is broken in any way," he said, "the Doc is dead."
Scout agreed. "He's right. A cerebral port is hardwired into the brain. A lost connection can cause seizures at the very least. If the termination is too abrupt, it short-circuits the brain, causing death. That's why research on the whole project was outlawed in the first place."
Tobias walked over to the presentation screen, her back to the group, and watched the wireframe model of Volcania rotate. Her silence, Jon was beginning to understand, was a way to calm them, to give them time to contain adrenaline and ire.
"Ladies and gentlemen," she said finally, turning toward them once more, "we are sitting on the precipice of annihilation, and this is our last chance to do something about it. Believe me, I'm not thrilled with the idea of putting my melon online with the likes of Overmind and Dread. If it means that we get a fighting force inside that pile of junk, though, and we can save lives, then the risk to me is minimal."
Her crossed her arms in front of her. "If we can break that link between Overmind and Dread while they're doing this little dance, we'll kill two birds with one stone. Overmind will have nowhere to dump the information it has downloaded from Dread, and Dread will lose the bio link that keeps his heart beating. We need to knock out the processing core that links them."
She walked behind Blalock and put her hands on his shoulders. "All of you have engaged the enemy, face to face, hand to hand. What I'm proposing to do is no different except that my frontline is cybernetic. Are you all saying it's more palatable to die in a firefight?"
Blalock looked up at her. "But you're the Healer," he argued.
"Yes, I am," she said. "I am the Healer, and my job is to keep people alive. That's exactly what I'm doing by plugging in and opening those doors so that our teams can get inside and blow that processing core."
Holcomb stepped from the shadows to Jon's right. "She's right, and you all know it."
All heads turned to the hulking man as he walked around the table to take up a place next to Tobias. "We have been fighting this war day and night and have barely made any headway. If we do this, allow her to do the interface, we have the chance to deliver a crippling blow to Dread's forces from within, not like the strike and run we've been doing."
Jon listened to the arguments as they passed back and forth, considering the options available to them. "I'm still not comfortable with this," he said. "Aside from exposing Mentor to Overmind's systems, we don't have the monitoring capabilities to ensure your safety."
Tobias pulled her robes around her, a habit Jon noticed was nearly constant despite the muggy temperature in the room.
"Corporal Chase won't be combat ready, but she's familiar with the system and is more than capable of monitoring the status of the connection," she said. "She'll do just fine."
"You're saying she'll be up to this?" Jon asked, not wholly believing that Pilot would be able to get out of bed any time soon.
Holcomb agreed with Tobias's assessment. "Two hours, maybe a little more, and she'll be mobile again."
"Captain," Tobias said, "you need everyone on your team inside that fortress. Lieutenant Blalock needs all of his people. We have the ability to do this, all of us together."
Power took into consideration how his own fit into the scheme of opinion. He had long relied on his instincts to guide him, and those instincts were telling him that Tobias was right. This was the last shot, and they had better make it a good one.
"Let's say you do get that first door open," he offered, "how hard will it be to get the rest open?"
Tobias reclaimed her chair. "Provided Overmind stays occupied, the autonomic systems shouldn't be difficult."
"And once we're inside?" he pushed.
"Once inside, you'll stay in the corridor until it comes to a dead end. There's a vertical shaft there with a maintenance ladder that leads up to the same floor as the core section. That's where those suits of yours will come in handy."
Hawk displayed his disapproval of the plan. "This is nuts," he said, echoing Blalock's earlier objection. "That level will be crawling with troopers. We'll be cut in half."
"Not necessarily, Major," Tobias said, leaning back for comfort. "To this point, all of the attack runs on Volcania have been external, so the fortifying troops will most likely be stationed at the vulnerable points. You'll be attacking the whale bellyside-out."
Scout gave a quiet snort. "And we sure don't get to the belly through the mouth this time," he mumbled quietly.
A smile grew on Tobias's face while a reddish tinge grew on Scout's in embarrassment.
Tobias quickly got back to business. "Once you're near the core, you'll set charges to blow it. While one team is doing that, another will be working on disabling the emergency lockouts that will be triggered in the autonomic systems when the core goes. That's the one thing I won't be able to do for you. You must disable that system, or the pressure doors will close again, blocking your escape."
Hawk was still not buying into the plan. "And where will you be during all that?"
"Oh, I'll be around," she said, undaunted. "While you're humping it out of there, I'll be keeping them busy with a few tricks. Those pressure doors aren't the only things controlled by the autonomic systems."
Jon felt the stress creeping up into the muscles in his neck. The plan was taking form quickly, and there would be little time to double-check any plans. He felt uneasiness about going into Volcania in such a brazen manner. What bothered him most, though, was the idea of Tobias using Mentor to get them inside to start the attack. She had clearly stated the paradox of risk. If they did not use Mentor and risk damaging it, there could be no chance at attack and Dread would succeed. If they did, his team could be compromised to the point of collapse.
Mentor was unique. Its programming was the product of Stuart Power's intellect and dedication as a scientist. The program was both an instrument of peace and a hammer of war. The thought of losing Mentor, despite the available backup of its systems, was an unpleasant one. Moreover, Jon knew he faced a wall of opposition from Hawk in deciding to allow Tobias to use Mentor in the plan.
"Let's say, for the moment, that we agree to allow you to use Mentor," he said, raising his hand slightly when he saw Hawk begin to object again, "what's our timeframe to get this done?"
Tobias looked over at the console where a countdown clock was winding down by the second. "Six hours, at best estimate."
"Two hours to get into position, even with the jumpship," Jon supplied, "and another two for infiltration if we do it carefully."
"Correct," she agreed. "That leaves two hours for planning at the most."
The urgency of the situation hung in the air. Power suspected that everyone in that room knew just how short a span it was to plan a major raid into the heart of a demon. As he saw it, Tobias was correct that they had no choice but to take the chance.
Hawk played with the coffee cup in front of him. "This is all well and good, but we can't exactly land the jumpship on Volcania's doorstep. What's our landing zone?"
"Good question," Power agreed. "The approach is going to have to be quiet if we're going in the back way."
Tobias nodded. "I've been thinking about that. If I'm in control in the autonomic systems, I can redirect a transport to a location outside Volcania without raising suspicions. It will look like a routine patrol. Think you can handle a squad of mechs?"
Hawk gave a look of disdain. "We'll try to not get any hangnails that might jeopardize the rest of the mission."
Tobias was unfazed. "I'll take that as a yes. The mech unit will be redirected to your LZ when you exit the jumpgate. Any questions?"
The room was quiet, no one raising any points about their plan.
"Well," Power said, "we better get a move on, then, if we're going to make this date with Dread."
A fleeting look of relief showed on the doctor's face. Then she was right back to business. "Lieutenant," she said to Blalock, "I want you to coordinate our team with the captain and his crew. Integrate the data from Mentor into our portable systems. Sergeants Kasich and Baker will lead the technical mission while you and Captain Power's people provide the muscle."
"Understood," Blalock acknowledged with resolve, his earlier objections secured.
Power looked directly at Hawk. "Let's get a systems check on the jumpship and make sure all the fuel cells are topped off. I'll help Kasich and Scout get Mentor settled into Sanctuary's portable systems."
"Right," Hawk mumbled without an ounce of enthusiasm.
Power took no comfort in Hawk's lack of cooperation. He did not relish adding to the ire, but there was no choice. Time was short, and they all needed to work together. "Work with the lieutenant to get the supplies to make any repairs."
Hawk was silent, almost ignoring Jon's orders with blatant disregard. Anger flashed through Power once more, and he let it fly.
"Do you have a problem, Major Masterson?"
Hawk's head snapped at the full use of rank and name. His jaw was tight, and his eyes were afire with anger. His quivered ever so slightly, and his breathing was heavier.
"No," he said finally, "there's no problem."
Jon was not about to escalate the confrontation in front of the rest of Sanctuary's people, and certainly not in front of a woman who might be as guilty as Hawk thought she was. He turned to Tobias one last time.
"Doctor Tobias, if there's nothing else, I think we better get moving."
Tobias cocked an eyebrow at the exchange between Hawk and Jon. "For all our sakes," she said, "I think you're right."
The teams rose from their chairs. Holcomb made a quick dash toward Power, stopping him before he could leave the room.
"Captain, if you'll stay a minute, there's additional information you need to know."
Hawk looked at Jon, wary. Jon dismissed him with a nod, indicating there was no need to worry.
Once the room was empty, Jon sat back down at the table, across from Tobias. Holcomb remained standing near her. Jon felt uneasiness in their initial silence.
"Something else?" he asked.
"You need to understand some risks we're taking that Helene and I felt did not need to be shared with the rest of the group," Holcomb began. "Specifically, it's concerns bringing Jennifer out of her recovery to assist in the operation."
"What kind of risks?"
Tobias leaned back in her chair, folding her hands on her lap. "The kind that could be fatal, Captain."
His skin prickled with stress. "I need the facts, Doctors."
"The bottom line," Tobias said, "is that she is the only one around here besides me who's been inside the system and is familiar with its environment. I need her there to handle auxiliary commands when we do this."
Holcomb sighed heavily. "What Helene is saying is that we're going to be bringing her out way too soon. We plan to trick her brain into thinking everything is okay with a drug therapy. The truth of the matter, though, is that she's still in critical condition."
Jon looked at them, taking in the grim looks on their faces. "We just got her back, and you're asking me to risk killing her again?"
Tobias shook her head. "It's now or never, Captain. If we fail, she's dead anyway. Holcomb will be monitoring her closely, and he'll step in if things get to be too much."
Holcomb agreed. "She'll be completely monitored from a remote station. As far as Jennifer will know, everything is moving along as planned."
Jon was not satisfied, and his tone was sharp. "This is insane!"
"In every aspect, yes, but there isn't much room for discussion," Tobias said calmly. "The only reason we're telling you this is that I told you trust was earned. You've done your part. It's time for me to hold up our end of the bargain."
"What kind of odds are we talking here of something going wrong?" Jon asked, still reeling from the new information.
"We're moving up critical recovery at least two to three days by doing this," Tobias explained "She's barely begun to heal. Odds are good that she'll survive, but again, we're pushing the limits. There can be unanticipated complications." Tobias was firm but understanding. "To the point, Captain, you don't get into the wonder dome without me, and I don't get in there without her. It's that simple."
Holcomb bent down and put his hands on the table. "If everything goes right, she'll be none the wiser when all is said and done. We'll sedate her again, and she'll get the recovery time she needs."
Jon looked at the two of them, feeling ganged up on by circumstances beyond his control. This was a courtesy Tobias was showing him, he knew. She could have gone forward without warning him, but she chose to tell the truth about the situation. He could hardly argue what they were going to do. It was a necessary part of the plan. Tobias' reasoning that this was the only way for the mission to be successful was right. It still did nothing to ease the pain of knowing it could all result in yet another disaster for a young woman who had already given so much in the fight against Dread.
Jon cradled his forehead in his hand, feeling weary with stress. When he looked up at them again, he found them patiently awaiting a response from the commanding officer of the premiere resistance team.
"Do what you have to do, Doctor."