Chapter Eight
Selina opened the door to the Janitor's closet and went in with her pistol ready. It would've been too risky to use the railgun in here due to the small space. A quick sweep confirmed there were no people or monsters present, so she holstered her Beretta and switched back to the Scarlett gun before moving on.
As she walked down the hall, she made an assessment in her mind. So far she was doing very well against the creatures, but based on the size of the last group she encountered and engaged, there was a good chance she would encounter many more if she ventured any further. The next group might be more than she could handle.
If it weren't for the promise of a big paycheck, she would've left the place and told Sandra to just blow it up. But that might've caused her to get half pay for the job or worst, nothing. She was gonna continue the mission, but she needed to find a better way to confirm how bad this infestation was, and fast.
But unbeknownst to her, Ashley and Sandra were experiencing a problem back at the base
"Cat Zero-One, come in. Cat Zero-One, come in," Ashley shouted into her headset. A few seconds ago, the video feed from her headcam turned to static.
"Calvin, did something go wrong with the comm link?" Sandra said.
"Our comm link is working fine, ma'am. The issue appears to be on Selina's end."
"Dammit, this is just how we lost contact with the Ranger team when they entered the facility," Sandra said then activated her earpiece. "Ice Queen to Mad Dog One-One, come in.
"Mad Dog One-One reading you loud and clear, Ice Queen," Reddington replied. "What's up?"
"We just lost our video and comm links with Selina. I'm sending her last known position to your smartwatch now."
Reddington's watch beeped and he looked at it and saw that she was deep within the facility.
"No worries, Ice Queen. We'll find her. Team One, on me."
"Copy that, Ice Queen out."
Reddington along with six men went down the entrance ramp with their railguns and SAWs at the ready, leaving the rest of the team to hold the line with the JLTVs.
Considering how far into the facility she was, Reddington hoped she had whatever jam she was in dealt with before they reached her. And still living to talk about it too.
Hallway thirty-five
A ten legged horned face creature with a bulb on top of its frill was ramming away at a barrier blocking access to a room where it sensed a potential meal. It had been doing this for a while and was finally starting to make some dents. The creature, snarled repeatedly as it rammed the barrier.
After three more hits, the barrier was on the verge of giving way to the more vulnerable door on the other side. It would only take one more hit to slam through it. The creature backed up against a wall and prepared to make a final charge. When it heard a whistling sound. It hissed and turned to the right to face what could be a much easier meal or another creature coming to compete for it. It turned out to be Selina Kyle standing ten feet away with her railgun ready.
"Bye bye," She said then pulled the trigger and the heathen standing before her before her was no more. The blast also took out the barrier and damaged the door. Shortly after the kill, her radio crackled to life with a frantic call.
"Cat Zero-One, this is Athena, what's your status? I repeat, what's your status?"
"Calm down, Agent Hayes. I'm still here and just blasted another bug."
"We lost contact with you a few seconds ago and sent some of Reddington's guys to see if you needed help."
"You can tell them to hold their horses because the situation is under control. Anyway, I'm about to enter a lab the ugly bulb on the frill horned faced monster was trying to break into."
"Copy that."
Selina walked up to the door and prepared to make her entrance. She took a deep breath then kicked it open and stormed in.
"Friendly, friendly, don't shoot," A pair of voices shouted. Selina turned to the left and saw what appeared to lab techs and a security guard huddled in a corner. Two women and one man.
"Just when I thought all hope for anyone in this place was lost, I stumble across you three," Selina commented after lowering the weapon."
"Oh thank God. But where is the rest of the cavalry?" one of the techs asked.
"As far as you three are concerned, I am the cavalry. Agent Selina Kyle, OGA."
"Other Government Agency, huh? I am Officer Gates, Wayne Enterprises security wing and these are Drs. Higgins and Marie."
"It looks like you found three survivors, Cat," Sandra said over the radio."
"Yeah and the lab I'm in is filled with drones. Do you think you can tap into one of them?"
"We're attempting remote access now, standby."
A moment later, the propellers on four of the drones started spinning and they rose up off the table.
"Just the breakthrough I was looking for," Selina commented.
"Where do you want us to send them?" Sandra asked.
"Down the hall. The answer to our million dollar question might be down there."
"You're playing it smart not going to the hangar Agent Kyle," Higgins said.
"Why?"
"Because that is where this mess started."
"Okay, we're sending the drones that way now. Agent, Kyle, keep those people safe."
"Roger, Ice Queen," Selina replied then turned to Gates. "Can you shoot?"
"Of course."
"Good." Selina took the case off her back and threw it to him. There is an F-2000 assault rifle in there with some magazines and forty millimeter grenade rounds. Bullets only slow the creatures down, but the forty mils will take'em out."
"Got it. I'll cover the door while you and the eggheads watch the recon.
"I got a control station set up," Marie said. After grabbing the rifle and putting the grenades into his vest pockets, Gates ran to the door and knelt down ready to fire on anything that tried to approach.
Seeing anything?" Selina asked as she joined Marie and Higgins at the terminal.
"Just a bunch of sacs hanging from the ceiling." Marie said. Selina told them those were the sacker creatures and that was how they positioned themselves to ambush their victims."
"Fight any of them?"
"Yeah, along with many other buggers. If it wasn't for this railgun AKA Scarlett, I would've been ripped apart on my first encounter with a hopper beetle."
"That would've sucked," Higgins commented.
One hour later, the drones reached the hangar… or what used to be the hangar.
The footage they were transmitting to the terminal and the Luke ops center was less than pretty.
Luke AFB operations room.
"What the hell," Ashley said in a low tone," those creatures turned the whole hangar into their nesting ground. Just look at all of those egg clusters."
"How many do you got Lieutenant?" Sandra asked the officer who was controlling the drones.
"Scans indicate well over nine-hundred eggs in each cluster and a ton of creatures of various kinds moving about. I also got something else, ma'am. It looks like a…"
"A space ship, it's a freaking space ship," Ashley said in disbelief.
"Fair guess is those creatures were its cargo," Colonel Calvin commented.
"Ashley, tell Selina to get out of there. I'm going for option B," Sandra ordered then picked up the phone. "This is Brigadier General Hayes, I need the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs on the line ASAP." A moment later, she was connected to General Francis.
"General Hayes?"
"Sir, I have confirmed that Facility-45 has been compromised by hostile alien creatures. Agent Kyle managed to find three survivors, but the creatures have established a nesting ground in the hangar. They got over a thousand eggs in there that could hatch at any moment."
"How do you plan on containing them?"
"I'm going for option B. I was hoping I could send in the teams to take the place back, but they would be overwhelmed if they tried to storm the nest. Option B is the only way, sir."
"Understood. Call me back when it's done."
"Yes, sir. Hayes out."
"Selina and the survivors are hauling ass to Reddington's team in hallway twenty-one," Ashley reported.
"Calvin, put me through to the strike packages and bring them up on the main screen."
"Yes ma'am," Calvin replied. The satellite feed of the facility was replaced by that of the air traffic control radar.
"Wow," Ashley commented upon seeing the amount of planes in the air. There were three large formations consisting of F-16s and F-35s.
"Pretty neat, huh?" Sandra asked upon noticing the astounded look on her sister's face.
"Yeah." Sandra smiled and proceed to contact one of the formations. "Ice Queen to strike package Alpha-Whiskey, you are cleared to push to the target. I repeat, you are cleared to push to target."
"Roger that, Arrow flight inbound."
"Raven flight inbound."
A clock popped on above the screen. Selina and company had about sixteen minutes to clear out before the jets showed up.
