Chapter 8
The Beowulf emerged from hyperspace and continued on towards MW-877.
"Wow, a purple planet," Selina commented as she and Bruce stood in front of the viewscreen.
"We'll be in orbit in ten seconds, sir," navigator, Lieutenant Petit said.
"Commander Womack, any contacts on the sensors?" Roberts asked.
"Negative sir, the picture is clear."
The Beowulf settled into orbit and Womack proceeded to run a planetary scan. Bruce and Selina walked over to her console to observe."
"So what've you found so far, Shelly?"
"Nothing yet, Cat."
Twenty seconds later, the scans were completed."
"Planetary scans turned up no life signs, sir." Womack reported.
"Very well," Roberts said then activated his earpiece. "Major Gordon, are you and your team ready to go?"
"Yes sir."
"Copy that. Womack, beam the marines down to the LZ," Roberts ordered.
"Yes sir," Womack replied then pressed a button on her console and Gordon's team was instantly sent down to the planet. "The team is on the ground and is in the process of securing the landing zone."
"Good, now launch the fighters."
Eight Space Hornets were launched out of hangar bay one in rapid succession and formed up on their way down to the planet.
"After we enter the atmosphere, we'll zoom down to One-thousand feet and station ourselves to the east and west of the ground team. Spacekings Two through Four, you guys will head east with me and Spacekings Five through Eight will cover from the west."
"Solid copy boss," Lieutenant Colbert said.
Since their primary task was ground support, the Space Hornets had their Megalodons swapped out for two four-thousand pound JDAMs and twelve JAGM missiles which were carried in pairs of three on the other pylons that normally carried the Megs.
But they still retained their normal load of Sidewinders and ERAAMs for anyone trying to pick a fight in the air.
Beowulf bridge.
"Cujo One-One to Beowulf, the area is secure and you're cleared to send down the kids. Just make sure they have their gasmasks on," Major Gordon said over the radio.
"Copy that," Roberts replied then told Bruce and Selina they had a go.
They quickly put on their gasmasks and positioned themselves front and center.
"We're ready to go sir," Bruce said then Roberts gave a nod to Womack.
A split second later, Bruce and Selina were enveloped by a white light and whisked away.
MW-877
Bruce and Selina reappeared on the surface in the middle of the circle formed by Major Gordon and his team and took a quick view of their surroundings.
"Teleportation is awesome," Selina commented as she switched off the safety on her AA-22.
"Is the air toxic, Major?"
"Negative Bruce, but we're still keeping our masks on in case we run into something that is."
"Understood sir."
"Alright people, we're about half a click from the objective. Keep your eyes peeled and fingers on triggers."
"Roger sir," Lieutenant Ackerson replied then the team got moving. Selina remained close to Bruce with her weapon ready.
"Cujo One-One this is Spaceking leader, do you read?" Captain Steinbeck asked over Gordon's radio.
"This is Cujo One-One, we read you loud and clear."
"Be advised that we are currently on station five miles to your east and west. If you run into any trouble, just give us a call and we'll come to the rescue."
"Solid copy, Spaceking One."
"And how are Bruce and Selina doing?"
"We're doing just fine, Captain Steinbeck. Thanks for asking."
"No problem, Bruce. We'll talk again later. Spaceking One out."
"Are those fighters monitoring our advance?" Selina asked.
"You damn right they are, and the Beowulf is watching over us from orbit too," Gordon replied.
"I got a feeling that we're all gonna get through this just fine," Bruce commented.
"I hope so, Bruce. Now let's keep an eye on our surroundings," Ackerson said.
A few seconds later, they walked into an area that was filled with buildings that were overtaken by undergrowth, some of them were even partially collapsed.
"We're passing through an urban area now. Watch your sectors and keep a close eye on the buildings, especially the rooftops," Major Gordon said.
"A quick pop quiz for you, Bruce. Where can you find all of the ambush points in a city?" Selina asked as she scanned the area with her gun like the marines were doing with theirs.
"Everywhere around you, which is why one must always watch their surroundings."
"Very good, B. I'm glad those lessons I taught you are still fresh in your head."
"What kind of lessons were you teaching him, Cat?"
"Everything there is to know about surviving on the streets of Gotham, Major Gordon One time he said that he wanted to how people on my side of the fence lived, so he left the comfort of his mansion and lived on the streets with me for a while."
"So you're a street kid where you come from?" Ackerson asked.
"That's right. But I'm a very competent person with a skill set as wide as the Grand Canyon. Especially in the area of fighting."
"I have a daughter who is about your age, I started teaching her how to fight when she entered kindergarten and her skill level has progressed with time."
"How good is she now, Lieutenant Ackerson?"
"Her shooting skills are just as good as mine which are very good and she can be really brutal in a hand to hand match. You would not want to rub her the wrong way, Bruce."
"There are times where Bruce has gotten on my nerves, but my responses are mellow compared to what your daughter would probably do."
"If by some fluke he made her mad enough, your boy would look like a tornado hit him after she was through."
Bruce simply put the image of him getting destroyed by Ackerson's daughter out his mind by looking about the buildings around him.
"Judging by the looks of these ruins, this planet was once home to an advanced civilization."
"But what happened to the inhabitants? I'm not seeing any bodies or signs of this place being attacked."
"Maybe the virus that wiped out the crew of your exploration ship got the people here too, Major," Selina replied.
"Even so, we should still be seeing more than just abandoned buildings and overgrown vegetation. And another thing, we have yet to encounter any animal life. Let alone hear anything beyond our own voices and footsteps."
"Well the Beowulf's scans did turn up empty, sir."
"Orbital scans don't always pick up everything, Bruce. Gordon replied.
After a few more minutes of walking, the team finally reached the building and cautiously approached with their weapons trained on the entrance. Even though Bruce was eager to see what was inside, he chose to stay behind Selina and the marines.
"I'm seeing a lot of debris around the entrance," Selina said.
"Something tells me that mess wasn't there before the team from the Ethel Marie arrived," Bruce commented.
They walked inside and found what turned out to be bits and pieces of a door.
"It looks like you're right, kid," Corporal Spencer said as Bruce knelt down to check out some of the fragments that appeared to be metallic.
"Find something interesting besides some chunks of concrete?" Selina asked."
"I think these pieces were part of a lock, one that the team from the exploration ship went to great lengths to breach."
"If a building is locked up to the point of needing explosives to make an entrance. That usually means there's something in there that someone is either trying to guard or keep away from everyone else. For a very good reason," Ackerson commented.
"Beowulf to Cujo One-One, what's your status?"
"This is Cujo One-One, we are inside the facility. We found evidence that suggest that the team from EM encountered a locked door upon arrival and resorted to explosives to enter. We're moving further into the building to investigate."
"Copy that, Major. Beowulf out," Admiral Roberts replied over the radio.
Two minutes later, they walked into another room that was dark and silent like the area around the entrance.
"Motion sensor isn't picking up a thing, sir." Sergeant Witherspoon reported.
"I see a pedestal in the middle of the room," Selina said.
"Ackerson, check it out. Bruce, Selina, stay put until we find out what it is."
Ackerson walked up to it and saw that the palm was big enough to accommodate a being with eight fingers.
"Sir, this thing has a big palm and couple of knobs on it."
"How many finger spots does it have?"
"Judging by the size of it Selina, the aliens who once lived here had eight fingers on their hands."
"See if you can get the lights on from there," Gordon ordered.
"Here goes," Ackerson said under his breath then touched the palm with his left hand and a flash of brightness filled the room.
"Whoa that was intense," Gordon commented as the brightness went down to a more bearable level.
"I got the lights on, Major."
"We can see that, Lieutenant. Good work," Gordon replied.
"Selina, guys, look around you," Bruce said then they all looked at the walls and saw chambers.
Lots and lots of chambers from top to bottom and they all had locks on them consisting of a wheel with multiple bars running through them.
"So B, care to start counting?"
"No need for that, Selina. I took a quick count of them with the digital scanner on my rifle and we got a good six-hundred chambers in this room. All of them probably filled with things we're better off not releasing."
"Hmm, I think we can leave out the probably part, Major. What other reason could there be for someone to go through the trouble of installing six-hundred locks?"
"I highly doubt one being did all of this, Selina."
"That's funny, I don't remember asking for your two cents, Bruce. Though if you had it in the form of two actual pennies, I would just help myself to one of your pockets and…"
"Sir, I found an open chamber along with fragments of the door and a lock," Ackerson shouted from the across the room.
Everybody ran over to him as Gordon activated the PDA on his wrist to check it with the image he saw on the Beowulf.
"Yep this is definitely the chamber they got the virus from," Gordon said.
"I already did a CBRN scan sir, nothing to worry about. But judging by the size of the table, whatever the EMs crew carried out sure was huge."
"If the virus was stored in an opaque container of some sort, the scientist from the ship probably had no idea what they took," Bruce commented.
"Then something went wrong on their ship and the virus got lose. Had they simply turned back at the front door, they would still be alive," Ackerson replied.
"Selina, tell the Beowulf we're ready to get out of here."
"On it, Major Gordon," Selina replied then activated her radio. "Cat to Beowulf, come in please."
"Roberts here, what's up Cat?"
"We've confirmed that this place is the alien house of horrors your superiors are so worried about and we're ready to beam out of here."
"Have any of you been exposed to hazardous materials?"
"No, we're fine. All of the dangerous stuff with the exception of what was taken by the team from that science ship is locked within six-hundred chambers. All of which are in the same room we are."
"We got a solid fix on your position inside the building, we'll beam you guys up in a second."
"Understood, Cat out."
"Form up people," Gordon shouted then everyone gathered around him and were whisked away shortly thereafter.
Beowulf bridge.
The team reappeared in front of the viewscreen and took off their facemasks.
"Welcome back everyone, I'm glad you're all okay, especially you two," Roberts said referring to Bruce and Selina.
"Thank you sir. I take it you're ready to vaporize the place?"
"You guessed right, Major."
"The rest of you go on, I'll stay up here with the kids and watch the fireworks," Gordon said.
Selina made her way over to Womack's console as the other marines left the bridge.
"Excuse me Shelley, but can I be the one to do this?"
"I already have it locked, Cat. All you have to do is press this button right here."
"Goody goody," Selina said then placed her finger over the one Womack pointed at. "Awaiting your order, Admiral."
"Fire."
The missile soared from the ventral bay and entered the atmosphere at high speed.
The digital HUD popped up on the viewscreen and showed an overhead view of the target at the top portion of the screen and video footage from the missile on the bottom.
"It's going really fast, but why is it flying so low?" Selina asked.
"Normal method of attack for a cruise missile, very useful for circumventing enemy air defenses," Womack explained.
"But there's no air defense to circumvent, ma'am," Bruce commented.
"B, stop over-analyzing and just enjoy the show."
"Is he usually like this back in Gotham, Cat?" Womack whispered.
"More like always, his butler and I do the best we can to keep a leash on him, but you can imagine how well that goes."
"Five seconds to impact," Captain Millen announced.
Everybody watched as the missile flew through the doorway then the video feed went dead.
"Wow, Selina commented at the sight of the fireball and the blastwave.
"The target just vanished from my radar, sir. It's gone along with everything else within a ten mile radius," Womack reported.
"Congratulations, Cat, you're the first teenage girl in history to fire off a nuke."
"Thank you for letting me history, Admiral."
"Beowulf actual, this is Spaceking One. We've just emerged from the atmosphere and are heading back to you."
"Roger Spaceking leader, landing bay one is already open and waiting," Roberts said.
"Copy, Spaceking leader out."
"I'm glad that all of your fighters are coming back," Selina commented as she looked at Womack's screen.
"Admiral, can you have Captain Steinbeck and Commander Emerson meet us on the bridge when they land?"
"What for Bruce?"
"Before we head back to Earth, there is something I would like to do for Selina."
