Dulce Truths

“Is it safe?” Turn asks, though knowing the question is a dumb one right after it leaves his mouth.

“Compared to being atomized to nothing — which is what we’ll be in another ninety seconds if we stand here — then yes, I’d say she’s safe.”

Turn bites his lip. That was not the answer he wanted to hear.

“Listen,” Walter continues, putting his hand on Turn’s back and pushing him forward a bit, “I’ve done this nearly a dozen times now, and each time it’s the same — a slight tingling, the feeling that my hair’s full of static electricity, and then just like that, I’m there.”

Turn looks back to see Walter’s face. “Where’s there?”

“Why don’t you see for yourself,” Walter says, and his pushing turns to a shove. Before Turn has time to react, he’s entering the shimmering doorway… and then he’s gone.

Part II

3 — Winding Down

Blue Lake

Friday, May 25, 1979

4:05 AM

A total of 15 men sat in folding chairs in a non-descript hangar on a base in the middle of the Colorado Plateau. They were in the Four Corners region of New Mexico, and their eyes dart this way and that, hands shaking with adrenaline and trigger fingers twitching. They were in the same hangar on the edge of the base’s airstrip that they had been just 4 hours before. Was it just that long ago, Ellis thinks as he looks out at them, just 4 hours since I was lecturing them on what’s to come? The Dutchman chuckles to himself. My God I was naïve!

“Sir?” Chargin’ Charlie says, catching the Dutchman’s strange expression.

“Yes,” Ellis says, clapping his hands together and coming out of his reverie, “let’s get started.”

“Started?” Bobbie scoffs from his spot in one of the back rows of men. “Hell, why don’t we finish — I dunno about you, sir, but I’ve been up for damn-near 24 hours!”

There were grumblings of agreement to Bobbie’s words, and Ellis puts his hands up to settle things.

“Alright, alright…” he says, waiting for the men to quiet back down, “…I’ll keep this as short as I can.”

As he says the words his eyes dart to the door in the back. General Anderholt is there, just coming into the room. He sees Ellis, nods, and leans up against the back wall, crossing his arms to listen. A few of the Blue Lake base guards are with him, and Ellis figures the general must have rushed here just as fast as he could. He ignores him for now, and puts his focus back on the men.

“CAT-1 and CAT-2 breached the lower levels, and CAT-1 even got into the Hall of Horrors and Nightmare Hall.” Ellis looks to the men that were on those teams. “You men did a helluva lot of damage down there, and you saved a helluva lot of prisoners as well.”

“Lost a helluva lot o’ my friends too,” John says, and the grumblings of agreement are louder than they were for Bobbie.

“CAT-3 up top was no different,” Ellis continues, looking at John as he says the words. “Up there they turned off the sonic, breached the main HUB doors and made it to Level 2 before being forced back when the call to pullout was given.”

“Helluva call,” Aaron says with disgust, but Ellis ignores this as he scans his clipboard and starts reading off the dead.

“CAT-1 lost Sammy and Tommy while CAT-2 lost Walter, its leader.”

“Said he was goin’ back up to save as many more as he could,” Emil says with a shrug, “but then we never saw him again.”

“Had no choice but to hop on the last train when the call to leave came through,” Jake adds.

Ellis nods and continues on with the death toll. “CAT-3 — which was the largest, broken down into two groups — lost Jerry, Paul, Johnny, Lewie, and Turn. And finally, CAT-4 lost Robbie.”

“Now I’m the only super soldier left,” Bobbie says with a shrug.

“We’ll need your ability to withstand the Grays’ mind attacks,” Carl says from the side of the room. “You know they’re not just going to let this attack go unpunished.”

“We’ll handle that when it comes,” Ellis says. “Now in total that’s 10 men in all, out of 25.” He shakes his head. “40 % casualty rate — terrible, just terrible!”

“But we destroyed the base,” Mark says after a brief lull comes, “or at least killed everything down to the microbial level that was inside the hell hole.” He looks back at the others as he says it, pumping his fist into the air a bit. “We sent that CED so far down the levels that there’s nothing left, and won’t be for some time.”

“Forever, hopefully,” Stan says from the back of the room, where all the MAT team members are.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Mark says, giving him a nod.

“That’s three of us,” Ellis says, “and from the looks on some of your faces, I’d say many of you men feel…”