Mega 3: When Giants Collide (Mega Series) (21 page)

“He’s new,” Carlos said, “but we know Gil.”

Moshi gave a squeak and ducked away.

“Yeah, he was a dick,” Ingrid said.

“What the hell happened on that ship?” Mike asked. “No one has said anything to me.”

“We don’t talk about it,” Carlos said.

“Gunnar told me that the Beowulf I sank,” Mike said. “That’s what you had said at some point.”

Carlos watched Mike for a full minute in silence. Mike just waited. Having gone through BUD/S training to become a SEAL, then through hell as an operator in the field, Mike was not intimidated by a weapons nerd trying to stare him down.

“Listen,” Carlos said finally, “when you’re with Ballantine, you learn to pick and choose the truth, and the best way to survive around that guy is to always pic
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truth. It doesn’t matter if it is the actual truth or not, you pick his. Keeps you breathing another day.”

“That’s fucked up,” Mike said. “The truth is the truth. You can’t just pick what you want to be true.”

“Sure,” Carlos nodded, “like I’m sure you didn’t pick the truth of being heterosexual when you first joined the Navy, right? You told the truth about being gay?”

“That’s different,” Mike said.

“Not really,” Carlos shrugged, “but tell yourself whatever you want, and do me a favor, okay? Tell it away from here. We’re busy.”

Mike’s face grew red with anger and he started to step forward, but a loud buzzing in his ear stopped him short.

“Shit,” he said, “the brig.”

Carlos looked at him then pushed by and over to a bank of monitors. He tapped at the keyboard until a view of the brig popped up.

“Good one, Bionic Man,” Carlos said. “You had one job.”

“How the fuck could they get out?” Mike asked as he stared at the image on the screen. “I’m going to need a weapon.”

“We got those,” Carlos said. He took off then came right back with an M4 and three magazines. “Here. Now get the hell out and catch those guys.”

Mike nodded and took off as Ingrid came up next to Carlos and looked at the monitor.

“They cut right through the bars,” Ingrid stated. “How’d they do that?”

“Not with their teeth,” Carlos said as he studied the image of the jail cell. All of the three inch thick bars had two feet missing out of their middle. “We don’t have time to deal with this. Let’s hope Mike can handle it.”

Moshi rolled a cart next to them with a stack of metal sheets on it.

“We finish in here then head to the engine room,” Carlos said.

***

With the Desert Eagle in one hand, Lake pushed Dr. Morganton out the hatch and onto the landing outside the bridge with his other. He glanced at the flashing red light on the control console and grimaced.

“They could be anywhere. Get your ass off this ship,” Lake ordered. “Don’t cry out until you get down to the beach and can tell Darby, Lucy and the boys what’s going on. You hear me?”

“Why?” Dr. Morganton asked as she grabbed onto the railing and started down the stairs. “We should start yelling now.”

“Because that may be part of the plan,” Lake said.

“Plan? What plan?” she asked.

“I don’t fucking know!” Lake snapped. “I’m just being cautious! Do what I say and get your ass down there, and then tell them!”

Dr. Morganton shook her head, but didn’t argue. She descended the stairs two at a time then hurried to the gangplank and down to the dock. She wanted to run, to sprint, to get away from the ship as fast as possible while getting to the beach even faster, but she kept her pace to a casual hurry.

Down on the beach she could see Lucy and Shane standing on either side of the group of captives, while Darby stood over Max’s stretcher, their attention turned towards the bay and the water beyond. Darby looked at Dr. Morganton as she rushed across the dock’s planks, but she showed no emotion or alarm.

“They’ve escaped,” Darby said as Dr. Morganton rushed across the sand to her.

“Yes. How did you know?” Dr. Morganton asked.

“Because it was about time,” Darby said, “Gil doesn’t like to be caged.”

“You knew he would get out of the brig?” Dr. Morganton exclaimed.

“Keep your voice down,” Darby snapped. “I don’t know what their signal is, so you going off at the mouth does not help.”

“Going off at the…” Dr. Morganton trailed off. “Are you nuts? There are mercenaries loose on the B3! You need to get up there and stop them!”

“I don’t see anything,” Max said from his stretcher on the sand, his rifle to his shoulder and scope to his eye. “I don’t even see Lake on the bridge.”

“Hopefully, he’s hiding,” Darby said. “I warned him about Gil. That Lug person I don’t know, but Gil is not a man you take for granted.”

“Everything cool?” Shane called out from several feet away.

“Good, bro,” Max said. “Just testing my sight. Don’t want the pain meds to hamper my perfect shooting record.”

“Keep dreaming, dude,” Shane said. “The only thing perfect about your shooting record is how awful it is.”

“That’s a blatant lie,” Max cried out. “Oh, how you have wounded my ego, dear brother! For shame! For shame!”

“How can you two joke right now?” Dr. Morganton asked.

“I’m not joking,” Darby said.

“No, I meant the boys,” Dr. Morganton replied.

“I’m joking so we look natural,” Max said. “I have no idea what’s going on, but I trust Darby, so I’ll let her take lead. If she says to be chill then I’m going to be chill.”

“I never said to be chill,” Darby said.

“It was inferred by your nonchalant attitude to the doctor telling us that the prisoners had escaped,” Max replied.

“She didn’t tell us,” Darby responded, “I told her.”

“Oh, my God!” Dr. Morganton snapped. “Will you shut up? The B3 is under siege!”

“It is not under siege,” Darby said. Several gunshots rang out across the water. “Now it’s under siege.”

Darby activated her com, but never got the chance to hail Ballantine. She collapsed onto the beach and across Max’s legs right before Dr. Morganton’s eyes.

“What the fuck?” Max cried out then grabbed at the back of his neck and doubled over Darby’s body.

“Oh, God!” Dr. Morganton shrieked. “Shane!”

She spun about, but Shane and Lucy were already down. Her eyes went from the fallen snipers to the group of captives in front of her. A short Indonesian man stepped out from the group with a huge hairy man in a foot brace right next to him.

“Howdy,” John Bill grinned, “the name’s John Bill and I’ll be accompanying you inside the facility now.”

“Be cool and you won’t get hurt,” Slaps said. “Just follow my buddy here and it’ll all be good.”

Dr. Morganton stood there, stunned, her eyes going from the fallen operators to the men in front of her and then back to her friends.

“How?” she asked.

“They did a lousy job searching us,” John Bill said as he opened his hand to reveal a small tube. He opened his other hand and showed her several small darts. “Not very professional of them.”

More shots rang out from the ship, but Slaps held up a hairy hand so Dr. Morganton would pay attention to him.

“Never mind that,” Slaps said, “you’re going with JB. You’re going to go inside that facility and help our friends.”

“I don’t know the code,” Dr. Morganton replied.

“Doesn’t matter,” John Bill said, “I have the code. I just need your warm finger to enter it in.” He smiled as Dr. Morganton’s eyes went wide. “Yes, we know about the biometrics protocol installed within the keys themselves.”

“This isn’t my facility,” Dr. Morganton said, “it won’t recognize me.”

“Oh, it will,” John Bill said as he took Dr. Morganton by the elbow. “Your signature is programmed into both facilities.”

“How do you know that?” Dr. Morganton asked. “I didn’t even know that!”

“Our employers were very thorough with their briefing package,” John Bill replied. “They made sure to prepare for everything.”

He reached into his pants.

“Oh, no, please,” Dr. Morganton pleaded.

“What? Oh, gross, come on,” John Bill said as he pulled out a short knife. “You’re cute, but a little old for me and not my type.” He tossed the blade to Slaps who caught it easily.

“Thanks,” Slaps said as he started to cut the captive crew free from their bonds. He got the first man free and handed him the knife. “Get the others free then take the weapons off those fucks and get them loaded onto the ship. As soon as that’s done, you get your butts back here. You don’t want to be anywhere near that ship when it heads back out into the water.”

The freed man nodded and took the knife. He cut the bonds on the man next to him then gave that man the knife so he could be freed. Slaps walked over and picked up Max’s rifle then looked over at John Bill and smiled.

“I got this,” Slaps said, “you go find Tank and Bokeem.”

“Come on, Doc,” John Bill said, “let’s go say hello to Ballantine.”

***

Everyone could see that Ballantine was impatient to get through the atriums, but they ignored him as they stared at the incredible sights held in the cells before them. Even Darren couldn’t tear his eyes away, even though his life’s obsession was housed in the lagoon just on the other side of a few more doors.

“What the hell is that?” Darren asked. “Looks like a Komodo Dragon on steroids.”

“Megalania,” Gunnar said.

“Yes, very good, Doctor,” Boris said, “that’s exactly what it is, and that there is-”

“Titanoboa,” Kinsey said. “Yeah, we know what those fuckers look like.”

“Oh, you’ve encountered one?” Boris asked, looking to Ballantine. “I was not aware there were any in the wild.”

“Accidents happen,” Ballantine said.

“That they do,” Boris smiled, “that they do.”

“Am I the only one creeped out by that interchange?” Darren whispered to Kinsey.

“No secrets in class, kids,” Ballantine said. “Boris? Are we finished here with the tour of reptile predators? I’d really like Darren to see th
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before the day gets away from us.”

“Oh, yes, of course,” Boris said, “this way.”

The man led them through a door at the far side of the atrium and into a corridor that led to the next atrium. Instead of going forward, the doctor pressed his hand to a square in the center of the corridor’s blank wall. That wall slid back to reveal a spiral staircase that wound its way down several stories.

“Sorry about this,” Boris said, “there are no elevators in the facility. It’s safer that way.”

“Then how do you move the animals around?” Tank Top asked. It was the first thing he’d said since entering the atriums. “Teleport them?”

He laughed, then let it die away as he saw the look on Boris’s face.

“Fuck me,” Bokeem whispered as he turned to Ballantine, the same realization hitting him as well. “How the holy fuck did you manage that, Ballantine?”

“It’s not safe yet for humans,” Ballantine said.

“Teleportation?” Thorne asked. “Seriously?”

Ballantine shrugged then started walking down the staircase. “Coming?”

Everyone followed him, with Darren right behind Boris and Ballantine while Thorne and Kinsey took the rear just behind Tank Top and Bokeem. Neither father nor daughter caught the quick glances that Tank Top and Bokeem gave each other. If they had, they may have seen what was to come next.

***

Lake lay on the floor of the bridge, his head bleeding and hands clamped to his leg.

“Where’d they go?” Mike asked as he rushed inside the bridge. “Did they leave the ship?”

Lake started to respond, but it was too late. Mike collapsed to his knees, then onto his face, the carbine skittering across the bridge as Gil stood over the man with a fire extinguisher in hand.

“Get the M4,” Gil said to Lug who stepped over Mike’s body and picked up the carbine immediately. “Get Tank Top on the horn.”

Gil looked at Lake and shook his head.

“Man, you are getting the shit kicked out of you,” he laughed. “I hope Ballantine pays you well.”

“Suck my dick,” Lake said.

“He pays you by sucking your dick?” Gil grinned. “You’re getting the short end of that deal.”

“Ha, short end!” Lug laughed. “Good one.”

“What?” Gil asked then got his own unintentional pun. “Short. Like Ballantine’s dick.”

Lug flicked a switch on the com console.

“Tank? We’ve got the bridge and it looks like John Bill has things covered on the beach,” he said into a mic. “You read me, Tank?”

“I read you, Lug,” Tank Top responded. “We’ll take care of things on our end.”

“Good luck,” Lug said.