Revolution (55 page)

    I think I can do this, but there’s only
one way to find out for sure
.

    Campion tossed the grenade with all her strength. Five seconds later, she saw the familiar flash of red light emanating from the corridor outside. She saw this as her cue to unclip another grenade from her belt and throw it. Another flash of bright light followed. Campion carefully took her pistol out of its holster.

    “Okay, bring me down another couple feet,” she said.

    They dropped her low enough so she could see into the blasted tunnel. The floor looked like the ceiling to her. All she saw was a large black crater in her version of the ceiling. She fired a few rounds down the corridor from her upside-down position, pretending she was right-side-up and using the real floor and ceiling as marking points.   

     After emptying an entire magazine, Campion reached up and unfastened two straps restraining her legs. The ropes had been constructed in such a way, that when these straps were unfastened, her body swung down rapidly. She found herself suddenly right-side-up. Her head was spinning as she looked down the hallway. A long black blast crater had gouged out some of the floor and walls. She didn’t see any body parts.

    I think I got them all.

    Jane dropped down to the blasted floor and unfastened the rope around her waist. She moved quickly across the crater, sweeping it with her pistol. Traveling down the length of the crater, about twenty feet, she stopped at normal floor level. She scanned the corridor ahead for any movement. The hallway was empty and silent. Balancing her pistol on the floor level, she covered the corridor while she spoke into her headset.

    “It’s safe. Start sending people down.”  

********

    Rayne had hardly taken another step when more metallic thunder exploded from farther down the corridor.

    “Take cover,” Brennon said as she shoved Rayne into a side room. She fired several shots and ducked into the room with him. They found themselves in a large wood-paneled office. “Nice place,” Brennon commented, observing the fake plants and plush office furniture.

    “Yeah, right.” Rayne said, listening to the sound of bullets ricocheting in the hallway. “Do you think Thompson made it?” he asked, concerned.

   “She’s all right. She has fast reflexes. I’ve known her since boot camp,” Karyn said.

    “Campion runs a boot camp?” Peter asked.

    “No, I was in the Marines before I joined Campion’s crew,” Karyn said, raising an eyebrow.

    “Oh, right,” Peter said, feeling dumb.

    I should have known that. Campion told me many of the rebel fighters were former police officers and soldiers.

    “I joined up with the rebels after fighting in the Columbian War,” Brennon said. “That is, if you could actually call it fighting,” she added, rolling her eyes.  “My squad was in charge of helping the Columbian troops round up and eliminate suspected rebels. Most of the people we executed were poor peasant farmers. Some of them gave shelter or food to the rebels because they were threatened. Most had never touched a gun in their life. That whole campaign left a bad taste in my mouth. I was ready for Campion’s ideas after that.”

    Brennon approached the door and waited for a few tense moments before turning the corner and firing down the hall. She ducked back into the room.

    “Lorick made it. I just saw her,” Karyn said.

    “Thompson?” Peter asked.

   “I saw her in a room down the hall. She must have known we were here because she timed her assault with mine.”

    “Good, at least we’re not alone,” Rayne said, relieved.

    “I’m not sure how much good it’s going to do us,” Brennon said. “I saw a lot of Troopers down the hall. They’re moving closer. The only way we’re going to dissuade them from running right on top of us is to fire down the hall whenever we can.”

    Rayne turned the corner and only had time to let off a few rounds. The Shock Troopers were moving toward them, skipping from room to room using their own fire as cover.

    “You’re right. They’re getting closer. And they know where we are,” Peter said as bullets exploded around the doorframe. He winced as a piece of shrapnel whizzed by his head.

    “Okay. My turn,” Karyn said, dropping unexpectedly on her stomach.

    She got into a sniper’s position on the floor and aimed around the corner, firing. This time, she stayed where she was and emptied an entire magazine at their opponents. She ducked back into the room as the hallway floor was ripped to shreds by bullets. As she rolled away, Rayne heard pieces of floor ricocheting off her armored back.                      

    “Unfortunately, that’s a trick that’s only going to work once,” Brennon said, getting to her feet.

    She was right. The floor outside the door was being relentlessly blown apart, forming small craters.

    “Still, I think I got a few of them,” she added, smirking. “They weren’t ready for a sustained barrage.”

    “Good. Maybe that will slow them down,” Rayne said, trying unsuccessfully to wipe the sweat from his forehead with an armored glove. 

    The gunfire in the hallway intensified.

    “This is getting bad,” Peter said.

    “I know,” Karyn said, placing her rifle on the floor and taking her pistol out of its holster.  

    She approached the doorway carefully and stuck her hand around the corner, firing down the hall. Her armored gloves saved her hand from being torn apart by shrapnel as explosive bullets struck the outside wall.

    “They must be right on top of us,” she said.

    “I like your idea,” Rayne said, following her example.

    Taking his pistol from its holster, he held it around the corner, firing. He brought his hand back in as bullets exploded on the doorframe.

    “I doubt we hit anything, but like you said, it might intimidate them a bit,” Peter said.

    “I hope you’re right. We’re just lucky they don’t have any grenades,” Karyn said.

    “Didn’t you say they weren’t equipped with laser grenades?”

    “Sure, they don’t have laser grenades, but they still might have conventional grenades.”

    “Why haven’t they used them yet?”

    “Maybe they didn’t want to waste them until they are up close.”

    “That’s a comforting thought.”

********

    Campion led her team down a long underground corridor until they reached a black steel door at the end. Large red letters were painted above the door
; Body Bank Level 5
. An adjacent wrist scanner required them to provide the proper code in order to gain access.

     Campion ordered her squad to get back and tossed a laser grenade at the door. She covered her eyes to protect from the glare. When she uncovered them, she saw a familiar black crater surrounding a gaping hole in the wall. She motioned the squad forward.

    The squad jumped down into the crater and climbed back up to normal floor level on the other side of the blown-out wall. They traveled several hundred feet until they reached a section of the corridor containing numerous doorways.

   “We need to find an elevator or stairwell.  Everyone spread out and start checking all the rooms,” Campion said.

    They did a thorough sweep of the rooms for a quarter-mile down the corridor. Campion was surprised by the unforeseen discovery of high-tech operating rooms and laboratories. She couldn’t imagine what kind of experiments or operations were being performed here and she didn’t want to. They eventually found an elevator.

    “Any signals directly above us?” Jane asked her scanner technician, Beth Connor.

    “No, it’s clear, but there are signals above us about a half-mile ahead,” the tech said.

    “Okay, let’s see how many people we can fit into an elevator,” Jane said.

     Campion stood shoulder-to-shoulder with ten other soldiers as the elevator ascended four levels. They stepped off on
Body Bank Level 1
and sent the elevator back down for the others.

    “Which way?” Campion asked the scanner technician.

    Beth Connor, pointed to the left.

    “I’m getting a reading of about a hundred carbon signals ahead,” she said.

    They double-timed it down the corridor for several hundred yards, passing more laboratories and operating rooms. Ironically, Campion and her group retraced the steps Rayne had taken in the Body Bank several days before. Eventually, they found another elevator.

    “The signals are about a quarter-mile away. Above us,” Connor said.

    “Let’s go then,” Campion said, glancing up furtively at the ceiling.

     Campion crammed onto the elevator with ten other soldiers and rode up five more levels. They exited onto a floor labeled “To Dark World Control Rooms” and they found themselves in another long metal corridor. The walls contained numerous interconnected metal pipes, control panels, and mechanical gauges.

    “This looks like one of Virtual-world’s maintenance corridors!” Jane exclaimed. “We’ve made it halfway across the island.”

    “That means the signals are coming from Virtual-world,” Connor said, widening her eyes at the scanner screen.

     What are they doing in Virtual-world?

    Jane thought about it for several seconds and then answered her own question.

    They’re trying to escape. We have to cut them off.

    She switched her headset to channel three.

    “L-1 to Charlie Squadron. Come in, C-Squad,” Campion spoke into the receiver.

    Static crackled on the other end for several seconds before a female voice spoke, “This is L-3, Charlie Squadron. Go ahead.”

    “What’s your status, L-3?” Jane asked.

    “We’ve secured the eastern sector of the city and are awaiting orders,” Lt. Benson said.

    “How many choppers do you have left?”

    “We have sixteen choppers left, L-1.”

    “Good. I want you to leave eight choppers in the eastern sector so they can hunt down any rogue elements remaining in the area. I need you and the remaining choppers to leave the eastern sector and move west to the Virtual-world section of the island. Understood?”

    “Received, L-1. What’s our target?” Benson asked.

    “I want you to surround the Powerdrome facility, secure the area, and cover all the entrances and exits. I want that place sealed up tight. We think the President and some of his VIPS are hiding out there. We can’t let any of them escape,” Campion said.

    “Roger, L-1. I’m setting course for Virtual-world.”

    “Excellent, L-3. I’m counting on you to contain the Powerdrome. My squad will meet up with you after we take out the President and his entourage.”

    “No problem, L-1. I’ll see you there,” Benson said.

    “Roger, L-3.” Campion said, switching off her headset.

    “Commander, is the President really hiding out in the Powerdrome?” The scanner technician asked, raising her eyebrows.

    “Let’s find out,” Campion said, grinning fiercely. 

     They found more elevators and rode up another five floors. The doors opened and they entered a short corridor with a thick, circular steel door imbedded in the wall ahead. The door was built like the doors on a submarine or battleship; it had a metal wheel in the center that could be loosened to open or tightened to close the door. Campion observed the unusual thickness of it.

   
What are they trying to keep out?

********

    “Get back,” Brennon said, pushing Rayne away from the doorway as a massive explosion resounded in the hallway.

    Large, sharp pieces of jagged metal flew into the room from the outside corridor. They stood behind the wall several feet away from the doorway, shielded from the blast.

    “I guess that means they’re close enough to use grenades,” Rayne muttered.

    “Have you always been a quick study?”

   “I can be pretty sharp when I want to be,” Peter said, smirking.

   “I can see that,” Karyn agreed, grinning back.

    Peter winced as another explosion rocked the hallway, causing the floor to shudder. There seemed to be nothing more to say so they stood against the wall, holding their upraised pistols in preparation for an attack. More explosions rocked the outside corridor, vibrating the wall they leaned against.

    The explosions suddenly stopped and were replaced by the thundering of automatic weapons fire. Brennon stepped closer to the doorway.

    “That gunfire isn’t coming from the direction of our enemies,” Karyn said, listening.

    “Does that mean they have us surrounded?” Peter asked.

   “I don’t think so. If another squad approached us from the other side, they would catch their own people in the crossfire. This must be our guys.”