Chapter 4: Seals

Commander Jimmy Hutcheson led the five groups of Seals down the Truckee River. A couple of fighters seemed to be flying search patterns so he had his men duck back under the water and hug the bottom of the river. Swimming along they pass the wreckage of downtown, and head the three miles toward the City of Sparks.

Two hours later, after they surface near the backside of the 'Reno Hilton' the teams fanned out along the riverbank while Jimmy stripped out of his black suit and pulled on some civilian clothes that were found right after they landed. Putting on the wig and fake beard, he tucked his pistol in the small of his back. Lifting his infrared goggles, he looked around the sky, and saw a shuttle coming his way. Tossing his goggles back to his teammates, he opened an equipment pouch. As the rest of his team ducked back into the water, he pulled out a flashlight, and curled up into a ball with the light shining in the air.

Lieutenant Jamie Conner adjusted her heading towards Sparks when she caught sight of a light down on the ground, flipping on her infrared scanners she saw a human form lying on the ground. Turning on her com she said to the crew in the back, "Looks like we have another survivor down near the river, I am going to land have someone head out and get them."

Over the com, Corporal Mitchell Land's voice said, "Roger, Ma'am. I will go out and Sandy will keep me covered."

Jamie listened to Corporal Land, and said, "Good! Keep an eye out for danger. We are landing now."

The shuttle's engines flared and the forty thousand ton ship settled to the ground.

Commander Hutcheson watched the huge ship settle to the ground nearby.

Jimmy watched as a young man came running down the ramp and knelt over to him.

He saw the grayish hair and beard and said, "Hey, old timer, how you doing? Let me get these anti-radiation meds into you, and then we will get you out of the area."

Jimmy listened to the man talk to him about an anti-radiation shot. Feeling something brush his hand, he allowed the man to help him to his feet and up the ramp.

"We have food and water for you onboard." Corporal Land said as he pulled the man to his feet and half carried the man towards the ship and up the ramp.

As they passed the person at the head of the ramp, Jimmy saw it was a woman. They stepped into the main compartment. He pulled out his pistol and pressed it against the man's ribs, and said, "Don't move if you want to live."

Taking the strange pistol from his captive's holster, he pushed the man down into one of the seats. He pointed his weapon at the woman's head as the woman turned around.

"Drop your weapons, or you will die."

Sandy turned as the ramp was almost closed, and was looking down the barrel of a pistol with a silencer. Listening to the man, she placed the plasma rifle on the deck along with her pistol.

"Now what?"

Jimmy looked at the woman, and said, "Tell your pilot to come out here, use your radio, and use any excuse you can think of."

Sandy reached over to the com unit on the wall and said, "Jamie, can you please come back here."

Then on her internal com unit she said, 'Jamie we were tricked, he is armed and dangerous.'

Sandy watched the man move like a cat. He was behind Corporal Land in a flash with his gun against the corporal's head.

"Be right there, what's up, Sandy?"

Thinking quickly Sandy said, "He said, there is a camp up stream with about twenty people who need evacuation. He has a map that he wants to show you. He said otherwise you'd miss the camp."

Jimmy watched the door, waiting for it to open.

Jamie was getting ready to lift off when the com chimed and Sandy's voice came over it.

Jamie walked over to the door and unlocked it. Walking out she said, "Okay. Where is this map?"

Jimmy watched the woman come out the door wearing some type of flight suit. Her flaming red hair was hanging down her back.

Jimmy said, "Don't move or he is dead. Now, Sandy, please lower the ramp."

Sandy turned and opened the door and lowered the ramp. When it hits bottom she saw men come up out of the river and run across the field. 'Jamie more men are coming.'

'I think these are the men that they have been looking for, over in Reno. How they got here, I have no idea.'

'I think they are Seals. They are coming up out of the river.'

'Oh, fuck. Well, let's not piss these guys off, yet. I think Commander White will want them in one piece.'

Captain Josh Hunter watched the man take Commander Hutcheson onboard the shuttle and waited to see if their plan would work. The ramp went up into the ship and the hatch closed. A few seconds later, it came back down and they were up and over the edge of the bank, running for the shuttle. Running up the ramp, he pushed the woman at the door against the wall and pulled out some plastic ties, tying her hands together behind her back. "Sorry it's so tight, but it's for our own safety.

"What's your name?" Josh asked.

Sandy grunted as the man in black threw her into the wall, her arms were jerked behind her and she felt something go around her wrists, and said, "My name and rank is Private First Class Sandy Towels, Terran Federation Marine Corps,"

"Okay, Sandy. Please don't give me any trouble and I don't want to hurt you. We are here to arrest some traitors to the United State. Now where can we find Kenneth Thompson and his family?"

Suddenly Jamie said to her on her internal com, 'Answer him, and play nice for now. That is an order.'

Sandy looked at the man and as she is about to tell him to go to hell when suddenly she heard Jamie's orders.

'Right away, Ma'am, ' as she said aloud, "Admiral Thompson is in a coma, and aboard the ship, and he is not a traitor."

Josh smiled at the young girl and said, "See that wasn't so bad. Now, why don't you, have a seat. As for him being a traitor ... Well we have a warrant for his arrest, and the charges on it are treason."

Pulling out some duct tape, he taped her mouth closed.

While this was going on another pair of Seals secured Mitch to his seat and Commander Hutcheson walked over to the pilot, and asked, "What's your name?"

Jamie looked at the handsome man, and said, "Lieutenant Jamie Conner."

Jimmy looked at her, and said, "My name is Commander Hutcheson, United States Navy. You will fly us up to your ship. If you try to alert them, your two marines back here will die. Do you understand me?"

Jamie looked over at Mitch and Sandy and back at the Commander, and said, "Yes, I understand you, and you won't succeeded. There are five thousand people on that ship."

"We have no choice but to succeed, and the more of you we capture the better off we are," he said as he turned Jamie around, and pushed her into the cockpit, as he continued, "Take off, and follow your standard orders, if they ask why you're returning early, say you have a mechanical problem." Pressing the gun against her spine, he said, "Got me?"

"Yeah, I got you Commander, tell your people to strap in." Sitting down in her flight control pad, she pressed her hand to the DNA scanner and typed in her command code. As the secondary lift engines fired up, she pulled back on the stick. Lining up with the Washington, she contacted flight control, "Washington control, this is Sunspot, I am returning to base for engine repair."

As she fired the main engines she thought, 'Terry, my shuttle has been taken, thirty plus Seals, what are my orders?'

'Wait one.'

'Okay, but we don't have long. We will be aboard in two minutes.'

Terry watched her shuttles fly around the city, picking up survivors. She received radio communication from one of her birds that it was RTB for emergency repairs. Then Terry's com tickled and she heard Jamie's voice.

'Terry, my shuttle has been taken, thirty plus Seals, what are my orders?'

Terry listened to Jamie's report and said, 'Wait one.' Turning the com on, she contacted Commander White.

Ted and Jenny had rushed into medical and stopped as they saw Tina sleeping with her head on Ken's chest with Molly standing over them. Molly looked up as they came in and signaled them to come over.

Walking over to Molly, Ted said, "Molly, you called us?"

"Yes. We have made contact with Ken, or Tina has," she looked down on the sleeping girl, as she continued, "Somehow Tina is able to talk with him while she slept. I think it's the nanobots are instigating the contact."

Jenny stood there listing and asked, "So is he going to wake up?"

"I hope so, Jenny. It seems that Ken is fighting a battle in his mind, and not doing..."

Suddenly the ships com said, "Commander White, please contact the bridge ASAP."

Ted listened to the announcement and said, "Excuse me ladies."

Walking over to the wall com, he activated it, and said, "White, go."

"Sir, Sunspot reports that her shuttle has been taken over by at least thirty Seals. What are your orders?"

"Tell her to land, and we will deal with it. Contact Sergeant-Major Anderson and tell him to get a platoon of marines to landing bay Delta with shields and holo emitters." Looking over at Molly and Jen in conversation, he sighed and ran out the door.

Jumping in the transport tube he said, "Landing Bay Delta."

Terry listened to her orders, and contacted Jamie and said, "Sunspot you're cleared to land in Landing Bay Delta."

"Roger control, engine two is running really hot."

"Roger, you want crash teams ready?"

"No, shouldn't need them, it's only a short hop. If it fails, I still have engine one for lift, just following SOP."

"Roger, see you in a few," Terry said as she shut the connection down, she brought up the list of marines still onboard and scrolls through them and stopped on one name, Sergeant-Major Anderson. "Bridge to Sergeant Anderson please respond."

"Anderson here, go ahead bridge."

"Commander White wants you to get a platoon of marines together and report to Landing Bay Delta with holo-emitters and shields, for the interception of thirty Seals coming in on Sunspot's shuttle. We have a hostage situation."

"Roger that, I am dispatching a platoon to Landing Bay Delta."

Commander Hutcheson listened to the conversation, and when Jamie shut the com off he said, "Very good, Lieutenant. You may just live through this."

"That's all I want, that and to rescue my sister who was kidnapped three years ago."

Jimmy looked at the girl and said, "Kidnapped? If it's been that long, I hate to say it but she is probably dead."

"I will believe it when I see her body. But until then I plan on killing as many Crytherians as I can."

Jimmy listened to the conversation as he studied the huge ship as it got closer, and said, "What is a Crytherian?"

Adjusting the pitch of her shuttle, she responded, "It's a race of slavers that have been kidnapping humans for slave labor."

Jimmy adjusted his harness and said, "Well I don't know anything about them. All I know is my mission."

Jamie looked over at Commander Hutcheson, and said, "You know you will never succeed, but go ahead and try. However, I will warn you of one thing. Commander White, Sergeant-Major Anderson and Admiral Thompson will hand you your balls for lunch. Now hang on."