Revolution of the Gods: The Battle for Sol Book One (3 page)

The green gel sprayed through the air off his naked body as he leapt from the chamber. When he landed on the floor he immediately dropped to his knees. This was in fact the first time he breathed air and it stung his lungs with searing pain. It took three more deep gasps for him to acclimate to his new atmosphere. Each time the pain became slightly more bearable.

He struggled back up on his feet and stumbled over to the technicians lying unconscious on the floor. Although he was at least six inches taller than any of the men, their oversized bio-suits, resembling a hybrid of a thin spacesuit with plates of strategic body armor served him adequately.

Accessing the only remaining operative computer panel located beside the bulkhead door, he fumbled through the menus and directories until he found a facility schematic.

This place is massive.

The map indicated an underground structure with over 200 levels and the scale readout specified it at over one mile wide and six miles deep. He determined that he was currently located on Level 176. After mapping a route to the nearest elevator bank, he used the panel to disable the locks and the doors were released.

As the lab doors slid apart, he stepped into an extensive corridor. At that moment an alarm sounded and red fiber-optic lights which lined the corridor began to flash. A rush of adrenaline coursed through his body and he started jogging and then running.

Considering he had just walked for the very first time only a few minutes earlier, the GEO was impressed with how quickly his legs moved. The elevators were about 1000 feet away from the lab but he was approaching them in less than 12 seconds.

In the primary command center, several dozen levels above, General Bracken was sitting in his office with one of his subordinates discussing the logistics of their upcoming plans when his desk viewer abruptly interrupted the conversation.

“Sir, we are indicating a breach on Level 176. A GEO has escaped the laboratory,”
Colonel Osborne alerted.

Bracken jumped to his feet, rolling his chair backwards so fast that it tipped over. He hurried out of his office to an enormous array of displays just outside his door and growled loudly, “Where is he now?”

An officer seated at one of the displays pointed at the screen. “He is still on level 176 but he is already in section H near the elevators.”

“What? How the hell did he get that far that quick?”

“All of the systems were disabled in the lab but his locator chip was detected when he breached the bulkhead door. He was in Section H about 11 seconds later. The elevators on that level were immediately locked down after the lab breach. He is now headed east toward Section G,” Osborne explained.

“That means he was moving over…”

“Yes sir, the internal sensors calculate he exceeded 60 mph.”

“Damn!” the general said with amazement. Bracken immediately began snapping out directives. “Issue a code yellow. Verify Level 176 is completely sealed. Lock down all elevators and order all non-essential personnel to their quarters. Direct the containment team to that level for a nonlethal capture. And get me Dr. Hauer on the com.”

Hauer was still on level 176 in his personal quarters. He had heard Bracken’s request come across his com panel, but instead of answering, he continued to monitor his escaped clone. As the GEO came closer to his proximity in Section G, Hauer stepped out in the corridor and pointed a thin silver pen like object at the fleeing man as he rounded the corner. The device instantly incapacitated him and he fell to the floor.

“Sir, we have lost his signal in Section G. Our men are on the way there now.”

T
his time when he awoke things were much different. There were no more needles, no more paralyzing gel. The doctor was sitting in front of him taking some readings from his handheld scanner.

Because he had never actually spoken a word out loud, he was not so sure about the process when he quietly said, “I have to get out of here.”

“Indeed,” Hauer concurred with a slight smile emerging as he turned around to look at him. “But we do not have much time. General Bracken has no doubt already sent his men to my quarters.”

“How do I get out of here?” the GEO interrupted.

“The main elevator shafts have been locked down. They eventually only go to level one of the facility anyway and not directly to the surface. There is however an emergency lift that travels straight to the surface. I will have it on this level by the time you reach its entry hatch. Look at this display. The lift shaft is located here. I have also programmed the necessary code for it to take you to the surface, but Bracken may intercept you. In that case I can only suggest that you improvise.”

The doctor walked over to a cluttered space near his bed that once resembled a desk.

“Take this data pad,” Hauer said after retrieving a thin six inch by three inch digital tablet. “It provides a schematic of the hanger where you will emerge and the aircraft that are located there. Interface this pad with the control panel once you enter in the cockpit of this type of ship.”

The doctor displayed an image of a black two seat experimental fighter and continued, “It will automate the controls and initiate the launch protocol. It will also enter the coordinates for your destination. I have also disabled the locator chip embedded in your right wrist. You should remove it as soon as you are able.”

A loud beeping sound came from one of the doctor’s panels before he warned, “They are almost here!”

“Why are you helping me?”

“It’s my belief that I and the rest of the world have a vested interest in your survival. And by any fair assessment of the situation, your survival is more doubtful if you remain here.”

“Before I go, I need to know - What is my name? Who am I?”

“Well, your official designation is GEO-0131. That stands for Genetically Enhanced Operative. You were the first specimen scheduled for maturation this year, thus the number 0131. But I personally always referred to you as ‘Taon’. Now, as far as who you are, that remains yet to be determined.”

Hauer squarely faced the GEO and placed his hands on the broad shoulders of Taon’s 6 foot 8 inch frame.

“It is important for you to know that you are extraordinary in so many ways. In ways no one truly yet knows– not even myself. Once you reach your destination it is a question we will all redress. You must go now. Continue down the corridor until you reach Section F. The emergency lift is there.”

The doctor opened the door, looked out in the corridor each way and signaled Taon in the correct direction. Hauer pushed his panel to close the door and walked over to the closet in his quarters.

“Team leaders; be aware that one of the technicians on your level had his bio-suit removed and the target may be wearing it. We are picking up a readout about 60 yards from Dr. Hauer’s quarters. Converge on that location now!”
Osborne commanded over the soldiers’ helmet coms.

The directive caused one of the pursuing groups to change course from one of the main corridors. As the troops neared the location of a nearby bio-suit signature they closed off all potential escape avenues. They approached the target cautiously with their weapons drawn. The lead soldier spotted the man in the bio-suit and yelled loudly, “Stop! You are contained on all sides!”

At that moment, Dr. Hauer removed his helmet and offered a perplexed look at the soldiers.

“Sir, it is Dr. Hauer in the bio-suit. The target is not here,” one of the team leaders informed command.

In the meantime, Taon had made his way down the corridor left vacant by Hauer’s diversion and reached the hatch to the lift. He pressed a red button above it and the access portal slid open. The lift was not a normal elevator. It was small in comparison with only three seats in it and was shaped more like a capsule than a box.

After he sat down in one of the seats, he pushed the panel in front of him and the hatch swiftly closed. Taon pulled out the data pad and began studying the schematic. As he analyzed the readout he was astounded once again. The display indicated the lift was about to travel over six miles in order to reach the surface. He initiated the instruction code Hauer had programmed and the lift shot up violently propelled from the bottom.

“Sir, the emergency lift in Section F176 was just reactivated and is almost to the surface!”

“Dammit! That section of lifts terminates in Hanger 14. Initiate an all stop on that shaft and release the Neuronium. Lock down the surface exit and move all personnel on the surface to that location. Make certain the hanger doors are secure. Put the visual feed of the hanger directly through to my office,” Bracken commanded as he hurried back to his desk.

With about 2 miles left to ascend, the lift came to an instant halt with the force jerking Taon painfully upward against the chair restraints. As he gathered his bearing, Taon noticed the gas starting to emit below his feet. Neuronium gas was a substance capable of incapacitating entire populations for extended periods of time without any long term harmful effects.

Instinctively he began typing into the data pad to analyze the composition of the gas and to determine the structural make-up of the lift. The data that he queried revealed that the lift had an access hatch above the seats. It also housed a propellant canister under the floor that contained a liquid which appeared to be volatile if mixed with the gas. But he had no way of getting through the thick metal floor plate.

It was becoming increasingly harder for Taon to breathe. He ripped off the restraining belts and hopped out of his seat. With no other options at his disposal, he simply began punching the floor of the lift. He was surprised with his very first strike when the floor dented significantly. Another series of strikes produced about a foot wide hole to the inner mechanics under the floor. He located the canister and ripped it out with sparks from the electrical components spewing out.

Taon crawled out onto the top of the lift, twisted the valve on the canister and tossed it down. He slammed the hatch shut and waited. The explosion was fierce and again propelled the lift. This time it ascended even faster than before. He was pressed firmly against the top as he looked upward to formulate his next move.

“Sir, the lift is moving again. All systems were disabled and the gas was emitted but it is ascending again.”

“What! Is the surface still secure?” Bracken inquired.

“Yes sir,” Osborne affirmed.

That exit from the shaft will likely be closed. What now?
Taon wondered.

He only had a few seconds left to figure it out. He turned over and rose to his knees with his back arched upward. His concentration was intense when an electrical field began forming around his body. As he approached the top of the shaft, the energy field was bursting above him and hit the hatch cover, blowing it off its hinges upward into the hanger.

The soldiers were staked out in heavy numbers, completely surrounding the surface exit with their weapons aimed and new orders to terminate.

When the hatch cover flew off the soldiers began firing. Most were armed with conventional fire-power but a few were using more effective particle weapons. Regardless of their choice of weapon, their volley was short lived after the electrical field blasted from the shaft creating an electrostatic discharge. The web of lightning bolts mushroomed outward as Taon exited the shaft; shocking every surrounding soldier into instant unconsciousness. All of them hit the hanger floor almost simultaneously.

Taon was ejected over 50 feet into the air when he shot out of the shaft. He landed on his feet about 40 yards away near a row of oddly shaped aircraft. The thin black crescent shaped ships donned a two person cockpit located in the middle of what was essentially a singular forwardly curved wing. Two large docking clamps were attached to the tips of the wings and suspended each ship above the hanger floor.
There’s my way out!

After leaping onto one of the wings and hopping into the open cockpit, he removed the data pad from a pocket on the bio-suit and pointed it at the instrument panel. A small beam of light emitted toward the panel and activated the controls. The cockpit canopy closed and the clamps released while the anti-gravity engines allowed the craft to hover in place.

A second group of soldiers began flooding into the hanger as Taon looked upward. The schematic Hauer provided indicated the hanger doors were actually located on the ceiling of the structure. The desert floor above started separating as the massive doors began opening. When the troops fired their weapons, the projectiles simply bounced off a cold plasma shield that had initialized around the hull.

Taon looked down at the men as he hovered over them and out of the hanger. A series of coordinates flashed on the primary display panel when the craft breached the desert floor. Two automated surface defensive plasma cannons began firing at the fleeing fighter. All but one shot missed their target as the ship accelerated with blinding speed toward the western sky escaping their range.

Bracken was leaning over his desk with his fingers interlaced and clinched watching the entire episode unfold on his video feed.

I can’t fucking believe this!

“Alert Space Recon to track that ship and bring me Hauer!”

B
en’s first waking thought after his short rest was about the interesting man he observed being processed earlier that morning.

There is something very odd about him and I need to see if he is the one. He is likely still near the interment command center,
Ben thought.

The command center was where most new detainees lingered in shock trying to comprehend the enormity of the camp and their new predicament. The endless rows of overpopulated houses and the dirty smells of close quarters living brought back disturbing memories of Ben’s homeland after the war.

It happened three and a half years ago. The world economy had been suffering for several years, but no one was really prepared for how quickly it crumbled. Ben was no businessman but he did pay attention to the financial news because it had a direct impact on his job. When buildings were not being built, he was not working.