When the first shake came, most of them thought nothing of it.
But as the second and third came, the survivors on Atlantis knew something was wrong. Very wrong, especially Captain Bruce Ellis.
He knew of the government's true agenda. He just hadn't anticipated it happening for another week or longer.
“What is it?” Private Bethel asked.
“I don't know.” Captain Ellis replied, lying, of course.
“They're nukes.” Josh said, approaching the group with a line of folks behind him.
“Where in the fuck have you been, lieutenant?” Captain Ellis yelled, walking within inches of Josh's face.
Noticing that many who followed were not part of their original team, the captain immediately ordered guns into the direction.
“Hold them until further orders,” Captain Ellis shouted, turning to the group. “If you move, my soldiers WILL kill you!”
“Sir, can I have a word?” Josh asked.
“You dare bring someone to Atlantis?” the captain shouted in front of everyone, upset with his lieutenant for straying from his orders.
“Sir.” Josh said firmly. “A word.”
“You have two minutes to convince me not to place you under arrest, lieutenant.” Captain Ellis replied. Agreeing to walk with Josh outside of the nearest doorway for a bit of privacy as the remaining soldiers held the Altarians at gunpoint.
“You and I need to have a quick meeting of revival, sir.” Josh said.
Without warning, the lieutenant pulled his pistol and held it directly at the captain. Only inches away from his forehead.
“What is this?” Captain Ellis asked in a much calmer tone, nearing the point of panic but appearing calm.
“Young man tried to warn me about something before we left. Told me there was another agenda and that we weren't the first team down.”
“That's complete nonsense.”
“Is it?” Josh asked. “After I left the makeshift morgue a few minutes ago to discover he'd been knifed in the back, not killed in the crash as originally confirmed, I dug around a little bit. I found another wreckage tucked away nice and quiet. Same patches on their uniforms but not a damn face that I recognized. I found a lot of their supplies pulled and stored away into cargo boxes. Even marked for the next team down. Now, Captain, exactly how does a man die from a knife wound and a wreckage get stored away, out of sight, without the military leader knowing anything?”
Captain Ellis listened. No response, just deep thought and continued listening as Josh gave a rundown of things past.
“So I begin to wonder why? Why would our government lie to us and send us down here on top of a cargo hold full of weapons, supplies and even seeds with portable greenhouse units. Our brightest scientists and the best soldiers our military has to offer. Why have we been sent down here strapped with supplies like it's the end of the world? Then, arriving back with a race we made contact with, a race as human as we are, I feel the shaking of Atlantis. Quickly, I begin to put two and two together. Nuclear strikes. Now tell me I'm wrong, captain?”
“No,” Captain Ellis replied. “No, you're not.”
“Then you start laying out some cold hard truth. Right now, between the two of us. Otherwise, as second in command, I WILL assume command of this expedition and remove you from the equation. By any means necessary.”
“We were to prep the city of Atlantis to house our executive officer, his staff and several others we deemed too important to lose.”
“The president? Why?” Josh asked.
“That's why, lieutenant,” Captain Ellis replied as the walls shook terribly. “War son. War like we've never seen. The soldier that tried to warn you was, in fact, killed. Not by my hands, or even by my orders, but he was sworn to the secret and bound by execution if the secret got out. It did, and I'm guessing someone did their damn duty.”
“Why the war?”
“Who gives a shit, son? It was coming sooner or later. Come on, you know that! Two-thirds of the world hated the way our government operates and the production of nukes never ceases. Eventually someone is pissed off enough to pull the trigger. China, Russia, North Korea, who really gives a fuck, son? Does it matter who starts a war of this magnitude?”
“So we did it first?” Josh asked.
“That's right. It's the one and only scenario the world didn't expect. The world's peacekeepers throwing the first punch. It wasn't supposed to happen for another week or so, but, it is what it is. Our president is likely on his way down right now, as we speak, and we need to have everything up and running. Do you understand that, lieutenant? We need our greenhouses functioning in order to produce enough food for the long haul. We need to set up our automated gun turrets for a perimeter. We need to do a lot of shit, son, and standing here going over details that do not concern you isn't on that list. Understood?”
“And after the president arrives?”
“Honestly, I don't know,” Captain Ellis said. “If I had to guess, I suppose we're all going to wait it out and then work on returning to the surface. Reboot the whole fucking planet and ensure that things are lived out properly. Freedom and democracy. Let freedom ring! Now, lieutenant, do you have a problem with any of the above?”
“Yes, sir. Millions of people are up above – dead and dying.”
“And you understand that I have no part in that. I'm a soldier following my God damn orders. It's my job to make sure Atlantis is a livable fallout shelter. It's your job to assist me. Does that work for you?”
“Yes sir.”
“Good Lieutenant Pierce. Get that damn pistol holstered and let's get to it. You and I will have the discussion later on the chain of command. Are we clear?”
“Yes, sir.” Josh replied.
As the two men entered the large chamber near the initial wreckage, everyone looked on with curiosity.
“Sargent Duke, place our unknowns into a room under guard until I say otherwise.” the captain said. Once again flexing his muscle.
“Belay that order, Sargent.” Josh said.
“Lieutenant?” Captain Ellis demanded to know.
“I'm placing you under immediate arrest and ordering you to confinement until we are able to relocate back to the surface.”
“Like hell you are!”
The two men continued a gridlock of stare – neither willing to submit.
“Sargent, arrest this man for treason!” Captain Ellis said.
“Belay that order, Sargent Duke, as I have placed Bruce Ellis under arrest and he is no longer in charge of this expedition.
Hesitant to do either, at first, Sargent Duke finally held his rifle to Josh.
“Sir, please put your weapon onto the floor. You know I cannot place the commander of this expedition under arrest – and I do not want to shoot you.”
“You put your rifle on the floor, you cocksucker,” Winston said, shouldering his own weapon. “I haven't had a drink in days, was forced to leave about a hundred dollars worth of cigars on a planet I didn't know existed and I've been insulted multiple times, today alone, by a midget. If you don't think I'm willing to shoot you, any of you,” he shouted as a blanket statement of warning. “Well then, you go ahead and call my bluff.”
“Before this spirals out of control, folks, let me just state what Commander Ellis is being arrested for. After that, you make your own decisions.” Josh said.
Several moments passed with soldiers pulling weapons – though they remained unsure of who to point them toward.
“He's being arrested for the murder of one of our own. You think I'm bluffing, walk straight to the morgue and begin turning bodies over. You'll find one with a knife wound directly in his back.”
“Why would he do that?” Private Bethel asked.
“Because we're not the first group to visit Atlantis and the young man warned me ahead of time. The wreckage from crew number one is still here. We were sent to prep this city for the arrival of its leader – your president. Who also found it within his heart to be
gin nuking foreign soil around the word, hence the shaking throughout our city, and then tuck tail and hide away in Atlantis.
Killing millions, perhaps even billions of innocent people in the process. Women. Children. None of them with a hand in any kind of war. The good captain here also intends to kill our newly discovered friends. Friends that are just as human as we are, and a group of people that could have killed my team on sight. Instead, they took us in and treated us very proper. In fact,” Josh said, turning to face the group of Altarians. “I only wish my own country was governed by someone as sincere as Princess Lauren.”
“Yea,” Winston replied. “What he said.”
“For you folks on the scientific side of things,” Sam added. “Everything he just said is true. These people can help us solve many of life's greatest mysteries and diseases, and they're more than willing to. We've got no reason to harm them.”
“So decide where you stand, everyone. I'm a soldier and I certainly understand following the chain of command. If you elect to remain loyal to Bruce Ellis, so be it. I will have to hold you in seclusion but I promise you no other recourse.”
“If you follow this man, you will have absolutely no chance of ever seeing our surface again. Isn't that right, lieutenant?” Captain Ellis asked.
“Yes,” Josh admitted. “Yes it is.”
“What?” Erica asked.
It only mirrored the shock on everyone else's face, each of them coming to terms with the possibility of never returning home.
“When I signed on for this mission, I did it for one simple reason. I don't have anything else. Many of you have families back home, and I get that. But I don't have any family left. I fell in love at first sight and here I am. Sometimes you just have to step to the edge of the cliff of unknown and not only jump, but leap as hard as you can. Anyone who stays behind with me needs to know that I have no intentions of going back. Just because I feel that way, doesn't mean I expect anyone else to. When the president arrives, I plan to hold him at gunpoint and load everyone who wants to go back home onto the submarine with him. Then you're all welcome to go packing, as far as I'm concerned. But there's also a place for you here, if that's what your heart decides to do.”
“You fool,” Captain Ellis said. “You realize your plan has no chance of working. The president will be coming in with dozens of our country's finest soldiers. Besides, you have absolutely no way of stopping or sending anything – especially a full-size submarine!”
“That's where you're wrong,” Josh said, turning to nod to the Altarian people. As they started to break away from the line and position themselves to equipment, Josh turned back to his former commander. “We've spent centuries with Atlantis underwater, they haven't. Altaria is no different than Atlantis, and these people know how to use the technology without a hitch. President Hanks had everything planned out, it seems,” Josh added. “But I promise you, he didn't see this coming.”
“You are handing over the city to them, you fool!” Ellis shouted.
“They deserve it more than we do. Our race just slaughtered millions of innocent lives for no reason at all. Now Sargent Winston, please,” Josh replied. “Put this man in a room under guard.
“Yes sir.”
A military promotion fit Winston like the glove on eleven-year old. Still, the brushy faced man grinned with excitement.
Chapter 5
Just The Beginning