Project 6
By Mortimer Jackson
Copyright 2012
The Morning Dread
www.themorningdread.weebly.com
Project 6 is a multi-pathed interactive short story specifically formatted for Amazon Kindle and Mobi. For reader input to work, please read this story via Amazon Kindle or Mobi. Also, since Project 6 is an experimental short, please rate and leave comments for any improvements you would like to see in the future.
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11:45 PM
LAX, Los Angeles
The airwaves are packed with chatter. News reports, police comms, emergency channels, all spreading word about the takeover at LAX. Three hostiles inside, heavily armed. Members of the Liberty Movement; a domestic terror group that emerged at the start of the New Year, when they attacked the Federal Reserve building on January 24, 2012.
Four months ago now. The Liberty Movement grows bolder. Their most recent plan was to hijack the corporate jet of BM Barksdale, with the vice president of the company and members of his board. The plan was foiled when the board was alerted before the police. With Homeland Security on high alert, the three members of the Liberty Movement engaged security and stormed the New York terminal. Now their only hostages are regular civilians.
They’re trapped inside with nowhere to go, and nothing left to do. All that’s left for law enforcement to do is to go inside, and intercept.
The LAPD is ordered to stand back. The operation is spearheaded by Magnet Securities. Their agent, Project 6, is ordered to enter the terminal and neutralize all threat under whatever means are necessary. Operation discretion is his and his alone. But it is Project 6’s first field assignment, and his results will determine whether he is eligible for more assignments in the future.
Project 6 is in the abandoned airport. He stands before a set of double doors that will lead him straight into the terminals. But sniper reports indicate that the path isn’t safe. There is exactly one hostile inside, and he’s keeping watch on the door. Entering via the double doors will immediately alert the enemy.
There is an alternative. 6 has studied the airport blueprints, and knows that there are two ways to enter. The first approach is through the double doors. The second, is through the baggage chute to his left. The second approach takes longer. But it is also the path of least resistance, which makes it the safest.
Either route gets 6 to his objective. The only question, is which will he take?
Enter from double doors
Enter from baggage chute
Enter from double doors
6 carries a pistol in his holster. A Glock 27. He expects resistance, so he prepares appropriately. He cocks the weapon and turns the safety off. He unlatches the door, but leaves it as is. For an ambush to be effective, 6 needs a loud entrance. So he kicks the door as hard as he can. It hits the back wall. 6 sees one member of the Liberation Movement. He flinches with the sudden burst, unable to react. He is a young man, early twenties, obviously no combat experience, yet he’s armed with an AK-74. He’s scared. 6 spares no time. He aims for the head, and launches a bullet right between his eyes.
The man falls before he realizes what hits him. Unfortunately, everyone else finds out. The sound of gunshot echoes around the terminal hallways. Every molecule around him shakes.
Then there are the voices. The hostages hear it, as do the remaining terrorists. One of them calls out.
“Carl?! Carl! Where are you?! What’s happening?!”
There’s no time to delay. With the rest of the group on full alert, 6 has to act quick.
6 picks up his feet, and he runs. He follows the voices until he finds the New York gate, Gate 32. He spots two terrorists. They in turn spot him. One of them is blonde, with long hair and a beard. From his mission briefing, 6 knows that his name is Foster. Foster is standing by the door to the maintenance room, away from the window. Like the others, he’s shouldering an AK-74.
The second man, standing closer to the hostages, is named Terrence. 6 recognizes him from the dossier in the briefing. But he also recognizes him someplace else. 6 can’t put a finger on his face. But he knows that he has seen him before.
Recognition aside, 6 doesn’t allow anything to distract him from the mission. Foster raises his weapon at 6. He’s able to fire exactly five automatic rounds, none of which land. Foster is a lousy shot, and 6 takes him down before he can get lucky. One clean shot to the head. Foster dies immediately. 6 is quick and efficient, but nevertheless, enough time passes for Terrence to grab a hostage.
“Get back!” he cries as he holds a woman who’s as scared as he is. He holds her on the neck with his right arm. On his left, he carries the assault rifle, barely keeping it steady.
“Please,” the hostage begs. “Please let me go.”
She says this to Terrence, but her eyes land on 6.
“Let her go,” says 6.
“It wasn’t supposed to be this way, man. We were set up. God, what the hell?”
“You can still walk away from this.”
“Drop your gun, man. You drop it, or I fucking kill her!”
His face is red. He’s scared, and angry, which makes him unstable. The woman bobs her head, from side to side panicking. She unwittingly shields his face.
6 isn’t sure he can land a shot without hitting her.
“I said drop the gun you fuckin…” he pauses. 6 detects a change in his facial expression. “Jared? Jared? Is that you?”
6 stops. He has heard that name before. Jared. Where?
“What are you talking about?” asks 6. “Who’s Jared?”
He asks this to humor him, to give him a clearer shot. But he also asks for other reasons.
The name swirls inside his mind. Jared.
“Holy shit. Shit man, Jared, it’s me, Terrence. It’s me, man.”
6 squeezes the pistol, confused. The name stays with him, and repeats itself in his mind.
Jared. Jared. Jared.
“I thought you were dead, Jared.”
Then 6 realizes. Terrence had two brothers. Jared, and Tom. According to Magnet intel, they were both members of the Liberation Movement, and they were both killed in two separate police raids. Like Terrence, they were high priority suspects.
Magnet intel states that Tom died from a shotgun blast to his chest, while Jared died from a factory explosion. His body was never recovered.
His body…
“Don’t you remember me? Don’t you know who I am? It’s me. It’s your little brother.”
6 never got the chance to observe the dossier on Terrence’s brothers. He doesn’t know what Jared looks like. But in seeing Terrence face to face, 6 can’t deny the resemblance between him and the terrorist.
“They got to you, didn’t they?”
6 cocks his head.
“They? Who’s they?”
“You fucking know damn well who I’m talking about. Look at the Magnet tag on your jacket.”
It is true. For ID purposes, 6 is wearing a leather jacket with the Magnet Securities logo.
“They brainwashed you, didn’t they?”
Terrence’s grip around the hostage loosens. The woman struggles, and he’s forced to tighten his hold. Meanwhile, 6 contemplates what he hears from Terrence. The word that stays in his mind; brainwashed.
“Do you even know who you are, man?”
“My name is…” 6 pauses. 6 is not his name. It’s his identification number. It’s all that he has. It’s his only identity.
“Jared, you don’t work for them. You work for us. I’m your brother. We’re in this together. Together with Tom, don’t you remember? We were in this to expose assholes like Magnet, and the people who are trying to control us.”
“You think that acts o
f terror are going to help you?”
“My, they must have really done a number on you.”
6 doesn’t understand.
“Don’t you remember what you used to say? You beat them by making them scared? Hell, it was your idea to torch a corporate jet in the first place. I was going to do this for you, but they set us up. God, man. What have they done to you?”
“Let the hostages go.”
Terrence shakes his head, , and his resolve grows stronger.
“No. No, man. Whatever they’ve done to you, you’re not my brother anymore. They wiped his mind right out of you. You want me to let the hostages go? You drop your gun.”
6 analyzes his options. Terrence has a hostage. If 6 obeys, he might be able to resolve the situation peacefully. But on the other hand, Terrence has no control of his weapon. 6 can likely take him out before Terrence even lifts a muscle.
Drop the gun
Shoot Terrence