"Do it," ordered Howard. "You have five minutes to verify that the plans work."
The sergeants left and Howard went back to the barricade.
"Sir," said Private Dennis Parker, "looks like they are going to give us a push."
"Can you hold it?" asked Howard.
"Extra weapons wouldn't harm, sir," said Dennis.
"Very well, Private," said Howard. "I'll see if I can spare someone.
Hold this position."
"Sir," said Pauline, running toward Howard, "we can use the ceiling and Sergeant Price reports that they cut through the first floor. They need fifteen minutes to get ready to flank the enemy. I can lead my squad via the ceiling."
"Excellent," said Howard. "We make our push in fifteen minutes. Send two of your troopers back there to reinforce the barricade. The enemy will try hard to come here."
"Yes, sir," said Pauline.
"Sergeant Evans," called Howard through the intercom, "get your squad here. Ready to attack when other squads are in position."
Richard acknowledged the order. Howard stopped to catch a breath for one moment of rest.
"We are ready," said Kenneth. "We are in a room behind the enemy."
"Vaughn?" asked Howard.
"We are ready, too," said Pauline. "Above the enemy."
Richard nodded beside Howard. Everyone was ready.
"On my mark," said Howard. "Ready in three! Two! Go!"
It was a successful attack. The Kaitians were surprised by the Jaegers attacking them from three sides and the fight was brief and overwhelming. The Jaegers suffered only two minor wounds and no casualties. The Kaitians lost the entire platoon defending the deck.
"There were more than we thought," panted Howard after the attack. "Any survivors?"
"Three enemies alive, but wounded," said Pauline, waving Howard to join her nearby.
"Looks grave," commented Howard, looking at the wounded Kaitians, who stared intensely at them.
"Do you understand me?" he asked a Kaitian on the floor.
The answer was an even more intense stare.
"He understands," said Howard. And he was correct.
"What do we do?" asked Pauline.
"Take them to one of the rooms and tie them with the net," said Horacio. "If they survive, they'll be our prisoners."
"Yes, sir," said Pauline, and ordered two Jaegers from her squad to carry out the orders.
"Evans!" called Howard. "Secure the deck."
"Yes, sir," called Richard, and hurried with his squad to secure the corridor and the rooms.
"Sir?" called Kenneth. "The elevator is not functioning. There's a maintenance shaft nearby and we can use that. It seems to be secure."
"Okay." Howard nodded. "Weld the elevator door shut. I don't want any surprises after we move upwards."
Kenneth pointed to one of the Jaegers nearby who'd heard the Captain's order and he hurried to carry out the order.
"Captain!" called Richard in a few minutes. "The deck is secure."
"Excellent!" said Howard. "Price! We are ready to move to the next deck! Take point! We'll follow!"
"Yes, sir!" answered Kenneth and lead his squad to the maintenance shaft and carefully started to ascend to the next deck.
***
"Did you hear that?" whispered Ellen. The humming of the factory was accompanied by an odd sound, like footsteps but unlike any steps she'd heard before.
Ellen and Karl were again point as the squad advanced farther into the factory via a long corridor. They saw no enemies. The factory was huge and they were only in the fourth underground level.
"I heard," said Karl, and signaled the rest of squad to hold position as he and Ellen moved carefully ahead to check the source of the sounds.
They saw a faint light that got bigger as they moved toward it. "Looks like a hall," whispered Karl.
It was indeed a hall.
"Holy Hell!" said Ellen. It was not just any hall. It was huge; the ceiling was nowhere to be seen and the hall stretched to all directions. They could see neither walls nor floor. Only blackness was visible. The size of the hall was big enough to fit several frigates in it.
"Nothing like this in the floor plans," whispered Ellen in awe.
"Where does the sound come from?"
"Maybe down there?" said Karl and pointed toward the blackness below.
"Or there?" He pointed to a bridge in front of them going in to the middle of the hall; it disappeared into the blackness.
"Get the Sarge," said Ellen.
"I'm already here," said Caleb, startling Karl and Ellen.
"Sarge!" said Karl. "I signaled to hold your position."
"I must've missed that." Caleb smiled. "What do you think is there?"
"A hall bigger than, well . . ." said Ellen. "Bigger than anything. Very black, very empty."
"And very, very dangerous," said Karl. "There's no cover whatsoever if we go ahead across that bridge."
"Damn," said Caleb. "The enemy may be right ahead, in the blackness and targeting us. And where does that sound come from? Send a bug to investigate."
"Yes, sir," said Karl. He sent the artificial cockroach to crawl ahead across the bridge.
The signal from the bug was lost even before it reached the blackness in the middle of the hall.
"Damn!" cursed Karl after trying to recall the bug. "It isn't coming back. Something is blocking the signal."
"We must investigate," said Caleb and waved the rest of the squad to him.
"The bug is lost there," he said, pointing to the bridge ahead, "and we need to investigate what's there. In the blackness. I need a volunteer."
There was a moment of silence.
"I'll go," said Hannah after the moment passed.
Caleb nodded. "Be careful."
Karl tapped Hannah's shoulder encouragingly. She went slowly ahead, looking at both sides of the bridge. She went near the edge and looked down, shaking her head before continuing forward. She stopped when she was near the blackness.
"She stopped," said Ellen, and Hannah took the bug from the floor and took a step ahead.
She looked around, but didn't move.
"Go on," said Karl; as if Hannah heard, she raised her arm and seemed to touch the blackness, then jerked her hand away.
"What was that?" wondered Karl, a little tense.
Hannah looked back and she looked almost terrified.
She moved a bit so others could see her and raised her arm again to touch the blackness.
"Look!" said Ellen. "Her hand disappeared in it!"
"What the hell is that?" wondered Caleb. "A wall? Or curtain?"
Hannah looked back before taking a step ahead and disappearing into the blackness.
"Whoa!" said Kyle.
"Quiet!" hissed Caleb.
"Do you hear?" The odd sound like footsteps was louder.
"What the hell is that?" whispered Ellen.
The minutes passed and the odd sound continued. It seemed to come from everywhere.
"Where is she? She should come back," said Caleb.
Another minute passed.
"Look!" said Ellen relieved. "She's coming back."
Hannah appeared from the blackness and dragged something with her.
"It's a body!" said Karl and when she was closer. "A Kaitian body!"
"Hannah!" said Ellen, alarmed once Hannah was near and she could see her face. "Are you all right?"
Ellen and Caleb hurried to Hannah and escorted her back to the corridor. She was shaking and looked horrified.
"What was there?" asked Caleb. "What happened?"
Hannah didn't answer, but she looked at Caleb with wide eyes and pointed at the Kaitian body.
"Holy Hell," whispered Kyle.
"What the hell is this?" said Karl.
It was not a body. It was a skeleton wearing a Kaitian uniform.
"They were all there," whispered Hannah with horror in her eyes. "All the Kaitians, nothing but uniformed skeleton
s in the mist. All lie there, behind the black veil. And behind the veil--not black but grey mist."
There were tears in her eyes. Ellen and Karl glanced at each other; they'd never seen Hannah so terrified.
"What did you see?" asked Caleb quietly.
"Skeletons in the mist," she said again. "And . . ." She was shaking, eyes wide. "Footsteps. But not footsteps, something else. Something unknown."
She paused and took a breath.
"The footsteps are not so loud anymore, by the way," said Karl, "as they were while you were in there."
"It was following me!" said Hannah, terrified. "I heard it behind me as soon as I passed the veil. Every step I took, I heard it closer. The first Kaitian body was just a couple of meters behind the veil, and when I passed the body I heard it right behind me! I froze, I couldn't move for a long time. It seemed like forever, until I managed to take a step back. I feared I'd bump into it but there was nothing. I took another step back and I heard it move away."
She took a breath, a little more relaxed.
"I backed away, grabbed the closest dead Kaitian, and came back," she said.
"Huh," said Ellen and hugged Hannah. "I'm glad you came back."
"Thanks," said Hannah, and the terror was hugged away.
Caleb sighed in his mind; he'd been uncertain what to do, but now that Hannah was more like herself again, he was relieved.
"Something's very wrong here," he said. "The Arash Colonel said nothing like this. You said they were all there? The Kaitians?"
"It definitely looked like that," said Hannah. "I tried to count, but I lost count before two hundred."
Caleb nodded and thought about the situation. Their mission was to take prisoners, but it looked like there were no more prisoners that could be taken, except the Kaitians outside.
"I must inform the others," said Caleb.
"Hamilton and Townsend, you stay here in case something comes from behind the veil."
"Yes, sir," said Kyle and Kate, somewhat worried.
"The rest of you, we go back to the hall," said Caleb. "Somebody take the skeleton."
When they were back in the hall, they were greeted by Tommy and Silvio's rifles.
"Sorry, sir," said Tommy, "I didn't think you'd be back so soon."
"Me neither," said Caleb. "Thornton can brief you. I need to find the others as soon as possible. Daniels, you come with me."
"Yes, sir," said Hannah and left with Caleb. Caleb was taking her with him because he didn't want to leave Hannah to sit and think about her experience.
"What happened?" asked Tommy.
"You won't believe it," said Karl, and told the story of what had happened.
***
"Damn!" cursed Pauline.
The fight was not going well. The Kaitians were at least as good as the Jaegers, and they had the advantage of being in their own territory.
They fought fiercely for every meter, and Pauline had already lost her entire squad--except Dennis.
"Can you hold it?" she asked him after the Kaitians ceased fire.
"I don't know," said Dennis. "If they get reinforcements, we may have to fall back."
"The captain is trying to get reinforcements for us, but even if he gets them, it'll be some time before they can come to our aid," said Pauline.
"What are they doing? Can you see?"
"Looks like they got their reinforcements," said Dennis.
"Damn!" cursed Pauline. "We can't retreat. We must hold here. Otherwise they can flank the others."
"Yes, ma'am!" said Dennis. "We'll hold!"
As if that was the signal, the Kaitians launched the attack.
Three of them ran toward Pauline and Dennis and fell before they were halfway through. Behind them were five enemy soldiers, and they were also killed before reaching Dennis and Pauline. Right after them were three more enemies; one fell, but two threw themselves toward Dennis and Pauline.
"Agh!" shouted Dennis and hit the Kaitian in the face. But it didn't stop him, and he fell on Dennis with the intent to kill.
Pauline was lucky. She had her rifle ready and she shot the Kaitian, but the shot didn't stop him. He fell on her and she was nearly crushed below the dead weight. She saw Dennis fighting against the other enemy and tried to push the body away.
"Agh!" shouted Dennis again when the Kaitian punched him and broke his nose. The Kaitian punched again to Dennis's chest and Pauline heard something crack.
"Hey!" yelled Pauline, trying to get the Kaitian’s attention. And she got it. The Kaitian looked at Dennis and saw no threat, and moved toward Pauline.
"Uh-oh," she said, and realized it hadn't been a good idea to yell at the Kaitian while she was stuck beneath the dead body.
Was there a smile on the Kaitian’s face? To see the helpless enemy and go for the kill?
And the kill came, but it was the Kaitian who was killed. Shot by Howard, who'd happened to come over.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
"Yes," said Pauline, "I will be when this fellow moves away. But Dennis is not. There. The Kaitian hit him hard."
Howard went beside Dennis and immediately saw that his wounds were serious. His nose was broken bad and half of his ribs must have been broken. Fortunately, he had his armor, which had took the main force of the beating--otherwise he'd be dead.
"Dennis?" asked Howard kneeling to him. "Can you hear me?"
A nod.
"Don't talk and don't move," said Howard. "We'll get you out of here."
"We held our position, Dennis," said Pauline, who'd managed to free herself from the dead Kaitian.
A faint smile appeared on Dennis's lips.
Howard stood up and looked around. "Are you all that's left from your squad?"
"Yes, sir," said Pauline. "We barely managed to hold our position, as you see."
Howard sighed. "There's been fierce fighting all over the ship. We've suffered heavy losses. But so have the Kaitians. The Arash estimate that the enemy had at least a full company-sized force here, maybe more, and we've nearly eliminated them. We think there may be only one or two platoons left on the ship."
"What's next?" said Pauline.
"We wait for reinforcements," said Howard. "They should be boarding any minute now.
Then we eliminate the enemy and capture the ship."
***
"Ma'am," said Tricia. "The Jaegers have boarded the frigate."
"It shouldn't take long now to capture the frigate," said Horacio, his voice clearly sad. He'd lost nearly half of his soldiers.
"They fight fiercely," said Jiao.
"Or desperately," said Horacio. "There's only few prisoners."
"We only need few," said Jiao and he nodded.
"Tricia, anything from the surface?"
"Not since they went inside the factory," said Tricia.
"We should've heard something by now," said Jiao. "Send someone to investigate."
"Yes, ma'am," said Tricia, and wondered who she'd send to investigate.
Darnell overheard Jiao's command.
"Hey," called Darnell to Tricia. "I'll go."
"What?" she said.
"I'll go to surface to investigate," he said.
"No, no," she said. "I can't . . ."
"Ma'am," he interrupted, "I want to go."
Tricia hesitated before answering.
"All right," she said. "Go on, but be careful."
"Yes, ma'am." Darnell smiled.
***
"Daniels!" said Caleb. "Stop!"
Hannah stopped in her tracks and looked questioning to Caleb.
"Do you hear that?" he said once he was beside Hannah.
She listened.
"Yes," she said. "Faint footsteps. Carefully moving ahead in front of us. Probably the ones we're looking for."
"Probably," said Caleb. "But tread carefully."
They walked ahead toward the footsteps, and soon they saw the rear guard of the Marines.
"Hey!" called
Caleb.
The Marines ahead stopped and turned their weapons toward Caleb and Hannah, who held their hands up.
"Careful," said Caleb. "Who's in charge?"
"I am, Caleb," said Sergeant Kayla Andrews.
"Kayla," said Caleb. "Good to see you."
"What are you doing here?" asked Kayla.
"I have new information," he said. "Have you encountered enemies?"
"No," said Kayla. "And that actually worries me. I'd expected we'd had to fight our way here, but we haven't even heard anything. Only you seem to have encountered the enemy, Caleb."
Caleb nodded.
"After the fight, we moved forward and came to a great hall. For lack of a better description." Caleb told about the huge hall, the bridge, the black veil, and what Hannah had experienced inside the veil.
"Whoa," said Kayla and looked at Hannah, who nodded confirmation and involuntarily shivered.
"One more thing, Kayla," said Caleb. "We should be by that hall already."
"Show me the map," said Kayla, and Caleb showed the map in his pad. The automapper drew the map of the factory as the Marines moved inside.
"You're right," said Kayla, "but as you can see, there is no hall here."
"And that gives me the shivers," said Caleb quietly.
"Ross, Thompson," called Kayla.
"Yes, ma'am," said Privates Adam Ross and David Thompson.
"Go scout ahead," said Kayla. "I have reason to believe there are no enemies here, so be quick. But if you do encounter enemy or anything out of the ordinary, come right back."
"Yes, ma'am," said Adam and left to scout ahead.
"What about the others?" asked Kayla. "Have you informed them?"
"I've tried," said Caleb. "Something blocks the signals. Communications won't work anymore."
"Really? I haven't noticed," said Kayla.
"Try to reach Ross or Thompson," said Caleb.
Kayla tried to reach them, but had no success.
"You're right," she said, surprised. "I've lost contact."
"We'll wait fifteen minutes for your scouts to come back, then I'll go to find others," said Caleb. "If they encounter the hall, it shouldn't be far ahead."
Kayla nodded.
They didn't have to wait long.
"Sarge!" called Adam.
"What happened? Where's Thompson?" asked Kayla.
"He's back there, watching that . . . that . . ." His voice trailed off.
"Watching what?" asked Kayla.
"I don't know what it is," he said. "Like a wall. Black veil. And behind it . . ."
Again his voice trailed off. Kayla glanced at Caleb.
"Yes?" said Kayla.
"It was not black behind the veil. Like mist, grey mist," said Adam. He continued, just barely keeping his voice normal. "There were bodies there. Skeletons! Kaitian skeletons! Dozens of them."
"It was you who passed beyond the veil?" asked Caleb.