Vortex - Part 14

"WHERE IS IT?" a crew member asked. Aaen wasn't sure if the question was directed at him. He ignored the question for the moment. The lower deck flooded with more particle—albeit blind—fire in multiple directions. Aaen only clenched his rifle's grip, breathing heavily with his heart pounding with dread. He leaned upright, narrowly dodging a high-powered bolt more brightly colored. He realized the shooter turned up the juice on their weapon! His forehead felt like someone was pointing a heat lamp at him. He wondered why it was getting so hot in here?

He leaned back at the sound of a loud hiss of another particle bolt. The bolt sparked against a bulkhead on the lower deck. He looked left, "Admiral, they're pinned down! We've gotta do something!"

"What do you suggest?"

Aaen raised his rifle emphatically. "If we cut the power to that deck, we might—"

Another bolt scored a bulkhead, causing a loud POP. Aaen could hear sparks showering over the lower deck.

"We're pinned down!" a crew member declared. Aaen took the declaration as a call for help—

We've got a handful of crew members pinned down on the lower deck. The intruder's in a very tactically excellent position that cuts off the crew members down there. None of them have a clean shot on the intruder, and there's no telling what the intruder's doing right now to tamper with the rest of the Station. Granted, the Station's not going to explode at the whim of one individual with apparent access to only one. . .whatever Station component it's working on. But that other ship out there—not the Shadows, but the ship they're so worried about. . . It's gotta be close by now, and there's apparently only limited information that offers no way of discerning their tactical capabilities. Fine, then, Aaen decided, for the moment, focus on helping those crew members down there! He looked over his left shoulder to find the Admiral trying to think of a plan.

She looked at the rest of the away team fanned out in front of her; Aaen was the only one at the top of the staircase. He could tell she was trying to figure out a way to help the crew members on the lower deck and started rubbing her forehead and gasping. Aaen started to feel compelled to interject her thought processes.

"Admiral, what if we cut the life support down there?"

"—Then we have maybe a minute to help our people down there!" Aaen replied. Cut the life support? There's no guarantee the intruder isn't going to change into a shape that doesn't require oxygen. Besides—"We'd be risking nearly a third of the away team to stop one intruder!"

"Admiral! They're bottle-necked down there! It would be better to try to send a small contingent through—"

Another flurry of pulsed particle fire filled the lower deck. The exchange of fire and the frequency of the exchange was increasing. Aaen had a hunch the intruder was tired of its sabotage efforts being interrupted. What was it trying to do? Aaen wondered.

"What were you saying, Commander?"

"I was saying: it would be better to send a small group to an alternate route. Flank the intruder!"

"There's no time! That other ship will be here soon!"

That's it then. Aaen decided there's no other option. That intruder's not showing any concern about the fact it's outnumbered or outgunned. It's albeit imperfectly hidden, and we're taking casualties! We don't have time for this! —NO MORE! Aaen felt nearly overwhelming anxiety, a surge of adrenaline vigorously coursing through him, and then he raised his rifle and stood up with an idea that—for an instant—made him wonder if his idea would cost him rank, or merely a few hours of sleep later on. Don't think! He thought to himself.

"Aaen! COMMANDER!" the Admiral whispered loudly. "Where are you going? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

Aaen held his rifle in front of him at a low angle as he quickly marched down the staircase. For a moment, he started asking himself the same thing. . . Those crew members aren't going to rescue themselves! About a quarter of the way down, Aaen found the chief of security around the edge of a countertop aiming down his rifle's iron sights at the far edge of the staircase. He looked up at Aaen with an alarmed look. Aaen snapped to his right looking straight to the opposite end of the deck—THERE YOU ARE! He took aim at the top of the staircase and started firing without thinking, with an instinctive look of anger and determination. He felt heroic, standing at the base of the spiral staircase. He watched the intruder recoil sharply around the corner at the top of the staircase.

"Chief! Get our people to the upper deck! MOVE! MOVE!" he waved them up the staircase with his left hand as he kept firing. His rifle subtly vibrated with each shot and observed with his lower peripheral vision as the end of the barrel glowed red with each shot. He sharply aimed for anything that didn't look like it didn't belong on the Station. The top of the staircase filled with flurries of sparks. He assumed a tactical stance and then crouched to give himself a better firing angle. He heard two sets of footsteps rushing up the staircase, then looked to his left for an instant to see the chief was gesturing for the other crew members to follow his order first.

"Get the wounded over there!" the Admiral commanded. "Doctor! Help them! The rest of you: follow me!"

What the heck are you doing, Admiral? Aaen silently asked in shock, he started sweating from his forehead from the anxiety and gradual-onset sense of terror from his subconscious telling him the intruder was getting ready to make a move. He watched the end of another particle weapon's barrel clear the corner. His gut told him to scramble for cover—NOW!

Wide-eyed, he heard a building mechanical whine as the barrel angled toward him. He dove to his left as the barrel lit up, and then a pulse of bright white lightning soared at him with a POP.

He landed hard, behind and to the right of the chief of security who was pulling himself up and out of cover behind the countertop. Aaen looked behind where he had been standing and realized if he were still standing where he was, the intruder would have shot him center-of-mass with whatever that weapon it's using. His heart was pounding more now than it had when he was on the upper deck. Sweat was falling from his forehead to his chin. He looked up and watched as a pair of feet started quickly down the staircase. "Admiral! Don't come down here!" he tried waving whoever it was back to the battle bridge. Aaen heard a hard footstep from several feet away to his left. Oh crap!—

Another hard footstep. It's coming! Aaen realized. Another particle bolt struck just above the bottom bunk to Aaen's right. Three feet more to the right. . . Aaen thought in terror. "Chief, see if you can get a shot off!"

The chief of security inched around the corner, rifle in front of him and then sharply recoiled, then moved forward as he took careful aim and fired. "I can barely see!" A burst of sparks lit the deck for a moment. He fired again. "Dang it!"

"Did you hit it?" Aaen asked.

"I think so. I think I only—" another bolt scored the air; the chief of security recoiled sharply on his back and dropped his sidearm as his left shoulder glowed a dull red for several seconds; Aaen reasoned he was unconscious.

Aaen saw the Admiral's face inch around the corner of the top of the spiral staircase. "Commander?" she whispered cautiously.

He looked up at her with a determined look, inching upright to a crouched position and leaned against the edge of the counter as a red light glared against the side of his face. He turned his head.

The Admiral nodded, and then looked to her right and whispered something. Aaen's gut told him their objective was getting closer. . .

*****

Steve H. told Jordan Foutin, "You are the next Tom Clancy. You really are a gifted writer."

DANIEL STORM, a Jordan Foutin eBook, is available for $8.99 at any of these fine online retailers: 

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Vortex - Part 13

Sharp, bright red particle bolts scored the walls lining the staircase. Aaen sharply recoiled and raised his arms over his face as a bolt missed his face by only a couple of feet. The heat of the bolt made his face feel like it had been exposed to a heat lamp in the same manner as the flash a photographer's handheld camera at point-blank range. The walls seemed unaffected by the particle weapon discharge. Aaen felt his heart rate spike; his face felt flushed as he dropped his rifle and instinctively crouched, glaring at the staircase at an angle as he breathed heavily. He felt an urge to pick up his rifle and rush down the staircase. NO! WAIT! Only fools rush in. . .he recalled from year two's Highlight security training in the main recreation room. He snapped, retrieved his rifle, and then instead crouched at the top of the staircase, inching toward a small crevice between the top of the staircase and the lower deck. He carefully eyed a narrow area of the deck below over a small stack of bunks directly beneath the staircase.

"TAKE COVER! GET OVER THERE!" the chief of security yelled. "WATCH OUT!" he gestured. The sound of collapsing objects filled the air.

Another bolt scored the floor. Aaen looked slightly left. . .the battle bridge was equipped with its own Sickbay, he admired, but it appeared to be dark and unpowered.

"Aaen! What's going on? What do you see?" the Admiral asked directly.

Getting lower to the floor, he was barely able to see a few feet farther to what appeared to be more of a carpeted area, leading to the bottom of a textured black metal step with a narrow handrail. . . . What. . .is. . .THAT? Aaen asked.

"Aaen? Commander?" the Admiral asked.

Aaen leaned upright and looked at the Admiral with a shocked look and turned his head widely, shocked. Another wave of particle bolts nearly missed the spiral staircase. Aaen ducked away from the small flurry of sparks, and then quickly inched back to his previous position.

"KEEP FIRING! GO FOR THE STAIRCASE! GET BACK TO THE BRIDGE! HURRY!" the chief of security commanded.

"I CAN'T! I'M PINNED DOWN!" said a crew member.

"COVERING FIRE!"

"Chief, it's up there!" said another crew member that sounded like he was behind and beneath where Aaen was observing.

"I don't have a clear shot!"

Me, neither. Aaen thought darkly, lifting his rifle in front of him, trying to figure out a way to get low enough to get a shot off—if anything to buy his comrades a few seconds to break away from cover and get away. It would have definitely been danger-close. One of the crew members was hiding in the battle bridge Sickbay passageway, looking around the corner with a shocked and scared look; his hair was very disorganized, undoubtedly from the shock of finding. . .

Another bolt struck the head of the bunk beneath the staircase—Aaen tried to force his rifle's barrel into a small triangular space and fired. The bolt caused a crackling spark that lit up the adjoining walls surrounding the staircase. He pulled his rifle back and looked down at the lower deck. About a square foot of carpet was lightly singed from the shot. The visible crew members on the lower deck recoiled. Aaen realized his shot never got close to the target. Did I just give away my position? Aaen thought in a panic—

"Can you see it?" a voice asked. Aaen reason the question was directed at him.

"No! I can't!" another voice replied.

"WAIT! What's that?" the chief of security asked.

"WHAT?"

The lights on the lower deck started to dim. . . Aaen felt his face feeling twice as flushed. Gotta get 'em off that deck!

"Where'd it go?" one of the crew members on the lower deck asked. It was too dark on the lower deck for hand gestures, Aaen reasoned.

Another bolt scored the lower deck at an angle—a crew member yelled as he collapsed to the deck floor covering his left shoulder; his shoulder briefly glowed red as he tried to roll left.

"MAN DOWN!" the chief of security declared, rushing from the left from an area of the lower deck Aaen couldn't see, took the crew member by the arm and pulled him left to what Aaen reasoned was safety. . .or at least safer than where he had been hiding.

"It's still up there!" the second voice whispered.

If this is a phasemorpher, why didn't it assume a more aggressive shape? Aaen wondered. Unless it did. . . .

Multiple particle bolts shot in the opposite direction. Aaen could only hear crackling sparks as the result. They must have missed. . .

"I don't have a clear shot!"

"Hold your ground!" ordered the chief of security.

Those aliens—who or whatever they are—are going to be here soon. . .and there's no telling what they'll be capable of. What could their intentions possibly be? Aaen wondered, but reminded himself that it may not be worth finding out about. . .not right now, at least. The priority was neutralizing the intruder, restoring power, and then getting the Station back to Union space as fast as possible.

Aaen felt a drop of sweat fall from his forehead onto the top step and his hair was falling on the right side of his head as he tried to inch closer to the stairway crevice to try to see the intruder. . . C'mon. C'mon, Aaen thought, holding his rifle above his head at an angle. Why isn't the intruder shooting? he wondered. The only thing visible were bunks, a carpeted floor, the entrance to the battle bridge Sickbay, one terrified crew member looking around the Sickbay entrance corner holding his sidearm at shoulder level.

"Chief! Get your people back up here! Hurry!" Aaen whispered blindly.

"Negative! It's still up there!"

"What is still up there?"

"The intruder! It's at the top of that staircase!"

"Do you have a clear shot?" Aaen asked directly.

"—Negative!"

Aaen heard a chirping sound from behind.

"This is the Admiral. Go ahead."

Aaen leaned upright and looked to his left to see the Admiral holding her communicator to her right ear. A muffled voice sounded from the small speaker in the center of the device, and then she replied, "I understand. Thank you. Out." She closed the device and replaced it in its holster.

"That alien sensor contact is getting closer. We've got to get back to the bridge as soon as possible."

Another exchange of particle fire erupted on the lower deck, lighting up the stairwell. Aaen tried once more to get close enough to the crevice to see if he could see the intruder. . .

"Commander! What are you doing?"

Aaen gestured for him to be quiet with a raised palm.

The first thing gradually to become visible was the edge of the lower deck's ceiling. He inched down the staircase, reaffirming his grip on his rifle which he held at head level. There was a second metal step with a handrail. . .and then—what the heck? Aaen wondered, wincing at a thin black material fluttering just below the far ceiling's edge. . . . Aaen's thoughts wandered in shock at who or what might be at the top of those stairs. Wide-eyed, he continued looking straight.

"What do you see?" the Admiral asked.

"—TROUBLE!" Aaen whispered. 

*****

Steve H. told Jordan Foutin, "You are the next Tom Clancy. You really are a gifted writer."

DANIEL STORM, a Jordan Foutin eBook, is available for $8.99 at any of these fine online retailers: 

smashwords.com (Remember to like and share!)

apple iBooks (This link is best viewed on iPhone or iPad)

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Make sure to like the official StormTeam Simulations Facebook page for the latest, including when DANIEL STORM will be available on Amazon.com for Kindle eBook and softcover! Coming soon!

Vortex - Part 12

Aaen gradually looked up and right, gradually bringing his rifle to bear, watching as the Admiral carefully gestured for the away team to be quiet. Aaen looked to his left but didn't see or hear any indication that anyone or anything was coming from the other side of the door. He directed his focus to the overhead crawl space. . .

"Aaen!" the Admiral whispered. He looked at her, briefly, keeping his rifle pointed above him at an angle. Multiple rifle flashlights glared against the crawlspace opening and the surface beneath the opening.

"There's something there!” the chief of security announced.

"What is it?" Aaen asked. The chief of security had his rifle pointed almost straight down the crawlspace.

"My flashlight's not bright enough! I can't—"

BANG

The corridor flooded with abrupt screams from several crew members and attempts to shush. The shine from the flashlights became rapidly and sharply unsteady. We're running out of time, Aaen reasoned.

"Admiral! We've gotta move! We've gotta get in there!" Aaen said, referring to the battle bridge.

The Admiral looked at the Doctor. "Where's the intruder? Are you detecting it with your tricorder?"

The Doctor waved the tricorder over the wall behind Aaen a few times, and then replied, "I'm only getting sporadic energy readings. They could be the intruder. But it's hard to say. We don't know very much about shapeshifters."

"Okay. Everyone, we're going in!" the Admiral declared, then looked at Aaen. "Aaen, take point. Chief of Security, go in with Aaen. Everyone follow them!" Aaen turned for the doorway, hearing cautious footsteps behind him.

The chief of security tried to quietly rush to Aaen's right. He looked at Aaen, whispering, "You ready, Commander?"

Aaen looked forward, and then to his right and nodded; his breathing had become heavier. He nodded. "On my mark. . ." he gestured a countdown from three, and then slowly and firmly pushed the door open. A red light slowly flashed into the corridor. The door felt like it weighed fifty pounds as it inched open until it bumped an obstacle. Aaen was caught off guard by the fact that the door didn't open all the way, but he didn't care about the fact. He was more focused on the objective—

The chief of security leaned forward, slightly, and then nodded at Aaen. Aaen's rifle was the first to cross the threshold to the way ahead to the battle bridge. He cautiously stepped forward, keeping his rifle in front of him as he looked through the rifle's sights. Aaen noted a brig was feet in front of him, the forcefield was dark due to the power loss. The brig interior appeared untouched. . . The intruder's here, somewhere, he reasoned. . . His gut told him the intruder was close-by. . .

Another step forward, Aaen panned left and then realized he was just five or six steps down from the battle bridge; he recognized the security computer stations as being similar to those on the Voyager's bridge.

He quickly and sharply aimed up the staircase and then gestured for the rest of the bridge crew to follow. He felt a couple of drops of sweat building on his forehead, gradually dropping to his eyebrows. The sound of footsteps behind him continued as he started up the stairs. He gestured for the chief of security to watch the corner to his right. He nodded acknowledgment.

Halfway up the staircase, the staircase to the lower deck became visible, and then the command seating became visible. So far so good, Aaen reasoned, noting the lack of apparent distortion in any visible bridge constructs. Aaen knelt down behind what appeared to be the science station and gestured for the chief of security to check around the corner to the right.

Crouching, he inched to the corner and then snapped, checking high and low, quickly whispering, "clear!"

"Aaen! Keep going!" the Admiral ordered.

Aaen stood up and quickly walked to the center of the battle bridge with the chief of security following closely. The red lights left most of the front of the bridge and some of the left and right wing shrouded in darkness. For the most part, Aaen noted, it looked untouched. All of the bridge computers were powered off. . .even the main viewscreen was offline. "I don't see the intruder!" Aaen whispered.

The bridge filled with the sound of footsteps as the rest of the bridge crew flooded the bridge.

"Make sure to check under the desks. . .behind the seats. . .everywhere!" the Admiral ordered.

Over the next three to five minutes, Aaen guessed, flashlights shined against every surface as the crew searched the bridge until the crew turned back to the Admiral, turning their heads.

"It's gotta be here!" said the deputy.

"Where else could it be? In one of the shuttle bays?" asked a crew member.

Aaen looked to his right at the spiral staircase leading to the lower deck. . . "Admiral!"

"What?"

"There's another section of the battle bridge. It's down that way," he gestured with his rifle. He noticed the rest of the bridge crew looking to the back corner of the bridge.

"I'm not seeing hardly any light coming from down there." said another crew member.

"Doctor?"

"No idea what may be down there. I'm not detecting any life signs."

"Well, someone's gotta go down there," said another crew member.

The Admiral ordered the chief and deputy of security, and two or three other bridge crew members to the lower deck, about a third of the bridge crew; whereas Aaen and the rest of the bridge crew were ordered to secure the battle bridge. The latter group took strategic positions throughout the battle bridge. Aaen stood next to the Security stations and focused on the staircase, watching as the last of the crew members ordered to the lower deck inched down the staircase. The only light from the lower deck was coming from their combined flashlights.

"Did you hear that?" someone whispered from the deck below.

"What?" the chief of security replied.

"That!"

"Look! Someone's been working on that conduit! It's all—"

"Over there!" another crew member yelled.

A blood-curdling scream scored the staircase and filled the battle bridge.

"What's going on down there?" the Admiral yelled. Both decks were filled with the bright fiery glow of particle pulse fire and terrified screams. Aaen grabbed his particle rifle and rushed to the top of the staircase and knelt down to try to see what was going on through the staircase.

"Get back to the bridge! GO! GO! HURRY!" the deputy yelled. The particle fire became louder as the staircase loudly rattled with a terrified stampede rushing back to the bridge.

"It's over there! THERE! FIRE!"

*****

Steve H. told Jordan Foutin, "You are the next Tom Clancy. You really are a gifted writer."

DANIEL STORM, a Jordan Foutin eBook, is available for $8.99 at any of these fine online retailers: 

smashwords.com (Remember to like and share!)

apple iBooks (This link is best viewed on iPhone or iPad)

barnesandnoble.com 

scribd.com 

kobo.com

blio.com

Make sure to buy your copy today, and like and share!

Make sure to like the official StormTeam Simulations Facebook page for the latest, including when DANIEL STORM will be available on Amazon.com for Kindle eBook and softcover! Coming soon!

Vortex - Part 11

The security personnel quickly moved to both sides of the doorway with their rifles pressed firmly against their shoulders. The Shadows assumed a fan formation ten feet from the door. After a command to the door's control panel, a rapid series of chirps sounded and then the doors quickly hissed open. A red light blinked on and then faded out at regular intervals thanks to the Station's standing alert status; a subtle but direct alarm sounded with each interval. Aaen was stunned at the Shadows' swiftly and sharply panning the doorway and the visible way ahead. Their tactical rifle flashlights shining against the walls and bulkheads just outside.

Clear, one of the Shadows gestured. Aaen was puzzled by the assurance, considering the shape the intruder may have assumed was unknown to anyone in the room. How would they have known if the way ahead was at all clear or not? Aaen asked himself. Those face masks. . .? They covered the entire front of the wearer's head with a flat, angled faceplate. The Shadows looked almost robotic in their jet black gear. What readings could those facemasks be showing the Shadows that would be different than a scanner to a crew member? Focus, Aaen! He told himself. Scanners are perfectly good pieces of equipment. So is the naked eye, at point-blank range.

"Admiral, permission to proceed?" said a senior-ranking security officer. Aaen turned to the Admiral with a curious look on his face, anticipating she would say 'no', but hoping she would say 'yes' to the request for permission. Either way, he raised his black pulse rifle over his shoulder and carefully but quickly put his finger on the rifle's trigger—tapping the mechanism a few times.

The Admiral nodded acknowledgment of the gesture and then looked at the security officer and directly said, "Proceed." Aaen found himself squeezing his rifle's grip and was careful to not fire the rifle—not yet, anyway. He sharply pointed the weapon in front of him like his fellows and approached the doorway.

"Commander," Major Storm gestured for him to stop. Aaen complied, and then Major Storm gestured for his team to proceed into the corridor. Aaen was impressed at how sharply the Shadows entered the corridor so orderly and precise in their checking the corridor both ways for any signs of movement other than from the Shadows or the Station's security forces. There was half a semi-circle quickly facing the way right, and a few others checking the way directly ahead. Another hand gesture signaling 'clear' from each direction. All of the Shadows knelt where they were. Major Storm was behind the wall of nearly invisible human statues.

"I'll take point, Admiral," Aaen said.

The Admiral nodded. "Okay. Aaen goes first. Security, you follow 'im."

"Copy that." the Chief of Security replied.

Aaen kept his rifle in front of him, sharply panning right. . .then left; repeating when he was far enough into the doorway to lean into the right side of the doorway as he inched around the corner looking left.

"Go! Go!" a voice whispered from behind. Aaen rushed to into the adjacent corridor and knelt behind a corner, leaning left as he searched for movement. . . .So far so good. Aaen thought to himself, although disappointed that there wasn't a target—yet. His gut was telling him that there was a good chance that he would be the first—or one of the first—to catch the intruder. His hands started to get a little clammy. His thoughts started to shift to that unknown alien sensor contact. He felt like the temperature was getting really hot in the corridor, and his chest was starting to feel heavy with anxiety. The intruder could be anywhere! He reminded himself and worked to focus on finding the intruder. The corridor lights were noticeably struggling to stay on. It didn't matter, he reasoned, the Shadows were darn nearly invisible, as it was—even with a bright red light shining right on them from multiple directions. He had a gut feeling that they had a whole bunch of tricks still up their proverbial sleeve that they had yet to use as part of their coordinated effort to help the Station and its crew get back home. Aaen noticed the security personnel had assumed a similar tactical formation in the corridor as their rifle flashlights were also shining on the panels and bulkheads. The Admiral and captain were both comfortably—although uneasily, Aaen sensed—in the center of the near-perfect semi-circle blocking one of many personnel arteries in the Station. The corridors ahead filled with the white lights coming from the tactical flashlights on each rifle.

"Admiral, so far there's no indication of the intruder in this area. We'll proceed to the right and search the lower decks and secure any Magellan crew members we find."

"Understood. We'll go left and proceed to the backup battle bridge. The intruder could still take over the Station from there."

Aaen watched as Major Storm nodded acknowledgment. He tapped a control on the side of his rifle, and then—in less than a second—the Shadows stood up in a tactical stance, raised their rifles. . .and then disappeared without a trace. The term 'blending in' didn't apply anymore. They were gone. Aaen was wide-eyed and shocked at the sight. The Shadows are just gone. No sound. Not even the sound of footsteps! There was no distortion to their personal stealth technology, whatsoever. If they were still on board, or still just feet away, they were as they said: Shadows. Let's see even a Shapeshifter get past them!—As if it really had any chance of indefinitely eluding the crew, Aaen grinned pridefully.

"Okay, let's move out! Commander! You have point!"

"The fastest way to the battle bridge would be through the Alpha Access Juncture." the Doctor said, describing how to get there from the bridge crew's present location.

"Okay, let's go!" the Admiral said. Aaen felt a tap on his left shoulder. He was paying attention, but the majority of his focus was on the hundred feet or so of square footage where the intruder could come out of hiding from at any moment. Aaen fixed his gaze down his rifle's lone black tubular iron sight as he joined the front of the variably organized double-file 'line'. He started to feel himself sweating from his forehead, and noted the gasping to his left and behind him, and the subtle sounds of rubber soles against the floor as the away team proceeded down the corridor.

"Slow down!" the Doctor whispered loud enough for the away team to hear. "The intruder could be anywhere!" the Doctor's scanner's user interface was glowing and chirping as it scanned the ways ahead. Aaen guessed the Doctor was probably only a few feet behind him. "Wait!" the Doctor said. "I'm getting a reading!" after waiving the scanner right and then left two or three times, just over Aaen's shoulder, the Doctor gestured to proceed to the right.

Aaen looked over his shoulder and gave the Doctor a wide-eyed look as though to check to make sure the Doctor was certain that's where the reading was coming from.

"The reading is coming from that way!"

"Go!" the Admiral whispered loudly.

Aaen panned sharply to the right, slowly stepping left, keeping the rifle flashlight shining at the corner. His breathing became heavier as he inched around the corner, and then centering down the center of the way ahead.

"See anything?" said the Deputy Security Officer.

Aaen turned his head as he looked behind him.

"Proceed!" the Admiral whispered loudly.

"WAIT!" the Doctor whispered. "It's moving!"

"Is it coming?" asked the Chief of Operations.

"Doesn't look like it's coming towards us. . . But it is moving."

"It might already be on the battle bridge!" said the Deputy.

"I wouldn't go rushin' in there, Admiral. There's no telling what shape it might have assumed by now. . .especially if it knows we're coming."

"We've gotta get in there, Admiral!" said the Chief of Security.

"Aaen, lead the way!" the Admiral said.

Aaen looked forward, took a deep breath, and then started walking. He panned up, and then straight, and then started inching around the next corner—

The door to the corridor leading to the battle bridge was closed. He inched around the corner for the next ten seconds until he was all the way around and checked every space on the right side of the room. His heart was pounding with anxiety, anticipating the intruder at any moment. He noted the shining of rifle flashlights filling the room from behind him. . . The room looked like some kind of office space. Probably the Admiral's ready room, Aaen guessed. "It's not in here!" Aaen said.

"Doctor!" said the Admiral.

The Doctor stood near the entrance corner and panned the scanner slowly right and left, and then gradually focused on the black doorway ahead. The red flashing wall lights blinked out without a sound. "I'm not detecting the intruder in here. Admiral, the intruder's cut power this area."

"We need to get through that hatch!" said the Chief of Security.

"Do it!" the Admiral commanded. "Set up a perimeter behind us in case it tries to attack us from behind!"

Aaen led the away team quickly to the front of the hatch. The door's control panel was offline. Aaen tried to use the hatch's manual release. . .to no avail. "Stand back." Aaen said, taking aim at the hatch's locking mechanism—and fired.

The barrel lit up red as a red pulse of lightning blasted through the lock as it sparked away. He tried to open the hatch again—it slowly inched open to reveal a shorter corridor with an adjacent closed way to the left, one to the right, and engineering crawlspace on the far end atop a short ladder, and then a short stairwell leading to a second doorway left—and one forward. Aaen recognized the far doorway. It was the one that led to the battle bridge.

"Doctor?" Aaen asked.

"Forward!" the Doctor whispered.

"Go!" the Admiral said.

Aaen continued to lead the way forward, panning right, briefly, and then straight, marching carefully down the staircase, stopping at the door to the battle bridge. He looked behind him to see the rest of the away team following him closely, making sure to secure any point of entry into this corridor. The only lights in this corridor came from the rifle flashlights.

"Admiral, the battle bridge is just ahead." Aaen said.

"Can you hear anything?" the Admiral asked.

Aaen put his head close to the door and then paused for several seconds. There were whispers from the back of the corridor, but Aaen couldn't hear them so he remained focused on answering the Admiral's question. Aaen looked behind him at the Admiral and turned his head, keeping his rifle pointed at the doorway.

"That doesn't mean it's not on the battle bridge!" said the Deputy.

"Admiral, there's only one way to find out." Aaen said.

"I heard something!" the Deputy whispered loudly, pointing his rifle toward the ceiling near the engineering crawlspace and the ceiling.

"I heard something too! Like something was walking directly above us! Up there!" said another member of the away team, pointing to the engineering crawlspace.

"Something's moving up there!" yelled the Chief of Security. 

*****

Steve H. told Jordan Foutin, "You are the next Tom Clancy. You really are a gifted writer."

DANIEL STORM, a Jordan Foutin eBook, is available for $8.99 at any of these fine online retailers: 

smashwords.com (Remember to like and share!)

apple iBooks (This link is best viewed on iPhone or iPad)

barnesandnoble.com 

scribd.com 

kobo.com

blio.com

Make sure to buy your copy today, and like and share!

Make sure to like the official StormTeam Simulations Facebook page for the latest, including when DANIEL STORM will be available on Amazon.com for Kindle eBook and softcover! Coming soon!