The End of the Beginning

As William and Jake made their way up the steps to Nancy’s quarters, they heard the warning. The computerized announcement with a female voice was fed through every loudspeaker around the base.

“Attention. Attention. Base Tranquility is now in Sequence Red. Repeat, Base Tranquility is now in Sequence Red. This is not a drill. This is not a drill.” “Uh-oh,” said William, looking up to the sky at the sound coming from all around him.

“Due to imminent security concerns all UNIRO personnel are to remain indoors until the base has returned to Sequence Green. Repeat, all UNIRO personnel are to remain indoors until the base has returned to Sequence Green. All base entrances and exits will be sealed effective immediately.

“That can’t be good,” said Jake. “Something must have just happened,” said Jake, “something really bad.”

“Crap,” mumbled William.

“Crap is right,” Jake said, restarting his run up the steps.

“ISAF is now in control of all on base functions until further notice. Any personnel found outside without authorization will be detained for questioning. Base Tranquility is now in Sequence Red. Repeat, Base Tranquility is now in Sequence Red.” When Nancy opened the door she was crying. Jake instinctively grabbed her in a bear hug.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Nancy pointed to her glass tablet on her desk. On it was a live video stream a of news network.

“It’s them,” she cried. “It’s Terra Nova. They’ve attacked UNIRO.”

William walked slowly towards the tiny tablet screen. He sat down in Nancy’s desk chair and removed his beret. On the screen was nothing but fire. The footage was coming from a circling helicopter. Nancy had the footage muted.

“Where is this?” William asked, clenching his fist on the desk.

“The dam Captain. They blew up a tanker underneath one of the dam’s suspension bridges. It collapsed. Hundreds are dead they think,” Nancy explained trying to compose herself.

“Terra Nova did this?” William asked, already knowing the answer, his voice shaky.

“Yes,” said Nancy. “You were right, sir.”

The camera zoomed in on a piece of the ships hull floating amongst the burning oil; on it were the four Terra Novan symbols. Water. Air. Fire. Earth. Nearly the entire passageway was a pool of fire. The only portion of the bridge left standing was about a quarter of the western tower. An orange glow now filled the entire area, punctuated by columns of toxic thick black smoke.

William felt a tear brush down his face. He was enraged and not only because of the sight in front of him.

“Hammond is going to pay for this,” Jake said, coming over to William for a closer look at the screen.

“It’s not Hammond,” said Nancy.

“What?” Jake questioned.

“She’s right,” said William. “Hammond didn’t do this.”

“Okay,” said Jake, raising both of his hands, “does everyone but me always seem to know something? The Captain and just I heard Hernandez confirm everything you just told us Nancy. Hammond deleted the files to cover up Samir and hers involvement with Terra Nova. She’s leaving Alaska unexpectedly earlier as well, and now we know why!” Jake pointed to the glass tablet. “Hammond blew up the dam. The captain was right!” “Rescue Officer Lewis, there is a reason my earpiece can contact everyone else except Colonel Morrison, isn’t there?” “Yeah, there is Captain.” Nancy grabbed William’s earpiece and held it up for the men to see. “Your earpiece contains a jamming program that is only activated when you attempt to call the colonel or when he attempts to call you. The same program has probably been placed on your glass tag and in our own tablet. Have you gotten any emails from him? Social media messages?” “None.”

“If you’re saying Hammond didn’t do all this then who did?” Jake demanded. “I’m tired of these games!”

“The same person who really deleted the files,” said William. “Chief of Security Patrick Hernandez.”