Chapter 22: The Attacks Down Under
As General Coker sat alone, the reality of what they were planning to do was beginning to sink in. He had no hesitation, only feelings of past regret. Actually, a more accurate assessment was that he had feelings of regret and self-loathing.
How could I have agreed to fund the downfall of my own species—quite literally, the rape of my own kind? The wall he'd built up over the years was never much of a mental blockade. The mess of his personal life was a testament to that. In a futile attempt to maintain some sort of firewall, he hadn't allowed himself to learn any of the inner workings of what he was truly funding. Instead, he'd placed that unthinkable burden directly on the shoulders of Dr. Gregg Holland.
The same Dr. Holland who was now going to help him make things right.
The guilt associated with the death and torture they'd directly—and indirectly—inflicted upon their fellow Man would never go away entirely, regardless of the mental gymnastics Coker tried to employ. The permanent stain these actions had on Humanity would never go away either. How could it? Long ago, he'd decided the lives of the few were worth sacrificing for the supposed betterment of the many.
What of that betterment? A few trinkets of technology to help bring down a flawed Soviet society that in time would have crumbled on its own? And once that so-called threat was gone, why continue? Why allow external creatures to manipulate and mutilate our people...MILLIONS of them? Why?
Because no one noticed, or at least no one seemed to care about the hundreds of thousands of people who 'went missing' without a trace each and every year after the ET meeting with Eisenhower. If no one noticed that, why not keep selling Humanity's collective soul for the temporary and inconsequential drug that is advanced technology?
None of this will? ever stop, he thought as he exhaled deeply. At least not on its own. It would require the actions of someone who knew what was going on, knew how to stop it, and had nothing to lose in trying. And he and Holland were those 'someones.'
Dr. Holland finally entered the secured room that Coker was sitting in.
"Glad you decided to join me."
Holland returned his glib comment with a blank stare. "Four layers of security and interrogation...for me? Really? Nice touch adding the full cavity search. You're lucky I'm a medical doctor and don't take things like that personally."
As much as Holland tried to hold it back, even the stoic doctor couldn't help but crack a small smile.
"See? See? There it was...barely...but I saw it! You do have a beating heart after all!" quipped Coker. "That physical examination was just to make sure you didn't go all full cyborg on me. Given your history with those animals, anything's possible."
"OK, funny guy. Can we just get on with this?"
"You got it, Doc. Let's begin." Coker was more than ready to do this. "Since our last meeting, I've put a lot of wheels in motion. But before I brief you on that, I'll need your help. We're now at the point where I need specifics about operations at the Down Under facility, especially at the lower, more secure levels."
Holland shook his head. "You do remember that I'm retired and I've been so for years now, right? I can only give you what I knew then, which is almost assuredly not what's going on there now."
"You need to learn how to relax, Doc. As I just said, a lot has been going on since we last spoke. Thankfully, I've been able to retain most of my clearances and still have access to many of my contacts within Special Ops. I also have intelligence at your old facility. Breaching their security will not be a problem."
"Great. So why exactly do you need me?"
Coker smiled back. "I don't think I need to remind you, Gregg, about our previous working relationship. This time, however, I need to know exactly what was going on. We won't have a second chance at this and whatever time we do have will be very limited. We need to wipe these assholes out and I need you to tell me exactly where the nastiest shit is going on. Or was."
Holland exhaled and looked away when he spoke. "I can do that, but my intel will be limited to what I knew when I was there. Things could be wildly different now."
"Yes, yes, you've already said that and I understand, but part of the plan will be to confirm what you tell me before we go in. I can arrange for that. Let me ask you something. In all your years there, were these things creatures of habit?"
"What exactly do you mean?"
"Did they change their routine, move labs, change schedules and things of that sort?"
Holland paused, looked up to his right as if he was trying to remember. "Actually, no. They were quite methodical, almost robotic in their approach most of the time."
"Excellent. That's what I thought. With your detailed intelligence and our follow up, I think we can execute a timely strike before any response—"
"Fifth level," interrupted Holland.
"What?"
"That's the level you need to completely wipe clean after you secure the samples I'll need. It's where all the advanced hybrid research was going on and it's also where they started to house the proto fetuses. They'd just begun production when I left. I wouldn't be surprised if they have millions of biologically viable fetuses in stasis at this point. There were some Humans on that level but not ones who'd want to be saved..."
Coker exhaled deeply. Jesus, this can't be easy. It wasn't any easier for Coker either, especially since he'd let this level of detail purposefully escape him for more than a decade, just so he could give himself the illusion of ignorance. Even worse was the fact that he was completely fine with Holland not being afforded the same luxury.
"Thank you, Gregg. We'll talk again to confirm that nothing of significance has changed since you left. Once we've done so, we'll proceed with our plan to neutralize Down Under, including the complete eradication of Level 5. As I mentioned, this will have to be a quick, well-informed, and highly coordinated operation, given the limited time I anticipate between a strike and the internal/external response."
"Is that all?" the doctor asked.
"Yes, that's all I need for now. Just like you did for me for all those years, this time, I'll spare you the painful details of what, when, and how."
"No. Is that all we are doing... Just Down Under?"
"Oh, I'm sorry," Coker responded. "No...much more is on tap. I can tell you as little or as much as you want to know."
This time, Holland looked up and stared directly into Coker's eyes. "I want to know how you plan to eradicate this virus from our world. A virus you and I helped cultivate."
A broad smile slowly developed on Coker's face. "Gladly," he said, maintaining Holland's gaze. "We know of multiple USO (Underwater Surface Object) bases scattered throughout our oceans and seas. We don't have detailed information on all of them, but we know enough to cause big problems for them. Their hidden base on the dark side of the moon is even more valuable. They've had that for nearly a century. It serves multiple purposes, including energy extraction of Helium 3. It also gives those pricks a way to initiate low-frequency electromagnetic transmissions designed to perennially keep us in the dark. We have several leftover Apollo resources in play both on the surface and in orbit that we can utilize. We'll wipe out that lunar facility, along with as many USO bases as possible."
"What about retaliation?" asked Holland. "It's pretty obvious that they can do a lot more damage to us than we can to them. Last month's ET exercise made that abundantly clear."
Holland's last comment concerned and confused Coker. "The only thing clear at this point is that we're sitting ducks to multiple ETs who have their own agenda," Coker responded. "We don't have the luxury to wait and see what happens next.
"So, doctor, are you in?"
Holland looked at him quizzically. "Are you kidding me...after everything I've seen and you've known about? I'll answer your question with a quote from a famous General I once knew...'I just want to blow 'em the fuck up!'
"So yeah, I'm in. I'm all the fuck in."