Story of fiction and fantasy and science fiction

[LostNFound]

Lieutenant Iver Grimes had walked from his temporary tent that had been set up in the tunnel behind the four hummers and one scout vehicle to the barricade that was still being erected. The noise in the tunnel was very loud as the men pounded the steel structure together that created the cell shaped wall across the tunnel. He stood and watched the progress for a moment and called over Sergeant Almaterski. “When this gets done Almaterski, I want you to take your squad and walk into the tunnel and give a SITREP. That damn Emperor and his stupid SS are so paranoid. He could have just shut the access off and no one can get in anyway. Captain Geebies and his men could have guarded the parking garage just fine. This tunnel is somewhere around 30 miles or longer and from what I understand there is no way anyone can access the parking garage from the other end but be that as it may we got to do our duty. So once you get to moving call in every 30 minutes and let us know what you find, you understand?” “Yes sir.” The lieutenant turned and walked back toward his temporary quarters. Damn thought Almaterski the stupid lieutenant is just as paranoid. This tunnel is completely empty and I don’t know how anyone could get into it from the other end. His men completed the bar system and he called Corporal Whitless over and told him to get the squad ready for walking. They were going to walk to the damn other end and back apparently to satisfy the Lieutenant. “Have everyone get their field packs prepared and let’s get on with this.”

The barricade had been set up just 1 mile inside the tunnel from the palace garage. Sergeant Almaterski had radioed in 3 times since they had been walking. That did not put him very far from the barricade and he was cursing the lieutenant for sending him and his squad on this worthless mission. They were going to have to sleep in this damn tunnel somewhere along the way. Alice and Jack had flown through the tunnel and Jack figured that they had driven maybe 10 or more miles before he heard the noise. Alice dropped down and stood on the road surface. She was listening intently and said in Jack’s mind there are people walking in the tunnel, I don’t know how far they are but they are definitely headed our way. Jack spoke back we are going to have to stop them somewhere and you can bet they are in radio contact with someone. They both levitated again and took off in the direction of the Palace.

Sergeant Almaterski stopped his men and told them to take a break. They had been walking steadily now and he figured they may have walked around 12 to 14 miles. The walking was easy and the low level lighting was just bright enough to see the road surface. He had already called in 5 times and those were not on the 30 minute schedule that the lunatic lieutenant had wanted him to do. The tunnel took a turn just ahead of where he decided to take a break. He was thinking of making this place a resting spot for a good 8 hour rest. Corporal Flammous had moved to the wall of the tunnel and slid his pack off. He was hungry and figured to open one of the K ration cans and munch down on the sardines. Some things never change it seems. The army has been carrying this crap around forever it would seem. God when are they going to feed us something better? Two of the privates were doing the same thing and Private Waters spoke up “I’ll tell you guy’s something, I would rather be out here than back at that barricade. Have you guys smelled that Lieutenant? I thought he was bad up top side but down in this tunnel his smell seems to permeate more of the air. That dead animal smell lingers on the guy and I was getting sick from it. Geez, can’t the guy take a shower once in awhile?” All the men agreed with him but most of them were afraid to say anything about it. Almaterski spoke up at this letting the air out conversation and said “you can speak that way out here Flammous but you know better when we are around that freak. I have seen him do some real nasty things to men if they said something to him or some of those others that seem to carry that smell around like it is a prize to them. We gotta do this job and then we have to go back to that putrid smell, I tell you I ain’t looking forward to that.” “Yeah Sarg, what is with those that smell like that? It seems that more of our men are contacting something that makes them smell that way. God if there was a way to reach the surface in this tunnel I sure would like to get some fresh air before we return.” Private Hause gave a little snort and said “you know Waters; those damn sardines you like to eat don’t smell much better than that Lieutenant.” All the men laughed at that and settled into eating their own K-rations.

Tamara and Sergeant Major Jack Bollard had come around the corner in the tunnel just as one of the men was talking about a Lieutenant that smelled like a dead animal. They hovered above the men that seemed like they might be taking a long rest. It would appear these men may have a symbiotic controlling there lieutenant and there could be others inhabiting other soldiers in their company. Yes those worms are being quite busy I suspect in taking over this army. We must hurry if we are going to try and save as many humans as possible. We should get these men out of the way and perhaps give them a choice. Tamara dropped to the road surface and stood in the center of the soldiers. She became visible and just stood waiting. The soldiers were so involved in eating and resting that it took a few moments before Private Hause noticed her. He dropped his can of corn and fumbled for his rifle. Tamara froze him and as the reaction spread she froze each man. Six men sat or squatted in a frozen position. They could see what was in front of their eyes but they could not move their heads. They could not speak and they could not move any part of their bodies. Sergeant Almaterski watched with a complete anxious feeling the little girl walk up to him. He did not know who or what this child was and he was in fear that she was going to kill him. “I am not going to kill you Sergeant; I am not going to kill any of you. I am going to give you a choice to remain human and stay alive.

Almaterski and those men that had been looking at him heard this little girl tell them that she was not going to kill them. In their minds this was a calming. They heard her say that she was going to give them a choice and when she said to remain human and stay alive it made them all wonder what she meant. Tamara could hear their thoughts and unfroze the Sergeants mouth so he could speak. Almaterski felt his mouth loosen and he spoke immediately. “Who the hell are you and what are you doing to us? Tamara almost giggled from this outburst. “Well Mr. Kyle Almaterski, I am not from hell and I am containing you and your men at the moment. It is something that I remembered how to do that all humans could do at some point in their past before they were locked up by something that you might truly call from hell as you think of it. I am going to tell you what is happening and give you a choice. As I have said that choice is whether or not you want to live as a human or an alien species and die as a human being.” “What are saying? There are no aliens on this world as far as I know.” “Well Kyle you are wrong in many ways. You had a thought that I am an alien did you not?” Kyle was stopped at the idea that this little girl could read his thoughts. “Okay, suppose you tell me, tell us just who and where these aliens are. I certainly have not seen any.” “I heard one of your men speaking of a Lieutenant that smells like a dead animal and it would appear that there could be more that have this same type of smell to their bodies. How am I doing so far?” “Yes there are those that stink so bad it makes one want to vomit when they are too close. So how can that be a sign they are aliens. Lots of men and I might add women can smell pretty bad at times.” “Yes Kyle this is true but most people will wash themselves when the chance is given. Does your Lieutenant ever smell any different and does he even wash?” “Yes I have known him to shower but that smell does not wash off of him so you are saying that he could be an alien because of that smell?”

Jack had remained cloaked and in the air. The conversation with the Sergeant seemed to be heading in the right direction but he decided to show himself and help Tamara. He dropped down and stood next to her and turned his cloak off. He had talked with Sergeant Rockford in the mind and told him to drive forward. The cloak and stealth gear would keep the hummer from being heard. Sergeant Almaterski’s eyes grew in size and he blurted out, “how many of you are there?” Tamara heard Jack in her mind and remained silent as Jack was going to get to the point. “There are many of us Sergeant; we are the patriots and the militias of this country. We are the ones that are going to take back this country and you can be part of that if you so choose.” “So one of the choices is to join up with you and fight against this Emperor?” “Yes Sergeant that is one of the choices, the other one is to die in the service of an alien creature that has taken control of the Emperor and is in the full process of taking over our world.” Jack spoke to Tamara in the mind and asked her to search these soldiers to see who was patriotic to the Emperor and who wasn’t and then he asked his question. “Who wants to live and fight against the forces of the aliens and the Emperor’s dictatorial regime or who wants to remain in the Emperor’s power and the aliens that are taking over this world?” Tamara had searched each one of the soldier’s minds and hearts and found one that was a dedicated Emperor minion. He was still human but she knew that he would most likely be taken over by either the symbiotics or the Xzanturs. She reached deeper into him and found a black heart. The man had been raised to hate the free peoples of the world and had acted on that by killing as many as he could encounter until he was placed into the forces that were given the honor of protecting the Emperor. She walked to the man and looked into his eyes. The hatred he exuded was palpable so she touched him and he disappeared. The other five men were of doubt but willing to abandon the Emperor’s army and fight for their freedom. She showed them the aliens, both species that were invading the earth and unfroze them.

Sergeant Kyle Almaterski had waited for this moment. He never liked the Emperor and he definitely believed in freedom. It was for his Dad and Mom that he joined the Army so he could support them. The measly pay that he received gave them the means to barely survive but that was his goal. He was held captive to that and hated being a slave to the ideal of keeping his parents alive in a world that had gone mad. He stood up and saluted Jack. “Sergeant Major, I would be honored to serve in your unit. The other men joined in and Sergeant Rockford uncloaked the hummer. They all looked in surprise but smiled. Kyle told them about the bars that had been erected across the tunnel and how many troops and vehicles were stationed about a mile in from the parking garage of the palace. All the men got to know each other and Jack now had 11 men and a little girl to protect on this dangerous mission. The 5 new comers climbed on the top of the hummer as it slowly made its way toward the barricade in the tunnel.

On the North side of the blast zone where the parking structure had once stood, in between two building that were still semi whole stood the hummer. It was cloaked and had the stealth gear operating. Six men sat inside while a woman dressed in Army fatigues stood by the driver side window. She was invisible just like the hummer and told all the men inside that she would be with them in a moment. She touched the hummer and it truly disappeared. She turned sideways into the no-time and stepped back into the time next to the hummer once again. The tunnel was dark except for some very low level lighting up ahead. Janice climbed into the hummer and Keegan slowly moved forward toward the palace. This road took many turns as it was built to follow some of the streets above. Janice spoke to everybody and told them that she would get them through the locked doors at the palace when they arrived. “There could be some military soldiers guarding the parking structure so we will have to get around them.”

One mile inside the tunnel from the parking garage under the palace, 2nd Lieutenant Judas Shamar/GuummpphIct stood watching the squad of men erecting a thick bar wall across the tunnel. No one would get to close to him, and he often wondered why. When ever he gave orders and stood to close to the humans they would gag and try to back away from him. Those of the clew had discussed this but could not figure out why the humans did this action. It was determined that this species had some kind of reaction to their inhabitation. The Aquatic that controlled the top leader had ordered him and the group of humans to block this tunnel off with the heavy metal bars and to guard the area. Inside the large open structure that was directly under the main building were more human soldiers that were commanded by another of his species. The other tunnel that ran from the open space called a parking garage was also being guarded with the same kind of structure and around the same distance inside the tunnel. He did not know what to expect from this tunnel but it was a priority for the Xzanturs/human leader to make sure the tunnels were guarded. He had set up a temporary quarters and the humans had set up some of their heavy weapons close to the metal bars. He could hear the humans grumbling about this place and some had said that the other end of this tunnel had been destroyed. It was plain to him that this could be a human move to do something that was unnecessary. He turned and walked back to the temporary quarters and entered the cloth like structure that had been erected.

The hummer was cloaked but the 5 men on top were visible. The men inside knew this was a problem but Jack decided to stop before they could be seen from the barricade that Sergeant Kyle Almaterski told them about. The bars could be a real problem along with the soldiers at the barricade. They all knew there was a symbiotic, inhabiting a lieutenant that could be another problem. Jack figured that he would take his men while they were cloaked and walk up to the bars and take out the soldiers that were close to the other side. He wanted to check how many were there and what it looked like further back. Once they took out the soldiers they could get through the others that were behind. Kyle had told them there were four hummers and one 8 wheel scout vehicle parked in the tunnel and that in it self was a barricade. They may have to walk from that point to the parking garage. Tamara had told them she could get through the key locked door system but they would have to deal with other soldiers it was certain. Once they were inside they would have to make it up to the 5th or 6th floor to take the emperor out. That was the ultimate mission to accomplish.

[LostNFound]

8. THE ANTI-CLOAKING DEVICE and EVOLUTION

The tunnel had a hairpin turn to the left as they approached. Sergeant Rockford stopped the hummer and the men on top jumped down. Jack and his men climbed out and stood around for a few minutes while they all spoke softly about how they would move to the bars. The barricade was a few hundred yards from the corner as Sergeant Almaterski had told them. Jack told Kyle and his men to wait until the word was given to bring the hummer to the barricade. Tamara had turned invisible as the team turned on the dispance cloaks and they all turned the corner and began to walk toward the barricade of bars. The light was low but they could see the heavy machine guns and the men behind them. Jack had told everyone to stay close to the sides of the tunnel as they moved forward. Tamara passed a point that had sensor lights blinking on two small boxes on each side of the road and had a real bad feeling of a sudden. She turned to warn the team just as they walked past the boxes. She could see them phasing in and out of being cloaked. The machine guns began to fire and she saw two men go down. Jack had levitated with the others and Tamara told them to move back. The cloaking device has been interrupted with some sort of signal and they can see us in phases, it seems that they may have taken the little device and perfected it into a bigger device. She knew they could not see her but the bullets that were flying all around might make contact with her body. Corporal Simms and Sergeant Greyfox were both lying on the sides of the tunnel and not moving. Jack told Tamara to get out of the way and began to shoot back at the barricade. The others that had backtracked and now were invisible once again also began to shoot into the barricade. Tamara landed next to Tommy and sent his body back to the hummer. She did the same thing with Joe and fully disappeared into the no-time and came back out in the tunnel behind the Emperor’s men. She was behind the Hummers and the entire squads of men. The cacophony of gun fire was deafening in the tunnel and it seemed like it was not going to stop, the bullets were pinging and zinging off of the walls and vehicles. She was hoping that Jack and the others had made it back to the corner. She began to touch the hummers and make them disappear. The Tent structure had been set up behind the vehicles and as soon as she made the vehicles disappear she moved backward quickly and a man stepped out of the tent with an automatic rifle. He was beginning to run forward and stopped abruptly.

Tamara was elevated off the road by at least 7 feet as she watched the man/symbiotic, turn and look straight at her. The thing acted as if it could see her even though she was invisible. She moved quickly straight toward the man as he raised his rifle and pointed it at her. As she flew over she touched the man and he disappeared. The gun never did fire and for that she was thankful but the vision of the man that was inhabited by one of the symbiotics looking straight at her and knowing in the first place that she was there gave her the willies. It was as if the symbiotics could tell and see her even if she was invisible. She wondered how this had come about as she flew back toward the team. The firing had stopped abruptly and when she flew through the bars she could see the men at the machine guns were all dead. She knew there were others that had been hiding behind the vehicles but when she made them disappear, the men scattered toward the sides of the tunnels. She did not know how many were still alive but it was sure that they were not going to let Jack and his team, come through without a fight.

When she reached the turn in the tunnel she could see the men spread out watching the barricade. Kyle and his men were staying behind the corner so they could not be seen. She reached the hummer and saw Major Vanstoffer and Jack standing while Sammy and Malcolm where doing something with Joe Simms. Tommy Greyfox had been covered with a tarp. She dropped down and stood over him. She had become visible as soon as she turned the corner. She knew that Tommy had left his corporeal body when he had first been shot. Joe was still in his at the moment but she could see that he was struggling to leave this plane. As she watched Malcolm giving mouth to mouth resuscitation, Joe’s spirit rose up from his body and looked at her before he shot up through the ceiling of the tunnel and was gone. Her tears were running down her face in streams and she shook from the violent encounter that just occurred. Jack had noticed her and walked over and pulled her close. She could feel him crying inside as he held her. He had just lost two of his men in a surprise attack that should not have happened. We were cloaked for god sakes, how did this happen? Tamara heard his thoughts and spoke silently to him. “Someone has figured out how to expand on the early de-cloaking device. Remember me telling you that those agents in that control room mentioned they had something that could nullify the dispance cloaks. We were exposed a good 100 feet before that barricade and they could see us phasing in and out. Jack, we need to talk. That symbiotic could also see me or at least sense me even though I was invisible without the cloaking devise and he knew I was there. I would have been killed if I hadn’t acted as fast as I did. He does not exist any more but the symbiotics will be able to see me and others or sense us. I must inform Janice and Alice and any others. The symbiotics have adapted to us and the tech that has been created is being used to see through our cloaking devices.”

Xishum Stra’/Vinnie Crumholtz the Emperor Sat in his office and laughed to himself. He had just received a communique from the Captain in the basement parking garage telling him that the cloaking disrupter device had worked and they had stopped a team of patriots that were coming from the DIA underground tunnel. He had ordered the special teams to plant the first two anti cloaking devices in the tunnels and as soon as the others ones became usable to get them to the outer perimeter defenses to prepare for the coming assaults from the patriots. The small pen shaped devices that had been created a little over 6 months earlier where intermittent at best and now with the better devices proving their work ability it made him feel secure. The devices could be laid across the road ways with fine wire attached to small boxes on each side. The blinking red sensor lights on the boxes were the only draw back but to an unsuspecting group of soldiers or vehicles traveling on the road, no one would see those lights. He knew the patriots would be using the cloaking tech on their vehicles and troops as much as they could. Today was a test that worked and he was told that some of the patriots had died in the tunnel. He was also told that 6 of his soldiers and the Lieutenant that was in command had been killed. The scientists had made some special hardware that resembled Rifles that could be held by a soldier. The rifle had to be attached to a wheeled generator that had to be pulled by a hummer to locations. Granted they were bulky looking but they could be pointed into the sky to shoot the signals to expose the choppers the patriots would be using to fly around within their perimeters of defense. They were in the process also of making a trailer that would have multiple ports that could project the signals in a wide array. This was all being done in the basement of the old capital building, and hopefully would come to fruition within the next few weeks. There were two of the wheeled generators with the rifles getting ready for use on the south and west side of his defense line. He had told the people putting them together to make as many as possible to spread around the entire perimeter of his defense lines.

It was the symbiotics that figured out the cloaking tech and how to neutralize it somewhat. They had created the pen device first earlier and it wasn’t what they wanted because of its intermittent capability. They still did not know the full depth of it but they could give the human they inhabited a basic design to make something that would interfere with the device to enough degree to give the soldiers enough imagery to at least shot at something. The Xzanturs had wanted the full technology to be able to disappear themselves but it was beyond the symbiotics at this point. They had to learn how to adapt to the humans and this tech was quite hard for them at this time. Adapting to the Xzanturs was relatively easy during their first encounters but these humans appeared to be more intelligent than they first thought and it was hard for them to get around the human brain. There was something much deeper in these humans than there was with the Xzanturs and the other species they took control of in the far distant system that destroyed itself. The evolution of the Gyyuuummphers-Ichees was long and arduous but once they achieved a full sized tube shape that was only a little over an inch in length, their ability to evolve and adapt to other species was much faster. The discovery of a certain sect of species that could use their brains to a much fuller degree than the overall mass of the humans was a total surprise to them and upon this discovery they knew that they had to control this sect or they would be destroyed or banned from this universe. None of these beings came within a grasp to them so they pushed more Xzanturs out to gain control of humans that way as a means to obtain a foothold. They learned quickly, and learned how to detect this special sect and could see them just as the humans could see and detect them. The Xzanturs were easy to detect and many of them began to be chased out or killed by the humans. When GuuumniphhIch/Warren had communed with the Clew about the little humans knowing way more about them than they thought possible it became a number one priority to control these humans.

The hummer was moving slowly in the low lit tunnel. Keegan was having a deeper feeling of something that could be a real problem. Janice was sitting in the passenger seat and thinking about their path through the parking garage and up to the 5th or 6th floor. Dan Killard was sitting in the back talking with the others about their movement into the palace and where the best path would be to get to the upper floor where the Emperor was. He was telling them about the SS quarters and approximately how many of them were left in the Palace. Janice heard Tamara in her mind. Janice, the emperor or the aliens have figured out how to make our cloaking device short circuit. We ran into a trap and two people have been killed. We are in the tunnel from DIA and about 1 mile from the parking garage. There are a few squads of emperor soldiers behind a bar structure with heavy machine guns. We may have to fight our way through this before we can reach the palace. You must know this sister, the symbiotics have figured out how to see you and me and anyone from the Haven when we are invisible. They know when we are nearby. The one that was leading this group almost shot me before I could make him go away. I think I sent him into a different universe but had to think quickly. We have saved 5 soldiers from the Emperor’s grasp and they are with us. Tommy and Joe have left this plane and are with the Divine Creator. I could not get to them in time to send them to the Dream healing place. You must be very careful in that tunnel. You could run into the same thing we have and they could see everyone that uses a dispance cloak. Watch out for the symbiotic that may be leading a few squads of men. I think these aliens are evolving here on the earth and can learn how to use our own defenses against us. Alice, The Emperor may be producing more of these devices to short circuit our dispance cloaks and in that case he will send this stuff out to his soldiers who will use it against the cloaked choppers and other vehicles as well as any men and women who are using the belts. Please spread this INTEL to the patriots. We may be in a real shooting war against this mad man and the aliens.

Keegan glanced at Janice and saw the tears running down her cheeks. He reached over and touched her. She turned and looked at him. “What is wrong?” She stared at him for what seemed like an eternity and said “Tamara and Jack have been ambushed and Jack lost two men.” Keegan heard the feelings and asked “Who?” The men in the back all stopped talking and waited for the answer. Janice’s voice welled up and down and then she said “Tommy and Joe.” The men in the back almost gasped. Dan Killard was the only one that did not weep in his heart, he did not know the two men that were just killed but he did feel a sorrow for their loss. The rest of the team had cried out deep in their souls for the two because they were all brothers in arms. They had fought through many skirmishes together and so much more. Janice could feel the emptiness in the men’s souls that had rushed in and left their hearts blank all of sudden. Janice could only say "I’m so sorry.” Keegan felt the pain and sorrow and finally after stopping the hummer, asked what and how it happened. Janice told them all what Tamara had told her and said “we can expect the same in this tunnel so we must be on guard from here forward. Dan, you remember this tunnel well. You drove it so where do you think they will set up their barricade?” Dan thought about it for a minute and finally said. “Tamara said they are a mile away from the palace, I think they will set up their barricade the same distance or close and this cloak disrupter has to be within range of that bar system they are using so when we walk through or drive through they will commence to shoot because that is what they did to Jack and his team. So walking is a bad idea and I think driving may be just as bad. Do we know what to look for in the device? If we can come at it on the side of being cloaked we may be able to disarm it and then get through or closer before anything like a barrage of bullets take us down. The bigger problem is the symbiotic that has inhabited an officer.”

Janice knew from what Tamara had told her that the symbiotics had evolved enough to see her when she became invisible and for some reason they could detect her when and if she was close. The priority thing she had to do was make the symbiotic go away before it could sound an alarm. The ceiling of the tunnel did not have lights so it was dark. The low level lighting was close to the road base along the sides of the tunnel and she could levitate and move along the ceiling very quick. If that symbiotic was in the rear somewhere she might have a chance of getting to it before it could make noise. “The device, according to Tamara is a small box and there is one on each side of the tunnel. I think they are connected with something and when we walk through them they interfere with our cloaks. I am not sure how they are connected and if we tamper with one the other one goes nuts and sounds an alarm.” Corporal Clint Walkson spoke up and said “When I was still slaving away over here I remember some people that came to the palace and there was talk about making something that could disrupt a cloaking device. I remember talking with a civilian one time that said something about two small boxes connected with a fine wire of some kind that would create a field of some kind. I wonder if that wire was broken it would cause the thing to not work properly. Kinda like cutting an electrical wire. If they are short circuiting our cloaks then why can’t we short circuit their gizmo also?”

The sharp turn in the tunnel came up quick for them and Keegan stopped the hummer. He and Janice got out and moved to the edge of the wall and peered around it. They both were invisible but the spooky thing that happened to Tamara and Jacks team had them on full alert and very cautious. Janice had levitated and moved around the ceiling and spoke to Keegan. There is a wall of bars up ahead so we must be close to the palace. Tamara said they were a mile away. I am going to see if I can locate the cloak disrupter device, wait for me. She moved slowly along the ceiling and watched the action at the bars at the same time. Sure enough she came to the device. She could see the blinking red light on the side of the box she was looking at first and moved her sight to the other side of the tunnel to see the second box. She could not see the fine line between the boxes but she knew there was something connecting them. Her thought was to see if there was a field of some sort from the road surface to the ceiling of the tunnel. Tamara had told her that she was not affected by the gear because she was not wearing the belt. She dropped down to the road surface and looked at the barricade about 100 feet away. She could see at least 4 men on the other side. There were two heavy machine guns just as Tamara had said. She bent down and could see the fine wire finally. Yes this was the connection and it would throw a field up that would make the dispance cloaks short out. Bill Souther was an electronic expert and he and Danny Comstock knew more about electrical and electronic systems than the others. She spoke into their minds and told them what she was looking at. I am not sure what will happen if one touches or hampers with one of these boxes. Bill and Danny both told her to not touch anything and they would scoot out and get close enough to examine them.

[LostNFound]

Danny and Bill made there way slowly up to the device. The wire was lying on the road bed and they both could see the infra red beam that was connected between the boxes. That was the actual trip switch. The wire was the source of the field once the trip switch was broken. It was a complete shield that would come on and create a wall all the way to the ceiling. No one with a cloak could get through without being short circuited and exposed. Clint may be right about cutting this wire. It may short the system or break the link so to speak. The infra red beam is the trip switch for sure but if the curtain or field is broken we could trip that switch all day and nothing would happen. You want to try it? Janice spoke first. You guys have to wait, I need to go up there and take that symbiotic out first. Cutting the curtain or breaking the field may sound an alarm to somewhere up there and they would start shooting. So even if you are invisible you could still take a bullet or many from those guns. Bill and Danny agreed with her and backed up from the device. Keegan spoke to her from the hummer. Janice, can you make those things go away? That would be the best action then we all could walk up to that barricade and take the soldiers out of action. I can take out one at a time but that might set off an alarm also. Let me go and take out the symbiotic first and you all should not be in this part of tunnel until I come back. If anything sets those soldiers off they are going to start shooting even it they can’t see anything to shoot at.

2nd Lieutenant Judas Shamar/GuummpphIct sat inside the strange flimsy structure that the human he inhabited had told the other humans to erect. He knew all the memories of this human and understood it was called a tent. This exercise was completely unnecessary in his being. The humans had strange ways of doing things for sure. Guarding a hole in the ground that had been destroyed from another place seemed a bit unintelligent to him and the clew agreed with him but the leader human/Aquatic had insisted on this action. Lately he and many others of the clew had begun to question the actions of Gummmmphhhh-Ichee and others. This had never happened before but it seemed that something different in the evolution of the Gyyuuummphers-Ichees was developing and as he had searched the memories of this human he inhabited, the words and meanings began to be much clearer. Concepts such as individualism, sedition, dissention, opinions were growing in the brain spiral of mostly the ones that had taken control of humans directly and not through the already controlled Aquatics. As he sat contemplating his ever growing opinion, he felt the interference of a different human. Not one of the soldiers but one that was superior in intelligence. He picked up the human weapon and operated it to cause a projectile to be ready to fling at another object or being. He moved to the opening in the tent and looked out. He could not see anything but the rear of the vehicle that had brought the humans to this place. He stepped out and turned toward the feeling of the intelligent human. His sight probes saw the human as it floated in the air just before he found himself in a place that spelled death to the human body and his being. He let go of the brain and moved his spiral shape toward the nearest opening. Exiting through the side of the humans head that held its brain his essence, his existence, his being began to fall apart into its billions of one cell substance. The human body expanded and then exploded as the vacuum of space consumed it.

Janice had floated over the top of the bar structure and moved to the rear of the two squads of soldiers. The tent was sitting at the rear of the troop carrier and she hovered just above and a little back from the opening. She could smell the dead animal and a few moments later the human that was inhabited with the symbiotic stepped out of the tent. It turned to look at her and she touched it, sending it in deep space. She was sorry for the human that used to be but the symbiotic had taken the soul and spirit of whoever it was long ago. She was invisible and moved to the front line of soldiers. She touched the first machine gun and it disappeared. The two men that were sitting next to it rolled away with a grunting sound and yelled something about an intruder. The second gun disappeared and those two men picked up their rifles and began to shoot in any direction. Janice had turned sideways into the no-time and stepped out at the hummer where the team was standing around. The shooting had begun and the team hurried to the edge. Janice spoke to them and said. “Stay down boys those soldiers are shooting at ghosts and they may kill themselves unless someone with sense stops it.” They all turned and Keegan smiled. He moved to her and hugged her. “Did you get the symbiotic?” “Yes he is no longer a viable organism in this universe. I made the two heavy machine guns disappear and that is what started the shooting.” At that moment the tunnel went quiet except for the echoing. Danny and Bill had peeked around and saw a small fire burning on a vehicle. They could not see anything else from this distance and were ready to move out. Janice looked into Keegan’s eyes and said “I’ll be right back.” With that she disappeared and reappeared almost immediately. “Danny, you and Bill can go and retrieve that device. I think there is a shut off button on the right side box at the base on the back. We need to take that to HQ so they can get a good look at it and maybe figure out how it works and do something to neutralize it. The bars and that truck up there are no longer a problem for us and all but one of those men up there killed themselves. The one that is still alive will give us some good INTEL but we must hurry, he is dying as we speak.

When the shooting had started, Corporal Klein had ducked under the Troop carrier. The shooting was deafening and he could see the men falling to the road surface. There had been 12 of them plus the 2nd Lieutenant that smelled like a dead animal. He did not feel anything but one of the bullets had pierced his left side as he dove under the vehicle. He was so full of adrenalin he could not feel. It was just after the shooting stopped that he started to feel a burning in his side. He rolled out from under the truck and managed to sit himself up against the rear wheel. A woman appeared and looked at him. She examined his side where it burned and handed him a canteen. He took the canteen and the woman disappeared. He took a big drink of the water and found it hard to breath. He then smelled something burning and wondered if something was going blow up. He blacked out for a few minutes and woke to the sound of men talking. He thought some of his squad had survived whatever happened and waited for them to find him.

Danny and Bill were the first to walk into the tunnel from around the edge. They were still cloaked and they wanted to get their hands on the device. Janice had told them to retrieve so they figured they would get shot at this point. The rest of the crew except for Keegan and Janice began to walk up the tunnel toward where the bars used to be. They could still see the truck sitting there with a small fire burning in the engine compartment. Dan Killard and Tom Jorgen walked faster and made it to the truck. Dan found an extinguisher and put the fire out. The injured man was sitting against the rear tire and Tom moved to him hurriedly. He bent down and pulled the man’s head up and said “Awww Timmy, I told you to watch your back. Where are you hit boy?” Tim Klein looked through blurry eyes at his old Sergeant Tom. “Hi Tom, I thought you were dead?” “No Timmy, I just found the right army to join. Now let me look at you.” Tom checked Tim over and found the bullet had entered his side just below his heart. He didn’t say anything and then Janice walked up. She bent down and said “how you feeling soldier?” Tim looked at her and said “Thanks for the water, I ain’t feeling anything.” He looked at Tom and said “Tom if you are heading for that parking garage, there are 4 squads in there and they have a scout car with the 30mm cannon on it. There is another officer in there, I think he is a Captain and Jesus Tom he stinks just like the lieutenant did that was here. Smells like a dead cow or something all the time. You know one that’s been dead for 3 or 4 days or longer. They got that 30 pointed dead at the door to this tunnel and the other tunnel has two hummers sitting right in front of it with those .50 call mini guns.” Tim was fading fast. Tom took the canteen and held it up for him to drink. He took a drink and choked it up. “Tom, will you tell my folks that I tried to be good?” Tom looked at the boy and shook his head just as Timmy took his last breath. Tom reached over and closed his eyes. “Damn this Emperor and his sick, miserable life.” Janice looked at Tom and into his mind and saw where Timmy’s parents lived. She touched the boy and his body disappeared. Tom turned to her and she said “I sent him home. The other’s I did not know where they came from so I sent their bodies to a peaceful place.” That was all she said and stood up. All the men on the team were standing close to the hummer as Janice touched the troop carrier and it disappeared.

Janice told Danny and Bill to stand together while they held the de-cloaking device and sent them to Fort Lupton. She spoke to Alice and told her what she was doing and all the other things that had happened. She asked Alice to send the boys back once they dropped off the device. She then told Keegan to wait here until Danny and Bill come back and she would return in a few also. She disappeared and Keegan decided it was time to eat something. The mission forward could get real hairy. Tamara was sitting with Jack in the hummer while the rest of the team was sitting in the tunnel eating some rations. She knew what she had to do now. She had already dispatched the symbiotic and there were six dead soldiers behind the barricade. She had to disable the anti cloaking device before the men could move any further. Jack was grieving as the others were but Jack knew this mission had to continue. The war was beginning topside and the sooner they took out the emperor the quicker it would be to stop the unwarranted killing. Getting rid of the aliens was a whole different thing but no matter what they had to give it their all to cut off the head first. Tamara had been told by Janice about the anti cloaking device and how they managed to clear the barricade, so Tamara was going to shut down the device and then the team could move to the bars and take control of the Emperor’s army squads. She did not know that Janice was going to help her until Janice materialized next to her window.

The woman and the little girl moved to the two boxes that had the infrared trigger light. Tamara landed on the outside of the box and looked at the black switch button on the rear of the box. How simple this device is, the Emperor has a simple mind and actions. She reached down and moved the switch. The red light on both boxes went dark. She did not want to move the box or even cut the wire not knowing if that would sound an alarm. She spoke to Janice and told her that the device is off so let’s go and remove the barricade shall we? She heard Janice giggle as they both flew to the bar system. Tamara had told Jack what she and Janice were going to do and to wait. Jack did not have a problem with that; he did not want to see any more of his men die at this point. Janice and Tamara reached the bar system and looked at where all the soldiers were gathered or sitting and standing from the bars. Tamara could see a group of them sitting where the hummers used to be. There were others sitting around the walls of the tunnel. The tent that the symbiotic had been using was empty. The soldiers would not go into that structure because it smelled rancid of something dead. Janice reached out and made the bars disappear. The men on the machine guns reacted with a speed that was unbelievable. The heavy guns began to blaze away in the tunnel.

Janice lowered down to the first gun crew and sent them to a desert she had once seen. The second gun crew was so focused at firing their ammo into an empty tunnel they did not notice until they were sinking in white hot sand and the gun had tipped over. The hot steel barrel fell onto its side and the two men looked around at a very barren desert. The first gun crew was standing up and scratching their heads. The white sands of the Sahara desert gave off heat like a frying pan with sizzling bacon grease. Four men stood on the sand and looked at the horizon in a 360 degree circle. The sand dunes stretched to infinity in all directions. The sound of the heavy machine guns ceased and the remaining men started to shoot their rifles into the tunnel. The men that were still firing their rifles began to realize that whoever or whatever was in their midst and began to turn their weapons inward. Janice came in from the front and began to send the men to that desert while Tamara came from the rear and did the same with the men she touched. The image of the desert was in her mind also, given by Janice as they both worked to remove these soldiers to a place were they would have to survive like never before. It wasn’t long before the tunnel was empty of the Emperor’s troops except for one lonely soldier. Tamara had already removed the vehicles earlier.

One man sat against the side of the tunnel and held his hands to his face. He was unarmed and sat in complete silence. Tamara and Janice became visible and landed in front of him. The man could feel their presence and looked up at them. “Please don’t kill me; I do not want to harm anyone.” Tamara walked closer to the soldier and asked what his name was. The man looked at her with a very inquisitive expression and said “My name is Adam. How is it that you, a little kid can do whatever you have done with all the others and the vehicles are you a demon?” “No Adam, I am not a demon nor is my sister. We are just ordinary humans trying to fight against a very bad man and the aliens that have invaded the earth.” Adam looked at her and then at Janice. “Are you talking about those creepy things that look like some kind of fish with large teeth? They have taken control of a number of the SS people and some of our commanders. There is something else that has come with them, it makes whoever it inhabits stink like a dead animal or something.” “Do you know who these people are that have been taken over?” “Yes I have been in close proximity to most of them and I wish to be away from this place forever.” Tamara looked at Janice as the hummer with Jacks team decloaked.

Tamara searched Adam’s mind and found that he was a patriot. She introduced him to Jack and Adam decided to join the team. Sergeant Almaterski welcomed him and now there were eleven men on Jacks team. It was a mile to the doors of the parking garage and Janice told them that Keegan’s team was about the same distance. They were going to coordinate to reach the doors at the same time. Janice finally disappeared and reappeared next to Keegan. In real time it had been a good 30 minutes since Janice had disappeared. The men had rested and eaten what they could. The next part of this mission was going to be more complicated and much more dangerous. The barricades that had been set up in the tunnels did turn out to be deadly for Jacks team but the discovery of an anti-cloaking device had given the patriot army an opposing advantage. The gizmo had been taken apart and analyzed. The simplicity was discovered as to how the thing worked and some of the scientists/engineers were figuring how to neutralize it. Word went out to all the forces about the anti cloaking device and to watch for it. They did not know what other devices had been made to use against the cloaking system so it was still up in the air of where and how to engage the enemy. They all knew that the two teams in the tunnels needed to be given time to do their job and stop this insanity before too many men and women were killed in this last battle.