Matthew Reilly - Area 7

cross-border raids, covert hits--usually on black resistance

leaders--trained to be ghosts. They would never leave a

trace of their presence, but you'd know they'd been there because

of all the cut throats.

"Tough bastards, too. I heard once, in Zimbabwe, a

squad of Reccondos lay in ambush for nineteen days, not

moving, hiding in the veldt under heat-deflecting dirt covers,

until their target arrived. The target came by, thinking the

area was secure, and--boom--they nailed him. Some say

that in the eighties they bolstered their numbers by enlisting

Angolan mercenaries, but the argument became academic in

1994 when Mandela took power and the unit was disbanded

in light of its previous missions. Suddenly they all became

mercenaries, a crack hit squad for hire."

"Shit," Fairfax breathed. "And Die Organisasie? What's

that?"

Alvy said, "Part myth, part reality. No one's really sure.

But MI6 has a file, so does the CIA. It's an underground organization

of exiled white South Africans who actively plot

the demise of the ANC government in the hope of returning

South Africa to the bad old days. Rich bastards--rich, racist

bastards. Also known as the 'Third Force,' or the 'Spider

Network.' Hell, it was listed last year on Interpol as an active

terrorist organization."

Fairfax frowned as Alvy departed.

What could an ultra-rich right-wing South African organization

and an elite light commando unit possibly want

with a remote U.S. Air Force base?

typically, hot rod hagerty and nicholas tate went

straight over to the President. Elvis, on the other hand,

rushed over to check on his wounded buddy, Love Machine.

Schofield stood in the center of the decompression area

on Level 4, with Gant at his side.

Gant nodded at Hagerty and Tate. "We found them inside

Marine One, holed up inside the Presidential escape

pod. Hiding."

"He'll take command," Schofield said.

"He is the ranking officer," Gant said.

"He's never been under fire."

"Shit."

A few yards to their left, over by the test chambers,

Brainiac and Herbie Franklin sat before a computer terminal.

Schofield stepped up behind them. "So, what's the

story?"

"This is very odd," Herbie said. "Here, look," he

pointed at the screen. It read:

S.A.(R) 07A

SECURITY ACCESS LOG

7-3-010229027

SYSTEM TIME KEY ACTION OPERATOR RESPONSE

06:30:00 System status 070-67 All systems

check operational

200

Matthew Reilly

TIME KEY ACTION OPERATOR ammction

response

terminal 1-Ai

RESPONSE

06:58:34 Lockdown 105-02 Lockdown

command enacted

07:00:00 System status 070-67 All systems

check operational

(lockdown

mode)

07:30:00 System status 070-67 All systems

check operational

(lockdown

H _ _ _ _ _ __ _ mode)

U/:J/:% WARNING: System Malfunction

Auxiliary located at

08:00:15

WARNING:

Auxiliary

power

System

capacity: ->u /n

Main power

shutdown

command

(terminal

3-A1)

SYSTEM 008-72

systems:

TRACS;

AUX SYS-1

RADCCM

SPHERE;

MBN; EXT

FAN

Terminal

1-A2 not

responding

Main power

disabled

area 7

201

TIME

KEY ACTION

OPERATOR

SYSTEM RESPONSE

08:00:18

08:00:19

08:01:02

08:04:34

08:04:55

Auxiliary

power

enabled

WARNING:

Auxiliary

power

operational.

Low power

protocol

enabled

Lockdown

special

release

command

entered

(terminal

3-A1)

Lockdown

special

release

command

entered

(terminal

3-A1)

Lockdown

special

release

command

entered

(terminal

3-A1)

Aux System

AUX System

008-72

008-72

008-72

Auxiliary

power start

up

Low power

protocol in

effect:

nonessential

systems

disabled

Door 003-V

opened

Door 062-W

opened

DooMOOW

opened

202

TIME

Matthew Reilly

SYSTEM KEY ACTION OPERATOR RESPONSE

1

08:18:00

WARNING:

AUX System Terminal 1-A2

not

08:21:30

power

capacity. 35°

Security

camera

system

shutdown

command

(terminal

1A1)

008-93

SYSTEM

ERROR:

Security

camera

system

already

disabled per

low power

protocol

"Okay," Herbie said. "Well, it starts out all right. Standard

system checks by a local operator. Probably one of the

console operators up in the main hangar on ground level.

Then comes the lockdown at 6:58, keyed in by operator

number 105-02. That's someone high up. A 105 prefix indicates

a colonel or above. Probably Colonel Harper.

"But then, at 7:37, something must have happened up

on Level 1. At that time nearly half the complex's auxiliary

power supply went up in smoke."

"A missile hit the junction box " Schofield said, recalling

his battle with the missile-mounted Humvees up in the

Level 1 hangar bay earlier. His tone made it sound like this

sort of thing happened every day.

"O-kay" Herbie said. "That would explain it. That junction

box housed the auxiliary power generators. The unfortunate

consequence of that, however, happened here," he

pointed at another line:

08:00:15

Main power

shutdown

command

(terminal 3A1)

008-72

Main power

disabled

area 7 203

"Somebody turned off the main power supply," Herbie

said. "That was why I couldn't disable the cameras before.

See here, you can see my entry at 8:21. I'm operator

008-93.

"The problem was somebody else--operator number

008-72--had already turned the cameras off by shutting

down the main power supply. As soon as anyone shuts off

the main power, the system switches over to auxiliary

power--but now, because of your missile impact, this place

only has half its auxiliary power remaining, which as you

can see, is draining fast.

"But ... when the auxiliary power supply kicks in, the

system switches off all nonessential power drains--things

like excess lighting and the security camera network. That's

the low power protocol that keeps getting mentioned."

"So by cutting the power, he cut the cameras ..."

Schofield thought aloud.

"Yes."

"He didn't want to be seen ..."

"More than that," Herbie said. "Look at what he did

next. He keyed in three special lockdown release codes--

once at 8:01 and twice at 8:04--opening three exit doors."

"The five-minute window period," Schofield said.

"That's right."

"So which doors did he open?"

"Just a second, I'll find out." Herbie tapped some keys.

"Now, the first one was 003-V." A schematic diagram of the

Area 7 complex came up on his screen. "There it is. The

Emergency Exit Vent."

"And the other two?"

"062-W and 100-W..." Herbie said aloud, scanning

the screen. "Door 062-W stands for door sixty-two/west.

But that would mean it was part of the ..."

"What?" Schofield said.

Herbie said, "62-West is the blast door that seals off the

westward X-rail tunnel down on Level 6."

"And the other one? 100West?"

"It's where that X-rail tunnel ends, over by Lake Powell,

204

Matthew Reilly

about forty miles west of here. 100-West is the security

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