Issue #3 – The Arrival
**’Old’ Rich Shock**
Life was a hell of a lot simpler when I was dumb to the fact there were secret government facilities that committed crimes against humanity. No, after hearing Erin’s story and his follow up with President Whisnant, I was convinced we were living in some sort of sci-fi novel. “That might be the craziest shit I’ve ever heard.”
Andy, on the other hand, was rubbing his hands together like a kid in the candy store. “We’re so taking this job, gents!” he exclaimed. “There’s no way in Hell I’m missing an opportunity like this.”
Wade seemed to agree, too. “The chance to gain access to a supercomputer like that, that’s a game changer.”
Still, the decision fell back to me. If I said no, the group would respect my wishes. After all, I’d kept us relatively well off since our stint at Black Lagoon with the odd jobs we’d take here and there. In my mind, this was a high risk, low reward type of job. These were the kinds of jobs that got your ass tossed back into lock up.
That’s why I couldn’t believe I uttered this answer. “We’re in.”
With the acceptance of the job came the preparation phase. The first part would be a lot of Wade, breaking into a computer and everything. We’d be there for tactical support and to guard against whatever in God’s name was lurking in that place. Erin would have to handle the heavy lifting with that, as his Titan form would be our best line of defense.
Andy was crucial at this point. He was the one with the contacts in various lines of police work and even some old paramilitary groups. I reluctantly gave him the team’s check book while he made the rounds to see what weapons and body armor he could round up for us. He said he’d be back within a day or two with the best he could get.
Wade bundled up his lap top, a ton of flash drives, and various lines of cable. The night we were loading all of it up into the van, Andy returned with the goods. “I’m quite pleased with the bundle I was able to get us.”
I walked over to the car and he popped the trunk. “Shit, we’re not going to war you knucklehead.”
He was smiling from ear to ear though. “Maybe not in the underwater house of horrors, but you heard Erin. Once we get the coordinates, we’re going to the former Secretary of Defense’s black site. We’ll need all the guns and ammo we could get.”
Ugh, I hated it when he made a good point. Looking down at the cache of weaponry, it just reminded me how bad an idea this was. “Erin, can you tell me again why the President of the United States can’t tackle this project on his own? Why does he need us again?”
Something about his answer told me he was either making shit up or not being completely honest with me. Knowing Erin the way I did, I got the feeling it was the making shit up choice. “C’mon dude, he’s the president. He can’t be slumming around, doing shady stuff.”
Even if it was a b.s. answer, it was still a pretty rationalized one. “All I got to say is, if we get into any sort of trouble, he better be pardoning us a.s.a.p.”
The four of us piled into the van and we drove off into the night for Dungeon Bay. The roads were clear and the moon was high. It wasn’t long at all before we were pulling up to the dark, blue waters where the first part of our job would begin.
“Question,” Wade called out. “How does one get into an underwater facility?”
“Like this,” Erin said. He walked over to a rocky alcove and pulled back a portion of the rock wall. The smell of salty air hit my nose right away. “C’mon dudes, it’s not as bad as it looks.”
The moment my foot touched the damp metal stairs, I didn’t think this was bad – I thought it was terrible.
-Jeremy
You can find all my books at http://www.boltbookspub.com
Advertisements Share this:
