“What do you have in mind?” Number One asked.
“On one of my trips I found some inlet and exhaust shafts. I’m positive they lead into the tunnels. If we could get down those, we may be able to find a way in on one of the lower levels and work our way from there. It would avoid the frontal assault you were talking about” Raymond told them.
“Can you find these shafts again?” Miller asked.
“I’m sure I can. Do you have some way of climbing down them? Remember, they may go several hundred feet down.”
“Between us, we have six hundred feet of high tensile strength nylon. We can make it work,” Miller said.
“Then let’s do it,” Number One said. They brought the guards from the upper level down and placed them in the cells before heading out.
They were not able to move as fast with Eller along. He was weak and became tired easily. He was glad when they left him a few times to take care of the patrols. It gave him a chance to catch up. Miller handed him another power bar and left some juice with him on one occasion. Forty minutes later they were at the opening of the exhaust shaft.
“What do you think?” Number One asked.
“It’s exhaust. I think we would be better to pick one of the inlet shafts. This one must have a pretty sophisticated filtering system and we could lose a lot of time trying to circumvent it,” Number Two replied.
“I agree. I think the inlets will be easier,” Number One said.
“The inlet it is.”
Ten minutes later they stood at the opening of the inlet shaft. They quickly went about securing the lines together and hooking harnesses to quick disconnects and belay devices.
“Are you sure you want to try this? You’re weak from lack of proper care. This will be murder on that hand of yours. I think you should stay here and stay hidden,” Miller said.
“No. I can do it. Just show me how that thing works again.”
Miller showed him how to apply friction with the BRD. A belay/rappel device is used to create friction to stop or slow a descent; he explained, and showed Eller how to use it properly. When they were all set, Number One led the way and then Number Two, followed by Eller and the rest of the team.
Miller wanted to be in a position to stop Eller if he should have a problem or start to fall. At the twenty foot level they came to the first fan. It was slowly sucking in large quantities of air. There was a filter on both sides of the blade. Number One removed the outer one and passed it up to Miller. Miller rolled the filter into a stiff tube and handed it back down. Number One timed it and shoved it between the moving blades. The blade and filter went about half way around before it jammed against the wall and stuck.
Number One quickly reached through the blades and cut the fan belt, disabling the unit. He removed the filter on the other side and let it drop down the shaft.
They used the fan housing to reposition the ropes and climbed down until they came to the first offshoot that fed the second level.
Once again they repositioned the ropes and went down to Level-3 before taking the supply duct into the ceiling above the hallway that led to the laboratories on that level. It was slow going as they crawled along the air duct tube until they came to the first vent.
Number One carefully looked through the vent and could see no one around. He tied a rope around two of the slats of the vent so that when he shoved on it with his feet it wouldn’t crash to the floor below. Miller placed his back against Number One’s and helped brace him as he shoved on the vent. It gave way and fell into the room below but the rope kept it from crashing down. Number one quickly scurried through the opening and dropped to the floor below. He looked around to see if anyone had heard but nothing stirred. Within minutes all seven were on the ground.
“Where are we?”
“You are going to think I’m crazy when I tell you. You are just going to have to trust me when I say that we are in the Biotech Lab section where they perform different experiments and autopsies,” Raymond said.
“Autopsies? On who?”
“You will need to see that for yourself. Follow me,” he said.
He led them to the first biometric lab. He had them get ready; he had no way of knowing how many people might be in the room when he opened the door. Instead of yanking it open, he simply opened it and walked in. There were two men in the room. One was hunched over an electronic microscope and the other was preparing a slide.
“Who are you and what are you doing in here?” one of the men said.
“I’m Raymond Eller. I’m here to borrow something from you,” Raymond said.
“You’re not Eller. I met him,” the scientist who had been looking into the microscope said, studying Eller.
“Actually, I am but it’s a long story. I need to borrow your badges.”
“What the hell are you talking about? You can’t have our badges. I’m going to call security,” he said.
“Don’t. I don’t want to have to do this the hard way. Please just listen a second. I’m Raymond Eller. I have been held by General Devin. He has become psychotic and is going to do something crazy unless we stop him. I need your help,” Eller said.
They looked at each other for a second and then the first one started toward the security phone.
Eller opened the lab door and said, “Okay, do it your way.”
Number One’s gun barked a single bullet that smashed into the phone. The two scientists drew back, huddling against the rear wall.
“Sorry. These men came to rescue me from Devin. I didn’t want to have to do it this way but we have no choice. I need your badges,” Eller said, holding out his hand.
The two men quickly handed them over. Plastic wrist straps were placed on the two men and Number Four injected them with the same serum they had used on the guards at the Beacon site.
“What the hell is this place? What are those things?” Number One asked, pointing to the dead aliens in refrigerated glass containers.
“I told you that you would have to see for yourself. I don’t have time to explain but they are just what you think they are,” Raymond told him.
The two team members looked at him, then each other and back to the aliens. They were speechless.
“We need to go,” Number One uttered, leading them out of the lab.
“We can use these to go back to Level-1. As soon as we step out of the elevator you will only have a few seconds before they realize something is wrong,” Eller told them.
He grabbed a piece of paper and drew a rough layout of what they could expect when the elevator doors opened. He drew X’s where the guards were usually found and where the bulletproof booth was located.
“You,” he said, pointing to Number One, “Will have to make the shot that takes them both out before they can hit the alarm button. If that happens, the place locks down and the main base is alerted. We will have a serious problem.”
“What’s the distance from the elevator to the booth?” he asked.
“I would guess ten yards or so.”
“When we get there, everyone stays put in the elevator. I’ll take the shot from inside the elevator. If I get them both, the rest of you start taking out the guards. He assigned the X’s on the paper to each member.
“Everyone know what we need to do?” Number One asked.
They all nodded in agreement.
“One more thing. When it comes time to clear the bays you are all going to see things that will astound you. Take out the guards first and then gawk at what you are seeing,” Raymond warned.
“What are we going to see?” one of them asked.
“Listen to me carefully. I know what I’m about to say may sound crazy but you are going to see aircraft like nothing you have ever seen before. I can’t describe how it is going to affect you except to say you will be shocked by the sight. They are not of this world. They are from another solar system,” he told them, letting it sink in.