Class 1: The Delivery (Part 6)

Click here to start from Part 1.

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Wendy shook off the dizziness as well as she could, pushing off the wall and heading towards the sound of the door. The blow to the head only added to the darkness of the hanger as she struggled to follow the rest of the unit, feeling her way along the wall.

She heard the door shut as Captain Talassy followed the other two members through, aiming her way through the darkness, feeling for any crates or supplies stacked in her way. Her fingers found the cold, round metal of a stack of culvert pipes. They made it easy to feel her way along.

She froze as she rounded the end of the stack and heard a sharp intake of breath, a small voice choking back sobs. Even in her dazed state, Wendy knew the sound. Barclay had hidden the girl in the pipes and then led them on a merry chase as a distraction. Feeling her way around the corner, she heard the scared breathing increase.

More shots rang from outside, and she turned towards them, stumbling through the darkness, the glowing green light of the exit sign finally registering as her hands found the bar on the door and she pushed it open, almost falling onto the blacktop.

Barclay lay curled up on the runway some two-hundred yards away, clutching his left leg. The other two members of the team and the man in black were standing over him. Wendy felt a strong hand grip her upper arm and help her upright as Captain Talassy looked down at her. He was holding his nose with his other hand, trying to stop the flow from Barclay's strike. His nose was turned at an odd angle and Wendy knew it was broken and would probably have to be set.

Once she was steady, he let go and motioned to the right side of her face. Lifting one hand, she felt the skin raw, with a few small, sticky patches. She'd caught a good scrape from the wall when Barclay had struck her, and she could feel her face swelling around the left eye where his punch had connected. Still, she stood up straight and followed her superior over to their downed traitor where the man in black was starting to fume.

"FUCKING BASTARD! THIS WAS AS SIMPLE AS IT GETS AND YOU WORTHLESS SHITS HAD TO FUCK IT ALL UP!"

The night outside the hanger was bright, even with the sliver moon and only the lights of the craft on the runway as illumination. The man in black continued to swear as one of the small grey beings hovered up to them.

It used its hands in wide gestures, as if trying to explain something, but it never made a sound and its thin slit of a mouth never moved. Still, the man in black seemed to calm down and nodded his head in response. Wendy stayed behind Talassy, and was instantly glad to have him between them with the man turned around again, his rage seemingly abated and a wretched smile on his face. He pointed at Barclay and the Grey seemed to nod slowly. It waved back toward a few others that were standing a few more yards away, and they nodded as well.

One of them held up a small device, pushing buttons. A new beam of light burst into life from the side of the craft, illuminating Barclay as the man in black pushed the rest of the group out of the way. Then the wounded soldier was lifted from the ground and pulled up to the ship.

The man in black held up his clipboard again, drawing a pen from a pocket and making a note. The smile never left his lips. Then the Greys walked back to the ship and disappeared up the ramp.

In a flash, the craft was gone, along with all the people that had been delivered in the semi, and the wounded soldier. The man in black turned to address the group with an exasperated huff.

"Well, I had to make a quick substitution, but they got their full order in time." As he talked, the lights on the runway began to light up again, as well as the lights on the hangers around them. He smirked and looked over at Wendy. "I must admit, when I saw the little girl on the roster, I thought the woman would be the one to crack. I was surprised, Ms. Hallowell. I will recommend we call upon you again."

Wendy felt her skin crawl, the dirty weight that had oppressed her in the office room returning on her shoulders as he felt his eyes roam over her from behind his glasses.

"The girl will be found in the morning, and probably returned to her parents after they can't figure out how she made it onto the base. I'm sure she'll never try to run away again. Anyway, thank you for your service tonight. You are dismissed." He continued to smirk as he turned and strode away into the hanger where the semi was still parked.

Wendy stood at attention until Talassy and the others turned and headed back towards their barracks, and then she followed closely in their footsteps.

She silently prayed they would never call on her for one of these assignments again.

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I hope everyone enjoyed that. Feel free to leave comments below or to email me with any thoughts you had, if you liked/hated it, or anything else really. Next week we return you to our regularly scheduled blog posts. Thanks. 

~ Shaun

Class 1: The Delivery (Part 5)

Hope you're all enjoying this serial so far. If you're looking for previous parts, you can click here to go back to Part 1, or you can click on the Class 1 label over on the right side of the page.

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The darkness made it hard to follow, but the group chased after the sounds of the footfalls on the asphalt. Wendy kept her gun down in both hands. She kept the safety on, praying it wouldn't fall on her to pull the trigger if Barclay turned on them.

A metal door closed somewhere in front of them as he carried the girl into another hanger. Talassy swore under his breath as he waved the group on the side of the building, pointing at Wendy and motioning to the door. He gave the hand signs which indicated she would open the door, then he would lead the charge through, covering each other as they went. Wendy appreciated that, it meant she would be the last one in.

Everyone took up their positions, and Wendy held up her fingers for the countdown before turning the handle and yanking the door open.  No gunshots greeted them. The group moved quickly, their training coming through as the slipped into the building.

The darkness inside was complete, the only light coming from the green exit signs above various doors.

"Barclay didn't have time to make it out another exit, so he has the girl in here somewhere," Talassy whispered. "We're going two-by-two, searching  in a standard grid pattern. We need to find him and the girl as fast as possible. Clear? If he resists at all, our orders are to treat him as an enemy combatant and to reply in kind."

They all nodded, but Wendy had to force herself to keep the cold chill that ran through her from showing. Talassy told her to follow him while the other two went off to the other side of the building, another hanger that was mostly storage and supplies for repairs. That meant a lot of large crates, forklifts, and pipes piled up high.

Lots of hiding places.

"Sir, why don't we turn the lights on?"

"This whole operation is supposed to be low-key. All the buildings and lights within three-hundred yards of the pick-up area have been shut down to ensure things are kept in the dark as much as possible."

A shadow darted between two large crates to their right, both of them swinging their guns up towards it. Talassy didn't even hesitate as he loosed two rounds in its direction, both shots filling the silence of the hanger with the reports of bullets shattering wood. Then they were running, darting between the crates, chasing the tail of a shadow  as it ran, ducking behind boxes and around corners, just a hair too slow to lose them, but too quickly for Talassy to get off a clear shot.

The shadow ran into the back of the hanger, melting into the darkness. Wendy and Talassy charged around the corner they had last watched the dark blob disappear around and paused. The only sound was the footfalls of the other two members of their team, as they made their way over to meet them.

Nothing moved in the darkness. Talassy felt his way along the crate next to him, scanning the shadows with an intensity that made it seem like he had night vision.

Then there was the thick smack of flesh on flesh and Captain Talassy went down from the blow to the face. Then the darkness was on Wendy before she could flick the safety off her gun. The blow caught her on the right cheek, a strong, solid punch that sent her sprawling against the wall and left her dazed with the taste of blood in her mouth. Then there was the flash of a gun and a report which echoed around her, followed by several more.

They could hear Barclay swear in pain as he was hit, and then he was off into the darkness again.

Talassy leaned on her as he went past, checking her quickly and barking the orders to chase their rogue soldier down again. The other two of their group got there first as the sound of the exit opening and closing resounded again. The chase was back outside. 

Click here for Part 6. 

Class 1: The Delivery (Part 4)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

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They were led by one of the Greys, waving its arms and directing them toward the runway and the ramp up into the ship. The man in black stood off to one side, watching Wendy's reaction as they slowly walked out in single file, most of them with their heads down as they followed directions.

The first was an older man, in a ragged brown coat. His hair was thin, bald in places and he had a long, unkempt beard. His shirt and jeans were dirty and old as well, with several makeshift patches that had been badly sown into place. The smell that drifted off of him was one of urine and alcohol. Wendy guessed he had been homeless for quite some time. Until someone had offered him a place to go, likely without details on where or under who's care that would be.

The 'medical equipment' being delivered and picked up was human beings. The idea sent shivers through her, and it took a huge amount of control to not let it show as they filed past. They had orders to shoot any that made a run for it. These people, most of them every bit as disheveled as the first, had agreed to something without any idea what they were in for, probably figuring they couldn't do worse than the lives they were already living.

Then a bed rolled out of the hanger, white, with bars on the sides to ensure the occupant didn't fall out. A metal bar rose up above it, holding a bag of liquid, connected to the body underneath by a plastic tube. One of the Greys walked along behind it, holding up one hand and pushing it along without actually touching it.

The occupant looked like an old woman at a distance, but as they approached and passed, Wendy could see she was actually much younger, maybe in her 40's. She had the thin hair and gaunt appearance of a woman twice her age, though. Eyes sunken, devoid of life or hope. The victim of some horrible wasting illness or other.

These were the terminally ill and unwanted, being bartered to an alien intelligence for experiments in exchange for God only knew what. Wendy couldn't hold back the next shiver that ran through her body , and it had not escaped the notice of the man in black. She could feel his eyes boring into her even through his dark glasses.

She risked a glance over at him and he just smirked and nodded back towards the hanger.

Stepping out of the shadows in line with the rest was a little girl, no older than eight years old. Blonde hair falling behind her as she walked, wearing a nightdress and still carrying a teddy bear in the crook of her arm. She could have been just grabbed out of her bedroom.  Her head turned left and right as she followed the older man in front of her, eyes wide with fear, squeezing her bear so tight it wouldn't have been surprising if its head had popped off.

For the life of her, Wendy couldn't imagine why they were handing over such a little girl. She couldn't see anything at all wrong with her. Just the fear and confusion behind wide blue eyes. She was even barefoot.

Wendy felt her chest tighten up and she had to fight the instinct to grab the girl and run for it herself. To even make a move though would probably get herself shot as well as the girl.

Then the girl was gone to the sound of running feet hitting the blacktop. The man in black scowled at Wendy and took off across the runway, pulling out a handgun from under his coat. It had been Barclay that had broken, sweeping the girl into his arms and charging off into the darkness. Wendy heard the gunshots, both the man in black and Captain Talassy had squared up and were taking shots into the darkness.

"Go on! Get after him. BRING THEM BACK!" The man in black barked at the rest of the soldiers standing there as he reloaded his gun. Captain Talassy waved, and the line moved as a unit, drawing weapons and running off into the darkness, Wendy among them, as ordered, despite the knot in her stomach. 

Part 5

Class 1: The Delivery (Part 3)

Click here for Part 1. Click here for Part 2.

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The lights swept over them, and then away, continuing to illuminate the runway, but with much lower intensity now. Wendy slowly lowered her hand as she looked over at the aircraft. The bizarre thing commanded her attention so strongly that she wasn't even aware she had taken a step toward it until she heard Talassy bark at her.

"Back in line! At attention!"

It was still difficult to hold her composure, but she did as ordered, returning to her position and stance. Her eyes remained locked on the craft that hovered over the runway, though.

A massive black triangle, easily fifty feet across, hung in the air like a piece of carved obsidian. Three lights projected out from each corner, making the ground underneath it almost glow. Other random lights flashed at various places on its underside. Red. Green. Blue. She tried to look up the craft, into the sky, but couldn't see anything. Wendy couldn't decide if she thought the craft was paper thin, or stretched on into infinity, wrapping everything not touched by its lights with an endless abyss.

She had been privileged a few times to see an experimental aircraft or ship, so the sight was just another amazing thing to her. The one thing that made it ominous was the sound. There wasn't any. At least not that her ears could hear. There was a deep thrumming, something she felt reverberating through her bones more than something she could actually hear. The whole thing together unnerved her more than she could ever remember being before. Even live combat didn't compare to the feeling of fear spreading through her body like millions of worms, wiggling through her veins.

Wendy held her stance and her expression though, standing rigidly at attention. Sergeant Barclay next to her, however, wasn't faring as well. His whole body was trembling and his eyes were wide and white.

Then the ramp was down. She couldn't even recall seeing it lower from the belly of the craft. It just seemed to appear there, in front of where the man in black was standing. The light shining down it and out of the craft was every bit as blinding as the lights on the corners of it, and Wendy couldn't make out any details of what was inside.

Her breath caught in her throat as the creature came down the ramp. It looked exactly like she'd seen in movies and on television.

It was the size of a child, maybe just over three feet tall as it walked down to the man in black, but it was impossibly thin and spindly. It didn't look like it was wearing any clothes, but it also didn't have any genitals that Wendy could see. The torso was small, but looked healthily muscular, while the arms and legs could have simply been skin wrapped around bone. The head was bulbous and round, like a light bulb on top of a stick figure. At the distance, she couldn't make out any nose or mouth, only the large, almond-shaped eyes which stood out against the being's light grey skin.

An alien. A Grey. Like they always portrayed as abducting people.  It's movements were smooth as it gestured and seemed to be speaking with the man in black. Then it turned and headed back up the ramp. Wendy watched, but the sweeping motions of its limbs seemed separate from the movement of its body as it glided up and back into the ship.

The ramp stayed down, as the man in black turned and walked back to the spread out soldiers. He glared at Wendy a moment through the glasses, even as Sergeant Barclay continued shaking next to her.

"Alright, they're ready to collect the equipment. Your job is to make sure it all gets on board. If you see anything get loose and make a run for it, you shoot it."

Wendy swallowed at that order. Her mind threatened her with orders of its own, ideas of what kind of cargo was in the truck, what was being delivered. She nodded to the man in black as a dozen or more of the Greys walked or floated past, however it was they moved; watched them as they vanished into the darkness of the hanger. She heard the metal groan as the doors of the semi's trailer opened.

Then the people started coming out.

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Part 4

Class 1: The Delivery (Part 2)

Hope you all enjoyed Part 1 last week. Click here if you haven't read it yet.  There's a link at the bottom of there to bring you back here, or you can just click Back on your browser (probably).

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The call came in just before 2200 hours. Wendy had just been dressing for bed when Captain Talassy buzzed her. She got her fatigues and her personal weapon as requested in almost record time, even for her.

Now she stood next to the other men from the meeting room. All dressed for combat and armed. They were standing at attention before Captain Talassy on the northeast runway, in front of Hanger #4. All the running and illumination lights were turned off and they stood there with only the light of the sliver of moon to see by as it hung in the sky like a sickle blade.

Captain Talassy lifted his hand to indicate they should ignore the sound of the click of shoes on concrete as it approached them and the man in black from the meeting room joined them. He didn't say a word, as he stood there, wearing his glasses even in the blackness of the night. And yet, he appeared to be holding a clipboard, reading it over and over, as well as checking his watch.

The rumbling was the first sound. Distant and low. It quickly became recognizable. A heavy diesel engine. The semi approached with its headlights off, pulling the trailer behind it. It was easily twenty minutes between the first hint of the sound and the sight of the truck pulling up alongside the runway.

It idled for a minute before the man in black stepped up to the driver's door, climbed up and spoke to the man through the window. The driver nodded and pulled around and into the hanger, just far enough that the back of the trailer was lined up with the double doors. Wendy noticed the truck had no license plates, no markings, no identification of any kind.

The driver stayed in the cab while the man in black came around and opened the back of the trailer. Something shifted inside as he stepped up and vanished into the darkness of the container. She couldn't help wondering how he could see wearing those glasses. She could only make our some of the largest details in the thin moonlight.

He came back out, again consulting his clipboard, then his watch. He strode back over to Captain Talassy. They spoke for a few minutes before the man in black walked out onto the runway, disappearing again into the darkness as the Captain came over to address the rest of the group.

"The equipment is here on time and ready for delivery. We're going to spread out from the door to the hanger to the edge of the runway. You're going to stand at attention at five foot intervals. Our job is to make sure the delivery doesn't have any complications or problems. The people picking up the equipment is going to be responsible for carrying it from the hanger, to their aircraft. They should be arriving within the next five minutes. Transfer of equipment is expected to take about ten minutes. After their craft leaves, you will be dismissed. You've been informed of the penalties if there is any lack of discretion about this operation. Is everybody clear?"

"Yes, Sir!"

They spread out as described. Wendy found herself standing with Captain Talassy five feet to her right and another man, a Sergeant First Class who identified himself as Reginald Barclay five feet to her left. They stood in a line, forming a weak wall that the equipment would be traveled along.

The man in black walked past, still going over his clipboard. She detected a very slight scoff as he passed her. Obviously, he had a problem with women serving. She knew better than to make anything of it though. It wasn't anything new to her after all. Still, she couldn't help wondering who the hell he thought he was.

She waited, her ears poised, listening for the sound of a jet, or maybe a helicopter. Minutes passed, but the only sounds she heard were the man in black's shoes on the pavement as he paced. Then he rushed past her out towards the runway. Wendy remained at attention, but tried to make him out in the darkness from the corner of her eye.

Then night became day with an illumination that forced her to raise her hand to cover her eyes and she could hear the men around her gasp at their sudden blindness.


Click here for Part 3.

Class 1: The Delivery (Part 1)

Master Sergeant Wendy Hallowell stood at attention in the back of the room. Four other people stood around the table in the center. Two Sergeants First Class, another Master Sergeant, and a Captain. Reclining in a chair at the far end was a man in a black suit. He sneered at the assembled military standing before him, his eyes hidden behind dark glasses.

"Upon your most recent promotions, you indicated you were interested in...special...assignments. That's what this is. I'm here to tell you everything you need to know about this mission. From this point on, you cannot back out, you cannot ask questions, and you cannot speak about anything that you are going to see or do for the next twenty-four hours."

The man in black slowly turned his head, regarding each member in turn. He paused as he turned toward Wendy, the only woman present, his lip twitching slightly before his face straightened into a mask of blank stone.

"Should any of you say anything about what I am about to tell you, or anything that you see. You will immediately be dishonorably discharged, charged with treason, and incarcerated as an enemy combatant."

He leaned forward onto the table, setting down his elbows and slowly, deliberately, interlocking his fingers.

"I hope I've made myself clear."

His head subtly shifted towards Wendy again.

"What we have going on is a Class One incursion. This is a planned event, with some visitors that we have an agreement with. They are coming to pick up some cargo, science equipment. Your mission is simple. You meet the cargo when it arrives, and safeguard it until they pick it up. Once delivery is complete and the visitors have departed, you are to return to your quarters and proceed with your next day as usual. Nobody will ask any questions about where you were."

All the military personnel continued standing at attention. The man in black sat back in his chair, his lips twisting into a smirk.

"Captain Gordon Talassy here will have the details of when and where and will be in touch. Until then, return to your quarters and wait."

Captain Talassy, a taller man who's hair was already thickly grey above his ears despite an otherwise youthful face, turned towards the rest of them and nodded, his hands clasped behind his back. A signal for the rest of them that they were dismissed.

Wendy kept her back straight as she turned and stroke out the door. As she stepped out into the hallway, she felt the lifting of an oppressive weight that she hadn't even noticed had been on her shoulders. The air in the hallway smelled cleaner as well.

The other three men filed out behind her, nobody saying a word as they each turned and went a different way. As she watched the door close behind the last one, she could almost imagine a slight, green fog rolling out of the room and across the carpet. This was not the kind of situation she had imagined when she had checked the box declaring interest in 'special' assignments.

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Click here for Part 2