Outpost 43 - Chapter 1

         “Beep.  Access denied.”
         “Damn, looks like the card reader is fried.  I'll try to open the door manually,” said Derek Casey.  Derek was a first-class engineer from the 21st Marine Division, Bravo Company.  Derek's company had been stationed at Outpost 43 for the last three years.  Outpost 43 was located on Rhea, a tiny planet in the Kos system.  Derek was trained as a field technician, responsible for solving technical problems which may arise while in the field.  This could be anything from weapon malfunctions to locked doors.  Since his deployment to Outpost 43 however, his skills have mostly been wasted on repairing door locks, and changing light-rods when the janitor was sick.
         “Well hurry up, I'm running late for a very important meeting,” replied Nathan Vaughn.  Nathan was a scientist assigned to Outpost 43 and was the team leader on a research project.  Derek didn't know and didn't care.  Most of the scientists were the same.  All they wanted to do was work on their projects, and they didn't care who they had to run over to do so.  To Nathan, all of the marines were expendable, generic humanoids who could be replaced at the drop of a hat.
         “You know Doc, one of these days your impatience is going to get you killed,” retorted Derek as he pulled the front of the nearby access panel off.
         “Yeah, well, at least I pull my weight around here.  I'm making real scientific progress while you're fixing doors,” said Nathan while Derek began re-patching wires inside the panel.
         “Beep.  Access denied.”
         “Hurry up will you?”
         “I'm trying Doc, but this is a level 3 door, it's not meant to be opened easily.”
         “Well maybe if you kept the door maintained like your SUPPOSED to, then it wouldn't be broken now.”
         “Beep.  Access denied.”
         “Right, but I'm not the one who lobbied the security commander to restrict access and prevent us from being able to work on the door.  Ahh, there we go.”
         “Beep.  Access granted.”
         “Next time Doc, call us before the door breaks, not after,” said Derek as he replaced the cover.
         Nathan stormed off through the door after mumbling something unintelligent.  Derek began walking back to his workshop.  He didn't care what the eggheads thought of him.  He was probably running late for his tea and biscuits.  The fifty millimeter door slid open with barely a noise as he approached it.  The door was technically a blast door, but it was in the wrong area, so it was not labeled as such.
         Derek stepped inside the workshop to find Marcus Montgomery having a lively conversation with Kim Burton and Jane Blake.  Derek had been dating Jane for over a year now.
         “Hey guys, ready for lunch?”
         “Absolutely.  What are they serving today?” asked Marcus.  Marcus was another first-class engineer.  Derek was specialized in electrical-mechanical servos and interfaces, such as doors and mechs.  Marcus on the other hand, specialized in digital warfare, such as hacking computers.  Kim was a second-class medic.  She and Jane were the closest of friends.  Jane was the only member of their group who wasn't in the military.  Jane was a physicist and a mathematician.  She was working on some top project, but she wasn't allowed to say any details.  None of the group minded of course, but at times she was kept late at work.
         BOOM!  The whole base began to shake.  Several parts fell of nearby shelves before the shaking stopped.
         A video message appeared on their visors, “Emergency in sector 4, test labs.  All emergency personnel report to sector 4.  Repeat, all emergency response personnel report to sector 4.”
         None of the group were part of any emergency response teams, but they all started running to the test labs.  The door to sector 4 was the same door that Derek had been working on early that day.  They ran around the final corner to the door, but were stopped by an MP.
         “Sorry guys, only emergency personnel are allowed beyond this point.”
         “I am Dr. Jane Blake, I work in these labs.  Let me through.”
         “I'm sorry ma'am, but your clearance isn't high enough to allow you access during an emergency.”
         “Check my ID,” said Derek.
         “OK, your clearance allows you to enter this area.”
         “Let Dr. Blake pass as well, she may be able to help us understand what happened here,” replied Derek.
         “Very well, move on.”
         They stepped through the now open door.  The immediate area seemed normal.  They continued down the hall and around the corner.  Halfway down the hall they heard a klaxon alarm and saw flashing red lights around one of the lab doors.  They slowed to a walk as they approached the door.  They could smell burnt electrical wiring and a strong sulfur odor.
         As they walked in, they saw smoke and the last remnants of fire being put out by the emergency teams.  The emergency medics were either standing about or assisting the engineers with putting out the fires.  What was once a science project was now a smoldering pile of ash.
         “Can someone tell me what happened here?” asked Jane.
         “No one knows, the explosion pretty much destroyed everything,” replied a nearby engineer.
         “Security video?”
         “Haven't had time to check yet.”
         “Marcus?”
         “Alright, I'm on it,” replied Marcus as he wandered to a nearby terminal which was left intact.
         “Well, that is strange,” said Marcus after a few minutes of typing.
         “What?” asked Derek.
         “The security logs for this lab have been locked.  My clearance isn't allowing access to them.  Jane, you have clearance to get into this lab, can you try your code?”
         “Sure.”
         Jane walked over to the terminal and typed in her code.
         “Damn, it still isn't working.  Why would they lockout everyone from the security logs?” asked Marcus.
         “I have no idea, can you work your magic on it?” asked Kim.
         “Sure, should only take a few minutes, but I figured we should try the legal route first.”
         “Right, well get on it.”
         Marcus pulled out his tablet, connected it to the terminal, and began typing.  Derek stood watch while Kim and Jane started talking to the various engineers and medics, trying to get more of an idea about what happened.
         “So Marcus, any idea yet?” asked Derek.
         “No, I need a little more time.”
         “Well, you better hurry, looks like we're going to have some company,” said Derek pointing to a couple MPs approaching.
         “Can you distract them?  I'm almost done, but they are probably not going to like what I'm doing.”
         “OK, I'll see what I can do.”
         Derek wandered over to the MPs and stopped them before they could get too close.  Marcus wondered what he was talking about to keep them distracted, but was more focused on his task.  Finally, he finished copying the security data, disconnected, and put his tablet away.  For his finishing touch, he slipped a tiny device into the terminal.  He walked over to Derek.
         “Sorry, the terminal is completely fried.  I can't get anything out of it.”
         “Yeah?  Well why don't I go have a look at it,” said one of the MPs.
         “Go ahead, it's lunch time anyways.”
         While the MPs headed for the terminal, Derek and Marcus regrouped with Kim and Jane.  As they headed out the door for lunch, they saw sparks start shooting from the terminal that Marcus was using.
         They entered the mess hall and grabbed something that resembled food.  By food, they meant green paste that looked like it came out of a baby's ass.  Real food was not readily available due to the long travel time between the outpost and the nearest resupply colony.  As such, real food was usually delivered about the time of Christmas and was usually only served on Christmas, which was a nice change.  The green paste, called NutriPaste by the company, contained all of the required nutrients needed to sustain life, but was tasteless and not very appetizing.
         Once they were seated in an out of the way corner, Marcus pulled out his tablet and began looking through the security data.
         “Hey guys, look at this,” said Marcus after a few minutes.  “It looks like Nathan and his team were performing a test of some sort.  I'm not sure what that machine is, but it seems to be the cause of the explosion.  Watch here, it seems to have overloaded its capacitors.  The fail-safes, if there was any, seems to have failed to discharge the energy buildup which caused the machine to explode.  What?  The logs say that the alarms were tripped automatically due to the detected explosion, but...”
         “But what?” asked Jane.
         “According to the timestamp on the video and the timestamp on the security logs, the alarms didn't trigger for a full ten minutes after the explosion.”
         “What!?  Why?” asked Derek.
         “I'm not sure, the logs don't say anything and the video goes dead after the explosion.  It must have knocked out the cameras.  The video from the hallway doesn't show anyone entering or leaving the room either.”
         “Well, as disturbing as it is, we need to get back to work.  For now, lets leave it alone until we meet up later.”
         “Alright.”
         Everyone got up and started returning to their work areas.  Derek and Marcus went back to their workshop, while Kim returned to the infirmary.  Jane went with Kim since she had the rest of the day off.
         The rest of the day was filled with mundane tasks for everyone.  Jane assisted Kim in the infirmary, taking care of bruises and scrapes, while Derek and Marcus worked on repairing various equipment.  Their last work order of the day was a joint venture using both of their skills.
         The hangar door was malfunctioning.  The servos where freezing up and the computer was sending the wrong signals.  Given that the outside atmosphere was breathable, their task was a little easier.  The mildly warm weather was pleasant as well.
         Once they arrived in the hanger, they went to work immediately.  The hangar door was partially open, and the servos were no longer responding.  Derek went over to the maintenance panel and removed it.  Inside were several buttons for controlling the servos manually.  Derek inserted his key into the override switch and turned it.  The panel came to life as lights lit up and the display showed the status of the door.
         Derek pushed in the close button and heard the servos roar to life as they started pushing the hangar door closed.  The door was almost completely closed when they gave a horrible sound of metal scraping metal.  The door stopped moving completely.
         While Derek climbed up to investigate the servos, Marcus pulled out his tablet and plugged into the computer relay which controlled the hangar door.  After running a basic diagnostic he discovered that the relay was receiving the commands properly, but was mangling them when it sent them to the door.  Marcus removed the relay from its harness for a visual inspection of the components.  After a few minutes, he discovered nothing.  The hardware appeared to be normal.  He returned the relay to its harness and ran a more detail diagnostic.  He discovered that someone had been reconfiguring it to change the speed the door closed and opened (flight deck mechanics are notoriously impatient).  It seems that whoever was updating it mistyped a parameter which was causing a weird bug that mangled the commands.  A few keystrokes later and the problem was solved.
         Derek finally reached the first servo.  After inspecting it for a few minutes, he realized that they had simply frozen and needed to be reset.  Resetting them was simply a matter of removing the cover, and turning a screw to release the hydraulic pressure, and the tightening the screw again.  A very simple process, but it took several minutes to finish one.  Marcus walked over and contacted him as Derek finished resetting the first servo.
         “Hey buddy, need any help?” said Marcus over the radio.
         “Yeah, all four of the servos have frozen.  I just finished resetting the first one, but there is three left.  Want to start at the top on the other side, and work your way down?”
         “Sure, just give me a quick refresher on resetting these.”
         “OK, It's simple,” said Derek as Marcus started climbing the ladder to the first servo.  “When you get to the servo, remove the four bolts holding the cover on.  Then once you have the cover off, there should be a screw towards the bottom labeled 'Hydraulic Release'.  Just give that a quarter-turn counter-clockwise.  There should be a gauge next to it.  It shows the pressure.  When it reads zero, tighten the screw and replace the cover, and then your done.”
         “That doesn't sound too hard.”
         “It isn't, it just takes time to remove the cover, wait for the pressure to drop, and replace the cover.”
         About twenty minutes later, all of the servos had been reset.  Derek and Marcus were standing at the maintenance panel.  Derek pushed the close button again, and once more the massive doors began to close.  About a minute later the doors were fully closed again.  It seemed that Derek's repairs were successful.  Derek turned the override switch back to auto to return control of the doors to the computer.  Marcus pulled out his tablet and logged into the door control system.  He sent the command to open the doors, and was greeted with the sound of the servos powering up and the doors opening.  A couple minutes later the door was fully open.  Marcus sent the close command and then disconnected.  His repairs were also complete.
         Marcus and Derek made their way to the mess hall, where Kim and Jane were waiting for them.
         “What took you guys so long?” asked Jane as she kissed Derek.
         “We were a little tied up with fixing the hangar door.  The wrench monkeys can't seem to stop playing with the door, and they broke it.”
         They grabbed their food and ate in a corner.  The mess hall was mostly empty, but they didn't want distractions anyways.  After they finished, they returned to Jane's quarters.  Being a scientist does have its rewards, such as a large, private quarters.  Derek and Marcus shared the same quarters, which were smaller and was crowded with their personal gear.  Kim shared her quarters with another medic.
         Before they started to speak, Marcus pulled out several small devices and placed them strategically around the room.  These were jamming devices designed to block any bugs which may be in the room.  They didn't want matter that they were about to discuss to be overheard by anyone else.
         “OK, it is safe to talk now,” said Marcus after he placed the last one.
         “Alright, so what are we going to do about the accident?  It was obviously covered up for a reason,” said Derek.
         “Well, we need to ask around if we want to find out more about what was going on,” said Kim.
         “Yes, but we need to be discreet.  Asking the wrong person could get us killed,” replied Marcus.
         “Who all knows about the project Nathan was working on?  I'm guessing most of his co-workers were probably caught in the explosion with him,” Marcus stated after some thought.
         “I will ask some of my co-workers.  I personally don't have any knowledge of his project, but maybe some of my co-workers might.  It wouldn't seem very suspicious because of my position as a researcher,” said Jane.  “However, I won't have access to any of his project files.”
         “Don't worry,” said Marcus.  “I'll take care of that.”

* * *

         The room was dark, except for the faint red glow of the emergency exit sign.  Barely visible are two bunks, one on each side of the room.  These bunks belong to Derek and Marcus, both are sleeping soundly.  The terminal in the corner suddenly springs to life.  The glow from its display lights up the room.  The terminal begins beeping loudly, in an attempt to gain the attention of one of the sleeping men in the room.
         “Alright, alright, I'm up,” Marcus said sleepily.  He slowly got up from his bunk and walked over to the terminal.  A few keystrokes later and the beeping dies.  The screen changes to reveal a live video from Jane.
         “Marcus, wake Derek and come to my quarters.  Kim is on her way already.  It is very important.  And bring your gear.”  The video link went dead.  Marcus got up and nudged Derek.
         “Hey, wake up!”
         “Mrmmph.”
         “Damn it, I said wake up!” shouted Marcus as he pushed Derek onto the floor.
         “OK, I'm up!  What the hell was that for?  And what time is it?  It isn't even five is it?” replied Derek as he gathered himself up off the floor.
         “Your girlfriend called.  She said that she had something important to show us, and to bring our gear.  Oh, and it is a little past midnight.”
         The two quickly changed into their normal fatigues (Similar to the early twenty-first century woodland camouflage).  They grabbed their toolsets and quietly exited their room.  The civilian barracks were on an adjacent wing.  A few minutes away, but it took them twice as long because they were trying to remain undetected.
         They pushed the doorbell on Jane's quarters.  The door slid open quickly to reveal Jane.  She motioned them inside.  As they stepped in, they saw Kim sitting on the bed.  Marcus quickly deployed the jammers again.
         “OK, so why are we in your quarters at this time of night?” asked Kim.
         “I received this message from Dr. Nathan Vaughn about thirty minutes ago,” started Jane.
         “I thought he died in the accident?”
         “He did.  This seems to be some sort of automatic message which was sent in case he failed to check in.  Watch.”  Jane brought up a video message and started playing it.
         A video of Nathan appeared and began to speak,  “My name is Dr. Nathan Vaughn.  This message is intended for Dr. Jane Blake.  I have set this message to send automatically in case I fail to check in once every twelve hours.  Doctor, you are the closest person I have to a friend anywhere.  I can't entrust this information to anyone on my team.  I believe one of them may be out to sabotage my project, although for reasons I am unsure of.  Anyways, I need to be brief and to the point.  If this message becomes too large it may attract suspicion from the administration.  I was in charge of a project which focused on creating a localized time distortion field.  The goal of the project was to be able to accelerate time in a specific area.  The idea was to be able to accelerate the growth of plant and animal life on colonies to create a near-endless food supply for colonies.  If we could accelerate time inside the hydroponics bay, we could have fresh fruits and vegetables instead of this NutriPaste crap.  However, some individuals wanted to use my project for military purposes, despite my objections.  Included in this message are the codes required to access my project files inside my lab.  I also have a backup copy of everything inside my quarters.  The codes required for that are also included.  Doctor, it is important that you do not show this message to any of the higher ups.  Only those who you trust implicitly.  Good luck doctor, and be careful.”  The message ended.  Everyone just sat and stared at the screen for a few minutes.
         Kim was the first to speak, “OK, so now we know what he was working on.”
         “But if someone wanted to use his project for military reasons, why would they destroy it?” asked Marcus.
         “I don't know, but I think we should pay a visit to Dr. Vaughn's office,” said Derek, as he stood up and grabbed his gear.
         “Right, let's go, but quietly,” said Marcus, grabbing his gear.
         The group turned off the lights and slipped out of the room quietly.  The science labs were across the compound.  The night guards wouldn't be patrolling most of the compound, but the science labs, the living quarters, and the restricted areas would have regular patrols.
         They heard footsteps ahead, getting louder.  Derek opened the nearest door and darted in, the rest of the group following.  The door slid shut behind them.  They waited, crouched in the darkened room.  The footsteps kept getting louder and louder.  They held their breath, waiting for the guard to pass.  The footsteps stopped just outside the door.  A few moments passed before the guard moved on.  The sound of the footsteps got quieter and quieter.
         Once they could no longer hear the footsteps they opened the door and continued on their way.  They didn't encounter any more guards as they crossed the compound.  As they approached the science wing, there was two guards stationed outside the entrance.
         “Damn, with those guards there, we can't get through,” said Jane.
         “Don't worry, there is another way in,” replied Derek as he turned and started heading down a side corridor.
         “Derek, where are we going?  There is only one entrance into the science wing, and it isn't this way,” said Jane.
         “There is only one main entrance, this corridor leads to a maintenance hatch,” Marcus interrupted before Derek could begin.
         They continued down the corridor, the dim lights providing barely enough light to see anything.  The walls were a steel gray.  There was no dust on the floors thanks to the automated cleaning system that was present throughout the base.  They finally came to the maintenance hatch.  It was a fifty millimeter steel door, the same as the one to their workshop, but painted red instead of the yellow and green stripes on theirs.  To the right of the door was an access panel.
         “Well guys, we have two options here.  Both myself and Derek have access to open this door.  However, it will make an entry in the logs which someone is bound to notice, and wonder why we were going into the science wing at the dead of night, using a maintenance hatch instead of the main entrance.  Both of us can force this door open, but someone in the security office may notice that the door has been opened,” explained Marcus.
         “We can't let anyone know who was here, unless we want to end up like Dr. Vaughn.  Marcus, can you trick the security computer into thinking this door is still closed while I open it?” asked Derek.
         “Yes, but I won't be able to for long.”
         “OK, as soon as I get this door open, everyone go through, understood?”
         “Yes.”
         “Yes.”
         Marcus pulled out his tablet and stepped over to the access panel.  He unscrewed the front of the panel and plugged his tablet into the debug port inside the panel.
         “OK, I've programmed the relay inside the panel to report that the hatch is closed.  Unfortunately it will only last until the maintenance computer forces the relay to reset, which will be in about ten minutes.  It shouldn't trip any alarms as long as we close the door behind us.  We need to hurry.”
         “OK, this should only take a minute,” said Derek as he stepped over to the panel and started repatching the wires.  He continued swapping wires around inside the panel for a few more moments before the door slid open.  “Go!”
         Jane and Kim hurried through the door, followed by Marcus and Derek.  Once on the other side, Derek pulled open the access panel and pushed the close button.  The doors slid shut silently.
         “OK guys, we need to get to Dr. Vaughn's lab.  There shouldn't be any guards patrolling this area since the only way in here is the main entrance.”
         The hallways inside the science wing were pitch black, not even emergency lighting was on.  All of their visors were equipped with night vision, so the lack of lighting proved to be little trouble.  They passed many offices and lab doors, all of which were closed.  Some were decorated while others had various notices posted around them.  They finally arrived a door.  It was plain with no decoration, with the exception of a small sign on the door which simply read: “Dr. Nathan Vaughn, Project Lead”.
         “Alright, this is the one.”  Derek pushed the door open slowly, checking to see if the room was clear.  “OK, looks good.  Everyone inside.”  They all slowly crept inside and shut the door behind them.  Kim walked over to the window and shut the blinds while Marcus turned on the lights.  Jane sat down at the desk and turned on the terminal.  After a few moments she entered the codes that Dr. Vaughn left in the message.
         “That's odd.  It doesn't seem to be accepting the codes.  Let me try again.”  She tapped a few more keys and the puzzled look on her face just got worse.  “Weird.  The terminal just shut itself off.”
         “That isn't good.  They must have had a tap on the terminal.  They know we are here.  We need to go now,” said Derek as he flipped off the lights.  They hurried back through the maintenance hatch and back to Jane's quarters.
         “OK, so that could have gone better.  I don't think they caught us on video, but they were definitely watching his terminal.  It is a safe bet that they are watching his quarters too,” said Marcus.

* * *

         The next day everyone tiredly went to their jobs.  Their midnight excursion had taken a toll on them.  They had decided to wait until the following night to check out Dr. Vaughn's personal quarters.  When they tripped the alarm in his office, security had probably been increased around his quarters.  They also needed time to plan out how they were going to get in without raising suspicion.
         Derek and Marcus were sitting in their workshop, tinkering with a broken recon droid.  They didn't have any work assignments for the day, which was a little odd since something on the base seemed to be breaking everyday.  So they spent their time working on an ongoing project.  They had found the droid while exploring in the nearby forest.
         “Any idea why we have no work today?  Work hasn't been this slow in two years,” Marcus asked as he pulled a blackend relay out of the droid.
         “I have no idea,” Derek responded.
         “Do you think they found out it was us who broke into the lab last night?”
         “I doubt it.  There are no cameras in the doctor's office, and all of the lights in the corridors were off.”
         “Right, I was just thinking that it was a bit of coincidence that we have no work the day after we break into a dead scientist's office.”
         “Don't worry about it.  Have you come up with any ideas on how to get into the good doctor's quarters?” asked Derek after a few minutes.
         “Well, we know that there will probably be a guard or two stationed outside of the entrance to his quarters, as well as guards patrolling.  We won't have to worry about a tap on his terminal this time though, since it is isolated from the main computer,” explained Marcus.
         “Good, so how do we get past the guards?”
         “That I'm not sure about.  We can get past the patrolling guards easily, but the stationed guards will be a bit of a problem.  Maybe we can have Kim tranquilize them?  We would only have a few minutes before the patrols notice something is wrong, but that should be enough time to access the terminal and download everything.”
         “Sounds good.  It's lunch time, lets go meet up with Kim and Jane.”
         They stood up and walked over to the door.  After they opened it, they almost ran into two MPs standing on the other side.  The MPs stood aside to reveal Bob Bowman, the base administrator.
         “Why was this door locked?” Bob shouted at the two engineers.
         “This door is always locked due to the high value of the various parts stored in here,” replied Derek.  While it was true that some of the parts in their workshop were a bit rare and of high value, they mainly kept the door locked while they were inside because they didn't like having every scientist who walked by to stop in and whine about some problem they are having.
         “Can either of you tell me where you were last night at one in the morning?” inquired Bob.
         “I'm not sure about Marcus, but I was sound asleep,” Derek replied.
         “You idiot, I was sleeping in the other bunk all night,” shouted Marcus at Derek.  Their routine of shouting and insulting each other when someone was questioning them worked well to distract everyones attention from the subject.
         “Oh, so that loud, ungodly, unworldly snoring I heard was coming from you then?” Derek shouted back.
         “Yes, but it wasn't as bad as having to smell your farts all night long.  A garbage compactor smelled cleaner,” retorted Marcus.
         “Guys, calm down.  We had a break in at one of the labs last night.  We've been questioning everyone.  Thank you for your time,” said Bob.  With that he and the MPs turned and left.
         “That was strange.  Do you think they are questioning everyone, or just us?” asked Marcus.
         “I don't know, let's go find Kim and Jane,” said Derek.
         They headed to the mess hall.  Kim and Jane were already eating in corner.  Marcus and Derek grabbed trays and walked to the counter.
         “I would like some fried chicken and mashed potatoes please,” Derek told the lady behind the counter.  She grabbed a spoon and plopped a giant pile of NutriPaste on his tray.  “Yeah, thanks anyways.”
         They wandered over and sat down next to Kim and Jane.
         “Hey, did Bob talk to you earlier?” Derek asked.
         “Yes, he was asking where we were last night,” replied Kim.
         “Think he knows it was us?”
         “I don't think so, I asked some coworkers if they had been questioned, and they said yes,” Jane said.
         “OK, so moving along.  Derek and I have a plan for getting into Doctor Vaughn's quarters,” started Marcus.  He then went on to explain the plan to Kim and Jane.  After a few minutes, everyone agreed on the plan.
         Later that night, they all met in Jane's quarters.  Everyone was dressed in black clothing, to help lower their chances of being seen.
         “Alright, let's do a final check before we leave.  I would hate to forget something important,” said Marcus.  “Terminal codes?”
         “Check.”
         “Tranquilizer and darts?”
         “Check.”
         “Toolkits?”
         “Check.”
         “OK, quietly, let's go.”
         They shut off the lights and opened the door.  The lights in the hall were dimmed to a low level at night as part of a power saving measure.  They crouched low and stayed next to the wall as they made their way to Dr. Vaughn's quarters.  They were already in the civilian wing of the barracks, but Dr. Vaughn's quarters were still a few minutes away.
         As they approached Dr. Vaughn's quarters, they saw two guards standing outside the door.  They ducked into a nearby niche in the corridor, which was used to store cleaning supplies.  The niche was completely dark and their clothing made them nearly invisible as they waited.  After the first patrol went by, they sat their in complete silence until the second patrol had passed.
         “OK, it looks like they are patrolling in fifteen minute rounds.  Let's wait until the next patrol and then we will make our move,” said Derek.  The third patrol passed.  As soon as they had gone around the corner, they moved out and came to the last corner where they had a clear shot of Dr. Vaughn's door.  Kim pulled out the tranquilizer and aimed at the first guard.
         THUD!  THUD!  The two guards had been hit with the tranquilizer darts.  As they started falling Derek and Marcus caught them and laid them down softly.  They hit the button next to the door and waited until it finished opening before they entered.  Derek performed a quick scan of the room while Jane went to the terminal.
         She entered the code into the terminal and watched it spring to life.  On its screen was a complete listing of all of the project files.  Jane moved to the side while Marcus grabbed his tablet and plugged it into the terminal.  He started downloading everything to take with them.
         “How long is that going to take?” asked Derek.
         “Should only take a minute.”
         “Alright, but we need to be quick.  Those guards are going to wake up in about five minutes and we only have ten minutes till the patrol comes around again.”
         Kim started looking around the room while waiting for the download to finish.  It was a sparsely decorated room.  To one side was a bunk, while another side had a cheap looking metal desk.  On it was a picture frame, with a picture of a woman and Dr. Vaughn.  Kim didn't know who the woman was, but she guessed it was probably his wife.
         “OK, we're done.  Let's get out of here,” said Marcus.
         The group silently left the room and returned to Jane's quarters.

* * *
         The next morning Marcus and Derek went to their workshop to store the information they downloaded on a private secure terminal they had setup.  They had to wait until normal hours lest someone discover that they had gone into their workshop in the middle of the same night that someone broke into Dr. Vaughn's office.
         Once they finished, they logged into their terminals to check their work for the day.  What they found seemed a little odd.  All of their work had been suspended for the day and they were to report to the hanger with a full field loadout.  The message said that they were going on a training exercise, but the message seemed out of place for several reasons.  The first being that they only have two training exercises per year, and they had already done both this year.  This had not changed since they were station at Outpost 43.  The second was that the roster included both of them on the same team, as well as Kim, and only two infantry.  This was highly irregular since past missions had them on separate teams, and two full squads of infantry.
         They returned to their quarters to get ready.  A full field loadout for them include light combat armor, and their respective toolkits.  For Derek, his toolkit consisted of items designed to help repair weapons and force doors to open.  Marcus' toolkit contained his ever-present tablet, designed to diagnose and repair digital systems, but contained a few “questionable” tools which he added, designed to “convince” computers to part with information.  Both also carried a LX-7 laser pistol.
         They finished gathering their gear and headed to the hangar.  Along the way they ran into Kim, who was also in full combat gear.  She was wearing light combat armor, and carried a LX-7 laser pistol.  But instead of carrying a toolkit, she carried a medkit, which contained various medical items for use in the field.
         “Hey Kim, any idea what is going on?” asked Derek.
         “No, but this training mission seems wrong.  Us three and only two infantry?  This isn't normal,” replied Kim.
         They entered the hangar and spotted a small group of people standing by an aircraft.  Marcus wasn't sure, but he thought it was a Raven Assault Shuttle.  Marcus thought back to his basic training.  The Raven was capable of Vertical Take-off and Landing, and could carry a full company of soldiers, with their gear.  Marcus could hear the engines starting to windup.
         “Ah, it looks like everyone is here now,” said Bob as the group approached.
         “Bob, what is this all about?” asked Derek.
         “I'm sending you and your friends on a special training mission.  I'm unable to give you the details now, but once your on board, all will be explained,” Bob replied.
         “That isn't good enough,” Derek shouted back.
         “I'm sorry, but that is how it is,” Bob snapped angrily.
         “Fine,” Derek said.  The group and the two infantry marched up the open bay doors, and into a small room.  The room was designed to hold a full platoon, but was quite spacious with only five of them.  They filed in and took seats at the front.  The door closed behind them and the lights dimmed.  In front of them the screen turned on and started playing.
         Bob appeared on the screen, “I apologize for not explaining sooner, but I was being watched.  All of you have been chosen to help with a serious matter.  I had to disguise this a training mission to throw off any saboteurs who may want this mission to fail.  Recently Doctor Nathan Vaughn was killed in a lab accident involving some malfunctioning equipment.  That is the official version of the incident.  The unofficial version is a little different.  Doctor Vaughn was in fact killed due to malfunctioning equipment.  However, it was not by accident.  The equipment was sabotaged to kill Doctor Vaughn and his team.  We do not know who at this time, or why.  However, his research into localized temporal displacement was very important for a number of reasons.  If his experiment was successful, which we believe his latest test would have been if it wasn't sabotaged, the results would have had great benefits to many fields, including agriculture and medicine.”
         “Know that the background is out of the way, you are probably wondering what mission you are being sent on and why.  The five of you are being transported to Outpost 46, on the far side of the planet.  There you meet with Doctor Jane Blake and the two infantry we sent to escort her.  Outpost 46 is an unmanned observation station, but it is remote and out of the way.  Your mission is to finish Doctor Vaughn's experiment.  Automated systems have finished building the prototype, based on the final specifications left behind by Doctor Vaughn.  You were all chosen because of your training in various fields.  Engineer Derek Casey, you specialized in electrical-mechanical engineering.  You were chosen to help repair failures in the prototype, should anything go wrong with its mechanical systems.  Engineer Marcus Montgomery, you were chosen for you specialization in digital warfare.  You are to help maintain the computer systems which control the prototype.  Medic Kim Burton, you were chosen for your medical knowledge, as with any  project, something may go wrong and someone may get hurt.  The three of you were chosen for another reason as well.  You are all close friends with each other, and with Doctor Blake, and you work well together, as demonstrated by your resourcefulness in breaking into Doctor Vaughn's office and quarters.”
         “One last note, at the time of this recording, we have lost contact with Outpost 46.  We believe that the main generator has gone offline, and the backup generator did not start.  Upon your arrival you are to diagnose the communications breakdown, and restore them.  Good luck, to all of you.”  The screen went dead, and the lights returned to normal.
         “Alright everyone, back to the troop deck.  We will shortly be leaving the atmosphere.  It is going to get very rough back here, so we need to strap down now,” said one of the infantry.  Derek looked at his collar and saw that the man in question was a sergeant.  The other was a private.  Everyone filed out of the briefing room and took seats on the troop deck.  The sergeant went to each of their seats and deployed the webbing which held them in place.  He then took his own seat and deployed the webbing.
         Less than a minute after they were secure, they felt the aircraft increase speed rapidly.  The force felt like they were going to be crushed into their seats.  There were no windows on the troop deck, and the trip felt like it lasted an eternity.  Finally they were hit by a sudden burst of turbulence.  The shaking started out rough, and kept getting worse.  The experience was comparable to can of paint in a shaker.  Then as suddenly as the shaking started, it stopped.
         A video from the pilot appeared on their visors, “ETA to the LZ is one minute.  The outpost is not equipped with refueling capabilities, so we will need to leave thirty seconds after arrival if we want to make it back to base.”
         The sergeant unstrapped himself and quickly released everyone from their restraints.  They quickly gathered their gear and made their way to the ramp.  The raven came to a halt and the ramp started to descend.  Once it was fully down they quickly exited.  The raven started rising seconds afterwards.  From that point on, they would be on their own.  There would be no rescue.  The base was half a click away through dense forest, and would take about ten minutes to reach.