Them-2 - Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty Seven – Pikeville, Kentucky

It was late in the afternoon when they reached Pikeville and turned north on Highway 80 in the direction of their objective. The three additional Bradleys caught up with them an hour earlier and a new message from headquarters advised them to hasten with all speed.
First Sergeant Brett was given the frequency of the C-130 stranded at Hatcher Field. After a conversation with the pilot he advised Huck that the plane was under attack by the ants. “You want to do the same thing we did at Bowling Green?” Brett asked over the COM line.
“Is there any danger of the ants breaking into the C-130?”
“No sir. According to the pilot, they have been trying but the reinforced structure is too tough for them to penetrate.”
“How many people on board the plane?”
“Pilot says thirty-eight passengers and four crew members.”
Huck did some math in his head. He had five Bradleys, two of which were filled with his people and First Sergeant Brett’s command. That left three Bradleys, designed to hold six combat equipped soldiers each, ten or twelve civilians if they were squeezed in tight.
“It’s going to be a tight squeeze getting all those people inside the Bradleys,” Huck finally replied. He looked at his watch. “It’ll be dark in about an hour. If we’re lucky, the ants will retire to their nest after dark. We’ll get to the airport and play it by ear.”
They made their way on North Mayo Trail to a place named Broad Bottom. From there they took a right on Senator Kelsey E. Friend Boulevard that took them directly to the airport. As soon as they arrived at the small airport they spotted the C-130 sitting on the tarmac about fifty yards from the small cluster of airport buildings. There were several giant ants crawling around on the wings and fuselage of the damaged plane and several more in and around the buildings.
Huck told First Sergeant Brett to have four of the Bradleys move forward and make a circle around the airplane. He wanted to see what the ants would do. He also wanted the pilots inside to notice that the armored carriers were there to protect them. By now they were possibly nearing panic. The fifth Bradley he ordered to locate the fuel dump and see if they could find several barrels of diesel fuel. The trick with the diesel smell had worked before and he wanted to be ready to use it again.
“Get on the horn to headquarters and find out if there are any places in this area that we can fortify against the ants?” Huck told the radio operator. “Any solidly built buildings, concrete bunkers, strong railway cars, or whatever.”
“Go back and tell the passengers that the military has arrived,” the pilot ordered the Flight Engineer. “There are armored vehicles surrounding the plane.”
Chief Ross quickly made his way back to the cargo hold. As he entered the cramped area the passengers glanced in his direction. Despite the fear and anxiety, the place was as quiet as a tomb. “Pilot just advised me that the military has arrived,” he stated in a calm voice. “There are armored personnel carriers surrounding the plane waiting to take us to safety. If you hear any loud noises it’s probably the military firing at the ants, so don’t worry.”
“Should we prepare do get off the plane?” Joey asked.
“Hold on,” the Chief replied, listening to the pilot on his headset. “The pilot says to break the passengers down into three groups of thirteen. As soon as he gives the order, I will open the door and each group is to head towards a separate carrier.”
The Chief paused to listen to his headset again then raised his hand for emphasis. “I will lead one group, Lieutenant,” he pointed to Joey, “you’ll lead a group, and Captain,” he pointed to a uniformed officer sitting down from Joey, “you’ll lead the third group.”
Joey immediately stood and pointed out twelve people to join him as his group. As soon as he finished the Captain took another twelve, and the Chief told the last group of twelve they would follow him.
Five minutes later Chief Ross called for everyone’s attention again. “The Pilot says that the military commander is waiting for it to get dark outside. He thinks the ants will go to their nest and is waiting to see. Shouldn’t be long now, it’s almost dark.”
“Headquarters for you, sir,” the communications specialist passed the handset to Huck. There was an officer from the Cheyenne Mountain complex on the other line.
“The Truck Coal Mine is located three miles east of Pikeville,” the officer stated. “I have been advised to tell you to take your people to that mine for safety.”
“A coal mine? Are you sure about that?”
“Trust me, Commander, the people who gave me this information know exactly what they’re talking about.”
After getting directions to the mine and writing down some numbers on his hand, Huck passed the handset back to the commo specialist. He checked his watch and glanced out the firing port. It was dark outside. It was also very quiet. “Turn on your lights and check the area,” Huck ordered.
The bright lights from the Bradleys swept around the tarmac and buildings. The C-130 was still sitting quietly fifty yards away. There was no sign of any ants.
“Pull up to the exit door of the plane as close as you can get,” he ordered the Bradley Commanders over the radio. “Back in and be prepared to drop your ramps as soon as I give the order.”
The Bradleys clanked over the asphalt of the airport leaving small indentations in their wake. The thin layers were not designed to hold the massive weight of the armored vehicles. They backed up within twenty feet of the port side door and stopped. The only sound was the running whine of their powerful diesel engines. They searched the area again with their powerful searchlights then Huck gave the order to drop ramps.
“Follow me!” the Crew Chief yelled, waving his hand at the twelve people in his group. Within seconds, everyone was bounding down the short stairs behind the pilot’s cabin and running in a file towards one of the armored personnel carriers. In less than a minute all three groups were safely packed into the carriers and the pilot and crew ran from the plane to enter a fourth carrier.
“All aboard and accounted for,” First Sergeant Brett advised Huck over the radio.
“Follow me,” Huck replied.
The small armored column slowly made its way down the quiet deserted streets. There were no signs of moving vehicles or people. It was as if everyone had ceased to exist, leaving only the vacant stores and stalled vehicles in place. Many stores had been broken into and most of the vehicles displayed some kind of damage. There were also the unmistakable splotches of red on the roads and inside the vehicles and stores. The ants had been hard at work.
Following the directions given to him, three miles east of Pikeville they encountered the entrance to a huge coalmine. The entrance was so large they could drive the Bradleys inside the tunnels with plenty of room to spare on each side. For half an hour they slowly crawled through the gigantic mine until Huck spotted the particular sign he was told to look for.
He ordered the Bradley to stop and open the rear ramp. Everyone glanced curiously at him as he walked down the ramp and over to the faded yellow and red sign. The sign was a rectangle of yellow bordered by a red line. Numbers and letters printed inside the square were RA1679OZ1322. Huck pulled on the right side of the sign and after a little effort and more pressure it popped open on hinges revealing a small recessed cavity behind it.
Inside the cavity was a keyboard with numbers and letters. Huck punched in RA1679OZ1322 and snapped the yellow sign back into place. He thought for a second that his instructions must have been wrong, but suddenly he heard a rumbling sound as if motors and machinery was turning and a crack appeared close to the floor near his feet with dim light pouring out.
Within minutes a large slab of wall moved up creating an opening at least twenty feet across and twenty feet high. An asphalt road lead down a slight incline with yellow lights spaced on the wall about every fifty feet. Huck motioned for the Bradleys to enter the opening. As soon as they were all safely inside and spaced along the asphalt road, he opened another yellow sign inside which contained a duplicate recessed cavity and keyboard. He punched in the numbers again and the huge door slowly slid down until the outer coal mine disappeared.
The Bradleys continued on down into the bowels of the earth following the smooth asphalt road. After a mile, they stopped in front of a large vault like opening. The road looped back on itself at this point and headed back up the way they had descended. There was enough light from over the vault to see their surroundings.
Huck and his crew got out of the Bradley and surveyed the vault. It was at least twelve feet tall, circular, with the bottom part of the circle evened off. It resembled a gigantic bank vault.
“Looks like something from Fort Knox,” one of the soldiers remarked.
Huck spotted a keyboard on the right side of the door about five feet high. He walked over and looked closely at the small keyboard. Glancing at his left hand where he had earlier written down some numbers and letters, he punched them into the keypad. The gigantic door instantly started sliding away from them then opened in a hinged manner to reveal a well-lit area like a hotel lobby.
“Write these numbers and letters down,” Huck told Tappy. He then gave her the numbers he had jotted down on his palm. “We’re going in to check things out but if the door closes on us, that is the combination to open the door from the outside, as I just did.” He motioned for Sergeant Smith to follow him and turned to enter the vault. Kayle quickly jumped up and joined them.
The interior of the room was like a hotel lobby, a very plush one at that. A circular desk with a marble top dominated the area to their right, and a lounging area with expensive couches and chairs was to their left. The walls of the room were of polished marble with etched accents. They followed the plush red carpet to the desk.  Behind the desk there were several computer monitors and a large screen monitor, easily six by eight feet, was recessed into the wall behind the desk.
Huck turned to see that Eoin had joined them. “Whoever built this place had good taste and an unlimited bank account,” Eoin stated, glancing at the expensive art hanging on the walls. “Those are original oils and sculptures.”
Huck chuckled. “I don’t know about the tastes but I’m sure that the taxpayers probably paid for the joint. Without knowing it of course.”
Kayle couldn’t find an opening in the plush marble desk so she quickly scampered over the top. “Let’s see if there’s anything on these computers,” she remarked.
As soon as she turned the power on the giant screen on the wall behind her flicked to life. The Department of Defense shield popped up, followed by a sexy sounding female voice.
“Welcome to Oscar13 Zulu 22.” The smooth voice filled the room. “Security Base, SbOZ-13-22, is the most recent development acquisition of the Department of Defense. Located on these premises you will find a number of private apartments and dormitories. The streets and sidewalks have been aesthetically designed to resemble those of a pleasant Mediterranean setting. A large cafeteria and smaller five star restaurant, a water purification system, a small lake fed by underwater springs, a small underground rail system, a television station, a small nuclear power plant, an armory, and general office buildings. Supplies are stored here to provide one thousand people with the appropriate daily caloric needs to last for six months.”
“Security Base, SbOZ-13-22 is a remote self-sustaining underground command center for the Federal Emergency Management Agency – FEMA, now Homeland Security. This facility is the operational center for approximately 100 other Federal Relocation Centers, most of which are concentrated in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina. Together this network of underground facilities constitutes the backbone of America's "Continuity of Government" program. In the event of nuclear war, declaration of martial law, or other national emergency, the President, his cabinet and the rest of the Congress is slotted to be "relocated" to this facility.”
“I am DARMA, the ‘Defense Authorized Regional Management Agency’ computer. I control all functions of OZ and I am at your service twenty four hours a day, 365 days a year.”
“That’s just ducky!” Eoin blurted. “So now we’re in the Wonderful Land of OZ, with a blimey computer as the wizard.”
“This base was designed to house the federal government in the event the proverbial shit hit the fan,” Huck remarked.
“Why didn’t the President and his cabinet relocate here instead of Nantucket Island?” Kayle asked. “I can understand why the congress didn’t, caught by surprise as they were, but the president had plenty of time.”
“Perhaps they thought that the ants could tunnel into this complex,” Eoin answered. “I doubt that is the case with this place buried in a deep coal mine. I think that the gasses from the coal itself should keep the ants away.”
“Notice she, the computer, said this was one of about a hundred facilities,” Huck mused. “No telling who is occupying the other facilities.”
“One thing is for certain,” Kayle grinned. “Those people cramped in the Bradleys will certainly enjoy stretching their legs. I imagine their smell alone is starting to ripen by now.”
“You and Eoin go tell the people to unload and I’ll see if I can find the cafeteria,” Huck stated. “We need food and then we need to identify our personnel assets. Tell First Sergeant Brett to post security at the entrance to the vault until we see if we can safely close it. I don’t want to close the damn thing and get stuck in here for twenty years.”