Wasteland Rules: Born to Fight (The World After Book 2) (21 page)

June 22, 2029

Inside the NASA Complex Cape Canaveral, FL

   The transporter entered the NASA complex and
headed towards the launch pad. Derek and Rora were surprised to see what
appeared to be everyone lined up along the route. The people were clapping and
cheering as the shuttle passed by. The techs and the soldiers started waving
and smiling as if they were the conquering heroes returning. Derek thought it
odd and Rora had a funny smile on her face as if she thought it was ridiculous
too.

    They finally pulled to a stop next to the
crawler that would actually take the shuttle onto the launch pad. Augie and Dr.
Banek were there to greet them along with a small army of techs. Soldiers stood
watch nearby, but kept their distance from the main group. Dr. Banek had a huge
smile on his face, but the general looked upset and had a deep frown.

    “Welcome back!” Dr. Banek greeted them
excitedly. “You did it! I cannot believe it, but you got the shuttle back here
in one piece!”

   “Yeah, but you lost two MRAPs and most of my
men.” Augie grumbled. “People seem to die around you Storm…”

   “Don’t forget how many vehicles get destroyed.”
Rora chimed in.

   Derek shot her a look and she laughed. The
general was right though. Despite the fact that life was short in the
wastelands of the World After, it seemed shorter for those around Derek. It was
one of the reasons he didn’t have a lot of friends or allies. It was the main
reason he had become a hermit and lived in the abandoned camp out West. But he
had been unable to avoid his calling, and he was needed. There were many people
that he had helped or saved along the way, and they were what helped him carry
on.

   “I did what I had to do to get the job done.” He
said grimly. “The Collective AND the U.S.T.G. are actively working against us
and using alot of resources to do so. They want this device and they seem very
determined to get it.”

   “That is true.” Augie conceded. “I am surprised
at how far they have been willing to go.”

   “They wouldn’t have been successful if we didn’t
have a traitor telling them where we would be.” Derek pointed out.

    The general bristled at the accusation and
replied. “It’s not any of my people. They are totally loyal.”

    “Well someone told them. And it wasn’t me or
Rora. That leaves your people.” Derek snapped.

   “Gentlemen. No need to fight.” Dr. Banek said soothingly
and stepped between them. “We need to focus on the mission at hand. The techs
will prepare the shuttle for launch while you go through a crash course in
being an astronaut. Time is of the essence. We launch in three days.”

   Derek and Augie nodded in agreement and briefly
shook hands before they went their separate ways. Rora and Derek were guided to
the training facility by one of the soldiers. Apparently there would be no
break since it was critical to get all of the training they possibly could
before launch. The training facility was a low single story building that
appeared to have been constructed post Collapse. It was solid concrete and had
no ornamentation or architectural features. It was purely utilitarian and
non-descript.

   The inside was another story. Once they passed
through security and the ubiquitous airlock door, they could see the advanced
nature of the building. High tech equipment filled the inside of the cavernous
building. A deep swimming pool took up one corner and a large simulator took up
another. Medical equipment filled at least a third of the building and was
separated into rooms by high cube walls and curtains. A rubber coated track
circled the entire outside edge of the facility.

   Techs in lab coats swarmed all around and several
other people in blue jumpsuits worked on various machines. Derek assumed the
people in blue to be the shuttle crew. He and Rora were led to separate medical
rooms and ordered to strip. He asked the tech why since they got a workup when
they entered the complex, but was told these were different tests. He heard
Rora arguing with the tech in the next room, but eventually she agreed to
comply; so he did too.

    The tech hooked him up to all sorts of devices
including a mask with hoses attached that were put over his face. Then he was
instructed to run on a treadmill while still hooked up. Derek shrugged and
began running. The treadmill started out slow, but after a few minutes began to
speed up. Eventually he was at a full sprint to keep up with the machine. It
wasn’t a big deal; he was capable of running full out for long distances so he
just kept running. After a while though he started getting bored, running in
place wasn’t very interesting, so he turned to look at the tech.

   Two other techs had joined the first one and they
all had their mouths hanging open in shock. Then they started talking to each
other very animatedly in what seemed to be some sort of argument. Derek
couldn’t make it out over the noise from the treadmill. When they noticed him
watching them they got very quiet and just stared at him. He gave them a
gesture to ask if he was done yet and they looked startled. The first tech
turned off the treadmill and unhooked him, while the other two began examining
the devices.

   “Is there a problem?” Derek asked the tech.

   “Uh, no problem.” The tech replied. “The devices
might be out of alignment that’s all.”

   “Shouldn’t you keep your fancy gizmos in
alignment before making me run?” Derek asked.

   “Well, we thought they were in alignment; but the
results cannot be right so something must be wrong with them.” The tech
answered.

   “What was wrong with the results?” Derek
inquired.

   “Your oxygen levels were abnormally high and the
machine didn’t register any lactic acid buildup in your muscles. Your results
were outside the norm, some were even beyond the machine’s ability to measure.”
The tech explained. “You ran on the treadmill so long it may have compromised
the results.”

   “Is it possible that the results are correct and
the genetic alterations to my body allow me to perform that much greater than a
normal man?” Derek wondered.

   The tech considered that before replying. “It’s
possible, but the results were so good that we find it hard to conceive that.
We will double check the machines and review the results. You obviously are fit
enough to start the training.”

   With that he was handed a blue jumpsuit and the
techs dismissed. He was directed to what appeared to be a classroom along one
wall of the building. It had several mobile white boards, a projection screen,
and podium at the front. Metal folding chairs were lined up in four rows of
four in front of the projection screen. A tall middle-aged man in a blue
jumpsuit stood at the podium and gestured for him to sit in the chairs. He had
close cropped dark hair and a neatly trimmed beard. His bearing indicated
ex-military. Rora arrived shortly thereafter looking a little winded and
slightly sweaty, also wearing a blue jumpsuit. She sat next to Derek and tried
to catch her breath.

   “Have a good run?” Derek asked her mischievously.

   “Some of us don’t heal as quickly as you or have
monkey DNA, you baboon.” She wheezed in reply. “Nice haircut by the way.”

   “Yeah…it’s short…” Derek replied as he rubbed the
close cropped stubble on his head.

   They had forced him to get a haircut in
preparation for wearing the space suits. His beard had been removed also, and
it felt weird. He felt naked. He had hidden behind that unruly mane and beard
for years. They had almost become a part of him.

   Two more men and one woman in blue jumpsuits
entered the classroom and sat down behind them. Derek gave them a quick once
over as they came in. They were presumably the rest of the shuttle crew and the
man at the podium was the commander. They obviously knew one another and were
chatting quietly as they came in. But as soon they reached their chairs they
stopped talking and focused on the man at the podium.

    The woman was young, mid-twenties probably, and
was fit and attractive with short red hair. With makeup and styling she would
be a knockout. She must be very good at what she did to be on the crew at such
a young age. She completely ignored Derek even though she saw him looking at
her. The men with her were also both fit and had buzz cuts like the man at the
podium.

   The older of the two was black without a hint of
gray in his hair. He was thin and had a wiry build. His hairline was receding
but he looked young, although he had to be mid-forties based on his hands.
Derek wondered if the Society people had access to the longevity treatments. He
noticed the man seemed nervous since he continually drummed his fingers and
couldn’t sit still. He acknowledged Derek with a nod.

   The younger man was white, had blond hair, and a
very average appearance. The man had a muscular build and stood about six feet
tall. He looked like every jock Derek had ever known. He also acknowledged
Derek with a nod as he sat down. He crossed his hands on his chest and sat
almost motionless waiting for the man at the podium to start.

    “Okay.” The man began with a slight Russian
accent. “Now that everyone is here let’s get started. This is going to be the
mission briefing for our trip to Olympus Station.”

   That statement elicited small gasps from the
shuttle crew. They were apparently not in the loop on what was going on. That
didn’t surprise Derek; so far the Society seemed to have pretty good
operational security. They kept everything need to know and close to the vest,
except for the pesky issue of the mole. Someone in the Society was giving out
information on their operations, specifically when it came to Derek’s
movements. At least this time, no one could follow them into space.

   “We have two, I’ll call them payload specialists,
joining us for this mission.” The man continued. “Major Derek Storm, formerly
U.S. and U.S.T.G. special forces, and Rora Carter, daughter of Dr. Andrew
Carter, will be part of the crew for this mission. They are conducting a crash
training right now to be ready for our launch in three days.”

   This news caused louder murmuring from the crew
and Derek could feel them staring at the back of his head. There was no love
lost for the U.S.T.G. here, and the killed soldiers may have been friends of
theirs. It was also possible that his reputation had preceded him, and not in a
good way. It probably didn’t help that two people with almost no training and
no experience were going on the first space mission in sixteen years.

   “Major, Rora; I am Mikhail Khodorov.” The man
went on ignoring the reactions. “I am the Commander for this mission. Let me
introduce the rest of the crew to you.”

   Derek and Rora turned around to look at the crew
members. The three crew members looked back at them with some disinterest. They
must have already been briefed on who Derek and Rora were and they didn’t seem
impressed. He wasn’t impressed by them. They looked soft. They had probably
been living here in comfort while Derek and the rest of the world struggled to
survive.

   “The tall gentleman on the right.” The commander
began, pointing at the older black man. “Is our pilot, Colonel Lucas Brandt,
USAF ‘retired’. He has plenty of combat experience and has been training for
years on the simulator in case we ever got the shuttle back.”

    The man nodded to Derek and Rora and held his
hand out. “Pleased to meet you.” He offered in a Texas drawl.

   Derek took the offered hand and shook it with a
firm grip. “Likewise.”

   “The other gentleman is Johnson Thomas, one of
the mission specialists. His job is to make sure we dock and board the station
without any mishaps. He is also the expert in extra-vehicular activity, or EVA.
That is to say, that if we have to spacewalk he is in charge.” The commander
continued.

   The specialist stuck his hand out to Derek as
well and Derek took it. Unlike the other man, Johnson decided to be the jock
that he was and test Derek. He kept the grip after the handshake should have
ended and squeezed. Derek sighed, another Alpha male trying to mark his
territory. He hated that kind of thing and usually would have taught the man a
lesson by breaking his hand, but he restrained himself and merely squeezed hard
enough to make the man let go.

   The man’s eyes got wide as Derek’s grip slowly
crushed his hand. He gasped involuntarily and pulled his hand back. Derek let
go and gave him a slight smirk as the man rubbed his injured hand. He gave
Derek an angry stare as the redhead watched the exchange with interest and a
slight smile. The pilot covered his laugh with his hand and shook his head.

   “Now that we have established the pack order, let
me introduce the young lady.” The commander said sarcastically. “Anna Cadieux
is the other mission specialist and one of our resident computer geniuses. She
was already in MIT at age thirteen when the Collapse began, and we are lucky to
have her on board. She operates the shuttles computer systems.”

   The redhead blushed at the compliments from the
commander. She offered her hand to Derek. “Welcome to the team.” She said with
a slight French accent.

   Derek took her hand and looked into her deep
green eyes and said as charmingly as possible. “It will be a real pleasure
being with you.”