War Core, Chapter 1.

Chapter 1.

“Okay, everyone, the practice exam is starting…now. You have thirty minutes to complete it and then we’ll review any problem sections,” Hugh Logan told the class. It was 7:45 pm which meant he had just over an hour to go. Teaching part-time night classes at Opportunity Tech was not where Hugh had planned his career to be at the age of forty. Still, at least he had a part-time job, even if it was low paying and didn’t offer much other than some free education benefits. There were fourteen students in his Intro to Information Technology course. Most were older folks, either looking to update their tech certifications to enhance their chance at promotion or looking for a way out of dead-end jobs.

Sadly, even though the technical school did a good job of training them to pass the various certification exams, it didn’t do a good job at weeding out the people who had no business even looking at a server room. Being a private training center meant the tuition dollars were king and if the folks were willing to shell out the cost of the class, they were more than welcome to attend. Still, it was a job, and he desperately needed even a part-time one right now.

His previous employer had decided to fire most of the IT department, including him, and outsource the work to whatever random country would do it the cheapest. Hugh knew he needed some advanced certs if he wanted to avoid the same thing with his next employer. In this global economy, you had to make yourself stand out from the normal tech drones. Thankfully, Opportunity Tech allowed even its part-time instructors to take any certification class they wished, allowing him to get some high demand specialized certs for free while earning a few bucks.

“Mr. Logan, I’m sorry to interrupt your class, but there are some government people here to see you,” Elizabeth, the night admin told him. She was a nice older lady that genuinely seemed to like working with the students and instructors, always bringing in homemade snacks to share with everyone. Hugh was a bit taken aback, not sure why someone from the government would want to see him.

“I’ll be back in a moment everyone, no cheating while I’m gone. It’s a practice exam and I can’t help you pass the real test if I don’t know where you need help,” Hugh told the class as he followed Elizabeth back to the lobby. Their training center was in a small office building complex and the place was usually dead after 6 pm when most of the businesses closed for the night. Not sure what to expect, Hugh began to worry that he had done something wrong. Had he botched his taxes that bad or was his old employer trying to pin something shady on him?

“Mr. Hugh Logan?” a local sheriff’s deputy asked. The man was serious and all business in his demeanor, causing Hugh to begin to worry in earnest.

“Yes sir, what can I do for you gentlemen?” Hugh replied, finally noticing the other two people that had been waiting for him. One wore an expensive suit that had the rumpled look of someone that had been traveling all day. The final person was an honest to goodness Colonel in the United States Army.

“We’re going to need to see some ID sir,” the deputy said.

“Sure, here’s my driver's license. Do I have an unpaid parking ticket I forgot to take care of when I discharged twenty years ago?” Hugh joked as he handed over his license to the deputy who scrutinized it.

“I’m going to need to take a DNA sample, sir, a strand of hair will be sufficient,” the colonel said, his name tape read Goldmire.

“Is that really necessary, just what is going on here?” Hugh asked, more confused than ever, yet realizing that taking a DNA sample was beyond reasonable without a warrant. Not that he could recall committing anything resembling a crime, let alone one that involved the police and the military.

“I’m not sure I want to do that Colonel Goldmire and unless you have a warrant, I think I’ll need to speak with my attorney,” Hugh replied. Not that he had an attorney, but it was what you were supposed to say in these types of situations, wasn’t it?

“Mr. Logan, we're here under the highest of authorities. Here is a copy of your orders reactivating you into the service. Before we can go further, we need definitive proof of your identity,” the colonel ordered.

“Woah, hold on here. I discharged from the Army back in 1999, there is no way I’m still in the IRR. I’m also not exactly in shape for duty, surely there are younger and more fit people you can take?” Hugh asked. He had served a six-year stint in the Army to help pay for his degree. His time in service had been fine, but he realized that it wasn’t going to be a long-term career for him. Besides, Hugh wasn’t exactly in the best physical shape anymore. Too many years in the tech field had found him working long hours behind a desk and eating far too much junk food.

“Mr. Logan, we can do this with your cooperation, or things can get nasty really quick. You can comply or I’ll have the deputy here cuff you and drag you out of the building, your call,” the colonel said in his no-nonsense voice. Hugh wasn’t one to buck with authority and the document they provided seemed legit, he supposed a DNA sample wouldn’t kill him.

“Fine, take a hair sample if that makes you happy and it keeps me out of jail. Elizabeth, are you getting all of this?” Hugh asked, noticing that the admin had begun to record the encounter on her phone. He figured some video evidence would be good if he had to sue these clowns for overstepping their authority.

“No recording is allowed ma’am, I’ll need that,” the deputy said, snatching Elizabeth’s phone from her hand. “This will be returned to you tomorrow with any sensitive information removed,” the deputy said. Elizabeth continue to grumble in protest as Hugh felt a pinch on his scalp as the man in the suit, who hadn’t bothered to introduce himself, pulled a strand of Hugh’s hair out with some tweezers and deposited it into some strange device. Somehow the man had put on surgical gloves and produced a tablet looking device without Hugh even noticing. This was getting weirder and weirder by the moment.

“We’re good, he’s the one,” the guy in the suit told the others.

“Fine, come with us Mr. Logan, welcome back to the United States Army,” the colonel said with a devious grin on his face.

“I don’t…” Hugh started to protest before being cut off.

“Before you start with that nonsense, we’re on a strict timeline and lives are at stake. Come with us or spend your indefinite reenlistment in Leavenworth,” the colonel threatened. Hugh had no desire to be thrown into some federal military prison for no reason, so he decided it was best to go along for now.

“Fine, but there are witnesses here if something happens to me,” Hugh replied pointing to Elizabeth and the handful of students from other classes that had drifted into the lobby to see what the commotion was.

“Everything will be fine Mr. Logan. I promise this will make sense once we get to our destination and can debrief you,’ the mysterious man in the suit announced as they led him out of the lobby and toward the main building exit. Waiting for them right outside the exit were a pair of police cruisers and a nondescript sedan with blacked-out windows.

Hugh was placed in the back seat of the sedan, not sure if he should be glad that he wasn’t stuffed in the back of the police cruiser, or if he should be concerned that the government was going to make him disappear. He wanted to call someone, anyone, but his phone was back on his desk in the classroom along with his backpack.

“Can I at least get my things from inside the classroom?” He asked.

“Negative, anything you’ll need will be provided for you,” the colonel replied.

“What about my apartment and family, will they be notified about what’s happening to me?”

“Mr. Logan, we know all about your background. You don’t have any living family and any valuables at your apartment will be packed up for storage,” the unnamed official replied. Sadly, he was right. Other than a few acquaintances from work, he was a bit of loner, not unlike many who were drawn to the tech field. Still, the thought he could be called back up for service and nobody would know, or care, was disturbing.

The police cruisers ran their lights and sirens, clearing traffic as they made their way through town. Despite the police escort, traffic was a mess as it usually was in Southern California. The school he taught at was in the town of Garden Grove and he could see they were heading north. Another nondescript government employee in a suit was driving the car they were in and the colonel along with the unnamed guy didn’t look like they were in the mood for chitchat. Trying to figure out where they were heading gave Hugh something to think about other than worrying about what was happening to him.

He figured they were taking him to a military facility of some kind, otherwise, they would have headed south towards the nearest airport. The way they were going could mean either the Naval Weapons Station at Seal Beach, or the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos. Deciding to poke the bear a bit, he asked his traveling companions.

“So, we going to Seal Beach or Los Al?”

“You’ll see when we get there,” the colonel replied flatly.

“You’ve got me back in the Army, the least you could do is tell me where I’ll be stationed,” Hugh whined.

“This isn’t your first rodeo soldier, you know the routine,”

“Yeah, I get it, hurry up and wait,” Hugh replied to the colonel, they weren’t going to give anything up. A turn toward the coast let him know it was going to be Seal Beach. He watched the familiar landmarks pass by the car window, wondering if and when he might see them again. As they neared the base, the police escort turned off their lights and sirens, leaving the black sedan on its own to pull up to the gate. The guard there opened the gate and made an obvious effort not to look at their vehicle. It was strange as they were usually very thorough about security, to the point of annoying the people posted there.

They drove back past some of the maintenance facilities and toward a Blackhawk helicopter painted navy grey that was sitting in an open area between some buildings. The rotors turned slowly, like the machine was ready to go at a moment’s notice. Hugh was hustled out of the car by the mystery man and walked toward the waiting helicopter. The colonel remained by the car, it looked like he was staying behind for whatever reason.

“Give ‘em hell soldier,” the colonel said as he saluted. Hugh belatedly returned his salute, confused why this senior officer was saluting him, a junior officer who wasn’t even back in uniform yet. Colonel Goldmire got back into the sedan and pulled away as Hugh and the mystery man climbed into the Blackhawk. As soon as Hugh was strapped in, the rotors began to speed up as the helicopter clawed its way into the air.

It was too loud inside their ride to ask any questions, and Hugh instead tried to figure out where they were headed as their ride turned to the west and took them out over the ocean. Blinking lights in the distance led Hugh to believe they were heading toward a ship, but that idea was quashed when the outline of a landing pad atop one of the many oil rigs in the area lit up. Once on the deck, the doors to the helicopter slid open and he jumped out onto the landing pad, nearly losing his balance. The mystery guy guided him to a nearby hatchway, cranking open the rusty thing after typing some code into a keypad placed alongside. The lights on the landing pad blinked out as the hatch squealed open.

The oil rig was quiet and dark, looking abandoned to any who might pass by now that the lights had been extinguished. After stumbling a bit on the hatch coaming, Hugh made his way into the compartment. The hatch squealed shut and the man dogged it down. As soon as the hatch was secured, lights came on to reveal they were in a short passageway that ended at what looked like a set of elevator doors.

“Come this way, Mr. Logan. Look directly ahead please,” Hugh looked ahead, noticing there were no buttons to summon the elevator. A red light flashed once into his eyes and then the elevator doors opened. The elevator was brightly lit and much larger than he initially suspected. Once inside, the doors closed with a heavy thump and Hugh could feel they were dropping, and from the way he suddenly felt lighter, they were dropping much faster than a normal elevator would travel.

Hugh wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but the sight that greeted him wasn’t it. The elevator opened into an enormous underground cavern. He stepped out of the elevator with the mystery man, awestruck that something so huge could be built this far under the ocean. He was standing on a walkway that ran around the entire complex. Along the walkway, doors led to various offices and meeting rooms. Near the elevator, a large staircase led down to the floor where row upon row of strange pod-shaped containers were arranged. As he watched, one of those containers opened and a technician stepped out of it. Others worked outside the containers, monitoring them with strange devices.

“Impressive isn’t it. Follow me to supply and we’ll get you a set of uniforms Major Logan,”

“Major? I’m only a Captain, at least I was when I discharged,” Hugh replied. He had done his stint out of college as an O1 Second Lieutenant, promoting to Captain shortly before discharge. The promotion to O3 was pretty much automatic, as long as you didn’t screw up too much.

“You’ve been promoted, Major Logan, now follow me to the supply so we can get you squared away and off to medical. We need to get you on the job as soon as is humanly possible, too much depends on what you will have to do,” the guy in the suit said with a grin. The grin looked predatory to Hugh and promotion or not, he wasn’t sure he liked where this was all going.