scheetz@bms.com ()

                        A Tale from the Underground
                             By: Chris Scheetz



 "I'm getting sick of artificial light.",Marc mumbled as he sat up. It was 
morning. At least that's what the clock in his room indicated. You couldn't 
tell by looking out the window. It was always the same outside. No sign of the 
sun. Marc climbed out of bed and walked to the closet. His green EDF uniform 
hung from a hanger. Marc placed it on the bed and went into the bathroom for a 
shower. "Thank heavens for sonic showers. We were beginning to stink there for 
a while." 

 Marc came into the kitchen and fixed a quick slice of toast. "What I wouldn't 
give for a glass of orange juice.", he said as he scanned the inside of the 
refrigerator. It was empty of anything organic; as usual. "Oh well.", he 
sighed as he walked to the door. It slid open as always and the lights went 
off behind him.

 It was dark outside except for a few lights suspended from the cavern's 
ceiling. The air was dry and there was no breeze. The air conditioning system 
kept the inhabitants alive if nothing else. Marc walked to the airbus station. 
Aircars were for emergency use only now. To get from one place to the other 
you either took the airbus or walked. 

 The airbus station was crowded; as always. Marc tried not to bump or shove 
anyone as he moved to the platform. It was a very difficult feat considering 
how many people were there. After a few minutes of near suffocation the airbus 
arrived. People scattered for the open doors and the bus was filled in 
seconds. Marc had finally been able to grab a seat. He'd tried several times 
before but was unsuccessful. He saw it as an omen that his day might not be so 
bad.

 "Excuse me young man,", came a voice from the isle."would you mind giving an 
old lady a seat?" Marc looked up to see the smiling face of an old woman 
peering at him. Immediately Marc stood up and offered the seat. Why should 
this day be any different?

 After a good half hour Marc arrived at his destination. "I've gotta see about 
getting a closer place." He'd said that to himself every day since he was 
assigned to Alpha-City. He never saw it through. It was easier to complain 
than to go through the red tape of getting a new room.

 The EDF military building was emmence. It housed all the command branches of 
the Earth Defense Force. Marc walked in through the lobby as he did every day.

 "Morning sarge.", said a corporal as Marc walked through the office door. 
Marc was never as cheerful as this corporal who greeted him every morning.

 "Morning Knox. You look chipper this morning. Any reason in particular?"

 "Another day alive sarge."

 "I was hoping you'd say something else today. Mabye tomorrow." Marc grinned 
at the corporal as he entered the main tac room of the military police. Marc 
walked to the commander's office and knocked on the door frame.

 Major Felder was a stolid old war horse in his late 30's. He swung around 
on his chair to acknowledge Marc.

 "Sergeant Winters, have you heard the good news?",asked major Felder with 
an uncharacteristic smile on his face.

 "No sir. What's the news?"

 "The Starforce took out the Gamilon base on Pluto. It turns out that that's 
where they launched the planet bombs from. Now it makes sense why they always 
had so many ships there."

 "I was wondering why the bombing had stopped. It looks like they may have a 
chance after all."

 "Don't start with the pesimism now son."

 "Sorry sir it's just that things look so dark now."

 "I understand that soldier but we can't let our doubts depress the civies can 
we?"

 "No sir."

 "Good. Dismissed sergeant."

 "Yes sir." Marc walked to his desk and sat down. He saw corporal Knox nearby. 
"I have some news to widen you grin corporal." Marc gave him the news.

 "That's great. I knew they'd do it."

 "Do you ever doubt anything Knox?"

 "No sir. If I did I'd be depressed all the time like you." Knox grinned 
widely.

 "Very funny." Marc answered the joke with a grin of his own. Then the phone 
rang. Marc's grin disappeared. The phone only rang for one reason. 

 "Winters, front and center!", yelled major Felder from his office.

 Marc quickly made his way to the office. "Yes sir?"

 "We've got another riot brewing at the relief center. Apparently there's been 
another cut in rations and the civies are getting a mite perturbed. Get your 
squad out there and take care of it."

 "Yes sir!" Marc quickly strode out the office door. "Knox, get the men 
together. We're moving out."

 "Right sarge!", came Knox's reply as he disappeared out the door.

 The APC's motor hummed as the squad loaded themselves aboard. Marc hoped in 
last. "Let's go." The APC zoomed out of the garage. Red and blue lights 
flashed as the sirens wailed. Since dispersment of the crowd was of paramount 
importance they wanted to make some noise. They wanted the people to know they 
were coming. The ones who were just caught up in the moment would run. That 
way the ring-leaders could be caught without much force being required.

 "Okay. You men know the drill. Use of force is not allowed unless absolutely 
necessary. We don't want to hurt anyone. They're just scared and angry 
civilians. If it means you have to take a few punches then take them. You guys 
are armored up enough that it won't matter. If they keep it up then stun them. 
Any questions?"

 Before a question could be raised the APC was shook violently. The sound of 
an explosion could be heard even in the armored transport.

 "Sarge, get up here!", yelled the driver as he brought the APC to a 
screeching halt. Marc made his way to the driver and looked out the port.

 "My god." A wall of the relief center had blown up. It looked like a shock 
cannon had hit it. A fire was quickly consuming the interior. "Como,call fire 
services. Break out the fire extinguishers and the med kits. Gunner, load the 
fire-supressant shells. Hold your fire until I give the word. We need to get 
any survivors out before we use the shells. Okay move it people!"

 The marines made their way to the fire. Several were flagged down immediately 
to treat wounded. The rest entered the building to rescue other survivors. 
Within minutes the fire service team arrived along with several ambulance 
shuttles. The firefighters and marines promptly evacuated the building. 

 Marc tapped his helmet-com. "Gunner, fire!" The APC and fire service vehicle 
began bombarding the fire with fire supressant shells. The entire operation 
took a few minutes as the shells exploded. Covering the fires with a 
oxygen-eating gas. The fires quickly dissapated. 

 "What happened?", asked the fire chief.

 "You know as much as we do." ,answered Marc. "We weren't even on the scene 
when the explosion happened. I don't know what happened." Marc turned his 
attention to corporal Knox. "Knox, start taking down names. I want statements 
from these people." Marc turned back to the fire chief. "We're going to get to 
the bottom of this chief."

 "In the mean time I'll get an investigation rolling on the cause of the 
explosion.",said the chief as he began to walk away. He stopped. "Oh 
sergeant?"

 "Yes sir?"

 "You and your men should be commended. If you hadn't been on the scene 
several more people would have died today."

 "Thank you sir. I'll keep it in mind." Unfortunately what was really on his 
mind was the fact that they might have been able to prevent this from 
happening in the first place. 


 
 "I should never have given up that seat.", Marc mumbled to himself.

 "Pardon me sarge?", said Knox.

 "Nothing. What did you get?"

 "Many of the people were drawn by the explosion so they're as much in the 
dark as we are. The one's that were here say that a riot was starting before 
the explosion occured. I've gotten a few descriptions of the ring leader."

 "How do they know he's the one who started the riot?"

 "He had a bullhorn and was telling them to storm the place."

 "Okay, let's call in some support and start combing the streets for this guy."

 "What if he died in the explosion?"

 "What if he didn't?"

 "Good point. I'll get the men on it right away."


 
 The streets of the underground cities are excellent for avoiding capture. 
There are many places to hide. Shadows abound everywhere. For Andrew Dace this 
was the easy part. He slipped through a fence and into an alley. There wasn't 
a building in the city that wasn't inhabited. This makes it difficult to move 
unnoticed but not impossible. Dace made his way through the service entrance 
of an apartment building. He proceeded to the service lift and pressed the top 
floor button. As the elevator moved Andrew grabbed onto the side of the car 
and grabbed onto a rail near the top of it. Climbing up he pushed open the 
maintenance hatch and quickly pulled himself through. He closed the door 
behind him. When the car reached the top floor he grabbed onto the maintenance 
scaffolding and climbed up. It was a small trip through an air vent and he was 
on the roof.

 "One of the perks of living on a roof underground: no chance of rain.", Dace 
grinned to himself. Andrew moved to the spot where he placed his things. He 
was greeted by a beeping coming from a duffel he had stowed there. From it he 
removed a small box. After a few seconds of extending antennas and connecting 
a headset he had a small radio transmitter. Andrew tapped a button on a small 
control pad.

 "Report", came an alien voice from his headset. 

 "I did as you asked. I bombed the relief center."

 "What was the damage?"

 "It won't be operational for days and I'm sure it destroyed any supplies that 
were inside."

 "Excellent."

 "Don't forget about our agreement."

 "We have not forgotten. You have just started. We shall see what happens."

 "Right."



 "Sorry sarge, no sign of him.", reported corporal Knox.

 "We've searched all day for this guy. Where could he have gone?"

 "Once we get the picture out on the wire I'm sure we'll find him."

 "I hope so. The civies are spooked enough about what's happening to the 
Starforce. They don't need to be rattled here anymore. The planetbombs 
stopping should have been good news. Now we've got some kind of terrorist 
running loose."

 "What about the search?"

 "We've done all we can now. Double the regular patrols and keep an eye out 
for this character."

 "Yes sir." Knox returned to his duties.

 "Como, call HQ and get us some relief."



 "You've seen better days sergeant.", said major Felder as Marc entered the 
office.

 "We all have sir." Marc put his helmet on his desk and sat. 

 "The tech boys have run up a composite from the descriptions. There's a copy 
on your desk."

 Marc took the sheet from the desktop and studied it. "Looks like a hood 
dosen't he?"

 "I've seen enough of them to know."

 "I'll bet you have sir. How long have you been an MP?"

 "Since I was a snot-nosed private. I just wish we weren't responsible for 
civilians too. Some of them still think it's our fault that Gamilon bombed us 
in the first place. I think they just need someone to blame. I can't hold it 
against them though. I need someone to blame too. It just makes the job harder."

 "I heard that."

 "Go home and get some rest..."

 "And it will all look better in the morning?", Marc cut in.

 "No, but at least you'll be rested."

 Marc watched the major disappear into his office. He always did respect him. 
Marc figured if there was anyone he could trust it would be major Felder. One 
thing about the old man. He was always straight with you. Marc took off his 
flak jacket and grabbed his helmet. His shift was over. 



 The next day started the same as the one before. This time he was late for 
the airbus altogether. He sensed it was not going to be a good day.

 The office was buzzing with activity. Finding this mad bomber was giving 
everyone a purpose other than herding innocent civilians. 

 "Morning sarge. In a bit late huh?", grinned Knox.

 "Missed the bus."

 "Sure you did. The old man want's to see you."

 "Great.", Marc said with as much sarcasm as he could muster. Marc, fearing 
the worst, made his way to major Felder's office. 

 "You wanted to see me sir?"

 "Nice to see you sergeant. I was wondering if I would have the pleasure of 
your company today!" Major Felder was angry. Angrier than he should have been 
over Marc's tardiness. Marc was understandably puzzled.

 "Sir?" Major Felder seemed to calm down a bit.

 "Sorry, it's the top brass on me about this terrorist. I got a worse yelling 
at than you just did. I guess I just needed to pass the buck a bit. The fire 
chief sent his report today. The bomb was very crude but it was in the right 
place. It was placed next to some fuel drums. That's why it spread so fast." 
Marc just stood and listened to the report. "Get this son-of-a-bitch. You hear 
me sergeant?"

 "Yes sir. Loud and clear."

 "Good. Dismissed." Marc walked out of the office.

 "I'm glad to see you've still got a head sarge.", joked Knox.

 "Thanks. I'm glad to see someone cares."

 "Care nothing. If you die I've got to take over." Knox followed the words 
with a wide grin.

 "Ha ha.", replied Marc. "Go get a couple of those composite prints."

 "Sure thing." Knox answered. A bemused look appeared on his face.

 "We're going to the hospital and see if any of the survivors recognize that 
guy." He answered sensing Knox's silent question.

 "Oh. Right."



 The main hospital complex in Alpha City was larger than the EDF building. In 
a worst case senario it could treat a third of the city's populace at one 
time. Marc never liked it. It reminded him just how much Earth was suffering 
the Gamilon war.

 "Good morning sir. May I help you?", asked the receptionist. Marc asked about 
the survivors from the fire the day before. The receptionist gave him 
directions and he and Knox headed for the lifts. 

 "Wow what a fox.", muttered Knox.

 "Excuse me?"

 "The receptionist sarge. C'mon sarge it's 11:00. You should be awake by now."

 "Yeah. She's cute."

 "You've gotta get out more often sarge."

 The two MP's arrived at the floor and began to question survivors.

 "Yes, I remember him.", said one of the victims. "He can't be the one. He 
worked in the center. Was always helping everyone. He can't be responsible."

 "I'm afraid I have witnesses that say he was insighting the riot. Do you know 
his name?", asked Marc.

 "Drew, yes that was his name. I never got his last name though."

 "Thank you sir. I hope you feel better soon." Marc stood up and walked over 
to Knox. "Any progress?"

 "I've got three people that would swear on a bible that he wasn't the one who 
started it."

 "Did you get a last name?"

 "No, just Drew"

 "This makes me more sure that he's the one. Okay let's go."

 "Where to next?"

 "Labor exchange. They keep records of who's employed where."

 

 The amphitheater in Alpha City was small compared to their surface 
counterparts but it was sufficient for the amount of people in the city. 
Workmen were still putting things together. They weren't being paid. It was 
just something to keep them busy. It was being prepared for a concert. A big 
concert. On a scaffolding Andrew Dace tightened a bolt on a spotlight.



 "Here he is. Andrew Dace.", said Marc as he viewed the screen. "Here's his 
address too. Perhaps my luck is starting to change?"



 Within an hour Marc had a search warrent and a squad of moving to the 
address. Upon arrival they found the room abandoned. 

 "Damn it!", exclaimed Winters.

 "Hey sarge it's not that bad. We definitely know it's him now."

 "Yeah, but where is he?"

 "Well, the relief center was an inside job. Mabye he's looking for another 
target."

 "Knox, you're a genius.", said Marc out of the blue.

 "I am?"

 "Yes. If he's gonna try again he'll probably follow the same MO. Let's go 
back to the labor exchange and find out where Andrew Dace is working today."




 High on the scaffolding Dace continued his work. He installed the last 
spotlight and was sitting down to take a short break. From his vantage it 
wasn't difficult to see the MPs move in. Dace began to panic. A cold sweat 
started down his face. Marc's men came onto the stage and scanned the 
area for him. One of the workers pointed to the scaffolding. Marc grabbed a 
bullhorn.

 "Andrew Dace. We have you surrounded. Come down and you won't get hurt."

 "Won't get hurt? Yeah, right.",Andrew mumbled to himself. He looked around 
for an escape route. He found one in the form of a cable that lead up to the 
ceiling. It was far away but he had no other course. Marc watched as the 
desperate Dace jumped for the cable.

 "NO!",screamed Marc as Dace missed the cable and fell to his death. 

 "Well, that's that.", said Knox in a deadpan tone.

 "Yes.",answered Marc half-heartedly. "We're forgetting something."

 "What?"

 "Where is the bomb this time?",Marc scanned around and spotted one of the 
workmen. "Pardon me sir. What was he working on?"

 "He installed all the lights and electrics.",answered the man.

 "Bingo. Sir, get your people out of here. We may have a bomb here." The man 
complied, gathered all the workers and led them out. "Knox, call in the bomb 
squad."



 The bomb squad worked on the system for a few hours and defused the threat. 
The bomb squad leader came over to Marc.

 "Very nifty work. This guy was either a certified genius or a complete 
wacko. The electrics were set to overload after the lights were on for an 
hour. If we hadn't found this the whole theatre would've been leveled."

 "I see."




 Later back at the tac room everyone had been around to congradulate Marc for 
cracking the case. On the airbus ride home Marc got a seat and didn't have to 
give it up.


                                   

                                    END