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发表于 2008-10-1 22:38:07
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“Listen,” Campbell said. “Even the existence of this genome army is a national secret of the highest order. We had been hoping to investigate this thing quietly and deal with it behind closed doors.”
Snake sighed and said, “Okay. How many genome soldiers do they have with them?”
“Dozens,” Campbell answered.
“Don’t tell me,” Snake said. “I’m going in alone.”
Campbell allowed himself a smile. “Is there any other way?”Snake turned to Dr. Hunter. “What the hell was in that shot?”
“An antifreezing peptide to protect you from the cold. It also contains nanomachines to replenish adrenaline, nutrition, and sugars. And to top it off, there are nootropics- a class of drugs that will help improve your mental functioning.” The woman’s eyes sparkly; she seemed pleased with herself.
“Aren’t you jumping the gun? I haven’t said yes yet.” Snake nodded at Campbell. “Why are you involved in this, Colonel? I thought you’d retired, too.”
Snake detecked a slight hesitation when Campbell replied. “Not too many people know FOXHOUND as well as I do.”
“Yeah? And what’s the real reason?”
“Okay, I’ll be frank. A person very dear to me is one of the hostages. My niece, Meryl Silverburgh.”
“What was she doing there?”
“She’s one of us, an operative, although a very young and inexperienced one. She was assigned to the Shadow Moses Facility as an intern, so to speak. When several of the base soldiers were reported missing, she was called in as an emergency replacement. No sooner had she arrived than the revolt occurred.”
“Has she been in contact with you?”
“No. We believe that either she’s in hiding or she’s a prisoner along with oter civilian employees there. I don’t dare think of the, umh, other possibility.”
Snake narrowed his eyes at Campbell. “Why would you allow someone so green to be sent here?”
“It was her choice. She was my little brother’s girl. He and Meryl’ smother never married, so Meryl used her mother’s last name. My brother died in the Gulf War when she was ten years old, and since then I’ve been watching after her. She’s old enough to make her own decisions, although she’s not even twenty yet. She’s a good soldier, Snake. She’s quite adept at hand weapons, and I think you’ll find she’s quite good at stealth. She knows her way around computers and electric circuitry as well. If you can find her, she could be a valuable ally once you’re inside.”
Snake didn’t particularly want a teenage girl an an ally, no matter how good she was at repairing burned-out wall outlets.
He sighed again and asked, “What do I have to do?”
Campbell almost couldn’t contain his joy that his most trusted operative had more or less agreed to the mission. “You’ll have two objectives. First, you need to infiltrate the facility and rescue two VIP hostages.”
“Your niece and who else? ”
“Not my niece. She’s not the objective. If you can find her, great.” Campbell looked down. “But if you can’t, then-”
“I’ll find her. Who are the two VIPs?”
“DARPA chief Donald Anderson, and the president of ArmsTech, Kenneth Baker. ”
Snake nodded. He knew that DARPA was the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. ArmsTech was the corporation that supplied weapons and arms research for the U.S. military. Heavy-duty hostages.
“What business did those guys have at a nuclear weapons disposal facility?”
“The truth is that secret exercises were being conducted at the time the terrorist group attacked.”
“Huh, Must’ve been pretty important exercises if those two were involved. What were they doing, testing some new kind of weapon?”
“I’m not privy to that information.”
“Well, who’s in charge of this operation, Colonel?”
“The president of the United States, Snake. ”
“So if the terrorists have a nuke, shouldn’t the president and his cronies issue a COG?”
“Not yet. Jim Houseman has operational control and is fully aware of the situation. After you infiltrate, if you determine they possess nuclear launch capabilities, a COG will be issued.”
Then it was clear. Houseman was the U.S. secretary of defense and a member of the mysterious OSI, an FBI-like organization that conducted criminal investigations among military employees, soldiers, and related civilians. His service record dated back to the Vietnam days. Snake nodded and said, “I see. And what’s the second objective?”
“It’s what I just said. You need to investigate whether the terrorists really have the ability to launch a nuclear strike – and stop them if they do. They’ve already told us they have a warhead, and they gave us the serial number. It was confirmed as authentic
“Isn’t there some kind of safety device to prevent this page of terrorism?”.
“Uh-huh. Every missile and warhead in our arsenal is equipped with a PAL that uses a discrete detonation code.
“PAL?”
“Permissive Action Link. That’s the safety control built into all nuclear weapons systerms. But even so, we can’t rest easy. The DARPA chief knows the detonation code”
“Sheesh. That means it’ll be on the front page of the National Enquirer tomorrow. But even if they have a nuclear warhead, it must have been removed from its missile. All the missiles on these disposal sites are supposed to be dismantled, right? It’s not that easy to get your hands on an ICBM. Right?”
“That used to be true, Snake, but since the end of the Cold War, you can get anything if you have enough money and the right connections. Do you understand the seriousness of the situation now?”
Snake stood and stretched. “Okay, I guess you have me, Colonel. But you owe me. Big time.”
“Your country won’t forget it, Snake. By the way, I’m not a colonel anymore. I’m just a retired old warhorse.”
“Sure… Colonel. I assume this is a weapons and equipment OSP.”
“On Site Procurement is the norm; you know that. We’ll outfit you with a SOCOM going in, though.”
“A handgun? Damn, Colonel…Hope that doesn’t put you over budget.”
“Cut the sarcasm, Snake. Remember, this is top-secret black ops. Don’t except any official support. We’ll be in constant contact through your Codec, you know, provide you with maps and tactical advice- you know the drill.”
“Tell me more about the facility.”
“Unfortunately, it’s primarily a hardened underground base. Even with our most advanced intelligence-gathering equipment, we can’t tell what’s happening on the inside.”
“Peachy. Who else is on the team?”
“Let’s go in the control room. I’ll introduce you. Oh, uhm, after you’re dressed.”
The colonel and Dr. Hunter left the room while Snake donned the special skintight suit that had been in the room when he’d arrived. “Ten minutes later, he emerged, looking more like the Solid Snake combat operative Colonel Campbell had known.”
The control room was the hotbed of mission activity. Workstations were arranged in a circle, with each member of the team positioned at a designated station responsible for a single aspect of the mission. As commander, Campbell usually remained in the center of the circle, having easy access to each workstation.
First, Campbell introduced Snake to a very young Chinese girl who sat at a bank of computers. Snake thought she was definitely a babe but way too young for him.
“This is Mei Ling. She’s our communications officer, specializes in image and data processing. Besides mine, you’ll hear her voice a lot through the Codec’s in-ear transmitter.”
“Hello,” she said with a smile.
The codec, he reflected, was an ingenious invention. The Codifying Satellite Communication Systerm incorporated anti wiring coding, digital real-time burst communication, sonarutilization, and radar. Normal communication was instantly codified, compressed, and transmitted in a bust one microsecond in length. However, Snake could receive it in real time, unscrambled and decoded. Special earplugs received the transmission and stimulated the small bones of his ear so that no onebut him would hear the sound. And he could contact any member of the team with a speed-dial button corresponding to his or her code frequency.
Snake thought Mei Ling resembled a manga character come to life. He shook her hand. “I didn’t expect a designer of world-class military technology to be so cute.”
She gave him a sideways glance. “You’re just flattering me.”
“I’m serious! Now I know I won’t be bored for the next twenty-four, er, eighteen hours.”
“Hmm, I can’t believe I’m being hit on by the famous Solid Snake.”
Campbell led Snake to another computer bank, switched on a monitor, and fiddled with a knob until the image of a woman in her thirties appeared on the screen. She had short blond hair and East European appearance.
“This is Nastasha Romanenko, our nuclear weapons expert. She analyzes military hardware and ordnance. She’s you tech guru via Codec, Snake.”
“I am so very glad to meet you, Snake,” the women said.
Snake pinpointed the dialect. “Ukraine,” he said.
“How did you know?”
“I guessed, Is that where you are? Ukraine?”
“No, I’m in sunny southern California. LA.”
“Lucky you.”
Campbell continued. “Dr. Hunter you’ve already met. She’ll be the medical officer on the mission. Did you know her grandfather was Hoover’s assistant secretary in the FBI?”
“Is that so?” Snake asked. “And that gives you the qualifications to be chief medical officer?”
“No, but remember, I’ve already seen you naked.”
“Do I get a prize for that?”
Dr. Hunter gave him a wicked smile and retorted, “Well, if you make it back in one piece, maybe I’ll let you see me naked.”
“Whoa! Colonel, when do I start?”
“Settle down, Snake. Do you have any questions? Real ones, that is?”
“No, but I wish you’d rustle Master Miller out of retirement. I miss his cranky pep talks.”
Snake had hoped hat former FOXHOUND trainer and mentor, whose real name was McDonnel Benedict Miller, would be present. Miller also had retired to the Alaskan wilderness, but Snake had not crossed paths with him in years.
Campbell chuckled. “Snake, you’ll be happy to know that Master Miller has agreed to support you with aid via the Codec.”
“You found him?”
“Not exactly. But we’re in touch. Don’t be surprised if you suddenly hear his voice when you’re surrounded by a dozen genome soldiers.”
A navy serviceman entered the room and saluted. “Colonel, we’re approaching the launch site.”
“Thank you, Ensign,” Campbell said. He returned the salute and addressed Snake. “Get the rest of your gear on. We don’t have much time.”
TODAY
AND HERE HE WAS. Less than twelve hours earlier, he had been dreaming of huskies and berries. Now he crouched behind a filtration tank, ready to make his move.
Snake heard boots on metal somewhere above him. He carefully peered around the side and saw two soldiers at the other end of the cargo dock. A man wearing a brown trench coat was with them as they approached the freight elevator.
“I’m going to swat down a couple of bothersome flies,” the man told the soldier, speaking with polished elocution. “Stay alert. He’ll be through here; I know it.”
“I see someone wearing a duster,” Snake whispered, the Codec picking up his words, “I think it might be Revolver Ocelot.”
“Can you get a positive ID?” Campbell asked, his voice somewhere in the recesses of Snake’s ears.
The man in the trench coat stepped into the elevator and turned around, facing Snake.
“Negative. Wait. He turned this way. Colonel, it’s not Ocelot.”
It was the leader himself- Liquid Snake. |
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