STERLING

 

Wednesday January 15 - 0548 MST

Two hours after Turbocharger was stopped

 

The air in the gym was alive with energy as dozens of Joszef Madarasz's engineers set up shop in what was once their workshop and would be again when their work was done. This place would be our staging ground for the herculean job of restoring the Underground's systems and utilities after the thrashing they had received from the breakout. Madarasz's Airmen were gleefully smashing the mirrors that lined the walls and ripping up the carpet to make way for power lines, tool racks, and table saws.

"Be careful with those televisions." Madarasz's voice was amplified by the bull horn he carried around with him. It was the only way he could be heard above the din of the renovation efforts and the screeching cacophony that passed for music the younger generation liked to listen to. "We can reuse those."

He was, of course, correct. Those flat screens cost a fortune and there were enough of them in the gym to furnish almost every office in the Underground with one. While it might have felt righteous to scrap every part of Basser's sad legacy this was one I thought we could repurpose.

I was glad to see the engineers making progress in restoring their workshop, but I was looking forward to having my own stomping grounds brought back to life. "Joszef, how much longer do you think it will be before the CTOC is back up and running?"

Sparks rained down around us as an airman on the scaffolding above began arc-welding a new conduit into place. He stopped when he noticed me and Joszef below him. "Sorry! I didn't see you down there."

We moved out of the line of fire before Joszef answered my question. "We were very fortunate. Most of the electrical wiring was still intact. We simply needed to hook up generators to restore power to about…" he scratched his chin as he thought. "…eighty percent of the Underground. About half of the radio repeaters are still operational and we expect to be back to full operation by Friday."

That was news I needed to hear. The world's problems didn't stop because of our power outage. He also went over the plumbing problems. Something had broken the pipes outside the CTOC and flooded the corridor. That had been contained by Joszef's engineers, but what really bothered me was a report that an aquatic exo had made it into the plumbing system. There was no telling where it might pop up. So for the time being the restrooms were off limits. We would be making use of porta-potties until it was found.

But one thing Joszef mentioned really piqued my interest. During the clean up one of the engineers accidentally opened up a hole in the workshop's walls. There was an undiscovered chamber on the far side and clearly man made. That room had been there the entire time we'd occupied the Underground and this was the first we had ever heard of it. Whatever was inside set off our sparklers. Like the restrooms it was staying off limits until we had manpower available to investigate it. I had a feeling I would be leveraging Mr. Sharks's experience again since this fell into his realm. Until then a pair of SFs were standing guard over the opening 24/7 while work continued around them.

The radio on my belt chirped away as it got a signal from the Underground's newly reactivated repeaters. It was followed by C.J.'s voice. "Iron Shack Actual. Come in please."

I held up a "just a moment" finger for Joszef before pressing the transmit toggle. "Actual here. Go."

"Sir, we have two aircraft in the pattern at the airfield. I think we're going to need you here soon."

I had expected the C-130 with Alpha and Shadow to be heading back. But two? "Understood. Any idea who is in number two?"

"Sir, it belongs to the Navy."

And that wasn't a group I was expecting.