"Black Caiman here. Do you hear me, Nest?" I tapped my mask headband quickly.
"Loud and Clear, Caiman. Have you found the root cause yet?" Commodore Quentin quickly replied.
"About that…" I said, as I clear my throat, "We are in fact, inside the root cause."
"Hmmh… please enlighten me…" he responded right away with an interested tone.
I told him the whole situation that had happened right from where we had first began to ascend to the peak of the volcano, especially the part where we suddenly came across a dying alien vomiting out its black liquid blood from its mouth as it screamed out a disturbingly eerie voice. Then, I continued to tell him about dozens of similar dead aliens scattered along our way to the peak. I paused for a moment right after I told him that there was nothing that we found when we had reached the peak, because I knew that he might want to make sure about it.
"How could you be so sure that there was nothing there?" he quickly asked, just like I had predicted earlier. "Was it because that the volcano ashes were too thick that you could barely see anything around you?"
"Indeed… that was one of the reasons, but there was also another point…" I replied to him.
"Okay, I am all ears." he said, indicating that he became more interested with what I had to say.
I mentioned that while we had found nothing even after we had went around the outer crater of the volcano, a sudden emergence of an alien from right behind Billy made us curious as to how could it be out on right where it was the most dangerous spot for them. I continued by explaining that it was Billy's idea all along that made us to search for its footprints. At first, it seemed like we would not be able to find anything, but eventually we came across its footprints that led us to an entrance to the tunnel.
When I finally mentioned that the end of the tunnel had a similar feature like the interior of the mothership back in three years earlier, I could hear that Commodore Quentin began to hum a little inside his mask, implying that he had begun to grasp the condition that the three of us had been into. It was when I finished explaining to him by mentioning the same bright purple light and sound suppressed floor that he finally understood.
"So that is why you said that you are now inside the root cause." he said with a calm tone. "Because the three of you are now in fact, had gone inside the motherhsip…"
"Regarding our next step, sir." I responded before asking. "Should we continue to proceed deeper into this mothership, or should we return to the rendezvous point?'
Commodore Quentin went silent, completely without any sound and not even a single fuzzy noise were heard. I briefly turned to both Billy and Jessica, and the two of them only looked back at me with a confused expression while Billy also shook his head, implying that he could not hear anything either. Thankfully, Commodore Quentin came back on again right away.
"If you are to proceed further…" he said, before he paused for a little moment. "When do you think the three of you will get back here?"
"I can give you no guarantees, sir." I said by forwarding my honest opinion. "Although, apparently after we can pinpoint the location of the leader of this mothership."
"And how long do you think will it take?" he asked me, very quickly.
"Thirty minutes, more or less…" I answered him, although somehow also with doubt inside me.
"Why do you sound so sure about it?" he chuckled.
"Honestly, sir? Gut feeling…" I sighed.
"Heh… fair enough. I can see why I will never dislike you for your honesty, Caiman…" he responded while laughing a little.
I then continued by saying that unlike three years ago, the three of us would be only to look for the mothership's leader before going outside and rushed back to the rendezvous point. I also mentioned that I would try to keep an eye out if there were any reserve Beetle Hovering Objects resting inside the mothership and other types of unseen terrestrial objects as well. However, just then my watch had begun to blink and vibrated with a continuous and rhythmic interlude.
"So in conclusion, the three of you are to find and locate the leader, and no more than that. Once you do, you are to return here as fast as possible." Commodore Quentin said.
"Exactly, sir. Permission to proceed?" I responded to him, as the gap between each interlude on my watch's blink and vibration were getting shorter.
"Permission granted. Stay on full alert, Caiman." he ended.
I quickly turned to Billy, who also had his watch blinking and vibrating with the exact same rhythm as mine. At first, it did not occur to my mind to also ask Commodore Quentin if he also had his watch blinking and vibrating in the exact same manner, until the rhythm was fast enough that it eventually began to make me annoyed.
"Uh, sir…" I said to him. "Is your watch by any chance currently vibrating and blinking?"
"Yes… it is…" he responded me quickly with a sigh. "How can you know?"
"Because currently, Golden Jackal's watch is also both blinking and vibrating with the same rhythm." I told him as I turned to Billy again.
Just then, a small and faint screeching sound was heard from our mask radio. I thought that it had happened only to me, but it turned out that both Billy and Jessica also reacted in reflex to the sudden strange noise. It would also most likely mean that both Commodore Quentin and Commander General Girsang had experienced the same from their mask radio.
"Well, well… I see that two of the Anti-Extraterrestrial heroes are gathered here…" said an unfamiliar voice.
"Who are you…" I responded quickly.
"It has been three hours since our… last pleasant conversation." he answered me, revealing himself to be the man who had said that he was a top brass in the Pentagon. "So, what will your answer be, Lieutenant Burners?"
"Well, are not you curious about that?" I replied to him, as I also had completely not expecting that he would actually hack into our short radius radio system.
"Ah… as I have thought. You are indeed the type who will always want to read and comprehend the whole situation." he answered me again, somehow with that annoying tone of him. "A quite thorough young man… I like that…"
At that point, I knew full well that he would most likely realize I had just been trying to stall my answer by asking and telling him unnecessary words. For a brief moment, I was at loss for words, since I did not know how to respond to the situation unless to give in. However, I somehow had the instinct that told me to keep on stalling, and hopefully I could drain some of his patience, even if only a little.
"You do realize that you are intruding a local short radius radio system, belonging to a highly classified and official operation of a global security organization, do not you?" I asked him as I desperately dug my mind out of everything that might stall him further.
"Oh, do not worry about me, Lieutenant…" he said in a very calm tone. "I know exactly what I am doing…"
Just then, Billy suddenly also responded to the man's words, most likely because he was already too irritated just by listening to his voice and the words that came out of his mouth.
"I take it that someone from my force also has something to do with you then, Big Shot?!" he said with an upset tone, just as I was about to hold him from saying anything.
"Ah… of course… where are my manners…" he quickly replied. "My apologies for not greeting you earlier, Lieutenant Billy Azir Mubarak... I admire at how you led your injured team to counter the terrorists some time in the past, despite the heavy casualties…"
"I will take that as a 'yes'…" Billy ended his words, as he then shook his head when he looked at me.
"My… am I glad to find out that you are indeed… as sharp as you are mentioned as well… yet also emotional…" the man continued, revealing that he also had read Billy's profile from unknown source.
With how things turned out, I was made all the way more confused as how to stall him any longer since no matter what I or the others said, he always seemed to be able to provide a single calm, and conclusive response that would eventually lead back to his question. At that moment, I also had no doubt that he would have read both Commodore Quentin's and Commander General Girsang's profile as well, most possibly from the same informants.
"Who is this?" Commander General Girsang also finally responded.
"Oh, that is right…" the man said, as if he had also wanted to drag the Commander General into the conversation in the first place. "Lieutenant Burners, would you be so kind to let the Commander General know a little more about me?
"Why should I?" I asked him back in an annoyed tone. "It is not like you are mute, and-"
"So that we can all finish this small talk, and get on to the damn business, that is why…" he quickly replied, cutting off my words.
For a brief moment, I had a slight hint that even though the man had stayed calm during the whole conversation, he had begun to actually lose his patience, even if only a little. However, since I could not be completely sure just yet, I had no choice but to go along with what he had told me.
I began by telling Commodore Quentin and Commander General Girsang that exactly on 07.00 a.m. of Western Indonesian Time, I received a transmission from someone who admitted that he was a top brass in the Pentagon. He demanded me to provide him with a physical prove of an extraterrestrial invasion in a land other than U.S., or else he would send and explode a Direct Energy Weapon directly into my last known position.
I also added that I would have to kill both Billy and Jessica as well if I were to agree to his demands and in return he would provide me a freedom from court martial for conducting unauthorized military activity in a foreign soil, and also for using a U.S. military weapon in a foreign soil without any authorization as well. I could only close both my eyes for a brief moment and desperately tried to stay calm as I had finally finished saying it.
"Good." the man said with a satisfied tone. "Then, we can now get into the main topic. So what will your answer be, Lieutenant Burners?"
I took a long deep breath, as I had finally mustered up the courage to say what I believed to be the right thing to say.
"Only a fool would want to take your offer…" I said, short.
"Is that so…" he quickly replied, with a little upset tone. "Are you really sure that you do not have any second thoughts, especially since I have not said that I accept your answer? I believe that you would not want to receive a dishonorable discharge… especially considering your family background…"
I had to admit that for a brief moment, I almost had my temper rose up to my head. But thankfully, I was able to get the heated temper cooled down rather quickly. Instead, I tried my luck by turning the words that he had just said to be a mock towards himself.
"And I believe that you are not deaf." I replied to him with a louder tone. "Therefore, with all due respect, I also believe that you heard exactly what I said."
"I see…" he responded, somehow with a little angry tone on his words. "Well then…"
He then said that he had changed his mind. The time for firing the Direct Energy Weapon would not be thirty hours after our first conversation via the Morse code communication, but instead it would be exactly at 0.00 p.m. of Western Indonesian Time, which was less than two hours of the current time. He sounded like he was not bluffing in the slightest, but I forced myself to not be afraid of his words.
"I always knew that imbeciles like you will never get to keep their words in the end…" I replied to him still with the same loud tone.
"Oh my…" he said, not only with the same little angry tone but also quicker, "you may want to say that to your supervisor, Lieutenant…"
"And you may want to reconsider yourself as a top brass in the Pentagon, an Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the U.S. Department of Defense, no less." I continued, finally beginning to feel like I had succeeded in lighting up his anger.
"Whatever do you mean by-" he replied with yet a little quicker tone than earlier before I cut his words off.
"You said that you are the Assistant to the Chairman, yet you failed to keep the country's secret from leaking to the ears of the foreign soil just now." I told him, referring to his deliberate revelation about the Direct Energy Weapon to both Commander General Girsang and Billy.
"Listen to me, you-" he tried to respond, but I cut his words off again.
"You thought yourself that by holding such an important position, you no longer see the need to set a good example to your fellow soldiers." I continued, referring to his revelation about his dirty blackmailing technique towards both Commodore Quentin and me.
"I believe I still have the right to-" he said, a few moments before I cut it yet again.
"If anything, I believe that you are but a mere imbecile who do not deserve your chair in the pentagon in the slightest!" I finally shouted to the man.
"WATCH YOUR MOUTH, BOY!!" the man finally lost his temper.
"Fine, say what you want. But remember, your clock… is ticking…" he continued, with a loud tone.
"And why should we be afraid of your little sunlight?" I said, trying to taunt him.
"Because this… sunlight that you mentioned just now, has been enhanced with the technology from outer space, and ironically it was found alongside the mess that you made three years ago!" he replied with a furious tone.
"What are you talking about?" I asked him as I pretended to chuckle, "They had already sunk them all down into the bottom of the great lake. Are you sure that you read the reports right? Because if not, then I never thought that the Assistant to the Chairman would actually give an open statement while he is completely drunk."
"Well then, let me tell you." the man answered, still in a furious tone. "I had secretly obtained an important element from that alien mothership before it was sunken!"
In an instant, I was brought into a complete shock. Not because of what he revealed to all five of us, but because my original plan to light up his anger had actually gone better than I had thought. For a brief moment, I was about to laugh because I could actually lead someone dirty with a high position to a trap with just words.
"Please tell me that every bit of this conversation is all recorded and stored somewhere, Nest." I then switched to Commodore Quentin.
"Crystal Clear and Perfectly Clean, Caiman. As long as any of these masks are still around, we are good." Commodore Quentin replied quickly, implying that we had then created an evidence of a blackmail from a top brass in the Pentagon, and not just one, but five evidences.
"WHAT?!!" the man suddenly stuttered.
"You see, Mick…" Commodore Quentin continued, revealing the man's first name. "A few years ago, when two of these… children were still hospitalized, I gave you a fair warning to stop and end your twisted game while you were still in your safe boat."
"Gabe, you…!" the man was completely at lost for words.
"You may think, or rather hope desperately right now, that the Direct Energy Weapon will hit us all here before we can escape right when the volcano will erupt again." Commodore Quentin said. "But no, we will all prevail, and guess what? You better start paddling your sinking boat to a shore now, Vice Admiral Mickey Stone!"
"GABE!! DAMN YOU!!" the man shouted just as he ended the call.
Suddenly, I could felt a slight tremor from all of the walls of the corridor, indicating that it was coming from the earthquake outside. With how things had turned out, we had no choice but to start searching for the mothership leader. It might be a waste of time, but with what had happened earlier, at least we had one more ultimate purpose for ending the whole incident with our own hands…