The Runaway

RUNAWAY

EARTH – BELGIUM, NOVEMBER 1989
NATO MILITARY HOSPITAL
(Yes, this is Trek)

Brian Newman stared at the picture on the wall again. It was a nice field painting, but rather cruel, considering. He didn’t have a window, being 3 levels below ground, but the room was plush and decorated. After being transferred to this facili mon months ago, he had been plotting his escape. These things would take time. He knew full well that General Morris wouldn’t let him just walk out of here. In fact, Brian doubted that he would ever leave this facility alive. That was why he was being “treated” here, instead of in the U.S.
Morris was racked with guilt; Brian saw that much. He was Morris’ creation, and he felt responsible for everything that Brian did, and everything he was. But he more than anyone, aside from a few Soviet prison guards, knew how “skilled” Brian really was.

A buzzer sounded, indicating that someone was coming into the room. He didn’t have to face the wall with his hands behind his head anymore, but he still had to stand against the back wall. They were staring to relax. Almost time now.
Doctor Hoffman, a military psychologist and aide to General Morris, entered the room. “They’re almost ready for your debriefing Mr. Newman. How do you feel today?”
“Fine, I guess. It’s a little cold in here.”
“Well I’m sure we can take care of that. Before we go up, do you feel the need to tell me anything? Has anything been bothering you? I’m sure if you feel uncomfortable about the debriefing…”
“No, that’s alright. Let’s just get this over with,” said Brian.

Newman was truly surprised at the relaxation of security since his arrival. When moving outside his room, he no longer had to be shackled like a death row prisoner anymore; simple handcuffs were fine. And the guards no longer aimed their MP5 rifles at his head constantly. He was even allowed outside a couple of times a week.
Almost time, he thought.

CAFETERIA

The review board from Washington was seated on a small stage behind a long folding table. The cafeteria was cleared and secured. Brian Newman was led into the room and seated at a smaller table in front of the stage. Everyone else sat behind him. The board members, who would not reveal their names, referred to themselves with numbers. Number 1 spoke, “I want to remind everyone that these proceedings are classified at the highest level. We’ll start by reviewing Mr. Newman’s mission profile, and go from there, leading up to his capture and 3-year incarceration in Koblosk 415. We’ve already read his treatment record here at the hospital, so we can dispense with that. Any questions?”
The inquiry started. The mission profile the board members already knew, but to the limited staff and g con contingent that was allowed to sit in, it was absolutely fantastic. Brian Newman was one of twelve operatives specially trained for clandestine operations. They were trained to be placed in enemy territory and operate for months, even years with little or no material or logistical support. They were totally independent, much like walking time bombs. These operatives were usually giveninglingle objective and a recommended time frame for accomplishment. In China, destruction of a new hydroelectric dam. In South America, the destabilization of a government, prompting U.S. intervention. And in the Soviet Union, there was Brian Newman.
Brian began to describe to the board how he infiltrated into the USSR. A flight from London, to Madrid, to Oslo, then to Moscow, all under false names and identities. Getting in was easy, getting out was not. Especially after his mission was over. Once inside, Newman had made his way west to the Ukraine, and to a certain nuclear power plant.
“And you mission was to sabotage the Chernobyl reactor building? Were you given specific orders to detonate it Mr. Newman, or just incapacitate it?” said the man known as Number 6. He seemed openly hostile to Newman and the project he had been involved in. Brian disliked him on sight.
Brian looked at Number 1. “I don’t think Newman is at liberty to say,” Number 1 said. “He was tasked with the overall disruption of Soviet military/industrial and generaonomonomic institutions. Let’s move on.”
“Ok,” said 6, “Then let me re-phrase the question. Were you aware of the potential danger of your actions?”
“No,” Brian said.
No one was. More than 35 million people in the Chernobyl area received serious dosages of radiation. 15 million of those people received an over-dose ranging from 100 and up to 4,000 times acceptable safe levels. 65 to 80 percent of the whole content of reacreactor was thrown out into the global environment. Thactoactor produced 520 different dangerous radio-nuclides, among them radioactive iodine, which is taken up by human thyroid glands, especially in children, in the most dangerous way. 66% of the whole territory of the Ukraine was contaminated, Russia's "Bread Basket", similar to the Great Plains of North America. 90% of Western Russia territory was contaminated and greatly affected. Preliminary radiation maps indicated 30 - 40 percent of Western Russia had been contaminated. Livestock started producing radioactive milk. Then there were the genetic changes in the health of children who lived in these contaminated areas. Traces of the radioactive cloud went from Chernobyl to the Ural Mountains and to the Novosibirsk region, and were even detected in the American state of Washington.

“What details can you give us about the reactor itself?” asked Number 2.

Newmantinntinued, “I had known about analysis carried out before the incident. Prior to that, it was determined that Chernobyl was a prime target because we suspected the design was not good. Reports showed that in every project, which used that type of reactor blocks (RBMK-large capacity reactor-boilers), there were at least 32 mistakes in the design itself, and according to every one of these flaws, these blocks were susceptible to explosion. This information was kept secret by the KGB,” said Newman. “It was relatively easy to infiltrate the facility as a worker, and during a test of the reactor, start the sequence of events that led to en explosion.”

“And what were those?”

“When the test began, the power plant's capacity unexpectedly increased. I was able to lower the control rods into the cooling water, and they became deformed because of the large increase in heat and steam pressure. Pressure in the reactor became so high that the fuel elements burst and small particles landed in the water. More cooling water turned into steam and pressure in the tubes increased, which started a chain reaction. They burst. The 1000-ton lid above the fuel elements was lifted - the first explosion. The release of radiation started. Air got into the reactor. There was enough oxygen to start a graphite fire. The metal of the fuel tubes reacted with the water. The chemical reaction produced hydrogen. This hydrogen exploded - the second explosion. That’s what I anticipated, and what I was told afterwards,” Brian said.

“You said the KGB knew about potential flaws. Did they suspect sabotage?”

“I don’t know,” said Newman. “I do know that two scientists in Germany were apparently murdered when they started telling the truth and went public with the cover-up which was taking place. Shortly after, I was captured.”
“I assume then that there was no trial?” asked 6.
Brian looked at him squarely. “No,” he said, “No trial.”
“What can you tell us about the interior of the reactor, Mr. Newman?”
“The main hatch to the carbon chamber was an octagon, nound,und, as suspected. It was held in place by 8 heavy cast chromium bolts that…”

With a sudden burst of strength, Brian kicked the table in front of him up and forward, towards the board. Almost instantly, he grabbed his chair and flung it behind him as hard as he could towards one of two guards placed in the room. By the time the chair had left his hand, he was already running towards the window. He hed hed it with his elbow, which was painful, but worth it is ops opinion, and dove through it.
He hit the ground running and headed to the tree line, and then disappeared. He was almost there before the alarms even sounded. The compound security staff was baffled at how quickly Brian vanished. They scoured they surrounding area, but found absolutely no traces of him. Even the dogs could not pick up his trail.
Newman’s main problem wasn’t escaping, but rather where to go? He had no family and no home to go to. He sat in the tallest tree of the hospital grounds for two days pondering it. While the search spread out over the Belgian countryside, he stayed right under their noses. What Brian didn’t know, or probably wouldn’t have cared about if he did, was what was happening in the skies above him.

ACTUAL ASSOCIATED PRESS RELEASE:

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The air force and police are investigating numerous UFO
sightings near the border with the Netherlands andt Get Germany, officials said
yesterday.

Since Nov. 29, dozens of people and police officials in the northeastern Liege
province said they've seen luminous objects in the sky, with some of them
describing a flying platform scanning the surface with three huge searchlights,
while others talk of dancing lights.

During the same period, air traffic controllers "found radar blips on the
screens that could not be immediately explained," said Defense Ministry
spokesman Col. Michael Mandel.

At the time of the sightings there were no authorized low-level flights in the
region. "We are looking for a rational explanation," he said.

Although Mandel cast doubts on several witness accounts, the Belgian Society
for the Study of Space Phenomenon said yesterday it would send members to the
German-speaking region in Liege and across the border in the Netherlands and
West Germany this weekend.
AP (89/12/9) DCS


HOSPITAL YARD

On the third evening since his escape, after things had cooled down a bit at the hospital, Brian dropped down from his tree and knelt down on the ground. It was good to stretch his legs after a while. Sooner or later, he had to leave. If anything, to find some warm clothes. He could spend several more days in colder temperatures with only light clothing, but it still wasn’t comfortable. Now would be as good a time as any. He was close enough to the wall to climb over, carefully avoiding a rotating security camera right above him. On the other side he ran into the wooded are that surrounded part of the countryside, and then simply walked away. On a small rural road, he passed a family having a late birthday party at a picnic area. Brian smiled, waved, and kept walking. They smiled and waved back. It was the last time anyone from the 20th century would lay eyes on Brian Newman.

Newman stole some clothes and continued his journey through the woods. His plan was to make for Rotterdam, and blend in one of the world’s largest ports. Then it was a slow boat ride to anywhere.
After about an hour he noticed lights and vehicle noises coming up from behind him on the road. They were military vehicles. He didn’t know if they were already on his trail, but he couldn’t take any chances. He ducked into the tree line and hid. Brian could tell that they were looking for something. The trucks slowed, then stopped. Through the darkness he could see soldiers pouring out of them and dispersing into the woods. The only thing was, they were going into the woods on the opposite side of the road. Curious, Brian poked his head out of the bushes a little more, and then he had the strangest feeling that someone was watching him. After years in his line of work, is was dangerous to ignore such feeling. He froze and listened. There was definitely someone coming up behind him. One of Morris’ commandos, most likely. Then the trucks were probably a diversion. Very clever, but it took more than that to take down Brian Newman. When he thought the person was close enough, he turned sharply, staying low to the ground and grabbed at his would-be attacker's legs. The person was caught off guard, but not completely. He and Brian grabbed each other, but the other was too strong. He shoved Brian down, and was about to fall on top of him, but Brian kicked him square in the crotch. An oldie but a goodie, he thought. The man groaned, thenthen decided that he had had enough. Brian followed with an upward punch to the chin, and immediately followed that with a hit to the neck. The man had lost interest in fighting and tried to leave, but not before grabbing Brian by the midsection and tossing him in the air against a tree. Then the attacker ran away, deeper into the woods. Brian didn’t like anyone to get the best of him, so he pursued his assailant, but then thought this might be part of a clever trap. No, he had to get away, not seek revenge. The guy probably intended for Newman to follow him, then he would run into a spotlight where several armed men would surround him, and then he would be dead. Ok then, he thought. He could go the other way, but that’s where he saw the soldiers going that arrived in the trucks.
Hmm.


There were several options. He could challenge the lone attacker again, but he didn’t want to waste energy and time fighting when he didn’t have to. He could risk the squad of soldiers on the opposite side of the road. He could hijack one of the trucks, but then that was like wearing a flashing sign on his head that said, “here I am.” He certainly couldn’t stay where he was for too much longer.

If the authorities were planning some sort of elaborate trap, he couldn’t figure it out. He decided to travel back on his side of the woods, following the guy who jumped him. Next time, Brian thought, I’ll take him down diatdiately. It was already cold, but soon, after a few hours of night, it would get below freezing. Moving would keep him warm. Brian was able to move silently through the foliage, always listening to the surroundings. He could hear faint sounds of someone up ahead moving away. Whoever his attacker was, he certainly wasn’t trying to hide his presence. So this must be a trap, Newman thought. We’ll see.

About 100 meters into the woods, he realized that he didn’t have a clear idea of where he was heading. It was already dark in the sky, but inside the woods it was pitch black. If he wasn’t careful, he would wind up lost. Forget it, he thought. Brian turned back to the road, when he noticed a faint light to his right. He stopped. He could hear in the cold night air, the faint whisper of voices. While he couldn’t make out what they were saying, he could tell there were at least three of them. The light apparently came from some equipment one of them was holding. And then something funny occurred to him. He could almost sense the presence of another person, in between himself and the newcomers. All at once, his former attacker rose up from the forest floor 3 meters in front of him and sprinted in his direction. But Brian was ready this time. He was through with games. As the shadow man got close enough, Brian leaped up simultaneously launching a vicious chop to the man’s throat again. The man went down, and as Brian stood over him, he heard the man moan. Brian grabbed at this throat and prepared to end the man’s life as sure as squashing an annoying insect, when a yellow light lashed out of the darkness and hit him in the chest. He felt his nervous system shut down, and a second before he blacked out, he thought he heard voices running up to him, but then everything went black. It was a clever trap indeed.