Tellus 2374

Desert Tripp

Desert Tripp

LASSV - Light Aerial Super Sonic Vehicle

Spetsnaz - Russian Special Forces

It had been two days since Müller gave the order to fire T.H.O.R. and even though he had lost friends in battle before he had a hard time getting over Heathrow. This feeling nagged him even more than the enemy's aerial strikes and all he could do to ease this feeling was telling himself that it was for the greater good. His thoughts were interrupted when the holo-com in the room began to glow and a sergeant's face showed up in the light.

"Lieutenant Colonel Müller, we could need you in the command bunker right away, sir."

Müller nodded and rose from his seat and started moving through the corridors of the underground bunker. He arrived in the war room of the command bunker where the holograms of maps and galactic leaders lit up the room in distinct colors. The sergeant who had asked if he could come to the bunker showed him to one of the holograms where he was seated and left waiting. Müller did not know what was going on and was a bit curious of what this was all about, so he kept on waiting patiently.

     Suddenly the hologram in front of him scrambled to form the picture of the Russian Spetsnaz General Vsevolod. Müller was more than startled, Russians? Spetsnaz? What have I've done wrong now?, he thought.

"Lieutenant Colonel Müller?" the Rusian asked harshly and with a strong accent.

"Yes, sir. How can I be at service?" Müller tried not to tremble in his voice.

"We have a new assignment for you. But I cannot brief you where you are now. We have a Spetsnaz LASSV waiting for you outside the south exit of the bunker."

"But where am I going, sir?" he asked, still startled.

"The location is classified. Do not let me wait for you, Lieutenant Colonel Müller." he terminated the transmission before Müller could reply.

     He stood up and looked around him a bit confused and thought, an order from a Spetsnaz general, well I really don't have a choice now, do I. He began to walk to the south exit while asking himself if there existed any reason for this happening but got no answers, this almost felt as a dream. Nightmare or not he did not know.

     As Vsevolod had said a LASSV with a Russian spec-ops emblem on the sides of it, then he realized that this was not a dream but the real thing. A fully armored soldier stepped out of the vehicle and opened the backseat door on the LASSV, Müller entered and the soldier jumped back into the driver's seat.

     Müller looked out the window of the vehicle and noticed that they were travelling south because of the position of the sun in relation to the time. He had no idea of where the Russians were taking him or for what purpose but he would soon find out.

     The vehiclestopped and the door was opened by a Russian soldier and Müller stepped out into dessert landscape. There was a lot of activity in the area, what seemed to be archeologists were running about and soldiers guarding the camp perimeter, archeologists? How odd, he thought.

A civilian dressed man came up to him and asked him to follow, he did so and was brought to a sheet steel barrack. Inside the barrack was an  assembly of multinational generals arguing about something, but Müller did not know what.

"Aah! Lieutenant Colonel Müller I presume" said one of the generals which had a typical Scandinavian look; blond hair, blue eyes, tall and a sharp shin.

"Yes, sir. I have to ask, sir, where am I?

"You are in Sahara desert" said genera Vsevolod who had summoned him a couple of hours earlier.

"Why the Sahara, sir?"

"Because here lies the secret to the salvation of Tellus... and you are the only one with the experience needed to unravel the mystery" Vsevolod said in a serious tone.