by Maxey, Phil
Brad nodded and the soldier left. He looked at Abbey. “Right. Let’s go figure out how we’re still going to be alive this time next week.”
Soon after they were sitting in the basement room, around the large conference table. Major Hoxted and three other officers were also seated. A large screen was behind her head, showing a plan view for miles in all directions. On top of it small icons and circles moved slowly across the screen.
“As you can see our radar system can pick up most E.L.F’s for up to a distance of twenty miles in all directions. That includes in the sky as well. We have full 360 degrees detection capability.”
“So we’ll know they’re coming,” said a dark-haired man in combat fatigues.
Hoxted nodded then looked at Abbey. “I should introduce who we have here. To my left, is Captain Cruz and to my right are Lieutenants, Wallace and Shaw.”
Each nodded to Abbey as she looked at them.
“So what’s the plan?” said Abbey.
Hoxted looked at a soldier at a nearby desk and the screen zoomed in to show the outpost plus a few miles of the surround areas. “We have a full company stationed here. So that means six platoons, with roughly twenty-five soldiers in each. We also have a twelve Humvees, seven of which have .50 Cal guns. Four APC’s fighting vehicles, two attack helicopters and a number of shoulder mounted missile launchers. We also have munitions and supplies to last at least two months if it comes to that.”
Wallace laughed. “I want to see the fool who thinks it’s a good idea to try to take us on.”
Abbey noticed the other two officers looked less confident. “How many Cascaders do we have?” She said looking at Hoxted.
“Who gives a crap about the Cascaders and their pets?” Said Wallace.
Abbey ignored the remark and continued looking at the Major.
“Including yourself fourteen.”
“Each Cascader needs to be guarded.”
They all looked at Abbey.
“You’re saying that because of what happened with Clovis?”
Abbey nodded. “I don’t know how Erin does it, maybe he needs to be in physical contact, but if we’re wrong about that, and he takes control of the Cascaders—”
“And that includes yourself?” said Cruz.
“I’ve already been in close proximity with him and he wasn’t able to control me.”
“What made you so special?” Said Wallace.
Finally Abbey looked at the tall blonde-haired woman. “He told me himself he wasn’t able to control me. I’m one of the Cascaders that you can trust.”
Hoxted nodded and looked down at Shaw. “Okay we’ll make sure the Cascaders have someone with them.”
Shaw nodded and wrote something down on a notepad.
“You can bet he’s going to be coming with a lot of Cascaders and even more E.L.F’s,” said Abbey.
“He will send them at us first,” said Cruz.
“Maybe, or maybe he will use Mitchell’s forces first. He doesn’t care much for humans.”
Wallace shook her head. “It’s a good thing Felton or Trow aren’t Cascaders, or we would have been fucked.”
Abbey shot her a look and Wallace softened her expression. “Before you get your panties in a twist, I’m not saying all Cascaders are bad. You’re obviously one of the good ones.”
“Thanks,” said Abbey sarcastically. She then got up and walked to the screen and looked at the soldier nearby. “Can you zoom out a bit?” The soldier did as asked, and the map view enlarged. Abbey pointed to the nearby town. “What’s the plan for here?”
The officers looked at each other.
“We thought it best we concentrate our forces within the walls,” said Hoxted.
“And that’s what Erin will expect us to do. If we can spare some people to setup in the town, then if they pass that way we can ambush them.”
Most around the table nodded.
“It’s a good plan,” said Cruz.
“I agree. We’ll send out some people out to scout the area, see what the best defensive positions are,” said Hoxted. Shaw again wrote something. She then looked back at the soldier. “Take us all the way out, show us the map covering from here to Boston.” The screen zoomed quickly out to show the eastern half of the country. “If he’s coming by land he will probably be with us within a day or two. If it’s by air… well he would already be here. And as you saw from the radar coverage, he’s not. So he must be coming by land.” She paused then looked at the only person not to have spoken. “Brad? Do you have anything to say?”
Brad sighed then looked around the others in the room. “Let’s hope the Hulathen spot him before he gets here.”
“We can hope.” She looked back at Shaw. “Keep trying Mitchell on the radio. Maybe we can stop this madness before it gets started.”
*****
Zach was sat in his compact office looking at the video of when Trow and the others met the Ultor’s, when a message popped up on his screen. It was saying there was a communication for him from the outpost.
He picked up his headset and slid it onto his head. It was already linked to the internal comms of the bunker system.
“Sir, are you there?” Came a woman’s voice through the headphones.
“I am.”
“Patching you through to the outpost.”
A few seconds passed.
“This is main operations at the Kentucky, outpost. We have Abbey Reisner here for you general. Putting her on now. Over.”
In an instant he realized she must have not gotten onto the cargo plane, and a mixture of anger and disappointment flooded through him.
“Zach? Are you there? Over.”
“I’m here. Why are you not on the plane? Where’s the toxin? Over.”
“I know none of this makes sense. The toxin is on the plane. It’s on its way to the camp. But—”
“Why did you not come back?”
Abbey sighed then spent the next few moments explaining what had happened with Clovis, and how Erin was expected to arrive any time soon.
Zach lifted the headset from his head and slid his hand through his graying hair, then let it fall back to his scalp.
“Zach?”
“I’m here. I’m just thinking how to help. We’ll turn the C-130 around when it lands, and get another platoon with medical equipment up to you. Over.”
“Zach, it’s too much of a risk. The Hulathen could decide to blast whatever we put up there out of the sky. We have lots of soldiers, equipment and some Cascaders already up here. If that’s not going to be enough then another platoon won’t help. Over.”
He knew she was right, but he was going to send help anyway. “Comms you still on the line?”
“We are sir, yes.”
“Can you send the footage of the aliens landing at the Core up to the outpost? I want them to see what happened.”
“Aliens? You mean the Hulathen? Over,” said Abbey.
“No, something else entirely.”
“Oh…”
The comms officer confirmed the footage had been sent.
“It’s the aliens that myself and Fiona came across. They want to help us. Over.” Zach heard the intake of air on the other end of the link.
“That’s… amazing. Can they help with the situation up here? Over.”
“I don’t know. Maybe. From what we have learned so far, there’s not many of them. And I get the impression they don’t want a direct confrontation with the Hulathen unless they have no other choice. Still—”
“We’ll take it,” interrupted Abbey.
“Yup. Okay, tell Hoxted I want hourly updates from up there and as soon as the bastard shows up, you let us know. Over.” He thought about telling her about Hannah, but decided against it.
“Will do. Don’t worry, when this is all over. I’ll be on the next plane to the camp. Over.”
“I’m holding you to that, or I’m coming up there and dragging you back with me! Over.”
“Talk s
oon. Over.”
The woman on comms came back on the line. “The communication has ended with the outpost, but general Trow is waiting to talk to you.”
“Put her through.”
“How’s things with the outpost? Over,” said Trow.
Zach explained the situation.
“We should send reinforcements. Over.”
“I agree, but we won’t be able to get anything meaningful up there for at least five days by going overland. And that’s if the Hulathen don’t attack us on the way. Would the Ultor’s help us get supplies up there? Over.”
“That’s a button I don’t want to push just yet. I understand you want to make sure Abbey’s safe—”
“It’s not just Abbey, it’s everyone up there. We can’t afford to lose our only foothold in the northeast of the country. Especially not to Erin. Over.”
“Agreed. But for now it’s a problem we need to solve on our own. Over.”
“How are things going with the aliens? Over.”
“Well we have learned there’s not many of them. A few hundred are in a larger ship, which is orbiting the moon. They say they can’t get any closer to the planet without being spotted by the Hulathen. What landed earlier was one of a few other smaller ships they have. But that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about. We now know what the Hulathen black cubes are. Over.”
“What are they? Over.”
“Some of the Ultor’s have been working with our tech guys, and our earlier hunches were correct. They’re not ships exactly. Fuller, our main scientific liaison with the Ultor’s used the words ‘Portable space-time warp technology’. Basically, they allow the Hulathen to jump from one location in space to another. Over.”
Zach scratched his head. “Right.”
Trow laughed. “Yeah, that was my reaction too. Fuller said that none of these particular cubes contain any Hulathen, they are just used like a door, to bring them to wherever the gate currently is.”
A thought suddenly hit him. “So more Hulathen could come through the gates that are above the dam? Over.”
“That’s what I’m told, yes. Over.”
“Is there any way to stop that from happening? Can we destroy the gates? Over.”
“The Ultor’s say it’s possible, but Zach, there’s something else they told us. They said the gates operate both ways…”
“So we can send something back the other way? Over.”
“Something or someone’s, yes. Over.”
He paused as his mind ran through the possibilities. “We can deliver the toxin to wherever these aliens are coming from. Over.”
“I was thinking the exact same thing. I’m going to try and get a few hours of sleep, then we should start thinking about getting a team together who is going to deliver the package. You get some rest too. Over.”
“Sounds like a plan—” He looked at the time on the computer monitor. It said 2am. “—Connect up again, around 6am. Over.”
Trow agreed and Zach took his headset and placed it on the desk. He had no intention of sleeping. Even if he did, he knew he wouldn’t be able too.
He looked towards the door. “Hoffman?” He shouted towards the door, which promptly opened, a soldier appearing in the gap. “I’m going to be needing a pot of coffee.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Abbey crept forward across the field, only a small flashlight lighting her way. She could sense the beast beyond the trees just a hundred yards away. It had already been imprinted, but they were going to need every E.L.F they could get their hands on.
High above she could also sense her own creature, the monkey bird hybrid, who she named ‘Mo’.
“Stay up high, Mo, otherwise it’s going to get more spooked than I can already feel it is,” she whispered to herself.
Suddenly branches were breaking and the huge six legged beast burst through the undergrowth, leaping the hedgerow and bounded across the mud laden field towards her.
She stopped and closed her eyes to the fury that was bearing down on her, and instead calmed her mind. The panting and growling receded until the light wind was all she could hear. She then reached out with her Cascader senses.
At the start of the field two snipers and Brad looking through binoculars, stood waiting. Brad was shaking his head. He knew even a high velocity bullet wasn’t going to stop the thing that was about to crash into her.
Abbey could see the creature in her mind, sense its pain, its fear. Clovis had always treated his E.L.F’s like toys to be expended then discarded, and the creature about to tear into her was full of hate for humans, even ones that had been altered by the Cascade.
She opened her eyes and walked forward. Just as the bear like creature was about to meet her, she kneeled on the ground and lowered her head.
The E.L.F skidded to a stop. Then rose up on its hind legs and roared. An almighty sound which shook the nearby trees. Despite the noise reverberating through her, she controlled her breathing and thoughts.
Its front legs crashed back to the ground just a few feet from her. She then felt its breath as it sniffed and snorted towards her.
She looked up and smiled. Then held out her hand. The creature stepped forward and sniffed again, then licked her hand.
Abbey laughed then stood, patting the beast on its head. “You’ll be treated with respect from now on.”
Brad and the two soldiers let out a breath they weren’t fully aware they were holding.
Abbey waved to them then looked back at the creature. “Come on.” She walked with it back to the beginning of the field. Brad and the soldiers shifted on their feet anxiously. “He’s under my control now. Or mostly at least. As long as we keep Clovis sedated.”
“Or we could kill him,” said Brad. “But I know how you feel about that. So, do you sense anything else out here?” He looked around them into the darkness.
“There are a few things, small, they wouldn’t be of any use to us.”
Mo squawked from above then landed with a thud some yards away in the field, he hissed at the large six legged creature nearby. The soldiers grew even more anxious. Abbey walked forward quickly towards her own E.L.F. “Behave Mo. He’s no threat to us now.”
The large winged creature shifted from foot to foot, but quietened down.
“Are we leaving him out here? I don’t think—”
Abbey raised her hand. “He can stay out here. He won’t see anyone from the outpost as an enemy anymore. He’ll even guard us.”
Brad started to walk away with the soldiers. “Good.”
Abbey stroked the creature once more then joined Brad and the others walking back to the gate.
“You should get some rest. We’re going to need your abilities when they arrive,” said Brad.
She nodded.
*****
A distant knocking grew to a crescendo. Abbey woke suddenly. Someone was knocking at her bedroom door.
She sat up. “It’s okay, I’m already clothed. Come in.”
The door opened. A red-faced soldier appeared with a bright hallway light behind them. “Ma’am, Major Hoxted said to wake you. We are picking up movement on the radar.”
Abbey nodded. “I’ll be right down.”
The door closed and she fumbled around on the nightstand to grab her radio, and to view the time displayed on its green display. 7 a.m.
Sun should be up soon.
Swinging her legs around to the cold floorboards, she stood then walked into the small bathroom. Putting the radio down on the top of the basin she briefly turned on the faucet, throwing cold water across her face.
She looked at herself in the mirror, the light from the radio’s LED display giving her a zombie like appearance and absorbed the woman she had become.
Another day, another asshole that needs to die.
She grabbed her radio then headed downstairs. As she walked across the hallway to the basement, she could hear the house was already alive with activity. She also heard it outside. The sound of boots ru
nning across mud and gravel.
She quickly descended the stairs to the main operations of the outpost. All the comms stations were manned, and a myriad of soldiers were in heated discussion.
Brad appeared between them and waved her over.
“They’re here?” said Abbey.
“We don’t know yet. The radar is picking up a number of objects about ten miles out. North of the town, so that’s north of us, and also the same distance to our south. Maybe they are just E.L.F’s that are moving through the area.”
“Both north and south of us at the same time?” said Abbey.
Brad nodded. “Yeah, I don’t believe that either. It’s probably Erin or his creatures.”
They both moved closer to Hoxted who was with Shaw huddled around the radar operator.
“The contacts have stopped moving,” the young man said, looking at his screen. “But…” Someone else pointed at the screen. “Yes, there are now more contacts, to our east… and more, approaching from the west. They all appear to stop when they reach the ten mile point.”
Hoxted looked at Brad and Abbey. “Looks like they’re here.” She then looked at Shaw. “We need to know what those contacts are.”
Shaw nodded then started relaying orders to the officers next to him. One of them nodded then quickly left.
Hoxted stood up straight, addressing everyone in the cramped space. “This is it people. We don’t know what’s out there, but whatever it is, it’s coming our way, and it means to do us harm. I want everyone to their posts. We are on high alert.” She then looked at the comms officer nearby. “Get a message to our people nearby, tell them it’s on and then the Texas camp, tell them it’s begun, but we haven’t engaged yet.” The officer nodded and started talking into his headset.
“Where do you want me?” said Brad.
Hoxted smiled and put her hand on his shoulder. “For now, right here.”
“I think there’s something I can do that might help,” said Abbey. She turned and sat in the nearby chair. “Whatever happens, just leave me be. I’m in control.”
“Okay…” said Hoxted.
