by John Conroe
Finally I was up, making as little awkward contact as I could with the two women, who for their part seemed just happy to be alive.
A glance back showed the Lexus shoved off the road and the plow truck still coming, just much slower. We were pulling away but the smoking yellow monster didn’t stop, even though it was almost dragging the rear unit.
“How we going to stop that thing? We can get away, but it’s going to mess someone up if we don’t kill it, and I just put over sixty rounds of 7.62 into it,” I said, watching the plow thunder along behind us.
“Sixty?” Brad asked. “Let’s see what six hundred does.”
I snapped around and found him looking at the right-hand lane where the low-boy trailer, LAV, and tractor trailer was coming even with us. When I glanced at Brad, he just pointed at the armored personnel carrier. “You’re not the only people doing crazy stuff on a moving vehicle.”
Martin was picking his way carefully along the low boy, then climbing up on the Johnson LAV. The topside hatch lifted right up for him and he lowered himself into it. A few moments later, the M-134 came to life, lifting itself up out of its housing on the jointed power mount.
The barrels started to spin and then it braapppped its death buzz. I turned back around and saw what looked like a beam of fire impacting the front of the plow, causing it to disintegrate. I knew that the column of deadly light was a result of tracer rounds mixed into the ammo feed line. Probably something like one round every ten or something like that. At 3000 rounds per minute, that ends up looking like a light beam of death, which it pretty much is.
In this case, it ate the plow truck’s entire front, along with a good chunk of the actual plow blade. The monster died in a fireball of exploding batteries, shredded steel, glass, and rubber, driving off the road on the hammer lane side and down a steep bank into a drainage gully.
We pulled over and stopped, looking back down the road. No other cars were coming, but way back, I could see the wreckage of the two robot tractors still blocking much of the road. Astrid spun the Mercedes around and we went back down the wrong way till we got to Sarah’s car.
Turns out it could still be driven, although neither woman wanted to drive it, so Martin volunteered. I would take the shotgun seat of the tractor, next to JJ, and the ladies would ride in the back of the Mercedes. Hannah had asked, or maybe suggested would be a better phrase, that maybe we should wait for the police, but Sarah nixed that idea as too dangerous. She pointed up at the UAV that had closed in and was observing us from above and back. It was fully visible, a four-bladed commercial drone.
“What are we going to do about that?” Martin asked.
Before Brad could answer, his daughter did. “Bet I can hit it before you, Gurung!” she challenged me. She had one of the Sigs tucked into her belt and she reached for it.
I was damned if I was going to get beat to the draw by my girlfriend, so I snatched the Sig tucked in my own belt, spun around, and started to shoot as soon as the UAV was in my sights.
Hit it first shot, missed the second, but plugged it again with the third. The quad-bladed drone exploded into parts and plummeted to the ground below.
“Hah!” I said turning to my girl in victory. She was smiling, her hand no longer touching the pistol still in her belt. Oh, she never intended to shoot, just wanted to goad me into it.
“That’s what we’re going to do,” she said with a smile at Hannah, whose mouth was open.
“Shit,” Sarah said softly. “I knew you could shoot but damn, Ajaya.”
“He’s also competitive,” Astrid said, laughing at the expression on my face.
“We going or what?” JJ asked.
“We’re going,” Brad said, and we did.
Chapter 35
The trip took much longer than originally planned, but our stops were only for food, gas, and bathroom breaks. But then it was all straight up I-91, through Connecticut and then into Vermont, covering almost the full length of the state. Our exit was a bit south of East Haven and it was late in the day when we arrived at our destination.
“What the hell?” Sarah asked, looking around. She knew, at least in theory, about our new home, the place that the Gurung and Johnson families had co-purchased in just the last month.
“It was a research base, military,” Brad said. “The research was cancelled for whatever reason, five years ago, and the place was cleaned out. I got word of it from some contacts of mine and we got first shot at buying it. Never really even went on the market. Two hundred fifty-five acres, all fenced, with twenty-seven buildings, ranging from the big main building you see there to a handful of glorified sheds. There are underground facilities—several levels, although not super deep—it has its own power generation facility as well as solar panels, and a central heat plant. Doctor, there’s a medical wing in the main building along with commercial kitchens, a pretty significant number of living quarters, a command center and, well, too much to tell you right now, especially as I see the welcome committee headed our way.”
My mother and Aama, along with my mother’s parents, were following the twins, who were running full tilt at me.
For a micro moment, I thought they might be on the attack but their expressions were much too raw with emotions that had nothing to do with anger. Then they were on me and I was wrapped up in a huge hug.
“Ajaya don’t you ever do that”—Monique began—“to us again,” Gabby finished.
“What?” I asked.
“Are you kidding me?” Gabby said. “Pulling a bomb out of your neck on live television?”
“Yeah, kiddo, not the best moment for this family to face,” my mother said, wrapping into the group hug before I had gotten free from the girls.
“But we talked about all this… on the phone… a whole bunch of times?”
“Doesn’t count until you’re here in person,” Monique said. Then she slugged my shoulder.
“Owww. That hurt,” I said, more surprised at the unexpected power in her punch than any actual pain.
“JJ’s been training us. We lift weights, punch a bag, practice self-defense moves that he shows us,” Gabby said, swinging for my other shoulder, but I had learned my lesson and leaned out of the way.
“So he got the workout room set up?” I asked.
“Let’s let him get inside, girls, before we overwhelm him. Plus we’ve been ignoring Sarah and her wife,” Mom said. “And why do you all look like you’ve been in a fight?” she asked, staring at the damaged Lexus.
Introductions were made first, then we went into the main building while JJ and Martin parked the cars and tractor in the motor pool, then offloaded the LAV in case it was needed.
Between the caches of dead drones we had pulled out of the Zone, and the proceeds from two dead Spiders, which I did finally collect from the government, added to our existing nest egg and the Zone War production pay, we were able to pay our share of the purchase price for the base. My mom’s parents had bought in as well, being fairly wealthy after a lifetime of investing. The Johnsons, with almost ten years of salvage and Zone War pay, had easily paid their half.
Brad had worked a real deal, both in finding the small base and in getting us a hell of a deal on it. Between the Johnsons and my family and grandparents, we had been able to pay cash. And because it was only empty for five years, it was still in great shape. Tucked into over two hundred acres of Green Mountain National Forest, it had woods, fields, and even a small pond. The facility itself had once housed two hundred people with room to spare. Tough times were coming, and this is where we were going to face them.
The living quarters wing of the main building had a lounge and small, communal-use dorm-type kitchen, and this was where my family and the Johnsons had taken up temporary residence, at least for now. The first-floor commercial kitchen was too big for our little group.
“So I have to ask,” Sarah began in a manner that caused Hannah to give her a warning look. Ignoring her wife, she forged ahead. “How is it t
hat this partnership came together for a second time? The first round didn’t end so well,” she said before turning to her partner. “I have to know,” she told Hannah, who looked embarrassed.
“Not a problem, Sarah,” my mother answered, handing each woman a cup of tea. “Brad and I have talked through our issues, the kids have never really had a problem with each other, and the circumstances require drastic measures, don’t you think?”
“I understand that last part, which is why I asked the question. I don’t want us,” she patted Hannah’s arm, “caught in an unstable living situation right as the feces hits the high-speed propeller.”
“Which is why we’re going to ask you to help us draft a more complete community structure than the one we came up with,” Mom said. “And we’d like you and Hannah to buy in as well. That’s part of the whole setup that we want to figure out. How to add people who are either family or invited to join this little community because of their ability to contribute.”
“There’s a lot to do to make this a viable community that can survive what’s coming,” Brad said. “My family, along with Ajaya, has all the necessary military skills, as well as solid mechanical abilities. But we need more, and we need a method of government that doesn’t choke anyone but keeps us all moving in the right direction. And each buy-in will provide cash that will be vital to helping prepare this place. We don’t think we have much time.”
“How long do we have?” Hannah asked.
“No one knows,” Brad said, glancing my way.
“Harper has probably the best idea,” I said. “She’s working her way here, by the way, which is information for the people in this room alone. The government still wants her but here, she’ll be safer and can work her magic from the computer room we’re putting together. But last time I talked with her, we thought we might have a few years before it really falls apart.”
“Are you sure? I want to bring my mother here, and Hannah has a sister and a niece.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure we have that much time. In fact, I think ultimately Rikki will beat Plum Blossom,” I said.
Sarah raised her brows in question, which was understandable. However, most of my family looked curious too.
I pointed to my neck, specifically to the place where the explosive implant had been, now a scabbed-over wound, well on its way to healing. “Rikki gave me a chip, just before he uploaded. Backed up to almost that very moment. I hid it in the wound I still had from the bomb. Hannah, I was going to ask you to help me get it out first thing tomorrow, or at least supervise as the F-doc pulls it out.”
“That’s a hard no on the field doc unit, Ajaya. I’ll be the only one putting a blade that close to your carotid, thank you very much,” Hannah said.
“Awesome; I was hoping you’d say that. It did okay with the bomb and it put the chip in alright, but you just don’t know what Plum Blossom has found its way into and what it hasn’t,” I said.
“My wife’s mad medical skills aside, what good does a chip with a copy of Rikki do?” Sarah asked.
“It’s a true copy, made by the original Rikki, himself,” Martin said unexpectedly. “All those copies being made out in the cyberverse are subject to errors and contamination themselves. A copy of a copy of a copy probably has some flaws in it. Take that out ten more times and who knows what you might have. Ajaya can send out true copies directly from that chip.”
“Harper can oversee it when she gets here,” I said, seeing Astrid’s micro frown and her oldest brother’s look of interest at the same time.
“And that will help?” Gabby asked.
“Yes, absolutely. Like sending fresh soldiers out to fight one after another while the enemy gets more and more tired,” I said.
“Like DNA copying errors in cells,” Hannah said. “Which, as we know, is the cause of most cancers.”
“Exactly,” I said.
“So we want Plum Blossom to get cancer?” Monique asked.
“Hell yeah,” JJ said. “Cancer kills.”
“That’s gonna take time though, right?” Sarah asked.
“Exactly. How long, no one knows,” I answered.
“But how much damage can it do in the meantime?” Hannah asked.
I shrugged. “No way to know. But I believe enough to cause a slow-motion domino-like collapse of many countries. Even if Rikki blocks Plum Blossom, it will still have infected millions of computers worldwide. Huge damage. Which is why we’re here.”
The entire group was quiet for a few minutes, then, without warning, my mom took charge.
“Okay, we have to get you two settled for the night. Girls, I want you to take Hannah and Sarah to the suite we prepared. JJ, can you and Martin bring in their bags? In the meantime, we’ll get some dinner ready for everyone,” Mom said. “I’m sure everyone is hungry?”
“Is Aama cooking?” Martin asked hopefully, glancing at his brother.
“We’ve all been cooking today,” Mom said. “Gabby and Monique too. We have a feast almost ready to go.”
“Mom, I think he’s asking if there’s any of her famous curry dishes on the menu?” I clarified.
“Ajaya, boy, would I welcome you home without your favorite dish?” Aama asked me, frowning like I was the worst of grandchildren.
“I should hope not, Aama,” I said, hugging her.
She snorted inside of my hug, but her hands were patting my back at the same time.
Chapter 36
Harper showed up three days later. JJ actually was the one manning the compound’s security center and spotted her in a Jeep pulling up to the gates. While he had never met her, he’d seen the pictures circulated by the government, so he called me on the internal intercom while letting her through the gate remotely.
I was with Sarah and Astrid at the time, going over the most recent communications from the NYPD and the Connecticut state police, as well as Zone Defense and the attorney general’s office. They had been less than thrilled that we left the city and the state, but Sarah had provided video that Hannah had taken during the road chase.
JJ’s announcement brought our meeting to an instant close because I needed to greet her and there was no way Astrid was going to let me do that without her. Plus, Sarah herself wanted to meet her.
In fact, the whole compound turned out to welcome her or, in a few cases, meet her. When we got down to the front of the building, Harper was still sitting in her powered-down Jeep, just looking around at our new home.
“Hey Gunner Kid, nice military installation ya got here,” she said as soon as I appeared in the door of the main building. “Homesick for Zone Defense or what?”
“It’s kind of in the genetic code,” I said, giving her a quick hug, her sitting and me standing. A little awkward with Astrid standing right behind me. Harper ignored her for the first exchange but then shifted her eyes to my girlfriend and nodded. “Hey.”
“Welcome,” Astrid said, standing close enough that parts of her were touching parts of me. Ah, territory and the marking thereof. Awkward.
JJ arrived next, coming out of the same doors we had used. Thank you, God. Perfect timing.
“Harper, this is Astrid’s big brother, JJ. He’s an admirer of your work,” I said.
Harper’s eyes widened a bit at the sight of him, which is a pretty common female response. Then her face lit up in recognition. “You’re the one who went into the buildings? With the hammer?”
“No duh. That’s why they called him Thor,” Astrid said.
“Who called him Thor?” Harper asked, eyes still on JJ.
