by Kyle West
Char handed me my radio back, and we watched the buildings go by. Soon enough, we were back in the clustered towers of downtown. I took out my radio.
“We’re back,” I said.
“Meet us by Orion,” Makara said. “We’re ten minutes or so from liftoff.”
Francisco, hearing that order, turned the Recon around the corner, making directly for the U.S. Bank Tower.
Chapter 5
Francisco pulled to a stop at the intersection where Orion and Perseus were parked, but it wasn’t either of the spaceships that caught my attention.
The railgun stood to the left of Orion, its long barrel pointing skyward. It was basically a larger than usual halftrack with a giant gun on top, as Carin had said. The barrel was almost rectangular in shape, extending as far up as the third story of a nearby building. The base of the barrel extended from a metallic turret that looked capable of swiveling 360 degrees. The turret itself could also aim the barrel up and down, giving the railgun a wide range.
And, apparently, Carin wanted to test this weapon in the streets of downtown Los Angeles.
All of us stepped out of the Recon. Both of the ships were humming with power – Perseus, because it was about to take off for Bunker One, and Orion, because it was providing power to the railgun. Thick power cables ran from Orion’s blast door, under the ship’s hull, connecting somewhere under the halftrack. A swarm of Reapers gazed at the gun from the ground, laughing and joking among themselves. Carin stood with them, giving orders.
Makara exited from Perseus’s boarding ramp and headed toward us. We walked over to meet her. While Anna’s, Francisco’s, and my gaits were steady, both Char’s and Marcus’s were tilted.
“Makara...” Char said.
She looked him up and down before shaking her head. She then looked at Anna and me.
“Will you make sure he doesn’t get into trouble?”
“Really, Makara,” Char said. “There’s no need to...”
“Char, no arguing.” She looked at me, including Anna in the stare. “Make sure he gets on Perseus.” She looked at Marcus. “And his brother, too.”
“Are you leaving now?” Anna asked.
Makara nodded. “Yeah. Carin has my go-ahead to test the railgun. He said it shouldn’t take long. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to watch it personally.”
“They’re testing it here?” I asked.
She looked at me. “The gun moves slowly, and the streets are hard to navigate. It’s the best option, as crazy as it sounds.”
Carin stood a ways off, directing the movement of the railgun turret. It swiveled, from right to left, making a whirring sound. As the turret spun, the barrel itself moved up and down. The two separate movements, in tandem, could point the barrel at a new target surprisingly fast.
At last, the barrel pointed directly down the street, right at a tall skyscraper perhaps half a mile away.
“Well, at least that part of it works,” Anna said.
At that moment, the halftrack’s treads dug into the dirt, jerking the vehicle forward in a cloud of dust before coming to a stop. The power cords connecting the railgun to Orion’s fusion generator extended no further.
“Logistics might be a problem,” I said. “That gun can’t go far from the spaceship.”
“It wouldn’t have to be connected all the time,” Anna said. “Just when firing.”
“Still,” I said. “Are we sure this is a good idea?”
The barrel of the railgun lowered, homing in on the distant skyscraper.
“I would say we aren’t sure,” Anna said.
“Fire when ready,” Carin said into his radio.
Suddenly, the railgun gave a kick and a pop so loud that it was near-deafening. A trail of fire issued from the barrel of the gun. A massive crack split the air, like a whip. Before the thunderous, resounding boom even reached my ears, the top half of the skyscraper collapsed in on itself. At the same time, the fire trail dissipated into the air. Everything had happened almost instantaneously.
The building ahead crumbled to the ground, the sound taking a few seconds to reach my pounding ears.
Makara ran over to Carin, whose pale blue eyes danced at the sight of the destruction.
“What the hell are you doing?” she yelled. “Did I say you could fire yet?”
Carin shrugged. “I don’t recall needing to ask your permission.”
Makara’s face reddened, but she said nothing. Onyx stood by his father, staring sullenly at Makara. After a moment, she shook her head and came over to us.
“They weren’t supposed to do that until we were ready...”
There was a great crash in the distance as the building continued its collapse. To the Reapers’ credit, they had used a round that wasn’t incendiary, so the force destroying the building was purely kinetic. Still, it was an awesome display of power.
“Those dragons won’t stand a chance,” I said.
Even Makara had to admit that much.
“I’ve changed my mind about Bunker One,” she said.
Both Anna and I looked at her, wondering what she meant.
“I want all of you to come,” she said. “Not to go inside, but to stay above. To be ready to come in if we need you.”
“We can do that,” I said.
It was much better than waiting here in Los Angeles.
“Of course,” Makara said. “Char and Marcus won’t be going inside, no matter what the situation.”
“I guess I should just be grateful that we’re being included,” Char said.
“You’re not,” Makara said. “You’re to stay aft and sober up, and not get in the way.”
“And I suppose we should also think about what we’ve done?” Char asked.
“Sobering up on a tossing and turning spaceship,” Marcus mused. “Good luck with that one.”
“You’d rather stay here?” Makara asked.
Marcus got quiet at that, so I knew the answer was no.
“Should we follow you?” Anna asked. “Or should we wait until Carin destroys the rest of the city?”
“Their tests should be done, so just follow when you can,” Makara said.
Both Carin and his son were watching us from beside the halftrack. When Onyx saw me looking at him, he gave a yellow smile.
“Anything else?” Anna asked.
Makara shook her head. “No. We should probably get moving.”
With that, Makara turned and walked toward the boarding ramp of Perseus. The blast door shut behind her, and it wasn’t long before its fusion drive thrummed louder.
Everyone backed away as Perseus’s retrothrusters pointed downward, lifting the ship into the dull red sky. Everyone covered their ears at the thrumming pulse of the fusion drive, only uncovering their ears when the ship’s thrusters swiveled and carried the ship behind a skyscraper.
As Perseus faded with distance, I turned my attention back to the building the railgun had obliterated. It was now a pile of rubble obscured by a cloud of dust spreading ever outward, darkening the already dull sky.
Apparently satisfied at the way things had gone, Carin ordered his men to disconnect the power cables. As we stood and watched, the Reapers coiled the cable and gathered their things into a nearby Recon. When everything was gathered up, the Reapers, Carin, and Onyx got into the two Recons. The vehicles set off, kicking up clouds of dust. Once the Recons started moving, the halftrack also turned around in a wide arc, barely having the space to maneuver on the four-lane street.
As the lead Recon passed, Carin winked from the passenger seat at Anna and me. The second Recon trailed Carin’s.
As they disappeared toward the center of town, Anna nodded toward the ship.
It was time to get moving.
***
I took my place in the copilot’s chair, even though I didn’t know how to do anything besides control the frequencies. Marcus and Char were in the wardroom, drinking plenty of water in order to sober up. Francisco had dismissed himself
a long time ago, so quietly that I hadn’t even noticed him leaving.
I put the copilot’s headset over my head. I had always wanted to learn how to pilot, but so far had not been granted the opportunity.
“What now?” I asked.
“Your first lesson,” Anna said, “is to sit back, strap on your seatbelt, and let me do all the work.”
Before I could say anything more, Orion lifted off. Anna angled upward, engaging the thrusters to push the ship forward.
“This part looks easy enough,” I said.
“Taking off is not so bad,” Anna said. “It’s the landing you have to worry about. That, and dragons. Let’s just hope we’re not attacked, because I can’t fly like Makara or...”
Anna trailed off, but she didn’t have to finish her sentence. Ashton had been the best pilot of us all, and there was no one who could replace him.
Instead, she opened the line to Perseus.
“Perseus...this is Orion. We’re in the air and en route to Bunker One, over.”
It was a moment before Makara’s voice exited the dash.
“Roger that. Wasn’t expecting you for another hour or so.”
“Well, Carin seemed to be in a hurry to get out of there. He made off pretty fast after blowing that building up.”
“Weird. Nothing to report on our end. We’re thirty minutes out from Bunker One. Plan’s the same – just stay in the air and stand by for further orders.”
“Copy that. How long should we wait before following you inside, if we don’t hear from you?”
“If you don’t hear from us in two hours, by my count, 14:00, consider that confirmation to follow and proceed to lab levels. If you encounter any resistance, evacuate immediately. Assume that we have been compromised.”
“At least let us all come down,” I said. “We might need the firepower.”
“That’s a negative,” Makara said. “Four should be enough to go unnoticed. Julian has to stay with the ship. Trust me, we’re not going anywhere near that Bunker if we detect any threats.”
“If you’re only scanning for radio waves,” Anna said, “they could just be lulling you into a trap. A loud predator doesn’t catch its prey.”
“This is something we have to do,” Samuel said. “We need to know what we’re up against, and analyzing the ichor could be the key.”
“We’ll be in touch when we begin our scans,” Makara said.
“We’re thirty minutes behind you,” Anna said. “Standing by.”
With that, Makara cut out. Char walked onto the bridge, appearing completely sober.
“They there yet?”
Anna shook her head. “Not yet. I can’t imagine a scenario where something doesn’t go wrong. They’re very determined.”
“That Bunker was filled with Blighters the last time we were there,” I said.
“They only came when Askala discovered us,” Anna said. “Maybe we’ll pass unnoticed this time. Maybe Askala is so focused on attacking the Wasteland that she doesn’t have anything guarding Bunker One.”
“No,” Marcus said. I turned to see that he, too, had entered the bridge. His eyes narrowed as he looked out the windshield. “She’ll run into something down there. You can count on it.”
“Augustus made it all the way to Bunker Six,” I said. “He even managed to escape with most of his army.”
“Maybe Askala is distracted,” Anna said. “Still, even Augustus said he lost men doing it. It can’t have been an easy task.”
Whether dangerous or not, we’d find out soon enough.
***
“Preliminary scans show the area to be clear of threats,” Makara said. “We’re going in.”
“Nice landing job,” Julian said.
“You’ve already landed?” Anna asked.
“No,” Makara said. “Julian’s talking about the airplane that went over the side of the cliff.”
“Oh,” I said. “Right.”
I’d almost forgotten that near-death experience. When coming to Bunker One for the first time, we’d nearly all gone off the cliff with the plane. Only jumping at the last second, once the plane had slowed down enough, had saved our lives.
“No crawlers visible,” Makara said. “It’s all snow down there.”
“Land as close as you can to the door,” Samuel said.
“Wind’s picking up a lot of that snow,” Makara said. “The thrusters should blast most of it away.”
We waited a long moment before Makara’s voice returned.
“Touched down. Plan’s the same. Julian will stay with the ship. Once we reach the labs, we’ll connect the line with Perseus. You’re to stay above the Bunker and connect to Julian’s line.”
“What if we don’t hear from you?” I asked.
“Under no circumstances are you allowed inside the Bunker,” Makara said. “Not until 14:00, when you are clear to proceed forward with caution. We won’t be anywhere except on the path that leads directly to the labs, so do not, under any circumstances, expand your search elsewhere. Am I clear on that?”
“Clear,” I said.
“Makara,” Char said.
“Yeah?”
“Be careful down there.”
“We will,” she said.
The speakers went silent, leaving only the surrounding hum of the spacecraft, sailing above the clouds.
“We need to get there,” I said.
“Still thirty minutes out,” Anna said. “If everything goes well, they should be getting in touch in fifteen minutes.”
***
We joined Julian’s line and waited.
Twenty minutes later, I felt relief at hearing Makara’s voice exit the dash.
“We’re in.”
“Resistance?” Julian asked.
“None. Unless you count the detour we had to take around the collapsed tunnel. We had to come in through the back way.”
“I can’t believe it’s clear,” I said.
“They’re gone now,” Makara said. “There’s still plenty of signs, though.”
“Signs?” Anna asked. “Like what?”
“Slime, mostly. The bodies are all gone, even the ones we killed in the lab. I guess Askala leaves no man behind.”
“How noble,” I said.
“Has Samuel started analyzing the sample yet?” Char asked.
“He’s still trying to find the right equipment,” Makara said. “The bio-lab is pretty big. It’s actually where we are now.”
“And where’s the bio-lab?” I asked.
“Not far from the main lab floor,” Makara said. “Trust me, you wouldn’t have trouble finding it. Not that you’d need to.”
We were still several minutes out from the Bunker. Marcus and Char stood behind us, listening quietly. I could tell that they were both on edge. I didn’t blame them; so was I.
“It may take a while,” Samuel said. “The system is calibrating the ichor’s genetic sequence. At the same time, it’s referencing older xenoviral strains so we can see if anything matches the new ones.”
“And how long, exactly, will this gobbledygook take?” Anna asked.
“Thirty minutes to an hour,” Samuel said. “The Bunker servers are still online, and their computing power is enormous. It was common for the scientists to add new strains to the databanks, but this ichor appears to be chock-full of strains. That’ll take some time.”
“What else?” I asked.
“That’s it,” Samuel said. “I’ll know more when the calibration is done.”
I guessed there was nothing to do but wait.
Chapter 6
We reached the Bunker, landing next to Perseus on the runway. There, we waited as forty-five minutes passed without incident. No crawlers. No flyers. And no dragons. It was almost too good to be true.
Samuel’s voice exited the speaker.
“The calibration is done. It’s loading the results now.”
We waited a moment. I heard Makara talking to someone; I realized that it was
either Ruth or Michael, who were both down there with them. Samuel’s voice went on.
“Alright,” he said. “As expected, the strains in the ichor don’t match anything on file. However, it looks like the strains were designed to plug into various older xenoviral strains.”
“Meaning?” Anna asked.
“Meaning, Quietus was right. We have some new evolutions on our hands. Thankfully, by plugging in the strains, the computer can model what we might be up against in the future.”
“What’s it showing?” I asked.
“Hold on,” Samuel said. “I’m going to plug in the crawler strain. That’s one we’re all familiar with.” Samuel paused. The clacking of keys exited the dash. “Well. There’s actually several different crawler strains on file. All of them are outdated, as might be expected. Still, there should be enough similarities to the new strains to show effects.” He cleared his throat. “It wants me to name this new strain. Hmm...”
“Is that really important?” Makara asked. “If we have to sit here all day and name everything, we won’t get anything done.”
“Sorry,” Samuel said. “It’s just part of the data entry system. I guess I can just name it ‘A.’”
Samuel clacked the keys again. A disagreeable buzz emanated from the speakers.
“Damn. ‘A’ has been taken.”
“Let me see that,” Makara said. I heard her mash on the keyboard. “There. That should do it.”
Samuel grunted disapprovingly. “I...guess that works. Strain rt3jwot9 has officially been named.”
“Very creative,” I said.
“Alright,” Samuel said. “This thing doesn’t even look like a crawler anymore...”
Everyone went quiet. I could only imagine what the creature in question looked like.
“Maybe you plugged in the wrong strain,” I said.
“No, it’s inputted correctly,” Samuel said. “Still...”
“Well, then,” Makara said. “Can I change the name of this one to ‘Giant Bug-Thing from Outer Space with Creepy Eyes’?”
“It has wings,” Ruth said. “Does that mean it can fly?”
“I doubt it,” Samuel said. “According to this, it would stand sixty feet tall. Which makes me wonder how it could even stand.”
