What the hell do you think we’re doing right now, playing pattycake?”
“Seems like you’re more worried about yourselves then everyone else.”
“You must be kidding me. I’ve got to check on our people; it’s they
who will clear away the threat. Unless there’s something you’d like to tell
me about the government’s capabilities?”
His father lowered his eyes and froze for a moment. Not since his
mother died did Alex remember his father being anything but arrogant.
Alex slowly refocused his attention on a trickle of private messages
coming from various members of the crew.
* * *
The Destiny hovered fifty feet above the ground, the occasional red beam
shooting out from its underside less and less frequently.
“Where did it go?” Captain Brandy asked.
“I saw it go right into that cluster of trees,” the tactical officer responded.
The trees were at the edge of a large forest with a thick canopy, some-
where in the foothills of Tennessee. Brandy clenched her fist and pounded
her display screen several times, frustrated. They’d already been doing this
for hours.
“Find another!” she yelled.
“Ma’am, message from the Seraph… They want us to meet them at
the Complex.”
Brandy’s expression softened, and she fought down the tears of relief
welling in her eyes.
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“They made it!” one of her officers shouted.
She smiled at the officer, relieved mo re th an am used. The red bea m
firing beneath her ship cut her thoughts, and she focused on the screen.
They were passing over a home on the side of the mountain. Doors and
windows on the bottom floor w ere s mashed, a nd a Zorn d rone w as c ut
down in the driveway by their beam weapon.
* * *
Stacy was at the piloting controls and was losing a different battle, unsuc-
cessfully attempting to avoid dozing off in her chair. None of them had
a chance to sleep in the last thirty six hours. She plotted a course for the
Complex and set the computer to fly itself to the location.
“Hey, wake up,” Tucker said from the chair next to her.
She looked at Tucker. His handsome face was now flushed and a little
bruised. I must look horrible, she groaned internally, giving the man a small smile. “How are things on your end?”
“Every once in a while, I need to divert energy to the beams and play
power hopscotch with the reactor, but all is well on my end.” Tucker gave
her a small smirk.
The ship shook for a moment as the speed of the Destiny increased.
“I feel guilty for wanting to sleep. So many people are still dying down
there on the ground and every hour we let those drones continue walking
around is thousands more people dying. How can I sleep knowing that?”
Tucker looked at the viewscreen. The hills gradually flattened out as
they traveled south-west. They o ccasionally w ould p ass a b urning b uild-
ing or a highway jam-packed with travelers, while other highways seemed
deserted. He looked towards Stacy.
“If you crash the ship because you’re too tired, we will never help
anyone again. You and that guy—” He pointed to the tactical officer. “—
are the most important people on this ship right now.”
Stacy tried to hide a smile and focused on her display screens. A high-
lighted message from the Captain appeared.
Don’t feel guilty for the things which
your body needs. But if you collapse
150
because you weren’t responsible
with your body, then that is on you,
and I’ll make sure everyone knows
why we aren’t doing a better job
saving people.
Stacy turned in her chair and looked at Brandy knowing she must have
overheard the conversation.
“When we get to the Complex, everyone on this ship is going to get
eight hours of sleep,” Brandy said firmly.
No one was going to argue with that order.
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Chapter 13
New Dawn
“FIRST THING’S FIRST, the Zorn fleet has left our system. Nothing
in Kalibri’s library ever indicated the Zorn left worlds in such a manner.
Bomb in a box decimated one of the carriers, which resulted in four more
decimated destroyers, and damaged the other carrier and the snowflake. We
think all the ships in the fleet received at least some kind of damage; the
detonation was extreme and debris went in all directions.
“We have looked at the emergency craft of the Seraph, specifically the sensors. It seems the battleships have the ability to fire off globs of goo that, when contact is made, dissolve metal. The ship isn’t salvageable, but Fena
did an amazing job.”
The room turned to look at a red-faced Fena.
“It will take a week to repair the Seraph, and several months to repair the Nuboko. The Destiny is unscathed,” Alex finished. “How goes the clearing of the Complex?” Alex looked at Curtis.
“As you know, we cleared out the living quarters on the first day. We
have since got building A, B, and C cleared. Now we are doing the tedious
process of clearing the various odd buildings surrounding the Complex
itself. We have to clear those before we can clear the hanger bays. We just
don’t have the workforce. It will take another day or so, and this complex will be completely cleared.”
“How many drones have you run into?” Cindy asked.
Everyone in the conference room turned their head to eye Cindy.
“We’ve eliminated a few. They are cunning and lethal as ever. I am
losing an average of one or two soldiers per drone we eliminate.”
“When can we search for survivors of the Raziya?” Cindy interrupted.
Alex looked to his left to gauge his friend’s reaction, aware that none
of his friends were at the table with him. Thoughts of Amanda came to
the surface.
“We will, of course, search for survivors, but we need to clear key areas
first. We need the ships to do that.” Alex looked at Cindy, wishing she
wasn’t at the other end of the table. Gauging her reaction from this distance
was hard.
“Have we made contact with the UEF bunker yet?” Jerome asked.
“Unfortunately, the only way to do that is by going in person. Once we
clear the Complex, I’ll send some people to make contact.”
“How are we looking in terms of global destruction?” Jiya Pomish asked.
“The ships spent half the day yesterday scouting various parts of the
country. In some areas, large packs of drones flock from building to build-
ing. In other areas, people are having picnics in their front yard. Most of
the metropolitan areas were hit badly. It’s going to be hard to clear those
areas. Based on sensors from the various ships, we estimate that well over a
million pods touched down in various areas of the planet. The Destiny managed to destroy six hundred and twenty-seven of those pods, and has since
eliminated over a thousand drones.”
“The drones are learning to avoid open spaces after the first red beam
is fired in their vicinity,” Jack stated. “It’s making it harder to kill them. I doubt we will be able to kill them all from the air.”
“T
he theory is that they have short lifespans; we’re going to find
out. Our recon suggests over half of the country is without power, even
more without internet and cellular service. There were a couple of high-
ways where a pack of drones appeared and caused carnage. This blocked
the interstates from further traffic, causing a massive backlog that they’re
still trying to clear. Interstate travel is all but non-existent. Brandy tells me 153
there are some areas with mechanized military traffic attempting to make it through. In D.C., parts of California, Colorado and some military bases,
IFV’s and Bradly tanks are staking out certain intersections, main gates,
and other areas.”
“What are we going to do?” Lanora asked.
“Well, first I suggest we secure this complex. Then I think we should
set up safe zones in other areas of the country. We should build a few more
emergency-sized UEF containers for quick transport of troops and civil-
ians. Since commercial trucking is down, food is going to become scarce.
I suggest we set up a work for food program and start securing large aban-
doned farms.”
“We could use the new transport containers to ferry shipments of food
to the safe zones,” Cindy offered.
“Exactly. Until the government gets up and running, we can get a jump
on things.”
“I’ll confer with the bridge captain, and we’ll begin disseminating
orders shortly. Does anyone have anything else?”
“I want to check on my family,” Fena said, looking Alex in the eye.
“I’ll let your captains determine if they have time for those activities.
Unfortunately, if you’re part of our ground-based team, I don’t have the
resources at the moment to check on your extended families. Once we get
a few more container craft built, we can think about it.”
“The containers don’t need to be spaceworthy, do they? We can build a
lot more of them much faster if they are not,” Jerome suggested.
Alex hesitated. He wanted his ships to be able to go into space in case
they were needed there. Ignoring the desperate growing need for new ships
was hard. “I think you have a good point. We are always going to need craft
on the surface and can create them with that intention.”
“What about distributing the technology to other counties, to get them
up and running?”
“I’ll take time and consider that option. Anything else?” Alex hoped no
one would ask anything else.
“There are people already forming up just outside the perimeter. They
are arriving in cars, trucks and RV’s, hoping we can provide for them,”
Curtis said, consulting his data pad.
154
“I wasn’t aware,” Alex confessed.
“I have them forming up on the north side, where it’s easier to keep an
eye on them, as much for their protection as our own. Until we can secure
the Complex, anyway. It would be safer for them if they could come inside
the perimeter, but that presents a problem.”
“Right.” Alex scratched his chin and focused on the table in front of
him, lost in thought.
“What? What’s the problem?” Fena asked.
Cindy turned to her and spoke so everyone could hear. “Letting in
ten or twenty people is one thing. Letting in a hundred thousand or more
people is something else completely.”
Some of the people in the room grumbled or frowned. “There aren’t
that many people trying to get in?” Jerome said, in a tone that implied
the question.
“Right now, no,” Alex stated sharply. “But in a short amount of time,
that number will grow. Once people learn the UEF is providing food for
work, the entire surviving nation will flock in to see us.”
“Then it’s more important to establish multiple safe zones,” Cindy
suggested. “That way the Complex will not bear the burden of the
entire nation.”
“Agreed,” Jerome said and continued “What about… services, for
Mason and others?”
Cindy flashed an angry look. “You mean the survivors?”
“Sir… I have something else to report as well. One of the squads clear-
ing the buildings spoke to me earlier. I told you we cleared buildings A, B,
and C. There were quite a few casualties in building A. The last remnants of
those who didn’t make it to the underground facilities.”
“Terrible. Do we have any names?” Alex opened a water bottle and
sipped casually.
“Yes, sir, I do.” The soldier hesitated and looked down at the list of
names on his sheet. One name stood out above all the others. He sighed
heavily, unsure of what was about to happen and curious how UEF man-
agement would react to the news.
155
Chapter 14
In The Dark
TIMMY, JORGE, AND Zeek were deep inside the UEF bunker com-
plex inside the information center, among a working group of other
UEF personnel.
“We should call this the bridge,” Zeek suggested as he worked at orga-
nizing incoming information into categories.
“That’s stupid, we are underground and… its, not a ship,” Timmy said
as he was losing patience.
“But it’s like a bridge,” Zeek continued.
“I’m with Timmy on this one. You’re an idiot.”
“Who wants to say, ‘I am inside the information center’? It would be
easier to say ‘I’m on the bridge.’”
“Stupid,” Timmy said.
“Call it something else, then,” Jorge suggested.
A soldier that was busy guarding a pair of large doors opened his
mouth. “You could call it the T.I.C.”
The trio of them turned to look at the soldier and wait for an explanation.
“Tactical Information Center, or Command, or Control… Hmmm.”
The soldier looked at the ceiling for a moment.
“I’m busy TIC’ing,” Zeek said. “I am at the TIC.” He said as a word.
“I like it!”
Jorge rolled his eyes, as he was busy putting information into the map
system. All UEF personnel could access the map system at any display or
terminal, and information could be sent or uploaded, or alerts could be
generated. It was the living data network of the UEF underground. At the
moment, the TIC was receiving messages from ground-based observers on
descending pod activity; the ground battle was just getting underway.
A message appeared on Jorge’s screen.
You wanted me to inform you when
the last convoy of buses was arriving
at the Complex’s outer perimeter.
Jorge closed the message and looked to his right. Zeek was pulling out
a bottle of water from under the table. Standing nearly on top of him was a
female technician, who was becoming increasingly too friendly.
“Hey, you notice what’s going on over there?” Timmy asked in a hushed
tone as he approached Jorge.
“I just noticed. Who is she?”
“I have no idea.” Timmy halfheartedly continued working on his pad
while Zeek’s friend diverted all of their attention by simply being there.
An alert appeared on the main screen.
Multiple pods descending into
; the Complex.
“Hey, guys!” Jorge shouted, drawing the attention the people in
the room.
The guard at the door walked closer, reading the alert on the screen,
then pulled out his radio. “We need the alert team ready at the south entry
point. Standby for further.”
Timmy looked at the guard and realized he was not wearing
rank insignia.
Jorge looked at Timmy. “Ever get the feeling you really don’t
know people?”
157
The officer came closer to the table. “My name is Major Grissom, I am part of the military tour group that arrived the other day.”
“How did you get in here?” Zeek asked.
Jorge noticed the female technician had disappeared from the room.
“Your security is something left desired in this bunker. I apologize for
the awkward introduction. My intention was to tour the facility as incog-
nito as possible. The attack kinda stirred things up.” He took a moment to
look over those in the TIC. “Could be worse. Can you tell me how many
people are still waiting to be evacuated from the Complex?”
Jorge hesitated.
“Less than a hundred. We just really don’t know,” Timmy responded.
The major appeared stuck in thought.
“Well, we know of one person who needs to get out,” Zeek spoke up.
“Is she still over there?” Timmy nearly fell, he spun around so quickly.
“Who are we talking about?” Confusion evident across Jorge’s face.
“Amanda is still clearing out her lab. She said she was onto something
and didn’t want to leave.”
“Damn…” Jorge looked down at his shoes.
“I take it Amanda is an important person?” Major Grissom raised
an eyebrow.
“Alex’s girlfriend.” Timmy looked towards the major.
“Oh, that Amanda. Well, technically, I am supposed to answer the
call from the emergency broadcast network and arrive at my assigned duty
station. Problem is, I’m on the other side of the county, and my entire
unit is scattered across your compound. I know a few of my men man-
aged to get armed by your organization. If you think you can arm the rest,
then I’ll go ahead and make myself useful.” Major Grissom looked at the
trio, concerned about the chain of command. He wasn’t confident in the
UEF before the attack, and he was less so now. He felt the organization
needed a lot of structure and that, up to this point, the entire thing was set up haphazardly.
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