by Anna Hackett
When they stepped into the hangar, it felt strange for Finn not to be the one doing the flight checks on the Hawk. He saw his fellow pilot, Thom, checking over the outside of the copter. Hell Squad stood beside the quadcopter—all of them in their black armor, and holding their carbines in their hands. Finn had never seen a tougher or more competent group than this squad of soldiers.
Marcus lifted his chin. “Ready?”
Finn nodded. “Let’s do this.”
“Hope you guys have room for a couple of passengers.”
They all turned to see Devlin Gray striding in, decked out in armor. Taylor from Squad Nine was two steps behind him. She was holding her carbine, her mahogany hair pulled back in a tight ponytail.
“Need a lift?” Finn asked.
Dev nodded. “The general’s given the green light for my trip to sneak around the alien factories. Roth nominated Taylor to accompany me.”
“Lucky me.” The female soldier gave a small smile. “I’ve been told not to shoot anything unless absolutely necessary.” She lifted her carbine. “I hope it’s necessary.”
“Is the Aeron facility close enough for you?” Marcus asked.
Dev nodded. “We’ll go in on foot from there. We’ll be out of comms range for two days, gather as much intel as we can, then call for a pick up.”
“So, are we ready?” Finn asked.
Noah appeared from around the other side of the Hawk. “My team and I have been loading your gear. The amplifier is in.” He nodded his head.
Finn saw the large, ball-shaped device resting inside the Hawk. “Bigger than I thought it would be.”
It was a bit larger than an inflatable beach ball, made of a metallic black-and-gray, with a few blinking lights.
“I’ve also loaded in the other gear you’ll need. The tools you requested to cut the jet down and move it.” Noah pointed. “Laser cutters, and the magna-lifts that the maintenance guys use in here to move the aircraft around the hangar.”
Finn knew the units could do some heavy lifting. They’d make this job a lot easier.
“Lia, I also got the list of stuff you needed. The thermonuclear powerpack for the jet, the comp tablets you need to fly it, and one tube of synthetic rubber coating.”
“Thanks, Noah,” Lia said.
“Synthetic rubber?” Finn looked at her.
“The tires will have deteriorated,” she answered. “This coating can be sprayed on the existing tires and it will hold them together long enough for us to get off the ground.”
“And for landing?”
She shrugged. “We’ll have to improvise.”
“All right,” Marcus said. “Let’s get moving.”
“Good luck.” Noah looked at Finn and Lia, and nodded. “See you when you get back.”
They climbed aboard the Hawk. For Finn, it felt odd being in the back of the Hawk, while someone else was up front flying.
He sat and shifted his weight, trying to get comfortable in one of the seats. He hated the tense quiet in the air, the steady hum of anticipation. In the cockpit, he was always too busy flying to be stewing over an upcoming mission.
Lia sat down beside him, and slipped her hand into his. Instantly, he could breathe a little easier. They were going to do this, and do their bit to help save humanity.
And afterward, he was going to bring his woman home.
Chapter Twelve
As the Hawk lowered, Lia’s stomach did a sickening turn. Around her, the Hell Squad members were standing, double-checking weapons and murmuring quietly to each other.
They didn’t look worried or nervous. Lia dragged in a deep breath. She could do this. She had to do this. Not only for the people of the Enclave, or for humanity itself. She had to do it for herself, and for Finn.
Devlin and Taylor sat at the back of the Hawk. Lia still couldn’t believe the two of them were going to head straight into the heart of alien territory, alone, with no back up. It made Lia’s mouth go dry. But neither of them looked concerned, either. They both looked focused and prepared.
“All right, let’s go.” Marcus slid the side door open. “Dev and Taylor, this is where we say goodbye.”
Dev reached the door, Taylor beside him. “Good luck.” His sharp gaze moved to Lia and Finn. “Hope your mission goes smoothly.”
Marcus grasped the man’s hand. “Yours, too.” Marcus looked at Taylor. “Keep him out of trouble.”
Taylor nodded. “We’ll be back in two days. Roth’s promised to have a bottle of Chardonnay on ice for me.”
The pair jumped out of the Hawk and in the blink of an eye, they disappeared into the darkness. Lia watched Hell Squad leap out next and then she jumped out behind them. As her boots hit the ground, Finn landed beside her. He was carrying some of the equipment they needed to cut down the jet.
Ahead, she saw Reed had the amplifier strapped onto his back.
“Stay close,” Finn murmured.
“I wasn’t planning on running off alone,” she murmured back. Hell Squad moved into position, surrounding them. A big wall of strength and muscle, all of them with their carbines up. Lia instantly felt a little safer.
They dashed through the darkness, past the crumpled hangars and twisted remains of jets parked near the runway. As Lia took in all the destruction, worry took hold, and she wondered if they even had a chance. Even if they beat the Gizzida, how could they ever rebuild what they’d had before? Despair was an ugly, heavy rock in her belly.
Then, she looked at Hell Squad and Finn. She remembered that the Enclave was home to some of the best scientists, teachers, and artists in the world…and those who’d come from Blue Mountain Base were no slouches, either. Noah, Holmes, the men and woman surrounding her right now. They all had valuable skills, and, combined with the data and records that had been saved, she was consoled by the fact that they could forge something from the ruins of their planet.
She smiled to herself. On top of that, they had one huge advantage—good, old-fashioned human grit and determination. With that, she was pretty sure they could achieve anything.
As the main building of Aeron loomed like a hulking shadow ahead, Lia’s pulse picked up. She was getting ahead of herself, with all this thought about rebuilding. They still had a long fight ahead to beat the aliens, but first, they needed to get this jet in the air and the amplifier in the water.
Ahead, she saw Marcus signal to Gabe. The big soldier moved forward, and, with a few pounding knocks of his shoulder, he slammed the door to the building down.
Marcus touched his ear. “Elle?”
“All clear, Marcus. Our scans have some interference, but I have no alien signatures in your vicinity—”
“We’re going in,” Marcus growled.
Hell Squad moved forward, slipping inside the shattered doorway. Finn went next and then Lia followed him inside.
They moved through a maze of corridors, Marcus leading with a flashlight. Soon, they stepped out into the huge, voluminous lobby.
Marcus’ light cut through the darkness. Overturned chairs sat near an abandoned reception desk, which was littered with long-dead potted plants. Then, the light stopped, highlighting the suspended jet.
They all moved around it, gazing upward, studying the craft.
“Hell,” Cruz muttered.
Two large metal cables were connected from the jet to the ceiling.
“Reed and Shaw, get those magna-lifts attached to it,” Marcus said. “Gabe and Claudia, get up there with the laser cutters, and cut those cables down.”
Lia and Finn stood back. She watched as Gabe and Claudia nimbly climbed up on top of the jet. They both moved along to the huge wires holding it—one at the front and one at the back of the aircraft. The laser cutters fired up, glowing orange in the darkness.
Lia looked around. Her anxiety was ratcheting up. She hoped to hell the aliens stayed away.
“Hey, Lia? You okay?”
She nodded at Finn. “I just want to get airborne.”
The
re was a loud clang. The jet dropped down at the back end, the magna-lifts taking the weight of it and holding it just off the floor.
Claudia finished cutting her cable, and soon, all of Hell Squad surrounded the jet, grunting, groaning, and swearing as they maneuvered it onto a flat part of the floor.
“Finn and Lia, take the laser cutters. You’ll need to cut a hole through the wall, large enough to get the jet outside,” Marcus said.
They took the laser cutters from Gabe and Claudia. They were neat metallic tools that could be easily carried with both hands. They were smaller than Lia had imagined, but heavier. She and Finn moved over to the wall that was closest to the runway. She pressed the button on the cutter, and a flame of orange laser flared out.
Soon, she and Finn were cutting into the wall. The laser cutter sliced through the metal and plaster like a knife moving through butter.
“A bit more,” Finn called out. “We need enough room to get that jet out.”
He reached up to cut the highest parts, finally completing a large, rectangular shape. Then Finn stepped back, planted his boot against the wall, and kicked. The piece of wall they’d cut fell outward. Beyond it, lay the cool darkness.
“Let’s put the amplifier in the jet,” Marcus said. He looked at Finn and Lia. “Anything else you guys need? I’d prefer you get the jet ready in here, while it’s still in cover.”
Lia stepped forward, holding up a large tube with a pointed end. “I need to get all the tires coated with this synthetic rubber, and then we’ll see if we can get this baby fired up.”
Gabe worked with Reed to fit the amplifier into the small cargo area beneath the jet. Lia moved around the jet, spraying the black coating over the tires. Once she was done, she climbed up the small ladder into the cockpit, blinking at the old-school dashboard. The navigator’s seat was behind the pilot’s, and space was tight. She quickly settled in, and got to work, plugging in her comp to give her access to the controls and the powerpack Noah had given her. It would provide the fuel for the supersonic engines.
She tapped in some commands and waited. Her heart skipped a beat. Come on, baby, wake up.
Lights flared to life on the cockpit controls. She grinned. “She’s operational.”
“Woot!” Finn called out. “Nice work.”
Lia went over all the controls. The jet might be old, but Lia was a pilot, and this was a plane…there were some things that would always be familiar. She started her checks.
Finn climbed up the ladder. “Ready?”
She took a deep breath. “Ready. Your seat is in back.” She jerked a thumb behind her. “It’s going to be a tight fit for that long body of yours. Back when this baby came out, pilots had to be a lot shorter than you.”
“I’ll fit,” he said with a smile. He climbed in.
Suddenly, there were deep shouts from outside. Lia’s hands froze on the controls
“Marcus.” Elle’s voice came over the comm. “You have raptors incoming! I repeat, raptors incoming, and there are a lot of them. Looks like a patrol has picked up your activity in the area. You only have one patrol heading toward you right now, but they’ve called in reinforcements. There’s a large convoy coming in from the direction of the factories.”
“Let’s move, people,” Marcus called out.
Gabe and Reed moved outside, firing their carbines. Laser fire lit up the night.
“You two, get that jet ready,” Marcus bellowed. The rest of Hell Squad moved through the gap.
Lia forced herself to focus on the controls and getting the jet ready. She couldn’t think about the aliens. All she had to do was get this jet in the sky.
That was when she felt the ground rumble beneath her.
She frowned. What the hell was that?
“Rex incoming!” Cruz’s shout echoed back from outside.
Marcus appeared beside the jet, coming part way up the ladder. “Listen up. We’ll get this raptor patrol down, and then get you guys out on the runway. It’s going to be hot, but you need to get in the air before the raptor reinforcements arrive. Got it?”
Lia nodded. “Got it.”
Marcus reached up and touched her shoulder. “Good luck.” He reached back and shook Finn’s hand.
Then he was gone, striding out to join his squad.
“Hell Squad, ready to go to hell?” Marcus shouted.
“Hell, yeah,” the rest of his team called back. “The devil needs an ass-kicking.”
Carbine fire whizzed through the air. The team moved out in unison, as a smooth, well-oiled machine, engaging the raptors.
“How are the checks?” Finn said, jolting her back to the task at hand.
“Fine. Starting engines now.” She pressed the buttons in sequence. She pressed the final button. Nothing happened. Her stomach dropped. She pressed it again
“Lia?”
“Hang on.” She typed in some more commands. Come on, girl, don’t fail me now.
As if the aircraft heard her, the engines roared to life.
“Yeah!” Finn called back. “Amplifier is safely aboard and engines are hot. Anything else you need me to do?”
“Here, take this.” She handed him a comp tablet back. “You’re my navigator.”
“Lia! Time to move,” Marcus shouted from outside.
She set the aircraft in motion. The jet rolled forward, and they moved through the gap in the wall, bumping roughly over the uneven ground.
Outside, she could see the dark sky was beginning to lighten. Dawn wouldn’t be far away. God, they needed to get out of here before daylight hit. She spotted Cruz waving them onto the runway.
There was no sign of the raptor patrol. She did a quick scan, and spotted multiple alien bodies on the ground.
But then, she saw Shaw go down on one knee. He was looking through his sniper scope. A second later, he started firing. “Incoming!”
Lia looked to the south, and everything in her went solid. Like her chest had suddenly filled with concrete.
Heading toward them was a giant beast. A rex.
It was surrounded by raptor vehicles. So many. Lia’s breath caught in her throat.
The rex lifted its head and roared.
***
“Lia, go!” Finn called out. “We need to get airborne.” He wanted them far away from the rex.
Hell Squad was firing, and Marcus was waving wildly at Finn and Lia. “Go,” he said with a roar.
They bumped their way out onto the runway, and Lia turned them away from the oncoming aliens. When they reached the end of the runway she turned the plane around, then stopped to check everything was okay. “Closing canopy,” she said.
Good. He was ready to get this show on the road.
Suddenly, a shadow moved just outside the jet. A body leaped up and slammed into the still-open cockpit. The damn thing landed in Lia’s lap.
Lia screamed. Finn stared at the alien creature. It lifted its head and stared straight at him with burning red eyes.
It wasn’t a raptor or a canid. It was something smaller, and a lot more agile.
The thing reached forward and grabbed Lia. It grunted, and then yanked her out of the cockpit, kicking and screaming.
“Lia!” Finn yanked off the harness he’d just fastened and leaped out of the jet.
He landed in a crouch, pulling out his laser pistol.
The creature was tossing Lia around like a ragdoll. It looked up, and he got a better view of it in the murky light. It looked like a reptilian gorilla, with a sharp set of spikes along its back.
“Hey.” Finn lifted the pistol and fired.
The thing dropped Lia and she landed in a sprawl on the ground.
The creature roared at Finn and as it came his way, Finn kept his finger on the trigger and kept shooting at it.
Lia got back up and tried to run.
But the creature spun and did a giant leap, flying through the air, and landing on her back. He slammed her down hard into the ground.
“Get off her.” F
inn readjusted his aim, running toward her, and firing again.
Lia managed to turn underneath the beast’s large powerful body. She rammed her hand up, and jammed her fingers hard into the creature’s eyes.
It stumbled back, roaring again. The deep, resonant sound rolled over the other sounds of battle.
Finn ducked in, and grabbed Lia. “Back in the jet.” He kept firing, pulling her backward, toward the aircraft. The creature bounded up, looked at them, and then turned and ran off toward the nearby buildings.
At the jet, Finn pushed Lia ahead of him and shoved her into the jet. Finn climbed in, lifting his head to scan around them. He didn’t want that thing making a second attempt.
Instead, he saw something far worse.
There were more of them.
He could see shadows moving near one of the abandoned hangars. He looked to the next one, and everything inside him went cold. There were even more shadows moving—and all of them had the same powerful shape as the gorilla-thing. God, there must be packs of the things.
“We have to go. Now!”
Suddenly, the rex at the end of the runway roared. Shit. It was damn close to stepping onto the runway.
Lia yanked her harness on and started touching the buttons.
As soon as Finn was in his seat, the canopy started closing again. As soon as it was shut, Finn released a long breath.
Lia sent more power to the engines, getting ready for takeoff. She looked up and he followed her gaze.
He could see the green laser fire.
“What about Hell Squad?” she asked. “There are too many aliens.”
Finn wanted to worry about his friends, but he knew right now he couldn’t. “They’ve escaped worse. Best thing we can do is get out of here, and then they can, too.”
Lia nodded. “Okay. We’re all set.”
“Great. Go!”
They started rolling down the runway. Finn turned and looked back behind them. He could see a group of the alien gorillas racing toward them. His jaw locked. He decided not to tell Lia.
“Oh, God!”
Her cry made him look back. She was staring straight ahead.
Finn saw the rex stomping toward them, and he cursed. Holy hell, that thing was huge. “You can do it, Lia. Get us up.”
