by Lucas Marcum
Suarez ran to the rear of the aircraft and climbed in. She moved across the cabin to her station and glanced out through the other rear sliding door. Down the flight line she could see all three of the other aircraft. Suddenly she saw a bright bloom of red-orange fire, and the CRACK-WHUMP of an explosion on the far side of Valkyrie Four. Then another, closer, and another.
As she watched, time seemed to slow down. The third explosion was right next to Valkyrie Four, and the fire ripped through the rear of the aircraft. She watched in horror as the medic fell out of his door, missing one of his legs below the knee. He landed on his face and was still. The next explosion hit Valkyrie Three on the tail and shattered the structure of the aircraft. Holes appeared in the fuselage, then a bright flash as a large fireball consumed the aircraft and the fuel cell detonated. In horror, she shifted her eyes to Valkyrie Two. Captain Moreno had just lifted off, both of the side guns spitting fire into the darkness, when one of the projectiles hit the cockpit and penetrated the windscreen. There was a muted flash, and Valkyrie Two crashed to the ground hard, with smoke pouring from the cockpit.
She tore her eyes away from the scene and turned to check on Sergeant Agawa. He was facing her, shouting something she couldn’t hear. She shook her head to indicate that she couldn’t understand him, when he suddenly jerked several times and fell towards her, landing face down in the rear of the aircraft. In horror, she looked up. There were two figures in unfamiliar slick black armor advancing on the rear of the aircraft. One of them was lowering a rifle. Seeing her standing in shock, he raised his rifle as his companion rushed at the aircraft door.
Almost without thinking, Elizabeth pulled her sidearm, pointed it center mass at the rushing figure, and squeezed the trigger three times. The armored figure froze and looked down at his chest plate, where three large holes had appeared, and then stumbled to its knees. Pointing her pistol at the other figure, she squeezed the trigger twice, but it was suddenly getting smaller and moving rapidly backwards. She couldn’t figure out why, until she realized that the aircraft was lifting into the dust-filled night sky.
She snapped the sidearm back on her thigh and turned to her partner. Glancing over his back, and was relieved to see only scorch marks. Heaving him onto his side, she punched his armor control panel to see his vital readouts. The indicators shone green, indicating he was alive, but unconscious. She pulled him close with one arm and held onto the doorframe with the other.
She glanced out the open door again, seeing the red and blue of small arms fire flying back and forth across the hospital area, with shadowy shapes running, falling. There were flashes of red ripping through the tents and sparking off of the tactical shelters. She caught a glimpse of a raging fire burning near the pharmacy shelter, lighting the area up with orange and black shadows. She could see figures outlined against the fire, glimpses of dark, shiny alien armor intermixed with other shapes struggling and falling.
Outside the aircraft, she sensed rather than saw something fly by the open door. An explosion underneath and behind the aircraft buffeted the big machine. Another streak shot by, closer, then there was a large explosion on top of the port wing.
The aircraft rocked hard, and the engines took on a strained, sickly tone. She realized she could hear the warbling of alarms and faint voices as her hearing returned.
“Chips, two’s gone! Losing power in one!”
Another voice she recognized as Captain Wilkes said, “Full power, flaps.”
The first voice again, she now recognized as Mick. “Lost power in one. Steve!! One!” There was a desperate tone in his voice.
Wilkes responded in a calm voice, “We’re going down. Get the nose up. Nose up!”
There was a sickening dip, and suddenly the big aircraft rolled hard to the left. Elizabeth had a nauseating feeling of falling as she lost her grip and tumbled out the door into the darkness. She had a moment of terror, then a moment of strange calm washed over her as she thought to herself, Well. This might be...
Blackness swallowed Captain Elizabeth Suarez.
-3-
“Flight”
OUTSIDE THE PERIMETER OF VALHALLA STATION
0249 hours, March 15, 2245
The church bells rang, melodiously and continuously, but something was wrong. They seemed broken, and were only playing one note over and over. Her dress was also too tight, and was constricting her breathing and hurting her ribs. Elizabeth looked up at the adults around her, dressed in somber clothing, passing her on the left and right heading into the church. Her aunt Candalaria said to her as she passed, “Let’s go, darling. We can’t be late. We can’t miss this.”
She swept by and was lost in the throng of people. Elizabeth was confused, looking around, and saw her brother, Miguel. She spoke, raising her voice to try to get him to hear, “Miguel. What will we be late for? I don’t want to go.”
Her voice sounded strange to her, thin and high, quavering. Miguel continued to walk, disappearing with the throngs of her family into the church.
Her grandfather answered her, “Nieta, it’s your mama’s funeral Mass. You can’t miss this. She’ll be very sad.” He, too, swept by and was gone.
Anna, Elizabeth’s sister, said impatiently, “Lizzy, let’s go. We don’t have all day,” before she, too, was gone.
Her mother knelt near her, speaking kindly, “Mami, you can’t come see me yet. You have a job to do, taking care of people. They need your help. I’ve always said you have the heart of an angel. Vaya con Dios, my love.” She gently touched Elizabeth’s cheek and disappeared through the doors.
Elizabeth regarded the church door with growing dread. As her family streamed into it, she realized she could see nothing beyond the doors, only blackness. She turned slowly, looking around. Her family had all gone in now, and she stood alone on the sidewalk. The Southern California sun beat down hot on her head, and the palm trees gently swayed. The streets were empty of traffic, the skies empty of planes. The insistent monotone notes of the broken church bell continued to ring. She turned to face the open church door again, and the deep blackness within. A sudden sharp stab of pain hit her side, causing her to gasp and wake up.
****
When Elizabeth opened her eyes, all she could see were colorful red, yellow, and green blurs in front of her. Blinking, the colors turned into the indicators inside her suit helmet. The monotone bell was the alarm in her suit chiming. She blinked hard several times, and the large red area resolved into the words: ‘MEDICAL EMERGENCY: TRAUMA—AUTO TREATMENT INITIATED’. She slowly shook her head, trying to collect her thoughts and remember how she’d ended up here. Summoning her strength, she spoke—or tried to.
Her voice came out as a whisper, and the effort to speak made her ribs feel like someone was stabbing her side, “Activate Trauma System.” Her throat was dry and felt like it was on fire.
The onboard systems responded in a calm, clear voice, “Trauma System Auto-Activated at 0013h. Treatment initiated for broken ribs, minor concussion, and multiple contusions. Minor fractures detected. Seek medical attention.”
She scrunched her eyes shut hard and tried to think. The clock in her helmet read 0249 hours. She’d been unconscious for almost three hours. After a moment she spoke again, “Activate Suit Diagnostics.”
The suit responded promptly in its calm, mechanical voice, “Power: 85% remaining. Armor integrity: 80%. Trauma System active. Camouflage system active. Damage to left ventral leg servos. Damage to left lateral chest pressure seams. Damage to left shoulder light system. Communications network unavailable. Impact protection system expended. Oxygen generator offline. Water reclamation system offline. Status: incapable of extra-atmospheric operations. Recommend immediate service.”
She thought about this for a moment, as the memories began to flood back to her. The assault on the hospital. The loss of the other Valkyries, Brian getting shot, the ‘Hawk getting hit, falling. In a rush, she realized that her partner had fallen, too, and he had the same armor she did
. Since she’d survived… She had to find him.
She slowly tried to sit up, and despite the stabbing pain in her left chest and leg, she was able to pull herself to a sitting position. Slowly, gritting her teeth against the pain, she looked around.
About forty yards away, the wreckage of Valkyrie One burned, the fire flickering and dancing out of the cockpit. By the scorched paint and remains of the aircraft, it had burned ferociously, then began to die down. She watched it for a moment, thinking of her friends Mick and Steve. A mix of terror and hysteria washed over her momentarily. After a moment, part of her coldly pointed out that they were dead and she could mourn later. Now was the time to keep herself alive.
She continued her scan of the immediate area. Much closer to her, she saw a shape in the darkness. She squinted her eyes at it, then, feeling slightly foolish, realized that she had a night sight filter in her helmet. Activating it, she could clearly see the prone form of Sergeant Brian Agawa lying unmoving near a low set of shrubs. She rolled over and onto her hands and knees. Her leg and chest wall screamed in protest as she did so.
Gritting her teeth, she stood. After standing and wobbling for a moment, she began limping her way towards her partner. She had trouble keeping her footing in the loose, ash consistency sand that seemed to be everywhere on this world, and fell several times in the short distance to her fallen friend. Each time she felt lightheaded, and then the explosion of pain in her side would jolt her back to reality.
As she approached Sergeant Agawa, she could see that he was lying face down, his suit unnaturally stiff. He wasn’t moving. Her breath caught in her throat as she knelt by him. She laid a hand on his back. Then, steeling herself, she reached under him, and used the augmented strength of her armor to flip his rigid form onto its back.
Taking a deep breath, she moved up his body to look into his helmet. The blast shield was down. She slowly reached for it, then in a swift motion slid it up.
Brian blinked at her and spoke calmly, “Took you long enough. What kept you?”
Elizabeth burst out laughing, which rapidly threatened to transform into tears. She worked his chest control plate open and, blinking to clear her eyes, hit the control that would unlock his suit. There was a loud pop as his suit exited impact mode, and the armor suddenly went slack at the joints. He sighed, grimaced, and then sat up, apparently no worse for wear. Disregarding everything she’d been taught about the armor, she launched herself at him and wrapped him in a bear hug. He gently patted her back while the tears burst forth.
After a moment, she pulled back and said, sniffling, “What do you mean, took me long enough? You asshole! I thought you were dead!”
Sergeant Agawa nodded slowly. “So did I for a while. After I woke up, I couldn’t move. It was dark and silent. There was nothing. I thought I was in hell, or purgatory, or wherever it is that people who don’t follow the faith of their ancestors go to.”
He held out an armored hand, flexing it, staring at his fingers, then said, “Then I had a revelation. I wasn’t dead. Know how I knew?” Elizabeth shook her head mutely, sniffling. With a deadpan expression, he continued, “Because I had to pee. You don’t have to pee when you’re dead.”
Elizabeth burst out laughing again.
Agawa said, “Anyway, my suit was shut down and still locked from the impact protection system deployment. I managed to reset it so I had power, air, and systems, but it wouldn’t unlock.” He moved his arms gingerly, as if testing to see if they were hurt. He continued, “So, I was lying here, facedown, and I figured one of three things would happen. One: Sharkheads would find me, and I’d be made a prisoner or killed. Two: The suit would run out of juice in a day or two and hopefully unlock, or Three: someone friendly would find me, and we’d be good to go.” He looked closely at Elizabeth. “Glad it was option three.”
His eyes moved towards the burnt-out wreckage of Valkyrie One. He looked at it for a long moment, then back at Elizabeth. She just shook her head. He held eye contact for a moment, then looked down. When he looked back up, she saw an expression she’d never seen on the stoic noncommissioned officer’s face before—a look of pure fury. It vanished as fast as it had come, and his calm expression returned.
After a moment, he nodded and said, “Ok. Let’s take stock of things.” He worked his way to his feet, then reached out an armored hand to help Elizabeth up. She took it, grimacing as she did. The pain was still bad, but it was tolerable now.
He watched her for a moment, then spoke again, “Ok. We’re alive and functional. You’re hurt, but can clearly move, so there’s that.” He peered at her indicators and nodded, “It’s going to suck, but you can wait.” Elizabeth nodded as Brian continued.
“Mike and Skip are dead. We need to push back to the hospital, link up with them. I don’t want to be out here for too long. There’s Elai patrols in the area, and if there weren’t before, there sure as hell are now.” He stared again at the wreckage.
Elizabeth cleared her throat and spoke hesitantly, “Brian, they’re gone.”
He turned and looked at her for a moment, then asked, “Who’s gone?” He turned and peered in the direction of Valkyrie Station. Grimacing with pain, Elizabeth moved to stand behind him.
She spoke in a low voice, telling him what she’d seen as they lifted. Him getting hit. Shooting the Elai soldier. The firefight and explosions inside the hospital perimeter. The explosion on the ‘Hawk. Falling, then waking up in the sand. He stood mutely through all of it, not saying a word.
After she finished, he stood in silence for a moment, then turned and said, in a cold, flat voice, “Ok, then. Change of plans. We’ll push back to the hospital carefully and link up with the survivors. We can get some weapons and supplies and head for the main Allied lines. Failing that, we evade these toothy fucks as long as we can.” He paused, then continued, “How’s that for a plan, Ma’am?”
She nodded. “Works for me.” Looking around at the blowing sand, low scrubby bushes, and the wreckage of the ‘Hawk, she laughed bitterly. “It’s not like I have any better ideas.”
There was a roar overhead as aircraft came screaming low over the valley, then faded. There was a series of distant flashes on the horizon, and a faint rumbling, like distant thunder. They both looked up apprehensively for a moment, then traded a glance.
Agawa nodded grimly, then gestured in the direction of the hospital. “Right. Time to go.”
She pulled her sidearm, which astonishingly was still secured to her right thigh plate, checked the function and ammunition, and motioned for Sergeant Agawa to take the lead. He nodded once, and activated his suit camouflage. His suit briefly blurred, then turned into a dark grey, sandy color, matching the ground and blowing dust. Elizabeth followed suit, and took up position a few meters behind him as they cautiously moved towards the ruins of the field hospital.
-4-
“Dust and Shadows”
OUTSIDE THE PERIMETER OF VALHALLA STATION
0315 hours, March 15, 2245
Elizabeth crouched behind the edge of the berm that ran around the landing pads, grimacing at the stabbing pain in her ribs. She glanced at Brian, who nodded firmly, flopped onto his stomach, and crawled to the top of the berm, just barely sticking his head over enough to see. There was very little light visible, save the eerie flickering in the sky. Brian activated the night vision filter in his helmet to amplify what little light there was.
Beyond, the wreckage of Valkyrie Two sat on the pad, it’s landing gear crushed, nose resting on the pad from the hard landing. A gaping hole could be seen in the windscreen on the co-pilots side. In the rear, one of the flight crew was draped over the edge of the fuselage, his hands hanging down limp. There was a very large, dark pool underneath him. Brian grimaced and continued his methodical survey of the area.
Further down the pad lay the twisted wreckage of Valkyrie Three and Four. Three had exploded and burnt, and was a twisted mess of blackened metal, almost unrecognizable as an aircraft. Valkyrie Four s
at next to it, the skin riddled with holes, and the rear half of the aircraft broken and mangled. There was another crewman lying next to it, on his back, his armor blast shield closed. His leg was missing, and his power-armor suit was scorched terribly from the flames.
Continuing his slow reconnaissance, he saw the empty pad Valkyrie One had lifted from, and the figure in its slick black armor lying face down, a stubby rifle lying partly underneath it. On the far side next to the berm facing the hospital lay another still figure, this one clad in the uniform of one of the maintenance technicians. There was nothing else moving. No personnel, no sentries, nothing.
With a muttered curse, the sergeant slid back down the berm and spoke in a low tone to Elizabeth. “I didn’t see any Elai. The Valks are all shot to shit. I think I saw Sergeant Chris in Two.”
Elizabeth twisted around, looking at the top of the berm and asked, “Is he ok? We should go help him!”
Brian shook his head. “I think he’s dead. I think they’re all dead. There’s someone in Four too, but they’re burnt.” Pausing for a moment, he said, “Plus, I don’t have a weapon, and we don’t know if there are any left in there.” He stopped, thinking, then looked at Elizabeth.
“Ma’am, we need to get in there. We need weapons and a portable charger for our armor at the very least.” After a slight pause, he continued, “For the record, I think going in there is a shit idea, but I don’t see how we can avoid it.”
Elizabeth considered this for a moment, then held her pistol out to Brian. “Take this. I’ll be right behind you. You’re probably better with it.”
Staring at the weapon for a moment, Brian sighed and took the weapon. He checked the load, then looked at Elizabeth. “You...probably don’t want to stay here, do you?”
Giving Brian a dark look, she replied, “Would you?”
