"I have a better idea. Get with Archangel. Take an All Terrain Vehicle with a magnetic particle gun on the back and start shooting down the over a hundred drones watching our base."
What the fuck? She wants me to play with a magnetic gun? Wait, over one hundred drones are watching us? "I'm on it!"
"Some of the drones are the same kind that tried to take out our car. Be careful. On the bigger drones, use a heat-seeking rocket."
Holy shit. "Shouldn't we use a tank or something?"
"The ATV is better at dodging. If we send a tank, we'll have one dead tank for sure."
I nodded, even though Nancy could not see.
"Have Archangel use the particle gun," Nancy said. "You drive. Find a third who wants to launch rockets."
She hung up on me.
I whispered, "Who wants to go drone hunting?"
"What kind of drones?" Sphinx asked.
"Little drones and big drones. There are over a hundred drones simply watching our facility, and it's time to shoot them down."
"They should send Apaches out," Xeon said.
"The drones are too small for Apaches," Sphinx said. "It's either magnetic particle guns or heat-seeking rockets. The drones seem to be designed to evade the Apache's sensors."
"I'll help."
That's my girl. Archangel came through the food line, and I waved at him.
He sat with us.
"Ever hunt drones?" I asked.
Archangel chuckled. "There are three big drones that need rockets, and 106 smaller drones we can take out with the gun."
"I'll drive," I said.
"The big drones we only have to get within a kilometer of. You best do a good job, and dodge the incoming rockets."
Or we'll all be dead.
Xeon leaned in close and nibbled my ear. "Come to my room first."
"Let's hunt this afternoon," I said. "I think Xeon needs me."
"I have been seeing a nice Muslim girl," Archangel said. "I'm going to ask her father about marriage."
"You should ask the woman, not the father," Sphinx said.
"I must ask the father first. He must approve. Then I'll ask the woman."
Xeon picked up my hand and acted like she was going to leave with it, so I figured I better follow. We stripped naked. I was quickly reminded of why I loved her so much in the past. We lay next to each other breathing. My gear got hard a second time, and we did it again. It had been so long, after all. Nice to be back in the game.
Chapter Twelve
Archangel, Xeon, and I ate a quick lunch. Archangel led the way to the garage. Xeon held my hand. Corny. An Elf was passing out doughnut holes in the hallway, and I ate six. I'm not telling lies.
The so-called ATV was more like an open air behemoth with a rocket launcher in the middle and a gun on the back. It had a Chor'Tan power plant in it, with an electric drive train.
Both weapon systems were belt-fed, and I thought we had twenty heat-seeking rockets and maybe 1,000 rounds for the mag gun. We saddled up. I drove. Steered the vehicle into the desert, going around rock formations and ravines. Archangel's gun made a whomp sound, and he said, "Got one."
"I'm getting a lock," Xeon said.
There was a puff of smoke in the distance, and I knew the drone fired a rocket. I jerked the wheel hard to the right and punched the gas. Xeon shouted, "Drive steady!"
The computer was doing all the targeting. I didn't know why she was complaining. Her rocket swooshed over my head, and the drone's rocket landed behind us. There was an explosion in the sky in the distance. Xeon laughed. Archangel's gun went whomp again.
"Drive like you are following a perimeter around the base," he said.
I drove about 20 kph. My eyes watched the sky all around us waiting for a puff of smoke. The mag gun went whomp and whomp repeatedly. Archangel doesn't miss. I think the gun he was using fired projectiles at over a hundred times the speed of sound. Why we weren't using a laser, I didn't know. I think a laser would use less juice.
"Another one," Xeon said.
"Where?" I asked.
"Left, you can't see it."
I looked. A puff of smoke grew in the distance on the left. I slammed the truck into reverse and punched the accelerator, hard. Tires spun for a moment in the sand, but we moved backward. Xeon kicked the back of my seat. "You do that just before I get a lock."
"Use the computer," I said.
"This thing has a computer?"
Damn it. The rockets those big drones are firing will kill us. Xeon launched. A fireball danced right in front of us and in the sky on the left.
Two big drones down. The mag gun started going whomp whomp quickly.
Archangel shouted, "They're swarming us."
"I have three targets, shit! Spin us around," Xeon said.
I punched the gas and spun us.
Xeon fired a missile. Three puffs of smoke responded in the far distance. I pushed the accelerator down all the way and dodged cacti and rocks. I spun the wheel to the left. Two explosions landed behind us and one on our left. Shrapnel hit me in my shoulder. A drone exploded in the distance. Two more puffs of smoke in that direction. Xeon launched another projectile. Archangel's gun went off over and over.
I slammed on the brakes. The drone missiles landed in front of us, and another drone exploded. I knew I couldn't just sit there. Xeon and the last drone launched missiles at the same time. I hit the gas and jerked the wheel to the left. My shoulder hurt bad, but adrenaline was dulling the pain. Archangel fired again and again.
The last drone exploded, but the drone's missile landed right in front of us, shredding the front end of the vehicle. Archangel's gun went silent. "We walk back."
"Will there be snakes?" Xeon asked.
Only mine, sweet cheeks. "There could be."
"Scorpions, too," Archangel said.
Xeon danced from one foot to the other. "Call for a pickup."
We're not pussies.
"It's only a kilometer," I said.
I was bleeding kind of bad, too. And I didn't bring bandages. Wait. Med kit in the truck. I put a smart bandage on my injured shoulder.
My arm was covered in blood. "We should call for an evac."
I sat down. Xeon sat right on my lap and kissed me. Archangel called for help on the radio.
He smiled at us. "I have good news."
Do tell.
"I talked to the father of the woman of my dreams, and he was pleased that I was interested in marriage."
Good news.
"Have you asked Naroo yet?" Xeon asked.
"Not yet, but I see her tonight," he said.
I tried to flex my left arm. I was hurt bad. "Good luck!"
"Archangel does not need luck."
I guess I already knew that.
Two trucks and a medivac helicopter showed up. I wanted to climb in the helicopter, but they got out a gurney and strapped me in. They gave me a shot, and it was way too strong, and I blacked out. I woke up in a hospital bed with Xeon right on top of me. She wasn't naked, but that was easily corrected. I still had an IV in me, but she rode me like a motorcycle. It was nice to have a woman again. She lay next to me.
Somebody knocked on the door to the room. I shouted, "Enter."
Enigma stepped in. "You know there's a camera in this room, with sound, and it pumps right to the nurses' station and can't be shut off?"
Now I knew.
"Did you enjoy the show?" Xeon asked.
"No sex in the hospital wing!"
Chapter Thirteen
"Well, take this damn IV out of my arm," I said, "and we'll get the Hell out of the medical wing."
"There's medicine in that IV that you need," Enigma said. "You need rest, too."
I didn't even know what time it was or anything. There was another knock on the door. All three of us shouted, "Enter."
Thomas stepped in with a brown paper sack. His eyes were bloodshot, and he reeked of marijuana smoke. I knew the paper sack was for me. "Thomas!"
&nbs
p; "Just a cheeseburger and fries," he said.
"Enough for me, too?" Xeon said.
"Get your own."
He handed me the bag. The burger was perhaps the biggest I'd ever seen, with four slices of cheese and horseradish mustard. The meat tasted really awesome. I mentioned it.
"Prime beef, my boy. Filet. Hard to make a better burger without Kobe," he said.
I loved Thomas.
Xeon leaned in and took a bite of the hamburger. "You never brought me food like this when I was injured."
"You were shot in the gut. Special diet."
The fries were good, although Xeon ate like two-thirds of them. The door swished open. Dr. Heathers, the resident head shrink, stepped in. "I'm sorry I haven't been in touch sooner, Bear. I've been on holiday."
I nodded.
Heathers looked people in the eyes. "Everybody out."
Xeon pointed at her chest. "Even me?"
"Especially you."
They left. Heathers turned to the camera in the corridor. "Recording off. Authorization Psych."
The little light on the camera shut off. She pulled a gun and shot me dead. No. She grabbed a chair from the corner of the room and moved it next to me. "You killed a young boy."
Damn it. My psyche buried that so deep I thought it was gone. A couple of tears escaped my eyes.
"You've killed eighteen, nineteen-year-olds before?" She asked.
"Yes, I guess so."
"So does it really make a difference if he was 13? 18? 25? 50?"
I looked away. "The more we talk about it, the more I'll dream about it."
"Your dreams are a sign your mind is healthy. I can give you something to shut them down. It's something new."
No fucking drugs. "I don't think so."
"I want to see you every day for the next week."
Shit. "I'm really fine. I put the thing with the kid behind me already." Until you dredged it up, you bloody witch.
"You're going to be in physical therapy three times a week for your shoulder anyhow. Your brain needs healing."
I lifted my left arm to make some rude gesture, and my shoulder spiked with pain. I did not succeed.
"You should have been in therapy since you got shot in that shoulder," she said. "Now with a second injury, it's going to be twice as hard."
She just said twice as hard. Slut.
She stood up. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"I don't need to see you tomorrow."
"Talking to me will help you."
Or it will turn me into a babbling fool.
"I think I'm fine," I said. I was fine. I had yet to dream about that kid, and he threw a grenade at us.
"Contact me if you need somebody to talk to."
I have Xeon.
Heathers left. Xeon came back in. "Let's watch a movie."
So we watched a movie. Something with a lot of aliens in it, but not Razdorans or Chor'Tan, make-believe aliens with big, black eyes.
Afterward, Xeon started to rub me hard, and that tends to work with me. I said, "Cameras."
"They're off. The little light is off."
We did it doggie style, and it hurt my shoulder, but I figured motion is life. Xeon slept with me that night. In the morning, a nurse came in and made Xeon leave. They fed me three-day-old stew for breakfast. No, it was just gross oatmeal and cold, over cooked sausage links. They could have brought me food from the regular cafeteria, and instead, they give me that crap?
They offered me painkillers, and I declined. Rather feel the pain. It was bad. A man came to my room with the nurse. He said, "Time for therapy."
The nurse disconnected my IV. "You need at least a small painkiller and anti-inflammatory before therapy."
"Gimmie," I said.
I took two small pills. The therapy guy led the way, and down the hallway, we went.
"We do stretching exercises for thirty minutes," he said.
I nodded.
He pulled my arm every which way. Hurt like Hell, too. I screamed over and over again. I didn't scream, but I felt the pain was borderline close enough to send my body into shock.
By the time the stretching was done, I was a wreck. Needed food. My hands were shaking, and my stomach was beyond empty. Sweat poured out of my body.
"I need lunch," I said.
"There's a fridge with orange juice in it. That will help you enough to get you through the workout."
The fridge had orange juice for sure but fruit and protein smoothies too. I had one of both.
"You never told me your name," I said.
"Bill. Because you have a bill to pay, and I'm going to help you pay it."
He made me lift weights next. But instead of doing a heavy weight, and lifting it 8-12 times, he made me use really small weights and lift them slowly. Like so slow I was almost stopped most of the time. This hurt bad. I mean, the stretches hurt, but this new thing was like passing a football wrapped in rough sandpaper through my anus.
Chapter Fourteen
I went to the nurses' station and asked for a painkiller. They gave me a muscle relaxer. It would be lunch time soon, and I figured a nice run. I ran for a bit, but the muscle relaxer made my whole body feel like a gel-based dessert.
I was eating a nice lunch. None of the rest of the team was around yet. Sphinx came through the food line, and the muscle relaxer made me grin and wave like an idiot.
"They let you out of medical?" She asked.
I'm not easily caged. "It isn't like I asked if I could leave."
"You should be in medical."
"Have you had the food they give you in medical?"
"I see your point."
Zen and Xeon came through the line next. Soon followed by Jet, Enigma, Lobster, and Archangel. Thomas was last.
Xeon sat next to me and kissed me.
"How long, Enigma, before Bear can be used in the field?" Thomas asked.
"He's not even supposed to be out of medical," Enigma replied.
I wanted to say I'm fine, but I about fell out of my chair right then. I leaned on Xeon. She purred.
Joe came through the food line with a tray with nothing more than a grilled cheese sandwich and water. He stopped at our table. "I'm on a diet."
Nobody laughed. "I have news," he said.
Lobster barked.
Joe ate half of his grilled cheese in one massive bite and hardly chewed before swallowing. "We got an old version of the computer systems running and learned that the viruses were coming from a chip on the mainboard in the servers themselves. Every computer bought under Ralan has a viral chip in it."
Jet said, "Buy new computers."
"Every new mainboard we've ordered has had one of these chips in it."
"Get used mainboards off an auction site."
Joe took a normal bite of grilled cheese this time. "We ordered everyone we could find that was over three years old. It wasn't much."
"Wait a minute," Sphinx said. "You're telling me every computer built in the world in the last three years has a virus chip in it?"
Joe closed his eyes and started to whimper. "Some nettops and miniature Linux machines don't have them."
"Block the virus code on the operating system level," I said. "Stop it from loading."
"We've very quietly let operating system developers know about the virus. Hardware manufacturers are claiming that the virus chip is actually integral to high-speed networking compression algorithms."
"Is it possible Centurian has infiltrated computer manufacturers," Zen asked.
Joe ate the rest of his grilled cheese. "This was not enough food. Centurian infiltrated our organization, comparatively computer manufacturers should be cake to get set up in."
"Get some Chor'Tan computers."
"They're going to send us a few, and it'll be a big help, but in general, our networks are down and will be down for a while."
Speaking of Chor'Tan, I wondered how my kids were doing? Ussilla wouldn't have my new email address. I finished my food and said,
"There's something I need to check on."
"You need to go to the vending machines and get me food!" Joe said.
Enigma patted him on the hand. "I can get you a healthy snack. Your diet is a little flexible. If you walk on the treadmill for a while."
"How much food versus how much walking?"
"Burn 100 calories for a 200 calorie snack."
"Deal!"
I went to my room and started typing like mad on a terminal.
I found five videos from Ussilla.
The first video contained clips of the little ones catching and eating small fish. Resting in the sun afterward. The second video they were almost knee-high, and they were playing with plastic balls. The male kids were playing too, and they're supposed to be dumb animals.
In the third video, the little critters took down some kind of large, dumb animal, and they split the food between all of them. The males did not seem dumb. In the fourth video, they were easily knee-high, and the females were talking sentences.
The fifth video was short, and all it was, was one of the young male ones, and all that happened is he said a word in Chor'Tan.
The message with it, said simply, "You have done a great thing, Bear. Our species thanks you. Preliminary scans indicate they'll be fertile. It may take ten generations and it may take a hundred, but we're on our way."
Xeon hugged me. I kind of wanted to cry a bit. I wondered about the human child I made so long ago, but I had no way to check on that one.
"We should make a baby," Xeon said.
Oh, Hell no. Wait. Is marriage even an option for agents? I was not ready for fatherhood. "I'm going to need some time to think about that."
"You never think. You act."
"We'd have to get married…"
She smiled at me. "We don't have to, and I don't see why that's a problem. We could get one into the oven then get married."
I could tell by the look in her eyes she was quitting whatever birth control she was on previously. Whatever happens, happens.
Chapter Fifteen
A week or so passed uneventfully. I took zero painkillers or muscle relaxers by the end of that time. I was having breakfast with most of the crew. Archangel and another fellow walked through the food line.
This new man was a little shorter than Archangel, with a round face, and somehow, he was actually a little wider than Archangel. It made him look like a midget, but he was definitely not that. The proportions were just off. They sat with us. Ben had been with us most of the last week, too, and Zen was always smiling since his arrival. He said, "Welcome."
Codename: Bear II: Secret Agent (Codename Universe Book 2) Page 5
