Arctic Series (Book 1): Arctic Cold
Page 24
“Brace yourself for a left turn,” Henry says over the headset, causing everyone to grab onto a net.
They all lean as the plane makes its turn to the left, pointing them towards Serra. As the plane levels out, Jessica unhooks herself from her net. She slides over to Oliver and Captain Hammer. “Are you ok?” she asks the Captain.
He lets go of his leg and slowly extends and bends it a couple times. “Yeah, I’ll be ok. Man, those things are tough.”
Oliver stands up and extends out a hand to the Captain, who grabs it. Oliver helps him to his feet and says, “Yeah, if that thing would have slammed down on me, I’d be in some trouble. So, I owe you one.”
James walks over to them and says, “I am glad you are ok. That was pretty ballsy you know.” He extends out his arm to shake the Captain’s hand. “Good shit man.” After shaking the Captain’s hand, James pats him on the back and turns to walk to the cockpit.
“Hey Henry, one thing I forgot to ask you before we left,” James says as he walks up and stands behind Henry.
Henry looks up and asks, “Yeah, what is that?”
James smiles as he looks forward, “Where the hell are we going to land this thing when we get back? I mean, it’s not like we have a truly working airport anywhere in Serra.”
Henry looks forward to the sky in front of him and replies, “Beats me. We can find something though. Probably gonna be a rough landing either way.”
James giggles a little. “Yeah, rough is how we all like it.”
They sit in silence for a couple seconds before James says, “Let me get that detonator. I think Hammer time has earned the right to press the button this time.”
Henry points to a small compartment next to his chair. “It’s in there. Better hurry. We will be out of range soon.”
James bends down and pulls the detonator out of the small compartment. He slaps the back of Henry’s chair and exits the cockpit. When he walks to the back of the cargo hold, everyone is staring out of the opening left in the door, at the terrain beneath them.
“Hey, Captain Hammer,” he yells as he walks up to the team.
The Captain turns around to James. “Since you saved Oliver’s ass back there, you get to have the honors,” James says as he holds out his hand with the detonator.
Captain Hammer grabs the detonator and holds it in front of his chest. He looks at everyone around him, then turns to the building and says, “Rest in pieces.”
He presses the button and looks on to the Hanford site behind them. Nothing happens.
As he keeps pressing the button, over the headset, Henry laughs and says, “Is that really the best thing you could come up with? There isn’t even anyone in the fucking building. That’s it, you lost your-”
BOOM!
Small bursts of flames and smoke come from the building as it slowly crumbles in on itself.
“Well, that wasn’t as cool as I hoped for,” the Captain says.
They all stare at the collapsing building for a second, until a large flash fills the sky behind them. As the flash dies down, a giant mushroom cloud of fire and smoke can be seen where the Hanford site stood just a few seconds ago. They all look at each other and then back at the devastation they just caused, in awe.
“That sure as hell will do. Now let’s get our asses home.” Says James. Everyone starts to cheer as they make their way back to the land of Serra.
EPILOGUE
Inara is sitting at her desk talking on her cell phone. “I have everything set up on my end. Do you really think this is going to work to get Mercy back?” she asks.
On the other end, Sam says, “Yeah. I should have everything set by tonight to help fix this.”
Inara lets out a loud sigh of relief as she sinks down into her chair a little bit. “Sam, I owe you so much. How can I ever repay you?”
Before Sam can answer, the door to Inara’s office swings open and Bob bursts in. Slightly panting from running, he says, “Dr. Stone, you need to get to the communications room now. Someone took over our system and says he only wants to talk to you.”
Inara jumps up from her chair, hangs the phone up on Sam, and runs around her desk. She runs past Bob and through her doorway, Bob follows behind her. As she gets past her door, she starts to sprint. They run down the hall to the elevators, where a woman is holding the door open for them. Once they get inside, the woman steps out from the door, into the elevator, and Inara presses the button for the communications room. The doors close and the elevator starts to ascend.
“What do you mean they took over the system? What is going on?” asks Inara.
Bob shakes his head and throws up his arms. “I’m not sure. Everything was working without a problem. We were trying to scan over the west, but it’s still a bit sketchy. All of a sudden we lost everything. Comms, sat images, everything on the whole floor. Then, someone came on the speakers and asked for you and you only. When I tried to get everyone to help get the system back, he laughed at my accent and told us nothing would help. So, be careful, cause he can hear us.”
Before Inara can ask anything else, the elevator doors open. In the communications room, people are frantically typing on keyboards. No one is talking, just the clicks and taps on keyboards and mice fill the room.
As Inara steps out of the elevator, she asks, “What is going on in here?”
Over the sound of the keyboard strokes, comes the sound of heavy, ragged breathing over the speakers at the far wall.
“Is anyone going to say something?” she asks.
“Ah, there she is. I take it you are Dr. Inara Stone, ruler of your people,” says a man in a raspy, heavy breathing voice.
There is a small pause as Inara looks around the room. The heavy breathing starts again as Inara replies, “Yes, I am Dr. Stone, and who might you be?”
The man on the other end says, “I go by many names. Some call me master, some call me King, or as your precious James has probably called me, the Fatman. Whichever you pick, I am the leader of the ones you call the Skullniks. I have a message for you and your people.”
He stops for a second and the sound of a gurgled, deep breath can be heard. With heavy breathing, he continues:
“After the United States bombed its own cities, and killed its own people, to try and contain some of the virus, most of us were lost. We had nowhere to go. Nothing was left except the burning remains of our societies. They left us. Abandoned us! As we scavenged through ruins of our homes and cities, they watched. You watched! Without even trying to help. You hid behind your walls and gave no cares for this side of the country.
“Slowly, we, the survivors, gathered. We gained in numbers, and with that, power. We promised ourselves that with more and more strength, we would make this new world our own. We would survive, no matter how. We would not cause the useless destruction that they caused us.
“Once again though, we find ourselves at the wrong end of the same destruction, of both our people and our lands. My people and I will not stand for this!
“We can and we will fight. From this day forward, every man, woman, and child that lives within your borders, every town or group that has helped your people, will suffer the wrath of me and mine. I hope you have all made peace in your lives, because soon, you will all die.”
-End of transmission
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jason Keizer was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in August of 1987. He was raised with his two brothers by his grandmother from young childhood. He lived with her until he graduated high school in June of 2005 and then left for Basic Training just one month later. After spending nine years in the Army, Jason decided to move to Washington State for some time as he started college and work on this series.
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