NanoSwarm: Extermination Day Book Two

by William Turnage

  NANOSWARM

  Extermination Day Series Book Two

  William Turnage

  The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied so that you can enjoy reading it on your personal devices. This e-book is for your personal use only. You may not print or post this e-book, or make this e-book publically available in way. You may not copy, reproduce or upload this e-book, other than to read it on one of your personal devices.

  Copyright infringement is against the law. If you believe the copy of this e-book you are reading infringes on the author's copyright, please notify the author at: williamturnage.com/contact.

  NANOSWARM

  Copyright ©2014 by William Edwin Turnage III

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address William Turnage at william@williamturnage.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Cover design copyright ©2014 William Edwin Turnage III

  Visit William Turnage online at: williamturnage.com

  Get the Entire Extermination Day Series!

  Extermination Day (Book One)

  January 15, 2038 – Extermination Day. A deadly virus has descended from the heavens killing most of the Earth's population. But that is only the beginning of the assault. Soon vicious nanobot swarms emerge, bent on devouring everything in their path. A small group of survivors is left trying to figure out who is behind the attacks and how to stop them. Their only chance to save the world is to time jump into the past and warn humanity of the impending attack in the future. But do they have a chance with a traitor in their midst thwarting their efforts at every turn? This novel is available for purchase on Amazon.com. Click here to buy it.

  The following are two short stories available for free on my website WilliamTurnage.com. I recommend you read these right after Book One as they set up some of the events that take place in Book Two.

  Battle of Khafji (Short Story)

  Lieutenant Buddy Paulson is a young Navy SEAL in 1991. During Operation Desert Storm he gets a message from the future, from an old man claiming to be him. Is the message real, or an elaborate ruse designed to deceive his SEAL team? What Paulson decides to do will affect not only the fate of his men but the entire world. Available for FREE only on WilliamTurnage.com. Click here to get it.

  Davidian Conflict (Short Story)

  Lieutenant Commander Buddy Paulson is embedded undercover with the Branch Davidians in Waco Texas in 1993. He's trying to prevent the deaths of over eighty men, women, and children. What should be a routine mission for his team, with their knowledge of the future, quickly takes an unexpected twist. Paulson finds something else at the Davidian compound, something from the future manipulating the timeline in devious ways. Can he stop the threat and save the innocents? Buy the book for a Facebook Like, Google +, or a Tweet, FREE of charge, only on WilliamTurnage.com. Click here to get it.

  NanoSwarm (Book Two)

  In this sequel to the post apocalyptic thriller, Extermination Day, the world waits quietly for the deadly virus to return. Only this time they are prepared thanks to time travelers from the future. Or so they think.

  When something they believed had been destroyed emerges from the ground, Jeff Madison, Holly Scarborough, and Lieutenant Commander Buddy Paulson must join forces to stop it. As they are preparing to fight, another deadly threat emerges, this one completely unexpected, hiding its lethality in the form of an innocent.

  Jeff Madison never wanted to be a hero. He never wanted to see his friends and family die. He never wanted to time travel into the past to try and save humanity from a deadly virus in the future. But the evil that attacked the world left him with no choice. He's always been a fighter. Now is his time to fight.

  Jeff and the others think they know what is coming on Extermination Day. They've had a lifetime to prepare for the onslaught. The days turn into years, and each passing moment brings the Apocalypse closer. But when the time finally arrives, no one is expecting what comes next. This novel is available for purchase on Amazon.com.

  Part One

  The Rising Swarm

  Chapter 1

  September 11, 2001

  Mohamed Atta fingered the knife in his pocket, sweating nervously in the front row of American Airlines Flight 11. He’d prepared passionately for this day, eager to change the world by striking at the heart of the Great Satan. He’d be a martyr, making his sacrifice to Allah. They’d chant his name in the halls of the great mosques around the world. He’d be rewarded in the afterlife with a hundred virgins, and he’d feast among the chosen ones at the great table beside the Prophet himself.

  But before all of that could happen, Mohamed had a task to do and he needed to concentrate, stay focused, and put his fears aside. He and his brothers had trained for many months, planning for all contingencies. He looked down at his watch—8:14 a.m.—just a few more seconds. The plane was passing over Boston, headed for Los Angeles, having just taken off from Logan International. If all went as planned, the plane would never make it to LA. Instead it would plow into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City, right into the belly of the Great Satan, dealing the infidels a crippling blow.

  Mohamed glanced at Waleed, who was sitting across the aisle just a few seats over. He inclined his head and Waleed did the same, then both stood. The three other members of their cell also stood, one after the other, making their way to their positions around the passenger cabin.

  The time was now. Heaven was waiting for them all.

  Waleed walked to the front of the cabin, followed closely by Mohamed. It was their job to kill the pilots and take control of the aircraft. As they approached the door to the cockpit, Mohamed pulled out the knife from his pocket. His hand shook as his sweaty fingers fumbled to firmly grasp the hilt of the blade.

  “Sir, can I help you?” asked a young raven-haired flight attendant who’d just stepped out from the serving area.

  Harlot. Infidel. Western women are all whores, the way they dress and flaunt themselves.

  Mohamed’s hatred drove him forward. He gripped his knife, tensing his body. Then he lunged forward to stab the whore in her neck. But as he did so, she angled deftly to the side and blocked his blow with the blade of her hand. Then she grabbed his arm with both of her hands and used his momentum to pull him forward.

  Mohamed was shocked. How could this woman move so fast? How could a mere woman knock him off balance like that? He didn’t have much time to think, though, as she deftly spread her hands out on his arm, keeping a tight grip and making sure the knife was far away from her body. In one swift move she jumped in the air, brought her knee up, and jerked Mohamed’s arm down with force.

  A loud crack quickly followed as the bitch’s knee hit his elbow and snapped his arm back. Jagged pieces of broken bone ripped out of his skin and tore through his shirt. Blood splattered across the wall of the cabin.

  Mohamed screamed out in agony. “Fucking whore, I’m going to kill you!” he yelled in Arabic.

  He reached down with his other hand to pull out a knife concealed in his belt buckle, but the flight attendant was too fast. She dropped his mangled arm and coiled her body to the side, bringing her leg up to drive the sharp edge of her high-heeled boot into the side of his knee.

  Another pop rang out as the
sharp end of her heel dug deep into the front of his leg, breaking tendons and crushing his kneecap. Flashes of searing pain burned his vision as he fell to the floor.

  Waleed had turned around by this time and had his knife out, trying to stab the woman. But she was too quick again. This time, instead of breaking an arm or a leg, she simply pulled out a gun and pointed the barrel at Waleed’s head. Two shots right between the eyes with a low caliber weapon, and Waleed’s jihad was over.

  Mohamed tried to rise from the floor but with Waleed dead, the woman turned her attention to him again, this time kicking him in the head. He was almost unconscious when he felt a prick on his neck, then a burn that flowed along his veins and into his brain.

  The last sounds he heard were shouts in Arabic and English from other sections of the plane. Then darkness swept over him.

  #

  Lieutenant Commander Charles “Buddy” Paulson bolted to attention in the back of the cabin when Agent Milena Mijatovic fired at the head of the hijacking terrorist. He wanted to help her, but he had his own trouble.

  Two more al-Qaeda operatives had moved to other sections of the plane and were pulling out knives and smoke bombs, preparing to use them on resisting passengers. Paulson’s target was a young man with a peach-fuzz beard—Abdulaziz al-Omari—a skinny little bastard hoping to meet his hundred virgins today. Instead he was going to be meeting Paulson’s fist.

  They only needed two out of the five hijackers alive for questioning. Paulson thought this kid would give up everything he knew with a just a little persuasion, so he decided to let him live. His older mustached companion, Satam al-Suqami, faced a different fate. Paulson didn’t like the looks of him, a punk terrorist so ready to condemn the excesses of the West yet so willing to partake in them himself.

  Paulson jumped into action. Inches away from Satam, he pulled out his pistol, grabbed the man by the shirt, and fired two shots point blank into his forehead. Blood, skull pieces, and brain matter splattered all over the screaming passengers in the aisle.

  The younger terrorist, Abdulaziz, stared at Paulson in shock, a wet stream running down the inside of his pants as he pissed himself. He dropped his smoke grenade, more out of sheer terror than anything. It exploded seconds later, spreading ominous dark smoke throughout the cabin.

  Paulson took a deep breath before the smoke reached his position and jumped over the center aisle to where Abdulaziz stood. As he did so, the hijacker lunged with his small knife.

  Ah, there’s fight in this one after all.

  Time to get out some of his own aggression and show the punk he'd picked the wrong people to mess with.

  Paulson went about 210 pounds, all of it muscle, and this kid had to be 120 dripping wet. Paulson simply enveloped the young man’s hand with his own and clamped down hard. Abdulaziz’s finger bones cracked, breaking under his vice-like grip. The terrorist let out a girlish scream and dropped his knife.

  Paulson grabbed him by the throat with his other hand and easily lifted him up over his head and slammed him into the overhead bins. The impact just rattled the bastard’s brains a bit as bags and suitcases fell from the compartment. He tried to break free of Paulson’s grip, but was too pathetically weak.

  Paulson dropped his center of gravity slightly, still holding Abdulaziz by the neck, swung him around, and then slammed him to the floor.

  The force of the impact left the young hijacker gasping, the wind knocked out of him. Paulson pulled out his handy little tranquilizer injector and stabbed it into the downed man’s neck. He was out in seconds.

  Paulson stood and looked around, assessing. It was hard to make out everything in the smoky cabin, but it looked like his team members had done their jobs. Three of the five terrorists were dead and two were unconscious, captured, for later interrogation.

  Paulson smiled at Agent Mijatovic, who was looking exotic and sexy in her flight attendant uniform. But he knew better. She was as deadly and cold-blooded as any of the male operatives, maybe more so. He was very, very glad to have her on his side. She smiled back and gave him a thumbs-up.

  Mission accomplished.

  Paulson knew similar scenes were playing out on airplanes around the country, all successful operations for the Navy SEAL Clandestine Operations Division.

  Of course, knowing the future before it happened made their job a lot easier.

  So just like that, September 11, 2001, became just another day in history, like any other on the calendar.

  Chapter 2

  Ten Months Later

  9:00 a.m., July 25, 2002

  Outside Lechuguilla Cave

  Dr. Patrick Chen was relaxing in his construction trailer with a nice cup of herbal tea when he heard the screams. They came from the construction pit, echoing up from deep inside the earth where they’d been tunneling for weeks. Chen ran to the main construction area where crews had been working round the clock to dig the tunnel. It was the first step in the construction of the underground base where Project Chronos would be located.

  Abe Conner and his wife Victoria emerged from their trailer at the same time.

  “What’s going on?” Chen asked as he stood at the edge of the pit.

  “We’re not sure, sir,” Timmons, one of the engineers, said. “It could be an equipment malfunction.”

  Another scream rang out. This one closer to the surface.

  “Oh my God! What is it?” Victoria asked, her hands clutched to her chest.

  Abe looked knowingly at Chen, who slowly nodded. Abe’s eyes widened.

  “Run, Victoria!” Abe yelled out frantically, pushing his wife away from the gaping hole in the middle of the desert. “Get in the truck and get away from here! Go now!”

  Victoria resisted, twisting away from Abe’s hands. “What’s going on?”

  “Ahhhh, No! No! No!” More screams echoed up from the dark pit.

  “We need to go down there and help them,” Timmons said.

  Several military personnel, including the man in charge, Sergeant Briggs, came running up to join the construction crew and engineers staring into the pit. They were pushing a large device on wheels, a device that looked like a thick-barreled cannon.

  “Back up, get back!” several men barked out as they positioned the cannon on the edge of the pit, got behind it on a platform, and aimed it down. One of the men flipped a switch on the side of the device, and it roared to life, filling the air with rumbles.

  Abe was still frantically pushing Victoria, trying to get her to move, but she said, “Abe, we need to help those men down there. I can’t just run away.”

  “What is that thing?” Timmons asked Chen as he stared at Abe and Victoria, panic beginning to spread over his face.

  “An electromagnetic pulse cannon, one of the latest and most powerful models. And I hope it works.” Chen knew what was happening now. It was their worst nightmare, and he couldn’t believe it had arrived. Sure, they’d prepared for the possibility, but he’d never expected—

  As they stood over the pit, watching and waiting, something zoomed up from the depths and into the sky. It was small and flying fast. Chen could barely make it out from the light of the midday sun reflecting off its shiny surface.

  Sergeant Briggs fired the pulse cannon, which sounded like a bug zapper on steroids. A streak of distortion burst through the air, barely visible to the eye as it shot out from the cannon, and narrowly missed the flying object. The tiny thing flew up about ten feet over their heads, circled the area where they were standing, and then dove straight for Dr. Chen.

  Abe and Victoria, standing beside him, both jumped out of the way.

  Instinctively Chen held up his arm to shield his face, and the tiny creature landed on his wrist. Chen pulled his arm down and watched as a bluish-green creature with wings, about the size of a flea, began crawling over his wrist. Immediately it dove into his watch, using its claws and sharp mandibles to burrow into the metal.

  Chen shook his arm in terror, then unsnapped the watch and threw i
t to the ground. He knew all too well what this creature was and what it could do.

  It was a deadly nanobot from the future.

  “Get out of the way, Doctor!” Briggs yelled out.

  Just as the watch hit the ground, another pulse shot out from the cannon, this one striking Chen’s lower body but missing the watch. Chen collapsed, his legs momentarily paralyzed from the shock of the EM pulse. The nanobot had disappeared completely into his watch, which was vibrating and shaking in the dirt.

  A second later the watch burst apart and eight new creatures rose up from the debris. They hovered about six feet off the ground for several seconds, like predators trying to catch a scent on the air. The pulse cannon fired again, this time hitting a few of the creatures. They fell, clinking on the rocky earth.

  Chen picked up a rock lying beside him and poked at the remains of his watch.

  “Damned glad it was a fake Rolex,” he mumbled under his breath.

  The creatures zoomed toward Abe and Victoria. Abe jumped in front of his wife as the nanobots spread out and starting circling them at a rapid speed. Terror filled the faces of the couple as their heads darted back and forth, eyes jumping as they tried to follow the creatures spinning around them, circling ever faster.

  A second later several of the bots darted toward Victoria, landing on her neck.

  “Your necklace! Throw it on the ground!” Chen yelled out. He knew the bots were after some type of raw material that would enable them to multiply. Whatever it was, it was in his watch and was likely in some of the jewelry Victoria was wearing.

  She reached up to unlatch her necklace, but jerked her hand away when one of the bots bit her. Then she tried to pull it off, yanking violently, but it was too thick and wouldn’t break.