Allies (Kaylid Chronicles Book 4)

by Mel Todd

  Something tight in her unwound a bit. "Good." She ate another few bites, then looked up at Christopher.

  "You mind if I ask you a question?"

  "Feel free, but be aware I might not answer it." Christopher said, but he had a smile on his face.

  "I thought the Secret Service only protected the president and vice, with only a few exceptions. How come you're hanging with Burby here?"

  "Ah. Valid question. When all this started going down, the president declared him a national treasure and did an Executive Order assigning one agent to him at all times. I volunteered because I was closer to all that’s going on, and it gives the president a non-political viewpoint of the current situation."

  McKenna frowned but before she could follow up at how odd that sounded, Burby interjected.

  "I approved it. Christopher is damn smart, and the president needs to know what’s going on. Since Christopher doesn't really have any agenda, it gives the president a much more factual overview than he'd get from any of the political appointees."

  "Besides, after Caroline changing I felt like I needed to do more than hide with the president." Christopher added, finishing his meal. Not sure I'm ever going to be able to go back to a normal life after this."

  The way he said that made McKenna wonder if something had been there between him and Caroline, but she didn't ask; instead she focused on eating.

  "Everyone, please finish up. We’re on a short clock and need to get going. Largo, you and your people meet me in the entranceway." Geoff stood as he talked and various people around the room reacted to his actions, ending their conversations and starting to store gear away.

  ~Looks like it’s showtime. You guys ready?~

  ~No. But we don't have time to waste, so I guess now is as good as ever,~ Cass said, her voice wry, and JD chuckled in the mindspace.

  ~I'm ready. I want to do something. I don't want to die, but damn these guys are hurting too many people,~ Perc said his voice resolute, it helped to steady McKenna.

  The news had been full of stories of families ripped apart. Which was one of the reasons McKenna avoided the news of late. Each story layered guilt on her though she didn't know what else she could have done.

  ~Agreed, I'm tired of playing defense. I'm ready for some offense.~

  McKenna snorted at Perc's comment. ~Miss the football field?~

  ~Well, yeah. People were only trying to knock me down on that, not kill me. But I agree. It’s time to take the fight to them.~ A low growl filled the space vibrating in her mind. But mostly she agreed.

  Finishing her last bite of food she bussed her dishes and headed over to where Geoff stood at the door talking with another earnest young servicewoman who trotted off as McKenna reached them.

  "We're as ready as we're going to be." She glanced and saw the others approaching, JD munching on an apple as he walked over. Rarz followed, still seeming separated yet a part of their group, it bugged her on a visceral level.

  "Good enough. Let's get you to the teams," Geoff stated as they walked out of the conference center and headed back towards the hangar where Rarz had done his little show and tell. It had been set up with cubicle walls everywhere and looked like a maze.

  He must have called ahead because as they walked into the open hangar door, three groups of people stood there waiting for them with a small group of people all in black BDUs behind them. The people varied in age, though McKenna didn't really see anyone much older than their mid-forties, height, skin color, and from what little she knew, which service they belonged to.

  Geoff didn't hesitate as he strode to the position at the front of the three groups. He stopped and waited until McKenna and her people had clustered loosely behind him.

  "I'd like to introduce the groups, but there are too many people, so I'm introducing you to the commanders and their team names. If we all survive, you can get to know each other on a first name basis, but right now we don't have time, and no one is going to remember."

  He pointed to the group on his right. A lean Hispanic man snapped to attention as he pointed. "This is Alpha group. They will go by Alpha One, etc. Their leader is Master Chief Miguel Zhen." The man nodded at all of them, sharp dark brown eyes tracing over each person in turn. "His group is mostly composed of SEAL personnel and will have two functions, to protect you and get each of you to where you need to be, and plant explosives at the best locations. All explosives will have a timer, but they can also be remotely detonated."

  Miguel stepped forward and nodded to them. "We‘ll do some training runs to make sure we can work together." He nodded again and stepped back.

  Geoff pointed to the next group, a woman headed it this time. McKenna scanned it and realized this was the only woman, or at least the only one she could see. She stood almost six feet tall, corded muscle that McKenna could tell she had earned the hard way, with blond-brown hair cut in a short-clipped style that only made her look more feminine. With brown eyes, skin a dark brown, and multiples cuts and energy burns on her arms, McKenna could tell she'd been out there fighting until lately.

  "This is Sergeant Major Elaine Zimmer. She’s our med expert and is the lead of team Bravo. They will be working with Ms. Borden to learn how to decant captured shifters as well as how to help keep them alive. She’s a registered nurse, and her team is composed of Pararescue personnel. Trust me when I say they are very good at their job. Ms. Borden, the shifter was unable to get here. But trust me the Sergeant Major is one of the best. I'd rather have her working on me than most doctors I know." He said this last directly to Cass, whose eyes lit up.

  The Sergeant Major nodded at them, but her eyes looked on Cass and then she gave another brief nod, and a hint of a smile at her lips.

  Geoff turned to the last group. A tall man, with pale red hair and a sunburn still stood. He reminded her of those lanky fighters, looking laid back and almost bored until they moved, and you were decked before you realized it.

  "This is Captain Sammie Willis. He's leading group Charlie." McKenna half flinched from the name, but Geoff didn't seem to notice. "His team will be responsible for helping Bravo and getting people in and out of the portal to the staging area here on Earth. Rarz, while we understand you need to go back and forth with the Alpha group as we move through the ship, Captain Willis will be in direct communication with you at all times via radio channels. You have assured us you can open and close the portals outside of your field of vision without issue, correct?"

  Rarz frowned; his expression appeared stiff and somehow not quite right on his human face.

  "True. Though I have never connected one without Speech between me and the being I am opening the portal for. And at least one end must be a place I have already been."

  "Well, sorry, but I ain't much for fur, if you get what I mean." Sammie spoke in a soft drawl that sounded jarring after the non-accent of California and the nasal sound of the north.

  "Surely that matters not?" Rarz paused and McKenna felt an odd tension in the air, pressure similar to going up in a plane, but all mental rather than physical.

  "Odd. I had not realized. I had assumed we spoke in words so those not already a part of your mindspaces did not need to be invited. I did not realize that none but those inflicted with the nanobots had the ability." He sounded actively upset and McKenna saw Toni reach her hand out as if to touch him before she dropped it and took a half step away from the Drakyn.

  "Then that will be something else to practice." Geoff's voice had no give to it.

  "Yes, sir." Captain Willis saluted, and the lazy tone had disappeared.

  "Then get to it, people. We don't have much time before this operation launches. You all know the importance of these civilians. Keep them alive, accomplish the mission, and just maybe your names will go down in the history books."

  A snort of derision met his comments and McKenna got the feeling she was missing an inside joke. But the way they held themselves told her they were deadly and competent, and that was the only thing that
mattered.

  "Tick tock, time’s a-wasting." Geoff's words came out as an order. He gazed at them once more before pivoting on the balls of his feet and striding out the door.

  McKenna looked at the people all staring at her and wanted to protest. She barely knew what the plan was, much less what they should do now. To her relief Chief Miguel Zhen stepped up.

  "Bravo, Charlie, grab Miss Borden and work with her for the next ten minutes. I want to get with the others and work out how to move as a team. We also need ear pieces for all of them."

  Captain Willis turned and nodded to one of the men behind him. The man took off at a quick trot out of the room. "On it."

  "Ms. Largo, sirs, if you will step over here with me while Ms. Borden works with Sergeant Zimmer." As he spoke Elaine Zimmer had pulled Cass to one side and her team had gathered round her. Cass had her notebook out and McKenna could hear the familiar tones of science talk bubbling out of the group.

  JD cast a long glance in Cass's direction, and she saw his hands twitch, but he moved easily over to where Chief Zhen had indicated.

  "I've been assured you know how to handle yourselves in a firefight and that you are decent shots. Normally I'd still make you prove it to me, but we don't have the time, so I'm taking it on faith. I don't like taking things on faith, so if you don't know what I'm talking about, don't know how to do something, or need something explained, fucking ask. I'd rather tell you something a dozen times than make the assumption you know and find out you don't. We don't have time to get seamless together, so we’re going to do what we can." Zhen's voice was harsh with no humor or friendliness in it.

  He waved towards a rack of weapons outside the odd cubicle farm. "This should match what you've tested out on. They're all loaded with blanks. We're going to practice moving through the ship we've built to roughly match the specs Mr. Alexander provided. I need you to trust my team and my team has to trust you." He smiled a dark smile that had no humor in it. "After all, we need to save the world."

  "That we do. But please just call us by our first names. We don't have time to deal with this misses and mister crap. McKenna, JD, Perc, Toni, and Cass. You already know Rarz." McKenna said, pointing to each person in turn. The mister-miss stuff would drive all of them crazy if they kept it up.

  He introduced the five people behind him, but then just shrugged. "Look, you don't have time to learn our names, and when it gets hectic you aren't going to remember. I'm Alpha 1. McKenna you're Alpha 2A, JD - Alpha 3A, Perc - 4A, Toni 5A. Rarz is Alpha 6. Cass will be Bravo 2A as most of the time the sarge will be watching out for her. Each one of my men will be paired up with one of you. Alpha 2B, 3B, etc. Just call for your assignment and change it to B. Got that?"

  It made sense to McKenna if a bit inhuman overall, but no one protested, so she answered for them. "Makes sense."

  "Good, then let's get going."

  Chapter 16 - Practice

  Most of the European union has declared a state of emergency. Even though the fashion of wearing earrings in ears has taken hold of Europe even more strongly than in the US, leaders are asking all shifters to not morph into any form. Please just stay human. Anyone killing a shifter while in non-human form will not be charged unless there is evidence of premeditated murder. Officials say they will not press charges against people for attacking anyone in the warrior form. ~ TNN Invasion News

  Miguel grabbed them, assigned their weapons, and set up their order.

  "This is how it works, I go first, Perc, Rarz, Alpha 2B, McKenna, Alpha 3B, Toni, then Alpha 4B, with JD and 5B bringing up the rear."

  McKenna shrugged, it seemed valid. Even though Perc had done his best to get the schematics out for them to use, he was the only one that actually knew them, so he needed to be up front. Then there was Rarz. She still didn't know anything about him, other than he and Toni seemed to have an odd connection they were both avoiding.

  The next hour they spent learning signals, and while not becoming a true team, they were at least getting better at moving together and probably wouldn't shoot each other.

  The hardest part for McKenna, and she suspected for the other shifters, was learning to talk in a low whisper that the headsets would pick up and pipe into their ears. She kept slipping into their mindspeak, though the term Rarz used of Speech had gained a bit of traction.

  The shifters all flowed into their warrior forms. Since they wouldn't be able to spend the time or calories when it was time to leave, getting into that form now and making sure they were comfortable with the vests and weapons had priority. They decided to have Rarz stay in human form though.

  "I fear if I enter in my warrior form, as you call it, I would cause a panic and alarms to go off. While you may disturb them, there is a margin of confusion that you may be able to use to your advantage. "

  "Point. How long does it take you to change if you need to do it fast?" Miguel asked and McKenna frowned at him, then realized he probably hadn't seen the show and tell earlier.

  "Which form?" Rarz asked, focused on the man with a strange intensity.

  "Um? What do you mean?" Chief Zhen seemed thrown off balance for a moment.

  "Well there is this human form, which I am in now, my warrior form, which is similar to the ones you see McKenna and her clan in." He nodded at the four of them standing in their warrior forms, it had become second nature by this point. "Then there is my animal form I think you call it, and my wyrm form."

  "His wyrm form won't fit in most of the ship without crushing us, walls, or himself." JD interjected, a wry note in his voice.

  Miguel looked at all of them as if he expected there to be a joke, but no one laughed. He shook his head and looked back at Rarz. "Your warrior form as you call it. Without the wings. That I heard about."

  Rarz tilted his head from side to side. "If I push it, about twenty of your seconds."

  "Huh. Okay. I'll keep that in mind. Now let's get geared up. We need to make sure you have the tools you need." Zhen decided Rarz didn't need a weapon, keeping him near the front when Rarz assured him he was tougher than he looked and very fast.

  It took a bit to get everything strapped to them. Apparently, these forms were different enough that it created fitting issues with some the equipment Miguel Zhen wanted them to wear. They hadn't worried about vests or much else when they were on the street. The energy rifles the Elentrin forces carried didn't slow down at bulletproof vests.

  They practiced moving through the maze, clearing areas, and occasionally having people jump out at them, though she had no idea how Miguel had set that up. They got better and McKenna made herself remember to speak out loud in that low, almost sub-vocal voice. It reminded her of police training, so she and JD didn't have as much issue. Toni and Perc took a bit longer, but need got them going through it in good time.

  "How are they doing?" Geoff asked as he walked up. They'd taken a break going through how to handle certain situations and McKenna reminded them they'd all need to wear nose filters to handle Elentrin pheromones.

  Chief Zhen shrugged. "They'd fail my classes, but given the situation they’re passable."

  "Good. Because it's time to go and I don't need to tell you there aren't any other options."

  Miguel rubbed the back of his neck as his eyes locked onto McKenna's. "Then let's hope they’re the answer."

  McKenna snorted, but no one did more than give her a sideways glance. Cass headed their direction as people started loading things into vehicles. Per her norm, she headed right to JD, but looked at all of them.

  "You okay? I've been cloistered with Elaine Zimmer. Woman is scary smart. I think once I show her everything, she'll be fine picking it up. But I'm not horribly sorry I won't be in your main attack teams."

  JD hugged her to him, her human form oddly frail compared to his furry bulk, even if he was shorter than normal.

  "Neither am I." McKenna was glad her face in this form didn't show emotions as easily.

  "If you’re all done. We need to get you lo
aded up and to the launch point. Rarz, I'd like to talk to you please?" Geoff didn't quite sound diffident, but he did sound respectful in a way he wasn't to anyone else.

  Huh, wonder what that means? Though it might just be that the blasted dragon creeps him out.

  She didn't have time to wonder about much else as energy bars were handed to them, their blanks were exchanged out for live rounds, and their vests were filled with extra ammo and bars before they were ushered into the back of a covered truck. It was packed with supplies and other members from the Bravo and Charlie teams. Rarz didn't join them, nor did the leaders of the other teams, so she figured he'd be in a different vehicle.

  The noise made normal speech impossible and she slipped back into Speech.

  ~Wefor, is there any way to just spread the ability to talk without changing someone?~ It was wistful thinking on her part, but she missed the speed and relative privacy.

  [Not that the database has listed. It does not mean it is not possible.] Wefor's voice rattled in their shared mindspace.

  ~You know, I think there might be, but it’s buried. Something I might be able to come up with based on the information that got loaded into my head.~ Before McKenna could get excited Cass continued. ~But it’s research project level, not anything I can whip up in the next few hours. We’re talking months to years to figure out how to reprogram and guide the nanobots to create the trans-harmonic frequencies and allow non-augmented minds to handle the interface without infecting them.~

  McKenna started to ask what she meant about the augmented minds part, but decided she didn't want to know. One more bit of information to creep her out that she couldn't change and it didn't matter right now.

  When did you become such a coward?

  Her own thought had wry humor to it especially as she knew it was more information overload than anything else. She still had issues sometimes with the idea of how integrated Wefor was with her body, so finding out more was just too much.