Earth Shout: Book 3 in the Earth Song Series

by Nick Cook

  ‘Why?’ I asked.

  ‘To try to find the missing micro minds. They know how important Lucy is to the survival of our world too.’

  It was my turn to sit up straighter. ‘I don’t suppose you learnt how they were planning to do this exactly?’

  ‘Unfortunately not. But it was obvious – from this one Grey at least – that it was a big deal. I also got the impression that the Grey wanted nothing to do with the Overseers. They’ve tried before to warn them about the Kimprak but have had their craft shot down.’

  ‘But why?’ Ruby asked.

  ‘I’m afraid it’s a toxic combination of power and arrogance on the part of the Overseers. They honestly believe that they’ll be able to take on the Kimprak ship when it arrives with their large fleet of TR-3Bs. They’re planning to nuke the hell out of the Kimprak when the asteroid ship arrives in our solar system with the new shiny TR-3B fleet they’re building. As for Lucy, they see her simply as a distraction, aside from thinking her technology is worthy of investigation. Of course, it far exceeds even that of the Greys’ ships they’ve been able to recover and reverse-engineer up to now. The Overseers believe that if they harness Lucy’s technology, humanity will become an unstoppable force in the universe, able to deal with any extra-terrestrial threat that we may encounter.’

  ‘But why aren’t they concentrating on forming allegiances then?’ I asked. ‘Working with the Greys, with us, with anyone who could help win this battle?’

  ‘The Overseers also want to maintain absolute control. In exactly the same way their secret organisation has been able to run this world, they now want to extend that influence out to the stars and even other alien races.’

  ‘So, this is all about cementing their position for the future?’ Alice asked.

  ‘In a word, yes,’ Tom replied.

  ‘Same old,’ Ruby said.

  Tom sighed. ‘I’m afraid so.’

  A chime came over the comm link.

  ‘We’re about thirty minutes from home,’ Alice said. ‘But before we arrive, I’d just like to discuss your departure from Eden, Lauren.’

  So here it came. ‘I know, I know,’ I said. ‘I’m sorry for what I did.’

  ‘Hey, it wasn’t just you who decided to head out on an unauthorised mission,’ Ruby cut in.

  ‘Maybe, but I was the one in charge, so this is on me,’ I replied.

  Tom cast me a questioning look that I ignored.

  ‘No, this isn’t on you either, Lauren,’ Alice said, and I blinked. ‘If it’s on anyone, it’s on me. I should have told you the full story about Tom already being in place at Area 51 to scoop up any information about that crashed Tic Tac and the Grey.’

  ‘You mean you already had it covered?’ I said.

  ‘We did. But I was a victim of my own secrecy, even if it was a strategy I’d already agreed with Tom. In future I think I need to be much more transparent with all of you about what we have planned.’

  ‘I think that’s an excellent idea, Alice,’ Tom said. ‘I was never entirely comfortable with our strategy. I also have a question I’d like to ask. How on earth did you know where to find us? I made a point of asking Lauren to make sure our transponder was turned off.’

  ‘That was thanks to Delphi, who picked up social media posts about UFOs dogfighting over the Grand Canyon area. When we checked the surveillance footage from the military satellites and saw an Astra being pursued by a squadron of TR-3Bs that had departed Area 51, we had a very strong suspicion that it had to be you.’

  I grimaced. ‘You’re telling me it’s already on social media?’

  ‘Like a rash,’ Ruby replied. ‘Photos too.’

  ‘On the plus side the Overseers are going to have a tough time putting this incident back in the box,’ Alice said. ‘Mind you, knowing their track record, they will most certainly try to do so with a smear campaign claiming the photos are fake. Anyway, that’s when we realised just how much trouble you were in. With Lucy out of commission there was only one ship that could get to you in time – Ariel. And I was the only pilot with any real experience of her, so I had no choice but to pilot her out there.’

  ‘There’s always a choice,’ I said.

  ‘Maybe, but let’s just say I needed to do this. You can thank Ruby here for persuading me to arm Ariel with the twin Vulcan cannons. And of course there was no talking Ruby down from coming with me when she arrived back at Eden with the others in the X101.’

  ‘Yeah, I was like a cat on a hot tin roof thinking we’d lost you,’ Ruby said. ‘Alice wanted to immediately head out in Ariel to find you, but I knew we’d run into a whole heap of trouble if we went straight there. So I persuaded her and Jodie to fit those bad boys to Ariel. We might lack the fancy rail gun of a TR-3B, but in a close-quarter dogfight, those Vulcan cannons can kick some serious arse, as you just saw.’

  ‘Seems as if we have a lot to thank you for, Ruby,’ Tom said.

  ‘Aw, shucks, any time, guys.’

  ‘So tell me about Mike – how’s he doing? Is he complaining about hospital food yet?’

  It was as if I’d just kit a kill switch on the mood. They both went quiet at the other end of the line.

  ‘We need to tell her,’ Ruby finally said, her tone tense.

  I felt my blood run cold. ‘Tell me what exactly?’

  ‘There’s no easy way to say this, Lauren,’ Alice said. ‘When we left, Mike was fighting for his life. Despite Jack rigging up a transfusion from himself who happened to be the same A-positive group on the flight back, by the time they arrived at Eden Mike had lost a lot of blood.’

  I had to force the words out. ‘You’re not trying to tell me that he’s dead, are you?’

  ‘Not if Jack has anything to do with it,’ Alice said. ‘He and our medical team are fighting to save Mike’s life right now. But I have to be honest with you, Lauren, it’s touch and go.’

  I covered my mouth with my hands. ‘No!’

  Tom unbuckled his flight harness and crossed to me as my vision suddenly blurred with tears.

  Chapter Thirty

  With Ruby adjusting Ariel’s gravity field, she carefully lowered our stolen TR-3B on the landing pad at the bottom of the launch silo with the gentlest shudder. I felt my weight increase a fraction in the cockpit as the gravity bubble was withdrawn from around us. On my screens that’d been turned on again I saw Ariel’s legs extending as she landed next to us on the adjacent pad. But only part of my mind registered our arrival back at Eden because I was focused on one thing and one thing only: Mike. And as though my anxiety levels weren’t already through the roof about him, there was also the building fear about the implications if we couldn’t get Lucy back online. What would happen for our world then? As soon as Tom had opened the ramp, I was on my feet and racing down it before he’d even had a chance to get up.

  The first person I saw outside was a technician heading towards us, his wide gaze taking in our triangular craft. I ignored him and sprinted past, the physical exhaustion of the mission washed away by some hidden reserves of energy now coursing through my body.

  The corridors blurred past me. People ducked aside to make way for the crazy woman. Rather than wait for a lift, I took the stairs three at a time.

  With almost tunnel vision, my sides burning, I skidded out of a doorway and flew through a set of double doors into the medical centre.

  Time decelerated as I focused in on Jodie as she paced back and forth. Niki looked up from a seat. Jodie turned towards me, her face ashen. She almost seemed to crumple into herself at seeing me.

  ‘How’s Mike doing?’ I asked between gulps of breath.

  Jodie spread her hands wide, but no words came, increasing my feeling of dread. She sank into the chair next to Niki and he wrapped an arm round her, gently kissing the top of her head. Niki and Jodie were obviously far closer than I’d realised.

  Niki looked over Jodie’s head at me. ‘They’ve been operating on Mike, but it’s been at least ten hours now, and there’s
still no news.’

  Ten hours… I knelt before Jodie and took her hands in mine. ‘If anyone can help him it’s Jack. Don’t forget he managed to save my life when I got myself almost sliced in two in a lorry crash.’

  ‘I know, but what if Jack can’t? What if—’

  I tightened my grip on her hands. ‘You need to be strong, Jodie, to believe it will all be OK. Mike will need the person he loves to be there for him on the other side of this.’

  ‘You think he’s that into me?’

  Niki jumped in before I could. ‘I can tell you for a fact that he is, Jodie.’

  ‘But how can you know that?’ she asked.

  ‘Let’s just say we had a man-to-man chat about how he was treating you. I really did give him the third degree, but it was obvious to me that his intentions towards you were serious.’

  She stared at him. ‘Dad?’

  The blindingly obvious now hit me as all the clues dropped into place. I gawped at them. ‘You’re related?’

  Jodie dipped her chin.

  ‘So why keep it such a big secret?’

  ‘We’ve never thought it necessary to make a big deal of it,’ Jodie replied. ‘So we keep it quiet. Plus I prefer to be seen in my own light at Eden rather than living in the shadow of the head of security.’

  ‘No danger of that – you’ve always burned too brightly to live in anyone’s shadow,’ Niki said, kissing the top of her head again.

  I tried to wrap my mind round this new revelation. ‘But you don’t even have the same surname.’

  ‘Jodie decided to take her mother’s maiden name after we got divorced. Our relationship hasn’t always been as good as it is now.’

  ‘Right…’ More things started to fall into place. ‘No wonder you were giving Mike such a hard time.’

  Niki shrugged. ‘Well, you try to stand back when you see your daughter’s heart being broken. Anyway, all that matters right now is Mike getting through this operation.’

  Jodie chewed her lip as she lifted her eyes to the door on the other side of the room. ‘I don’t know what I’ll do if he doesn’t make it, Lauren.’

  I cradled her face in my hands. ‘Look, we’re not there yet, not by a long way.’

  My words said one thing, but my mind was flitting ahead. Just talking to Jodie was making my insides churn. If Mike died, it would leave a big gaping hole in all our lives. It was also pretty clear to me that, despite their falling out, Jodie was head over heels for Mike.

  I took her hand in mine as the doors from the corridor opened and Alice wheeled herself in.

  Her gaze swept over us. ‘Mike’s still not out of surgery?’

  We shook our heads. ‘I see…’ She slowly nodded and took a deep breath before releasing it again. ‘In that case let’s get ourselves organised. Who’s up for coffee?’

  As I looked back at her, I felt the claws of exhaustion starting to dig in. ‘Actually, coffee would be great.’

  Niki shook his head.

  ‘No, I’m good too,’ Jodie replied.

  She looked anything but good, I thought. I remembered seeing that same haunted look on my own face after Alvarez had murdered Aunt Lucy when he’d driven us off the road. I’d barely eaten anything for days. And no one had been there for me to help me through it. No one had encouraged me to look after myself. If Mike didn’t make it, I made a silent vow that I’d do everything I could to help Jodie through this.

  ‘I’ll get you guys coffees anyway, in case you change your minds,’ Alice said.

  Jodie managed a shrug.

  ‘There’s a vending machine just outside in the corridor, Lauren.’ Alice raised her eyebrows at me a fraction and I realised she wanted to talk to me alone.

  ‘I’ll give you a hand,’ I said, standing and following her out.

  ‘How’s Jodie doing?’ Alice asked as soon as the double doors had closed behind us.

  ‘As badly as you’d expect. At least she has Niki to lean on.’

  Alice tilted her head to one side. ‘Does that mean you know about their relationship?’

  ‘Niki being her dad? Yes, I do now.’

  Alice nodded. ‘They both like to play that close to their chests and I’ve always respected their decision. Talking about family, when you get back to your room, I’d like you to box up your things.’

  I put my hands on my hips, heat flaring through me. Not this. Not now. ‘Oh, come on, you can’t sling me out of Eden, Alice. You need me, especially now Lucy is damaged.’

  She held her hand up to halt my flow of arguments. ‘No, you misunderstand me. Lauren, I want you all to come back and stay with me at my house again.’

  The heat instantly cooled from my blood. ‘So we’re not banned any more so you can have your own quality time?’

  Alice grimaced. ‘Yes, maybe that was not my finest moment. But I’m sure I don’t need to tell you I was dealing with some serious demons back then. And, OK, I let things get out of hand. However, now more than ever, I realise that our battle to save our world starts with looking out for each other. You mean everything to me, Lauren – all of you do. You are my family now. And, like Jodie in that waiting room, I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to any of you.’

  I gazed at her, my eyes softening. It was the last thing I’d expected to hear and it caught me off balance. ‘That means a lot, Alice, but we also have a job to do. We have to save the world. And sometimes that means we’ll need to take risks and put our lives on the line.’

  ‘Yes, I know that, or maybe I should say I remember that now. However, I can’t go quite as far as condoning you sneaking out of Eden like you did. But I do understand your reasons for it.’

  Her gentle tone brought a sudden lump to my throat and I slowly nodded. ‘You have a point.’ I gestured towards the door. ‘My pig-headedness may be about to cost Mike his life. If anyone is in the wrong here, it’s me.’

  Alice reached out and grabbed my hands just as I’d done with Jodie. ‘No, my dear friend, this isn’t on you. As you said, you were trying to save our world. That’s the priority here. And your heart was in the right place too, although both of us could maybe have handled the situation better. Even if you were perhaps a little pig-headed, haven’t you also just returned here with a micro mind? Not to mention a TR-3B that we’ll be able to learn a lot from.’

  ‘Yes, but you try telling all that to Jodie if Mike doesn’t make it.’

  ‘No, stop that right now, Lauren,’ Alice told me, her tone sharpening. ‘Mike volunteered to go with you on that mission. If I know anything about that man he would be the first to say we all need to keep going whatever happens to him. This is going to sound harsh with him being in surgery, but we need you to look at Lucy soon. Getting her up and running again needs to be our priority after this. I’m just praying that’s possible. Apart from anything else, she may be able to give Mike extra healing time over in E8.’

  I blinked. I’d been so focused on Mike that I’d barely had a chance to think about Lucy. I immediately felt a surge of guilt. So much for me starting to consider the AI a real friend, someone who’d deliberately drawn those TR-3Bs away so we might live.

  ‘I should go to her now and see what I can do,’ I said.

  Alice shook her head. ‘No, your place is here until we know the outcome of Mike’s operation. And you must catch your breath and get some much-needed sleep. You can tackle whatever needs to be done with Lucy in the morning. Are you hearing me?’

  ‘As Ruby might once have said to me, yes, boss.’

  ‘That’s more like it.’ The smile that had been forming on Alice’s face froze as a voice came from the other side of the doors.

  ‘Lauren, Alice,’ Niki called out.

  We raced back into the room to see Jack looking grey and beyond exhausted. He pulled the medical mask from his face and left it dangling round his neck.

  My heart clenched. His expression was like stone. In every medical drama I’d seen this was exactly the sort of expression a surgeon had be
fore they broke awful news to the relatives with a – we did everything we could speech.

  Jodie was already on her feet, standing before Jack. ‘Just tell me already!’

  Jack’s expression tightened, but he nodded. ‘The good news is, he’s alive.’

  ‘Oh, thank god!’ Jodie said as Alice squeezed her eyes shut.

  I rushed to Jodie and wrapped my arms round her. ‘You see, that guy is such a fighter…’ Then I caught the stiffness in Jack’s face and my words trailed away.

  Jack took a shaky breath and met Jodie’s eyes. ‘I’m afraid there was a serious complication,’ he said in a quiet voice that seemed shockingly loud in the small waiting room.

  My heart skipped several beats as Jack dragged his hand through his hair.

  ‘We did everything we could, but we couldn’t save his leg.’ Jack gently took hold of Jodie by the shoulders. ‘I’m afraid in the end we had no choice but to amputate it.’

  Jodie put her hands to her face. ‘No…’

  She, Niki and I gawped at Jack like a frozen tableau in a Renaissance painting. Alice was the only person to break the image as she wheeled her chair towards Jodie.

  ‘As awful as this is, you need to hear me clearly right now,’ she said. ‘I promise you that Mike will get through this. One day he’ll adjust to it. And he’ll certainly receive the best medical attention in the world as he recovers in Eden. It isn’t his physical wounds that I’m most worried about, it’s the emotional ones, Jodie. They’re something I know far too much about. But with your love and support he’ll be able to get through that too. Maybe one day he’ll even be stronger for all of this.’

  It was such an impassioned speech, it caught me off guard. I knew that Alice was absolutely right. Mike could and would come through to the other side of this.

  Jodie nodded as a tear trickled down her face.

  ‘I mean, look at me, I’m the poster girl for this sort of life-changing event,’ Alice said. ‘And if I managed it, so can Mike.’

  ‘Yes…’ Jodie said with a shuddering breath before turning back to Jack. ‘Can I see him now please?’