He stepped up into the helicopter and placed ear protectors over his head.
“How are we looking?” he asked the pilot.
“I’ve flown in worse,” the pilot said.
Rowan grinned. “Good. Take us up.”
“Yes, sir.”
Once the doors on the helicopter closed, the spinning blades picked up speed. A blast of wind rocked the helo as it left the ground, but the pilot didn’t flinch. The other helicopters lifted from the tarmac successfully despite the thrashing wind.
Rowan lost sight of the ground and base within seconds as the helo gained altitude and turned in a northerly direction. His heart rate quickened with anticipation when he thought of what would happen when they reached Bangor. Even with the poor weather, the flight would be quick.
Finally.
CHAPTER
44
After placing one of the charges near the base of a support beam on the fake comm tower, Dani scrambled under the stairwell to place another device. That done, she climbed back down and moved through the lower level, where she planted two more before stepping back outside to meet Gavin.
“I’ll place this last one beneath the tower once we’re in the sewers,” she said.
“Go. We have company coming.” Gavin carried her pack with one hand and dragged the dead Warden with the other.
Dani spotted the two Wardens leaving the air traffic tower. They were busy fighting with the door and didn’t notice her and Gavin. She rushed to the nearest manhole, placed the explosive device she was holding on the ground, wrestled the lid up, and slid it aside. Her hands ached with the cold, and she blew warm air across her fingers. Shit. She’d left her gloves at the base of the fake tower.
The Wardens had the door closed and were now heading toward them.
Gavin dropped the corpse through the manhole, and it landed with a thud inside the pipe. He shoved Dani’s pack into her hands, and she slipped her arms through the straps before picking up the device from the snow and climbing down into the pipe.
Halfway down, she dropped from the ladder to the tunnel floor. Her boots squelched in the filth that the Warden’s body lay in. Dani forced her eyes away from the small corpse.
Gavin slipped into the pipe opening and pulled the lid back over the hole just in time. He froze in his position, and the Wardens walked through the snow and over the manhole lid. Their boots knocked some snow through the tiny openings in the sewer cover, but Gavin didn’t move.
The Wardens continued past, and Dani released the breath she held.
Gavin jabbed his finger in her direction before jabbing it in the direction of the decoy tower. She understood his intended command: Get your ass moving.
She raced back toward the tower and placed her final charge as high up on the sewer wall as she could reach. She pressed a few buttons, and once the light started blinking, she splashed through the muck to rejoin Gavin. Her fingers were numb, and she was out of breath.
“I left my gloves up there,” she said between gasps.
Gavin took the Warden’s pistol and checked her for other weapons. “I have them.”
“Time?”
Gavin stood, grabbed Dani’s shoulder, and shoved her ahead of him in the pipe. “Not enough.”
She had never seen Gavin look stressed before, so she knew they were in trouble. She darted ahead, and he sprinted behind her.
They wove their way through the maze of pipes for a few minutes, until they reached a manhole 150 yards away from the air traffic tower. The pipe walls were too thick for them to detonate from within the sewers; they would have to do it from the surface.
Dani held the detonator in one hand and used her other hand to climb up the ladder.
“Time?” she asked.
“2246.”
Dani groaned. They wouldn’t have enough time to blow the decoy tower and clear the comm and air traffic towers before they were detonated at 2300.
The heavy thumping of helicopter blades increased in frequency. “They’re leaving,” she said. She looked at her watch and her insides tightened more.
“Javi,” Gavin said.
No response came through the comm.
“Javi, if you can hear me, delay detonation until 2305. Copy?”
Again, no response.
Dani interrupted him before he tried to raise Javi again. “He planned to clear snow at 2255 to get the two fixed-wings in the air for 2300. When the helos get word of the blast, they’ll be fourteen minutes out. If any of the Wardens still here spot the plow and head that way, I need to detonate the decoy at 2256 so they’ll abandon investigating the plow and come back this way.”
“It’s not enough time, Dani.”
“It’ll be slim; that’s for sure. But we can’t push the 2300 time back. The CNA has been on radio silence this entire time. They’re waiting for our signal.”
“They won’t come out of the ground until we start blasting.”
“If they hear the decoy tower blow at 2256 they’ll emerge then, not at 2300.”
“Can’t have that happen.”
“Having them out a little early is a good thing. It’ll give them a few more minutes to assault the base before the helos return.”
“Give me your detonator and head back across the airfield.”
“Not a chance. We’ll have four minutes to clear the air traffic tower.”
Static crackled in their ears before Javi’s voice. “Gavin, are you in position?”
“Affirmative,” Gavin said. “We can blow the decoy at 2256 to pull back any troops that try to intercept your plow and fixed-wings.”
“That will give you enough time to clear the 2300 blasts too?” Javi asked.
Gavin looked at Dani, and she nodded.
“Affirmative,” Gavin said.
“Copy. Go at 2256.”
“You sure about this?” Gavin asked.
“No,” Dani said. “I’m terrified, but we don’t have a choice. Give me your detonator.”
He fished the device from his pocket and handed it to her.
She checked her watch again.
“Ready?” he asked.
She nodded.
He slid the cover partway open, just enough for her to poke her upper body out. Her hands trembled from a mix of cold and fear. She glanced at her watch one more time, then pressed the buttons on both detonators. The red light on the switches in her hands began blinking, and she slipped back through the opening. Gavin lowered the manhole lid, and they dropped into the pipe. The ground shuddered as the blast ripped the decoy tower apart.
Without a word, they darted through the network of pipes, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the air traffic tower as possible. Gavin stumbled in the muck behind her once, but he recovered and caught back up to her. Her lungs burned and her legs fatigued as they struggled to maintain their frantic pace.
She didn’t bother to check her watch. The time didn’t matter anymore. They just needed to get as far away from the coming destruction as they could.
As they made yet another sharp turn through the pipework, a powerful blast shook them both off their feet. Gavin was up first; he helped her up. They sprinted a few more yards before the piping behind them began collapsing. Dani refused to look back.
The farther they got away from the destroyed air traffic tower, the safer they would be, but they were too close and the aged sewer system was more fragile than Dani had expected. They needed to navigate to stronger pipes that wouldn’t crush them as they fell apart.
“This way,” Dani said, shifting to make a left.
“Nope,” Gavin said, and her body jerked to the right as he grabbed her pack and shoved her in the opposite direction.
She stumbled as her feet dropped into the lower, flooded pipe. Gavin stayed behind her, and as debris fell on them from above, Dani began to fear that they’d made a terrible mistake.
The knee-deep water slowed their progress, and the destruction caught up to them. Just as the sewe
r’s structures collapsed around and on top of them, Gavin shoved her into another side pipe, and she fell.
She pinched her eyes closed and curled into a ball. Falling debris pelted her body, and she had nowhere to go.
When the destruction finally stopped, Dani was too dizzied to move at first. Static and voices filled her ear comm, but she couldn’t understand anything that was being said.
Water seeped into her helmet, and she realized she was underwater. She watched the bubbles leaving her helmet to figure out which way was up, then turned her body to place her feet beneath her and rolled her upper body to shift debris off her. As she righted herself, she stumbled back into a portion of the sewer wall.
She got her bearings while water drained from her helmet. She was standing in thigh-deep water. She wanted to take the helmet off, but she could see better with it on. She tried not to panic. “Gavin!” she cried, and began searching through the rubble.
A hand reached out of the water. Dani gasped. Gavin was pinned beneath a collapsed portion of the pipe, and was trying to push the object upward. She sloshed toward him, flinging smaller debris aside, and submerged most of her body so she was positioned beneath the debris trapping him. She pressed her right shoulder against a piece of pipe and pushed up with her legs to lift it. With her left hand, she groped the water until her fingers met Gavin’s. He gripped her hand, and she pulled. His head and upper body emerged from the water, and he gasped for air.
Dani made sure he was clear of the pipe, then lowered it back down before dragging him farther out of the water. He groaned with the movement. Blood spurted from his mouth when he coughed.
Dani slid her pack off her back and pulled a headlamp from it. She turned the light on, removed her helmet, and slipped the strap around her head. “Gavin, you’re the medic. What do I do?”
“My pack, left side pouch,” he said between labored, raspy breaths. “Bottle.”
Dani turned him as little as possible and pawed through the side pouch. She removed the bottle and recognized it.
“This is the one that you took from me at Hattie’s.”
“Enough chemicals in one bottle to take out an elephant.”
Dani unscrewed the lid with her cold fingers and held the bottle to his lips. He took several sips before resting his head back with a sigh. She opened the front of his outer armor, expecting to find his CNA armor underneath, but instead she touched skin. With each difficult breath he took, his ribs ground against each other and moved in ways they weren’t supposed to move.
“Crush injury,” he said. “Multiple fractures, probable flail chest, and a pneumothorax if I had to guess.”
“I don’t know what the fuck any of that means. Where’s your armor?”
He smiled. “You’re wearing it.”
Dani shook her head. “The extra set you gave me … It’s the one the CNA issued you?”
Gavin nodded. “It went to a better cause. When I regen, I don’t forget everything.”
“I wish you hadn’t done that.”
“You’re not the one with internal bleeding, and that was the whole point.” He coughed several times, and more blood sprayed from his mouth.
“Gavin, what do I do?”
“Nothing. I’m dying.”
CHAPTER
45
Rowan was determined to find Dani in Bangor. Fifteen years had passed, but he’d never forgotten her face. She’d attacked and beaten him twice during the Portland invasion. The first assault, she blindsided him with a stick. The second attack, she’d been the much weaker opponent, yet had somehow managed to kill him before he killed her. Bitch will die this time.
A wind gust hit the helicopter, making it bounce roughly, but Rowan didn’t care.
He’d find her tonight.
The pilot interrupted his thoughts. “Sir, we have a message coming in from the base.”
“Goddammit, we’ve been gone what, ten minutes? Is it Curtis?”
“Yes, sir.”
Rowan sighed and considered ignoring the man. “Put him through.”
The pilot pushed something on the console. “You’re linked now, sir.”
“Curtis, go,” Rowan said, not bothering to hide his disgust.
“We’re under attack.”
“Under attack?” he snarled. “What kind of stupid game is this?”
“Sir, our decoy comm tower has just been destroyed. CNA troops are attacking from the ground, and I’m unable to raise our observatories on the East and West Promenades. I’m located on the southeast corner of the base.”
“Why there?”
“The blast took out part of our command center. I’m setting up our secondary now.”
God. Dammit.
Bangor and Dani would have to wait.
Rowan held up his finger and moved his hand and forearm in a circular motion. The pilot nodded at the gesture and banked the helicopter to the left to turn around.
“Where is the concentration of fire coming from?” Rowan asked.
“I’m not sure. We have enemy fire coming from across the airfield, but the storm is hindering visibility. It could be coming from more than one location.”
“We’re coming back now and will fly over the base to locate them. Get this shit under control, Curtis.”
“Yes—”
“Curtis, do you copy?” Rowan asked. He leaned toward the pilot. “I lost him. Get him back.”
“Communication to base is disrupted,” the pilot said.
Rowan leaned forward in his seat, willing his eyes to see through the blinding snow. “The CNA is attacking. Make a pass over the area so I can see where they’re located. Come in over the peninsula, east to west, then circle toward the base. Radio the other helos to follow us and to look for CNA troop movements.”
“Yes, sir.”
Rowan wanted to be part of the ground forces—somewhere where he’d be in a position to return fire—but he needed to get back to base command and take over coordinating the defense and counterattacks. The CNA had never brought the fight to him before; he was eager to burn every man and woman, human or Echo, who was daring to attack his Warden base.
The storm battered the helo as the pilot flew low over the city from the Eastern Promenade to the western portion of the peninsula. Rowan didn’t see any fires or signs of destruction below, so he wasn’t sure why Curtis couldn’t raise the east and west observatories. As they neared the base, however, he saw the glow of multiple fires. The air traffic, decoy comm tower, and actual comm towers were collapsed piles of flaming rubble. The normally well-lit base was otherwise barely visible.
Rowan grumbled. “Goddammit. Primary power is out too.”
Thousands of tiny lights flickered below as weapons fired.
“Bring me lower,” Rowan said.
“Sir, we’ll be at risk of taking ground fire.”
Rowan glared at the pilot.
“Yes, sir,” he said.
The helicopter banked to come back around, and Rowan gazed at the scene below. The Wardens were holding their positions at the base but taking fire from both sides of the air strips. The CNA’s ambush-style attack was effectively pinning the Wardens in their positions.
The remaining two cannons on the base’s roof were firing nonstop, but the CNA lines were long and relatively unaffected by the cannon fire. A sudden flash of light erupted from the ground near the east armory, and a rocket flew past the front of the helo, just missing the nose.
“Turn around and shoot the hell out of the bastards that fired that shot,” Rowan commanded.
The pilot turned the helo and launched a pair of missiles at the ground. A fireball sprang into the air when the fuel depot exploded as a result. Rowan turned in his seat and smiled at the expanding flames spreading along the ground. CNA troops scattered to escape the inferno, many of their bodies alight with fire. Who cared that he’d lost his primary fuel reserves, as long as the CNA burned.
One of the helicopters behind them was ripped apart by a
n explosion, and Rowan spotted the fixed-wing that had fired the shot. The attack was far worse than he expected. The CNA had captured at least one of his newest jets.
“Radio the other two helos to drop their forces behind the CNA lines along the airstrips. Put me as close to the air traffic tower as you can. I’ll take the Wardens on board inside with me to secure the base. After that, get this bird back in the air, and don’t bother returning to the hangar until you are out of munitions.”
“Yes, sir.”
Rowan unfastened the straps holding him in his seat and he fought to reach the middle of the helo as the wind and storm slammed it from all sides. When he reached the area where his elite forces were riding, he barked out his orders for which Wardens would accompany him to the southeast corner of the main barracks. With the air traffic tower gone, that corner of the barracks was the only place left where he could view both the north-south and east-west airstrips. He assigned the remaining troops on the helicopter areas of the base to secure.
Like him, they were ready to fight.
“Kill them all,” he said.
“Yes, sir!”
“If they surrender, kill them anyway. I want them all slaughtered. Every last one.”
The Wardens vocalized approval of their orders.
“If you die, regen and put your ass back in the fight. We die permanently before they take what’s ours.”
The helo landed hard on the ground, but Rowan kept his feet. He took his quake rifle from the weapons rack while one of the Wardens opened the helicopter’s side door. Rowan hopped out first and started jogging toward the base, ignoring the sounds of gunfire coming from all around him.
One of Curtis’s aides met him as he entered the barracks and handed him a new earpiece. “This one is linked to our secondary comms, sir,” she said. “They’re somewhat limited, but it’s the best we can do right now.”
Rowan removed his old comm and inserted the new one. “Curtis, you copy?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’m coming to you.” Rowan passed his rifle off to one of the Wardens with him. His strides covered the distance to the lift in seconds. As he rode to the uppermost level of the barracks, Curtis updated him on the status of the battle.
Echoes of War Page 27
