Summer swung her eyes from Krista to Lipton and back again. “I see your point.”
“That doesn’t mean anything. It’s called random memory recall. Look it up,” Lipton said.
Krista pointed at him. “Look at him, boss. He’s squirming. He knows I’m on to him. He knew they’d be listening; that’s why he put it at the bottom of the list, hoping we’d give up long before we got to it.”
Summer nodded. “And we almost did.”
Krista was surer than ever. “Oh yeah, these are the people he contacted before.”
“That’s your theory?” Lipton asked, shaking his head. “That I’d be dumb enough to include the one frequency actually being monitored, hoping you’d give up long before you ever tried it?”
“Yep. No doubt about it.”
“Look, if I didn’t want you to make contact, all I had to do was leave that one frequency off the list. You never would have known it was missing,” he said to Krista before turning his gaze to Summer. “Tell me you’re not buying her logic. Or lack thereof.”
Summer didn’t answer.
Lipton continued, “She’s just trying to invent a narrative that fits her agenda. One that justifies her hatred of me. And her distrust. This is insanity.”
“Or it’s brilliant,” Krista said in a matter-of-fact way. “Think about it. No matter how it turns out, he’s covered. Either we never make it to the end of the list and give up, or we make contact, at which time he can use this preplanned excuse about not leaving it off the list to cover his ass. He’s playing both ends like the conniving asshole he is.”
Wick stepped forward, raising his rifle at Lipton. “I can put a bullet in him right now, chief. Just give the order.”
Liz stepped in front of Wicks with her hands out. “Okay, I’ve heard enough. Everyone needs to calm down. This is getting out of hand. We have more pressing business to handle right now.”
“She’s right,” Summer said. “We can deal with Lipton later. Let’s get back to the radio. Either way, we need their help.”
Lipton tilted his head, his face showing its usual expression of smugness. “As I said.”
Krista agreed with Summer and Liz, though it was clear her gut was more on fire than theirs. She engaged the mic once again. “Blackstone, this is Eagle Base. You mentioned a trade. What do you have in mind? Over.”
“We need supplies and someone to help with repairs. Over.”
Lipton pointed at the radio. “There you have it. Quid pro quo. A simple proposition.”
Krista held the mic steady. “What kind of repairs? Over.”
“We need someone with a background in science. Advanced physics, preferably. Over.”
Krista whipped her eyes around to Lipton. “That figures.”
Lipton smiled, turning her insides raw as his lips began to flap again. “Good thing you have exactly what you need. As in me.”
Krista held her eye lock on him. Blackstone’s need for a scientist fit her suspicions, proving in her mind that she’d been right all along. They were looking for a geek like Lipton. That’s why they would have worked out a deal with him when he talked to them covertly.
“Ask them about the supplies,” Summer said, breaking Krista’s focus on Lipton.
“What kind of supplies are you looking for, Blackstone? Ours are limited. Over,” Krista said, grabbing a pencil and slip of paper to jot down what she assumed was a long list.
“Equipment mainly. Over.”
“Please explain, over.”
“A Geiger counter if you have one. Plus, a spectrometer would be helpful. And some protective gear. Over.”
Krista looked at Summer, then at Lipton, shooting him a raised eyebrow and a look that told him to explain their needs.
“Do I really have to lay it out for you?” he snarked.
“Humor us,” Krista said, figuring he already knew the answer. Perhaps his words might convince Summer that this was all a ruse, set up long before today.
Lipton pointed at the transmitter. “They have a radiation leak, obviously, and need someone to repair whatever device is causing it.”
“Can you do it?” Summer asked.
“Impossible to know. Not without more specifics.”
Krista turned to Summer. “Do we have a Geiger counter?”
“Yeah, there’s one in the basement, along with a bunch of old suits, but I don’t know if they are the right kind of protective gear.”
“You know it doesn’t matter, right?” Lipton said.
“Which part?” Summer asked.
“The gear. Whatever is going on has already become critical. That’s why they’re reaching out and risking a reveal of their location on an open frequency.”
“He makes a good point,” Wicks added.
Krista shook her head at Lipton. “There you go. You just made one of those miraculous leaps again. It confirms what I said earlier.”
“That I already knew the answer?”
“Roger that.”
“It’s simple logic, not some kind of setup,” Lipton replied. “Just think about it. Otherwise, why would anyone ever take the chance to reach out and expose themselves? They didn’t have a choice.”
“Like us and our problems,” Summer said.
Lipton nodded. “Exactly. They are desperate. Their needs list proves as much. You don’t ask for protective gear and a Geiger counter unless you have a radiation leak.”
“Maybe we can use that to our advantage,” Wicks said. “Even if it is a trap.”
“Possibly,” Krista said, taking a moment to think. She brought the mic back up. “Blackstone, this is Eagle Base. We have the items you need. Over.”
“Even the scientist? Over.”
“See? They don’t know I exist,” Lipton said.
“Actually,” Krista said, “they don’t know that we know you. That you’re here and not somewhere else.”
“You’re right,” Summer said.
“Like I said, this is all a setup.”
“Damn, I just can’t win, can I?” Lipton asked.
“You should probably answer them,” Liz told Krista.
“Right. Right,” Krista said, bringing the mic back to her lips. “Ten-four, Blackstone. We have everything you need and would be willing to trade, if you can reciprocate. Over.”
“What do you need, Eagle Base? Over.”
Krista looked at Liz and then at Summer, ready to scribble more items on the paper. “Okay, ladies. Time for a list. Make it count. We only get one shot at this.”
“Vegetable plants, that’s what you need. Uninfected stock and a resupply of seed,” Lipton said.
“I hate to admit it,” Liz said. “But he’s right.”
“I agree,” Summer said.
“What about the bacteria?” Wicks asked. “It’s everywhere, right?”
“We’ll need chemicals to keep the new plants from being infected,” Liz added.
“What kind?”
“Not sure yet.”
“Ask for a centrifuge and some testing equipment,” Lipton added. “We’ll need those as well.”
“There he goes with that ‘we’ business again,” Krista said, wishing the others in the room had the same level of concern as her. But she was outnumbered two-to-one, if she chose to discount Wicks, who would agree with her no matter what. She needed to save her objections for a better opportunity. It seemed likely that Lipton would hang himself, if she just gave him a little more rope with which to do so.
“And a more powerful microscope,” Liz said. “What we have isn’t powerful enough.”
“Is that all?” Krista said, scribbling down the last two items. “That’s a lot.”
“I’m worth it,” Lipton said, tugging on his shirt collar, looking the part of both politician and thief.
“I hope you realize this means you’ll have to leave Nirvana,” Liz said.
Lipton shrugged. “I’m not welcome here anyway. A fresh start will be beneficial for everyone, mainly me.”
“Y
ou just can’t wait to get there, can you?” Krista asked.
“It’s always nice to be appreciated,” Lipton said. “Obviously, that’ll never happen here.”
Krista started to reply, but held her words when the lights overhead flickered and dimmed before changing their luminance to red.
A siren went off a moment later, filling her ears with a high-pitched squeal that tunneled its way into her brain.
Everyone flinched, including Krista, as the whooping continued.
“What the hell is that?” Summer asked before covering her ears with her hands.
“Intruder alert!” Krista said as she shot out of the chair. She ran to Wicks, grabbing the guard by his camo-colored sleeve. “Follow me.”
CHAPTER 38
Fletcher took a step forward in the stairwell, leaning his torso over the handrail to look down. He could see several more flights of stairs leading down to what he assumed was the entrance level of the missile silo.
His second-in-command, Dice, moved past him and took charge, giving his three-man team a hand signal to take point.
They did as he instructed, keeping low with their backpacks loaded with C-4 explosives. Their boots made quick work of the steps, pounding rubber to metal until they vanished into what appeared to be a connecting corridor far below.
“Hope you brought enough,” Commander Stipple said from his position next to Fletcher.
“We did,” Fletcher replied. “All of it, actually.”
“Plus thermite,” Dice added, pointing to a satchel he carried over his shoulder.
“A little something Doc Lipton cooked up,” Fletcher said, scanning the horde of Scabs packed in behind Stipple. The man stood there with a look of confidence, as if his stance of feet wide and arms out could somehow hold back the force of all the Scabs.
Fletcher craned his neck and peered up, seeing the same thing on every level. Nothing but ravenous eyes and drooling mouths—hundreds of them.
He had expected Craven to send an entire squad to hold back the swarm, but he only sent Stipple with a whistle around his neck and a sidearm on his hip.
“Fire in the hole,” a man said from below, just as the advance team ran back into view and scampered into a protective recess near a run of cabling and pipes.
Fletcher backed up to the wall and bent low to cover his ears. An instant later, an explosion ripped the air apart, the compression wave sending him back a step.
After the smoke cleared, Dice followed Fletcher to the handrail, where both of them looked down.
One of the men below came into view and cupped his hands around his mouth, looking up. “We’re in.”
Fletcher grabbed Dice and pulled him to the wall before focusing his eyes on Stipple. “Let them go, Commander.”
Stipple brought his arms down and stood aside, then grabbed the whistle dangling in front of his chest. He spun to face the cannibals and blew into the noise maker, filling the shaft with three ear-piercing shrieks.
The army of Scabs broke lose in a stampede of feet, arms, and teeth, tearing down the stairwell and disappearing into the entrance of the silo.
“God help those inside,” Stipple said.
“God won’t save them,” Fletcher said in a firm tone. “Not today.”
TO BE CONTINUED in
Silo: Nomad’s Revenge
Book 3
Frozen World Series
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Jay J. Falconer
Mr. Falconer is an award-winning screenwriter and Amazon #1 Bestselling Author in Action & Adventure, Military Sci-Fi, Post-Apocalyptic, Young Adult, and Men's Adventure fiction. He lives in the high mountains of northern Arizona where the brisk, clean air and stunning views inspire his day.
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AWARDS AND ACCOLADES
2018 Best Sci-Fi Screenplay, Los Angeles Film Awards
2018 Best Feature Screenplay, New York Film Awards
2018 Best Screenplay, Skyline Indie Film Awards
2018 Best Screenplay, Top Indie Film Awards
2018 Best Screenplay Finalist, Action on Film Awards
2018 Best Feature Screenplay, Festigious International Film Festival - Los Angeles
2017 Gold Medalist: Best Young Adult Action, Readers' Favorite International Book Awards
2016 Gold Medalist: Best Dystopia Book, Readers' Favorite International Book Awards
M. L. Banner
Mr. Banner owns and runs several businesses and has written business articles for years. In 2014, he jumped—head first—into the warm waters of science fiction and self-published his first novel: Stone Age, which became a #1 best-seller on Amazon for post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction.
Since then, he’s self-published numerous novels that have been #1 best-sellers and one an international #1 best-seller, as well as released two short-stories and a number of audio books.
His books have been featured on Amazon’s Daily Deal, Monthly Deal, and Big Deal and they’ve garnered acclaim by Readers Favorite and multiple bloggers, receiving well over 500 five-star ratings from Amazon & Goodreads readers.
He’s an avid consumer of sci-fi books & movies, especially those with dystopian/apocalyptic themes. You may connect with Mr. Banner by visiting his website at:
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Frozen World (Book 2): Silo [Hope's Return] Page 25
