“Master Sergeant, we copy. What’s your access code?”
Segarra glanced at Anderle and T-hacker. “I can’t give those at the moment.”
“You’re in a Chinese craft. We cannot give permission unless you give us the Whitefish codes.”
“Hold on, Global Command.”
The helicopter moved in closer to the city, a large mountain looming in the distance. Beyond it, a blue sky was being overrun by a tornado of black clouds.
Drew tilted closer to the cockpit, focusing on an anomaly on the city streets. Something he’d never seen before. Several turrets, hundreds and counting, with large boxes on each side, all connected by large wires to wood-shed like structures, littered the city.
Some were in the middle of the roads, others on a small airport, some on top of the few buildings lining the four streets making up the downtown area.
They rotated, the cannons extending upward, aiming at the oncoming enemy ships. A couple of turrets twisted around, targeting the oncoming helicopter—their helicopter.
Segarra eyed the back of Anderle’s helmet. “Take off your helmets. All of you.”
“No can do, bro,” said Anderle. “You give them the code. We’re fine hearing it too.”
Drew had enough, plus he had the big guy behind him to back him up if anything went awry. He unstrapped his chin strap and took off his helmet. He slipped his hands under Anderle’s neck and unclipped Anderle’s chin strap.
Anderle swatted Drew’s hand away and went to move. The helicopter dipped and Drew rocked forward, grabbing Anderle’s seat to keep him from crashing into the cockpit window. Anderle pulled the control stick back a fraction, yelling obscenities Drew couldn’t hear. Drew yanked Anderle’s helmet off and tossed it into the cabin.
Anderle lunged for Drew a second time, the helicopter pulling to the right. Anderle jumped back into his seat, grabbing the control stick, mouthing more expletives.
Drew sat, seeing T-hacker slowly slipping his own helmet off and putting it on his lap.
Anderle gave T-hacker a look, shaking his head.
Segarra said some things in his helmet then gave the thumbs up.
Drew eyed the turrets aimed at them. They rotated and changed direction.
The cloud grew more and giant robots, ten-stories tall, at least three or four-stories wide, flew from the sky and toward the city like jets, fire blazing out of their boosters. Military jets, though nothing of this world, followed the mechs.
Drew sat, putting his helmet back on, breathing heavily.
Segarra squeezed his shoulder. “Thank you.” He glanced out the cockpit window. “We got a shit-show coming our way.”
The helicopter shook again as thunder erupted. Drew squeezed his fingers around the edge of his seat.
A click came over Drew’s helmet’s audio. “Don’t ever do that again, Drew,” said Anderle, who now wearing T-hacker’s helmet.
“We have permission for a landing,” said Segarra. “Hurry your ass up, pilot.”
“I’m in the process, genius.”
Anderle brought the chopper into a hover and pressed the collective lever down, lowering the bird. The back of the skids hit the ground first, then the front, rocking the cabin.
Humvees and small Jeeps pulled up. Several Marines ran out of their vehicles.
Anderle and T-hacker pulled out their guns, hiding them by their inside thighs. Anderle grinned at Segarra. “Tell them we’re with you, or you and your daughter won’t live.”
“Aye, boss,” said Segarra. He huffed, opening the cabin door. A siren blared throughout the city. Segarra put his hands up, making sure his daughter was behind him. “Master Sergeant Angel Segarra, United States—”
“Oorah,” yelled several men.
Drew hunched over and walked forward. They needed to hurry. They needed to find some way underground. There was no way in hell they could survive the coming onslaught. An onslaught only minutes away.
Segarra motioned inside the cockpit. “Everyone in there is with me. Take us someplace safe and by God, initiate the reflector shields.”
“They’re initiating. It’s taking time. Something is caught in the software loop. We’re fixing it now.” The Marine was anxious.
Drew scooted out of the cabin and jumped on the tarmac. A shadow spread across the tarmac. “Well, shit.” He eyed the Humvees and Jeeps. All the drivers’ seats were spoken for. If he could drive everyone out of here, away from the battle and as far from Whitefish, he would.
Segarra frowned. He glanced back at his daughter, then at a Marine. “Get the shields online.”
“They—”
Vvsshrommm!
Drew faced a cannon turret. A white light expelled from it, and the more he eyed the turrets, the more he saw that every cannon did the same. The beams of light reached hundreds of meters into the sky, then widened, each beam touching the next. The light expanded, creating a white translucent mushroom dome over the city.
Bwoom! Bwoom!
Blasts from the enemy ricocheted off of the dome, shielding everyone below. The entire city, including the suburbs, were covered.
“What the hell?” stated Drew. “Where did we get those things?” He gestured to a nearby turret. “And what are they?”
“We took the turrets off black ops and into the public eye just after the government fled to the stars. These were in the underground duorail tunnels under Whitefish.”
Drew remembered the tunnels quite well. He was in them no longer than a month ago, running for his life, exposing the story on Slade, his evil as shit father.
“And regarding the bastards shooting at us now?” continued Segarra. “We don’t have a clue what they are or where they came from. The turrets, well, the good news is that it will keep the enemy ships at bay. The bad news, the shields don’t go all the way to the ground. If they did, they’d electrocute every person in the city. That means the shield won’t keep any of their ground troops away.”
T-hacker and Anderle jumped out of the cabin.
Anderle walked toward Segarra. “We have to use your daughter. And now.”
“You’re right.”
“What? Why use Mya?” asked Drew.
A boom swept across the city as the ET’s dropped something even bigger than their initial bombs.
Mya wrapped her arms around her dad. “I’m scared.”
“You’re going to have to do it now, sweetie,” Segarra said.
Mya nodded, her chin trembling. She closed her eyes and began shaking, her eyelids fluttering. She let out a scream and her head whipped back. She fell to her knees and raised her arms toward the sky. A sound, something Drew had never heard before, low and deep, came from deep inside her, and screamed passed her lips. The shield rippled and every enemy craft near the shield burst into flames.
She fell to the tarmac, her body limp.
Segarra picked her up and ran into a Jeep and shut the door. The Marines followed suit and jumped into their vehicles. They sped off down the tarmac and onto a side road.
Drew watched, mouth open, as they disappeared around a building and down a small hill.
“What the hell just happened?” Drew said.
“She’s been underground for a long time. She, for some reason, is more powerful with her father by her side. They have some type of connection. Something we want to figure out,” said Anderle.
Drew put his hands on his hips. Anderle would no doubt find a way to harness the talent or whatever it was that Mya had, and use it for his own. He wanted to call Anderle every word in the book but instead huffed and threw a dismissive hand his old friend’s way. He went into a jog and followed the route the Jeeps and Humvees had taken, not caring if Anderle or T-hacker shot him in the back.
Who knows. That might be a faster death than what may come sooner than later with these aliens entering the atmosphere.
Passing a hanger, no shots came. He paused and turned. Anderle and T-hacker were walking in the opposite direction.
He was left alive. For now.
47
Unknown, Callisto - J-Quadrant, Solar System
Rivkah raised her energy and rushed the electrically charged energy bars that kept her and Bogle captive. “Let me out!”
She touched the bars. She jerked back and forth. She released, the electricity sizzling her skin, and dropped to the cold, dirt floor.
Fox stood on the other side; Okbak next to him.
Okbak glanced at Fox.
Fox nodded. “He wants you to know that they’ll have Callisto secured in less than a week. The entire population will be slaves. The children, though, will be used as meat. So tender…”
“What?” Rivkah reached out. “You’re being controlled by Okbak. Don’t let him do this. Fight back.”
Okbak turned and walked toward a door that led outside.
Fox followed, then twisted around. “You’re going to be meat as well. They’ll dine on your flesh tonight.”
They exited the room and shut the door.
Rivkah glanced over at Bogle. She was calm, almost glowing.
Bogle patted the floor next to her. “Before you die, come here and meditate.”
“Meditate?” She glanced back at the door. “I’ll pass.”
“Do you think you’ll actually die?”
Rivkah stood and paced. “I don’t care.” The energy bars were above her and on all sides, but not below her. She stopped pacing as an idea formed. “Bogle, remember when you broke open the ceiling in the tunnel under the Kelhoon camp?”
Bogle nodded. “Of course.”
“Break the ground. We can escape that way.”
“You’re still trying to escape? When are you going to figure out that you’re free even when in chains?”
Rivkah wanted to punch Bogle up and down, left and right. Did she want to die too, and bring everyone down with her? “Break open the ground, now.”
“If you close your eyes and concentrate, you’ll see that just below us and directly under the ground are energy bars as well. Breaking the ground won’t do any good.”
Rivkah slapped her thighs. “Then what do we do?”
“I said, sit down. You’ll be able to focus on the bars with me. I’m trying to figure out how to bend them. It’s tricky, but two heads are always better than one. That is our means of escape.”
“Screw it,” Rivkah sat down and closed her eyes. She thought of the bars in front of her, imagining them as if they were rubber. In her mind’s eyes, she put her hand on the bars and pulled them outward, bending them, giving her enough room to slip through.
“There you go, Rivkah. You’re much better than I am.”
Rivkah opened her eyes. The energy bars were bent. “How did I—”
“Your Chi is powerful.” Bogle stood, extending her hand for Rivkah.
A click pierced the air. The door in front of them shuddered, then opened. A massive man walked in, a hood covering his face.
He bowed, then pulled the hood back, revealing that he was a lion. “My name is Abdu.”
48
Edge of J-Quadrant, Starship Atlantis (Slipping Further Away from Jupiter)
“Put this on,” Craig handed Slade a mask.
“A clown mask?” He tossed it on the floor. He wasn’t going to wear a mask. “Mr. President...you’ve had your way on this trip more often than I care to remember, but that stops here. You’re not having your way with this clown mask.”
Craig gave a hard nod, then lifted one eyebrow. “You’re putting it on.” He gave Slade a long, hard look, then rolled his eyes.
Slade picked it up and slipped it over his head. It scratched at his skin, and the mouth and nostril holes were too small. Luckily, the eye holes were big enough. “You can’t breathe in this thing.”
“You have the portal frequencies?”
Rivkah, Jaxx, and Fox slipped through frequencies for a faster jump to Callisto. Though Starship Atlantis passed the portals when leaving Mars’s quadrant, more portals lined the entire route to Jupiter.
“Yes. I’m thinking it will put us directly in Callisto’s orbit.”
Commotion came over the Kelhoon, all of whom were glaring at Slade and Craig. A Kelhoon, potentially the leader of the two dozen warriors, stepped a few paces forward. “Konjaka najoon.”
Slade crossed his arms and gave the death stare. “You go when we say you go. I have Kajka Okbak, your leader, giving me full authority over you guys. Do you understand?”
The Kelhoon warrior turned, facing his soldiers. He pointed at the door and barked an order.
Slade pulled out his pistol, turned off the safety, and targeted the leader’s foot. He pulled the trigger.
The Kelhoon leader jumped and fell on his back, holding his ankle. He screamed in agony. “Koojanaka ja!”
“Because you didn’t do as I said.” Slade marched forward and put the gun between the Kelhoon’s eyes. “And because so, this is what happens.” The weapon recoiled and the Kelhoon jerked. His head sank to the floor, his eyes cold as death. A thin trail of smoke billowed from his forehead to the ceiling.
The Kelhoon warriors moved away, their guns trained on Slade.
Slade leaned into his radio unit. “Okbak, your troops aren’t obeying. Please get them in line. Out.”
A message from Okbak was relayed into the tiny, gold radio devices each Kelhoon wore behind their ears. The warriors lowered their weapons and lined up, ready to take as many orders as Slade wanted to dish out.
Craig put on his mask.
It reminded Slade he had one on as well. And it bugged him like hell. He threw it on the floor and shot a bullet through it. “Oops, I accidentally made a mess.”
“God, you’re like a child.” Craig charged forward and the Kelhoon warriors split into two lines, allowing the president a clear path to a door’s control panel. He held his fingers just above the numbers. “Are we ready?”
“Ready.” Slade slipped a rifle over his back, hanging it by a strap over his shoulder. “Time to knock some heads, gentlemen. Or, I mean, gentle-hoon.”
The door opened and the Kelhoon filed out. One stopped and shot at someone. A second later, a woman screamed.
“It has begun,” said Craig.
Slade followed the Kelhoon out of the room and into the hallway. A couple warriors peeled off their formation and chowed down on the newly-dead body.
Slade never looked back. The Kelhoon were disgusting. Plus, he was on the war path.
Craig trailed Slade. They marched around a corner. Several more shots rang out. A man squealed, twirling around, a smoky hole through is chest. He fell, dead before hitting the floor. Three Kelhoon fell upon him, their jaws slobbering and teeth glistening.
More gunfire, more bodies hitting the floor; this time, someone Slade knew well. He hurried over to the dead politician and shielded the guy from the slathering Kelhoon. “Stop and get into defensive position.” He bent down, examining the man. He bit his lip. “Sorry, Rossy. At least you didn’t see it coming.” He closed the politician’s eyes, then stood, thumbing over his shoulder at Ross. “Less shooting, more marching. We have a mission. Keep your eyes on the prize.”
The gold radio devices translated his pep talk.
They pushed through a few doors and into a stairwell.
Slade took his first step on the cement stairs, ready to climb several levels. “Up these steps boys. We’ll be going three floors up.”
The Kelhoon nodded, pushing Slade out of the way to get to their destination first. The starship’s alarm system went off, sending an earsplitting bell throughout the stairwell.
“Faster than I expected,” said Slade. “Too quick, too early.” He charged up the stairs.
A rubber bullet zipped past Slade. Slade fell against a Kelhoon and spun out of the way, pulling out his weapon, shooting a few random slugs up the stairwell.
Another blast came from above and the lead Kelhoon caught it in his chest, falling backward, toppling down the stairs until it hit another warrior.
>
Slade back peddled, moving himself behind a wall of tall, green lizard soldier.
Kahkooooj!
A blast sunk into the landing just above. The landing cracked, then another blast penetrated the landing, buffeting it upward, the cement crumbling off its foundation, cracking off the walls and stairs, and dropping it onto the landing below it. The air was blanketed with a thick, gray fog.
“Don’t move,” yelled a Space Marine. “The doors you came through are now blocked. You leave through those doors and Marine’s will blast you to smithereens. Rubber bullets don’t only hurt, at the speed they have their weapons turned up, they’re deadly. And you won’t make it up the stairs so don’t even try.”
It was true. There was no way up as the landing was gone, creating a massive gap between the stairs. They were trapped and Slade was essentially blind, not able to see any enemy Marines through the concrete steps above.
“Don’t surrender, warriors,” ordered Slade.
They gave him a nod, waiting for more orders. The odds of victory were slim, but Slade was a betting man and he bet heavily on himself. They were going to go down swinging or get out by the skin of their damned teeth.
Slade pointed at the most heavily armored Kelhoon. “Your name?”
“Guvka.”
“Okay, Guvka. I need you to climb.”
Guvka dipped his head, understanding that his life would be given for the benefit of the others. An honor they thought highly of in their culture.
He pulled out a dagger and eyed his friends. They all nodded in agreement, then grunted a few words.
Guvka tapped on his dagger’s hilt and punched in a timer. Not only a dagger, inside the hilt held a small explosive.
“How long?” asked Slade.
The warriors held out three fingers.
“Thirty seconds?” Slade narrowed his eyes. “Get going.”
Guvka pressed his blade tip against his chest, away from his heart, and crinkled his nose. He shoved the dagger into his chest, slipping the blade through his muscles and between his ribs, yelping loudly.
Ascendant Saga Collection: Sci-Fi Fantasy Techno Thriller Page 69
