Page 33 of Resolution
Alternate target flyer three, Jeff said, motioning toward the other craft. Check it out.
Les was staring beyond Jeff, intent on something. What about that baby over there? he asked, pointing with his chin.
Pivoting, as Ryan moved to cover the area he’d been watching, Jeff took in the large cargo flyer that had captured Les’s attention. What are you thinking? he asked, keeping his voice level and calm. He’d seen the cargo ship in Cody’s holos of course but he hadn’t been interested in it. It won’t take much ordnance. Not good in a dog fight.
No but it could bring an APC to the fight, Les answered good naturedly. Might be nice to have a ground capability besides the air assets. Fly the APC up there to the lab, land out of sensor range and let one of us drive it to the battle.
The more he considered this revision to his plan, the more Jeff liked it. There was going to be hand to hand combat involved in the takedown of the alien lab. No battle was ever won entirely with an air bombardment and having the APC and its megacannon on scene would be a powerful force multiplier. Can you fly it? My guys aren’t checked out on the heavy transports.
Oh hell yeah. Les’s reply was confident. Hey, you know what we called those in the unit I was in? The bus. And what have I been doing these past few months? Driving damn buses. Permission to go check it out, sir?
Yes, by all means but our window here is closing. The infected won’t stare at the fire Zach lit much longer, once they catch the scent of live humans.
Got it. Les took off at a dead run across the landing pad, heading for the cargo transport flyer.
Go with him, watch his six, Jeff ordered Ryan. There might be infected on board and he’s not thinking about his own safety.
Silently the soldier took off, chasing Les.
Jeff continued to survey the area and was dismayed to see an infected emerge from the shadows across the way, close to the control tower and begin shambling toward him. Where there was one there were often a dozen, which would quickly become a hundred. Worse, as the creature passed through a patch of moonlight, Jeff could see it was a Watcher. He was especially wary of them since they appeared to retain a limited degree of higher function.
Cody, any killer drones available? Got a tango out here.
Redirecting now.
Literally a heartbeat later the side of the infected’s head exploded as the drone struck. The oncoming Watcher crumpled to the pavement in a pool of ichor.
He broadcast to the entire team. Cody just iced the first infected to come from the city. We’re out of time. Status?
Flyer one is fully operational and fully loaded with ordnance, Cody reported.
Had to take out three infected in the belly of the transport, Ryan said. Les is checking out the controls now. Seems okay. He says give him five minutes and we’ll be good to lift off. The armament here is fully loaded.
Jeff knew the transport flyers were equipped with a few heavy duty blasters for self defense but didn’t carry anything else offensive. There wasn’t going to be time to try to adapt the behemoth to become more of a weapon either. Maybe if they had a week and no problem with swarms of infected. If the ‘bus’ could move the APC to the scene of the battle that would be enough for Jeff’s current purposes. He certainly wasn’t expecting any aerial attacks or barrages from ground batteries. The aliens had exactly one flyer and he intended to take it out in his first wave of attack.
Seal it up so no infected can get in and take off when ready, he ordered.
Couple hundred infected coming our way, Cody reported. Coming over the fences in a wave. Need a ride, sir?
Jeff retreated, keeping his attention on the empty landing pad in front of him and the spots where the oncoming predators would most likely appear. He heard the ramp extending on the one flyer they’d managed to reactivate and as the first group of infected made their shambling run across the landing area, he turned and sprinted into the flyer, slapping the controls to raise the ramp. “Take off!” he yelled.
* * *
The flight back to the ranch was smooth, although Jeff took a slight detour to land at Millersville and have a chat with the mayor. Then the three flyers lifted off again and completed the trip home. There was no prepared landing pad at the ranch so Jeff had the pilots land on the hardest packed section of the pasture behind the ranch house. Emerging into the sunlight to greet Tamsyn and the others, who were running from the house in excitement, Jeff was satisfied overall with the results of the excursion. He hadn’t gotten as many combat ready flyers as he’d hoped for but the addition of the big cargo transport and the ability to take one APC to the fight made up for the lack. They wouldn’t be doing dogfights with swarms of alien fighters in any case as the evidence so far indicated the Chimmer dropped off their scientist allies and departed from the Randal Four system, content to monitor the situation from afar.
“Meeting in the briefing room in one hour,” he said as his men emerged from the flyers and crowded close. “We’ll be going over the plan to destroy the lab and rescue Melly and the others. I want to be wheels up on the mission in twelve hours.”
“What about Glastine?” Devora asked.
“All in due time,” Jeff said, walking away toward the house. “Melly is my to priority, along with the lab where the seeds of this apocalypse were created.”
Chapter Eleven
The days had passed slowly since her brief contact with Jeff and Melly had to work hard to retain her optimism. She kept expecting to hear his voice in her head again, announcing his arrival to rescue her but her hopes went unanswered. She knew there would have obviously been a lot of preparation required for an attack on the lab and she hoped nothing had happened to Jeff or the others. This world held so many dangers now, with the infected roaming freely and men like the late warlord Roger preying on the remnants of his fellow humans.
Then came the morning where the guards who came to her small cell, escorted her out of the children’s wing altogether and into the lab area. She hadn’t been given any breakfast and had no appetite, fearful of what was ahead. As they walked, she tried reaching out on the subaural com in a last ditch effort, but there was no response.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked, afraid of the answer but unable to endure the total silence from the guards.
