Torron reentered the room and climbed back on her throne.
“The expanding dome is about to hit the enemy camp,” General Hasmin said. “As you can see, the enemy has retreated and only the camp and supplies are left.”
The camp and supplies were slowly devoured by the oncoming dome until the dome stopped expanding.
“The dome is now four miles across and two miles high,” Hasmin said.
~~~
The hunters sat in lawn chairs around a fire pit, drinking coffee.
“Hey, Gary,” Sammy said. “What’s that on your arm?”
“It’s really cool,” Gary said as he slipped it off his arm. “I think it’s an armband, but somehow it fits wherever you wear it. Look.” He handed the band to Johnny.
The band was made up of a bed of tiny strands of pure gold wire, braided together. On top of the three-inch-wide bed of gold were four tiny dragons chasing each other around the band.
“It’s solid and heavy, but small, too small to go around your bicep,” Johnny said. He handed it to Sammy.
Sammy slipped the band over his wrist and pushed it up over his bicep. “How does it work? It’s solid and yet flexible.” He passed it back to Gary.
“No matter what size it is, it’s always four and a half ounces of pure gold,” Gary said. “My mother gave it to me before she died. She said it’s been in the family for generations. She also said she doesn’t know how it works. It just does. Watch.” He took the band and put it around his finger. It instantly shrank to ring size. He took it off his finger and pushed it back over his right bicep. “This ring, armband, or whatever it is has been my good luck charm. I was in some pretty tight spots in Afghanistan and always survived. I think it’s because of the band.”
“If it’s been handed down from generation to generation, who will you pass it to?” Sammy asked. “You don’t have any kids.”
“I don’t know,” Gary said. “Maybe I’ll give it to one of your kids.” He stood up and dumped the remaining coffee out of his cup and into the fire pit.
Two F-18s streaked overhead at treetop level. The roar of their engines and the sonic boom surprised the three hunters.
“Wow!” Johnny exclaimed. “I thought I was going to swallow my heart.”
“Yeah, that scared me too,” Sammy agreed.
“I don’t think it’s legal to fly that low and that fast. They’re flying at supersonic speeds. Look over there.” Gary pointed in the distance to the west. “Two more.”
“They look like they’re attacking the black clouds,” Johnny said.
“Yeah, they’re firing rockets at the clouds, but the rockets are exploding on the surface,” Johnny said. “It looks like the clouds are solid.”
“Look at that one,” Gary said. “He tried to fly right through and exploded on the surface. Why would F-18s be trying to attack a black cloud? That’s strange.”
~~~
The V-22 flew just above the treetops, then rose up over the last hill before entering the Bay Area of San Francisco.
Oh my, if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it, Jesse thought. Torron has really prepared for this attack. From the looks of those three domes, this time she might win.
The closest dome was located over the Oakland International Airport. It was huge.
“The top of that dome must be at least ten thousand feet high,” Caroline said as she slowed the speed of the V-22 until it was in helicopter mode.
The next dome was centered over the San Francisco International Airport, across the bay. The third dome was farther away and centered around the San Jose International Airport.
“Keep as low as you can,” Matt said over the intercom.
Caroline flew just above street level right down I-80.
“Over there.” Jeremy pointed to the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. “Land in the football field next to the dome.”
Once on the ground and out of the V-22, Steve said, “I’m going to have a look around.” He shot into the air and began inspecting the dome’s surface.
“Look at this,” Matt said. He went right up to the dome and picked up a football. The ball was half in and half out of the dome. “It’s cut right in half, with the radius of the dome. Look.” He placed the cut surface on the dome, and it fit perfectly.
“Jeremy, let’s look at the map and see what it says,” Jesse said.
While Jesse was pulling the folder out of her knapsack, Jeremy pulled the wooden container with the scroll inside from around his neck. Jesse pulled the map out of the leather folder. As Caroline and Jack watched, she carefully unfolded the ancient map and placed it on the floor of the V-22 just inside the open door. The scroll read as follows:
Torron is establishing her foothold on the West Coast of the United States. She has created advanced technology, more advanced than what is available on Earth. You have a few days before she’s ready to strike. She will be most vulnerable once the battle begins. Don’t poke the sleeping bear. She and her son, Drake, have spent the past five years recruiting the dregs of your society to join with her. They’re the street gangs, thugs, and other criminals. Together, they make a considerable army. You must find the secret to the shield. If you cannot bring down the shield, your chances for success are slim. Danger is minimal until the battle begins.
“This doesn’t sound good,” Jack said as he scratched his head. “Bullets and missiles bounced off the shield at the lake. If the shield is impenetrable, we have a real battle on our hands.”
“What kind of technology advancements does she have?” Caroline asked.
“That’s the problem,” Jeremy said. “We won’t know until we see them, and by then it might be too late.”
Steve landed next to Jack.
Jack jumped. “You scared the tar out of me.”
Steve laughed. “I looked the entire dome over. There’s one entrance, where Ninety-Eighth Avenue runs into the dome. Civilians are flooding into the dome at that point. It’s heavily guarded. Why would our people be willingly entering the dome? It makes no sense.”
“According to the scroll, Torron and Drake have spent the past five years recruiting the street gangs to join her,” Matt said. “She’ll use them to recruit more as she moves her battle lines across the map. I’m sure she’s promised them great treasures if they join her.”
“I wonder why the US Army is letting the thugs enter the domes,” Jeremy said. “You would think they would stop them.”
“I saw two small attacks on the line when I was checking out the dome,” Steve said. “Somehow, the line is protected. As soon as an attack started, soldiers from the dome wiped out the attackers. They were easily outgunned. Maybe the army has learned that it’s futile to try. They lose every time.”
“I wonder how deep the dome goes into the ground,” Jack said.
“We can easily find out,” Jeremy said. “Let’s get the Safe Haven.”
The four put out their fists with thumbs up and touched them together at the knuckles. A small whirlwind picked up nearby, and the tree appeared. There was only ladder number one.
Jeremy scurried up through hatch number one. Matt stood at the bottom as Jeremy tossed down one small leather sack at a time. Once all ten were on the ground, Jeremy came back down and the tree disappeared.
“What’s in the sacks?” Caroline asked.
“A friend.” Jesse poured the first sack out onto the ground.
“A friend?” asked Jack.
“Yeah.” Steve poured out the last of the ten sacks. The pile of sand began to sink into the ground. They waited for several minutes.
“Where is he?” Jesse asked.
“Maybe it didn’t work,” Steve said. “Maybe old Marble-head is really dead.”
Jesse looked at Steve and shook her head. “You’re such a pessimist. I’m not sure how you get up in the morning. If I had that attitude, I’d sleep all day.”
“Boo!” Slatel popped up right in front of Steve.
Startled, Steve said, “I told you not to do that anymore.”
“Yeah, well, that was over a hundred years ago,” Slatel said with a grin. “Besides, I get a kick out of making you jump.” The three-foot-tall little stone man, dressed like a leprechaun, enjoyed ribbing Steve. He and his clothing were the color of the black-and-white speckled granite he had emerged from just below the surface of the ground.
“We’re really glad to see you,” Jesse said as she hugged Slatel.
They spent a couple of minutes filling him in on what happened in Africa and the current situation.
“Okay, I’ll take a look,” Slatel said as he sank into the ground.
“He can survey the dome from underground?” Jack asked.
“Yes, it shouldn’t take long,” Matt said. “He moves pretty fast underground.”
Matt was right. It only took Slatel ten minutes or so to survey the dome.
“It’s a complete sphere,” Slatel said. “There are no entry points underground. However, there’s some kind of conduit entering the dome at the bottom. But like I said, there’s no way into the dome from underground.”
“Okay then, we’ll go through the front door,” Matt said. He pulled out the Wand of Cetrekap and waved it over the team. “Change our clothes to match that of the street gang the Crips.”
All of their clothes changed. Now they wore torn jeans and different styles of hoodies.
“Wow!” Jack said. “Can you give me a scraggly salt-and-pepper beard?”
Matt waved the wand again, and they all got various tattoos, hair changes, scars, and weapons. “Okay, I think we’re ready,” Matt said. “We need to stick together. If we do get separated, we’ll use Slatel to find us.”
“How do we get Slatel into the dome?” Steve asked.
“Steve, go get that wheelbarrow over there.” Matt pointed across the football field.
Steve was back in a flash with the wheelbarrow.
“Slatel, can you change your shape so that you look like this wheelbarrow?”
“Well, I know we can change into different shapes of rocks, but I’ve never tried to turn into something like this,” Slatel said as he walked around the wheelbarrow and grabbed it tight with his hand. He shook for a second and then fell to the ground and instantly reshaped into a wheelbarrow.
Jack smiled widely. “You guys are unbelievable.” He went to pick up the wheelbarrow by the handles and could barely get it off the ground. “A lot of good this will do us. It’s so heavy, we won’t be able to move it.”
Steve grabbed the handles and ran circles around the team and then set it down.
“How do we get it through the gate?” Caroline asked.
“Lay your weapons on the ground,” Matt instructed.
After the several knives, brass knuckles, pistols, and a machete were on the ground, Matt began making copies. He made enough to fill the wheelbarrow, and they headed toward Ninety-Eighth Avenue.
Chapter 16
Haven
Torron paced her throne room, a pleased look on her face. Her clear white skin, deep blue eyes, and shiny black hair meant she had taken on her mortality persona. Clothed in a ruby-red formal dress fit for a queen, she held a scepter in her right hand and wore a gold, diamond-studded tiara for a crown. “How are the Locals working out?” she asked General Hasmin.
“The Locals are flowing into the domes as planned. We’re getting them organized. The problem is, the various gangs were enemies before entering the domes. They don’t want to work together. We’ve begun separating them according to their original gangs. That seems to work the best. Then there are those who didn’t originally belong to a gang. We’re making them the leaders over the gangs.”
“Are they being assimilated?” Torron asked. “Will they be a viable part of our army?”
“I believe so . . .”
“Yes, my Queen,” Drake said, interrupting the general as he entered the throne room with Smalik and two other priests. “They will become an integral part of our army.”
“Apparently, there is some discord in the ranks of the Locals already,” Torron said. “We need unity. There’s no room for any issues. We have to be unified.”
Drake looked annoyed at the thought that his plan for the Locals was being questioned. “We knew bringing the gangs together would have a few bumps along the way. I’ve given strict orders on how to deal with any discord. It’ll only take a couple of days of training before they’ll get in line together and become the Locals, I promise you.”
~~~
This is dangerous, Jesse thought. The entire Alpha-6 team is going into one of Torron’s massive domes. I thought it was a good idea until I saw the line going into the dome.
Something caught Jesse’s attention on a side street.
“Wait,” she said. “The Humongers are killing those people.”
As they approached, the Humongers redirected their fight to the Alpha-6 team. At first it was hand-to-hand combat. Steve was wielding both his machete and his giant sword. Matt was busy picking off the Humongers with his bow as they ran away. Jeremy was using lightning, and Jesse was healing wounds as fast as she could. Caroline was using her service revolver, and Jack was on the ground with a Humonger on top of him, the Humonger was pressing a knife into Jack’s chest.
Jeremy hit the Humonger on top of Jack with lightning and then kicked him off Jack. “Jesse!” Jeremy yelled. “Jack needs your help, quick.”
Jesse got to Jack as he was drawing his last breath. In the same move, she pulled the knife from his chest and pulled him into her lap. “Hang on for a few seconds longer,” she said quietly to him as the fighting continued all around them. Suddenly, Jesse felt a heavy blow to her right shoulder. Her right arm went limp as blood began streaming onto her chest. She continued to hold Jack in her left arm. The sounds of the fight around her began to fade, and her vision began to blur. Jack, don’t give up. Hold on, I’ll heal you. Hold on a little longer.
Jesse passed out. Twenty minutes later, her eyes opened.
“She’s coming to,” Jeremy said. He had been holding Jesse’s arms around her to help heal herself.
“Jack, is Jack okay?” were her first words.
“I’m right here,” Jack said as he knelt by her side. “I don’t know how to repay you. You’ve now saved my life twice.”
Steve laughed. “You only get two.”
Jesse sat up and continued to hold on to her shoulder. “No thanks needed. We’re a team.” She assessed the carnage. “Did everyone die?”
“Yeah, we got here too late,” Steve said. “When we arrived, the Humongers had already killed these people, before we finished them off. None escaped.”
Jesse was visibly upset as she walked around the area.
“I think we should camp close to the dome until morning and enter the dome as the sun rises,” Caroline said.
“I agree,” Matt said. “Let’s go.”
Jesse was the last to leave, and as she did, she saw movement behind an old, beat-up, smelly dumpster. “Wait, I see something,” she said as she pulled out the Dagger of Valdar.
The others surrounded the dumpster.
“Come out!” Jesse commanded. “Come out where we can see you.”
There was no movement.
Jesse approached the dumpster. She peeked around to the back and saw a young girl. She put out her hand. “Come on out. We won’t hurt you.”
With some hesitation, the girl came out into the light of the waning sunset. A mess from head to toe, she looked to be about twelve or thirteen years old, with blond hair and blue eyes. She probably weighed in at 110 pounds. She was buff, but her clothes were torn and filthy. She wore jeans, a T-shirt, and worn-out tennis shoes.
“You look like you’ve been through a lot,” Jesse said. “You need to go home now. Your fight is over.”
When Jesse started to walk away, the girl followed her.
Jesse turned to look at her. “You can’t go with us. You should go home.”
The girl fell back about fifty yards and continued to follow the Alpha-6 team.
After setting up camp about two blocks away from the gate into the dome, Jesse turned to Caroline. “What should we do about the girl? She’s sitting by that tree, staring at us. What should we do?”
“We leave her here,” Steve said. “She’ll slow us down.”
“That’s pretty coldhearted,” Jack said. “Apparently, she has no place to go, or she would have gone there already.”
“It’s not our problem,” Steve insisted. “We can’t save everyone. Some people die in a war. It’s not our responsibility to save all the people.”
“Steve, I know there’s a heart in there somewhere,” Jeremy said. “We should save as many people as we can. It’s our duty.”
Steve sucker-punched Jeremy, who fell to the ground.
“You hypocrite!” Steve yelled. “‘Save as many people as we can’? You killed my father.” Out of control, Steve jumped on top of Jeremy and continued to punch him in the face.
Matt and Jack pulled Steve off. Jeremy was a mess. His whole face swelled up almost immediately, and blood ran from his nose, mouth, and ears. Steve had really done some damage.
Steve shook himself loose and walked away into the darkness of the city streets.
“Jeremy killed Steve’s father?” Caroline asked.
“No, not like that . . .” Jesse took Jeremy into her arms and healed him while she explained the issue between Steve and Jeremy to Caroline and Jack. She looked at the girl sitting in the dark under the tree. “What do we do about her?” she asked Caroline.
“Let’s ask her why she’s following us and get a little G2 on her before we decide what to do,” Jack said.
“G2?” Jesse asked.
“Intelligence . . . information,” Jeremy confirmed.
As they approached, the girl stood and began to back up.
Jesse put out her hand for the others to stop while she continued to approach the girl. “We won’t hurt you. We want to talk to you.”
The girl stopped backing up.
“What’s your name?” Jesse asked.
No response.
Winds of War Page 10