“Put it around me,” Jesse said.
When Hagred tossed the rope toward Jesse, it uncoiled and wrapped around her waist, shortening itself to fit. Jesse disappeared and then reappeared.
“Okay,” Caroline said as they all exited the hangar. “I’ll take T-Bone back to his place. Haven, you come with me. Jack, you go with the Alliance, Margot, and Hagred.”
~~~
The Oar-7 had seats for four and just enough floor space to accommodate the rest. It lifted off and disappeared in the dark sky.
The V-22 now seemed a bit of a clunker compared to the Oar-7, but it lifted off with its cargo and headed toward Seattle.
Caroline was listening to her radio. She called Jack on his cell phone and asked him to hand his phone to Hagred. “I just heard over the radio to be ready for battle against the aliens at zero five hundred hours,” she said to Hagred. “All air and sea assets are to take positions at the sixty-mile mark from the domes and wait for further orders. All ground forces are to be ready to attack the alien army by zero five hundred hours. Central Command must believe the shields will be coming down again.”
“If the shields come down, we might be able to fly straight into the lake dome,” Hagred said.
“You should wait at the sixty-mile mark until the shields come down and then try to get into the dome,” Caroline said. “I’ll alert the air force to give you safe passage.”
~~~
As soon as they landed in Seattle, Caroline signed to Haven. “I need to get you to Central Command in Las Vegas.”
“I want to stay with you!” Haven was upset.
“No, this time we’re not sneaking in through the back door,” Caroline said. “We’re going to be heading straight through the front door, and I’m not willing to risk your life. I’ve arranged transportation for you on a two-seater F-18 Hornet. You’ll be there in less than an hour. I’ll join you in Las Vegas. I promise.”
~~~
“You said to wake you at zero four thirty hours, sir,” Sergeant Barr said as he shook General Wisecoff’s arm.
The general hurried to the command center. “Are we ready?”
“Yes, sir,” Captain Starritt said. “We tested the algorithm on the helmet we have, and the signal was interrupted. We’re ready to transmit the interruption signal through the GPS satellites, which should cancel out all shield signals.”
General Wisecoff gave the order. “Alert all forces. We’ll send the jamming signal at zero five hundred hours.”
The clock ticked down the seconds. Once it hit the 0500 hour, Starritt hit the Enter key on his computer, and they watched the screens showing the alien craft and alien soldiers. The pale blue shield continued to glow. The general looked questioningly at Starritt.
“It’ll take a little time for the signals to degrade,” Starritt said. “Be patient.”
He had no more finished the sentence than the shields started falling, and the full force of the US military sprang into action.
“The dome shields are still up,” Colonel Smith said as he pointed at the LAX and San Diego dome screens.
“They must be on a different system,” Starritt said. “The shields protecting the nine mother ships aren’t down either. They’re the ones broadcasting to the aircraft and soldiers. The only protective shields down are the ones for the aircraft and soldiers. The signals protecting them must have been originating from the mother ships.”
“We can’t go after the domes and the mother ships, but we can go after the aircraft and soldiers,” the general said as he settled into his chair and watched the action on the screens and the pieces being repositioned on the large map on the table in front of him. “Now we have a real war on our hands.”
There were small ships and submarines being moved into place. Aircraft squadrons represented by small airplanes were being moved around, and ground forces, represented by small armored cars, tanks, and little soldiers, were also being moved around as the battle raged.
~~~
“Your Highness, you must come quickly,” Panard, Torron’s high priest, said with urgency in his voice.
Torron quickly got out of bed. Her nightgown transitioned into fighting
armor as she crossed the room to the door. “What has happened?”
“Most of the shields have failed,” Panard said.
No one wanted to be in the room when Torron arrived. Livid, she walked straight to Jensen. “What happened?”
“They’ve jammed our signal,” Jensen said. “We’re trying to come up with a work-around right now. We should be back online within the hour.”
Torron pulled Panard, General Haflyf, and General Hasmin aside. “What is your assessment?”
Panard was the first to speak up. “Jensen is quite good. I suspect he’ll be successful in bringing the shields back up.”
“In the meantime,” General Hasmin added, “even without the shields, we still have the advantage. The Oar-7s are quicker and maneuver faster than the US planes. The weaponry on the Oar-7s and that of our soldiers is more advanced. Yes, because the shields are down, we’ll lose some of our assets, but we’ll still win the war.”
“I agree with General Hasmin, Your Highness,” General Haflyf said with authority. “It might take a little longer, but this battle will surely be won by your army. War is an unpredictable activity. As we learn what happens on the battlefield, we’ll adjust accordingly. We’ve recalled half of the Oar-7s back into the nine domes that still have their shields up. They’ll be protected until their shields are back in place. The other half will support the ground troops and take on any attacking aircraft. The Revilos are already attacking the ships and will continue. The mother ships still have shields and will continue their repositioning across the populated areas. Their attack should begin sometime this morning.”
Clearly Torron was concerned, but the reassurance of her high priest and the two generals delayed what might have been a mass replacement of her top advisers.
~~~
I still don’t trust these two, Jesse thought. They tell a good story, but their history bothers me. She watched out the window as they approached the dome. Amazingly, they followed four other Oar-7s and went right through the open slit in the side of the dome. The Oar-7 landed without incident.
“We should sit tight for a few minutes while more OAR-7s land around us,” Hagred said.
“Jeremy and I will get some Torron uniforms for us.” Jesse took Jeremy’s hand, and they both disappeared and left the craft.
As they walked away from the V-22 Jeremy said, “I need to see Hunter.”
“What, why?”
“I want to see if she remembers us,” Jeremy said as he looked around. “If I remember the map correctly the dragons are kept over there.” He pointed.
In a minute they were standing next to a dozen dragons.
“There she is,” Jeremy said quietly. “Make me visible.”
The dragons were docile as if drugged. Jeremy made his way to Hunter.
“Hunter,” Jeremy said. The dragon slowly looked in Jeremy’s direction. “Hunter, it’s me.”
Hunter reacted violently by standing on her hind legs and giving out a roar.
“Calm down,” Jeremy said as he put out his hands in friendship. “Do you remember me, I hatched you from an egg and raised you until you were grown.
Jesse reappeared next to Jeremy.
Hunter had calmed down and lowered her head to take a closer look at the two. She looked directly at Jesse for a few seconds and then she thought, “You healed me after my first battle with the dragons.” She slapped her tail on the ground three times.
Jeremy heard her thoughts, “That is right. We know you are now Torron’s personal dragon. We want you to help us defeat her.”
Hunter reared back up on her hind legs and shook her head, flames shot out in all directions, “I am loyal to my queen. You are my enemy!”
Jesse quickly grabbed Jeremy’s hand, they both disappeared and ran to safety.
“Yeah, for a minute,” Jeremy agreed with a sigh.
Twenty minutes later, there was a hesitant knocking at the door of the Oar-7. Steve opened the door but couldn’t see anyone there. He got pushed aside, the door closed, and Jesse and Jeremy reappeared with two large boxes in their hands. They all got dressed as Locals soldiers, and Jesse handed out Torron rifles.
“We’re at the far southern end of the dome,” Jeremy said. He turned his attention to Hagred. “What are you looking for?”
“We need to find two places,” Hagred said. “First is the power station. Second is Torron’s control room.”
“Do you see that round tower in the center of the dome?” Jeremy pointed to a round black structure about ten stories tall. It had only a few windows scattered up the side. “The power station is inside that tower.”
“While Jeremy and I were looking for uniforms, we saw a cluster of buildings on the far side of the tower,” Jesse said. “Those buildings are likely Torron’s living quarters and control room. All the rest of the structures under the dome look like barracks, maintenance, and storage buildings.”
They headed for the tower first. Humongers were watching the entrance.
Jeremy broke away from the rest and approached the guards. He pointed at the two Humongers and said, “You are relieved by order of the queen.” He waved for the others to join him and then continued. “We’ll stand watch in your place.”
The two Humongers seemed pleased to be released and walked away.
Inside, the group eventually found the power generators. Margot and Hagred began setting explosives at the base of half a dozen generators and control cabinets.
When they finished, Hagred handed Jack a remote-control button. “Here, take this detonator. If our confrontation with Torron goes sideways, push the button.”
“Why not push it now?” Jack asked. “Push it now and end the war.”
“It’s not that simple,” Hagred said. “You might be able to slow the queen down, but to defeat her, you must attack her. If you don’t push her back to Gandoral, she’ll continue to fight, and she’ll bring more supplies and more soldiers. She has a never-ending supply of both. Once she takes the West Coast, she’ll recruit humans willing to join her, and some that aren’t willing will be forced to join her. She’ll continue to move eastward until total victory over the US is won. Then she’ll move to Europe and Asia. The world will be hers by this time next year. Cutting her power is a short-term delay, not a path to victory.”
~~~
With the shields down, the fighting in the air, in the sea, and on the ground intensified. During the previous twenty hours, the major cities had been leveled. Most of the skylines, once distinctive, were now gone. The goal of destroying the major cities of the West Coast in the first twenty-four hours was mostly achieved. The house-to-house, block-to-block, and city-to-city eradication of mankind was now in full swing.
The US soldiers had been issued the weapons Matt had created. That leveled the playing field. As the alien soldiers were killed, the weapons and ammo were picked up and used. The Torron army, even though ugly and numerous, were not good fighters in comparison to the US forces. Good progress was being made by the US forces on all fronts.
Two more ships had been crushed by the Revilos before the shields came down. The navy war ships, aircraft, and submarines made devastating attacks on all Revilos once the shields fell. Within two hours, all thirty Revilos had been destroyed.
Chapter 38
Who’s Who?
“Once the shields came down, the aliens stayed on offence,” Colonel Smith said. “The soldiers became more aggressive toward our military, and their aircraft also became more aggressive.”
“Likely because their aircraft no longer needed to stay within the fifty-mile radius of the mother ships, they could chase our aircraft to wherever they went, including here in Vegas,” General Wisecoff said. “They’re all over us. How are our boys doing?”
“Their crafts are quick and fast, but the pilots lack real-time dogfighting skills,” Smith said. “We’re doing quite well. They lose four to five for every one of ours. Most of our pilots make it to the ground. Captain Strong sent a girl about twelve or thirteen here from the Seattle area. What should I do with her?”
General Wisecoff looked over at Haven and smiled. “Put her in my office with the three guys from Ontario. I’ll deal with them later.”
~~~
Torron stood impatiently behind a nervous Thomas Jensen.
His fingers raced across the keyboard, and sweat dripped onto the Alt key. He moved his head back and forth to crack his neck. “I think I got it.” He looked up at the queen, and without looking at the keyboard, pressed the Enter key.
Shields began to go back in place.
“That took entirely too long, Mr. Jensen,” Torron said. “At five thirty, you said an hour or so. It’s been five and a half hours.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Jensen said apprehensively. “This fix is only temporary. I’ll go back to my lab and work on a permanent solution.”
“Temporary?” General Haflyf said. “How temporary?”
“It’s hard to say how long it’ll take for the enemy to hack this signal,” Jensen said. “What I do know is, they will. I need to get back to the lab as soon as possible and put an encryption in place.” He turned and left without getting permission.
Torron looked down her nose at the MIT grad as he left, then shook her head and sat down on her throne.
Panard, the high priest, ran into the control room. “They’re here,” he said, trying to catch his breath. “They’re all here.”
Torron’s mood changed. “Who’s here?” She sat forward.
“The Alliance, Hagred, and Margot,” Panard said. “They’re here in this dome. They’re here right now.”
“They’re coming for me.” A crooked smile crossed Torron’s lips, and her eyes turned from blue to black. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long, long time. We will end this right here and right now.”
~~~
After the sun went down on the first day of the battle, the nine mother ships began repositioning themselves. They lined up along the coastline over the most populated areas. When the shields went down, they continued their move. At 11:00 a.m. Thursday morning, the shields came back up. By midday on Thursday, all the mother ships were in place. The fifty-mile coverage of the mother ships’ umbrella began a slow and continuous march eastward. The Torron soldiers and aircraft operating under the protective umbrellas of the mother ships began the final sweep of the most populated areas. As they moved inland from the coastline, they reeked total destruction of all structures and total annihilation of the population.
~~~
T-Bone drew blood from Smalik’s arm and put it into a blue test tube. He then drew blood from his own arm and put it into a green test tube. He smiled at Smalik. “You took my advice and became irreplaceable to the queen.”
Smalik was gagged, tied to a chair, and sitting in his underwear.
“What’s your plan, T-Bone?” Caroline asked.
“I’ve worked since the day I arrived in Seattle on a potion to get rid of the queen,” he said with a smile.
“Do you have such a potion?” Strong asked.
“Well, that remains to be seen,” T-Bone said. “I finished the last steps to the process before I came to the lake dome last night. The solution needed to gestate for twelve hours before it would be ready. There’s no real test except trying it on Torron herself. So maybe.” He smiled a bigger smile.
“The odds?” Caroline asked.
“Good but not excellent,” T-Bone answered. He took a dropper and put three drops of a black liquid into each of the two test tubes. Then he filled the tubes about half-full with a white liquid that ran out of the bottle like honey. He put a stopper on the tubes and put them in a shaker. After shaking for several minutes, he held them
up to a light. “I think we’re ready.” He picked up two syringes and filled them to the ten-milliliter level. One was filled with the liquid from the blue test tube, Smalik’s blood, and the other was filled with liquid from the green test tube, T-Bone’s blood.
“Now, this little trick will wear off in six or seven hours, so we’ll have to move quickly,” T-Bone said as he injected the liquid from the blue test tube into his own arm and then injected the liquid from the green test tube into Smalik’s arm. “Don’t get us confused with each other.” He sat down in a chair.
It took a minute or so, but T-Bone began to groan in pain, then Smalik followed. They both moaned for a couple of minutes, and at the end, Smalik looked like T-Bone and T-Bone looked like Smalik.
T-Bone injected Smalik with another liquid. “That will keep him unconscious until he transforms back to himself.”
T-Bone dressed in Smalik’s clothes, and they put T-Bone’s clothes on Smalik.
“We need to go to the lake dome,” T-Bone said as he slipped a small red vial into his pocket.
“You even sound like Smalik,” Caroline said.
~~~
“Jack, stay out of sight,” Hagred said as they changed out of the Torron uniforms and back into their own clothes. “If we’re not back in one hour, push the button. The power will go off, and we’ll be able to capture or kill the queen.” He looked at his watch and then back at Jack. “One hour exactly.”
“One hour,” Jack said as he looked at his watch.
Hagred took the Ensnaring Cord from his satchel. As the Alliance stood close together, Hagred whipped the rope out. It surrounded the four, then broke into four individual ropes and tightened around each of their waists.
Jesse disappeared and reappeared. “Just checking.”
“Remember, when I say, ‘Long live the queen,’ we all attack her at the same time,” Hagred said.
Winds of War Page 22