“I’m on my way.”
Before she hopped out of the cockpit wreckage, she opened a small, bent closet door and pulled out an M9 pistol. There was no question they were at war. Anyone who chanced upon her during her run across the rock field was going to taste her shooting skills.
By chance, she noticed her phone lying on the floor, tucked not far from where she’d found the radio. When she lifted it up, she noticed it was the unsent text message to her ex-husband, Ted.
“I bet even you, Teddy, couldn’t have put this bitch on the ground.”
She laughed to herself, ignoring the reality that she had no hand whatsoever in how the plane had touched down. It was blind luck she was still alive.
But it helped to cop an attitude. Whatever she was going to do next…was all her.
Reboot Legion Headquarters, Lamar, CO
The arrival of President Tanager shocked Dwight at first, but then he ran over, excited to meet a celebrity. Tabby was talking to him about something or other, but he didn’t care. This was important.
“Mr. President! I’m Dwight Inverness. I was a specialist in your army.”
Poppy’s voice caught his attention.
Dwight spoke to her. “No, I’m not going to ask him about my issues at the VA hospital. He’s much too busy.”
“Dwight, please,” Tabby chided. “The president was just going to explain why he’s at the top of the elevator, alone, when he told us he couldn’t leave his prison cell. Not while he’s wearing that.” She pointed to a black box on the man’s ankle.
The president’s smile was polished and natural, as if it was his default setting. It really impressed Dwight, though Poppy seemed less taken.
Poppy? He saw her fly into the elevator behind the president’s back. Seeing his opportunity to catch her inside the constricted space, he inched his way up to the door. Tabby continued to talk to the man inside.
“We’re waiting,” she said.
Tanager looked her over. “I guess there’s no chance you’re going to survive alone in this place. The number of Legion citizens has swelled inside the bunker, to manage the firing of our reboot weapon. Someone will be along shortly to take those guns from you.”
Tabby was unflappable. “For now, answer the question. Then we’ll see who gets away.”
The leader of the free world shrugged. “I thought you’d been eliminated. How is it you survived? David told me you were being transferred to the inflection point over in the other NORAD bunker.”
“Inflection point? Is that what you call sending someone into a nuclear attack?”
Dwight inched his way up to the door and looked inside. It caught Tanager’s attention, but he gestured for the president to ignore him. He was hunting for his pal.
Tanager redirected his gaze to Tabby. “David’s company is at the forefront of technology, my dear. He owns majority stakes in several supercolliders around the world, and he’s had first dibs on test results for the last five years. When he figured out how to warp reality to transport small objects and people over long distances, he kept it between himself and the military. That’s where I got wind of it.”
Tabby huffed. “The jail cell and the ankle bracelet were fakes.”
“The cell was real. What better place to hide from the effects of dark matter weapons than ten miles underground? I couldn’t be certain other nations didn’t have the same technology. No one could get me there.”
The girl in blue finally began to wear down. “So, you did sell us out?”
The president sighed. “My administration was socked in scandals from day one. Not my fault, of course, but it did set the trajectory of my legacy, which would never land me on Mount Rushmore. Probably not even on your local elementary school. So, I had to think big. With David’s plan, I can ensure my statue will be in every new city, on every new post office. Rushmore can be erased of its old, stale heroes and replaced with new ones. David will be on it, of course, but I’ll be next to him.”
“Your legacy will be that of betrayal,” she corrected.
Tanager said something, but Dwight was now uninterested in listening. Instead, he stepped inside the elevator car and tried to scoot around the president. Poppy had gone there. He was sure of it.
But she didn’t appear, even when he scooted all the way around the other man. Growing angry, he looked at Tabby and President Tanager. He didn’t care about David becoming the founder of a new America. Didn’t concern himself with one president trying to rule two versions of the country. All he cared about was watching his bird fly by an angelic redhead woman walking his way. The woman’s white skin suit left no doubt about the contours of her body.
But he’d seen the woman before, and never in a positive light.
“Charity, stop my Poppy!”
Reboot Legion Headquarters, Lamar, CO
“I’m not sure I can stop it, Unk.” The console’s design was complicated to his eyes, and Kyla went on to guess it wasn’t a control for the whole system but was an auxiliary panel for one of the subsystems, possibly the gear up on the surface. “It doesn’t exactly have an on or off switch.”
“What can you do with it?” Looking around the room, there was nothing to chuck down the hole. If he was up top, maybe he could drive a car into the silo, or have a plane cut down all the metal plates surrounding the hole. He didn’t dare leave, however, since he didn’t want to abandon his niece now, even for a short time.
A loudspeaker came on. “Greetings, fellow human beings. This is David. My friends, the time has finally arrived to take the next step in our battle to conquer the world. We’ve kept the American enemy busy scurrying their ships and planes and boats to collect their stray citizens. My plan has ensured they didn’t have the time to focus on us here in their homeland, surviving underground like eternal cockroaches. As with those beautiful bugs, when the apocalyptic cleansing is over, we’ll emerge from our shelters with a beautiful new world to explore. The American goliath has been beaten. Europe will be gone in five more minutes.”
Kyla looked at him with panic in her eyes.
David went on. “My allies in the technical trades, your effort to maintain our fleet of Solar One aircraft has allowed us to reposition them over Europe without a trace of suspicion from NATO or the EU. Now, when our glorious ray beam shoots out of the ground, it will jump from plane to plane, and then drop dark matter on top of our enemies like pixie dust. From there, we will help our Chinese allies destroy all their enemies in Asia. Peace will soon reign over all the lands.”
A hum became audible from the tunnel into the earth’s mantle. Kyla furiously typed at her keyboard, presumably trying all her hacker skills to shut down the deadly weapon.
“I think I can do this,” she said hopefully.
The whir of the humming changed in pitch.
“Yes,” she exclaimed, before seeming to listen. “That did something, right?”
He prayed it did.
CHAPTER 28
Reboot Legion Headquarters, Lamar, CO
Kyla ran to the edge to see if she was really making a difference. At first, the weird noises continued, but they came from above her, not below. Metallic clanging and scraping reminded her of screen doors slamming shut.
It took her a few seconds to figure out what they were.
“Hell, I didn’t shut it down, but I think I closed those metal shields on the surface,” she bragged, hurrying back to the computer terminal. “I’m having an effect.”
Uncle Ted replied, but he sounded thoughtful and distant. “Great job, Kye. What do you think he meant about those autonomous aircraft? He said they were part of his weapon. Not weapons themselves, but part of his weapon. A relay for his ray gun. Does that mean something will come out of this silo?”
She shrugged, still concentrating on the screen. For each adjustment she made, it had a corresponding effect on the hum. The percent counter on her screen continued to tick upward, however, as if her changes were local and not for the whole weapon.
Kyla replied with her first thought. “If it does come out of the hole, can you climb up and close the doors to block it off?”
Her uncle snapped his fingers. “You’re a genius!”
“Don’t tell my supervisor. He’ll expect even more miracles.” She laughed at her own joke, but Uncle Ted made a sound as if dropping an F bomb under his breath.
“What is it?” she said, not turning around.
A new voice answered. “You can step away from that terminal, miss. The professionals are here to fix it.”
“David is here,” her uncle finally replied.
When she spun around, a middle-aged man in a golden costume strolled leisurely into the bright room. He had long white hair, straight and clean, as if he was a magician from Lord of the Rings. His round face, along with the rest of his demeanor, was one of total calm. He was the exact opposite of how she felt.
Thinking fast, she ripped the keyboard out of its socket, then side-armed it toward the pit. It hit the floor, slid into one of the ladder supports, then balanced on the edge for a second. A second later, it toppled over the side.
“That was unfortunate,” the newcomer moaned. He was flanked by two men in black uniforms and two men in similar dark overalls, though they had red sleeves. One of the red-shirt guys warily walked up to the console where she was working.
The men in black had their rifles aimed at her.
David spoke. “We’ll take those guns off your hands, if you don’t mind.”
“We do, actually,” Uncle Ted replied, still holding his rifle at his side. He’d been caught off guard because he’d been about to climb the ladder.
“I’m still going to need you to turn it over.” David had his men collect the guns, including the pistol in her uncle’s waistband.
She had to step back from the equipment. As she watched, the technician surveyed the computer and the space for the missing keyboard, looked briefly to the pit, then stepped away again. Without asking permission from David, the man jogged out of the room, presumably to find a supply closet of keyboards.
“You can’t destroy an entire continent again,” Uncle Ted said slowly to the man in gold.
“I can and I will. In case you hadn’t noticed, I enjoy the art of distraction. It’s how I was able to steal this magnificent technology right out from under the research team working on this quantum science stuff. I buttered up the science papers with talk of a god particle, and then I included it in the self-help publishing wing of my global empire.” He made air quotes with his fingers. “Conquer yourself by overcoming the quantum realm.”
David laughed. “It was all pablum. It did nothing. The real work was here, in this pit, and on the far side of the earth, at my secret location. I built all this in record time, under budget. It’s amazing what you can do when the government doesn’t know it’s helping you.”
“They built your bunker,” Uncle Ted deadpanned.
“Yep,” he said with a childish grin. “They even helped me install some of the electrical equipment for this baby. Sadly, they thought it was for an experimental straight-line particle accelerator. No one ever figured it out.”
She and her uncle closed ranks, standing near the ladder up to the surface. He nudged her sideways, making himself clear where he wanted her to go if the opportunity presented itself…
Reboot Legion Headquarters, Lamar, CO
Ted chastised himself for letting Kyla get caught, but he’d positioned her near the one easy exit out of the room. Since he didn’t know what the weapon in the hole was going to do, he needed to get her up and out as soon as possible. To that end, he tried to talk and inch closer to the weirdo in the golden tinfoil.
“I’ve seen what you’ve done to our country. I’ve walked an Air Force terminal at Andrews. I’ve been in the hallways of New York City. I’ve seen the empty city of Minneapolis. It seems an awful lot to digest for any invading force. Why didn’t you just settle for defeating our homeland? Why continue to kill Americans overseas? Why not let those other countries survive, instead of making them pay for harboring us?”
“My word, you have a lot of questions.” David patted his chest. “I get to decide who lives or dies. That’s what’s so convenient about this toy. The dark energy it taps into is endless. Seventy percent of the universe is made up of the stuff. You ask why I continue to kill more people overseas. I ask why I shouldn’t kill everyone in the entire world.”
“Except for the Chinese,” he taunted. Internally, he hated the commies with a passion, but the innocent civilians over there didn’t deserve to die, so he tempered his statement. “They’ll be taken care of, right?”
“For a while,” David said enigmatically. “As long as my planes are above their heads, I can make good on my threats to erase those who would do me harm. In time, I shall figure out how to fire my weapon without needing this trillion-dollar black hole.” He pointed at the pit next to them.
“A trillion dollars?” he said with shock. “Nothing can be worth that much. It would have shown up in the budgets of America. Someone would know about it.”
David laughed heartily. “Oh, you of little faith. You have no idea how men with power conduct business. If I wanted five trillion dollars, I could have gotten it. A few catastrophic earthquakes or tornados, lots of bright lights on crying children, and then boom, emergency declarations are signed and the Federal reserve prints me my money. You really think it costs fifty billion to rearrange sand on a beach after a hurricane?”
“It’s insane,” he said, afraid to see the logic of what he’d said.
“You know I’m right.” David shook his head. “Why am I even talking to you? I need you two to step away from the device, so we can clean up.”
“You mean kill us?” he replied, seeing he’d have to lay down his life to get Kyla up that ladder. He’d stepped closer to David, but he didn’t like the way his guards were glued to his every move. Unlike many of the men who served David with gross negligence, the pair of gun-handlers appeared to have some competence.
“I abhor violence,” David replied, repulsed by the suggestion. “It’s a quirk of mine. It’s why I have a sterile clean-up box to do away with undesirables.”
“We know about your cube,” he snapped back. “We found your rejects in NORAD before the nukes missed us.”
He thought he’d scored a hit, based on the man’s face, but he quickly recovered. “Nobody has everything figured out. It was a long road to get here. Mistakes were made.” David glanced at his watch. “Tick tock. I suppose I could drone on and tell you all my childhood wishes, and every decision I took, including my very real desire to avoid bloodshed, but that would be ridiculous and idiotic. Do I look like a ridiculous idiot?”
Ted pointedly made an up and down gesture, looking at the man in the cheesy golden outfit.
David only laughed, however. “I guess I walked right into that one. I’ll give it to you. Well played.” The man waved at his guards, and they pointed weapons at Ted’s face. “Last chance. Step out of this room.”
While the leader of the enemy forces laughed at himself, Ted noticed movement in the tube above them. He quickly diverted his gaze, to avoid giving them away, but in that moment, he saw a face he recognized.
Meechum.
Reboot Legion Headquarters, Lamar, CO
Charity barely looked at Dwight as he bothered her about his bird. For Tabby, still talking with Tanager, she realized the impossible position she was now in. A pair of guards walked with the woman in white, and Tanager didn’t seem the tiniest bit worried about the guns she, Peter, and Audrey carried.
“You can’t win, Tabby. There are a hundred guards in this complex, and ten times that many workers. Charity and I are not going to be your prisoners, either. That’s not how we think.”
She threatened to take her rifle off her shoulder, as if he had a way to slip out of the elevator car. Instead of being surprised, he smiled with pity.
“If you wield your rifle, the gua
rds will shoot you dead. If you lay your weapons down, you can live to fight another day. Isn’t it the American way?”
Tabby was disappointed. “You’re really with them? I thought you were one of the good guys. My parents voted for you.” A fist clenched in her stomach, remembering her parents were gone, and men like Tanager were responsible. However, the dirtbag was right about her chances. She’d easily be able to kill the man, but that would be the end of her and her friends.
“We’ll lay down our guns,” she said quietly.
“Tabby?” Peter asked with surprise.
She turned to him. “I have a responsibility to keep you and Audrey alive. Those guards are going to shoot us the second we take these rifles off our shoulders.
Dwight was a true wild card. He’d taken a knee in front of Charity, as if she were going to knight him. Of course, he was begging to know the truth about his bird, but he seemed oblivious to the two guards and the tangle of decisions Tabby had to work through. He’d provide no help to her.
Audrey whispered. “We’ll do whatever you think is best. I don’t want to die for that jerk.” She motioned toward Tanager, who continued to stand in the elevator with a smile on his jerky face.
“Dang it,” she breathed out. “We’ll lay them down.” Much quieter, and only for Audrey and Peter, she added, “I’m going to get us out of here. I promise.”
It was a bold pledge, given they were already inside the enemy headquarters and prison complex, but she’d seen more than a few miracles of late.
To Tanager, “Fine. We surrender.” She and the kids carefully set their weapons inside the elevator, at Tanager’s insistence.
“Back up and join your friends,” Charity said to Dwight with disgust.
Dwight looked at the woman with surprise before noticing her by the elevator. He was the definition of distraught. Tabby was a little guilty for guiding the man around the forest at her direction and then overselling their chances of linking up with Ted and the president. She’d led him to his capture.
Minus America | Book 5 | Hostile Shores Page 20