by Colin Sims
I re-gripped the shotgun as I got ready to fire. It was rigged for stealth with a noise and flash suppressor, and the holoscope was set to zero light. This of course was good for avoiding the attention of the guards, but it also made the scope’s screen a lot tougher to see. I was going to need all the help I could get. The whole plan hinged on my accuracy, something I’d never been too confident about. The idea was that when the guards opened the gates for Janice, I would fire a Signaler straight through the gate and stick it to the wall of the outpost’s command center. This would give Yuri the access he needed to hack their systems.
“Stay steady,” he breathed, watching Janice intently. She was now standing at the gate, waiting. “They are following protocols,” he whispered. “Confirming model number and ID passwords. They will open gate soon.”
Right as he said that, my heart skipped a beat when the security fence’s purplish magnetic field faded and the massive gate began to slide open.
It was now or never. I sighted the growing opening and spotted the olive walls of the command center.
“Wait for gate to fully open,” Yuri whispered. “Three more seconds …”
I had a clear view. I counted to three. I squeezed the trigger.
There was a slight kick and a quiet tiff as the Signaler shot from the barrel. The target was too far away to see if the round hit its mark, so Yuri and I quickly ducked back into the tunnel. Yuri immediately went to work on his battletop, checking the Signaler’s status. With an excited grin, he looked up at me. “This is excellent shot. I have strong signal.”
I slumped against the wall and gave a long sigh. “Thank God,” I sighed, looking over at Samireh. She smiled and said, “On to phase two.”
“Not yet, not yet,” Yuri said quickly. “I must hack system first. It will take some time before everything is ready.”
“And we have to wait for Janice,” I added.
“Yes,” he confirmed. “She will give me green light when in position.”
I sat down and began loading all eight of the red Surprisers into the shotgun. I also double-checked the magazine for the Glock. If we ran into any guards, I needed to remember to use the pistol. The plan required each of the Surprisers to count, so I couldn’t waste a single shot.
Yuri continued to work at his computer, typing at an inhuman speed. Samireh came over and kneeled at my side.
“How’s the bullet wound?” she asked, pulling aside my jacket to feel the bandages.
I took a deep breath and there wasn’t any pain. “You know I actually forgot about it,” I told her in disbelief. “I feel fine. I really do. How weird is that?”
She shrugged. “Pretty weird,” she said. “But I’ve seen weirder. Maybe you’re just tougher than you think.”
I looked at her skeptically. “I don’t think ‘tough’ has anything to do with it. My guess is it has something to do with that crazy device you found inside my chest. And if that’s the case … I’ve got some serious problems.”
Samireh nodded solemnly. “Yes. You do,” she agreed. “I’m thinking you’re secretly a robot, but I’m biding my time until you reveal it to us on your own.”
“That’s not funny,” I replied.
“It’s a little funny,” she said and smiled. “But I say we focus on not dying in the next few minutes. Then we’ll worry about finding you a place to re-charge.”
I grabbed the shotgun and stood up. “It’s a deal,” I said to her, then turned to Yuri and asked, “How we doin’?”
“I have access to network,” he answered, still focusing on his screen. “We are waiting for Janice. Any minute now.”
I looked at Samireh. “I guess this is it.”
“I’m ready,” she said coolly. “I do this kind of thing all the time.”
Something told me she probably did.
“Let us do radio check,” said Yuri, and I switched on my earpiece. We all took turns speaking into our mics. “Okay, we are ready,” Yuri nodded, and Samireh and I stepped beside him. “When I give signal, we run.”
I peeked my head up through the hole. The spotlights were turned off and the gate had been closed. The night was dark, but that didn’t matter when the guards had thermal holoscopes. The only way we could get to the gate was if the guards weren’t looking. And the only way for that to happen was for Janice to quietly take them out. I didn’t like the idea of her killing them, though, so we loaded her M4 with a clip of smart rounds that Yuri called “Sleepers,” which would only gas them. However, once the guards were down, we’d only have a few minutes before routine radio checks would alert the other guards that something was wrong.
I held my breath as I watched the outpost intently. An eternity of about five seconds passed before there was a beep from Yuri’s computer and he whispered, “Run, run, run!”
Samireh first, we scrambled through the hole and ran like crazy for the gates. We were completely out in the open, streaking through the dark. The purplish walls of the outpost got closer and closer. I kept a wary eye on the looming guard towers, convinced that Janice had missed one and that we’d be spotted at any second. After a minute of sprinting, we were all crouched against the wall next to the gate. Yuri flipped open his battletop and pressed a single key.
I almost couldn’t believe it when the magnetic shielding disappeared and the gate clicked open. I didn’t know the first thing about computers, but Yuri had definitely just proven that he was in fact the world’s greatest computer genius. He’d overridden NAM’s entire security network in a matter of minutes.
As soon as the gate unlocked, Samireh pushed it open just wide enough to silently slip through. Yuri and I followed her, closing the gate behind us. Yuri hit another key on the battletop and the magnetic field reappeared.
Samireh turned to us and quickly whispered, “See you soon,” and then darted into the shadows. Janice appeared from the shadows and followed her to stand guard. We’d decided the previous night that it was best if Samireh snuck into the command center alone to retrieve the flash drive. I wanted to go with her, but she insisted that I’d only get her caught. In truth, she was probably right. I wasn’t much of a cat burglar.
Yuri and I stayed together and sprinted along the adjacent wall toward the other end of the base. Our goal was to reach the airfield on the other side and tag each of the nearby guard towers with a pair of Surprisers.
We stayed as quiet as possible as we ran, with only the sound of our boots clapping on the dirt to break the silence. From the corner of my eye, I saw a few soldiers milling about near some of the buildings, but for the most part, the base seemed blissfully dark and empty.
When we got closer to the first guard tower, we slowed to a walk as we crept forward. The soldiers manning this one were still perfectly awake, but hopefully they were focusing their sights outward at the Deadlands, and not downward at us.
We were about a hundred feet away when Yuri and I both took a knee. “Remember,” he whispered. “Put one there,”—he pointed to one of the tower’s legs—“and put one there.” He pointed to another. “If done right, tower will collapse when explosion happens.”
I nodded and took aim with the shotgun. Ideally, we would have fired the rounds from only a couple feet away, but we didn’t dare get that close. The shotgun’s noise suppressor could only do so much.
My heart was pounding and I did my best to steady myself before pulling the trigger. The zero light crosshairs from the holoscope were right where they needed to be.
Tiff.
The first Surpriser hit its mark, sticking to the base of the tower. I quietly pumped the shotgun and took aim a second time.
Tiff.
“Excellent,” Yuri whispered. “Let’s go. Alarms will go off soon.”
I couldn’t help but feel a jolt of pride as I slung the shotgun on my back and followed Yuri to the airfield. It was nearly a quarter mile away and we sprinted the entire time. By the time we got there, it was just as Yuri had described it. There was a fleet of three B
lackhawk helicopters parked atop a wide stretch of asphalt. Behind them was a large hangar that was undoubtedly used for maintenance and repairs.
We kept running, right past the airfield, and stopped about a hundred feet from the corner guard tower.
I aimed and fired a pair of Surprisers. Both hit their marks.
“One left,” Yuri whispered. “But let us get helicopters first,” and he whipped around to start running back to the airbase.
We stayed close to the fence, not wanting to get exposed in the open. This put the helicopters about a hundred yards away. We both dropped to our bellies to stay hidden.
Yuri pointed, “Hit that one, and … that one. Leave the third.”
“Got it.” I nodded, and then focused on the scope. I took an extra few seconds to aim before gently squeezing the trigger.
I held my breath for a second—praying that I hadn’t missed—before a dark circle lit up on the scope. It indicated that the Surpriser was active. I pumped the shotgun and fired again. As far as I could tell, both rounds found their marks, but unfortunately there was no way to be certain.
Yuri jumped back to his feet, motioning for me to do the same. I sprang up and followed him as we ran along the fence to the next guard tower. We made a left at the corner and kept going for at least another minute. The tower was getting closer, but was still too far away to get a good shot. We’d have to keep sprinting for at least a hundred more yards.
“We are getting lucky,” Yuri whispered excitedly as we ran. “Alarm sirens should have gone off by—trakhni!”
Bright lights flared throughout the entire outpost and air raid sirens wailed into the night. Yuri and I were completely exposed.
I didn’t waste a second. I raised the shotgun and aimed. There was a quick tiff when I pulled the trigger, but as soon as I did, Yuri yanked me by the arm and whisper-shouted, “Quick!” and we ran flat out across the tarmac, heading for the hangar behind the helicopters. It was the only place where we could get out of the open. But as we ran, I knew that at any second, I was about to get shot in the back again. Running across the open blacktop, we were probably the most obvious targets in the world.
I’d pulled a fair distance ahead of Yuri, whom I could hear huffing behind me. I slowed enough to look back at him, and right as I did, I caught a flicker of movement in the nearest guard tower. Half a second later, we were being shot at.
“Come on!” I screamed, reaching back for him. Heavy rounds from a .50 cal were slamming into the pavement all around us. Men were shouting in the distance and a spotlight had been fixed directly on us. By some miracle, however, we were still running. The entrance to the hangar was only ten feet away. A few more steps. Seven feet. Five feet. Together, Yuri and I both dove into the entrance and slid face-first into the building. The wide gates were still open, so shots continued to pound at our feet. We both scrambled up and blasted forward, ducking behind the carcass of a gutted helicopter.
“Use the AMTACC!” Yuri shouted at me, and I immediately lit up the holographic screen. It showed Surprisers 1-7 as a line of yellow circles. I zipped my finger across them, turning them green, and pressed execute. In an instant, the machine gun fire stopped amid a quick succession of explosions. I peeked around the helicopter and caught a glimpse of the corner guard tower collapsing.
“This might not have been a good idea,” I panted heavily, turning back to Yuri. Before he could answer, he pushed me hard to the ground. “DROID!” he shouted. Shots ricocheted off the helicopter at our backs. We both scrambled amidst a hail of lead to get to the other side. The firing was continuous, like an M4 on fully automatic. We made it just in time without catching any bullets. Abruptly, the firing stopped, and Yuri shouted, “He’s reloading!”
I pumped the shotgun, sprang from behind the helicopter and sighted the Droid. It was marching straight at us and was nearly finished locking in a fresh mag when I fired. I tagged it square in the chest with my last Surpriser. The Droid re-opened fire as I dove back toward Yuri. The AMTACC screen was still lit up in front of me and I punched my finger on execute.
There was a half-second’s hiss before the Droid exploded in mid-stride.
My ears rang from the blast, and I took a couple seconds to get my bearings. I looked over at Yuri and he was flipping open his battletop.
“I think we have to get out of here,” I told him, quickly loading the Doomsayers into the shotgun. My hands were shaking like leaves.
He glanced at me for a split second before returning his attention to the computer. “I strongly agree,” he said, but kept typing furiously on the keyboard. “I have Janice send up drone. Look.” He pointed to his screen. “This is view of base. Armored trucks are moving this way. We must go now.”
I finished loading the last shell and we both jumped to our feet. As we trotted toward the hangar’s entrance, I said to Yuri, “We have to stay close. That last chopper is our way out of here.”
“Yes.” He nodded and then stopped, like he’d just had an idea. He looked at me and said, “I say we go to helicopter now. They will not think to look there!”
“Because they think we’re in here,” I said. “But how’s Samireh going to get to us?”
Yuri grinned. “I have faith,” he said, and then glanced at his screen. “Hurry. Convoy will be here in seconds.”
With that, we both took off at a dead sprint for the remaining helicopter parked at the airbase. Its two sisters were both damaged beyond flying from the Surprisers. It didn’t take more than twenty seconds of sprinting before we both jumped inside the waiting Blackhawk. Yuri went straight for the area behind the cockpit and began typing on his battletop again. I joined him and we both lay flat on the floor to stay out of view.
“Convoy is here,” Yuri whispered as he caught his breath.
I lifted my head to look at his screen. Sure enough, the overhead view of the outpost from the drone showed three separate Cougars rolling onto the airbase and heading toward the hangar.
Yuri brought his hand up to his earpiece and looked at me. “Should we check in with Samireh?” he asked.
I shook my head. “She said not to raise her until she called us. For all we know, she’s clinging to a ceiling above some guy’s head right now.”
“This is true,” Yuri agreed, and right as he said it, we both heard one, then two, then three of the trucks drive past us. A few seconds later, the trucks came to a halt. They were facing away from us, toward the entrance of the hangar. Right after they stopped, the air was filled with the shouts of soldiers fanning out across the tarmac. Yuri and I were both holding our breath. Now that the soldiers were on foot, there was a much greater chance they might see us. Neither of us wanted to make the slightest movement or sound.
Right then, my radio crackled in my ear. “Michael, Yuri, it’s Samireh. I have the thing. Where are you?”
Yuri and I both hesitated before answering. We could hear a soldier shouting no more than fifty feet away. Slowly, I reached up to press the button on my earpiece. “We’re in the helicopter,” I whispered. “At the airbase. There’re soldiers everywhere. They think we’re in the hangar.”
Before Samireh could answer, Yuri added, “I am sorry, I take Janice. She is moving to our location. We need her for distraction.”
There was a brief pause before Samireh’s voice came back over the radio. “I’m on my way. I’ll be there in exactly one minute.”
Yuri turned to me excitedly. “This is not much time,” he told me. “Janice is in position, but she will not be enough of distraction.”
I peeked my head up to look at the NAM trucks. They weren’t close, but they were within throwing distance. Ducking back down, I asked Yuri if he still had any EMP grenades.
“Yes. Two.” He pulled them from his pack and handed them to me. “Each has ten-meter blast radius.”
“Alright,” I said, getting an idea. My eyes darted toward the cockpit. “Just how well do you think you can fly this thing?”
Yuri stiffened. “Yu
ri has much training. I will fly helicopter.”
“Okay, get to the cockpit,” I told him. “As soon as you’re ready to fire up the engine, have Janice start firing at the trucks.”
“But once soldiers hear rotors—”
“Right when Janice fires,” I continued, “I’m gonna jump out and lob these two grenades at the Cougars. And hopefully Janice will keep the troops too busy to shoot at us.”
Yuri thought for a moment. “This is good plan,” he said, and quickly rolled over to climb into the cockpit.
I shimmied to the helicopter door and got ready to jump out. I held one grenade in each hand. They weren’t big, but they were heavy. I’d have to chuck them as hard as possible to hit the trucks. I looked back at Yuri. He was flipping a number of switches and checking the cluttered panel of gauges and instruments. I still couldn’t believe he knew how to fly a helicopter. Where in the world would he have gotten training like that?
“Michael.” He looked over his shoulder and whispered, “Are you ready?”
I nodded, re-gripping the grenades.
“Okay. I give command to Janice in three, two, one …”
Yuri tapped a key on his battletop, and within a second, the sound of gunfire rang out. Janice was about a hundred yards to our left, and was pummeling the trucks with machine gun fire. Over a dozen rifles answered back, firing in her direction.
I jumped out, ran to get clear of the rotors, and threw the first grenade. I didn’t wait for it to land, but instead lobbed the second grenade in quick succession. As far as I could tell, they were both going to land right near the trucks. I ran back to the helicopter and dove inside as the first grenade exploded. It made a weird, electrical sound when it did. A second later, the second grenade went off.
I scrambled up to the cockpit to join Yuri. “We need thirty more seconds for engine warm up,” he shouted to me, and right as he did, the first bullet zinged against the aircraft. It was quickly followed by a dozen more.
“I don’t think we have that long,” I shouted back.