“Oops, fucked up!” Hal screamed as he quickly sidestepped to the right, allowing the animal to barely graze him on its way past. He quickly brought the cleaver up and brought it down again with all the strength he could muster. The blade sank deeply into the shoulder of the refugee from a B movie.
The animal roared and turned, its momentum slinging the cleaver from its back. It sprang quickly onto Hal. The man punched with his fist as the animal sank its teeth into his shoulder. Hal screamed and started to gouge at the animal’s right eye. The beast roared and jumped high into the air while still holding the big man and dove into the hole it had entered from. Hal was quick enough to grab a large, sword-like butcher knife from the counter as he fell into oblivion.
Kashihara couldn’t believe what he was seeing from the Ice Cream Parlor. He had just arrived and was shooting a spot he might or might not use when he got back to Phoenix. The old woman, Gail Ketchum, was good color, slamming the army for driving off her business. That was when he heard the screaming coming from the place they had just left. What kind of luck is this? he thought as he and his cameraman ran to the front window.
“You getting this?” he asked.
“You bet.”
Ken turned when he heard a noise behind him.
“Thanks, ma’am, we’ll get back to you in a—”
That was as far as his words got. As he turned, there was the old woman, mouthing words that could never be voiced because she was being held in one clawed hand of something Kashihara knew had nothing to do with any brucellosis outbreak. The beast squeezed the old woman and stared right into Ken’s eyes. He was watching the animal and at the same time reaching and slapping for his cameraman to turn around. As he did, the camera almost slipped from his hands, and he stared in terror at what was happening behind him.
The animal roared and raised the old woman higher, then wrapped her into its other claw, as if protecting its catch from the two terrified men.
Kashihara was holding on to his cameraman for all he was worth when out of the corner of his eye he saw men and women breaking for the helicopters outside.
“I think we have enough to go on!” he shouted as he broke for the front door, quickly followed by the cameraman, who was now dragging the Minicam by its strap.
“It better be enough because I quit!”
Ryan and the twenty troopers around him watched as soldiers and civilians alike were pulled into the ground, and their jaws went slack when the first animal made its appearance.
The beast turned as it sprang from the hole and landed ten feet in front of the shocked men. The tail was swinging as rapidly as a rattlesnake as the animal blinked in the bright sunlight. It then bent at the waist and jumped into the air. The gathered men watched in horror as it traveled at least 130 feet into the blue sky, coming down right in the middle of the troopers.
Screams filled the air as the beast started swiping at the men. Entrails spilled out of open wounds as the sharp claws grazed midsections. Pistol shots started almost as quickly, and as soon as the attack had started, it seemed to end as the animal dove back into the earth screaming and taking one of the state troopers with it.
“That’s what got my brother!” Dills screamed.
Their attention was diverted as a helicopter with a big blue 4 painted on its side started to lift off from a clearing just out of town. Two men and at least one woman were hanging on to the skids of the Bell Ranger.
The helicopter slowly rose and started a slow turn to the northwest, toward Phoenix. The Bell Ranger was two hundred feet up and it looked as if they would make it when suddenly the ground erupted in front of Ryan and the troopers. Three of the strange animals roared as they cleared the soil. It was as if they had been shot from cannon.
Ryan and the others almost lost their balance from the impact the animals had on the roadway. They watched in astonishment as the three creatures, dirt and sand trailing them like rocket exhaust, shot upward. One slammed the helicopter low and grabbed the right skid, pulling a well-dressed woman free and dropping her screaming toward the earth, while another crashed into the side window, punching through to the interior. The last of the three slammed into the whirling rotors. The impact shattered them like glass, sending pieces flying out over the town. The helicopter started to autorotate with the stubs of its rotors, but instead of its automatically circling and spinning as its designers intended, because it no longer had the full length of its rotors, it came down like a rock. It hit the center of Main Street and burst into flames with a loud whump. The state troopers and soldiers watched in horror as the animal that had crashed into the interior burst from the flaming helicopter in flames, a man screaming and also on fire held in its clutches. The beast roared in pain and shock, its strange armor smoldering as it ran for a hole and jumped into it, taking the screaming man with it.
Soldiers of the 101st Airborne were firing automatic weapons in isolated pockets all over the small town. Amid the shooting were the louder screams of the people as they tried to get away from the attack.
“Come on,” Ryan yelled to the troopers. “We have to try and get these people away from here and set up some kind of defense.”
“How in the fuck are we going to fight these things?” Dills screamed back.
Ryan looked around, then had a thought, a quick moment of clarity. “The roofs!” he screamed. “Get these people to the roofs of these buildings… now!”
The Blackhawk was in the air just two minutes after Ryan had made the frantic radio call. Other Blackhawks were coming in from the crash site bringing more troops onto the scene.
“What did the lieutenant say, Major?” asked Mendenhall, screaming over the roar of the helicopter.
“All hell’s broken loose, they’ve sustained a lot of casualties, both civilian and military.” Collins looked from the sergeant to Sam Fielding. “He said they’ve been overrun.”
Mahjtic and Gus exchanged glances. The small alien sat next to Billy, who was looking out the side window.
“Your mama will be alright,” Gus said, watching the boy.
Billy turned and looked at the old man, then at the Matchstick man. His eyes were all that were needed to express his feelings about what could be happening to his mother. The small alien closed its eyes, the vibes making clearly evident where responsibility lay for the nightmare around them.
As the helicopter approached town, it was joined by six more of the Blackhawks that had been sent from the 103rd Special Aviation Battalion out of Fort Hood, Texas. It made them feel a little easier knowing they were packed with airborne troops from the crash site, leaving the crash site with a skeleton security force, which Collins didn’t like.
“Look at that!” Fielding said, pointing out the window.
Below was a sight that amazed them all. Ryan had managed to gather the remaining survivors and get them safely to the rooftops of the town’s buildings. The townspeople, three or four surviving reporters, state troopers, and only a few soldiers were high on the large steel awning of the Texaco station, the remains of the hardware store, which sat at a crazy angle after most of it had collapsed into the ground, and even on the flat and false-fronted roof of the Broken Cactus. More soldiers were on the flat roofs of the Ice Cream Parlor and Snake Farm. These were also firing into the trenches that surrounded all of the buildings.
“Jesus Christ, it looks like Custer’s last stand!” Fielding yelled.
The firing had ceased, and the’ town lay quiet. The troops were now deployed around the buildings, but the activity of the animals had ceased. There had been no attacks for the last ten minutes. Still Collins had M60 machine guns placed on each of the buildings in case the animals returned.
“Report, Mr. Ryan,” Collins said as he gained the roof of the Broken Cactus.
Ryan, looking dirty and bloody, stepped forward, holstering his nine millimeter as he did. He looked a lot older than he had this morning.
“We lost at least ten state troopers.” He cleared his throat
and looked around and lowered his voice. “Twenty-five or thirty of the airborne troops, we haven’t had a chance to count yet, but I think I’ve only counted ten or so left.” He looked at Fielding, who just clenched his teeth. “They fought like hell, Colonel, trying to get these people to safety. The state men also, they didn’t die for nothing. God, Jack, maybe twenty or twenty-five civilians were taken in the first assault, mostly the remaining reporters, and… it’s just a god-awful mess.”
Fielding removed his sunglasses and harshly rubbed his eyes. He turned from the devastation of the town and slapped Ryan on the shoulder. “Isn’t much like the navy, is it, son?”
Ryan lowered his eyes and shook his head.
Billy was standing behind Collins and shifted positions looking at the faces of the survivors, and that was when he saw his mother. She was treating one of the soldiers leaning against the building’s waist-high false front.
“Mom!” he screamed, and ran into her arms.
Julie reacted immediately to her son’s voice and gently laid the soldier’s head against the wall and ran to her son.
“Oh, God, I was so worried about you, baby, are you alright?” she asked, crushing him into her chest.
Gus, who was carrying Mahjtic under a sheet he had removed from his cot, smiled. The small being mentally felt the relief flood through the old man.
“What about these animals?” Collins asked, unzipping the vest armor from his chest, letting in some needed air.
Ryan looked from his boss to Sam Fielding, then reached over and patted Billy on his head. He looked into Julie’s eyes a moment, seeing the relief she was expressing because she had been near a panic during the operation to get everyone up top. Then he looked back at Collins.
“They’re straight out of a fucking nightmare, Major. Fast, strong, and you’re damn lucky the freakish bastards stopped their attack and went away, because these sons of bitches can jump. They took down one of the news choppers from almost two hundred feet.” Ryan stepped closer and whispered to Collins and Fielding so Billy couldn’t hear. “They’re definitely eating the ones they take, Major, we all saw it.”
The White House, Washington, D.C.
July 9, 1500 Hours
The hookup between Washington, Event Group Center, and Chato’s Crawl had been hot for the last ten minutes. Niles was holding his own against the top military leaders of the country in defending the actions of the 101st and his ground teams.
“As I stated, Mr. President, there was nothing that could have been done to change the outcome of this first engagement. The animals hit us while the ground teams were still in the process of evaluating the situation.” Niles paused for a moment. “The tunnel assault elements are being organized now.”
The president turned to face the director of the CIA and air force general Max Hardesty, chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
“Okay, I’m sticking with Compton and his team as to recommendations on how to fight these things. Now, and most importantly, Operation Orion will only be ordered as a last resort. Understand, gentlemen, no nukes unless you have my specific authorization.”
All the directors of the national security staff nodded their compliance.
“Now, what does Major Collins need to”—the president held a finger up—“one, rescue all the civilians in that town?” He held up another finger. “Two, what equipment can we rush in there to help fight these damn things?” Then he held up a third finger. “And number three, what course, other than nuclear weapons, can we use to contain these things if they escape the valley?”
General Hardesty stood and went to a large back-projected map of the western United States.
“Mr. President, we have brought in elements of the Seventh Aviation Battalion from Fort Carson, Colorado. They just arrived on-site.” Hardesty drew a line down from Colorado to Arizona. The plasma in the screen reacted to his finger, and a red line traveled the length of the map from Colorado to the Superstitions. “We will have ten Apache gunships on station in a little over an hour. They will provide cover for the four MH-53J Pave Low Ills that have just arrived from MacDill in Florida. They will be used to airlift the civilians from the town. Collins and Sam have come up with a plan to lift them directly from the building rooftops. The Pave Low is basically a huge flying gun platform with large enough cargo facilities. We believe four will be enough to evacuate all collateral personnel out of the town.”
“What about containment?” the president inquired.
“There we are committing a number of F-15 Strike Eagles and F-16 Fighting Falcons for use in ground assault. They will be loaded with type-N Bunker Busters and standard cluster munitions that should give the burrowing bastards something to write home about. If we have to, we can ring the entire valley with bombs. We are scraping anything we can package, Mr. President, and will have more as soon as we can get them online. We are also airlifting a squadron of Paladin tanks for cover if and when the tunnel teams go in.”
“What about the special troops Mr. Compton has asked for?”
“They just landed outside of the town and are being airlifted to the site by Blackhawk. The best we have, sir. Major Collins will have a strong element of Delta and Third Rangers to add to the Group’s tunnel and mine teams.”
The president turned and looked into the camera. “Mr. Compton, I know this is a lot to throw at you, but what have we learned from the crewman of that saucer?”
Niles pushed his glasses back up on his nose and looked into the camera.
“With maybe only two or three of the offspring killed or wounded, that leaves approximately ninety-plus healthy ones, not counting the adult, which hadn’t been present at the attack that we know of. The surviving crewman assures us if we can kill all the young and then get to the mother in another“—he looked at the clock on the wall—”nine hours, we can avoid having to deal with another, even larger hatching cycle, as each surviving animal will give birth to another hundred young.”
“And if even one of the offspring survives?” the director, CIA, asked.
“It starts all over again,” Niles said.
The president looked from each of his highest advisers, then back into the camera. “Mr. Compton, you are to take complete control of the visitor, and Major Collins and your Group are still in charge of everything underneath the soil of that valley. Tell Major Collins to kill the bastards, Niles.”
Chato’s Crawl, Arizona
July 9, 1410 Hours
Julie watched as the giant MH-53J Pave Low Ills of the Third Special Operations Squadron circled the town. She felt somewhat safer after she noticed the large rotary cannons sweeping the desert below from the side doors and rear ramps. Also crisscrossing the town were ten AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters with their lethal load of sixteen Hellfire missiles, and seeing the chin-mounted M230 thirty-millimeter chain guns moving and covering the area around the buildings at least gave the survivors the illusion of safety. Above even them were hordes of streaking fighter aircraft. Upon their arrival, the few surviving townspeople and news crews gave a loud cheer.
But Julie’s mind was somewhere else. She looked at the injured soldiers and civilians spread out over the rooftop of her once quiet and out-of-the-way bar and grill, their awful wounds being tended to by army medics, and bit her lower lip as she made a fateful decision.
“Mom, what are you doing?” Billy asked, trying to catch up with her retreating form. “Lieutenant Ryan said to stay put.”
She quickly walked to the small trapdoor that some of the fleeing patrons had used to access the roof. She looked around to see if anyone was watching, but they were still staring skyward as the giant twin-turbocharged helicopters started making their run for the rooftops.
“You stay here, I’ve got to find out if Hal and Tony are alright,” she yelled over the rotor noise. “I just can’t leave without knowing.”
“Mom, that’s nuts. Ryan said he would be right back, and that major guy will be seriously pissed,” Billy pleaded, t
ugging at her shirt. “Let them check, Mom, they won’t leave anyone.”
“They’re our family, Billy. We have to be sure. I’m only going in for a minute.” Then she opened the trapdoor and disappeared down the darkened staircase.
Billy looked around nervously and wished Gus were here, but he and Matchstick had been lifted off with Ryan, the colonel, and the major twenty minutes before. He was guessing they were at the crash site. He bit his lip as he too made a decision, then followed his mother.
TWENTY-NINE
Superstition Mountains, Arizona
July 9, 1440 Hours
You’re going to what?” Lisa asked a little too loudly.
Sarah checked her pack one more time, then she looked around at the preparing Delta and Ranger teams as they checked their equipment. Only a few of them looked their way when Lisa raised her voice. Sarah looked at her friend and nodded toward the commandos sitting around them at tables. Then she withdrew the nine-millimeter automatic from the shoulder holster and chambered a round, checked the safety, then replaced it. She checked for the fifth time the small oxygen tank that was lying on the cot and saw the needle well into the green. Then she turned and faced her friend.
“I’m leading the main excursion into the first excavation made by the parent, right here at the crash site,” she finally answered as nonchalantly as she could.
“That’s nuts, sister of mine. Did you hear what those things are capable of? Did you see the wounds on some of those airborne guys?” Lisa looked around her and stepped closer to Sarah. “Does Major Terrific know about this?”
A few more of the Delta and one or two of the Rangers looked up at the two women, who stood toward the front of the huge tent. Lisa eyed them until they looked away.
Sarah held the night-vision goggles to her eyes and adjusted the width of the eyepieces. “Lisa, it’s my job, and, yes, it’s the major’s plan. He chose me. The geology teams are split up among the other tunnel teams.” She lowered the ambient-light device and looked at her taller friend. “Look, we have to find these things in less than nine hours, and if the air force is cut loose on them, we won’t be able to piece together enough bodies to tell how many we bagged. It’s not like I won’t have company. Other members of the mine and geology teams, plus the zoology members, are leading groups into over fifty holes. Besides, since those Delta guys and Rangers arrived, our odds of surviving have gone up substantially.”
Event: A Novel Page 35