Gunz

by William Stacey

  Elizabeth stepped out of the ISO container, letting the soldiers carry what they needed to the back of the MLVW. We can't stay here long, she thought, looking about herself. We're too exposed. Any minute now, someone's going to come along and see us. Then what? I can't immobilize everyone.

  "Comin' through, Gunz," said Ward.

  She slipped out of the way as he carried an armload of futuristic-looking rifles from the other container. "FN-SCARs," he said and shoved them over the tailgate to clatter on the bed before going back for more.

  She was familiar with the weapons. SCARs—Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifles—were next-generation assault rifles created specifically for elite forces. They had some in the task force armory, but most of the operators still preferred the battle-tested M-4 carbine.

  Elizabeth followed Ward into the second ISO container, where he now grabbed armloads of small Special Forces radio sets, the ubiquitous AN/PRC-148 MBITRs—the multi-band inter/intra-team radios—Task Force Devil used in the field. She helped him, carrying an armload out to the MLVW. When she went back into the container for more, she saw Huck standing at the rear, examining what looked like a radio set mounted in a backpack with a folded antenna and headset. A futuristic-looking pistol device hung from the backpack by a thick black cable. "Is that a laser gun?"

  The other woman, so intent on examining the object, jumped in surprise. Her eyes wide, she shook her head. "No. Better."

  "Better than a laser gun?"

  "These CSOR guys have got shit I've only ever heard about. This is an AN-PRC-170F man-pack radio with satellite connectivity and National Security Agency encryption, and—if I understand how this thing works—the crypto and radio frequencies are already loaded. Someone was all set to go downrange with this."

  "And that?" Elizabeth pointed to the pistol connected to the backpack.

  "Handheld ground laser target designator." Huck snorted, smiling awkwardly. "This one radio is considerably better than everything inside my LAV. Probably costs way more, too. This baby is coming with us."

  Tops appeared in the entrance of the container, sunlight shading him. "Black Friday sale's over. We're Oscar Mike!"

  Huck, still holding the radio backpack, darted past Elizabeth. Elizabeth hurried after, eager to get the hell away before someone caught them. She was maybe two steps out of the container when a young soldier slipped out the back of the command post tent and lit a cigarette. He stared at Elizabeth in surprise, smoke drifting past his blond head. She smiled and waved cheerily at him, and he hesitatingly waved back. A moment later, he dropped the cigarette and darted inside the tent. Well, shit, she thought. "Guys, they're onto us!"

  Tops stood on the MLVW's sideboard, holding the passenger door open for her. "Time to go, Gunz." The others were already climbing into the back of the vehicle. Swamp Thing unceremoniously tossed out the bound-and-gagged sentry. "Sorry, brother, but Task Force Devil is a very select outfit. You can apply for selection again next year."

  Her heart racing, Elizabeth climbed into the cab, and Tops joined her, slamming the door.

  "Yep," said Ward with a heavy sigh. "She called it."

  A handful of soldiers ran out of the command post—all carrying rifles. Ward put the truck in gear and stomped on the gas. The tires spun, then the vehicle shot forward for the gate.

  "Move," said Elizabeth, climbing over Tops's lap and sticking her upper body out the open window. The CSOR soldiers were less than twenty feet away and closing. She channeled a wave of telekinesis, knocking the legs out from beneath the closest soldiers, sending them crashing and knocking down others behind them.

  Ward screeched to a halt at the open barrier, and Masters threw himself into the back. "Nope. They're all white boys!" she heard Masters yell.

  Elizabeth, still leaning out the window, saw more soldiers bursting out of the mess tent. She channeled air, sending dirt and leaves flying around them, buffeting them. As Ward stepped on the gas, Tops yanked Elizabeth back in by the collar of her shirt. "We can't risk you taking a bullet!" he yelled, shoving her down under the dash and leaning over her, covering her with his body. The MLVW roared away, followed by scattered gunshots. Seconds later, the MLVW turned onto the trail, and they sped away through the trees. Tops let Elizabeth back up. "You all right?" he asked.

  Breathless, Elizabeth nodded. Did we actually just pull that heist off? "Where now?"

  "Airfield's that way." Tops pointed to their right. Just over the trees, Elizabeth saw a large duo-rotor cargo helicopter rise into the air. "Course, if Alex, Cassie, and the others haven't stolen us a ride by now, we're not really going anywhere. Right now, those CSOR dudes are on the phone with brigade ops and the MPs. We're about to become real popular."

  She frowned at him.

  "Oh, lighten up, Gunz. It's not like it's the end of the world." He elbowed her in the ribs. "Wait a minute—it's exactly like that."

  Ward snorted happily.

  Elizabeth sighed, thinking seriously about a quick electrical jolt to both of their testicles. She smiled, her heart racing. No. These guys would confuse that with foreplay.

  THE MLVW PULLED up before the barrier to the helicopter airfield, a farmer's field appropriated for flight ops. She saw a half dozen of the huge Chinook helicopters sitting about the field. A dirt road ran to the field, and their tires crunched on the gravel as Ward came to a stop. Unlike the CSOR compound with its three layers of razor wire, only a single row of razor wire and a sentry at a barrier protected the airfield. Thick woods bordered the far side of the farmer's field. Military vehicles, forklifts, fuel trucks, and other airfield equipment—most with flashing yellow lights—slowly moved about.

  The sentry, with his rifle slung on his back and his hands jammed in his pockets, stood beside the swinging barrier arm. Elizabeth cast a worried glance at the walkie-talkie antenna sticking out of his shirt pocket. She lowered her voice. "Won't they … you know, be on the lookout for us?"

  "Too soon. If the MPs had the word out already, this guy wouldn't be approaching us with his hands in his friggin' pockets. He'd be fumbling for his rifle—if it's even loaded," said Ward derisively. "Air Force? What a joke."

  "Don't be a dick," Tops said. "They're not that bad. And they got all the hot women."

  "True dat," said Ward, nodding sagely as he rolled down his window. Ward smiled amicably at the sentry. "Hey, man, we're going to flight ops. Doin' an aerial recce for a communications detachment. Can you help us out?"

  The young man, suffering from profound acne, glanced shyly at Elizabeth. Poor guy, she thought as she leaned forward and gave him her best smile. The young man smiled back then pointed toward a tent complex farther away, where a dozen or so military vehicles, G-Wagons, MLVWs, several buses, and a trio of massive HLVW cargo trucks sat in an even row. "Just over there," he said. A gaggle of men and women stood together beside the tents, smoking and talking. None were armed. Air Force staff officers with briefcases and blue wedge-shaped hats were coming in and out of the complex. "Park next to that blue bus," the sentry said. "Watch out for pedestrians."

  "You got it," Ward answered.

  "Thank you," said Elizabeth, her voice dripping honey.

  The sentry lifted the barrier and waved them through without ever looking in the back of the vehicle. Ward sighed, smirking and shaking his head. "Air Force."

  "You're just jealous," said Tops.

  "Hell yeah, I'm jealous. If I could do it over again, I'd be a pilot. Chicks dig pilots."

  "We totally do," agreed Elizabeth. "Besides, you grunt types smell bad."

  Tops feigned a hurt look on his face. "That's just mean, Elizabeth."

  Ward pursed his lips thoughtfully then, holding the steering wheel with one arm, lifted the other and sniffed his own armpit, quickly making a face. "She might have a point."

  They drove right past the tent complex and vehicle park and slowly circled the perimeter of the airfield, looking for Alex, Cassie, and the others. Ward kept as far from the helicopte
rs and fuel vehicles as he could. Several of the workers, most in bright-yellow vests and safety helmets, stopped what they were doing and watched them cruise past. "One of these things is not like the other. One of these things just doesn't belong," Ward sang out of tune.

  There was a rap on the cab window behind them, and Elizabeth turned to see Swamp Thing standing up behind the cab, peering at them. She slid the window open. "You see the captain?" Swamp Thing asked.

  "Not yet," she answered.

  "I hope we find them soon," Ward said. "Otherwise, one of these Air Force weenies might get suspicious, maybe even say something mean to us."

  They came around the far edge of the field, trailing the forest. They had yet to see the others. "Idiot, Elizabeth. You should have linked with the crowns."

  "Huh? What crowns?" Tops asked.

  "Doesn't matter." She shook her head. "Hindsight is twenty-twenty."

  "Shit," said Ward. "There are MP vehicles at the gate."

  Elizabeth followed Ward's glance and saw two G-Wagons with flashing red and blue lights coming through the now-opened gate. They were still some ways away, but as the first two vehicles entered the airfield, a third G-Wagon arrived and parked lengthways across the opening. "What do you want to do?" Ward asked Tops.

  Tops bit his upper lip, staring at the flashing lights. "Don't know. I think we may be screwed."

  "I'm too pretty to go to prison," Ward said.

  Tops sighed, nodding in agreement. "Well, with that chin, those baby blues… your dance card will be filled most nights. So will something else."

  "Wait," said Elizabeth. "Someone's channeling. Keep going." She pointed ahead of them. "It's coming from way over there." Tops and Ward followed her gaze, but the field ahead was completely empty—other than a solitary fuel truck sitting by itself.

  "Why park a fuel truck way over there?" Ward asked.

  "Engine's running," said Tops.

  "Keep going," insisted Elizabeth. "I definitely feel channeling now. It has to be them. Go slow. Something's going on."

  As they came closer, they saw the tall grass near the fuel truck buffeted by winds but blowing outward in concentric circles as if under gale force—but only for about a hundred feet around the fuel truck. Then they heard the distinctive whine of a powerful engine. Someone came around behind the fuel truck but then just … vanished a moment later. She saw a hose extended from the truck, disappearing into thin air. A moment later, Elizabeth understood what was happening. She bolted upright, leaning forward to stare through the windshield, a current of excitement traveling up her spine. "Oh my God," she whispered. "Cassie's turned an entire helicopter invisible."

  "Son of a bitch," said Swamp Thing, his face still sticking through the open window in the cab behind them. "And I thought you were the strong one, Liz."

  "Not at cloaking. I can't turn invisible at all, but Cassie can. That's why she's so good at detecting invisible mages. But still … even for her … that's something. She must be using the Brace. You go, girl."

  Ward slowed down as they came nearer to the buffeting grass, the earsplitting whine of the helicopter rotors increasing. Then a man in blue jeans and a windbreaker appeared, stepping out of thin air—Paco. A second later, Clyde appeared, standing beside Paco's leg, staring at the approaching truck. Paco and Clyde strolled over, looking in Ward's open window. "Follow me!" Paco yelled. "But go slow."

  "No shit," Ward said softly. He nodded his understanding and motioned for Paco to lead the way. "This may be the coolest fucking thing I've ever done."

  As they crept forward, an entire CH-47 Chinook helicopter came into sight, appearing like the magic it was as they passed through Cassie's invisibility curtain and became part of her casting. Painted in shades of green-and-black camouflage, the duo-rotor transport helicopter was almost a hundred feet in length. Its towering rear rotor dwarfed them, looking to Elizabeth like a submarine's conning tower. The rear ramp was down, and she saw Alex, Corinna, Helena, and Lee waiting for them. Paco helped Ward back the MLVW up so that they could more easily move the weapons and supplies. Elizabeth and the others climbed out, and the wind from the rotors whipped Elizabeth's hair about her face. She walked along the exterior of the massive aircraft, running her hand along its metal frame. Near the front, through the bubble-like cockpit window, she saw Sharon, now wearing a flight helmet and mirrored sunglasses. Sharon waved cheerily at her.

  Elizabeth returned to the others, who were now off-loading the stolen gear onto the helicopter. My God, how is she doing this? Before now, the best Cassie had ever done was to cloak herself and one other person. But an entire aircraft? This is amazing!

  Clyde ran up to her and rubbed his rear against her. She reached down and scratched his rump then climbed up the open ramp and into the spacious cargo area. Wires and semi-exposed cabling ran along the interior of the aircraft's frame. Red fabric seats lined the walls so that those seated would face one another. Several round porthole-like windows sat above the seats, through which sunlight lit up the interior of the aircraft. Up front, near the cockpit, Cassie sat beside Leela, the Brace on her hand, her eyes closed. Beads of sweat ran down her face. The amount of mana Cassie was channeling was breathtaking, staggering—dangerous.

  "My God, Cassie!" Elizabeth said, rushing forward to kneel beside her friend, and placed her hand on Cassie's knee. "It's too much, even with the Brace. You'll kill yourself, just like Duncan did."

  Neither Cassie nor Leela answered, but Elizabeth now saw they both wore Kargin's crowns. They're linked, she realized, sharing the load.

  "They can't talk right now," said someone gruffly.

  Elizabeth turned to see Kargin stepping down from the cockpit. He wore an army fragmentation vest with ballistic plates, which was ridiculously long on him, and a load-bearing vest over that. He also wore a helmet with GPNVGs attached, currently swung up out of the way. Stuffed into the load-bearing vest he wore over his armor was his fighting ax—out of place yet somehow appropriate. "These flying machines are a marvel, Lizbeth-Chambers. I've always hated wyverns, but this seems wondrous."

  Elizabeth looked from Cassie and Leela to Kargin. "How long have they been doing this?"

  "'Bout a half hour," he answered. He handed her the last crown. "You can help if you want, but I'd leave them be and save yourself for what's to come. If Bale-Fire truly is somewhere near this base of yours, our voyage could be interrupted by a fiery death."

  "He's right," said Alex, who edged past her, carrying several M-72 LAW rocket-launcher tubes. He stowed the tubes with the rest of the gear—stowing meaning throwing it all together haphazardly on the metal floor of the aircraft. "Cassie's doing her job right now. Yours is coming up, and it's just as important. We're going to need your best offensive magic if we run into the dragon."

  "My magic won't hurt it, even with the Brace."

  "It won't just be you this time. We'll help. So if I were you, I'd sit down and strap in." Alex took one of the SCARs, examined its under-barrel grenade launcher, then stuffed his pockets and load-bearing vest with 40mm grenades and magazines. He then moved back outside to supervise the last of the off-loading and fueling.

  Paco, Lee, and Corinna began to sort through the equipment, stuffing magazines and hand grenades into load-bearing vests then handing the vests and rifles to the others. Each man or woman came by and helped himself or herself to a weapon—several, in Swamp Thing's case. He took a SCAR, a C-9 Minimi LMG, and—surprisingly—three of the 84mm anti-tank rockets. Corinna handed Elizabeth a load-bearing vest and rifle. She then stuffed two more vests and SCARs underneath Cassie and Leela. Tops and Ward each slung several LAW tubes then picked up the heavier machine guns.

  Elizabeth sat next to Cassie and Leela then placed the dwarven crown over her forehead. She attached her seat belt then channeled a trickle of mana into the gem in the center of the crown. A moment later, she linked with Cassie and Leela. It happened so fast, it was like flicking a switch. You guys okay? she asked.

  Hey, Le
ela flashed back. Glad to see you made it.

  Let me know if you need any help, Elizabeth answered.

  Alex is right, Cassie told her, her eyes and mouth still closed. A drop of sweat dripped from her chin. We got this. You save yourself for what's next.

  "Get ready!" Alex yelled as he ran back up the ramp. "We're leaving. Seems the Air Force has finally figured out that one of their helicopters isn't where it's supposed to be and a fuel truck is just sitting by itself for no good reason." He ran past Elizabeth into the cockpit.

  "I gotta see this beast fly for myself," said Kargin with a huge smile as he followed Alex.

  Elizabeth heard a siren's whine, and her breathing quickened. Clyde plopped down in front of Elizabeth's feet as Paco, now wearing a load-bearing vest stuffed with magazines and grenades, strapped himself into one of the seats, a SCAR between his knees. The big dog whined, and she reached down and stroked his head.

  Swamp Thing, standing at the ramp, hit a button, and the rear ramp began to rise. He left it halfway open, just far enough for Elizabeth and the others to see the flashing lights of the MP vehicles arriving. "Hit it!" he yelled.

  Sharon revved the Chinook's massive engines, shooting the pitch up. A moment later, the helicopter rose into the air and began to slide forward on a cushion of air. The last Elizabeth saw of the military police vehicles was when they came to a sudden halt where the helicopter had been only moments earlier. MPs poured out of their vehicles, their faces incredulous.

  You can let it go now, Elizabeth told Cassie, reaching over and squeezing her hand.

  Cassie gasped and released the mana.

  Sharon gunned the throttle, and the aircraft surged forward, leaving the airfield behind. Seconds later, she banked sharply. Some of the loose equipment slid across the metal floor, catching up against the aircraft's hull, then Sharon leveled out and flew north, roaring over the wide Kiskatinaw River.

  They entered the Alien Quarantine Zone.