Nightfall

by Peter Hoole

  Caleb looked at Casey. “Did you find anything?” Caleb asked.

  “Not in the bag,” replied Casey.

  “Check her person,” Caleb said, “I’ll cover her.”

  Caleb lifted his weapon, pointing it at the prisoner. Casey released his gun, and started to pat down the prisoner.

  Natalie wanted to struggle, but it had little effect. The combination of the way her hands were tied and the security of the door handle were sufficient to make any fighting impossible. After a token effort, she ceased her resistance.

  Casey did a full search of her pockets. She wasn’t dressed dissimilarly to the group, her cargo pants complemented by a flak jacket and vest. That meant there were several pockets to check.

  After searching her pants, Casey found what he’d been looking for. He pulled out a white card, with a black metallic strip on one side. On the other, there was no identification. There were letters however – Z3 Kite.

  “I’m guessing this is it?” Casey stated, directing the comment towards Natalie.

  She turned away emphatically.

  Casey threw the card to Caleb, who caught it without taking his attention off the prisoner.

  Casey again raised his own gun at the prisoner.

  “Dunleavy, come with me.” Caleb said. “Casey, Jacob. Keep an eye on her.”

  Jacob was not used to following orders, especially from someone he’d just met. But, in order to keep up his ruse, Jacob obliged. He moved to the front section of the plane, and kept watch on the prisoner.

  Or at least that’s how he appeared to Caleb, who had begun walking up the stairs. Dunleavy followed close behind.

  Murphy waited at the top of the stairs, and as she turned to go into the cockpit, Casey got her attention.

  “Lieutenant!” he yelled.

  Murphy turned back around to face him. “Yes, Sergeant?” she said with a smile.

  “Just get us in the air… I hate the north-west,” he replied.

  “Will do,” she said with a smile.

  He winked at her, and she returned the endearment.

  Darcy was waiting at the front of the cockpit. She turned to face the trio as they entered. “Have you got it?” she asked.

  “Here it is,” Murphy said, almost running to the pilot’s seat. She was excited, and hoped the card worked. She sat down in the Control seat. Almost ceremoniously, Murphy slid the card into the slot. She only had to insert it half way, and the mechanism took over, bringing the entirety of the card into the slot.

  After some whirrs – no doubt the card being scanned - the cockpit lit up. Every screen in the area glowed, each showing a different display.

  Darcy looked apprehensive, an expression Caleb caught. “What’s wrong, Darc?” he asked, barely able to focus on the question as he was so taken in with the newly lit up cockpit.

  “I don’t know,” Darcy began. “Didn’t that all seem a bit too easy? I mean… a swipe card unlocks the plane? Really?”

  Caleb shared Darcy apprehension, but he had a theory. “I’ve been thinking about that myself,” he began, pausing to consider his words. “My thinking is that while it was easy, it was deliberately so. I mean, these guys, these Colonials, are pieces of work. They probably never thought anyone would beat their guys, especially the way Natalie’s been sounding off. It’s almost insulting to them that Murphy figured out the tablet. They’re arrogant, narcissistic and have a huge superiority complex. I think they figured no one, except them, would ever see inside this thing, or the ‘Bat for that matter. That’s why, I think, security is lacking once you get in.”

  Darcy thought about it, and what Caleb said did make sense. “I guess I’m just uncomfortable with it all,” she said.

  “Me too, Darc. Me too.”

  The words helped Darcy, as she needed to feel she wasn’t the only one having trouble coming to terms with what was happening.

  Caleb gave one last reassuring look to Darcy, and then turned to Murphy. The lieutenant had been poring over the console, scrolling through the various options.

  “You think you can figure this out, Murphy?” he asked

  “I think so, sir. Some of the equipment has different names, but flying is flying. I’ll get us off the ground, sir,” Murphy glanced up as she spoke.

  “How long?”

  “Give me a few minutes. No need to do the checks. I’m guessing they did all that when they left. Where did they come from, anyway?”

  “Not sure yet. You just get us in the air, I’ll see what I can find out. There’s gotta be something on here… somewhere,” Caleb said as he scanned the room. He turned to his left, and saw Dunleavy was sitting at the Navigation screen, having anticipated the Captain’s next question. He’d pulled up a screen of what looked like the State of Washington. “Jackson, come look at this,” he said.

  Caleb made his way to where Dunleavy was sitting. He glanced down at the screen, over the old man’s shoulder.

  “This is clearly us,” said Dunleavy, pointing to a red icon with the silhouette of a slender bird, “and this is Seattle.” Dunleavy pointed at the mass of grey surrounding the icon.

  Caleb studied the image. Indeed, it seemed to show a real life tracking of the plane. “Can you zoom out of that?” he asked.

  “Yeah, it all looks pretty simple. I know these guys think they’re geniuses, and they may well be, but they’ve created the easiest user interface that I’ve ever seen.”

  “Probably because it wasn’t designed to be operated by geniuses, but by grunts. Soldiers.” Caleb motioned out the door. “Like our guest.”

  “And they’ve done a fucking good job of it too, Jackson.”

  “I’ll pass on your compliments when we meet them,” Caleb said, his harsh tone apparent, “but if it’s not too much trouble, can you please zoom out, Mr. Dunleavy?”

  As they zoomed out, Montana and Oregon came into view. North California, Idaho, Wyoming, North and South Dakota and Nebraska followed. Also coming into view were British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada.

  As Dunleavy continued to zoom out, Caleb noticed another icon on the monitor. It was the same symbol he’d seen on one of his missions. He couldn’t remember the specifics, having only seen the symbol in a fleeting moment. When he saw the icon again, he flashed back to the moment, and suddenly realised what it was.

  A shield with a knight’s helmet on top, the icon was obviously a family crest of some description.

  Not being a noted historian, Caleb was unable to distinguish who it belonged to. Instinctively, he pressed the button.

  The screen changed immediately. No longer was there just a map of the North West United States. There were about a dozen smaller icons, with pictures of what looked like ‘Bats encircled by a blue circle. There was also at least a dozen, if not twenty, icons that were nearly identical to the one that indicated the plane. There were subtle differences, like different kinds of birds. “Oh shit,” Caleb said as realization dawned.

  Not accustomed to Caleb swearing, Darcy and Murphy hurried from their examination of the piloting console. They stood next to Caleb, and looked at the display, now littered with other icons.

  “What are they Caleb?” asked Darcy, fearing she already knew the answer.

  Caleb continued to stare at the screen, failing to hear Darcy’s question. As he looked, a number of the icons changed position.

  They were moving.

  “Holy hell, Cap,” said Murphy. “Look how many there are…”

  Caleb continued to stare. From what he could tell, all the other icons were moving east. “Mike… zoom out some more.”

  Almost robotically, Dunleavy began to zoom again.

  Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota all came into view, and all had at least three or four icons each. There were even some coming in from the Pacific Ocean.

  The icons in the west were still moving east. The Canadian icons were moving south, while others were moving north.

  As Caleb monitored the flight
paths, he saw another icon on the screen. At first, he was amused by the simplicity of the icon. A small house, not unlike every operating system, website and GPS he’d ever seen. He pressed it.

  A bright yellow circle appeared on the screen.

  “Murphy, get this thing going. I think we have a destination.”

  “Yes sir, where to?” Murphy asked.

  Without asking, Dunleavy had zoomed in on the circle.

  “Looks like we’re following the crowd today,” Caleb began.

  He doubled checked the screen.

  “Head east, Lieutenant. We’re going to North Dakota.”

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Murphy and Darcy resumed their previous seats. “No problem, sir,” said Murphy as she sat down. “North Dakota it is. Anywhere specific?”

  Caleb looked closer at the screen in front of Dunleavy. “It’s about fifteen miles out of a place called Minot.” Caleb turned to Dunleavy. “Why does that sound familiar?” Caleb asked. “Isn’t there an air force base or something around there?”

  Dunleavy looked at the map. “Yeah, about fifteen or so miles north you can find the base,” Dunleavy replied. “Not long ago there were some bombers there, but not much else.” He studied the map on his console, but he couldn’t find the air force base anywhere on it. “It’s not on the map, Jackson. Not surprising though. These guys don’t really seem to care too much about the outside world.”

  Caleb thought about what Dunleavy had said. “I’m not sure that’s it. I mean, these guys are obviously very precise with their actions. I’m sure they would note the base on the map. Even if they didn’t consider it a threat.”

  “Possibly. I guess we’ll just have to wait to find out.”

  As Dunleavy spoke, the engines of the plane started up.

  Without much waiting, Murphy began moving the plane into position. She steadily taxied the plane towards the start of the runway.

  “You got this, Murphy?” asked Caleb.

  “Yes sir.” Murphy turned to Darcy. “You following so far, Darc?”

  “I think so… with these screens, it does make it easier,” she replied.

  Caleb glanced around the cockpit. In all the time since the attack at SEATAC, there had been very little time to get information out to people. If he could find some way to communicate with the outside world, perhaps, at the very least, they could get some help.

  When Caleb looked around the room, the answer was apparent. “Darcy, this’ll be right up your alley” he said to his partner.

  Darcy spun around in her chair, no longer focused on what Murphy was doing. “What’s that Caleb?” she asked.

  “Have a look at this one…” Caleb said, pointing towards the Communications console.

  Darcy moved immediately. “About time you asked,” she said with a smile.

  Ever since she’d walked into the cockpit, the Communications station had been the one she was most curious about. Indeed, it was the one area that she recognised out of the five that she could be most useful at.

  “Now,” Caleb continued as Darcy sat down, “I want you too—”

  “See what I can find out about the Colonials, and what else is happening in the world,” Darcy interrupted, finishing Caleb’s sentence, “But, most importantly, you want me to figure out a way we can get word out to anyone else about our situation.”

  Caleb stared at her.

  “Right?” Darcy asked, with a wink. She knew her boyfriend better than he realised.

  “So, why did you—” Caleb started again, and again Darcy interrupted.

  “Why did I waste my time in the pilot seat, when I knew what you needed?” she said.

  “Yeah.”

  “Because you asked me to babe, and you were right, too.”

  “Oh really?” Caleb said, sarcasm oozing from his voice.

  “Yeah, really. I do need some practical skills. You know… in case.”

  Caleb just nodded. He was incredibly proud of her. While he was busy thinking of the next practical step, Darcy was thinking more rationally, despite the fact the he had more of the formal training. She was the practical one today.

  “Maybe I should follow your orders?” Caleb asked, half sincere in his request.

  “Oh no, babe. Trust me… when the shit hits the fan and bullets come flying at us…” she said, “We’ll all be looking to you.” She paused, and made sure she had eye contact. “You’re my protector, remember.”

  Once again, all Caleb could do was smile.

  Without saying anymore, Darcy turned to the console and began assessing the panel in front of her.

  Caleb turned to the front, and walked over to Murphy. As he looked out at the horizon, he was surprised to see she had already manoeuvred the plane into position to take off.

  Something about the view didn’t seem right. “Something seem a little off to you, Murph?”

  Murphy looked up at the Captain. “Off sir? What do you mean?” she replied.

  Caleb surveyed the runway again. There was no-one to be seen. “I knew it was going to be quiet, Murph. But not this quiet. I mean, there’s no one around.”

  “I guess. But it is Sunday, and the attack just happened. It probably would have been quiet anyway? Don’t you think?”

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

  For some reason, Caleb didn’t believe what he’d just said. The words didn’t resonate at all. He expected to see at least one or two security guards, maybe a technician. But to see absolutely no one on the runway made him uneasy.

  He decided to try and allay his concerns, as there were more pressing things to think about.

  There was only one way to get to the bottom of what was happening. And, more importantly, they needed to know what was about to happen next. If all that had happened had just been the build-up to something larger, Caleb shuddered to think what the main act might be.

  “Take us out Murphy,” he said to the Lieutenant.

  “Alright… Buckle up, sir,” she replied, and motioned for him to take the seat next to her.

  Darcy and Dunleavy heard Murphy, and followed suit. “Hold onto something out there!” Caleb shouted out the door.

  “Yes Sir!” Casey shouted from the main cargo-hold.

  Caleb nodded to Murphy.

  “Three… two…”

  As she counted down, the thrusters on the back of the plane lit up, causing a roar to generate throughout the plane.

  “One…”

  The plane began to lurch, as though fighting the urge to spring forward.

  “Let’s go,” Murphy said.

  In place of the usual throttle, there was a set of bars on the screen in front of her. At the side of the console, the bars at the bottom were green. As Murphy slid her hand up, the bar turned yellow.

  At first, she moved it slowly, as she would with a usual take-off. The screen lit up with a message.

  Insufficient Speed.

  Murphy pushed it forward more, and the bars turned orange. Still the message appeared on the screen.

  “We’ll get out of here a lot faster if you just slide it to red straight away,” Natalie shouted up from the cargo area.

  Murphy followed the suggestion, and slid the bars to the maximum. The plane lurched, its inertia shifting all the people in the plane to move backwards in their chairs.

  Within a second, the plane had reached its top speed.

  As with the ‘Bat entering the plane, Caleb was reminded of taking off from a carrier, the same quick momentum a shock to the system.

  The sheer speed of the take-off caught Murphy off-guard. Fortunately, she too had felt the force of a short take-off before, and was able to refocus. She grabbed the throttle next to the console, and pulled it backwards. The plane began to climb at a rapid rate. Within seconds, they were more than a thousand feet above Seattle.

  “Just like a freakin’ video game,” Murphy said. “North Dakota, here we come”.

  Chapter Forty

  They had been flying for
only five minutes. Even after that short amount of time, the advanced nature of the technology was apparent. Murphy had never flown an easier plane. It was often a joke among her and her colleagues that commercial pilots were not actually pilots at all, merely navigators. All they had to do was plug in a destination, and let auto-pilot do the rest.

  Essentially, the flying of the Kite was exactly that, but even simpler. When the plane had levelled out at around thirty thousand feet, Murphy’s monitor had changed. A map, similar to of the one on the screen in front of Dunleavy, came up. At the top of her screen, Murphy was asked to input her destination. Being a touch screen, Murphy pressed the area that was highlighted in North Dakota – the base they’d seen a few minutes earlier.

  As she touched the screen, the plane banked to the left, straightened, and they were on their way.

  The screen then changed to display a simple message, indicating the plane was in flight mode. After reporting to Caleb, Murphy returned to the screen. While she was confident everything would be okay, she didn’t want to take any chances.

  Caleb was standing next to Dunleavy’s chair, staring at the screen in front of him. He could barely believe what he was seeing. “Murphy?” Caleb said. “Is this correct?” Are were really going to be there in thirty minutes?”

  The Lieutenant checked her screen. According to her information, the Kite was travelling at about two thousand miles per hour – nearly four times the speed of any large plane she had been in before. That meant that Caleb’s assumption, though seemingly impossible, was correct.

  “Yes sir, in just under twenty-nine minutes, we’ll be around Minot.”

  Caleb and Dunleavy looked at each other, sharing the same thought.

  They were well out of their league.

  He walked into the room with renewed vigour. He knew that his superior didn’t like to be interrupted, but these were no ordinary circumstances. The game had changed, and Phase Two had begun.

  He walked through the door, and entered his superior’s quarters. The room was, as always, beautiful in its simplicity. Ever since the original colony had been designed in Zone One, the same form had been instituted across the remaining facilities. The only differentiation was in the styling of the room. Although the styles changed over time, the consistency across the various facilities was always maintained.