The Dying of the Light (Book 2): Interval

by Jason Kristopher

  Gates nodded to Daniel. “Send it in, please.”

  Daniel left, and a moment later the governor’s phone rang.

  Gates hit the Speaker button and leaned forward in expectation. “Hello again, Captain. You’re on speaker; I’ve got Colonel Barnes here with me.”

  “Hi, Frank,” said Kim, taking her seat once more.

  “Hello Governor, Kim. Good to hear your voices.”

  “Likewise, I’m sure,” said Gates. “Do you have some news for us?”

  “Yes, ma’am, I do. You’ll remember that I sent a recon group down to Lackland Air Force Base to check it out? Well, it’s a good thing I did, ma’am. From what my mechanics tell me, there’s several C-5 Galaxy aircraft on the tarmac down there, and a couple more in the hangars.”

  “What kind of shape are they in?” asked Kim. “And what about fuel? We’ve had a problem with that up here.”

  “That’s just it, Colonel. None of them are in great shape, which is hardly unexpected after ten years without maintenance. My guys think they can get one good jet out of the rest of them, what with cannibalizing parts from most of the others. Some of them aren’t even good for that. They weren’t able to check all the stores, though. The base was crawling with walkers, so it took a while to clear it and they ran out of time once that was done. But given that this was a training base for the big planes, among other things, they’re all pretty confident they can find the parts they’ll need.

  “As to fuel,” Anderson continued, “they’ve got some huge underground tanks out there, which makes sense given their training and everything. The mechanics say it’s still usable, too; been tight-sealed for about ten years and only marginally compromised. Probably not what those planes are used to, but it should suffice for a there-and-back.”

  “The base was crawling with walkers, eh?” asked Kim. “Any casualties?”

  Pride was evident in Anderson’s voice. “Not even a skinned knee, Colonel. Although they did have a close call or two. Nothing they couldn’t handle. About this Frankenstein of a plane, though…”

  “There’s always a ‘but,’” said Gates. “Out with it, Captain.”

  “They say the plane will get down there OK, but there’s no guarantee it’ll get back, conditions in the Antarctic being what they are. None of these boys know anything about cold weather maintenance, being from the south.”

  Kim and Gates looked at each other, their grim looks reflected as if in a mirror. “So,” said Gates, “what you’re telling me is that we’ve got one plane that will get us there, and it’s big enough to get about half those people on it, but there’s no guarantee the plane can get back, to say nothing of making a second round trip?”

  “That’s the long and the short of it, ma’am.”

  “I don’t suppose you happened to find any pilots while you were down there?”

  “Found plenty, ma’am.”

  Gates’ eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Oh?”

  “Yes, ma’am. We shot about thirty-five or forty guys wearing wings.”

  Kim sighed. “Not funny, Captain,” she said.

  Gates shook her head and groaned. “I walked right into that one, didn’t I?”

  The other two groaned in concert, and Anderson laughed. “Yes, ma’am, you certainly did. To answer your question though, no, we couldn’t find any pilots. I hope y’all will have better luck.”

  “We’ll continue our search up here, then, Captain,” said Gates. “How soon can that plane be ready?”

  “We’re provisioning a bigger team right now, to go down and secure a workspace for the gearheads. Should be on the ground working inside a week, maybe less, and they tell me it’ll take at least a month to get one of the planes ready for testing, about another week or two after that to iron out any bugs, barring any big problems.”

  “Well, that’s good news. We’ll get on the horn to McMurdo and let them know to expect us in a couple months, if we can find a pilot. Otherwise, we’ll have to come up with something else and just hope we can get to them before they all starve.”

  “We’ll make it, Governor. You just find us some pilots.”

  “Will do, Captain. Bunker One out.”

  “Bunker Eight, out.”

  Gates looked over at Kim. “It appears we have our work cut out for us, Colonel.”

  Kim sighed. “You know what this means, right?”

  Gates groaned. “We’re going to have to talk to the others, aren’t we?” She put her head down on her crossed arms. “I hate doing that.”

  “You know we need them.”

  “That doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

  Kim shook her head. “Nope, it sure doesn’t. I’m just glad that’s why you get the big bucks,” she said, standing and collecting her papers.

  “Oh, no, my dear. You’re not getting out of this that easily. Daniel?”

  Daniel appeared as if by magic at the doorway. “I’ve already asked Captain Potter to make the calls, ma’am. Bunkers Two and Three will be routed to the Colonel, the others to you.”

  Kim leveled her gaze at the governor’s husband/assistant. “I never liked you, Daniel.”

  “I know, Colonel. I like me enough for the both of us,” he said, grinning, which of course caused Kim to laugh.

  “Damn you. All right, fine, just put the calls through when they come in,” she said, headed for the door. “I have to go give David the good news.”

  McMurdo Station

  The signal was coming in from several thousand miles away and being bounced around space between orbiting satellites, so there was bound to be some static and distortion. Still, only getting one word in four or five was pushing it. Atkins leaned over to Sabrina Tanner. “Any way you can clean that up?”

  Sabrina had one leg up in her chair and was chewing on the end of a pen as she adjusted settings on her panel. She sighed and shook her head. “Not much, Jim. It looks like whatever solar storm was out there allowing us access to them is fading. This will likely be the last call. I’ll see what I can do, though.” She suited actions to words, springing out of her chair and moving to the banks of equipment that lined the walls.

  Atkins turned back to the monitors in front of him, and activated the mike again. “Sorry about that, Bunker One. The signal is crap and we’re trying to clean it up. Say again?”

  “…looking for pilots… big plane… Texas… month or two.” There was a massive squeal from the speakers, and Atkins jumped.

  “Sorry,” said Sabrina. “Wrong knob.”

  Atkins shook his head. “Bunker One, it sounded like you said you had a big plane but no pilots. Can you tell us anything more?”

  Suddenly, the governor’s voice rang through the shack clear as a bell. Atkins looked over at Sabrina, but she shook her head and shrugged. “Don’t ask me,” she said.

  “Dr. Atkins, this is Governor Gates. We’ve temporarily boosted the power from our transmitters, but it’ll likely burn them out. That means this is the last transmission we’ll be sending your way for quite some time. So listen, and write this down.” Atkins scrambled for some paper, and grabbed the nearest pen… which, of course, was the one Sabrina had been chewing on. She turned red as he wiped the saliva off it and began writing as the governor continued.

  “We’ve found a plane, a C-5M Galaxy, at that base down in Texas.”

  “Only one?” Jim asked, putting his head in his hands. Of course there’s only one, he thought. It wouldn’t be us if we had good luck.

  “Only one, Jim. Looks like we’re going to have to shuttle your people out. We’ve been looking at a modified plan for that. We think if we can get the plane down to you, we can shuttle half your people out to Christchurch with a small force to guard them while the plane comes back for the others. But…” Gates sighed.

  At the same time, Atkins and Sabrina both winced at the mention of the New Zealand city, their memories of their long-lost friends drawing fresh pain.

  Gates continued, “Jim, you have to be on that fir
st flight. There’s no way to know if the plane can even make a second one, and we can’t risk losing your knowledge.”

  “I understand, Governor.”

  “We’ll also need to get some supplies from whatever you’ve got left. The first flight back to the States will be full, but your people will be on the ground in Christchurch for at least a few days before we can make it back.”

  “It’s better than McMurdo, Angela.”

  “That, I believe. We’re looking for people to pilot the plane right now. Our mechanics estimate it will be flight-ready in a month, maybe two. You’ll need to prepare for our arrival before then. Be ready to leave when our people arrive. Given the harsh conditions and its state of disrepair, we don’t want to take any chances that the plane will get stuck down there, too.”

  “Understood, Governor. Anything else?”

  “Our people will try to check in with you when they get to Christchurch to let you know they’re on their way.” Suddenly, the static returned. “We’ll… you home… two months… be ready.” There was a final squeal, and then silence.

  Sabrina and Atkins looked at each other for a moment, then she rushed over to him, and he met her with open arms. They just stood there, holding each other, sharing the joy and hope they felt, just for a moment, just for them. Sabrina cried silent tears, and Atkins was not at all surprised to find himself doing the same.

  If the AEGIS people were able to get their plane working, and if they were able to make it this far, then, finally, after being completely cut off for more than a decade, they were getting out.

  “So, were you able to recover everything you need from the lab?” Warner asked smoothly, sitting at his desk in his office.

  Atkins, sitting across from him in a guest chair, glanced up at him, careful to maintain a neutral expression. He’d moved the drives after their last conversation, and was certain that they hadn’t been tampered with to that point. Still, there was no point letting Warner think his usefulness might be at an end.

  “Mostly. There’s a few more things I’d like to try and find, but it’s kind of a mess in there, and it’s taking more time than I expected,” he said, choosing his words carefully.

  “Any way to speed it up?”

  “Not really. I have to go slow to prevent the ice from melting onto the paperwork and everything and ruining it. It’s time-intensive. Speaking of which, I’d better get back to it. I just wanted you to be the first to hear the news. Well, outside of Sabrina and me, anyway.”

  “So Dr. Tanner knows, too?” Warner said, and Atkins thought he detected a slight darkening of the director’s tone.

  “She knows a signal came in, but I asked her to leave,” Atkins lied. “She doesn’t know anything.”

  Warner nodded, and Atkins breathed a very slight sigh of relief. “Good,” said Warner. “The less people know about all the details, the better.”

  And the less you’re likely to kill to cover it all up, Atkins thought. Now I have to bring Sabrina in on my plans fully. I hope she can keep her mouth shut.

  “Well, Jim, don’t let me keep you,” said Warner, startling Atkins back to reality. There was something in the director’s voice that gave Atkins the willies, but he was damned if he was going to let onto anything now. He had work to do.

  And it started with telling his very good friend that she might be dying in a couple months.

  Bunker One

  “Take it easy, Rambo,” Kim said to me as she looked my way. We were in the fitness center and I had just finished a grueling series of chin-ups—always my most difficult exercise—and was toweling off the sweat dripping into my eyes. I glanced over and saw her sitting on one of the many machines in the fitness center, taking the last few bites of an apple. As my stomach grumbled, I realized I hadn’t eaten anything yet today. “You’re going to need some energy for later,” she continued.

  I snorted and grabbed my water bottle, taking a long pull. The water was refreshingly cold, and I shivered. “For what?” I asked, grinning. I knew exactly what she had in mind, though. For some reason I wasn’t about to question, Kim had been particularly amorous over the last week or so. Don’t count your chickens, boyo.

  Just as she stood up and began to saunter my way, her hand flew to her ear and activated her Bluetooth, and she stopped dead in her tracks. “Barnes here. Go ahead.” She glanced at me with a sour expression, and I knew she wasn’t happy to take the call. Which of course meant that it was one of the other bunkers with an answer about the pilots. When she sat back down on a weight bench, I joined her.

  “Hello, Governor Stimmons,” she said, and I could see she was trying not to sigh with resignation.

  Stimmons, I thought. That’s Bunker Three. One of the ones who voted against us, way back when. I couldn’t remember the last time we’d talked to them. It has to have been, what, three, four years? Something about their power systems that they needed a consult on, if I remember correctly.

  “Yes, that’s right, Governor. We’re looking for pilots qualified on large aircraft, specifically the C-5M Galaxy. We need crew members, too. Second-seat pilots, flight engineers, etc. But the command pilots are the most important.” She listened for a moment. “I see. And how soon will you know for sure? Understood.” She held up two fingers and mouthed the word ‘days’ at me.

  I couldn’t help but wonder why it would take two days to verify that these men were qualified. What the hell’s going on at Bunker Three?

  “Of course, Governor. What can we do for you?” Kim shook her head and rolled her eyes. Naturally, Stimmons was going to want a little quid pro quo. “I thought you had everything worked out? Well, I’ll see if we can’t arrange a field trip. I’m sure some of our folks would like a little vacation. Great, so you’ll call me back with the confirmation in a couple days, and we can work out the details? Sounds good. No, thank you, Governor.” Kim tapped her Bluetooth to deactivate it and turned to me.

  “He’s got a couple guys that he thinks can fit the bill, but they’re off on a scouting mission in the mountains and won’t be back for two days. And he needs some engineers to look over their power plant; it’s still not running right, and their engineer doesn’t seem to be able to fix it properly. So if his boys can help us, ours will help him. Tit for tat.”

  “That’s a long way to go, though. We driving or flying?”

  “Flying. Come on, I need to let the governor know about this.” Kim stood and walked toward the exit.

  “Sure thing,” I said, standing and following. “Just need to stop by our quarters for a quick shower and change.” I passed Kim, who had stopped, and I turned back to see her grinning.

  “Maybe not that quick…” she said, taking my hand and pulling me along.

  “Yes, ma’am!”

  Governor Gates looked down at the paperwork spread before her, occasionally picking up one report or another to review it. After a few moments, she looked down the length of the conference table at those seated with her there. “So this is the plan, then,” she said, folding her hands before her.

  I looked around at those friends of mine sitting around the table, and I wondered if the decisions we were making today would take them away from me. I wondered if we would ever see each other again, and it was then that I knew that I couldn’t allow them to take a risk I wasn’t willing to take myself. Now, I just had to figure out how to tell Kim. I’d been weighing the issue for nearly a week, tossing and turning at night and trying to come to some conclusion that didn’t make me feel like a bastard for leaving Kim. But there was nothing… either way, someone was going to get hurt.

  Tom Reynolds spoke up from the other side of the table. “We’re as ready as we’ll ever be, Your Honor. It’s going to be a massive effort, but I think we can pull it off.”

  Dalton Gaines agreed. “Absolutely, Governor. We’ve got the best people, and we’ve planned this thing within an inch of its life. It’s our best option.”

  Gates snorted. “I think you two would say just about
anything to get out of here for a bit.” The two began to protest, but Gates held up a hand and cut them off. “I don’t blame you; if I could escape, I’d probably do it, too.”

  Gates took a deep breath. “So, let me just see if I have this straight: Gaines and Reynolds will fly with our engineers to Rapid City, where they’ll meet these guys from Bunker Three and drop off the engineers. Then it’s on to San Antonio, where Captain Anderson will join you with a squad of mechanics for the refit and repair of the plane. Once that’s complete, you’ll head several thousand miles across open ocean to Christchurch, New Zealand where you’ll refuel, make any necessary repairs, and then fly to McMurdo.

  “At McMurdo, you’ll rescue this genius scientist and half of those trapped folks, then—assuming the bird will still fly—you’ll reverse course and drop them off at Christchurch with the soldiers before heading back to McMurdo to pick up the rest. Then the first half will leave again, including Jim Atkins, whom you will drop off at Bunker Seven with Mrs. Maxwell where he will hopefully save the world, along with the McMurdo people. Then it’s back down to Christchurch to pick everyone else up—assuming they’re still alive—and after you get back, you’ll bring the rest of the folks who aren’t keen to stay in New Mexico here. Is that it?”

  We looked around the room, and no one spoke up until Daniel cleared his throat. “Don’t forget, Angela, that while they’re off joyriding around the Pacific, we’ll be back here clearing and securing the runway and most of the base, and hoping Beoshane doesn’t figure out what we’re up to.”

  “Right, that, too,” she said, giving him a quick grin. “Nothing much.”

  “That’s pretty much it, Governor,” I said. “We’ve gone over it dozens of times, but there’s just no way we can think of to improve it.” I avoided looking at Kim. “But there is one tiny change to it. I’ll be going with them.”

  There was dead silence, and the expectation of my doom hung in the air over the table like a palpable cloud. I glanced at Tom and Dalton, but both of them had suddenly found something profoundly interesting to study on the ceiling, and even Daniel was looking surprised. Kim just looked down at her hands and said nothing, which hurt more than if she’d started shouting.