“What’s wrong?”
“We need to get a hold of Tate.” Bishop received the radio then looked at Mas. “Do you know what I’m thinking?”
Mas shook his head.
Bishop grumbled then looked at Melinda. “Sometimes you are brilliant.” He almost kissed her but stopped and lifted the radio. “Hey, Tate, can you do us a favor? I need you to pull up from today, I think it was around 4:30, signal 217. Play the recording for us. We need to hear it.”
Gene questioned, “Signal 217?”
Jeb explained. “We get signals all the time. Usually we pick up radio transmission from other countries or this one, that’s how we stay in contact. But when we can’t contact back or can’t identify it, we save it and file it.”
Tate’s ‘Got it,” came over the radio.
Bishop turned up the volume, set the radio down, and faced Reese and Gene. “Listen very carefully.”
“Hello? Hello?”
Repeated.
“Hello? Hello?”
It only took playing the short recording twice, and Reese and Gene knew without a doubt that it was Hawk’s voice.
“That’s Hawk,” Reese said.
“That’s what I thought,” Bishop said. “The signal was weird. It rang like a phone, but we didn’t answer. We couldn’t. There wasn’t a two way communication.”
Reese nodded. “Hawk has all those damn phones.”
Gene facially disagreed. “How would he call? What number? They said he bounced off a satellite.”
“Theory,” Bishop held up a finger. “The phone called the satellite, and the signal bounced to us. How... I don’t know.”
“From where?” Gene asked.
Mas answered. “His message came from four thousand miles away. It connected to our satellite.”
Jeb questioned. “China?”
Before anyone could answer, Reese did. “No,” he said with a groan. “Four thousand miles away. Kip’s vision. Quaid and Miller. Miller had disappeared without a trace like Hawk. Quaid’s character was abducted by aliens ….four thousand miles away... like Hawk.”
Jeb turned quickly to Mas. “This isn’t the Loomis. He’d be dead. I think it might be your people?”
Mas shook his head. “Think I do not. Find I can.”
“Work on it,” Jeb said.
“Jeb?” Robi asked. “Do you think this is maybe what happened to Jones, Tyler, and Yee?”
“Possible. We thought they ran away,” Jeb replied.
Reese heard them talking and discussing but didn’t contribute to the conversation. He had to process it all. It didn’t seem real. He sank back into his chair and had another drink. His friend had not only disappeared, but he was so far out of the realm that Reese didn’t even know where to begin to bring him back.
<><><><>
“At least he’s alive and well,” Robi whispered as she joined Reese on the staircase between the tube units. She was stepping out for air, because she knew the sky dome was open and to her there was nothing better than a breeze from the night desert and the quiet of the city when everyone was asleep. But Reese wasn’t. She saw him sitting on the staircase.
She went back into the tube, grabbed a bottle and two glasses, and sat next to him.
“Thank you,” Reese took the drink. “And you’re right. He sounded well.”
“There’s a reason he was taken,” Robi said. “I know that sounds lame, but I think there is a good reason.”
“He’s a brilliant scientist.”
“There you have it,” Robi said. “I’m sorry, did you want to be alone?”
“No. No. Thank you for the company. What brings you out this time of night?”
“The air flow from the dome and worry. But that’s not your concern. I worry every night when Jeb goes topside.”
Reese nodded and finished his drink.
“How are things with BJ? I mean... Ben.”
“He’s a great kid. Do you know he has this keen ability to climb walls?”
“Like a chimp, yes.” Robi nodded. “He was hit and survived an Atranda attack. It affects your DNA. Ben’s agility and speed were affected. Jeb’s strength. He’s really strong, freakishly strong now, but he doesn’t show it.”
“Your husband was struck?”
Robi nodded. When she saw Reese finish his drink, she refreshed it. “We’ll figure this all out. I know it’s hard to believe, but our alien community here is brilliant, absolutely brilliant. So is Bishop.”
“And Thad,” Reese said. “Amazing man.” He paused to laugh. “When we crashed it was like a competition on who could build the coolest thing the quickest.”
“Between Thad and Hawk?”
Reese nodded.
“I remember talking to my dad about Thaddeus after he won the trip on the shuttle. In fact, my dad didn’t show it, but he was so excited when he met Thaddeus. I knew he was a genius. My father said he was a pretty nifty fella.”
Reese laughed. “He is.” Reese took a sip. “Will he be the same?”
“Yes,” Robi replied without hesitation.
“It’s just that …” Reese played with his drink, took a sip. “Your father was up and walking very quickly. Thaddeus is still out.”
“You’ll have that.”
“Has Martha’s …. Forgive me.”
“Go on.”
“Has her ability to heal ever failed?” Reese asked.
Robi shook her head. “No. She won’t give up that energy if it won’t work. She gave energy to Thaddeus. He was serious. Her energy was like a drug to him, knocked him out. Wait until the morning. You’ll see.”
“Has this happened before?”
“What? Someone not respond right away?” Robi fluttered her lips. “Hell, yeah. A lot. Jeb … he woke up sort of, but it took three days for him to even get his strength back. Then again... Jeb was really bad. The arm of the Atranda impaled him. He slept the first twenty-four hours after.”
“When was this?”
“When we were first discovering everything,” Robi answered. “Even Martha’s ability. Jeb was the first real test, but don’t bring the story up to Jeb.” Robi shook her head. “He is still pissed to this day that he missed us discovering the first SC.”
Reese looked at her with curiosity. “The first SC?”
“The original. Yes. Wow, our humble beginnings. Wait. Our horribly tough, humble beginnings.” Robi stared out in thought.
“You went silent. Another long story for another time?” Reese asked.
“Not really. It’s only long if you don’t want to hear it.”
“I would love it, and I need to hear these long stories. Plus, what else do I have to do?” He held out his empty glass.
Robi smiled. “Well, Colonel, in that case, prepare for a long story.” She poured more in his glass and lit a cigarette.
Chapter Eight – Back Track
FIVE YEARS EARLIER
July 10th - Edwards Air Force Base - California
There were more of them at one time when the original group trekked across the country in hopes of finding the Utopian society known only by radio as So-Cal.
So-Cal was the hope, the last stand, survivors waiting to take on whatever came their way.
It wasn’t just the Hoyt family of Robi, Jeb, Tate, Nick, and Martha. The brilliant alien minds were there, too - Mas and Sam. Mas was brilliant, taking normal weapons and modifying them into what was needed to fight. Sam’s visions gave them insight.
Parker and his teenage daughter, Eva, were on that pilgrimage, along with the stripper twins from Vegas and six other men. Four of them, Bishop, Manny, Greek, and Doc, were there from the onset with Robi.
So many to remember, too many, but Robi did. Every single name, every single person.
Most made it to So-Cal.
Ben didn’t. He lost his life from the Atranda.
Before So-Cal, they followed a signal to a group of survivors in Nevada that had been hit by the Atranda.
Atranda wer
e black, large, ten feet tall. They propped up on their insect back legs and looked like a cross between a cockroach and a scorpion. Four arms, wired about, each arm had a claw, pointed and oblong. Their mouths were sharp shelled, with protruding fangs.
“They will not send more than thirty-five creature to a site. They are laboratory grown. Kill these, and we are good until the next hit,” Sam had told them as they faced their first battle against the Atranda.
Take them out. They did, but not without loss or injury. They kept moving. So-Cal was close.
It was the first wave of many they knew they’d encounter.
Sam and Mas didn’t sense any of the creatures as they drew closer to the base, but they didn’t need psychic visions to let them know something was wrong.
It was seen as a dark black cloud in the distance, and the closer they drew, the more they knew that it was smoke that encompassed the area surrounding Edwards Air Force Base.
Destination … Utopia.
About a half a mile from the gates of the base, they halted the convoy.
Robi closed her eyes. Even at a distance, flames smoldered throughout the base and black smoke billowed out. Fires never extinguished, only left to burn out themselves.
Days? Hours? No one knew.
Modified weapons in hand, Robi and Tate headed alone towards the base. Nick was too young, and the others were far from battle ready. They were all healing.
The smoke thickened along with the stench as they pulled in through the destroyed gates of the base. Robi coughed and gagged as it hit her throat. “
They drove slowly through the wreckage. Bodies were everywhere - bodies of people and second wave creatures. Everything burned.
Tate and Robi opted to walk and perhaps find a bunker where people might be hiding. She opened the door of the humvee, stepped out, covered her mouth, and fought the nausea that formed from the horrendous smell of simmering flesh.
“Where to even begin.” Tate scanned left and right.
Walking backwards, Robi kept her eyes peeled. “There’s no direction.”
“Is this even worth it?”
“Who knows?” Robi stated. Her head cocked and jolted at the sound of falling debris. She quickly raised her weapon. “Where?”
“There.” Tate nodded a direction. “The noise came from over …”
“There.” Robi pointed.
A figure of a man stumbled through the smoke.
Together they hurried to the man.
He coughed. “Thank God. Help me. Help.”
When they approached the man, Robi saw that he was injured and bleeding from his side. “Here, let me help you,” she said, reaching for him.
“I’m okay, I’ll be okay,” he said. “Are you two alone?”
Tate replied, “There are more. Mister, you need medical attention.”
“I’ll … I’ll be okay. It’s the others I’m worried about. They’ve been stuck down there. I can’t … I’m not strong enough alone to move the debris.”
Robi asked, “What happened here?”
“We’ve been fighting these things for a day straight. About a week ago we came under fire. We don’t know where it came from. It seemed to come from the sky. That’s … That’s when we moved below,” he explained. “We fought. But …” His eyes closed. “We lost mostly everyone. Only about thirty of us are left.”
Tate asked, “And they’re below?”
The man nodded.
Tate tossed his weapon behind his shoulder. “Let’s clear that debris.”
<><><><>
Nick called for Parker and pointed when he saw his mother.
A smoky cloud behind her, Robi walked toward them leading an enormous group of people while Tate drove the Humvee alongside at a slow pace.
“Mom!” Nick called and then ran toward her.
Parker followed suit.
“Mom?” Nick asked. “What … what’s going on?”
Robi stopped walking.
Parker questioned, “It’s nowhere near habitable, is it?”
Robi shook her head.
“Mom? What are we gonna do?”
Exhaling, Robi said, “I’m not quite sure. We may have hit the last mile of this trip, but definitely not the last mile of it all.” She inched towards Parker. “This is what remains out of three hundred.”
From out of the Humvee Tate approached and lowered his lips to Robi’s ear. “I’m gonna rustle up Greek and Travis. We’ll head to town and get transport. Keep watch, okay? It still might not be safe.”
Robi gave a nod.
“Transport?” Parker asked. “God, Robi, are we taking on all these people? We can’t take on all these people.”
“What choice do we have?” Robi asked. “We came all this way to find civilization, to find people, and we found people. It isn’t exactly what we expected or hoped for. But we did it, we’re here, and now we have to come up with a plan. We have to forge ahead. We have to find protection, sanctuary, shelter, and get our act together, and fast.”
Robi saw the look on Parker’s face, a mixture of disappointment and defeat. "What? What is it?”
“Robi,” Parker whispered, “we came for an army of fighters. We need an army of fighters, you know that.”
“Nah,” Robi shook her head, “we need an army of hope. This may be it. We may or may not be all that’s left but I’m not giving up - and you’re not giving up. I bet none of them are willing to give up either. As long as there is one of us standing, then we have to believe man has a standing chance…because this is far from over. She took a moment to study the faces of the newcomers, dirty, scared, and injured. “This is only the beginning.”
<><><><>
25 Miles Outside of Los Angeles, CA
Besides the Humvee and the tour bus, there were four more vehicles that transported survivors and supplies.
The road trip from San Diego was uneventful, and Robi pulled the caravan over to the side of the road.
She had to come up with a plan.
“This is insane,” Greek told her.
“What are you thinking?” Parker asked.
“My brother isn’t going to be happy,” Tate told her.
“Robi, are you nuts? Are you wanting to get us killed?” Bishop asked.
Robi’s head spun.
For the last several months, she had thought of only her own small group and nowhere beyond, but that wasn’t who she was before the drop.
Before the drop, she was compassionate and cared, and suddenly, deep within her, she felt pulled to that compassion.
Tired of the questions, Robi pulled over. But before she did, she consulted the alien duo.
They told her nothing was there and it was safe … for the time being.
She kept the caravan on the highway for easy escape, telling everyone to stay in or close to the vehicles.
Martha was awake and eating, but Jeb was in and out of it. He hadn’t a clue what had gone down. Robi would deal with him later.
After putting guards on the roof of the vehicles for watch, she grabbed a soda, called upon Mas, and pulled him aside.
<><><><>
The fold-out table on the side of the bus was pulled out, and Robi spread her map across it, cigarette dangling from her mouth. “Something isn’t right,” she said, and looked across to Mas and Sam.
Mas sipped from the tiny straw of the juice box.
“Bud and his town were here.” She pointed. “Not far from Parker and Eva. None of them were hit.”
“Perhaps, yet?” Mas asked.
Greek’s voice entered the equation as he stepped from the bus. “Not at all yet. I just talked to Bud, and they’re fine.”
Robi looked to Sam. “Are you sensing any of those things around here?”
Sam shook his head. “We can make a device that can track them, but its accuracy will be limited.”
“Limited to what?” Robi asked.
“One mile or two. We can judge an area.”
Robi nodded.
‘That has a negative and a positive. We can see them coming for a mile but it’s gonna be off heading to a place. How long will it take to get a device going?”
Sam shrugged. “Day or two tops. We need supplies.”
Mas added, “Supplies of much we need. Weapons to modify, many of.”
Greek scratched his head. “We picked up a lot from Andrews, and we do need them modified if we want to stand a fighting chance.”
“Okay, then we need to stop, find supplies, and take care of that. But where? Where would be safe? Think.” Robi held up her had. “What’s the connection and what is the threshold. That’s the key to finding a safe place to stay.” She stared at the map. “Minnie and Millie weren’t hit in Vegas because there were only two of them. Same with Parker and Eva. We’ve been mobile and under a dozen. But Bud’s town has close to thirty people and they were stationary. The same number as the roadside diner that was hit.” She growled. “It makes no sense. So-Cal I can see getting hit. They had three hundred people. But the diner and gas station group, why them and not Bud?”
Greek made a suggestion. “They were looking for Area 51. Maybe they were close and the second wave knew that. Mas? Sam?”
Sam shook his head. “That exceeds their intelligence. They are predators and hunters. They hone in on life signals and people. The more people there are, the bigger the threat.”
“I know one thing,” Greek said. “If, say, thirty people is the threshold, then we’re screwed. Mobile or not, we eventually have to stop for the night.”
“Think,” Robi said. “Come on, you three are my best minds. Why was Bud not hit and the diner was?”
Greek guessed. “Close proximity. They were in the diner and barn. Bud’s town is spread out.”
“But so were the people in So-Cal,” Robi said. “Michael told us. They were living in office buildings and hangers. That’s spread out.”
“It’s still a lot of people,” Greek added. “Plus, Michael told us they weren’t hidden. They went out and moved about. They felt safe on base, figuring they could see an attack coming. Wait …” Greek turned to Mas and Sam. “Both hits were during the day when people weren’t resting or immobile. Can these creatures …”
The Last Mile Trilogy Page 56