Warriors

by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

  Two roads ran between the wide silos. The soldiers walked slowly, eyes roving for hostiles. Felipe led the way with his mine detector. At the halfway point, Mac sent Felipe up one of the ladders to look around. He handed his minesweeper to another soldier, who started sweeping while the rest of the team waited.

  X took up position at a silo across from Rodger and Magnolia, who crouched behind the rusted hulk of a pickup truck. He looked toward the buildings beyond the silos. An old-world tanker truck, its tires long gone, sat alone in the empty parking lot. Beyond the lot, several structures with broken windows and sunken roofs overlooked the beach.

  The harbor where the skinwalker ships were docked in Cricket’s recon images wouldn’t be far. It was possible Felipe could see them from the top of the oil silo. If he did, they could radio General Forge, and the attack could commence.

  Felipe stopped halfway up the massive silo and looked, then kept going.

  “Screw this,” Rodger muttered. He got up and went to climb another ladder, ignoring X’s signal to get down.

  “God damn it,” X muttered.

  He hurried over and got to the silo just as Magnolia yanked Rodger down.

  “You’re really starting to piss me off,” X growled.

  “Me, too,” Magnolia said.

  “I’m just . . .”

  Before Rodger could reply, a flare shot into the air, bursting in a bright glow that lit up the refinery.

  “Down!” Mac yelled.

  Automatic gunfire sounded, and a muzzle flash came from the top hatch of the tanker truck in the parking lot, where a soldier had popped up with a large machine gun.

  Green tracer rounds streaked across the two roads between the silos from another position that X couldn’t see.

  Two Barracudas crouching in the open went down before they could find cover. One lost an arm at the elbow, and the other lost half his helmet in an explosion of armor, blood, and bone.

  A Barracuda ran over to take cover with X but was cut down by rounds punching through his chest armor. He landed on his side and, despite the devastating injuries, managed to start crawling.

  X crouch-walked out to help, but Magnolia pulled him back as bullets kicked up a spray of earth on their way to the fallen soldier.

  His blood spattered X’s armor. The Barracuda jerked and then went limp.

  Ton and Victor were holding their shields at the silo across from X, waiting to make their move across the stream of fire, but he waved them back.

  “Stay there!” X shouted.

  He was no stranger to combat, but the flare and ambush had caught him off guard. He watched the armless Cazador crawl for cover, only to be shredded by more gunfire. An explosion boomed in the distance, rumbling the silo X hid behind.

  Two other Barracudas got up to lay down covering fire, but the men they were trying to protect were cut down as soon as they took off running.

  In a brief lull, X heard Mac shouting over all the other noises of war. The booming voice snapped him out of the shock. He got up to look for another way out. That was when X saw a figure on the silo that Felipe had climbed.

  This wasn’t Felipe—it was a man holding a knife to Felipe’s throat. He kicked Felipe’s helmet off the roof, attracting Magnolia’s attention.

  X could see the young Barracuda’s tattooed face in the glow of the parachute flare. His eyes were proud, no sign of fear.

  Magnolia raised her laser rifle just as the skinwalker traced the blade across Felipe’s throat and pushed his body to the ash below.

  THIRTY-TWO

  A third of a world away, forty thousand feet in the sky, Michael thought of X as Discovery hovered over enemy territory. He felt a queasiness in his gut from the fear that something had happened to X.

  He shook it away. They had already lost Cricket, and now they were facing an impossible decision.

  “This is now a volunteer-only mission,” Les said. He looked down at a white line on the deck. “We all saw what’s down there. I won’t blame you if you don’t want to dive.”

  The seven other Hell Divers stood in the launch bay with Timothy, who was here to interpret for Hector.

  The tension was palpable among the men and women who could very well decide the future of humanity. Michael was both honored and horrified to be one of them.

  He clenched and opened his robotic fist. “We’re running out of time,” he said. “We have to make a decision.”

  “Why can’t we just launch the nukes and try to take out the machines that way?” Lena asked. “The mountain can’t be that deep.”

  Michael recalled when he had considered dropping the nukes in the ocean, where they couldn’t cause the human race any more harm. But now those same bombs could potentially save humanity from the very machines that had destroyed the world.

  “If we fire the nukes and they don’t work, we ruin our chances of going in on foot,” Les said. “The radiation would be too deadly even for our suits. As I said, you don’t have to come if you don’t want to, but if you’re coming, join me.”

  He stepped over the painted white line.

  “All due respect, Captain,” said Arlo, “but if we dive, how do we get past those defenses we saw on Cricket’s feed?”

  “Ever hear of the kamikaze?” Ted said. “They were Japanese pilots during World War Two that—”

  “I know what they are,” Les said. “They did their duty for their country during war, and we’re going to do ours as well, for all humanity.”

  “I have a suggestion, if I may,” said Timothy, speaking up for the first time.

  “Go ahead,” Les said.

  “Perhaps a distraction might help you get into the base. We have enough rockets to take out the bulk of the defenses that Cricket documented—not all, but most.”

  “That will tell ’em we’re here,” Arlo said.

  “They know we’re here,” Michael said.

  Les nodded. “It gives us a chance to sneak in and evens the playing field if we use nukes. So the question is, who’s with me?”

  “I’m with you, sir,” Michael said.

  “I’m here to avenge Ramon,” Edgar said. He put an armor-piercing round with his cousin’s name written on the brass into the sniper rifle and worked the bolt.

  Sofia stepped over the line.

  Arlo grunted, “Got to prove I’m thunder and lightning, I guess.”

  He stepped over, and Hector did, too, leaving just Lena and Ted grounded.

  “Come on, sweetheart,” Arlo said. “Remember what you told me last night?”

  “Shut up, Arlo,” Lena said. She walked over and grabbed Edgar’s hand.

  “Oh, I see how it is,” Arlo said.

  Ted sighed and stepped over the line. “I can’t let Arlo die alone.”

  “I ain’t dyin’,” Arlo said.

  “You’re all very brave,” Timothy said. “I will watch over you the best I can with the crew while you’re on the dive, and once you near the target, we will give the DEF-Nine units some fireworks.”

  “Upload the DZ on our minimaps,” Les said. “And get the rest of the support crew in here.”

  Timothy uploaded the drop zone the team had chosen from the maps and satellite imagery. It was in the middle of a valley that would give them cover and let them avoid some of the forest.

  Samson, Eevi, Alfred, and the two technicians who had signed on for the dangerous journey all filed into the launch bay.

  Michael checked his wrist monitor. Cricket was still online somehow, though so damaged that it couldn’t fly. He kept an eye on the cameras that were still documenting the graveyard.

  Samson, Alfred, and the two technicians walked around checking that all dive systems were operational.

  Michael checked the charge on the laser rifle. It was down to just 8 percent. He jammed the battery back in, then
stepped aside and opened the note that X had given him before they left. He had yet to read it, wanting to save it for the last minute.

  “Timothy, take us to twenty thousand feet,” Les said.

  As the ship started down, Michael opened the note.

  Dear Michael,

  The day you came screaming into the world was a day I will never forget. Your father insisted I hold you, but I was drunk and almost dropped you on your head.

  That’s how we first met. I literally almost killed you.

  “Clear launch bay,” Les said.

  Michael looked up from the note, saving the rest.

  “Good luck, and Godspeed,” Alfred said. “I pray you all return safely.”

  Samson coughed into his handkerchief. “Give ’em hell,” he rasped.

  He and Les shook hands, and he turned to Michael.

  “Be careful, Tin,” Samson said. “I want Bray to grow up with a father and become as good a man as I’ve watched you become.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  They hugged for what Michael realized was the first time. Even more surprisingly, Eevi also gave Michael a hug.

  “I don’t blame you for Alexander, you know,” she said.

  “Thank you,” Michael replied. “He was a good man and died bravely to save us.”

  “He sure was . . .” She took a deep breath. “Good luck down there.”

  The support crew departed, and while the Hell Divers lined up to jump, Michael went back to reading the note.

  Since then, I’ve watched you grow into a man who is rare in this world. Selfless, kind, brave, wise. I could go on and on. Bottom line: You are the best of us, Michael. You are our future, and while I can’t be there with you to fight for it, know that I’m fighting for it, too, halfway across the world, and I will never give up.

  No matter what happens, I will always be with you, even in death.

  I love you like both a son and a brother.

  Michael stopped reading and looked up to blink tears from his eyes.

  “T-minus five minutes to launch,” Timothy said.

  “Status reports,” Les said. “Phoenix One, online.”

  “Phoenix Four, ready to dive,” Lena said.

  Ted and Edgar both confirmed they were good to go.

  “Raptor One, ready,” said Michael.

  “Raptor Two, ready,” said Arlo.

  “Raptor Three, online,” said Hector.

  “Raptor Four, good,” said Sofia.

  “Nearing jump altitude in one minute,” Timothy said.

  Normally, a red light would have swirled in the launch bay, warning everyone to keep clear, followed by a pulsating blue. But Timothy had the entire ship in stealth mode.

  “Ah, shit, this is really happening,” Ted said.

  “You’ll be okay,” Edgar said. “Remember your training.”

  Michael continued reading the letter from X.

  You saved my life over a decade ago and have continued to make me a better man every day we’ve been together.

  Thank you for reminding me to accept my past without regret, handle my present with confidence, and face my future without fear.

  As the king of the Vanguard Islands, I promise you, Bray will have a place to grow up that is worthy of humanity, and I pray both you and I will see him grow up there.

  Love,

  Xavier

  Michael tucked the note back in his vest just in time for the final warning.

  “Prepare to dive,” Timothy said. “You dive so humanity survives. Good luck, my friends.”

  Michael nodded at the AI. “Thank you for everything, Timothy.”

  A countdown came on their HUDs.

  Michael’s heart thumped with conflicted emotions. These could very well be the last moments of his life. He didn’t want to leave Layla alone to raise Bray. But if he didn’t do this, their home would never be safe.

  Ten . . .

  Nine . . .

  Eight . . .

  The launch-bay doors hissed open, letting in the gusting wind. Michael and Les both stepped out in front of the groups and shook hands.

  “For Trey,” Les said.

  “For Trey, sir,” Michael replied.

  Three . . .

  Two . . .

  One . . .

  “We dive so humanity survives!” Les shouted. He leaped into the darkness, and Michael followed right behind, yelling the same thing.

  They speared into the inky void. Normally, Michael felt weightless the first few seconds of free fall, but today he felt gravity pulling down on him, or perhaps it was something else.

  He brought his hands to his body and formed a human spear.

  He bumped on his night vision, and the view turned green. The sky was packed with clouds, but there was no hint of lightning.

  He looked up past his boots to check the other divers. Everyone was out of the launch bay. Normally, the battery units would glow, but today they were all covered.

  Michael moved away from Les. The other divers did the same, fanning out from each other for safety.

  They shot through the cold mattress of dense cloud cover like bullets through smoke. Michael shifted his gaze back to his HUD to check the DZ Timothy had selected.

  The teams were already down to twelve thousand feet. At this speed, they would be on the ground in five minutes or less.

  Michael rocketed through the billowy clouds. The beacons of the other divers blinked on his HUD.

  As they neared the surface, the cloud cover lightened. At eight thousand feet, it was thin enough that he saw light in the east.

  He bumped off his night-vision goggles and focused on a patch of pulsating red and purple much like what he had seen on the dive into Rio de Janeiro. It had to be the jungles they had seen via Cricket’s feed.

  Les emerged on his left, still in a nosedive like Michael. A side glance confirmed that Sofia had also caught up to them. The other divers were still five hundred to a thousand feet higher.

  The floor of black turned white as they neared a new cloud layer.

  The easy dive was suddenly shaken up by a pocket of turbulence. Michael almost hit Sofia but managed to move away before he clipped her.

  A scream sounded somewhere above—a male voice, probably Arlo.

  The teams were all over the place in the clouds. For five seconds, Michael spun out of control. Then he suddenly burst through the bottom of the clouds.

  Making a hard arch, he then pulled back into stable position and saw that Sofia had done the same thing. She was a natural. It took Les a bit longer to get his long frame into a stable fall.

  Glancing up, Michael searched for the other divers using his NVGs.

  Hector burst through the clouds next, cartwheeling. Ted and Arlo weren’t in much better shape, but both Lena and Edgar had managed to regain control of their fall.

  At five thousand feet, Ted and Arlo didn’t have much time to get back into stable position.

  Come on, Michael thought. You can do this.

  The young men battled their way out of their spins and got back into nosedives. That left Hector. He seemed almost limp.

  Had someone hit him and knocked him out?

  Michael didn’t want to break radio silence to find out. He tried to slow his speed and make his way over to Hector. It was terribly dangerous to approach the spinning Cazador, but Michael wasn’t about to lose a member of Team Raptor.

  At two thousand feet, Michael made his move. He grabbed Hector, trying to push him into a stable position. It didn’t work and almost knocked Michael out of his dive.

  “Hector!” Michael yelled.

  The diver didn’t respond.

  Michael went back in again for one last attempt. That was when he saw Hector’s open face shield. Frozen eyelashes hung ove
r his closed eyes, and his lips were dark.

  What the hell . . .

  Michael had no idea how the visor had opened, but he had heard about this happening on a long-ago dive. The poor bastard had probably died of asphyxia during the first minute, when his face froze from the thirty-below air at a hundred miles per hour.

  A glance down revealed the first look at the desertlike terrain of the surface. The other divers had already pulled their chutes above the DZ.

  At a thousand feet, Michael had to make one of the hardest decisions of his career. He pulled away from Hector, knowing there was nothing he could to do for him now.

  Then he pulled his own chute, and the suspension lines came taut. He grabbed the toggles and looked down, his breath catching when he saw a diver right in Hector’s path.

  “Lena!” Michael shouted.

  He couldn’t tell whether she heard him, because her canopy blocked his view. He flinched as Hector’s body slammed into her chute, collapsing the two leftmost cells and sending her careening out of control.

  The ground rose up to meet the divers—only seconds from touchdown for those with canopies, but it was the end for Hector. He frapped into the earth.

  Michael tried to focus past the devastating loss. Lena was still in trouble, and they were almost on the ground in hostile territory.

  The DZ was in a mile-long valley with jungle growing around the rim. Steep cliffs blocked much of the access, but he spotted the path out that Timothy had plotted on their minimaps.

  Lena swung around using her toggles and finally managed to get control. One by one, the other divers performed two-stage flares and stepped out of the sky.

  Arlo and Ted both crumpled after running a few strides, but Sofia and Les landed gracefully. Lena hit hardest, crashing and tumbling.

  Michael managed to stay on his feet and ran out the momentum. He crouched down, released his chute and packed it down, and scanned for hostiles.

  Edgar was the last down. He collapsed his chute and raised the sniper rifle, ready to fire on any machines waiting for them.