Frank laughed as he ran. “Good one.”
Frank could see Groll watching him running in his direction. And he seemed to be smiling at Frank. When the pursuers were within earshot, they heard Groll say, “Have the Rotinoms start collecting.” Then laughing, he turned and boarded his ship. The dome dropped and the craft was raising before Frank could attack. Another smaller dome went up almost instantly and Frank spotted another Mingrein scurrying away toward the ship that housed it. It had been the one that Groll had issued the order to. He was running while simultaneously trying to use some type of data pad. Frank let a shuriken fly and it found a home in the soft part of the Mingrein's leg behind its knee. Rotinoms of both varieties appeared and opened fire as if to protect the fallen lizard. As every projectile was diverted by his velocity shield, Frank ran by and scooped up the data pad and held it close inside his shield to keep it from getting damaged. As he was looking at it, Gladosanthos flew her orb inside the shield as well.
“Well shit. I was wanting to ask that guy a few questions.” Frank looked down at the fallen lizard to see it hit by what seemed like hundreds of rounds as they bounced off his shield in all directions. There were backpackers in alleys, and the middle of the streets. There were even two backpackers stationed up on roofs. But none of that even fazed Frank as he was busy inspecting the data pad.
* * *
“Remind me to stay on Frank's good side,” Deon said during the break in the action.
“You know, is it just me, or is Groll totally avoiding Frank?” Denise asked.
“It would appear so,” Bett answered. “He better be careful or he will lose the confidence of the Mingrein.”
“What would happen then?” Terrelle asked.
“He would be challenged and have to defend his throne.”
“How would he fare? Would any other Mingrein win?” Hiro asked.
“I know of none that can match his ferocity. No Mingrein, that is.”
* * *
“Are you just going to stand around doing nothing, Frank?” Dave's voice was a welcome sound coming through the headset.
“Yeah. Groll was here. He bugged out before I could get to him.”
“Several of the domes to the north were deactivated as well. So we got down here as fast as we could. Jones should be here soon as well.”
“Hey watch out. They're on to you.” As the words left Frank's mouth both rooftop gunners were training their weapons in the direction of Dave and his men. Frank made quick work of all the lower Rotinoms but he was powerless against the ones up high. Dave and his men, like the police officers from earlier, were pinned down behind some parked cars down the street. Frank ran to the door of one of the buildings. “Damn. Its locked up tight.” Looking straight up at the building he asked, “How tall is this thing?”
“Looks like about twenty floors. You do the math.”
“Can you carry me up there with your orb?”
“Probably not. But I might be able to with two. Grab on.” She landed in the palm of his hand as he was strapping his sword to his back with its twin. Reaching into his pocket to get an orb for his other hand, he took a deep breath. “Ready?” she asked.
“As I'll ever be.”
“Give a little jump to help me get started. The inertia is what would kill us.”
“Plus, it's going to look badass.” Holding tight to both orbs, Frank crouched low and bounded upward with his best superhero impression. She took over from there, and before he knew it, Frank was looking down over a hundred feet. He turned to look upward as they crested the parapet and both orbs died within seconds of each other as his feet hit the roof. A third orb flew from his pocket, making room for him to stow the two drained ones. Casually, Frank introduced the backpacker to his shuriken. At this point, the backpacker that was on the roof directly across the street turned his attention back to Frank. “Get close, Babe. That's the last orb we brought and I don't want to be without your company.”
“You know, I'm going to start believing you if you keep talking like that.”
“I mean every word. Hey didn't you say that Rotinoms aren't really sentient beings?”
“That is correct. They are organic automatons.”
“Gooey robots. Hows about you fly over there and knock that guy upside the head for me?”
She paused for a moment. “You know, Frank, that never occurred to me. I don't know how hard to do it. I might break this remote.”
“If this one breaks, I'll buy you a new one.”
“Do you promise?” she joked back.
“Yes, dear. Do it for the kids!” He smiled as he pointed in the direction of Dave and his men.
“Okay then. Here I go.” She dropped straight backwards from him to keep herself obscured behind his shield. Then very quickly she elevated the orb into a wide arc. He kept watch on her trajectory as she brought the orb straight down on the top of the Rotinom's head. His little legs crumpled like an accordion beneath him.
“You okay, Babe?” he yelled over. The orb reappeared and flew back over to him.
“I must say, that was surprisingly exhilarating.”
“It looked cool too. I need to find a way down from here now.”
“Visibility is too poor for the boat. Wait a couple of minutes and I can have you picked up.”
“I need to help......” A voice in his headset interrupted his thought.
“Jones is down.” The voice belonged to Potts.
“Status?” Dave replied.
“Leg shot. Four grays dragged him off. In pursuit.” Potts ended transmission to focus on rescuing his friend. Frank looked around and found the door that led to the inside of the building. He tried the handle to find it locked. Pulling his left knife, he quickly jimmied the door and was rushing to locate the main stairwell. Within a minute he was back on the street. Dave and the other Marines were mopping up a few straggling Rotinoms.
“Which way is Jones?” Frank asked.
“North three, West one,” Dave replied between shots, ducking behind another parked car.
“I'm on it.” Frank sprinted up the street but before he even made the first block, Potts' voice came through the headset again.
“They got him. They just lifted off.”
“Shit!”
* * *
Frank and the remaining members of the Wrecking Crew reunited at the site where Groll's dome had been. Potts explained that Jones had witnessed Rotinoms in the act of rounding up civilians. Anyone who was unlucky enough to be outside in the open became a target. The big man had seen a young mother who was carrying a child, being led at gunpoint, so he rushed in. There were too many civilians for Potts to properly provide cover fire. The mother and child were able to escape, but Jones was not.
“Do we have eyes on the ship that took him?” Dave asked.
“Every transport except for one has gone in the direction of the moon. They bypassed the carriers,” Gladosanthos answered.
“They're loading up the moon base with people for some reason,” Frank thought out loud.
“So where is that one other ship going?” Dave asked.
“Groll's ship is flying about half-speed. West. But the other seven carriers are on the move now.” Gladosanthos' tone was grave.
“How soon will we know the target?” Frank asked.
“Soon,” she answered, “within about fifteen minutes.”
“Any suggestions? Dave?” Frank was at a loss. Jones having been captured was really bothering him.
“We need to retool. I'll tell Taylor to have the area swept well. You should go into pursuit mode. We'll meet up wherever the fight is.”
“Okay, sounds good. We need to end this, like now. I gotta figure out how to get those people back.”
“Frank, it may be too late.” Dave wasn't trying to be negative, only realistic.
“If it turns out to be too late, I'm going to dismantle that entire base. I'll dismantle the entire moon if I have to.”
“Let's deal w
ith the seven ships worth of assholes first.” Dave was pretty fired up. None of the Crew were showing any signs of fatigue.
Suddenly Phildan's voice came through the headset. “Groll had shown us where he had planned to attack first by remaining in orbit directly over these two cities. Am I the only one that thinks this was only a distraction?”
“Good point, Phil. He wanted to keep us busy.”
“No, Frank. He wanted to keep you busy,” Dave said, looking concerned.
“Oh shit, Indianapolis?”
“Indianapolis.”
* * *
“This boat really needs some guns.”
“We wouldn't be invisible with a giant cannon strapped to the undercarriage. They're coming in fast.” They had watched as Groll's ship shot down several fighter jets that had hopelessly tried to challenge.
“Can we bump him?” Frank asked.
“The boat isn't built for that. It might prove fatal.”
“Shit. So we just have to wait for him to land?”
“I'm afraid so.”
Groll's ship finally set down on the southern most part of Monument Circle, right in the street. Air raid sirens had alerted civilians to the danger, but there were still several people milling about. The ramp lowered in the back of the vessel and dozens of backpack wearing Rotinoms filed out. Like clockwork, turtle-shaped craft began the final stages of their descents, with the pods breaking off to form a large perimeter. The dome went up and encompassed nearly five city blocks in every direction. Frank had Gladosanthos drop him at the southern edge of the dome and get the boat somewhere safe. He trotted up the street with an orb in tow.
Frank was crossing Washington street when he saw them. Hundreds of Rotinoms were herding civilians toward Groll's ship. Everyone was well covered so he decided to not chance a direct attack. He simply walked toward the circle and they ignored him.
26.
Gladosanthos was sitting quietly, focusing on controlling the orb. Somehow she could feel Constanthos watching her, as if over her shoulder.
“What is it, sister?” Gladosanthos asked.
“I see only Rotinoms. Did he not bring Mingrein with him?”
“Someone had to fly the ships.”
“How many remotes do you have?”
“I only have a couple more on the boat, in addition to the one I'm currently using.”
“I mean, how many do you have here?”
“Several hundred. Phildan enjoys building them when he gets bored.” Gladosanthos was unaware of the automech entering Phildan's main workshop. The automech opened the lids on several bins until it found the one that contained the remotes.
“I see Phildan charges them before putting them into storage.”
“Constanthos, what are you doing?”
“You gave me an idea.”
* * *
Frank walked to within fifty feet of Groll, who was standing as if he had been awaiting his arrival. He was easily eight feet tall. Frank guessed him at over five hundred pounds, if not more. A red sash parted his chest diagonally, signifying his rank. The look on his face was as smug as any monstrous lizard could manage.
“Gray Man,” Groll barked. “I control your city now. Surrender to me or watch your people die!”
“Leave them out of it,” Frank began in the Mingrein language. “This is between you and me.”
“Surrender now, and I will only enslave them.”
“There are no other Mingrein here to see you cower. You have been running away from this fight for too long.”
“You know nothing of the Mingrein.”
“Frank,” Gladosanthos whispered beside him, “stall him a little longer.”
Frank looked confused but complied. “So how does this whole surrender thing work, anyway?”
Now Groll looked confused. “You will die. I will win.”
“Well, I would like to negotiate the terms a little more.”
“Mingrein do not negotiate!”
“How about you let some of these people go so I know I can trust you.” Frank looked around to see what seemed to be at least a couple thousand people now being herded toward the circle. He realized there must have been some event going on. And there were more Rotinoms than he had ever seen in one place before.
“I will kill the children first if you do not surrender right now!”
“Frank, hold your hands up like you have the power to control my remotes,” Gladosanthos whispered.
“What are you talking about?”
“Just do it. Remotes incoming.”
Frank shrugged and raised his hands in front of himself, with his fingers spread like some magician trying to levitate his assistant. The orbs, hundreds of them, came screaming in from the south and flew like a horde of locusts between the human captives, colliding only with Rotinoms. Frank realized that he was actually looking very awesome with the act of being in control. Within a minute, every Rotinom in the city was laying on the ground, dead or dying. The familiar hums started up, and Frank realized that the Mingrein pilots were trying to make a run for it.
“Can you get those guys?” he asked Gladosanthos.
“The remotes won't cause much damage to a Mingrein. And they are all in ships.”
“Can you break their windshields?”
“I shall try.” Several remotes shot off in pursuit of a turtle but failed to bring it down. Every other remote, having completed it's task, came to hover near Frank. “I'm afraid their ships are too stout.”
Frank looked directly at her main remote. “Do you have lips?” he asked her.
“What? Why?”
“Because I owe you a big, sloppy kiss.”
“Oh.” Her thought was interrupted by a single shot from Groll's gun. It bounced off of Frank's velocity shield and blew a couple of bricks off of an adjacent building. “Yes, I have lips.”
Frank turned to charge, only to find Groll to be slinking back into his ship. Within seconds it was raising off the ground. A group of A-10's appeared from the east to give pursuit. But Groll's ship was too fast and was quickly out of range of their guns.
“That asshole!” Frank was becoming more and more exasperated. All at once the crowd started cheering for him though, snapping him back to reality. He just waved a bit as he walked over to the nearest fallen backpacker. Inspecting it's gun, he decided that the odds of any innocent bystanders tampering with one and accidentally shooting someone was slim. “How does this gun work? I don't even see a trigger.”
“That would be a better question for Phildan, I'm afraid.”
“Did you save any for us?” Dave had to shout to be heard over the crowd. The Crew were all looking on in amazement at the Rotinom carnage before them. “Any casualties?”
“Not that I'm aware of. We have Gladys to thank for this one. It was truly awesome.” He couldn't stop smiling at her. But her orb only hovered in silence. “Call Taylor to have someone clean up this mess. I've got a moonwalk to get to. I'll meet you guys back at the island.” Frank turned to leave when he heard a familiar voice.
“Frank, is that you?”
“Bill! Hey man, I've been meaning to call you. I didn't get the last few screws into that drywall before I had to leave. My drill died. I am so sorry.”
“No big deal, Frank.”
“And then this other job came up, and it's been kinda hectic.”
“This is your other job?”
“Yeah. We're about caught up though. Got anything on the books?”
“It's slowed down considerably. There's an alien invasion, as you well know.”
“That totally sucks. I'll try to hurry.”
* * *
“T, I should have called you and let you know they were heading to Indy. Sorry man.” Frank was pouring himself a margarita as every man, woman, and beast was filing into the tiki bar.
“My parents have the kids out of town so it's all good. It all happened so fast. I can't hold it against you.”
“So, you guys were wat
ching the whole thing then?”
“Yes. The live feed shows us whatever Gladys sees.”
“Oh. So, you hear everything too?”
“Yes.” Terrelle could only smile as Frank became embarrassed a bit. He preferred for his time with Gladosanthos, even via remote, to be more private.
“What's the plan, Frank?” Dave interrupted.
“I'm going to rescue the prisoners, and blow up the moon base.”
“Sounds simple enough.”
“I like to keep things simple. I'll need some of those bombs though.”
“How many?”
Frank thought about it for a moment. “Bett? How many bombs do I need?”
Bett had been standing, waiting for an opportunity to contribute. “Seven should do. One for each dome. Even a small explosion will compromise the atmosphere containment.”
Without hesitating Dave replied, “Done. Timers or remote detonators?”
“Wow. Uh, remotes I suppose. I wouldn't know how much time to set. I'll let Phil hold the remote in case I don't make it out.”
Phildan looked around, confused. “Me? Why me, Frank?”
“Because you'll be flying the boat. You can watch the feed from there. If I go down, blow the place up.”
“What about us, Frank?” Potts asked.
“You guys are sitting this one out. There probably won't be any shooting going on, as it would destroy the dome. They won't be shooting, I'm sure. No offense, but you guys can't match them in hand-to-hand combat.”
“Groll never turned on the gravity generators,” Bett added.
Frank considered this as Chavez asked, “What's that about?”
“The moon has a considerably lower gravity than the Earth. The Mingrein have acclimated themselves to those conditions. You would be out maneuvered at every step,” Bett answered.
“But wouldn't that make us stronger?”
“It would seem, but you would be too off balance to capitalize on it. The Mingrein are used to it now. You wouldn't stand a chance.”
Frank interrupted the debate between Chavez and Bett to add, “Plus, there's only one space suit.”
Custodian_Monster of Earth Book One Page 25