Wasteland Rules: A New Dawn (The World After Book 3)

by J. G. Martin

  It appeared as though all the Humeks had perished from the event that had destroyed the control tower. The drones had taken a beating in the aftermath as they had been leaderless and directionless. Now that he had control, they regained their fighting ability and began to fight back. Under his control, the drones and the UCVs were able to counterattack the militia forces and drive them back. Father reviewed all of the footage taken over the last year or so in a flash.

  What he saw surprised him. Bob had not been the only follower to create a virtual persona on the LINC and then pursue their own agenda. Reinhardt had done it as well. He had told Father that the attacks on Boise were to secure the technology used to create the LINC. That had been a lie; he had been after the technology that had led to the device created by Dr. Carter. He wanted to destroy Father and take control. He was the one who had created the control towers and it was he who was in control now.

  Father felt a rush of anger, an emotion he hadn’t truly experienced in a while. He gathered the remaining drones, UCVs, and UAVs to him. He would take them tower by tower and eliminate Reinhardt’s hold over the Collective. Father would take back what was rightfully his and then he would launch a crusade to bring the world under his benevolent leadership.

  But first, he had a more pressing issue. The militia had developed technology similar to the device that created a null zone for the LINC. That technology must be destroyed if he was to be successful. He scanned the footage for any clue where the militia might be running to as they retreated. He noticed two things, one that startled him and then one that angered him. Both were familiar faces that he had not expected to see.

  The most recent was the villain Storm. He was on a pickup technical firing at a vehicle that had entered the cargo plane Father had seen fly off. A UAV on surveillance had captured that image and then footage of Storm and the treacherous girl, Dr. Carter’s daughter, boarding a private jet. The private jet took off after the cargo plane heading east. With a thought he dispensed three Apex Predators to hunt down the cargo plane. They would disable it versus destroying it and force it to land outside U.S.T.G. territory. Storm would follow them and Father could catch up with them there when he finished here.

  Here he saw the beautiful face of Dr.Baikul amongst the militia. It was only a brief glimpse, but he would know those features anywhere. If she was still here, it meant she was the creator of the nullifying technology. She had been one of the originators of the LINC and she could still be of use to him. He needed to rebuild the LINC, but better and more diversified. And he knew right where to find her.

  People always retreat to the places they know, their comfort zones. So he launched himself into the air and came plunging down through the roof of the Engineering building. He crashed through the upper levels and down into the labs below. He felt a slight sensation, like a minor blurring of his senses as he descended. That must be the effects of the nullifying technology. But he was more powerful and he shrugged off the effects and kept going.

  His landing shattered any remaining glass on the level. He rose and strode towards the doctor’s lab. Militia members burst forth to attack him, but their gunfire merely bounced off his armored body. Didn’t they know they couldn’t hurt a superior being like him? Almost casually he fired pulse bolts at the militiamen sending their bodies flying to land in limp heaps. A set of steel doors barred his way, but he simply smashed through them. The doors were ripped from their hinges and flew to the sides. Nothing could stand before him as he approached the lab. The few militiamen left fled, leaving the way empty.

  He walked into the lab and paused. Dr. Baikul stood at the entrance. She was afraid but she still held her ground. He studied her for a moment. She had aged over the years since he had last seen her, but she still had that fierce inner beauty he had fallen in love with. The memories came in a rush and had he drawn breath he would have gasped. Their time together here had been magical, but he had tossed everything aside in his quest to be healed. He felt another emotion that he hadn’t experienced in a while, regret.

  “So they finally sent someone to finish the job?” Dr. Baikul spat venomously.

  “Finish the job?” Father asked curiously.

  “I survived the first assassins by sheer luck, using the null device. But then you sent an army to get me. Do you know how many lives were lost just so I wouldn’t be a threat anymore?” She pressed angrily.

  “Mira, I would never want you dead. I always hoped you would see the light and join me.” He said softly.

  “Stefan?” She asked incredulously. “Is that you in there?”

  “Stefan? Yes, that was my name.” He said aloud. “The download to this body was interrupted and I have lost some of myself.”

  “This body?” She asked anxiously. “So your consciousness resides directly in this body?”

  “Yes. When the LINC was destroyed it activated a backup protocol, but the station crashed before it could finish. I am currently confined to this body. But you can help me rebuild the LINC and make it better than before.” He told her fervently.

  “Never!” She shouted and activated a device she had been concealing.

  He felt the blurring sensation again, but stronger. The connection to the Collective forces nearby was cut off and he felt his sensory range shrinking. It was as if he was collapsing in on himself. His world grew smaller and he was unable to move. She had caught him off guard but he rallied and pressed outward. The pressure slowed and then began to reverse. Somehow she could tell he was regaining control and she began frantically fiddling with the device.

  He felt his senses expand again and he gained enough control to walk over to her. He snatched the device from her hand and crushed it into a thousand pieces. Then he let the pieces slowly trickle from his hand onto the floor. She fell back and wailed in frustration.

  “That’s not possible! It should have fried your circuitry!” Mira cried as she stared at him in shock.

  “I have tried to explain to you that I am more than a collection of circuits and chips.” Stefan said patronizingly. “I am the future. Join me and together we can remake the world.”

  “You are an abomination! You have lost what it is to be human and I won’t help you take that away from everyone else!” She insisted. “I would rather be dead!”

  Stefan sighed. “Very well. If you aren’t with me, you are against me.”

  He fired a single pulse bolt killing her instantly. He stepped over her prone body and went to the workstation behind her. Cables extended from his hand and he plugged into the system. Mira had tried to wipe the system when he had entered the lab, but she had been only partially successful. She had wiped the information on the nullifying system, but that wasn’t what he was after. She had done further research on the LINC after he had left and that was what he wanted.

  He downloaded everything and then wiped all the servers. Stefan blasted up through the lab and came to a stop hovering over the building. He leveled the building for good measure, to make sure that no one else could gain access to Mira’s research and use it against him. He was confident she had kept it all to herself. She had always been selfish like that, never wanting anyone else to share in the credit.

  Now he could turn his attention to Storm. He reviewed the footage from the UAVs he had sent after the cargo plane. Amazingly two had been shot down before the plane was disabled. The Red Berets on board had cleverly lowered the rear cargo hatch and shot them down. No matter, they had served their purpose. The plane was being forced to land in Omaha, and Storm’s plane was on its way there now. Stefan could go there now and confront them.

  The remaining Collective forces were dispatched to attack the nearest tower while he took care of this business. They would be out of his control range after a while, but he had altered their programming to resist the effects of the tower. Once they seized control of the tower, they would broadcast new instructions over their wireless network. The survivors should then join his new army. They would then move to the next
tower and replicate. Once he was finished with Storm, he should have a good sized force capable of attacking Seattle. Then he could take back what was his from the traitor Reinhardt.

  But first, he needed to settle up with Storm. He hadn’t had the UAVs shoot down Storm’s plane because he wanted to take revenge personally. He wanted to see Storm’s life leave his eyes as Stefan strangled him to death. But first he would rip that pesky girl’s heart from her chest while Storm watched helplessly. He wanted the man to suffer for all he done. Stefan wanted Storm to feel his pain.

  Chapter 22

  September 7, 2029

  Boise Airport, Boise, Idaho

  The hail of bullets from the Red Berets had shredded the pickup’s tires and prevented them from catching the fleeing soldiers. Derek had watched in disgust as the Red Beret’s technical had rolled up into the cargo plane. The plane was in motion as soon as the SUV was on board and it took off almost immediately. He and Rora had watched helplessly as it had soared away from them. He banged repeatedly on the roof and yelled in frustration.

  “Calm down!” Rora yelled up at him. “We can still catch them.”

  “How? The private jet might be fast enough to catch up to them, but we have no way of forcing them down before they get to U.S.T.G. territory.” He snapped.

  “Let’s cross that bridge when we get to it.” She replied calmly. “We should at least make the attempt.”

  “Alright.” He agreed reluctantly. “Maybe we can crash into them or something. I assume you know how to fly the plane?”

  “Not really, but I figured you were trained to drive or fly anything?”

  “I can fly a helicopter and drive any ground vehicle, but a plane is a little more complicated.” Derek informed her.

  “Hmmm. Well, I suppose they have a manual I could look at and I bet it’s not that different from the helicopter. We have to at least try.” She insisted.

  “I can fly the plane.” The Voice interrupted. “You just need to plug me in.”

  “Good to hear from you.” Derek joked. “I thought we had lost you.”

  “You didn’t need me, so I was quiet.” The Voice replied smoothly. “Now you need me.”

  “Okay, let’s go.” Derek agreed.

  He and Rora jumped out of the disabled pickup and headed for the small private jet. As they approached it they saw an object suddenly appear over Boise and then crash down into the city. They could feel the shock of the impact all the way at the airport. Both of them nearly fell as the ground shook and rippled.

  “What was that?” Derek asked out loud.

  “Unknown.” The Voice replied. “But it approached the city at Mach 6 and was roughly man sized.”

  “I don’t know what it was, but I don’t want to wait around and find out.” Rora exclaimed.

  “Agreed!” Derek and the Voice said simultaneously.

  The plane was empty and quiet. Derek jumped into the pilot’s chair and plugged in the phone that housed the Voice. After a minute the lights came on and the control panel lit up. The engines turned over and the Voice began running a pre-flight check. Rora and Derek waited impatiently as the electronic entity prepped the plane for takeoff.

  “We will be ready in a couple of minutes.” He informed them. “The plane is fueled up so at least the militia helped us out there.”

  “Can you track the cargo plane?” Derek asked anxiously.

  “I have them on satellite and they are well ahead of us. However, in reviewing the specs for this plane; I believe we can catch up to them just before they reach the edge of U.S.T.G. territory.” The Voice replied.

  “Just out of curiosity, what kind of plane is this?” Rora asked.

  “A Gulfstream G650. According to the registry it was made right before the Collapse and is in perfect shape according to the maintenance log.” The Voice informed them.

  “That explains the leather seats and opulent interior.” Derek noted with sarcasm. “How did this guy get this plane?”

  “Looks like he stole it from the rightful owner in Vegas, a Martin Sands.” The Voice told them.

  “Perfect. One more problem.” Derek muttered.

  “What’s the problem?” Rora asked, confused.

  “Martin Sands is a Don in the Cartel, one of the top guys.” Derek explained. “Now we have his stolen plane. I doubt he is going to wait for an explanation once he catches up with it.”

  “As long as we are gone before he catches up with the plane it won’t matter.” Rora pointed out.

  “We’ll see. My luck hasn’t exactly been running that way lately.” Derek said pointedly.

  “This is interesting.” The Voice interjected as the plane taxied onto the runway. “There appear to be several modifications to the plane that are not standard.”

  “Like what?” Derek asked.

  “It has concealed weapons.” The Voice told them as they lifted off. “A Gatling cannon in the fuselage and fired through the nose, and flare and chaff dispensers under the wings.”

  “Nice!” Derek exclaimed. “We can shoot down the cargo plane before we get there.”

  “It also has a high end jamming and electronic countermeasures suite.” The Voice continued.

  “Awesome!” Derek said excitedly. “So we can sneak up on them and shoot them out of the sky. Maybe it would be worth it to hang on to the plane after all?”

  The plane lifted off from the runway and rapidly gained altitude. Looking out the windows they could see Table Rock and the devastation the exploding reactor had caused. The mountain was now considerably shorter and had a smooth bowl shaped depression on top. The explosion had blown off the top and actually melted the rock.

  Rora shook her head. It seemed like they always left a path of destruction behind them. Derek was simply unbelievable in the amount of destruction he could create. It was almost impressive. Well, it was what it was, and there was no way she could control it. So she sat back and tried to enjoy the ride. It was her first plane ride.

  “We have a problem.” The Voice informed them after ten minutes. “We have three incoming bogies.”

  “A fighter escort for the cargo plane?” Derek asked quickly.

  “No, they are coming from Boise. The size indicates they are Collective UAVs.” The Voice replied calmly.

  “Take evasive maneuvers!” Rora yelled frantically.

  “Wait, we may not need to.” The Voice said slowly. “They appear to be on an intercept course for the cargo plane.”

  “That doesn’t make sense.” Derek replied. “That’s well outside the patrol range for the Collective and they don’t deviate from that.”

  “And yet they are.” The Voice pointed out. “I agree it is a new development, but things are in a constant state of flux now. Maybe the Collective is also making changes?”

  “Let’s hope not. Their constant predictability has been their one Achilles heel.” Rora warned.

  “We’ll have to worry about that later.” Derek said seriously. “Our immediate problem is that they might shoot down the plane and kill our target.”

  “There is nothing we can do but wait and see.” The Voice informed them. “The UAVs will pass us shortly and then intercept the C17 in about thirty minutes.”

  “Can’t we try to shoot them down?” Derek asked in frustration.

  “They will pass by too quickly for us to line up a shot.” The Voice explained. “And then they would probably engage us. They would definitely shoot us down in such an engagement.”

  “I guess we wait then.” Derek huffed as he sat back.

  They watched the three UAVs fly by in the distance and then disappear from sight as they headed to intercept the escaping cargo plane. Derek fidgeted constantly as they waited for news of the fate of the cargo plane. Sitting still wasn’t his strong suit. He craved action and being in control. This was the worst of both worlds for him. Rora laughed inwardly, at times Derek could be such a child. Finally the wait was over and the Voice gave them an update.

  “Th
e UAVs have engaged the cargo plane. The cargo plane must have taken damage because they dropped altitude. Wait. That’s interesting. Two of the UAVs just dropped off the radar.” He informed them.

  “They have stealth capability?” Rora asked in surprise.

  “No, I don’t think so.” The Voice replied. “I think the Red Berets shot them down somehow.”

  “Remarkable.” Derek said begrudgingly.

  “The plane is continuing to slow and lose altitude though.” The Voice continued. “The remaining UAV has pulled back and stopped attacking. It would seem their goal was to bring the plane down instead of destroying it.”

  “Curiouser and curiouser. “ Derek murmured. “Who is this guy really that everyone seems to want him alive?”

  “Perhaps they are after the location of the ARK also?” Rora offered.

  “Possibly, but I doubt it.” Derek replied. “The Red Berets seemed interested in him directly, not what he might know. And the Collective would have been pursuing it before if they were aware of it. I guess we will find out when we land. Voice, can you figure out where they are going?”

  “Based on heading and their likely range, I would say Omaha has the best airport for them to land at and is closest to the U.S.T.G.” The Voice responded.

  “Great! Take us to Omaha.” Derek ordered.

  “What is the story on Omaha?” Rora asked as they changed course.

  “It was too far outside the U.S.T.G.’s zone of control and didn’t have any resources they needed so it was left to take care of itself.” Derek replied. “The harsh weather and somewhat isolated location caused huge devastation and loss of life during the Aftermath. The city slowly fell into ruin and the population was reduced to one twentieth of its original size. Last I heard it was a constant battleground amongst warlords and gangs. It’s a total warzone.”