Obliteration

by James S. Murray

  Cafferty instinctively ducked.

  The helicopter ignited in a fiery wreck, and shards of metal spat through the air and tore through trees.

  He quickly turned his attention back to the battle. Only two creatures remained standing; the rest had been effectively butchered by Van Ness’ army. Outnumbered and outmatched, the creatures backed away still screeching, baring their teeth.

  Without hesitation, the supersoldiers broke from their formation and charged. The two creatures retreated, bounding back down the dark hole into the now silent abyss below. The supersoldiers didn’t follow.

  Clearly under orders more comprehensive than we’ve been told.

  The park grew still once again. The Hunters Point diversion had worked so far; most of the creatures remained on the other side of the city.

  The crippled Chinook’s engine wound to silence.

  Cafferty shook his head in disgust at the sight of the downed chopper and the tangle of dead U.S. Navy men underneath. He turned to Van Ness.

  “You son of a—”

  “Now, now,” Van Ness interjected, “there is no time to debate the events of the past. Those men are dead, Thomas. Now is the time to cast our bait for the queen.”

  “You’re a goddamn madman.”

  Van Ness ignored the comment, turned toward the supersoldiers, and tapped something into the pad on his armrest.

  Whatever the order, and however it was transmitted, Cafferty had never seen the soldiers look so intense. It was almost as if they sensed that they were close to their ultimate objective, their whole reason for being. He and Munoz exchanged a knowing glance, then walked away a few paces.

  Diego leaned over and whispered to Cafferty. “So . . . what’s the bait?”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  The smoke around the old naval dock had become too thick to operate in without a gas mask. Strong morning sunshine beat down through the haze. Bowcut kept her breathing steady. She knew one lapse in concentration, one mistake, could end up being a terminal mistake. She searched for any creature that tried to flank the invasion force. Hundreds of other lasers did the same, providing covering fire for the supersoldiers and taking down anything else that moved.

  The sea of monstrosities had been driven back over the road, step by step. She guessed at their peak there were a few hundred thousand creatures involved in the attack. That number had swiftly been quartered by the supersoldiers. But that didn’t stop them from attacking with equal vigor.

  The battle continued on a grassy hill in front of the burning apartment buildings. An extended line of four thousand supersoldiers, two ranks deep, continued to slaughter the creatures and stop them from ever reaching the U.S. forces. Van Ness’ creations trampled forward over the corpses, which lay thick in all directions.

  Then something changed.

  All at once, the creatures stopped charging at their regimented opponents. They retreated to the top of the hill, snarling, falling back. It was as if they were receiving new orders and were revising their attack strategy.

  “What do you think?” she asked Roux.

  “Looks like they are trying to come up with a new plan.”

  “Looks like they’re receiving new orders from on top, if you ask me.”

  Roux nodded. “That, too.”

  She hoped they weren’t being recalled to defend the queen on the other side of the city. If so, the ruse was up and Cafferty was in mortal danger.

  She held her breath to see what the creatures would do next.

  After momentarily regrouping, the monsters charged down the hill once more, moving as one overwhelming force. It appeared their plan was to smash through the defensive line, like a spear penetrating its target, rather than spreading the fight out on all fronts.

  It was a bold but risky offensive strategy. And potentially very effective.

  But it meant they were still here, fighting Bowcut and Roux’s forces instead of running back to Mama.

  Thank God.

  “Stand by!” Roux ordered. “Don’t give an inch.”

  The supersoldiers took up their standard position, waiting for the attack, arms raised, on their heels. Ready to spring up or forward.

  The two rival forces clashed again. The sheer weight of the onrushing mass pushed the supersoldiers back several yards, nearly breaking through the defensive line.

  From a purely strategic point of view, Bowcut admired the speed at which the creatures were able to switch offensive approaches nearly instantaneously in a baying mob. No doubt about it, Bowcut thought, the queen must be commanding and communicating with her troops in real time, testing different attack patterns methodically. Any war general would be jealous. Though it begged the question: How was the queen reacting so fast, and why hadn’t she joined the attack?

  After losing ground on the hill and taking a few dozen losses, the line of supersoldiers was able to hold firm, slicing down creatures from the tip of the spear again in quick time. Deafening screeches rang in Bowcut’s ears from the dying masses on the ground.

  To her, this barbaric duel was reminiscent of the images she’d conjured during history classes. A shield wall battle between the methodical Saxons and their wild Viking opponents. Unlike the TV depictions she'd seen, she knew the organization of the former won the day, just like how Van Ness’ modern counterparts were winning.

  “This is exactly what we want.” Roux leaned toward his shoulder mic. “Mr. Van Ness, they continue to deplete themselves here. No sign of retreat to your position.” After a brief pause he said, “How’s it going over there?”

  Nothing came through Bowcut’s earpiece as Van Ness replied. That fact came as no surprise. The Foundation hierarchy clearly had its own command channel. Yes, it was a joint operation, but the U.S. side of the task force wasn’t about to give the Foundation access to all of its secure communication systems, either.

  Van Ness trusts no one . . .

  Roux nodded intently, gazing toward the ranks of supersoldiers. “Copy, we’ll get there as fast as we can. Out.”

  “We’re going . . . now?” Bowcut asked.

  Roux looked over at the steady line of supersoldiers, perfectly executing his orders. “They’ve got this under control and know the mission.”

  “Just you and me? Will the supersoldiers keep fighting without you here?”

  “That’s the order. Our soldiers execute all commands to completion given by the senior-most Foundation members, namely Van Ness and myself. Naturally, we’ll run everything by your military. So yes, they’ll keep fighting while I’m gone. For now, we’re needed there.”

  “So there’s no way we could command the soldiers?”

  “It’d take months to teach anyone to effectively coordinate our squads. We simply don’t have time. You have my assurances that that day will come.”

  “Understood.” Though it wasn’t exactly how Bowcut had understood the “joint” attack. Still, she trusted his word on the matter. And for now, everything was going well.

  Roux ordered one of his team to send for a chopper. As it approached the dock, the creatures’ roars intensified in anger at their inability to stop the ongoing aerial assault.

  The chopper touched down.

  Sarah grabbed Roux by the arm. “Remember our conversation last night?”

  “I remember.”

  “Good. Never forget this—your boss cannot be trusted.”

  Bowcut jumped into the chopper’s cabin, followed by Roux. They immediately took to the sky, giving her an overhead view of Hunters Point. Two long lines of supersoldiers held back a mass over twenty times its size, fighting over the countless bodies of creatures littering the hill and the road. Smoke and fire billowed out of the shattered apartment buildings. Everything focused on this point, with the streets around it completely deserted.

  “It’s some sight,” Roux said, sounding proud of the battle below.

  For the first time, a sense of optimism grew in Bowcut, though it was tempered. She trusted Roux with he
r life, but they were now going to join up with a man she couldn’t trust as far as she could spit.

  “Give it a couple of hours and we’ll have taken the city back,” Roux added.

  “What’s the point if the queen escapes, though, right?”

  “Precisely. That’s why we’re headed there now. If she’s not destroyed, these battles will wage forever, and time is not on humanity’s side. And eventually, she’ll find a weakness in our armor.”

  “Is there one?”

  Roux looked away in thought, preferring not to answer.

  Maybe it’s too soon for optimism . . .

  Ellen stood on the starboard side of the Nimitz’s bridge, watching drone footage from the city. So far, everything was going to plan. This fact pleased and saddened her simultaneously. She let out a deep sigh. Humanity might win the day, courtesy of Albert Van Ness.

  But if he wins . . . Tom is dead.

  By now, she knew the enemy. Van Ness, like her husband, was laser focused on his mission. Fanatical even. Winning was his obsession. Now, it was her husband’s as well. She knew Van Ness would not stop until he defeated the queen, proving his own superiority, and then wiped her husband from existence.

  But Tom will find a way. He always does.

  “Stand by to load the boats,” Captain Collingwood ordered.

  His words rapidly snapped her out of her thoughts.

  Boats?

  Ellen moved over to the port side, behind two junior officers. Monitors in front of them showed supersoldiers lined up in one of the lower cargo bays. Six of the landing craft had drawn by the side of the Nimitz and bobbed in the water.

  Seconds later, ten supersoldiers leaped off the side in turn and onto the first vessel. They organized themselves into two ranks and stood static, crowded near the stern. Another group leaped onto the second boat.

  Ellen spun to face the captain. “What’s going on?”

  “I’m dispersing these soldiers throughout the fleet to protect all our ships,” Collingwood replied.

  “Why? The creatures can’t reach us out here.”

  “But they could when we dock, or if they somehow managed to board a carrier. There’re a hundred ways we could get attacked, like yesterday. That cannot happen. We must protect our fleet.”

  Ellen shook her head. “This sounds like Van Ness talking. Did he suggest this?”

  “This was my idea, Mrs. Cafferty. I had to talk Van Ness into it.”

  “You talked him into it?”

  Ellen looked away, thinking through the scene.

  No one talks Van Ness into anything.

  Dispersing these supersoldiers throughout the fleet seemed like a very bad idea to her. It was like a Foundation disease, infecting the infrastructure that would support the ongoing struggle. Van Ness with power and influence, no matter how small, on each major carrier and destroyer in the U.S. Navy.

  The simple truth remained: nobody understood Van Ness like the team and she did. Every decision he made had a purpose, no matter how small, and was never flippant. It may be paranoid, but that’s the way they had to operate if they wanted to counter any unexpected moves beyond the known plan.

  “Captain, I know Albert Van Ness. He is a master manipulator. He wants his soldiers on your boats.”

  “That soldier saved my life yesterday and the lives of everyone on this ship. Not only that, but consider the strategic advantage we gain here. Spreading Van Ness’ forces thin makes it far less likely they can mutiny. I don’t trust them, either. But I’d rather have only a few on my boat than a few hundred. Rest assured, they will be under armed guard the entire time. Disperse them, dilute their power.”

  He had a valid point, but it still didn’t feel right to her. She stepped toward him. “I’d rather face ten creatures than one of his men, Captain. At least with creatures, you know their intentions. With all due respect, what are these supersoldiers’ intentions?”

  Collingwood looked down at the remainder of Van Ness’ men as they boarded the vessels. “I’m very sorry, Mrs. Cafferty. My decision is final.”

  “Fine, but ask yourself this, Captain: The creatures answer to the queen, right?”

  “I suppose so.”

  “But who do these soldiers answer to?”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Van Ness straightened in his wheelchair and gazed up Lombard Street. He imagined Karen Green in one of the tall buildings, viewing the horrors below: the battered cars, the deaths, the queen . . . For a pawn in the grandest game of human existence, she’d proven far from sacrificial.

  But I’ve sacrificed more than anyone.

  And they’ll soon learn my price.

  Today, he felt invigorated, like in his previous fights before this debilitating injury. His spine crushed under the weight of a dying creature so many years ago.

  The queen will pay for what she’s done . . .

  Being on the front line evoked memories of fighting side by side with his father, Otto—globe-spanning operations that had stopped countless human deaths. Jakarta, Warsaw, Strasbourg, Manila. Endless campaigns to protect humanity, until humanity stopped him in the form of Thomas Cafferty.

  The world owes my family. It’s nearly time for it to settle its debts.

  Van Ness glanced at his watch. The grander plan was close to launch. Much of it depended on impeccable timing. And his assumptions about the queen.

  I need her to rise to the surface. Only then can I claim supremacy.

  Humans, he could control. The queen? He knew she wasn’t as gullible. She was ruthless, calculating, strong. But he was hoping she was driven by the same instincts as him. He was depending on it.

  A chopper thundered over the tops of the buildings and descended toward the park. As soon as its skids touched the ground, Roux and Bowcut disembarked. She headed for her team.

  Van Ness waved Roux over. The head of his army sprinted across the grass.

  “Hello, sir,” he said.

  Always compliant. Always efficient. An invaluable ally for the battle.

  “As of now, the creatures remain occupied with our diversion,” Roux continued.

  “Excellent work, my friend. We do have one slight problem.”

  “Which is?”

  “The queen hasn’t come out to play yet. I believe we should provide her with some motivation.”

  “How do you suggest doing that? We could send down some soldiers—”

  “No, no,” Van Ness said, cutting him off. “I cannot descend downward, as you see. No, this fight needs to happen here, for all to witness.”

  “What do you suggest?”

  “Something more personal,” Van Ness replied. “Between her and me. One apex predator to another. Beating them in battle clearly isn’t enough. I’m afraid we’ll have to humiliate her out of her dirty nest.”

  Roux raised his eyebrows. “How? I mean, her army is taking a beating and she still hasn’t appeared.”

  “Take your supersoldiers to find ten creatures. Then drag them over to the tennis courts and tie them firmly to the fence.”

  “Then what?”

  “Then what, indeed. If the queen is anything like me, she’ll react to my next move.”

  “Which is . . . ?”

  Van Ness glanced over at Cafferty and smirked. “Do you know why people lose at chess, Mr. Roux?”

  “Why?”

  “They let their emotions get in the way. I’m betting she will, too.”

  Everything around the park felt like an odd reality. The distant sound of brutal conflict. The screeches of dying creatures. Choppers in the sky. Laser blasts. Closer, the menacing breach, intimidating and silent.

  Yet despite all of this—and the stench of decomposition and the cloying smoke—the sunlit uplands of a free world started to appear tantalizingly close in Cafferty’s mind. Roux’s update told him that.

  The apparent success of their mission likely meant that, for him, things were about to drastically change. Van Ness could choose any moment to snuff
Cafferty’s life out, and they both knew it. He’d made his peace with that fact. Although he had no intention of going down as easily as Sonny Liston after Muhammad Ali’s phantom punch in Lewiston, Maine.

  However, they still had a few hurdles to clear before that moment would come.

  Notably the queen.

  Bowcut trudged across the parkland and joined Munoz and Cafferty by the side of a tree. She ripped her gas mask off, revealing her tired, sweaty face. “Good to see you guys in one piece,” she gasped. “What’s the latest here?”

  “Dr. Evil is cooking something up,” Munoz replied. He motioned his head toward the breach. “The queen is still in her lair, and Van Ness isn’t happy about it.”

  “So what’s the next move?”

  “You tell me,” Cafferty said, while gazing to the northeast side of the park.

  Roux strode toward the tennis courts, looking troubled about his task. Behind him, ten supersoldiers followed, each dragging a writhing creature by its tail in one hand and holding a thick steel chain in the other.

  “What the hell?” Cafferty muttered.

  Munoz slowly nodded. “No shit.”

  Every creature had newly inflicted, visible wounds. Blood flowed from gouges in some of their chests. Others had missing limbs. None moved with their typically slick, violent intent. The supersoldiers pulled them to the side of the tennis courts, shoved them against the steel poles that supported the chain-link fence, and tightly wrapped the chains around the creatures’ chests.

  It looked to Cafferty that the creatures had been lined up to face a firing squad, a ritual butchering to match the cold barbarity humanity had faced. Then again, creatures didn’t exactly stick to the Geneva Conventions.

  Once the last creature had been secured, Van Ness wheeled across the grass at full speed toward Roux and his team.

  “Let’s find out what’s going down,” Cafferty said.

  Munoz and Bowcut flanked him as they followed the wheelchair, half jogging to keep up with Van Ness.

  Cafferty leaned toward his shoulder mic. “Ellen, you still there?”