Incoming

by Mel Todd

  Caroline had already followed her. ~I'll head over this way. Our best bet would be to take control of the shuttle but be careful about going into it. Many of our vehicles can be controlled via remote. I'd be surprised if theirs couldn't.~

  ~Agreed,~ McKenna responded, raising the M-16 to her shoulder. The Kaylid was clearly visible as it approached the ship. No one came out to meet it, which only reinforced the idea of remote ships. She waited another minute, watching the being. It walked with no fear or worry visible. Not arrogance, it just apparently didn't occur to it to be worried.

  McKenna didn't allow herself to think, she pushed away all her training, all the warnings she was supposed to call out, sited in on the ear, and pulled the trigger.

  The retort of the rifle sounded so loud against the silence it hurt her soul. The head of the Kaylid rocked to the side, and a spray of blood came out the other side as the figure crumpled to the ground.

  ~What the-~ The comment from JD broke off, and she ignored it, moving forward, still with the M-16 at her shoulder looking around. Listening with ears that rang slightly from the retort, but already the ringing was diminishing.

  ~Anyone see anything else?~

  ~No.~ Caroline's calm comment helped steady McKenna's pounding hear. She checked behind her to see where they were.

  ~Wefor, can we set that grid back up so I can see people and where they are in relation to me?~

  [Working.]

  A minute later a mental map appeared in her mind, showing the others. Nothing fancy but more of a knowing that ten feet behind her stood Cass. While twelve feet to her right Caroline walked.

  ~Cass, you have all the medical training, right?~

  ~In the dreams, I still don't know how much is going to transfer. I haven't actually pushed to see if it translates to treating humans.~

  ~Well, now's your chance. Please take a look at the two on the trolley.~

  ~Okay.~

  McKenna could hear the trepidation in her mental voice, but part of her had shut off. The part that had time to worry about people's feelings. All she could do was focus on what they were faced with right now. Everything else would have to wait until later.

  She kept walking, feeling JD on the other side as Perc watched over Cass. It made sense. JD and Caroline at least had experience with weapons, real world experience, while the other two only had the vision aspects. Right now she'd rather lean on JD, knowing how he would react.

  ~Movement,~ Caroline snapped out. McKenna spun towards where she sensed Caroline stood. She had dropped to a crouch, just barely in the clearing, pointing her gun towards a break in the trees. Over the top of her head McKenna saw another Kaylid walking in, this time with a body draped over its shoulder.

  Thought didn't exist, only orders and an odd need to make sure no humans were taken from Earth if she could stop it. She aimed, making sure the human wouldn't be hit, and pulled the trigger. Once again the head rocked back and the Kaylid slumped to the ground, the human on its shoulder tumbling off.

  ~Perc, please collect that person. We need to find someplace safe to take them.~

  She turned, scanning again. Part of her wondering where this competent unemotional person had come from, and part of her relieved that she was acting, and they were doing something.

  ~Yes,~ his mental voice stuttered a bit as he replied and she shot a glance over to him and Cass.

  ~You two going to be okay?~

  The two Kaylid, her two friends, paused for a minute and turned to look at her, their eyes dilated wide, tension in their entire bodies.

  Perc, his huge warrior form stood there like a monster from a Greek tale, with Cass crouched at his feet. She wished she had a camera to capture the image, but then it changed as Cass straightened.

  ~We'll have to be. They're fine, unconscious. Looks like an electrical method rather than chemical. Probably the same thing Charley told us about. First immobile, now a coma-like state. But I can't see anything wrong.~ Her voice distant, almost clinical, and McKenna relaxed. Perc moved towards the other body at the edge of the trees.

  ~Later,~ Caroline ordered as she moved to the edge of the shuttle and looked in. ~We're making news and will get attention soon. There are three people in here already.~

  ~I have movement coming this way, under a minute,~ JD added to the conversation, his voice a flat no-nonsense tone she'd only heard in really bad situations.

  ~Where do we take them? We can't leave them in the shuttle and out in the open, unconscious they're both vulnerable and a target,~ McKenna asked. She moved to focus on the direction JD faced.

  ~Give me a minute,~ Caroline said. McKenna glanced back to see her crouched next to the shuttle, typing furiously on her phone.

  ~Out of time,~ JD whispered in their minds as he drew up his M-16, aimed towards the trees.

  Moving through them at a run were three figures, all fur-covered with bulky guns that looked like toys more than anything else. Her eyes checked automatically for earrings or colored clothing, there was nothing. Before she could get her weapons to zero in, JD fired. The sharp bark echoed through the clearing.

  ~Missed. Trying again.~ Another crack and she felt his joy as he hit. It took six more shots as they were now moving and diving behind trees as they advanced. Even so, for a weapon they didn't really ever use, it was good for shooting at this distance and while the targets were moving.

  ~Wefor, why are we being this accurate? I'd have thought we'd take a while, like we did at the range,~ she asked, though part of her didn't care.

  [Enhanced hand-eye coordination, familiarity with the weapons, and the shared nanobots are being leveraged to create a triangulation system to increase accuracy.]

  Wefor rattled off the information and it made sense as JD rose to inspect the bodies. ~They all the have same clunky weapons. But I can hear more coming.~ He moved his head one way then the other as if listening to things she couldn't hear.

  ~I've got a place for us, but we need to move. It's about three miles away. We need to get to the SUV and then get away from here,~ Caroline said, and that kicked all of them into gear.

  JD ran back into the shuttle and grabbed two of the people in there. Perc came back with the other one and grabbed the remaining person in the shuttle. Cass had already turned and started guiding the trolley back the way they had come. Luckily it seemed to be dumb technology and floated with her as she pulled it. Even as they headed away from the shuttle, she could hear a weird howling sound.

  [Warning cry, it carries for a long way,] Wefor provided as they moved. They broke into the street where they had left the car, and Perc cursed as he dove back into the cover of the trees. At least ten invading Kaylid walked towards them, weapons at the ready, two trolleys with six people collapsed on them, two in Kaylid warrior form.

  ~This is not good. We need to get out of here,~ Caroline called out. ~I've sent the address to all your phones. But we can't move fast enough carrying people. ~

  ~We aren't leaving anyone behind to get taken as slaves. Where are you having us go?~

  ~Military recruitment center. It has a skeleton staff right now, they're expecting us. It's all the help we can get. They're serving as a safe house.~ Caroline said dropping to the ground.

  McKenna followed her example as Perc put his two down before hiding behind a tree. JD had laid his on the ground and had his gun up for a shot.

  ~Wait, hear that?~ Perc asked, his head tilting to the sound, back from where they killed the others and found the shuttle. McKenna turned her focus towards listening and felt her heart seize. A large number of beings were moving through the trees, and somehow she knew they were all Kaylid, and not those from Earth.

  ~We're about to be surrounded. We need to get out of here quick. ~ Even as the words were thought, the Kaylid coming down the street saw them. In that weird fluid movement she associated with hours and hours of training, their guns were up and firing at them. Red splashes of light that seared the trees and plants around them, creating an acrid smoke that
burned her nose.

  "Shit!" Perc called out as he covered one of the victims. McKenna glanced at him, then focused on the ones in front of them.

  ~JD, take the ones behind. Caroline, take the ones in front. Cass, Perc, see if you can keep those people protected. Shoot if you can, if not, just stay down.~ The orders came out rapid fire. She took a deep breath then focused on the ones shooting at them. This time she concentrated, but with incoming fire she had to duck more than once just as she pulled the trigger.

  A scream at her left pulled her attention away, and she glanced over as the smell of burning hair and seared meat filled her nose.

  Chapter 41 - Pay the Price

  Current reports have placed the number of shifters taken by the aliens in and around Shanghai at over three thousand. With their spreading efforts and the government under the sway of the Elentrin influence, the real numbers may never be known. The only good aspect that can be seen is their death toll is almost nonexistent. The cultural reinforcement of what the leaders are saying about helping the invaders is troubling. While this might make an excellent historical study in retrospect, right now it is terrifying watching a nation being brought to its knees. The Elentrin is being escorted around by the leading officials of China and they all seem entranced by the woman. ~ TNN Report

  Even as she watched, the light faded from Caroline's eyes as the hole in her chest steamed with fatty smoke. Her body folded in on herself and hit the ground with a dull thump. Her throat locked up and she couldn't breathe, unable to look away from the person she'd known, she'd liked. The light in her mind, the one that had been Caroline's, faded to nothing.

  [Commander, you have to pay attention or you will be killed too, and then everything is lost.] Wefor's voice snapped her out of the fixation on Caroline's body lying on the ground.

  Her AR snapped up, and she pulled the trigger, adjusting as her first shot missed. The second took a Kaylid firing at them in the shoulder. It stumbled back but reoriented on her. Another pull of the trigger and it dropped, but as she moved to the next one she could see others coming in the distance. They were sending so many. Why were they all headed here?

  Another burst of panic in the mindscape let her know Cass was trying to protect the unconscious humans from the blasts. A grunt of pain from Perc caused her to glance that way and she saw him firing back at the ones coming up behind them.

  We aren't going to make it out of here. All this and we're going to die.

  She didn't let her thoughts into the mindscape, as she kept shooting, her shots getting better and better, but there were more Kaylid coming. Their flashing light missing them barely and only because she'd hit the ground. The heat of one of the blasts seared across her skin, leaving burnt fur and blistered skin underneath.

  ~We can't hold, they're going to overrun us.~ JD's voice was grim, but only to her, a tight channel of worry. ~McKenna, you have to go. We can't lose you. You're the only reason the Earth has a chance.~

  Outrage rippled through her, and she almost raised her head to glare at him.

  ~Joseph Daniel Davidson, if you think there is a chance in hell I am going to leave you guys, you must have had one of those beams hit your hard head.~ She shot and killed another one, but another scream of pain from Cass, then a muttered curse as she moved.

  ~The splash is hitting our people. I can't move them or get them any more covered,~ her voice frantic even as she lifted her handgun and fired. She didn't hit any, but she managed to make the oncoming attackers duck.

  The certain knowledge they were all going to die settled into her bones. There were too many, Caroline was already dead, and not even nanobots could bring her back.

  All I can do now is try to see if I can help make the cost so high maybe the Elentrin will change their minds.

  The silence from Wefor told her she was all too correct. With grim determination she kept firing, trying to make every shot count. But as they hid behind vehicles, it became harder and harder to hit them. A roar of some sort of vehicle caused some Kaylid to look away from her little group, behind them.

  McKenna didn't waste the distraction, she made another two drop. Then a third and a fourth dropped as three men in Army fatigues came around the corner, a Humvee painted army green following them with men on top.

  The men on the top of the Humvee made quick work of the Kaylid in front of them. McKenna didn't waste time looking at them she spun focusing on the Kaylid shooting at them through the trees.

  ~Perc, Cass, grab the humans and get them over to the Army guys. They can help.~

  "This is National Guard Captain John Carol." The words rang out behind her. Turning around would take too long.

  "Good, nice to meeting you. Now come help me kill these others," she shouted behind her. "I've got friends bringing people to you that were captured by the invaders. They're still out of it."

  ~They're helping, though they flinched a bit, I think us walking over there holding the people helped. Two are headed your way.~ Perc said.

  ~Good, cause I'm almost out of ammo. I'm going to need more from the car,~ she replied, trying to see where that last flash of light had come from.

  "Hi, ma'am. How many are there?"

  She'd heard the rapid approach of feet, and since she'd known it wasn't Perc or Cass she'd figured it had to be one of the military guys. ~JD?~

  ~At least four more, but I can't see them.~

  "We've got four. They have a shuttle in there, but we got the people that were in there out. They might have put more in, but we're worried they might be able to remotely recall the shuttles."

  "Good call." His voice low. "I'm headed right. Stay here, then we can get you back to our base."

  He crawled to the side through the low shrubs. A light flashed her direction hitting the bush next her, crating sweet smoke that served as an odd counterpoint to the burnt meat smell still in her nose. A sharp crack of a rifle from where he had gone, and she saw a shape collapse. In short order they proved why they were so much better at this than McKenna ever would be.

  When they were all dead, and the captured people in the back of the Humvee, McKenna faced the officer. "Thank you. Our friend that was killed was Caroline Lance, a Secret Service agent. She said we could find a good place to retreat to here?" McKenna pulled out the phone and showed him the address. A smile lit up the young man's face.

  "That's us. When you didn't show up, we got a bit worried. That mean you're McKenna Largo?" he asked.

  She nodded, though right now she felt like a failure. He glanced back at the six people they'd rescued. "You did good. Let's get out of here."

  Even as they talked, there was a weird sound, and she turned to see the shuttle rising up into the air. A sick feeling filled her stomach. How many people had she failed to rescue? How many parents would never see their children again? How many spouses had died while their loved ones were taken?

  The ride to their base increased her feeling of surreality and failure. News of what was going on across the country and the world. People being taken, families being killed, all to grab one Kaylid. Some areas were making short work of any invaders; others, the more urban areas, had much higher casualty amounts. Every bit of news felt like a blow, and she closed her eyes wondering what else she could have done.

  They treated her like a hero, and all she could see was her failures.

  ~Kenna?~ Toni's voice filtered in past her stressing.

  ~You okay? The kids okay?~ Her response instant. She tensed up, wishing she could fly, fly home to protect her kids.

  ~Yes. We're fine. There haven't been any here. This area doesn't have many shifters and we're staying below the radar.~

  She blew out a breath. The back area had a place to smoke, she stood there, leaning against the wall. She looked around, but didn't really see anything.

  ~Kenna?~ Toni was back and she blinked.

  ~Yeah?~

  ~Stop beating up on yourself. We're all doing what we can do. You've helped.~ Her voice held reassurance, bu
t the only thing McKenna could see was Caroline's dead body.

  ~Thanks. I'm going to get some sleep. Give the kids hugs for me.~ She shut down the connection, almost feeling like she contaminated them just by being in it. They had cots set up for people in the back rooms. Still in her warrior form, staying in that form made everything easier, she shut her eyes and tried to ignore the world as she went over everything she'd done. Trying to figure out what she could have done differently.

  "Finally. Are all your kind this stubborn?"

  McKenna felt her eyes snap open, but she didn't have eyelids or even eyes for that matter. She felt disjointed, almost like the first time Wefor had spoken to her, but she could see. Sort of. The feeling gave her the willies, and she began to thrash trying to figure out how to get out, but she didn't know what she was in or where out was. She floated in a space of nothingness, yet in front of her stood a figure, but she couldn't see colors or shapes, she just knew he was there.

  "Would you please calm down? I don't have much time, and it took too long to find you, then to establish a connection. This is important."

  His snappish words, rushed, yet familiar, had her focusing on the being on the other side of the nothingness.

  "Ash?"

  "Finally. Yes. Listen. Help is available, though you've done better than anyone else in all the times I've tried. But if your level of resistance keeps up, they will resort to kinetic weapons."

  It dawned on McKenna he spoke in English rather than her brain interpreting what he said.

  "You mean like sending asteroids to Earth, to impact our cities?"

  "Exactly. I've managed to get the ships that are being deployed to the area you're in, routing from my ship. But the next ship will be here in a day or two, so you don't have much time."

  "Time to do what? How can we make them leave?" It felt like she'd woken up and her brain started to work.

  The sound in her head vibrated. "You can't. The Elentrin either take what they came for, or they'll destroy it all rather than allow someone else to have it."