Spore Series | Book 5 | Torch

by Soward, Kenny

  They picked up the pace, and Moe’s ankle began to ache as he pushed himself to keep up. He’d never been a fast runner, but he could run a long time, clenching his teeth through the pain.

  A part of him said this wasn’t his fight, and he should turn around and go back inside. But Melissa had become a good friend in the short time they’d known each other, and it spoke volumes about her character that she would fly him back to Chinle with the cure. No one was forcing her to do it except a sense of righteousness.

  He put his head down and ran harder, flying past Mueller toward the widening gap. He was the first to race through, hoping to catch sight of the Humvee and fire off a shot before it disappeared.

  Moe slowed as he entered the courtyard, staggering to a halt. He bent over, hands on his knees as he stared at the Bell UH-1Y Venom. The chopper sat where they’d left it, locked up and waiting to take him home.

  A line of bullet holes traced up the side of the aircraft and made Swiss cheese out of the cockpit. The line moved back in the other direction, up to the top of the chopper to shred the engine casing and make minced pie of the machine’s internal parts.

  Hoses and wires hung loose. Priceless metal parts littered the ground.

  Moe wasn’t a mechanic, but he knew the aircraft was destroyed beyond repair. His mind raced as he tried to imagine how long it would take them to make the trip to Chinle over land in a car or truck. With regular stops to rest, and considering any road dangers he might encounter, several days to a week at least. He could do it, but it would probably be too late.

  He should have been back in Chinle yesterday.

  Moe turned, slapping his leg in frustration as the other men and women pulled up short. He began the slow walk down the tunnel to the lot where he figured they’d hop in a Humvee and try to pursue them. It would be a long shot, though it was worth a try.

  One of the chief scientists, he thought her name was Bonnie, ran to the end of the tunnel. Her blue eyes fell upon the ruined chopper with a frown. She stared at Moe with an apologetic look.

  Moe was walking past her when she reached out and grabbed his arm. “Please, you must go after them. Burke has our grandson. He has no reason to keep him alive now. He’ll have them all killed.”

  Moe gestured behind him. “Lady, you can see. Our chopper is shot to hell.”

  She shook her head vibrantly and pointed upward. “We have two more helicopters. Up on the landing pad.”

  Moe turned and looked at Mueller, but the captain was already running past him with a scowl.

  *

  Moe clenched the arms of his seat as the helicopter lifted from the air pad. They’d replaced Mueller’s pilot with Melissa and Hicks, and Bryant had joined them in the aircraft crew cabin. Rounding out the team was Moe, Trainor, Mueller, and three of his soldiers.

  Wind whipped through the crew quarters as the captain and his soldiers tethered themselves to the restraint system and took up positions near the doors.

  The transport aircraft didn’t have mounted guns like the Venom, so they’d be trying to penetrate the hard Humvee shell using small arms fire. Their carbines could get it done, but it wouldn’t be easy.

  There weren’t enough tethers to go around, so Moe, Trainor, and Bryant stayed seated. Mueller and his three soldiers fixed each other’s harnesses and then squatted by the open doors as the wind whipped around them.

  “We’re ready, Captain Bryant,” Mueller said, his voice clear in their helmet communication system.

  The chopper banked to the right, and Moe’s stomach lurched with the sudden change in direction. After many flights, he’d grown used to it, and he let the shivering fear melt away as the helicopter straightened, leaned forward, and gained speed.

  The men blocked Moe’s view of the ground, so he held his carbine on his lap and tried to get comfortable. Their seats were back against the pilot’s cabin, split by a small door. He sat in a left-hand seat, while Trainor and Bryant took the pair of seats on the far right.

  “Good job back there in the rec room.” Bryant leaned forward. “Took out three of the enemy by yourself. You shoot a rifle better than a basketball. Sure you don’t want to reenlist?”

  Moe chuckled and shook his head. His eyes slid off to the right where he spotted them soaring above a wide swath of dark water. He didn’t know the area at all, or which river they crossed.

  “Captain, this is Mueller.” The man’s voice came through in Moe’s helmet. “Try the bridge there to your left. Follow I-40 northwest. That’s where she’s gone.”

  “Roger that,” Melissa said, and the helicopter banked left and picked up speed.

  They flew for ten minutes, the tension growing inside the crew quarters like a heavy pall. Moe closed his eyes and tried to relax, knowing any extra tension in his body would only tire him.

  After another ten minutes, Moe started to give up. Lexi had fled too far and too fast to be caught.

  Then Mueller’s prediction panned out.

  “Got ‘em on the forward camera,” Hicks said. “Two miles ahead on the expressway. Two vehicles. A Humvee and a van.”

  “Prepare to engage,” Melissa warned them.

  Mueller seethed as he checked his weapons. “She’s made a fool of us one too many times, and it’s time for her to pay.” He turned to the soldier next to him. “Keep the armored vehicle occupied, and I’ll hit the van.”

  Moe listened as the engines shifted and whined. The chopper banked right and then swung left, picking up speed. Mueller and his soldier leaned forward, hanging from their tether systems. They aimed their weapons and fired down at the vehicles in a staccato bark of gunfire.

  They emptied their magazines and were replacing them when the unmistakable sound of the .50 caliber gun ripped the air. A round caught Mueller’s soldier in the chest and lifted him from the floor, blood misting the cabin’s roof.

  Melissa banked the helicopter to the right and accelerated, giving the other troops a chance as she flew by. The guns exchanged fire once more, and several big rounds penetrated the cabin floor. Moe pulled his feet in to avoid having them shot off.

  Smoke filled the cabin as the chopper lifted and turned in an evasive maneuver that sunk Moe’s stomach. When the smoke cleared, the pair of soldiers on the other side hung from their tethers, dead and bleeding into the sky, leaving Mueller as the only one left alive.

  “You’re a good pilot,” Mueller spat the compliment to Melissa. “Too bad my men don’t shoot as well.”

  “Do you want me to turn around?” she asked. “We’ve got some armor, but not enough for another point-blank exchange like that. I’m losing a little pressure.”

  Mueller hung from his tether, glaring down at the fleeing vehicles. His shoulders slumped suddenly. “My soldiers are dead. I am no longer the captain of this ship, so it is not my decision. I would not blame you for returning to Redpine now. We will still make the serum and vaccine. We always would have.” His sigh met all their ears through the chopper’s communication system. “But if we turn back now, without Burke, it will mean the death of everyone he holds prisoner.”

  “How many?” Moe asked.

  “Hundreds. Many are children. One is my wife.”

  “Why would he do that?” Melissa spoke in a plaintive tone. “Why would he kill all those people when he doesn’t need them?”

  Mueller shrugged. “That’s good enough reason for him. And to show us what happens when we are not loyal. As a punishment.”

  “He absolutely would do that,” Bryant added.

  Howling wind filled the cabin as Mueller waited on their decision.

  Moe spoke up even as a lump rose in his throat. “This fight doesn’t involve my people. My mind tells me I should get the serum and vaccine and return home. But my heart would not let me rest if I knew children had died, and I hadn’t tried to save them. In this new world, every life is precious. Every child is a seed for the future.” Moe shook his head. “My life doesn’t mean anything in comparison.”

&
nbsp; Bryant nodded. “Count me in.”

  “I’m always up for a showdown,” Trainor scoffed.

  “All right,” Melissa agreed. “We’re going back for another run.”

  “Thank you.” Mueller’s voice was husky with emotion. “We won’t fail this time.”

  “We’re up,” Bryant said. He dragged a dead soldier in and removed his tether. Trainor got the other one, and soon the two were connected and ready.

  Moe unstrapped himself, stood, and joined Mueller. They pulled in the dead soldier, disconnected him, and rested him next to the others.

  Once hooked up, Moe crept to the cabin’s edge and peered down at the expressway. The Humvee and van still fled beneath them, but they were well out of range.

  “Ready, Captain Bryant,” Mueller said.

  “Roger that.” Melissa picked up the Humvee’s trail and descended. “Here we go. Engaging.”

  They took a higher approach, making it harder for the big gun to hit them. It fired upward at them, red tracers lighting the sky as the rounds trailed off, missing badly.

  Moe sighted the turret and fired off several bursts, but the soldier ducked behind the metal shield, and his bullets bounced harmlessly away.

  Someone shot from the van, and Mueller turned, leaned out, and stitched the windshield with holes. The van jerked left, moving beneath the chopper and giving Bryant and Trainor a chance.

  The soldiers fired into the wind, Bryant shouting, “I think Lexi is in the van with Burke.”

  “They would have put him in the Humvee,” Mueller countered. “Stay on it.”

  Moe jerked back as the armored vehicle’s gun swung in their direction. “Up, captain!” he shouted, and the chopper bounced into the sky, barely avoiding a dicing.

  “Melissa, can you set us down on top of them?” Bryant asked.

  “Yep.”

  Before the Humvee could alter its course, Melissa banked in directly above the armored vehicle. Moe stared straight down into the turret.

  The soldier’s eyes went wide, and he grabbed for his pistol as Moe and Mueller unleashed a string of rounds. The man jerked as bullets made holes in him, blood painting the Humvee’s armor. He slumped over in the turret.

  “Disabled,” Moe said. His foot slipped, and he began to fall out of the chopper, but the tether caught him. With one foot on the landing skid, and one hand gripping the door frame, he stared at the roof of the Humvee with his heart jack hammering in his chest. Only four feet separated him from the armored vehicle’s roof.

  He turned and locked eyes with Mueller. “Give me some slack!”

  The captain fixed Moe with a look of disbelief.

  “Do it quickly,” he spat. “Before I lose my courage.”

  The man reached up and hit a button that let out slack in the line. Once he had several feet, Moe jumped and landed on his stomach on the Humvee roof, his teeth clacking together with the impact.

  He grabbed a handle and held on tight, craning his neck to look back at the captain. The man whipped out a knife and sawed at the tether vigorously.

  The armored vehicle suddenly slowed, and the helicopter flew by, taking the severed tether with it, leaving Moe clinging to the top. With a grunt, Moe grabbed his rifle off his shoulder and swung it over his head.

  He crawled to the turret, peering past the dead body. By that time, the Humvee was only doing thirty miles per hour, weaving to dislodge him. He shoved aside the corpse and jerked back as bullets flew out of the opening. Moe poked his barrel inside and randomly fired into the vehicle until his gun clicked empty.

  He rolled onto his back, ejected the spent magazine, and grabbed a fresh one from his ammunition vest. But he wasn’t wearing his vest. Flipping over to put the dead man between himself and the driver, Moe reached in and grabbed his pistol.

  But he didn’t need to worry about it, because the armored vehicle had slowed considerably. It slewed toward the concrete median and smacked it going five miles per hour. The engine continued to rev, but they were going nowhere.

  Moe carefully looked past the body and saw the driver’s seat punctured with holes. The driver sat slouched over, head against the wheel.

  Burke wasn’t inside.

  Moe stood on the Humvee and waved as the helicopter circled above him.

  *

  “It was a bad call,” Mueller’s voice was heavy with disappointment where he knelt by the door. “Burke wasn’t in the armored car, and we lost the van.”

  Moe climbed in, took his seat, and buckled himself in as the chopper lifted off from the expressway. He placed his carbine across his lap and sat staring at his shaking hands. He looked up to see Bryant and Trainor standing there with curious expressions written on their faces.

  “Would either of you have a spare magazine?” Moe asked, patting his weapon.

  Still staring, Trainor wordlessly plucked a magazine from his ammunition pouch and handed it over.

  “Thank you.” Moe jammed the magazine home and charged the weapon with a heavy clack. He lifted his chin. “What happened?”

  “She dipped out while we were engaging the Humvee,” Bryant shrugged.

  “She’s not on the road,” Hicks said. “She must be hiding somewhere.”

  “And I’m low on fuel,” Melissa added.

  “All she has to do is wait us out.” Mueller shook his head in disappointment. “She’ll wait us out and drive away.”

  Moe looked past the man and watched the treetops slide by as they drifted back and forth over the expressway.

  “She must be close,” Bryant squinted as he searched the subdivision streets.

  Moe closed his eyes, allowing the vibrating machine to soothe him. Ten minutes passed, then twenty.

  “I don’t see anything,” Trainor said. “All she’s got to do is find some trees to hide under. Without boots on the ground...” He let the implication hang.

  Moe opened his eyes. “Try to contact her.”

  “Come again?” Melissa asked.

  “Work up the channels. Send a general hail. She might reply.”

  “I would love to talk to her,” Mueller spat. “I would like to give her an earful.”

  “You should let me speak with her.” Moe leaned forward. “Maybe I can get her to see reason.”

  “I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Bryant smirked. “I doubt she’ll reply.”

  He shrugged. “It’s worth a try.”

  “We really should be heading back,” Melissa said, “but I’ll entertain the idea. We’ll try the all the standard channels.” There was a pause before Melissa addressed the wider channels. “This is Redpine One, calling Lexi.” Pause. “This is Redpine One, calling Lexi.”

  Captain Bryant repeated the hail eight times, each time waiting a few seconds for a reply. At last, the mercenary finally responded.

  “What?”

  The men in the crew cabin looked at each other in amazement, and Moe put his finger over his lips to keep them quiet.

  “Hi, Lexi. This is Moe Tsosie.”

  “You’re the Navajo guy who took out my Humvee,” she said cooly. “I didn’t appreciate that.”

  He grunted. “Sorry. I’m just a guy trying to do the right thing.”

  “Well, good on you.”

  “I’m going to be honest with you,” Moe went on. “We’re just about out of fuel here, and we’ll have to go back to Redpine soon.”

  “That’s what I figured.”

  “We were hoping you’d leave Burke behind for us. A lot of people are depending on him to release their loved ones. You’ve taken that away from them.”

  “I’ve ensured I’ll get my son back, that’s all.” She clicked her tongue. “The way those people handled Burke, believe me, he’s safer with me. And they’re lucky he didn’t kill them all,” she added.

  “Like you tried to do?”

  “I used sleeping gas.”

  “But you killed a soldier.”

  “He drew a gun on me.” Lexi countered. “And why would I
want to kill them? Do you think I’m an animal, like Burke?”

  “I didn’t say that. All I said--”

  “I haven’t killed a single person who didn’t deserve it or get in my way.” Her voice softened. “And I’m not opposed to the work they’re doing. A cure sounds good to me. I’ll be taking the vaccine myself.”

  “We appreciate that, Lexi. But it doesn’t solve these folks’ problem.”

  “I don’t care about them,” she snapped. “I just want my son. He’s all I’ve got.”

  “You know we have to come after you.”

  “Why do you care?” Lexi’s tone rose in anger until it was nearly a hiss. “You’re not even from here. You can go back home to your people.”

  “It’s not that easy.” Moe shook his head. “The Redpine folks helped me, and they’re saving hundreds in my tribe. Now I’m indebted to them.”

  “So, you and Bryant are forming a posse to come after me?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Well, Bryant doesn’t scare me.”

  Moe glanced up at the scowling soldier before replying. “It’s not Bryant you have to worry about.”

  Chapter 40

  Lexi, Little Rock, Arkansas

  She waited until the rotors grew quiet and finally disappeared altogether before starting the custom van. She pulled it from the garage she’d hidden them in and eased down the driveway.

  She swung them into the street and hit the gas, the engine growling as they tore through the suburban neighborhood. Burke rolled around in the back, unable to steady himself with his hands and feet hastily bound. She gave the turns an extra jerk, one side of her mouth lifted in a mischievous grin as he rolled with grunts of pain.

  She navigated to the expressway, whipping onto the entry ramp and accelerating to eighty miles per hour.

  Her eyes automatically raised to the sky, only half-convinced the helicopter had actually gone away. She’d seen the daring landing on the Humvee and the way Moe had taken out her soldiers as efficiently as an assassin.