“I’m guessing this wasn’t part of the plan?” Alistair asked as he held his stomach and balanced on Randall’s shoulder.
“How you are feeling?” Randall replied.
“I’ve been through worse.”
Randall smiled and patted him on the back. “I think we may have been better off on the boat.”
“The boat?” Alistair echoed. “Maybe not.”
“Lockship!” Koran suddenly yelled. “Lockship I’m not done talking to you!”
“What Koran? What do you want?” Lockship roared.
“The Mayflower. You know as well as I do, we need to get there. You’ve had us jumping through hoops and for what? To die at some abandoned airport. What’s your plan Lockship? What the hell are we gonna do?”
Lockship narrowed his eyes and glared at Koran in silence. He chewed on the inside of his gum then took a deep breath.
“We need gas.”
“What?”
“Gas…that’s the plan. Find some gas and get the hell out of here. Everything else is details I ain’t got time to worry about.”
“You know where it is don’t you? You know where they have it?” Koran asked. “How are we gonna get there?”
“I told you, we need gas.”
“This is all fucked sir,” Hunter suddenly blurted out. “Command is compromised, the cutter is missing…what the hell are we gonna do?”
“Hunter you lock that shit down!”
“Sir, they’re all dead sir. Everyone is gone.” Hunter glared at him with a bewildered look on his face. He rifled his fingers through his hair then banged his palm on his forehead.
Lockship clenched his fist and grumbled. “Look, we need to find gas. We need to get back in the air…everything else can wait. You got that?”
“Roger that sir,” Hunter begrudgingly agreed. “But we need to find out what the hell happened back at command. You know what this means.”
“I know what it could mean,” Lockship replied.
CHAPTER 3
RACE TO THE SKY
Koran milled around the depot area like a lost puppy. He kicked over empty jugs and made a mess of anything he could get his hands on. It was his protest to Lockship and company, his way of helping without helping. But for all his antics, he knew they needed to get moving and staying there wasn’t good for anyone.
The guys from the other bird had already managed to find enough fuel to get one helicopter airborne for a few minutes. But that was hardly a win and the West Palm base was nearly twenty miles away.
“There’s gotta be more fuel here,” Hunter said as he circled behind Koran, scratching his head.
“You’d think. But we’ve had shit luck,” Koran replied and shrugged his shoulders. “What do you make of the mess back at command?”
Hunter looked around then shook his head from side to side. “Can’t be anything good. That was an undisclosed location. I think they were looking for something.”
“They?”
“Whoever killed everyone and ransacked the place.”
“What could they be looking for?”
“I think you know as well as I do.”
“They didn’t have the coordinates there, did they?” Koran asked. “They wouldn’t have kept that information there, even if it was undisclosed.”
“I don’t know. I just hope we make it.”
“Hunter, you find anything?” Lockship blared from behind them.
“Not yet boss,” Koran answered then went back to rummaging around the facility.
“This place is dry sir,” Hunter added. “We’d be better off walking.”
Lockship sighed and ran his hands through his hair. Leaning his head back, he looked up to the sky and sucked in the cool air. All the clouds were gone, and an eerie blue canvas seemed to stretch on forever.
The rays from the sun stretched their arms nearly scratching his eyes. Wincing, Lockship brought his hand up then swallowed. The warmth on his face made him smile and for a moment, everything was okay.
“Excuse me?” a soft voice called out.
Lockship slowly lowered his head and turned to the side. There was a teenage girl and boy standing a few feet away with timid looks on their faces.
“Um, they said you were in charge,” the girl continued. She swallowed and wiped sweat from her dirt-smudged face. “My name is Amber and this is Daniel.”
“You guys need to get back to the helicopter,” Lockship replied and started to walk off.
Daniel reached forward and grabbed his shoulder. “Wait!”
Swinging around, Lockship slapped his hand away. “Look this ain’t a damn daycare. We’ve gotta get back in the air and soon. Get back to the helo with the others.”
“Sorry…sorry,” Daniel stuttered. “It’s just, some of them were wondering if they’d be able to call their home…call their parents.”
Lockship twisted his face and stared at them for a moment. His mouth dropped open as he took a deep breath and mumbled in a drained and tired voice. “I, um…I thought Thomas would’ve talked with you by now. You don’t know what’s going on, do you?”
Daniel shook his head from side to side then looked at Amber. She fidgeted with her fingers and lowered her head, escaping his gaze. Groaning, Lockship rubbed his face.
“Jesus…I, I don’t…. Jesus,” he droned. “You said you kids were on a cruise?”
“Yeah…it sank.”
“Look, I don’t wanna be the one to tell you this, but I don’t think there’s anything to go back to. It’s…it’s not like what it used to be in most places.”
“What?” Amber asked in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“Where are you guys from?”
“Um, Orlando…not too far from here,” Daniel replied.
“What do you mean nothing to go back to? What the hell are you talking about?” Amber snapped, her voice breaking in frustration.
“I’m not the one to explain this. You’d be better off talking to someone else. Shit, anybody else.”
Amber let out a high-pitched scream and banged her fists against her leg. “We just want to know what the hell is going on? We want to talk to our family! You’ve had us locked up in that damn helicopter and no one is telling us anything.”
“Sir!” a scraggily looking soldier everyone called Slim, shouted as he rushed toward Lockship. “Chief says he needs you back at the runway. It’s an emergency.”
“Everything is an emergency,” Lockship griped then turned back to Amber and Daniel. “We’ll finish this later.”
Amber tried to protest, but Lockship spun around before she could get a word out. He ran off across the field and through the narrow corridor between the buildings. Slim trailed behind him followed by Amber and Daniel.
Lockship slowed to a fast-paced walk as he neared the runway. His hand rested on the butt of his rifle, his eyes scanning ahead like a hawk. The pilots were huddled near the helicopters staring at something on the ground. Clenching his jaw, Lockship stormed toward them.
“What the hell is this?” he growled. “What are you guys, on lunch break? This ain’t an emergency.”
Frank threw his hands up. “This,” he said and pointed to the side. “This is a fucking clock. And if we don’t get moving it’s gonna swallow us.”
Lockship followed his hand and gasped. Off to the side of the runway a sinkhole opened in the ground. It was a couple feet across and drooped down about a foot where the grass had sunk like a flattened tire. Even as Lockship stared at it, bits of earth were falling away.
With narrowed eyes, he walked closer and tapped around the edges with his feet. The ground was soft and gave a little under his weight, but it felt stable. He lifted his head and turned back to the pilots.
“What happened?”
“No idea,” Frank replied. “We were looking over the bird and boom. Doesn’t really matter though, does it? It’s here now and we need to get moving.”
“Then get off your ass and help us find some
fuel.”
“Watch out!” Slim screamed and tackled Lockship.
They both fell to the side and rolled. The ground where he’d been standing crumbled and vanished into the hole, widening the gap. The bottom gave way as shadows swallowed everything that fell in.
“Holy shit!” Lockship said and sat up.
The sinkhole had doubled in size and was moving closer and closer to the runway. Lockship scampered to his feet and took a few steps back before pausing and catching his breath. His eyes were wide in disbelief as he glared at Slim.
“Thanks…thanks a lot,” he stammered then turned back to Frank. “We need to find gas now!”
“What about the planes?” Daniel asked.
Lockship wheeled around. Daniel and Amber were standing behind him, glaring with dull, accusing faces.
“The planes?” Lockship echoed.
“Don’t they have fuel in them?”
Lockship twisted his face into a dismissive guise. “Doesn’t work like that,” he said in a condescending tone.
“It might,” Frank suddenly jolted. “They’re newer planes. We can, we can run these on jet fuel and those should be running the same blend. Shit, why didn’t I think of that.”
Lockship gawked then threw his hands into the air. “Yeah…yeah why didn’t you think of that? Is this really something we can do?”
Frank looked back to Thomas then to Jacob. They nodded their heads slightly and shrugged.
“It has to work,” Frank replied.
“Well, let’s get moving then. Get some lines and siphon the fuel out of those planes. Slim round up the rest of the team and somebody keep an eye on this damn hole.”
“Yes sir.”
Slim took off in the direction they’d come. Frank and the other pilots circled together then headed for the hangar. Lockship took a deep breath and held it. With a pained face he turned back to Amber and Daniel.
“When we get to where we’re going, I’ll try to find you some answers. That’s the best I can do right now.”
Amber gave him a forced smile then mouthed the words, “thank you.” Daniel scratched his head and frowned.
“What?” Lockship groaned.
“What happened? What happened while we were out there? Where is everybody?”
Lockship looked away and stared down into the sinkhole. He rested his hands on his utility belt then pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one up. He took a long drag and blew the smoke into the air, watching it swirl away in the wind.
“A lot of bad shit happened,” he started. “Still happening. We just need to get you kids somewhere safe and we can sort it out. Just…just go ahead and wait with your friends.”
“Hey!” Koran shouted as he stormed toward the runway. “What are we doing? Slim says we aren’t looking for gas anymore.”
“Look around Koran…time’s up,” Lockship replied and motioned toward the sinkhole. “Same shit everywhere is happening here.”
“You gonna do something about it?”
“Frank and Jacob are siphoning fuel out of the light jets right now. You wanna help, go grab some cans.”
“Maybe I’ll do that,” Koran spat then stormed off.
Within an hour they’d managed to funnel all the fuel out of the planes and were pumping it into the helicopters. In that time the sinkhole had grown to the size of a swimming pool and was now dangerously close to the runway.
Randall made his way back onboard the helicopter and was sitting with Alistair, while Melinda and the younger kids slept in the seat across from them. Koran’s wife was sitting with Ashley while she cast hesitant looks in Alistair’s direction.
“How’s that working out?” Randall asked.
Alistair smiled. “It’s working. “You think we’ll ever get to go home?” he asked.
“I don’t even know what home is anymore. As long as I can keep you guys with me, we’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, I hope so.”
Suddenly, there was low rumbling sound and another chunk of earth vanished into the sinkhole. Randall looked out of the window and swallowed back the fear that clung to his throat.
“Everyone buckle up!” Lockship screamed as he rushed past the door. “We’re wheels up in thirty seconds.”
“That guy doesn’t know how not to be an asshole,” Koran barked as he climbed inside.
Hunter grinned then took the seat next to him. Frank and Jacob tossed the gas tubes on the ground and rushed into the cockpit. The runway rumbled as they started going through their pre-flight checklist.
“Let’s go!” Hunter shouted.
“We’re at sixty-five percent,” Jacob announced, ignoring the panicked calls from the cabin.
“Straight to the airbase Lockship…we don’t have the time or the fuel for anymore sightseeing.”
Lockship grunted. “Just get us in the fucking air!”
CHAPTER 4
RALLY POINT BRAVO
As the helicopters pulled away from the airpark, the runway crumbled into the widening gap. Randall stared out of the window and watched the field devour itself. He watched as the earth imploded and felt a bit of himself falling into the darkness as well.
“Foolish man who built his house upon the sand,” Koran said and glanced over his shoulder.
“What?” Randall replied and looked away from the window.
“It’s from the bible. You know, build your house on a rock and all. Seemed like the thing to say, considering.”
Randall gave him a sideways glance. He leaned back in his seat and sighed. The whacking from the rotors was like medicine to him, it was a sedative that put his mind at ease. It was like white noise, blocking out reality.
He took a deep breath and straightened up. Alistair had already fallen asleep and although Randall was dead tired, he couldn’t fall asleep. Instead, he stared into the cabin with wide eyes.
“So where are we going from here?” he turned to Hunter and asked.
“There’s a rally point twenty miles south in West Palm Beach. Got a plane there leaving at 1800 hours.”
“Six…six pm? What time is it now? Leaving to where?”
“The Mayflower,” Koran added. “That’s where we’re heading isn’t it?”
Hunter looked at Koran then to Lockship. He shrugged and started to say something, but caught himself and considered his next words.
“We told you we’d get you there and we’ll get you there,” he said.
“What’s the Mayflower?” Randall asked. “I keep hearing about it, but you guys haven’t told us a thing.”
“Yeah…why don’t you fill everyone in,” Koran jabbed.
“You’ve got a lot of questions Koran,” Lockship started. “How about you fill us in. You can start with how you ended up with her.” He pointed to Ashley.
Koran groaned and threw his hands in the air. “You really wanna do this here, in front of everyone.”
“Why not? They might as well hear it. Go ahead and tell us that story you’ve been promising.”
Koran bit his bottom lip and glared at Lockship. “Okay…okay fine. I never went AWOL you fucking idiot. You think a discharged officer would be able to get anywhere near his daughter?”
“So what then? How are you gonna spin this now?”
“I was on assignment. The DOD snagged me. How do you think I knew about Mayflower? I was there when Marine One went down. It wasn’t an accident, it wasn’t the wind or turbulence or whatever story they’re trying to sell everyone.”
Lockship furrowed his brow as Koran’s words sank in. “What are you trying to say?”
“A stinger hit his chopper. It was an attack.”
“Impossible!” Hunter barked as he jumped forward in his seat.
“Is it? And what about the attack on your secret base? Guess that’s impossible too.”
Hunter laughed sarcastically and leaned back. “Sir you’re not buying this are you? He’s full of shit!”
“He’s not!” Ashley suddenly shouted. “They killed
my dad! He saved me and none of you guys, none of you did a damn thing!” Tears streamed down her cheeks and she buried her face into Melinda’s arm.
“Shh, it’s okay.”
Lockship watched her then shared a glance with Koran. He sighed and let his head sank back into the seat.
“We’ll be at the rally point soon,” Lockship mumbled.
“And what then?” Koran asked in an accusing tone. “More interrogations? More mishandling from you incompetent assholes?”
Lockship didn’t reply. Koran scowled at him then reached out and grabbed Ashley’s hand. Smiling, he swept the hair out of her face then turned back to the front.
“We got bigger problems anyway, Lockship,” he said in a monotone voice.
“What’s that?”
“The attack on your base. You know as well as I do the only reason someone would attack that place. Tell me you got a plan.”
“Five minutes out,” Frank looked over his shoulder and yelled.
“Well?” Koran continued.
“I’m thinking,” Lockship snapped. He looked around the cabin frantically, shaking his head from side to side. Clenching his jaw, he rolled his shoulders then leaned forward into the cabin. “Frank. Frank! Call ahead to bravo, tell them to set up a secure channel with the Sec Def.”
“Roger that,” Frank replied then switched a knob on the control panel.
“They wouldn’t know the location, would they? They didn’t have that kind of information at the base, right?” Koran asked. “What about on the cutter? You’ve gotta assume that’s compromised too.”
Ignoring him, Lockship turned to the window and stared blankly outside. He took slow, deep breaths, rocking back and forth as his mind swayed with the jostling of the helicopter.
“Lockship! Lockship, you hear me?”
“Yes, I hear you. Jesus Koran! Those were my friends!”
Koran frowned, but pressed on. “Lockship, if they gave up anything, if they had any info at all…you gotta think man. Who all knows, who knows where it’s at?”
Deconstruction- The Complete series Box Set Page 70