I turned slowly in a compact circle surveying the hangar and my surroundings. When I couldn’t discern anymore danger I moved to the hangar’s door and motioned for Phyl to enter. I moved back to the dead Collectivus soldiers and examined a strange mechanism on the floor. I had no idea what it was, but it didn’t look like anything I have seen before. I decided to try and ask Quashay. I closed my eyes and concentrated on my friend, calling out his name. I felt a tug in the middle of my head and then a voice answered.
“Dan are you okay?”
“I am okay, but I wanted to know if you have ever seen a piece of equipment before. I can describe it.”
“No need to describe it Dan, open your eyes and release control to me.”
I opened my eyes and relaxed letting Quashay take over for a moment. “I am not sure, but that looks like a particle accelerator matter collider.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“Yes Dan. It takes subatomic particles from its environment and accelerates them to a high speed. Once they reach a determined velocity, they are flung at each other. When they collide, they create an explosion. Sorry, not an explosion, I meant implosion.”
“Like a black hole?”
“Exactly. Except this one only has a very short life. It will suck everything within a mile into its well. When it reaches critical mass, it kind of burps and throws all the matter back out. I have seen it go off once, it was not a pretty sight, no one in the effective radius can escape its destructive power.”
“What should I do with it?”
“Nothing don’t touch it. Leave it alone.”
“I can’t just leave it here for someone to accidently activate it. I guess I’ll hide it.”
“Okay, but please do not touch the controls.”
“Thank you Quashay.”
“You are welcome, now I must be going. We will soon be commencing our plan to get Kell out.”
“Wonderful news. I look forward to hearing from you soon.”
I felt a tapping on my shoulder and turned to take in Phyl. She was looking down at me with a concerned look on her face.
“I am fine Phyl, no worries. I need to move this thing carefully and hide it. See any place?”
“What is it?”
“Do you really want to know? Or do you prefer to understand that it’s really bad news?”
Phyl turned and jogged away looking for a perfect spot to hide the four feet long by two feet cylindrical device. I tested its weight, lifting it a bit off the ground. It was heavy but nothing I hadn’t lifted before.
“Sir, I found a good place.”
I turned to find Phyl standing by a second broken-down Apache. She had the cowling of one of the engines open and a quirky smile on her lips. I lifted the black hole bomb, grunting as my back protested the weight of it. I grimaced as I steadied myself on my leg and prosthesis, finding my balance. I made my way over to Phyl and peeked inside the engine cowling. It was an empty space; the engine was missing. I tried to lift the bomb over my head to insert it into the cowling but couldn’t call upon enough strength. Phyl realized my difficulty and reached over with both hands and pushed with all her five-foot-five one-hundred-thirty pounds. It was just enough to help me place it inside. We put it on the engine mounts and took a moment leaning against the Apache’s frame catching our breath. Phyl took out a couple of tools from a nearby rolling chest and bolted down the cowling, securing it from prying eyes.
“No one is ever gonna look in there. I guarantee it,” Phyl threw me a wink as she put the tools down, she had been using.
“Good work,” I turned and made my way back to the entrance of the hangar and risked a quick glance outside.
Finding the coast clear I moved outside, raising my HK416 to the ready position. Phyl stayed three feet behind me copying my movements. We crept to the next hangar stopping at the closed doors. I turned to Phyl and hunched my shoulders. She rolled her eyes at me and used her index and middle of finger of her right hand to direct me to the side of the hangar. I followed her as she led us to a side door, and a ladder bolted to the side of the metal building. Phyl reached out to open the door when I put my hand on her shoulder and pulled her back. She turned around and gave me a “what the fuck” look. I pointed to the ladder and then up to the windows set up high. I had never seen a military hangar with windows.
“What’s the plan?” she asked softly.
“I am going to climb that ladder and take a peek through those windows,” I pointed up again.
“This hangar is one of the oldest on the base been around since world war two. If I remember right those windows open outward. Inside is a catwalk that encircles the entire hangar.”
“Excellent, stay here and cover that door. I’m going up.”
“I’ll hide behind those water containers,” she pointed to the four blue plastic barrels.
I nodded, slid my rifle behind me tightening the strap holding it, and reached out to the ladder. I started climbing and soon was halfway up, about sixty feet. I continued till I reached the windows. I threaded an arm through the rungs and craned my neck to see through the glass. They were yellow and dusted over, making it almost impossible to see through. This plan was failing in record time. I reached inside my combat vest and pulled one of my Karambits. I pressed the blade under the window and started prying. The window wouldn’t budge, and I was getting pissed off. I took a deep breath and leaned back examining the windows to the left and right. One seemed open a bit, not much more than a centimeter or so. The problem was it was the furthest away from my present position to my left about six feet away. I swung to the left of the ladder letting my prothesis hold me up, and my right hand to keep me in place. With my left I stretched out and slid the Karambit inside the open seam. I pried back and forth till the window opened to a couple of inches. Just wide enough for my fingers to reach inside. The window was about four feet wide and could fit my entire body in, if I found a way to get to it.
I pulled myself fully back to the ladder and put my Karambit away. I continued to stare at the window coming up with plan after plan only to throw each one away. I then examined the three-inch-wide lip that channeled water away from the side of the hangar. I placed my fingertips against the window’s lip and tested to see how strong it was by pulling down on it. It resisted my efforts, but I could tell it wasn’t strong enough for what I was planning. But it was the only plan I could come up with that could possibly work.
I checked my gear and made sure it was secured and strapped in. I took a deep breath and reached out with my left hand. I grasped the ledge and swung my body out. It held but started bending from all my weight. I quickly grasped on with my right hand and shimmied over to just under the opened window. Once there, I had to quickly game out my next move, all while my shoulders and forearms burned with the weight, I was putting on them.
I lifted my good leg up and planted the flat of my boot against the metal wall stabilizing myself. My thigh cried out from the effort, but I pushed that pain to the back of my mind and ignored it. I pulled with my arms doing a fingertip pull up and brought my chest up equal with the window. Holding myself with my right hand I let go with my left and pushed the window up more. My fingers on my right hand screamed out in protest with what I was doing to them. I was able to open the window almost a foot and was stopped by their hinges. I threw my left hand into the opening and placed my elbow inside and clamped my arm down holding myself in place. I took in a deep breath; I was starting to hyperventilate from all the exertion. I relaxed my right hand shaking it to loosen a cramp that had started to let itself be known. I risked a glance down and could see Phyl looking up at me. I waved at her and then reached inside with my right hand. I pulled as hard as I could using my foot to help push and pull myself inside. I collapsed down on the catwalk lying on my back and tried to bring my breathing back down to a normal pace. It then occurred to me that the Collectivus could have soldiers up here patrolling the catwalks. I rolled over and gained my feet under me.
Once I was standing, I pulled my HK416 around to the front and checked to make sure I still had a round chambered. I bent over and started moving heel to toe checking for guards. The catwalk was empty, I went to the railing and looked down to the floor far below. The scene I witnessed sucked my breath away. A group of service men and woman sat in a circle. I quickly counted them all coming up with seventy-three. They were being guarded by forty Faquids armed with their big pulse energy rifles. I watched the interaction between the humans and Faquids as three men surrounded a black woman, her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail, her hands balled into fists resting on her hips as she bent over slightly at her waist and argued with the largest Faquid. The woman seemed to be the one in charge of the servicemen, she had the bearing of a high-ranking officer who had come up from the ranks. She looked as if she could take out two Faquids on her own if she was given a chance. The men standing at her sides acted like they were trying to get her to calm down and back down from the Faquid. She was having none of it as the Faquid moved in closer to her. I couldn’t hear the words but could tell this was gonna end badly if I didn’t get involved soon.
I retreated to the windows and activated my radio. I spoke quietly shielding my mouth by cupping my hand around the microphone. “All teams converge on hangar nineteen right. I have a count of seventy-three of our brothers and sisters about to get their shit handed to them by forty Faquids. Phyl meet the teams and show them to the ladder. Over.”
Five clicks answered me as I made my way to the stuck window over the ladder and got to work trying to pry it open. After a couple of minutes of using my Karambit I finally got it open. I pushed on the window as it swung all the way open and found big Bri staring at me. He gauged the window and shook his head.
“No way Jose, I’m never going to be able to get through this little opening.”
“You need to stop eating those fucking donuts big boy. Okay, I want you to get off my ladder and send up Heaven and Apache. Once they are up, send up Phyl. I have a plan for her.”
“I don’t eat donuts Boss; I eat irritating little men named Dan.”
“You want to eat me? Dude that’s kinky, we will revisit this later. Now get off my fucking ladder.”
Bri threw me the bird and worked his way down the ladder. I stuck my head out and watched him relay the orders to Apache, Heaven, and Phyl. Heaven was the first to climb up the ladder and shimmy through the window. I took him to the far side of the catwalk and pointed out the Faquid below. He pulled his rifle up and took a bead on the largest Faquid that was arguing with the black woman.
“If that Faquid makes a move to hurt anyone, put a round in its head.” I spoke softly to Heaven. Heaven nodded his head slightly and settled in looking down the scope.
I moved back to the window and found Apache and Phyl waiting for me. I looked over to Phyl and gave her a small smile. “Feel like doing something for me?”
She gave me a wary look and then nodded. “Yes sir.”
“I need a message passed along to our friends down below.”
“How would I do that?” She stopped talking and then closed her eyes and shook her head. “You want me to get taken and put in with the others huh?”
“You are a smart woman.”
“Okay,” she shrugged out of her combat vest and handed over her pistol.
“Tell the black woman down there to be ready when we open fire.” I explained.
Phyl moved over to the catwalk and looked down. “That is Lieutenant Colonel Tasha Lowery. She is probably the strongest and toughest officer I have ever worked with. I feel bad for the Collectivus if she gets pissed enough. She has the guts and will to fight them all.”
“She looks like that kind of woman. I can’t wait to meet her.”
Phyl moved to the window and then disappeared through it. I pulled Apache aside and explained to her what our plan was. She moved off to fill Heaven in on the plan as I radioed down to Bri and Johnson. When everyone had been filled in on my plan, I made my way around the catwalk and to the interior stairs leading down to the floor. I checked my magazine again; it was still full. I slapped it back into the well and checked the chamber again. Every time I was about to go into battle, I got this OCD thing. I checked and rechecked my weapons, but I believed being sure was better than being surprised.
I brought the HK416 to my shoulder and used the Trijicon ACOG scope to pick out my first and second targets. Heaven and Apache had been on my team in Malleus for a while now and knew how I wanted takedowns done. Heaven was our best sharpshooter and would be assigned to take down the leadership of the Faquids. That left the flank sides of the Faquids keeping watch on our brothers and sisters to be dealt with. Apache moved silently to the far side of the catwalk where she could see me and the enemy under me. I could see her and the enemy below her. We would concentrate on taking them out, using our crossfire, while Johnson and Bri would assault the big front doors which were behind the entire Faquid force. I worked through my targets over and over fixing each one and their positions in my mind. I settled in and waited for Phyl to make her move.
A side door slammed close, startling the Faquids. Two moved off with their weapons up toward the door, where they found a huddled Phyl with her hands up, her hair disheveled. She had taken the time to shed her weapons and make herself look like she had been on her own for a while. One of the Faquids grasped Phyl’s wrists behind her back and marched her to the rest of the prisoners. As she reached them, she was stopped by the lead Faquid as he spoke to her. Their voices were loud enough for me to hear them all the way up in my perch.
“Who are you and where have you been hiding?” The lead Faquid growled as he grasped her chin and forced her head up to him.
I could see the pain in Phyl’s eyes through my scope and felt bad for her. My scoped moved onto the Faquid’s forehead and lingered there as my finger slipped into the trigger guard. I was two pounds away on my weapon’s ultralight trigger pull from ending the Faquid’s life and painting his brains all over his companion’s face. That was until Phyl spoke aloud.
“I hid two hangars over when the base was taken but got hungry so came out. I would rather be a prisoner than die of starvation.” Phyl moved her gaze directly to me for a half a heartbeat.
The Faquid tossed Phyl back onto the ground and at Tasha’s feet. Two men bent down to check her over when Tasha started to move toward the lead Faquid. Phyl grabbed her ankle and stopped her. Tasha let herself be stopped and dropped to her knee. I could see Tasha’s face muscles twitch as she took in the info Phyl was relaying to her. Tasha patted Phyl on the shoulder and stood tall, her back, ram rod straight. She pulled another officer next to her over and whispered orders to him. When she was done, she pushed him away, so he could alert the Sergeants of the group. She looked up to the catwalk and found me easily. I showed her five fingers and then clenched my fist and showed five more fingers. She slowly nodded once and moved over to one of the Faquids.
I activated my radio and called on it to the team. “Plus, nine minutes. We go on Heaven’s first shot. Catwalk will take down the Faquids who are guarding the prisoners. Bri and Johnson you two come in through the main door and secure an exit for our people down there. Everyone understand their roles?”
A round of clicks came over the radio as each member broke squelch. We were now at six minutes till Heaven took the first shot. I glassed the guards and recognized that the prisoners were aligning themselves near Faquid guards but keeping their distances. Tasha had trained her people to be fearless. I reorganized my order of targets to match the priority of threats.
I rested my scope on the Faquid next to Tasha and waited, breathing slow and readying myself for the shot. As Heaven’s shot broke the silence my finger tightened on the trigger as the HK bucked against my shoulder. Just as my rifle fired, I heard another shot. That one was Apache opening up. I cycled through two more guards before they realized they were under attack. I never got to see the lead Faquid go down under Heaven’s f
irst shot, but I imagined he hit the thing in its forehead direct center. My shots took down a Faquid with every pull of the trigger. As they fell Tasha’s men and women moved in to secure their weapons. Suddenly loud booms echoed through the hangar as Johnson and Bri burst in firing their tactical shotguns. The hangar became a carnal house of dead bodies and spilled body fluids in a heartbeat. I paused a second from firing and took my eye from the scope to survey how the whole battle was going. The humans were retreating following Bri and Johnson’s orders. A small contingent of men surrounded Tasha and fired at the Faquids, as they moved back to join forces with Bri and Johnson.
I put my eye back to my scope and surveyed the failing line the Faquids were trying to secure. Two of the Faquids who wore the badge and had the smaller stature of officer’s, Quashay had informed me of. I looked like they were in charge and trying to rally the troops. I put my scope on one of their chests and fired, the bullet entered the Faquid and knocked it back, but it wouldn’t go down as it stepped back and then raised its head up toward me, when a hole appeared in its forehead as a voice came over my radio.
Quantum Theorem Page 11