Chapter Twelve #2
I hit the scanner after the Bit and see the same room as Bravo’s Ops. There’s a flight deck but the toned-down version of virtual from SOAR. Their room is more than I’ll ever need.
Raid is on the board. “Brother, Falcon wants you on ABSZ. He’s got Prometheus and Zeus, Shadow and Seamus boarding choppers now. Get Havoc readied. Seamus is picking you up.”
“Roger, Boss.” I turn and bend to the Bit. “What’s your name, Brother?” No one gave me pictures for them.
“Elijah, Boss. From Phoenix ABSZ.” Web’s Club.
“Elijah, I’m glad you’re here. Can you get me intel on why I’m flying today and cancel my meets with the Presidents?”
“I have you back, VP. I can send to chat.”
I’m up. “Thanks, Brother.”
Havoc is in the hall. “Ops gear, Brother.”
He runs. I get to the locker room glad I got the chat that it’s stocked. “I’m just taking the gearbox; I’ll get you geared up on the chopper.”
He pulls his box toward the door. I get my jacket noticing it’s short an MP and hit my pieces on. “Ops, I need an MP and rounds.”
“Roger, VP. A Prospect will have it at the back pad for you.”
“Thanks.” I have no idea who is talking but it’s not a Bit.
I get to the door as Havoc is dragging the gearbox out. He’s not wasting time. “Let me get it. Back pad, Brother.” He runs on the side of me.
I stop at the end of the building while the chopper lowers.
A quick read of my chat has my heart stopping.
A deep breath has me clear and focusing on the job of getting close to the wherever my girl and Brothers were last seen.
Gripping his box tighter I’m ready. Havoc runs like he’s got the timing down and I have to give it to him.
He jumps getting a boost from the blades pulling air up and skids a good foot on the deck.
The flight crew laugh. I hand his box up and step in.
We’re rising without all the orders so I look for the logo. It’s Sentinel.
“Is Nash the pilot?”
The Lead shakes his head. “Hay-bale. The BSC Clubs are total chaos right now. Nash is flying for Ops. Phoenix, Bravo and Champion took hits. Honor just sent a whole unit over to the ABSZ. Cort, Ben Knight, his dad and uncle are there. I swear Badass Clubs just erupted all at once. Hay-bale shut down the Ops room back here. It was insane.”
I bet it was. Two POTs and two original legends. I shake my head. Ben Knight is POT of all Badass including international. Jesus. I pull my phone and sit. Havoc has it up on his board. His eyes meet mine. “You need your gear. Seamus, do we have a plan?”
He moves from the back so I can see him.
Shadow is readied. “Not yet. IT is spotty. Alder was dropped at Phoenix by Nash. He’s got their room up and is coding shit for the other Clubs.
Phoenix is a hub. Don’t ask me what that means.
He’s got other Clubs running through there.
At least one satellite is down or offline.
Maverick is moving shit because he’s another hub.
Kristos said he is but the airbase is down.
A Bit is coding there but I don’t know him. ”
Right, because they think Asa’s chopper was shot down. I breathe and get Havoc’s gear on.
Before I stand, Seamus has a hand on my shoulder. I throw him chin and stand. “No chair today?”
“I need to be there. Mase is on Ops Control for BSC and the Brother was half in flames just walking in. He’s staying for Pres but Pres didn’t know for how long that’s gonna last. Sentinel has Controls if it’s needed. Mase is a Prince Protector.”
Fuck. I nod. “Thanks for taking this.”
“Pres, VP.” The engineer moves so we can see Phoenix.
There’s a chopper burning behind Raid. I pull my eyes away from it and pin them on Raid. “The chopper is empty. There is no blood that the navy could see, no tracks, no tracking signals. They just vanished.” Just vanished.
Just vanished. I look at the chopper. “I need last seen and where that chopper is now.”
Just vanished. I turn to Seamus. “Can you get the K9’s to see if anything else was flying? A missile, something not identified?”
He looks at me and smiles. “Yeah, they’re chipped out of ABSZ.”
I scan the map Raid had someone put up. Last seen was about forty miles west of Bravo. “Hey, engineer, can you get Bravo Ops up.”
“It’s not up yet. I can get you the phone for Pres Falcon or VP Jack.”
“Whatever, get someone for me to ask questions.”
“Decker.”
That was fast. “Jack, it’s Hud Girard. Last flight tag you got was forty miles from you. Did you see it before the satellite went down?”
“I expected to but it never showed here. We had choppers up and someone had a near miss but it was a good ten miles east of us. That chopper didn’t have a flight plan for us but it was close so I figured it was transport.”
“What’s east of you?”
“Desert and canyon.”
Just vanished. “The chopper that’s down is Asa’s transport. Why would it be east of the ABSZ?”
“Good question, Brother. That’s a good seventy miles from us. Asa’s transport wasn’t logged to the ABSZ from what Amal said. Phoenix is a mess right now. Protectors that can are flying everywhere right now.” He’s building a head of steam.
“Brother, focus. Snag a Protector that’s not flying and ask them to follow the flight. I need what else was flying up there.”
“Jesus on a stick. Yeah, I’ll call Mucimi or Lucas.”
“Hey, call Logan Done from the new Club. He’s magic and probably free. Ask him what else was flying.”
“Thanks, Brother.” He’s gone.
I pocket my phone. “Havoc, can you see if drones were up?”
Just vanished means something, it keeps coming back to me. Desert and canyon.
The bark makes me jump. It’s weird in a chopper. Shadow and Havoc have boards up. “The drones?”
I move behind them and watch. “Son of a Bitch. The chopper went past the ABSZ. Elon, Champion and Bravo all have the new drones?”
Shadow barks once. “Okay, so the drones followed or went to a programmed spot and are with them. We need to find them; they’re not with the chopper and weren’t near it when it went down. Can anyone track where the drones were from each Club before the satellite went dark?”
Havoc barks. He’s not a barker so it’s weird.
Seamus laughs. “He’s got Elan just about at the center of the ABSZ.”
I pull a map up and draw a line to ten miles past Bravo. “Where were Champion drones?”
“Five miles north of the end of your line there. How did you know?”
“Just vanished. Alder said he’d send the drones for a kidnapping. They have the chameleon drones that would hide or whatever they do, they aren’t seen and they’d need a shit ton of them.”
“They pulled the other Club drones. That’s fuckin’ genius.” The engineer has us all nodding.
“Get Hay-bale to start S&R in that area. The search is too far north.”
I look for his chat and send LP a message. ‘Your drones camouflaged the crew and passengers.’
My phone rings. “Where?” LP talks less than me.
“We followed the last tags for the drones. He must have pulled them from all the Clubs here. We followed Bravo, Champion and Elan.”
“Phoenix five,” he whispers.
“We only checked the three. Hay-bale is going to start search and rescue over the target.”
“I tell VP Raid, Boss Ranger.”
He’s gone. I pocket my phone and move to the front so I can tell Hay-bale what I’m thinking. “Desert is hard with infrared but the drones have to be pulling energy, Brother.”
“I can’t run the search in infrared. I need a copilot for that.” Hay-bale is in a Blackhawk but not the X.
“We can run the infrared from engineer.” The Lead has me turning. “We can switch to SWIR.”
“Thanks, Brother. Technology hotspots in a desert should show.”
He assures me it will. I sit across from Seamus. “They’ll do infrared.”
He nods. Light is trying for an older Bravo drone. He said they have motion sensor capabilities. Zeus told him they have the first ones Copper made. The old stuff is coded to the Club for training, isn’t tracked and doesn’t have security for the hack, they’re meant for that training.”
The dogs and ol’ ladies are amazing. I hope mine is okay. I push on my chest just as my phone rings. “Girard.”
“It’s Logan and Jack, Hud. You’re close but they’re hidden for a reason. Something has them staying hidden. Can you get close to Prez from Princes or one of the Justice League?”
“I don’t know where they are.”
“At the east gate of the ABSZ.”
I look at Seamus. “East gate of ABSZ. We need to get to Ben Knight or a Justice League Brother.” He gives me a weird look. I shrug and point to the phone.
He’s up and I feel us lowering as Hay-bale turns the chopper around.
“We’re lowering and headed back to the gate. They’re hidden because a threat is close?”
“It feels that way. I’m trying to get a hold of Putam. He’s like his dad Jay.”
“I don’t know who that is. Light has a drone from Bravo up. It’s got the motion sensor capabilities.
“Fuck a duck. I’ll get a swarm of them going over the red target Pres just got.” The click must have been him swiping us off.
“Logan?” He’s gone too. I pocket my phone and stand seeing sand cliffs on the east side.
Bending to see out the window I see quonset barrack buildings.
This is the bases Alder said were not allowed on the ABSZ.
The chopper turns and lowers. As soon as we’re close enough, I open the door and jump.
Havoc is right with me. The mob at the gate turn and watch.
I go right to the Indian by Cort. “Logan said I need to get to you. The drones are hiding the crew and passengers. There’s a threat.” I look at Cort. “Jack has drones coming that have the motion sensors. Light got one that Copper made that should be here by now or over the target area.”
He smiles. “This is why you’re Liminal.”
I smile. “Roger Boss. Did Alder get you the target?”
“Yeah, but not what it’s for. We have nothing on tracking.”
“That’s why Logan said I need to be here. I guess it’s faster than telling you.” I look to the side. “He’s gone.”
Cort nods. “He does that.”