Chapter 9 #3
“I didn’t tell the drones to surveil the weather,” his friend admitted a bit sheepishly. “They’re set to watch for infected primarily and any vehicles coming our way.”
“Lucky we have Tamsyn to keep us from getting in trouble then. No problem but definitely add the weather to the program, would you? None of our briefings before we arrived on Randal Four indicated it was so variable but now we know.”
They all worked feverishly to secure the cargo containers.
By the time Jeff and two of his soldiers were battling to lay the camouflage netting over the flyer and making sure it was well tied down, the winds had begun gusting heavily.
Thunder rumbled in the near distance and big fat drops of rain splashed like rubber bullets.
“All right, that’s it,” Jeff yelled over the storm, testing the tiedown one last time. “Everybody in the house now.”
Dinner was waiting in the big dining room.
There was enough room for all of them at the table with chairs left over.
In ordering the top of the line modular house, Jeff made the assumption he and his team might end up hosting gatherings of the malcontents they’d been sent to infiltrate, and the large dining room was perfect.
Now it worked for the motley group he’d gathered along the way.
Tamsyn and Devora had cooked up a pasta dish and sides from various items left in the APC’s cargo compartments.
Jeff took his place at the head of the table and after a painful moment looking at Melly’s empty chair at the foot, he clinked his fork against his glass and raised it.
“A toast to our new home,” he said. “And also to the two lovely ladies who made this wonderful dinner.”
Everyone clinked glasses around the table and drank.
As the dishes began circulating along the line of diners, Jeff said, “I appreciate all the hard work the two of you put into getting the house organized and making dinner but going forward we need to make sure the work is shared equally on the team. Can you draw up a duty roster including all of us? I’ll give you my guard duty schedule for the team so you can take that into account. ”
“I’ll be happy to take the assignment,” Devora said. “I used to do the work schedules for the police force in Rosewater so I’m experienced at balancing requirements.”
“Thank you. I’ll give you the guard duty roster after dinner.”
“What’s Jenny’s job?” Mike asked from midway down the table. The little girl was seated between him and Devora, on a makeshift booster seat. Jeff watched her feed Buddy a long noodle and giggling as the dog slurped it up.
“If there’s something she can help with, I’m okay with it but that’s up to her mom,” Jeff said. “Otherwise her job is to be our resident sunshine.”
“Oh dear,” Devora said with a chuckle and a glance at the windows, where the storm could be seen buffeting the trees and sheets of rain were blowing sideways. “I’m afraid she’s not in control of the weather, captain.”
He tapped his chest, over his heart. “She brings the sunshine in here,” he said. “Hope for the future.”
Later that night, standing in his bedroom, listening to the wind howl and the thunder boom, he wished there was something he could do to soothe his aching heart but only Melly, safe and sound, could do that and they were far away from the day he could bring her to this sanctuary.
There was a knock at the door and he turned as Cody came in.
Glancing at the time, Jeff said, “What does Tamsyn think about you never sleeping?”
“She’s used to it. When things calm down a bit I can get back to taking all my allotted time in the rack but, boss, I’ve got news. The drones located the alien facility.”
Astonished, Jeff tensed. “In this storm?”
“Not storming up there, or else the storm already passed through. Let me show you.” Cody broadcast the holo into the empty space in the bedroom between himself and Jeff and both men watched as the drones flew above a small complex.
No effort had been made to camouflage the structures, which Jeff found surprising but he hoped the overconfident approach applied to all the Khagrish defenses.
“Bold choice not to hide anything,” he said.
“They must have been here before the outbreak started.”
“Yeah but with General Quantike as their sleeper agent, they likely had nothing to fear,” Cody replied. “He wasn’t going to let anyone discover them.”
The design was spartan, five wings extending from a small central hub.
There was a large, enclosed grassy space and Jeff tried to imagine the purpose for such a feature.
Would aliens bent on wiping out humanity on Randal Four have built themselves a playing field?
“Only one flyer?” he said, as the drone’s point of view shifted to the landing pad.
“Appears likely. I haven’t observed any offensive capability other than the one flyer.”
“And the will and the means to launch a lethal virus, don’t forget that,” Jeff said. “What do you think they’re doing here now we’re in a bad way? Passive observation?”
“Maybe. We’ll know more once it’s daylight and we can watch them move around the complex. I might even be able to get a drone or two inside.” Cody held up a hand. “No guarantees but I might be able to find Melly if she’s there. No way to communicate with her but at least we’d be sure.”
“How did you find this place so fast?” Jeff asked.
“Gave the drones the co-ordinates where the alien broadcast had transmitted from. There were a variety of places, some used more than once but none of them were at this place. But all of them were within roughly two hundred miles. I’m guessing they took the flyer out each time and sent their messages remotely. ”
“But sloppily enough to allow us to find their base. I like it.” Jeff grabbed his jacket off the chair and headed for the door.
“Hey, where are you going?” Cody caught his arm.
“Recon flight. Give me the co-ordinates.”
His friend tightened his grip on Jeff’s sleeve. “Are you crazy? In this weather? We never even had time to do the punchlist flight to make sure the damn flyer is fully operational. You’re sure not going to do it in the middle of a violent storm.”
As if to emphasize his point, the wind gusted and the howling was eerie.
Jeff hesitated for a minute, torn between his desire to get to Melly and the colder, analytical side of his brain telling him Cody was right on both counts. “First thing in the morning after the storm clears. We do the check ride and then we head up there.”
Cody relaxed at his grudging words and removed his hand. “Absolutely, boss. In the meantime the drones will be gathering more intel for us.”
“You’ll be my co-pilot. And get some sleep,” Jeff ordered as his friend left the room.
“That goes for you as well,” Cody replied with a big grin, pausing in the doorway. “You don’t have any nanobots to fall back on.”
Jeff glared at the closing door but his old comrade was right, he did need sleep.
Getting undressed, he threw himself on the big modular bed, which the ladies had made up with sheets and blankets earlier in the day.
When he closed his eyes, all he could see was Melly.
Her bright smile, her soft touch, her kisses…
her bravery under fire and when running from infected.
Hang in there, sweetheart, I’ll be there tomorrow.
When he woke the sun was making a valiant effort to shine through scudding clouds at the tail end of the storm and everything outside was soaked.
Jeff dressed hastily and went downstairs to grab a cup of synthcaff and a survival ration bar to eat, then moved outside to assess the day.
His men were already uncovering the flyer and Cody gave him a chin lift as he strolled over.
“We’ll be ready for the checkout flight in ten minutes,” he said.
“Did the drones gather anything new since we last talked?” Jeff asked.
“Starting to catch a few people moving around outside. I’m keeping a tally but so far the place doesn’t appear to be heavily staffed. Only a few guards. I did see a pen of infected in between two of the buildings.”
“Probably keeping them for research purposes,” Jeff guessed. “Abhorrent as that sounds.”
Ten minutes later, right on schedule, Jeff sat at the controls of the military issue flyer and he and Cody ran through a detailed checklist. All systems were nominal and functioning so he increased the power and took off, going up through the patchy clouds and breaking into pure sunlight.
Despite his pressing need to go north to see the place where Melly was being held with his own eyes, Jeff forced himself to stick to the approved punchlist for a newly assembled flyer and carried out the maneuvers and tests as Cody read them off.
Finally the list was done and the AI gave verbal agreement that the flyer was fully operational.
Jeff landed immediately and emerged from the flyer with his thumbs up as the small crowd of his team and civilians applauded.
“All right, we’re going to load ordnance now,” he said to his men.
“And then I’m taking Cody and Ryan with me to do a recon run on this facility he’s found.
I want the rest of you to maintain situational awareness but continue unloading the cargo containers according to the list I prepared and posted.
When I get back from this trip we’ll discuss next steps. Zach, you’re in charge.”
It took half an hour to make sure the flyer was fully equipped with all the weapons and bombs it was designed to carry and then Jeff, Cody and Ryan left the ground and soared into the sky, going north at great speed.
“What’s the plan?” Cody asked. “I’m assuming we don’t want to give away our presence by rushing to attack.”