Loyalty: Old Mans Comeback Book 5, page 16
“Incoming aircraft,” Gia said. “Possible reinforcements for the facility. Those are… odd. They have bladed propulsion. Four of them coming in for a landing. I believe we should inform Flip of this new arrival so he can plan accordingly. Also, we may want to fire on them before they get into the facility.”
“Can we stun them with our weapons? Nonlethal shots on unarmored people…”
“Logs show you’ve done it here before.”
“We were far more desperate,” Sorsha said. “But okay…” She grabbed the controls for the weapon, then triple checked to ensure they were set to stun. “I’m ready.”
“Maneuvering for a firing solution.”
Tactical brought the flying objects online. She could’ve started shooting them already, though the vehicles seemed fragile, not to mention extremely dangerous. A crash in one of those would likely be fatal to everyone onboard.
“How many people are in those things?” Sorsha muttered while running a scan. “Thirty-two!” She tapped the comm. “Flip, you have incoming. Lots of reinforcements. We’ll take care of them for you, but just a heads-up. You’ll hear a big gun.”
No response came back.
“Ugh, are you serious?” Sorsha sighed. “Gia, what’s happening with the comms? Why didn’t he reply?”
“Comm went through,” Gia said. “If they’re engaged, they might not be able to reply.”
“How many?” Torma shouted.
“Oh! Hi! Um… thirty-two?”
“What?” Torma practically screamed the word. “You gotta do something! That’s more than we’re dealing with here! And I guarantee they’re actual soldiers.”
“Yeah, we think so too. I’m on it. Be safe down there. Why didn’t Flip answer?”
“He’s busy,” Torma said. “Gotta go!”
“I hope they’ve got this…” Sorsha gripped the weapon controls tightly. Her finger rested on the trigger as the vehicles each landed in a line, with their sides toward the busted down front door. “Here goes…”
The weapons discharged, sending beams cascading down on the vehicles. Sparks exploded into the air as the rotors stopped. The few people who had already disembarked collapsed to the ground. A few more managed to stumble away from their vessels, though they didn’t make it more than a dozen paces before dropping.
Sorsha checked the scanner. They were still alive, though a few that had been aboard the vehicles suffered some minor injuries. The kind that would likely require some medical assistance.
“Don’t they have communications?” Sorsha asked. “We should be tapped into their command-and-control personnel.”
“I have been trying to get through,” Gia said. “Since we arrived, I’ve been working out their protocols. It’s prehistoric by comparison. Much like what Cade did to avoid the Mahshi picking up his comms. Though I think I have what we need. The integration I created using Jake’s device might get us through.”
“Good. Hurry! We need to know if they’re going to send more soon!”
“They will,” Gia said, “it’s only a matter of when and how many. I’m afraid our friends are on a timeline.”
“You hear that, Torma? You gotta pick up the pace!” Sorsha inhaled sharply as she heard other voices pipe through the speakers, a calm woman issuing orders. They talked about readying another chopper, this time with air support. “What does air support mean if not those things?”
“Something faster,” Gia replied. “Perhaps with better weapons and armor. We’ll need to be prepared. Gaining altitude for a better view of the site.”
Scans picked up two incoming ships, both extremely fast. They breezed by the area, then looped around. Comms picked up their chatter as they reported back, stating the strike forces were down. “All choppers are offline. No sign of an attacker, over.”
“Be advised, a second wave is incoming. Be on the lookout for an airborne perpetrator in your area, over.”
“I don’t have anything on radar, over.”
Sorsha tapped her foot. “The Barrier’s working well, it seems.”
“Really?” Gia scoffed. “My apologies, but with their primitive equipment, we didn’t need the Barrier. We could’ve simply jammed it with a rush of garbage data. Frankly, the fact that vehicle is moving so fast makes no sense. They shouldn’t be capable of building something like that.”
“Perhaps it’s extremely dangerous to operate.”
“Certainly,” Gia said. “It has no field defenses. What few countermeasures it possesses are useless against anything other than a select few items. At least, that’s what I’m gathering from scans. The Kultarin Empire dominated cultures like this in a matter of days. And it only took so long because they had so many people.”
“Got it, you’re not feeling very charitable.”
“I hope many of them have the spirit of Flip. And they must to have survived for so long.” Gia paused. “They are keeping additional forces at a two-mile radius. We’ve bought them some time. But they need to take advantage of it.”
“Anyone,” Sorsha said, “whatever you’re doing down there, you need to do it faster. We’re accruing more forces, and there are strange vehicles looking for the Ilsin. Make haste. I don’t know how many times we should be firing turrets, all things considered.”
She didn’t get a response.
“Again?” Sorsha slapped the seat. “I swear, we have amazing communication software, and there’s nothing really capable of messing with our signals. Why aren’t they working?”
“This planet is a mess,” Gia said. “The information floating around is stifling. I honestly don’t know how they’re unaffected by the constant barrage of information being blasted all over the place.”
“They must have acclimatized to it.” Sorsha turned to the tactical screen. Her people had not moved from the last time she checked. “Oh, I do hope they’re still conscious. If they aren’t… I don’t know what we’re going to do.”
“Vital signs show they are alive. Their opponents are numerous. They’ll need to think of something, or become far more daring, if they want to break through the enemy line. I’ll continue to reach out to them with a warning.”
“Do that.” Sorsha leaned back, trying to remain calm. Her heart raced in her chest. The faster vehicles were the kind she did not want to have to shoot at. That would most certainly kill a pilot. But if they started doing flybys, particularly when they were ready to load the Box, she might not have a choice.
Things were coming to a head. And as they suspected, they needed to move quickly. The enemy would be all over the facility soon, forcing her hand. Which looked more and more probable with every passing moment.
Chapter 23
VasCorp HQ apartment in Los Angeles
Terrence Morley
The phone woke Terrence from a dead sleep. He sat upright, sweat making the sheets cling to his chest. He struggled to get free from them, then hit the button to answer the call. The screen said unknown.
“This better not be a scam,” Terrence muttered. “Who the hell is this?”
“Captain Whitby. We have a problem.”
Terrence stiffened. Whitby oversaw some of their efforts with the strange Box they took from the museum after their alien encounter. He also helped get the Pentagon to let VasCorp continue to work on the project. His connections with the authorities made it easier to gloss over their part in the escape of the alien.
“Go ahead.”
“Someone’s attacked our Nevada facility,” Whitby replied. “Blew the doors away, then a number of people infiltrated the area. We sent in a strike team to back them up. When their lines went dead, I sent in an interceptor. They’re all down. Maybe dead, I don’t know.”
“How? Who did it? Do we have any sort of security footage? Anything at all?”
“Not at this time. But considering local reports we’ve received of blue lights on the horizon, I’d be willing to bet we’ve got another visitor.”
“Or the same one.” Terrence clenched his fist. They hadn’t learned anything special about the Box. The scientists requested the opportunity to break it down in order to learn more. That request had been denied, so they continued doing what they could without damaging it.
Terrence wished they’d done it without asking at that point. If some alien being took the thing, he’d certainly be held accountable. Then he’d be out of a job or in prison, depending on how frisky they felt about his incompetence.
“We need to contain this,” Terrence said, “not matter what it takes.”
“I could bury that item, sir,” Whitby replied. “Hit that station with everything we’ve got.”
“You can’t find the aliens? Last I checked, they had some kind of rock thing.”
“Whatever they’re doing, we have not detected them. And if they have the capacity to put more than thirty men down without even one of them getting a message back to us, then I’m not sure we’ve got what it takes to face them.”
“So what do you think burying the sarcophagus is going to do?”
“Take away their reason for being here. Surely, they don’t think they can stay here for too long.”
“What makes you so sure if they did what you said? And how have we not picked up anything about that damn thing? We should already know what it does, and have some idea of why they want it!”
“Scientists think it might have had cultural significance.”
“Really.” Terrence huffed. “You’ve gotta be kidding me right now. You think some random creature is going to fly millions of light years just to grab something they’re a little nostalgic about? C’mon, man. Don’t be an ass. There’s a reason they’re here. Twice! I want to know what it is!”
“We’ve been trying, sir,” Whitby said, “but right now, that’s not the problem. They’ve come back for the trinket, and they seem determined to get their—”
“I know, I know.” Terrence rubbed his forehead. “What would it take to bury the site?”
“A lot of bombs.”
“And the people? I assume you’re suggesting you don’t mind the idea of leaving them down there too?”
“If they’re lucky, they’ll survive long enough for us to get them out. Naturally, we’ll excavate to get the sarcophagus back.”
“Naturally.” Terrence flopped on the bed. “Listen, I’m going to throw myself together. I want a breach plan to stop them. Pull out all the stops. I don’t care what it costs or takes, find that alien ship. It’s around there somewhere! And get me enough firepower to fend it off. One way or another, we’re keeping what’s ours.”
“I’ll do the best I can.”
“Do better. And call me if anything changes.” Terrence hung up. Since the alien incident, he had worked hard to find a way to avoid talking about what happened. He had put his time and energy into controlling other situations. Offering discounts. Making amends.
Now, it was happening again. Though at least this time, it wouldn’t be quite as damning. Though he assumed if they had to destroy the facility or lost the sarcophagus, they’d still be in trouble.
Terrence jumped to conclusions with the possibility he might find himself in prison. That seemed a little less likely. However, he didn’t have many chances left. Some of the politicians he worked with suggested he was on his third chance. Which seemed terribly unfair.
His people did the best they could. One of them lost their lives over it. But that was one of the challenges involved in running a company like VasCorp. Someone had to be a scapegoat. And it just so happened he fit the bill.
Far too often. And Whitby wouldn’t be a good fall guy. He had better connections than Terrence in the right places. No, if something went down hard, the captain would make it out just fine.
VasCorp’s reputation dangled by a string. Terrence tried to put a positive spin on the situation. He had another chance to bring the aliens to heel, to show the government that they could get things done. Never mind the fact the creatures came to them. That wouldn’t matter.
No, he’d use this opportunity to prove himself again. And when they brought alien tech to the government, they’d be back at the top of their game. People would stop doubting them. Debts could be erased. And Terrence Morley would finally get his.
Even if that meant losing several human lives in the process. That’s what they signed up for. And after all, he had no problem making such a sacrifice. It was all for the good of the human race.
That counted for something.
Chapter 24
VasCorp Facility, Nevada
Raymond “Flip” Kinnely
Security forces moved in tandem with solid coordination. One set came from below, the other from above. Flip made a call to charge the lower, to advance while firing. He came around the way, laying down a quick burst from left to right. The confined space made it easy to score hits, knocking out four of his opponents.
On the opposite side, weapon fire continued, both conventional projectiles and energy weapons. A couple of the bolts came his way, splashing against the wall above him. A man screamed on the stairs above Flip.
“Thanks,” Flip said, “you guys have your side under control?”
“Getting better,” Torma replied. “We’re nearing the bottom floor.”
“I’ve got some catching up to do.” Flip picked up the pace. He found himself on the second to the last set of stairs when the door opened beside him. A full burst struck his side. He threw himself backward, slamming into the rail.
His enthusiasm took him over the edge, though he narrowly grabbed hold of the floor before plummeting the rest of the way down. The drop was likely twelve feet. With the shields, he wouldn’t suffer a serious injury, though he had hoped to avoid a fall.
As the person who shot him advanced, he didn’t have a lot of choices. Letting go, he fell for longer than anticipated. Upon landing, he allowed himself to collapse, then rolled away from the area, onto the platform that acted as the massive elevator.
“I see you!” Torma shouted, “we’re almost there.” They opened up, laying down suppressive fire on the area above him.
Jake grabbed his shoulder, then dragged him to his feet. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” Flip moved closer to the wall. “Get some cover.” He took a moment to observe the area. A door directly to their right, which would’ve been opposite the entrance, stood closed. “Gia, Sorsha, we’ve gotta be close to the Box. Check our position and give me an update, please.”
Torma said, “We took down at least ten people on the way down.”
“I got several as well,” Flip replied. “I’m guessing there aren’t many left. People sleeping might grab some guns, but we should be good to go.”
“That wasn’t so bad.” Jake bounced on the balls of his feet. “Of course, without these shields, I think I would’ve been dead four times over.”
“Yeah,” Flip said. “Hurts like hell too, right?”
“Definitely.” Jake chuckled. “Not as bad as I thought it would though. Or maybe it’s just that I’ve been shot in a vest plenty of times to know what it could be like. You know, one time, I was laid up for being shot in the leg for nearly—”
“Sorry to interrupt,” Gia piped in, “but you are close to the Box. On the opposite side of the door. It does have a security access code. The database is pathetic. I’ll transmit you the code now. Please utilize your helmet to see the digits they have used.”
“Thanks.” Flip snorted. “Human encryption offends, I guess.”
“If you can call it that,” Gia said. “Though they do try. And considering what I’ve seen of your work so far, I can understand they are doing their best. For now, you had best move. Our suspicion is they are planning another assault. They may push us to cause extensive damage to their vehicles or people.”
“Got it.” Flip turned to the others. “Cover me while I put that code in, huh?”
“I’ll do the code,” Jake said. “I trust your aim with these rifles better. And I see blips on the scanny thing. Whatever you want to call it. Uh… eleven o’clock.”
“Got it,” Torma moved out to the center of the room, aiming up the stairs. He fired a single shot. “He’s done.”
“Nice shot.” Flip watched the other direction. The majority of the people left in the facility were on the other side of the big door. They were scattered about in various rooms, likely places they stayed in while they conducted their research. “Guys… I have a concern.”
“Can’t talk,” Jake muttered, “I hate long sequences of numbers.”
“Why’d you…” Flip shook his head. “Never mind. Sorsha, does the Box appear to be intact?”
