It's Hell To Choose (The Kurtherian Gambit Book 9) (24 page)

>>Bethany Anne, I am intercepting commands to the fighter jets to do a strafing run on the ships.<<

What will that do with the gravity engines?

>>Nothing, except the expended munitions will go somewhere.<<

Aw…shit!

Bethany Anne jumped on the radio, “This is Black Eagle One, repeat - This is Black Eagle One. These idiots are going to strafe the ships. Those bullets are liable to go ‘anywhere’ in the local area. Unless you can take a few 30mm rounds to your helicopters and shrug it off, I’d suggest backing off. You cannot land on those ships, the technology will not let you. Please heed this warning!”

Sure enough, Erika noticed the four Mirage jets turning in towards the ships.

How did they know this was going to happen? Stacia already had their helicopter turning sharply and slightly ‘up’.

“Why are we going up?” Erika asked.

“30mm rounds are heavy, they aren’t going to fly ‘up’ against gravity too far” she replied. “At least, I hope not” she amended.

She watched the video from Matias as the four jets attacked the three ships. She could see the sparks as bullets hit something near the ship. One of the jets, heading in their direction from the pass suddenly started smoking.

“You dipshits” the lady called out, “your ricochets have damaged your own plane!”

Erika turned her head to watch as the aircraft continued past them. It angled back towards land.

“Dammit. If you keep this shit up, I will be forced to respond. I will NOT allow you to hurt the people on those ships.”

“You will land those ships…” he started to say.

Bethany Anne tuned this idiot out and called on their private line, “Jeffrey, everyone good over there?”

“Fine,” Jeffrey came back, “all of the rounds hit the bubble and bounced off. We didn’t even suffer a reduction in power. These engines might be a tad over-engineered.”

The two of them heard Marcus come on the line, “There is no such thing as ‘over-engineered’ when you are building the first of its kind to go to the asteroid belt!”

Bethany Anne replied, “Agreed Marcus, now close down your connection unless I ask for it.”

“Mayday, Mayday!” A new voice came online, “I’ve lost engine power.”

“Squad ‘A’ go!” Bethany Anne ordered, and four of the standard Pods pulled out of formation and started tearing after the jet which had left earlier. The other four spread themselves out to close the gaps.

“We've got to go!” Stacia pulled the helicopter in a turn to take them back towards land, “I’ll head in the direction of the mayday, but I’m shaving it close with fifteen minutes of extra fuel to get back.”

Erika nodded her head.

Erika noticed that the three remaining Mirage’s finally turned towards the Mayday signal, and the large platforms were starting to substantially increase their altitude.

“Black Eagle One, this is A-1, we have a French Mirage in tow, where would you like it to be delivered?”

“Hold one, I want to see this!” an excited female's voice came back.

Erika noticed two of the Fighter Pods tear off from the ships and pass them by like they were sitting still.

In a few seconds, the radio came back on, “Damn guys, that’s impressive. Is the pilot ok?”

“Yes Black Eagle One, we have a thumbs up from him inside. Apparently, all electronics went dead shortly after his mayday message.”

“Well, I’d ask Captain Stick-up-his-Butt, but I don’t trust him or whoever is giving him orders. So, let me tell you where I want you to place this Mirage like-a-baby-in-a-crib…”

Erika smiled. While she didn’t know ‘who’ the leader was, she had to admire her style.

Because, leaving a plane with a rescued pilot right at the Eiffel Tower, which was built to commemorate the French Revolution, the 1889 World’s Fair, and as a nod to the great scientific movement which preceded its creation was genius.

This lady had just thumbed her nose at France and reminded them of their previous history of altruism and dedication to the sciences.

Someone in the government, Erika was sure, was about to receive a major ass-chewing.

The Dark Web

>>luckyu11 - ADAM, are you there?

>>MyNam3isADAM - Yes lucky, I am.

>>luckyu11 - We’ve broken the codes for the Chechen computer hacks, and it doesn’t look pretty. We think we have found chatter talking about attacking another school and killing children.

>>MyNam3isADAM - Please, drop me the data and I will take it to a group I know can help.

>>luckyu11 - INTERPOL? We don’t want to get on their radar.

>>MyNam3isADAM - No, not INTERPOL. Better.

>>luckyu11 - Who?

>>MyNam3isADAM - I can’t share, but trust me, if this is happening then there WILL be a response. And Lucky?

>>luckyu11 - Yes?

>>MyNam3isADAM - Thank you. If those children have a chance, it is because of you and your team, surely.

>>luckyu11 - Just get your ass going and tell your friends, ok?

>>MyNam3isADAM - I already have. Let the group know, there WILL be an effort to protect the kids.

>>luckyu11 - I will, thx…

Eiffel Tower - Paris, France

Bethany Anne was watching as the four pods worked with the computers to gently set the Mirage on the vast outer area with the thousands of tourists watching.

“Eat this, you fucking liars…” she started speaking to no one in particular.

>> Bethany Anne, we have another issue.<<

What? Are they sending more planes?

>>No, I have intel that confirms there are Chechens preparing an attack on a school.<<

Fuck my life, really? Is this connected to us?

>>Not that I can tell at the moment, but it could be due to a lack of global press on their efforts. So, they are going to do something dramatic to get international news focus.<<

Ok, let me think about this for a second.

Bethany Anne watched as the four Pods gravitated back away from the Mirage and the pilot was able to pop his hatch. Several male tourists went over to help him get out of the jet.

When the pilot was on the ground, the four Pod’s went up to about forty feet, then rapidly accelerated away.

ADAM, show me a map. TOM, take us back.

Bethany Anne didn’t notice Paris quickly fading away behind her as she studied the information in front of her.

Shit, that's on the other side of Turkey. When is this supposed to occur?

>>I’ve reviewed the ‘chatter’, and it looks like they are preparing to hit in the morning.<<

Ok, how many combatants?

>>The information doesn’t confirm a number. The Beslan School event information from 2004 suggests approximately thirty-two to forty-two.

So, more than me and… Yeah, I don’t want Michael involved in this one, I’m just getting his sociopathic ass settled down. Get me Akio.

A stilted voice speaking English with a Japanese accent came over the line. “Yes, my Queen?”

“Akio, get the Elite prepared. I need you guys to help take out a group wanting to attack a school. We need to take them out, quietly. Expect to be picked up in twenty minutes or less. Bring the sword.”

“Hai.”

When it rains, it fucking pours, she thought.

Route 70, Colorado

Boris watched the nicely equipped bus pass down the road as he waited at a small gas station. He pulled out his phone and texted ‘Passed’.

He went into the station and paid in cash. His job was to be the back door and follow the bus once it was taken down.

Up ahead, there was a fake Colorado State Patrol vehicle that would pull over the bus and then the team would jump on, keep everyone in their seats and drive the bus to the protected area.

The holding location was as good as Phillip had suggested. Perhaps better. The exit area allowed someone to walk out, drive out, or enter the sewers. The building also had a walkway on the third floor which crossed to another building. The second building had an exit into the sewers in their basement as well.

That was the exit Boris was planning to use.

The plane trip up to the states had gone fine. While most of the team enjoyed the comradery, they gave Boris a wide berth. His headaches were worse recently, and he was on a short fuse. These headaches had been happening for the last few years, but recently they had been damn near overwhelming at times. He noticed the sudden jump in pain was within the timeframe of the TQB efforts to go to the moon if you assumed they did some testing before the ‘world reveal’ when they went into space. The technology was the only thing he had to go on, at the moment. With his physiology, nothing should be causing him pain like this.

Walking back out to the car, he moved the napkin to his left hand and used it to open the door. Getting in, he set his peanuts in the other seat and started the car. Leaving at a sedate pace, he turned onto the road and followed Interstate 70 towards town.

In ten minutes, he slowed to review the location where the takedown was supposed to occur, he had heard no calls on his channel, so no one needed him. He noticed a large set of tire tracks off the side of the road a couple of hundred yards past the estimated location. Boris considered the driver might not have been able to handle the bus like a professional driver.

What he failed to see were the two bodies thrown under the brush thirty feet off of the road as he sped by.

One was a man with the name ‘Barrins’ stenciled on his jacket. The other was a wolf wearing ripped human clothes. Both had multiple gunshots. If you watched carefully, the chest was rising and falling ever so slightly on the wolf.

The man beside her, unfortunately, was never going to open his eyes again.

Bethany Anne landed on the Ad Aeternitatem and popped her hatch. She smiled to Peter and John as they popped theirs, “That was fun!”

Todd came up behind her, “Seriously? I could go to sleep while you run out of fuel?” He grinned as he passed her while Peter caught up to him and they went to check on their men.

John walked over, “Having some fun, did you?”

Bethany Anne smiled, “Hell yeah! God, do you know how boring it is to be in meeting after meeting…wait.” She put up a finger, “Don’t answer that question on grounds you were listening from the door of those meetings and therefore you are not objective.”

“What, you think I can’t pretend being ‘in’ the meeting is less enjoyable than standing near it, but not at it?” John asked.

“I think…” She started.

>>Bethany Anne, there is a question going to the base about when the Field Trip bus was going to arrive. They are fifteen minutes late.”

What? Who’s riding for protection on that bus?

>>Barrins and a Base Guardian Jennifer Erickson.<<

Fuck! I know Barrins, and he would be reporting in. I remember Jennifer and she seemed solid. Son-of-a-bitch!

She said, “John, we have potential hostages back in Colorado. Field trip bus, I’m calling Michael.”

>>Patching you through.<<

“Hello, mon amour…” Michael started.

“Gott Verdammt Michael, I don’t need you playing with me right now!” Bethany Anne snapped.

“Who is playing Bethany Anne? I’ve told you twice before I love you” he grated, annoyed to feel his honor besmirched and considered hanging up.

Bethany Anne’s shoulders slumped, “First, you are right, and I apologize. Michael, there are two sets of kids in trouble, and I can’t help both. I’m scared, and I just jumped your ass instead of …” She closed her eyes then opened them and mouthed silently to John, ‘stay here - be right back’.
 
He nodded. She stepped through the Etheric into her small room on the Ad Aeternitatem. Hopefully, it was adequately sound proof.