'By the time we get to the Humvee, the animals will be out of the valley and gone,' Everett said with his eyes closed in frustration. 'The Blackhawks and other Pave Lows are all refueling.'
Then Ryan caught on. He threw the headphones onto the back ramp of the huge Pave Low in frustration.
'You're a pilot, aren't you?' Jack said to Ryan, looking at the grounded Pave Low.
Ryan was confused. He looked around and then caught on to what Jack was asking.
'Major, I've never flown one of those in my life. I don't even like riding in the fucking things.'
'What about the smaller one?' Collins asked, heading for the lone Blackhawk.
'Are you nuts?' Ryan asked as he chased Collins.
'Where is the crew chief for this aircraft?' Everett called out.
'Right here, sir,' a young spec 5 called out.
'Can you fly?' Everett asked quickly as he started gathering weapons.
'No, sir, I'm just a crew chief.'
Jack slapped the young man on the back and shoved him toward Ryan. 'Well, you've now been promoted to warrant officer, and you will assist your new pilot in the copilot's station. Move.'
'Major--'
Everett and the injured Collins just turned and glared.
Ryan grimaced and ran for the imposing Blackhawk.
One minute later Ryan was sitting in the left seat of the Blackhawk staring at the flight panel of the huge helicopter.
The crew chief leaned over and studied the buttons and switches angrily. He pointed quickly. 'This one, this one, and this one,' the boy said as he pushed two buttons and threw a switch.
'Power coming up!' Ryan called out more for himself than the others.
The four blades of the composite rotors started turning and coming up to speed. Ryan studied the controls. He knew the collective throttled both of the powerful engines when twisted and raised the helicopter when pulled up, and he knew the pedals operated the tail rotor to compensate for the torque of the main engines, but he didn't know how they actually worked. This was no Tomcat and he was totally uncomfortable without any wings.
'Come on, Ryan, get us in the air!' Collins yelled. He was listening on the headphones as the AWACS was calling out the position of the animal. It was only five miles away from the mouth of the funnel and closing on it fast.
Ryan closed his eyes and twisted the throttle on the collective with his left hand. That brought a burst of power to the main rotors and the tail boom. He opened his eyes as the rotors started really spinning and thumping. Then Ryan gently pulled up on the collective, which manipulated the rotors that supplied the Blackhawk with lift, but the helicopter didn't lift. He twisted the throttle to its stops.
'Oh, shit, we're going to die!' Ryan said aloud.
The young, just promoted spec 5 just stared wide-eyed out of the windshield as the large helicopter just sat there. Ryan gulped and again pulled up on the collective and immediately felt his stomach lurch as the heavy bird lifted suddenly with a jolt. It slowly started to spin to the right and Ryan applied foot pressure to the left pedal. It was harder to push than the foot pedals in his Tomcat, but it was pressed hard enough to slow the rate of the Blackhawk's spin. They had made two complete circles before Ryan finally stopped the spin. He shook his head in the affirmative though no one had asked him anything.
Out of the open side door Jack saw Sarah wave with a sad look as the helicopter started to lift into the air. Then she seemed to come to a decision and looked angry. She dropped her hand and sprinted for the Blackhawk. Jack started shouting for her to get out of the way and screaming also for Ryan to hold it. But it was too late; Sarah placed her right foot on the left wheel of the helicopter and used it as leverage to launch herself up and into the cabin. She flopped on the deck and winced as she looked up into the angry face of Collins.
'Look, I'm the only one that isn't injured, you need me!'
'When this is over, we're going to talk, McIntire,' Jack said as he reached down and pulled Sarah to her feet.
Ryan slowly pushed the control stick forward and the Blackhawk lurched and lost altitude. He quickly twisted the throttle and its descent was halted, but not before the left wheel assembly hit a large rock outcropping, tearing the wheel away. Everett and Collins 'were thrown forward in the back compartment and looked out the door and watched the wheel and gear fall and strike the ground below, bouncing and just missing several men and women on the ground.
'Goddammit, Lieutenant!' Everett shouted.
'Sorry, sorry,' Ryan said. Cursing under his breath, he spared a glance over to the specialist who was holding on for dear life. 'Relax, trooper, I got it now!' Ryan shouted as the Blackhawk shot out over the cliff and started its jerking run for the crashed Humvee.
I didn't know Ryan could fly helicopters,' Niles said as they watched the video feed.
Alice was staring at the monitor. 'According to his file, he can't,' she said as she patted the nervous Lee on the leg again.
Three minutes later Ryan was hovering three hundred feet above the crashed Humvee after passing it twice while trying to figure out the best way to set the helicopter down. Then he swallowed and twisted the collective power down and slowly brought the control stick back toward his chest. He breathed easier when the Blackhawk started to settle easily.
'To the right, to the right!' Everett called out. As Ryan couldn't see right below them, he didn't notice he was coming down right on top of the mangled wreckage.
'Jesus!' he said as he pushed on the right pedal and swung the stick to the right. Then he felt the left wheel touch down with a groaning bang.
'Hurry, I can't hold it here forever,' Ryan said into the back, then looked over at his young copilot. 'Are you going to do anything this whole trip?'
The specialist chanced a look at Ryan and shook his head. 'No, sir, I am not.'
Everett, Sarah, and Jack jumped from the Blackhawk and ran for the crashed Humvee. They scrambled inside. They first checked the driver and then the captain sitting beside him. They were both dead.
'It's a black box the size of a laptop,' Collins called out over the noise of the helicopter.
'Got it!' Everett called.
Jack looked up and saw Carl was holding up the black box. Then all three ran back to the Blackhawk and jumped aboard, making Ryan lose control for a moment because of the sudden weight change. Then he lifted too quickly into the air, slamming both Everett and Collins to the floor. Sarah quickly followed, landing on top of Jack.
'Head back to Site One,' Everett ordered Ryan.
All was quiet on the valley floor where the gathered cattle from the surrounding ranches grazed, only a half mile from the exit to the valley, the place where Jack Collins had first guessed the Talkhan would turn to run. The state police and the FBI had combined all the assets the surrounding ranches could provide. Every truck, trailer, and even the expensive air force Pave Lows had been used to get the makeshift herd together. The six hundred head of cattle were lowing, unaware of the role they were about to play in the drama getting ready to unfold, or the part they would play in the fate of mankind. But they would be there for only another minute as the horsemen surrounding them started to get themselves ready for the run of their lives.
Two miles from the cattle, the ground began to shake and part violently in ninety-plus different waves. The creatures appeared and disappeared as they went high, looking for danger, then sank again, going even deeper. They were traveling as fast as they could to the tantalizing vibrations and smells produced by the confiscated cattle.
Look at them go!' the president said in awe at the speed of the animals.
Senator Lee sat forward on the couch and leaned his chin on his cane as Alice lightly squeezed his thigh. Niles walked over to the screen in the Event conference room and watched as the beasts seemingly took the bait.
Niles picked up the phone and called the base camp. 'Virginia, radio the ranchers to get the cattle moving,
