“You’ve already done a lot. You probably saved us all, showing up when you did. Just leave us your phone number and go back home to your family. We’ll fill you in when we know more.”
“If it’s all the same, I’ll call my wife and have her come out here. It has to be safer here, and I’d like to stick around and see how this all plays out.”
33
Kendra came back to the room after a search of the house with a length of rope and two rolls of duct tape. She handed this to Morrison who tied up the unconscious Mike as well as he could.
“I hope that will hold him. We really don’t know how strong he is, do we?” Morrison asked.
“He doesn’t appear to have any super strength, at least not that I’ve noticed,” Kendra said.
“You said there was another one,” Fiona said, “Do you have any idea where he might be?”
“Probably at my place,” Mixon said.
“When did you wake up?” Kendra asked.
“Just now. I feel like I have a hell of a hangover. What happened?”
“You got zapped by one of their gunships and Walter brought you here. He said you took out a few of their foot soldiers before it got you.”
“Those things that were flying above the big robot guys?”
“Yeah, their guns can knock you and Walter out for a bit, and they’d kill any of us with one shot. We couldn’t even get close with the fighters.”
“Do you think it’s just their goal to take over this planet? I heard them talking a lot back at my place and it was like they had something going on someplace else and they wanted soldiers to deploy there.”
“We thought that as well, but now it seems their focus is on here.”
“Maybe it’s both. Maybe they want this planet for its resources, but one of the resources is people. You’re thinking that it was always one or the other, but what if it’s both?”
“You have a point, but about this other alien. Should we maybe nab him as well?”
“You’ll have to catch him unawares. I think Walter and I could manage, but it looks like he’s sleeping on the job at the moment.”
“He got zapped like you did. It’s not been long, so give him an hour or so. What do you think we could do with both of them?”
“Figure out how to shut down their forces. If you watch them, they’re obviously being controlled from somewhere. They’re all moving precisely as units, and when I was fighting them, they didn’t appear to be capable of much individual thought or movement. They were almost like robots, but it looked like there were people inside those suits. I’ll bet there’s a mother ship somewhere.”
“No mother ship. We were watching them and there didn’t appear to be anything like that in orbit, but...that could be it.”
“That could be what?”
“They have a base on the moon. It’s well defended. That might be our shot.”
“Explore that option, but when Walter wakes up, we’re headed to my place to nab Jack.”
“Jack?”
“That’s what he calls himself. Just like this guy’s real name isn’t Mike.”
“Okay, I’m headed to the hangar to see what else we might have down there. Let me know when Walter wakes up.”
Shawna Williams found her daughter in the hangar a level down, wandering among the ships parked there.
“Hey honey, how you holding up?”
“Hey Mom. We need to find something useful down here.”
“That’s not what I asked. Your friend—“
“Franklin.”
“Yeah, Franklin. You like him?”
“Is this the time for that kind of talk?”
“Yes, it’s the time.”
“We have so much to do. He would understand.”
“That’s not what I asked. Do you like him?”
“He’s my friend.”
“Honey, a guy who takes a bullet for you is not just a friend.”
“Well...Mom...”
“It’s okay, Kendra. Your dad just got back. If you want to go and see him, I think everyone else will understand.”
“Is...is it bad?”
“They don’t know yet, but it doesn’t look good. Mike can drive you up there. Take your phone. The rest of us will look after things here.”
Kendra looked around the hangar, then at her mother’s open arms, and accepted the offered embrace, crying in her shoulder for a moment. Mike cleared his throat nearby.
“If you want me to run you up there, we best be going. It might take me a while to walk to my car,” he said.
“No need,” she said with a barely concealed sympathetic look toward his prosthetics, ” We can take one of these.”
A minute later she landed the small fighter in the hospital parking lot and they walked in together.
“We’re here to see Franklin Jones,” she said to the woman at the front desk.
“I’m not sure if he’s in a room yet,” the woman replied.
“It’s okay,” a nearby doctor said, “Just follow me, ma’am.”
A moment later they were outside a room, the doctor went in for a few seconds, and came back out.
“If you want to see him, you’d best be quick. I don’t know how to say this. There’s been a lot of internal damage. I don’t know what we can do.”
Kendra walked in and Mike stayed back at a respectful distance. Franklin was in a bed and there were two nurses standing by checking the monitors. When he saw Kendra, he managed a weak smile and tried to raise a hand to wave. She was at his side in an instant, not even trying to hold back the tears. She saw his lips moving, but couldn’t make out what he was trying to say, so she bent closer and he repeated what he was saying.
“Mike...didn’t get you...good.”
“No, Mike...another Mike...showed up and knocked him out. We have him tied up.”
“Good. Make him...tell you...how...stop them.”
She reached down and put her hand to his cheek.
“That’s the idea. Why...what did you do?”
“He...gonna shoot you.”
“And he got
