“That’s all of them,” a pilot exulted.
“Good job boys,” Walter said, “Just let me disable the rest of the mechs and check on Mixon. Then we can land and figure out our next move.”
“What a headache,” Mixon said two hours later when she woke up at the house, “Did I get hit by one of those things again?”
“Yeah, but you stopped the last one from getting away,” Walter said.
“Well, what’s our next move?”
“The planes have ammo and fuel, so we should be ready to hit the next location.”
“You can’t win,” a voice came from the corner of the room.
“Oh, if it isn’t my buddy Mike,” Walter said, “What was that you said? You’re in some place to talk, seeing as you aren’t exactly mobile at the moment.”
“Our people will send reinforcements once we don’t report back.”
“Yeah, and we’ll beat them too. You picked on the wrong people this time.”
“You will see. We have yet to be-“
“Oh, shut up, will you,” Fiona said, stuffing a sock in his mouth and securing it with a strip of duct tape.
“You might as well get the other one too, before he wakes up,” Walter said.
“Okay, where are we headed next?” Colonel Gordon asked.
“We have two more locations in the States, and three in Europe. Your can see the cities on the computer.”
“We’re looking at Salt Lake, Milwaukee...Manchester, Brussels, and Frankfort...interesting choice of cities. Looks like Milwaukee is the next closest. How long will it take to get the planes in position?”
“We can take two at a time and have all six there in just a few minutes.”
“Okay then, let’s roll.”
The attack in Milwaukee went much the same as it had in Ohio. The pilots took out one gunship at a time while Walter and Mixon disabled the ground troops, and the fight was over in an hour, once again with no damage to the jets.
“That’s the last of them,” a pilot said as he watched the gunship blow up.
“And we’ve disabled the ground troops,” Walter said, “Where to next?”
The voice of Colonel Gordon came over their comms.
“I’m not sure what I’m seeing here. I’m looking at the other locations, and it looks like someone is taking care of them for us. Hundreds of small...some kind of fighters...not ours...they’re taking those gunships out like nobody’s business and the mechs are just sitting down.”
“We’ll get eyeballs on the situation,” Walter said.
Walter and Mixon flew to each location, and it was as the Colonel had said. There were swarms of small alien fighters taking out the gunships and the ground troops were going offline like someone had just flipped a switch.
“You’re seeing right, Colonel. Looks like the fight is done. We’re coming back.”
“Don’t forget about us,” one of the pilots said, “Can we get an express ride back?”
A few minutes later they were all back in Ohio and the planes were in the hangar, the pilots in the house enjoying adult beverages and going over details of the fight.
So many people were talking at once that nobody heard the elevator door open, and nobody noticed the footsteps until a voice startled them all.
“Hey guys, miss me?”
Walter turned around and saw the young attractive blonde walk into the middle of the room. When he realized who it was, he wasted no time in approaching with his arms out.
“Christy? I thought you...I mean...you’re not dead?”
“Slightly wounded, yes, but nothing I won’t recover from.”
“But Franklin and Kendra...they said you were a goner.”
“Our physiology isn’t like yours. No doubt it looked like it to them.”
“And it never occurred to you to let us know?”
“It did, but it also occurred to me to see how you all would handle things, and it bought me the time I needed to bring reinforcements. I had to get away unobserved, and you provided just the diversion I needed.”
“Where did you go?”
“Home, and as you can see, I had no trouble finding enough pilots to finish the job, but I might add that you seemed more than capable with your modified planes. That was quite impressive.”
“But the ground troops? How did you manage that?”
“They were controlled remotely. I found the controls. Wait, where are the kids?”
“Oh, I nearly forgot. They’re at the hospital. Franklin was wounded and Kendra’s there with him.”
“Well, I can think of nothing better than to pay them a visit. Shall we?”
“Certainly. Just let me grab my jacket,” Walter said, taking his jacket from the back of a chair, and making sure a small metal cylinder was in the pocket.
36
Kendra looked up when she heard footsteps coming into the room and gave a small smile when she saw Walter, and did a double take when she saw Christy.
“I, I thought...you...”
“Long story. I’m sorry about the deception, but it had to be done. How is he doing?”
“They’re not saying much, but...not...not good.”
Moses and Shawna walked back in, sat down, and handed a soft drink to Kendra.
“Thanks Dad.”
“Oh...hi Walter,” Moses said, “If I’m seeing you here, may I assume things went well?”
“We won. Well, there’s a bit of cleanup left to do, but they’re all defeated and we have the two troublemakers in custody.”
“There’s a lot of cleanup left,”
