Sacrifice:The Shenkar War (10 page)

             
“
Well, you know how simulation results have shown that the enhanced soldiers’ performance is exceptional?” When Milton nodded, Danvers continued. “Well, it seems we have found a way to increase their performance exponentially . . . ummm, well, at least with the Necro Squadron.”

             
“
Necro Squadron?” asked Milton.

             
“
Oh yeah, this squadron it seems has chosen call signs, and well, we sort of dubbed them Necro Squadron due to the call signs they chose,” said Danvers as he handed Milton his handheld computer.

             
Milton took the computer and read what was on its screen.

Lt. Liam Brennan              Call sign: Ghost

Lt. Evan Maxis
              Call sign: Zombie

Lt. Crystal Mc
Kenna              Call sign: Revenant

Lt. Tim Wellmo
              Call sign: Vampire

Lt. Darren Driji
              Call sign: Wraith

Lt. Steven Barrows
              Call sign: Ghoul

Lt. April Groth
              Call sign: Banshee

Lt. David Lapra
              Call sign: Spectre

Lt. Michael Stert
              Call sign: Phantom

Lt. Dimitri Glasniv
              Call sign: Demonknight

              Milton handed the computer back to Danvers before saying in a dry tone,
“
Yes I can see why you would call them Necro Squadron. So what is this you were saying about improving their performance?”

             
“
Well, as you see here--” He indicated the array of monitoring equipment against the far wall: ten monitors each showed a pilot concentrating on running something not within view. Two chairs sat in front of the equipment; at the moment, one was empty and the other was occupied by a scientist who was watching Milton and Danvers. The scientist, Milton noticed, looked rather uncomfortable.

             
“We monitor all the pilots while they run their maneuvers. We also communicate to all the pilots from here.” He indicated a section at the center of the equipment.

             
“
Yes, I know how the system works. Can you get on to your point already?” Milton said irritably.

             
“
Uh . . . yeah . . . sorry. Well, earlier we had just run a simulation on attack maneuvers against capital ships and were just starting a new run. While they made their runs, Stevenson here decided he wanted to listen to some music and turned on the radio. Well, while the music was running, we became aware that someone forgot to close off communications and the music broadcast into the pilots’ cockpits.” At that last part, Danvers gave the other scientist an annoyed look. “When I saw that the comm line was open, I went to shut it off when we noticed that the performance rating of the pilots had increased by 23 percent.”

             
“
Are you telling me that these pilots listening to music make them more efficient?” asked Milton.

             
“
Yes, sir, it appears that the beat of the music seems to set the pilots into a rhythm. But not just any music, it seems. We have received the best results from metal music. Music types that have no positive effect include country, rap, and emo, but we are still testing different styles,” finished Danvers.

             
“
Interesting. I would like to witness this firsthand. That way, when I tell the President of your discovery, I will be able to tell him in truth that our pilots are far beyond even what the Meshtrell had predicated.”

             
Looking rather pleased with himself, Stevenson turned back to the console, donned a headset, and spoke into the comm board.
“
Attention, pilots, let’s run battle plan Omicron 6.”

             
Affirmative, flight control,” came a voice through the overhead speakers.

Looking at the monitors, Milton saw that the voice came from the pilot with the call sign “Ghost.”

              “
Let’s try a new style of music--what do we have in the way of pop music?” Danvers asked Stevenson.

             
Stevenson took a few minutes to find a song, then transferred the song over to the comm channel, sat back, and waited.

Hanscom Air Force Base, Building 216

              Liam looked over his indicator board, studying the enemy inbound analogs: one lone destroyer with a standard fighter support of fifteen fighters. Liam keyed his comm and spoke.

             
“
Okay, we all know the plan. The fighters will move to intercept us as we make our run on the destroyer. Destroy as many as the fighters as you can as we pass them, but do not turn to engage. Evan, Crystal, and Tim will finish off any that we miss. The rest of you, stay with me and arm those torpedoes.”

             
“
That’s an affirmative, Ghost,” came back nine voices over the comm.

             
Liam locked his target and hit his afterburners, moving his fighter forward. He was concentrating on his target when he became aware of music playing and took a moment to listen. The song sounded familiar, yet he couldn’t place it.

             
An image flashed at the first words of the song across Liam’s vision: a young woman in her early twenties, brown-haired, green-eyed, and incredibly beautiful. Pain shot through Liam’s skull as images flashed through his mind. The beautiful young woman Liam had been dreaming about was now no longer blurry. Liam tried to concentrate on his board, but the pain intensified along with the image of the young woman. Soon the pain was excruciating: a feeling of white-hot needles pushing into his skull. Liam’s hands left his flight stick and went to his head. His head snapped back and a scream rose in his throat--a scream he wasn’t even aware of.

             
Outside the simulator, the scientists scrambled to find the reason why everything was suddenly going so wrong.

Hanscom Air Force Base, Building 216

              “
WHAT IS GOING ON?!” shouted Milton furiously as he watched the overhead monitors of ten pilots. Each monitor showed a pilot holding his or her head, eyes closed tight, screaming in obvious pain.

             
“
I don’t know, sir; they have never reacted this way before,” said Danvers.

             
“
Shut down the simulators . . . NOW!” shouted Milton, a little less angrily than before.

             
Danvers and Stevenson scrambled, flipping switches and pressing buttons, shutting down the simulators. All the while, the music continued to play. Milton kept watch on the vitals of the pilots: all brain-wave activity was off the scale, heart rates spiked. Cardiac arrest was now becoming a large danger if they didn’t get those men and women stabilized.

             
Milton watched the pilots, and suddenly, a realization dawned on him. Surging forward, he reached out and shut down the music feed. The change in the pilots was instantaneous; all dropped their hands from their heads as they sagged in their cockpits with looks of exhaustion on their faces. Heart rates also returned to stable levels. Both Danvers and Stevenson hurried from their chairs to the simulators. Danvers, the first to reach a simulator, grabbed the handle and opened it up. Liam sagged in his cockpit, muttering under his breath. Leaning forward, Danvers unhooked Liam’s flight belt. As he did this, he could make out what Liam was saying repeatedly: “Leah . . Leah . . Leah . . .”

             
Once he was sure Liam was okay, Danvers went to the other simulators to check on the pilots. None of the others were speaking, but all seemed to be in semiconscious states and not really aware of their surroundings.

             
“
Danvers, what is their status?” demanded Milton as he approached.

             
“
Physically, except for elevated heart rates, they seem to be okay, but mentally, I can’t say without running some further tests. We need to get them over to the base infirmary at once,” responded Danvers.

             
“
Stevenson, call the infirmary and have these men and women transported there. I will be over in an hour to run some tests once I have looked over the data on this last simulation,” said Milton.

             
Stevenson stood up from where he was examining Dimitri and walked to the phone. Milton looked for Danvers and found him once again kneeling at Lieutenant Brennan’s side, examining him and speaking in a low voice to him. Milton walked over and looked down at the two.

             
“
How is he?” asked Milton with uncharacteristic concern in his voice.

             
“
He seems to be in shock. I am not sure to the reason, but he keeps saying ‘Leah’ over and over again,” said Danvers without looking up.

             
“
Who is Leah?” asked Milton.

             
“
I don’t know; she isn’t anyone I know of. I know none of the recruits have that for a first name, so it must be someone from his past.”

             
“
But I thought they lost all of their memories in the enhancement process?”

             
“
Yes, they did, but it seems he retained some memory deep down that the process didn’t wipe.”

             
“
I . . . remember . . . everything,” croaked a voice in a low whisper.

             
It took Milton a few seconds to realize Liam had spoken. Danvers was looking at Liam with surprise on his face. All three remained where they were in silence: Milton standing, Danvers kneeling next to Liam, and Liam half out of his cockpit and staring at the floor. Liam was the first to break the silence, lifting his head as he spoke.

             
“
I remember everything.” His eyes came to rest on Milton. “I was a police officer once, suffering from horrible depression from the loss of my wife and son. Evan over there is my best friend.” He raised a hand and pointed directly at Evan’s simulator without turning to look. “It was like a flood of memories came crashing through my head, as if there had been a wall holding it all back. The song was the hammer that broke that wall . . . that song was a song that meant a lot to me and someone I have recently come to realize I love very much.” That last part Liam said in a whisper, as if telling it to himself.

             
Milton felt a deep sadness for the young man. Leaning over, he placed a hand on his shoulder. Giving the young man’s shoulder a squeeze, he spoke in a low voice.

             
“
It will be all right, son. We will sort all this out. Do you need some water?” Leaving his hand where it was, he turned to look at Danvers. “Get the young man some water, please.”

             
Danvers looked at Milton for a second, clearly surprised by the compassion coming from a man he had labeled as a taskmaster. Standing, he quickly walked to a small refrigerator. As he returned with a bottle of water, the door to the building opened and several paramedics entered. One by one, the paramedics examined the pilots and then helped them up and out to the waiting ambulances. The last to leave was Liam. As he was helped from the room, he stopped and turned his head back to Milton and spoke.

             
“
I need to send a message to someone, and I don’t care about national security or the need for secrecy, so this isn’t a request. I get to send my message, or I won’t continue this.”

             
With that, he faced forward once again and let the paramedics help him toward the entrance.

             
Milton at first felt slight irritation at the demand, but it quickly dissipated and he spoke to Liam’s back.
“
Don’t worry, Lieutenant Brennan; you will be able to send your message. I will deliver it personally.”

             
Milton didn’t know why, but he felt an obligation to help the young man, and he knew sending this message wouldn’t violate any rules set down for secrecy as long as Liam’s message didn’t divulge anything he was doing or what was going on. Nevertheless, he swore he would personally deliver the message for Liam.

Hanscom Air Force Base, Infirmary

              Sitting on the bed shirtless with his head in his hands, Liam thought of what had happened. His memory had returned like an avalanche on a mountain ski resort: his memories being the avalanche and the resort being his head. It had been highly confusing and very painful when it had happened, as a pain of white-hot needles drove into his skull followed closely by the memories. Even so, Liam wasn’t upset that it had happened; if it hadn’t, he wouldn’t have his memories back. True enough, it brought back all the bad memories and sadness, but it also brought back Leah, and that was a good memory. He had to speak to her one last time before he left for his fate, never to see her again.