The Fight for Peace (28 page)

“Livestock?” she hissed to Pyotr.

“Where else would you house the workers but next to the things they have to take care of?” he told her. He made a good point. “The houses are just beyond those long barns. The closest one is pigs, the one farther back is a stable. We should be able to sneak through there,” Pyotr told Derrick.

“The other barn is?” Derrick asked.

Pyotr hesitated. He answered with a slight shake of his head. “I can’t remember. I only came here to deliver a message with Assandra once. I think it’s a dairy.”

“Wait here and cover me. I’m going to get closer to scope it out,” Derrick ordered, slipping into the shadows at Pyotr’s nod. Distant gunfire sounded, the pace of shots increasing. The wait for the FLF to organize was over.

“A fricken city with electricity and you remember a pig barn,” Emery said a quiet minute later. Pyotr turned to answer as Emery dropped. Cori didn’t hear the shot that killed him.

“Shit!” Iva said, dropping to her stomach at the same moment as Cori. “Where are they?”

Bullets whizzed over their heads from what looked to be every direction. Sweat itched on Cori’s forehead.

“We need better cover,” Cori hissed. “Pyotr, where should we go?”

“Rally at the corner of the barn,” Pyotr answered, glance falling on Emery’s body before he met Cori’s eyes. “I’ll cover. Go!”

Pyotr rolled to his knees firing into the darkness. Despite the order, Cori followed his actions, putting her back to Pyotr’s as she shot into the oncoming fire. A few less bullets raced toward her as the rest of the platoon scrambled into the dark.

“Dammit, I said go,” Pyotr snapped at her.

“Sure, let’s catch up,” Cori answered, grabbing his jacket as she ran forward. She wasn’t going to give him a choice.

They dodged a wild path, dropping behind a livestock water tank in a slick barnyard under the covering fire of the remaining platoon members. The faces of her mates were white with eyes too large. Cori knew the feeling without needing a clearer glance at their faces. They were trapped within FLF territory, surrounded and easily outnumbered.

“We never should have been able to make it here,” Pyotr mumbled.

“What the hell do you mean?” Liisa asked. “Emery is dead and you think we shouldn’t have been able to reach the barnyard?”

“They’re shooting guns with silencers,” Pyotr said. Now Cori understood why she hadn’t heard the shot that killed Emery. “Whoever is out there isn’t the regular army.”

Pyotr’s hand was shaking as he ran it through his hair. He looked around at the platoon, and then looked again, before turning his gaze into the darkness from where they’d run.

“They’ve stopped shooting at us,” Simmons said. “Why?”

Pyotr swallowed hard. “Because I think they have Lieutenant Eldridge.”

Chapter 31

THE LADY GREY

BY LAND AND WATER

Cursing in frustration that masked unsolvable worry over Jared and Derrick and if they’d managed to deploy the shield over Crystal City, Arinna swept low toward the approaching ships. Large rounds streaked toward her.

“Shit.” Arinna flipped her dactyl sideways, the armor piercing mortars ripped by within feet. She’d been distracted. Not a good move. “Company has some heavy fire,” she warned Farrak.

“I noticed that. You know there are easier ways to stop bullets than by running into them,” Farrak clipped, diving in fast and hard to shoot at the armored patrol boat that had nearly taken her out. Laser fire flashed into its hull, fuel tanks and weapons erupting occurred a heartbeat after Farrak sped onward. One less problem from the flotilla.

The tone wasn’t Jared’s, but the words were right. Minus a lot of swearing at her lack of attention. It settled her into the fight she was in charge of. He trusted her. She trusted him and he had Derrick. They’d figure out something.

“When the relay dactyl is back, I want a quick patrol a hundred miles out and then send him home with an update. If there is any news on Captain Vries and Europe, let me know,” Arinna said to both Farrak and Makkonen. “How are things going on the transports?”

From the air, shooting zipped both from approaching boats and the transports. Farrak dive bombed the closest, an RPG streaked toward him from a nearby ship. Farrak’s shot swung wide as he avoided the missile. The FLF knew how to fight, even with limited weapons. Taking out their ships would not be easy.

Arinna held back despite wanting to help Farrak. They needed to guard each other and figure out how to run an air battle against a floating army in limited air space. The shield over Isle Royale would take out their planes as indiscriminately as the FLF artillery being lobbed at it.

“Any fighting from inside the shield?” Arinna asked Warrant Officer Chris Makkonen, wishing as Farrak had pointed out that she had a real comm. She wanted to fly and fight and not just talk.

“Minimal. A few bullets. The civilians have pulled back from the shore,” he replied.

“Keep an eye on it and let me know if it changes. Let us both know if one of the transports needs help. Otherwise, our main focus is guarding the two gatekeepers and reducing what is coming toward you.”

Derrick’s observation about how the shield worked over the ground or water had given them an opportunity Arinna had never imagined. The shield needed alternating transports in and out of it to stay stable. That had meant splitting her already halved forces again, and having to leave both without the ability to help the other. Until she’d learned the shield reacted to other electrical fields.

Two transports, each with a red marker on their roofs, maintained a mild electrical field across a section of the hull above waterline. The shield hovered over the two planes turned barges, providing access into or out of Isle Royale. Her forces weren’t cut off, not totally at least. But that gave them two weak points. When the FLF realized what the shield was and that there were two ways through ... well things would get really targeted and very nasty.

Arinna clipped her walkie to the side, racing toward Farrak as he shot toward a ship at the edge of the growing fleet. Apparently they’d missed a depot, one that had the better of the weaponized boats based on the destroyer cruising toward the battle.

Farrak fired, hitting the ship but not sinking it. Arinna swooped over him, firing at the missile racing toward his tail. It exploded as he sped away.

“Where the hell are they getting this stuff from?” Farrak asked. “I haven’t seen this type of weaponry in years of fighting.”

“We are in the former US. This is just the first hour,” she warned. “They haven’t had a chance to roll out the big toys yet.”

Farrak cursed. It was the first time she’d ever heard him do that. Like she wasn’t nervous enough.

The firefight between the FLF ships and the transporters became constant. The shield glowed with each impact that slammed into it, rippling with electricity. From the air, the scene was frightening and chaotic. The thought of what it was like standing on a transport ship surrounded by water and back to a deadly, hissing shield while being shot at made her sick. This had been her plan and it was horrifying to watch play out. Blowing up the city just might have been better.

“Concentrate on protecting the transports outside the shield, Lieutenant,” she ordered. The random picking off of boats wasn’t making a big enough dent or helping the onslaught their forces faced on the water. “They need some breathing room.”

Over three hours had clipped by since the opening explosion. On shore, a few tanks rolled into position, but she was pretty sure they wouldn’t be able to hit much. Unless they were amphibious. More armored ships were appearing and Arinna really wanted that third dactyl to be running a patrol to give them some more warning of what was coming their way. Maybe take out a couple of things before they arrived.

Bullets tinged off the plating of the dactyl as she flashed at ship height over the water, shooting at anything in front of her. FLF boats erupted, the dactyl pulling their fire in its wake. Warnings of pending impact flashed as she jerked left, nearly skimming a wing into the lake. That would flip her. Her correction brought her belly nearly against the shield. It was the curvature of it away as she throttled upward that saved her from impact more than planning.

However, all systems were still online as she flipped back toward the battle. The only thing missing were FLF fighter planes from the scene spread below her. God, she hoped she’d taken out the airport well enough and that it had been the only one. For now the sky was clear but for her and Farrak. Where the hell was her other friggen dactyl?

Farrak’s voice, clipped with stress, made her jump when it came over the walkie. “I hope the Argentinian Cadets are doing okay.” His plane raced below her on a run similar to the one that she’d just done and had nearly killed her twice - three times actually. “I don’t think we can handle much more. And I really don’t want to find out what reinforcements are going to come from down south.”

Arinna didn’t reply. She was too busy diving to make sure he didn’t have the same problem she’d encountered. But she fervently agreed with him. She was too late to tail him, so Arinna shot towards him, protecting his rear by aiming at anything behind him. The maneuver worked enough that they both made a dent in the growing squadron of FLF boats without crashing a dactyl.

Swinging high, Arinna had a glimpse of fire from a transport’s guns. It took a second glance to confirm her dread. It was a transport inside the shield firing.

“Warrant Officer Makkonen report,” Arinna snapped.

Farrak’s dactyl wobbled. She would have told the Lieutenant to mind his flying and not the news she’d just implied, but Warrant Officer Makkonen responded first.

“Receiving some fire from an armored vehicle in the city.  A few gunshots on the far side as well as the transports, but it is minor compared to outside.”

Arinna cursed, getting the worry and anger out of her system so that she could answer in a calm voice. “Report if it increases.”

She didn’t want to pull herself from the fighting, but Arinna needed to take a look at how the battlefield was laying out. Warrant Officer Makkonen was right, the fire inside the shield remained light. Outside, things progressed from tense to bad.

Her biggest mistake had been not spending more time taking out ports. They must have missed an old Navy or Coast Guard post. She should have had Kehm cross reference US and Canadian bases and add them to the list of targets, even if they’d already been tight on time. But now the transports were paying the price of her oversight.

The FLF didn’t know what surrounded their city, so they kept shooting directly at the shield. That was all right. What wasn’t good was the amount of firepower aimed at the transports as well. The only limit to the barrage appeared to be the number of FLF ships that could squeeze into position to fire at the transports without hitting each other.

The time for observation was over. Arinna dove to remove a couple of the armored ships pressing the transports on the far side of the island. There were fewer boats here, but enough Arinna barely needed to aim. If they didn’t return fire the minute she came within range, it would have been as easy as fighting the bombers sent over Europe in 2062. This time she made certain to stay a safe distance above the water and from the shield to have room to dodge bullets and rockets.

Despite her orders to protect the transports, the problem was quickly becoming not enough room to fly between the shield and the ammunition being shot towards it. Arinna stayed low as long as she could, doing her best to gain space for the transports. But the armaments were coming in as thick and heavy as the increasing number of ships. Next to her, the shield rippled energy from a large impact. Arinna’s first thought was a ship had tried to ram it until a blast ignited on the barrier ahead of her. The round had come from shore.

Arinna jerked skyward again, catching sight of Farrak closer to land. Behind him, the few tanks had increased and organized into squadrons. Whatever they were shooting was making it across the fifteen-mile stretch of bay easily. Concentrating on avoiding the firepower sent after him from the boats, Farrak didn’t realize he was in range of the tanks. A round shot towards him. Arinna scrambled with her walkie, doubting she’d reach him in time to change course. Seconds from impact, the shell exploded.

“What the hell?” Farrak shouted as his plane swept through the blast debris.

“Are you all right?” a woman asked over the walkie.

It took Arinna a moment to realize the third dactyl had returned. Relief momentarily swept the strength from her arms, leaving knots in her stomach. The harsh words for berating the pilot fell away. Any reason for tardiness was acceptable for having just saved Lieutenant Assad.

“The heavies on shore have better range, and aim, than I expected,” Arinna said. “Pull back Lieutenant. You joined us at a most prodigious moment, Sergeant.”

“Sergeant Marina Picerno reporting in, Captain Prescot. Sorry for the delay. We had weather.”

Weather, another of the many problems that the lack of navigational satellites compounded, not to mention lack of weather data. They were blind and deaf in so many ways, while staging a war on two continents. The energy fueled by Picerno’s arrival threatened to drain and take with it more optimism than Arinna could afford to lose.

“Any word from Captain Vries?”

“He was in position. That is all I heard before I left.”

It made sense. Picerno had been flying for five hours, plus the weather delay. The battle wasn’t quite that old yet. Of course news from Jared would be scarce. Still, Arinna swore.

“Lieutenant, escort Sergeant Picerno on a quick scouting run. I want to know where these ships and the tanks are coming from and how many more we can expect. Lieutenant, report back within the hour. I need your help here.”

“I’d rather not leave you alone up here,” Farrak responded after a moment’s hesitation. He’d flown to the safest location in the current battle - directly above the center of the shield. The near hit had unnerved her. She could imagine the reaction Farrak was dealing with. Despite that, he wanted to disregard her order.

“I need you to fill in Picerno on what has been happening to report to Europe. Do it while scouting.” She nearly pointed out he’d almost flown into a shell, something he’d accused her of earlier. He needed to focus and even a short time away from the hellish chaos the air between Isle Royale and shore comprised would help. Arinna was nearly envious of the break she offered him. Except that she’d be too worried about what was happening here to enjoy it.

“Should I engage any enemy forces?” Marina asked. “You sure look like you need the help.”

The offer made Arinna hesitate. Picerno was a good shot and right. The battle didn’t look like they were doing very well and the concern in Marina’s voice expressed it.

“Negative. Your main responsibility is to report back to Europe. Widen your search after Lieutenant Assad leaves you and delay any FLF reinforcements however you can safely. Take out anything that will slow them down, but stay out of range of their fire. Scout as long as you can before you need to head back. You’re right. We do need the help. Report to me before you leave. I want to know exactly what you see out there.”

The two dactyls streaked southward, leaving Arinna alone in the air with a battle that felt about to rip open the Guard. Uncertain how they’d make it out of this, Arinna dove back in.