Trapped in Time-Extinction (19 page)

She thought the battery was located on the same cliff that ran along the harbor shore but she saw she was wrong in the brightening daylight. The southern battery was actually located on an island several miles out to sea. The island appeared to be little more than the top of a huge rock that jutted out of the ocean. It was about a mile in length and the top of the rock was about as tall as the cliff that ran along the shore to the north. The harbor had sandy beaches running around its shoreline and it was clear that was the easiest way to land a ship. Outside the harbor the land rose quickly into a long ragged cliff that extended north.

She squinted but couldn’t really see any details of the harbor’s beaches, so she spiraled upward and turned toward the shore. In ten minutes she began to see gun emplacements that ran along the shore. She shook her head at the hundreds of cannons on the sand dunes that ran along the beach. She turned north toward the cliff that started on the northern edge of the harbor and saw the barrels of the huge cannons on top of it. She had little doubt those cannons could fire all the way across the harbor to the south and hit the island the battery was located. The northern battery was almost under those cannons. Getting a ship into that harbor was going to be a nightmare. Matter of fact, getting a ship anywhere near the harbor was an exercise in futility with those two harbor batteries covering the approaches.

She flew out over the cliff and dove toward the island with the northern cannons. She moved quickly in the wind as she quartered against it and moved out to the seaside of the cannons. She picked up speed as the sun moved over the horizon and looked at the rock face of the island as she flew about two hundred yards out to sea from it. Her heart went into her throat. The rock wall facing out to sea had numerous square openings cut into it and she saw many of them had the four-barrel spitter guns sticking out of them. There had to be hundreds of Destroyers in those rocks manning the spitters and ready to move on top of the island to fire the heavy cannons. She climbed higher and moved across the harbor toward the southern island. She arrived at it and passed on the seaside; it was just as bad as the northern battery. She shook her head and knew just taking out the crew manning the guns wouldn’t work. They would be replaced and the defenses would be alerted and firing as soon as they attacked. She thought for a moment and rose high above the island. She looked down on the cannons from directly above and stared at the rocks. She didn’t see anything so she circled around and looked again.

It took four circles before she found them. There was a cover the same color as the rocks over fifteen bumps. She could tell from the size of the things under the cover that they were probably more of the spitters. Once the defenses were alerted, every approach to the island would be covered. She turned away from the island and flew higher into the prevailing easterly wind. Once she was a mile above the ocean she activated the electric prop and started flying west. This mission was a suicide mission. She shook her head and wondered how much more Rory and Johnathan had missed on their scouting voyage. The attack might just have to be called off.

“What’s bothering you, Warrior!?”

The Destroyer Warrior jerked and nearly dropped his rifle, “You nearly scared me off the cliff, Sire!”

“You should pay more attention to your surroundings! Now why are you staring out at the ocean with that frown?”

The Warrior shook his head and said, “There is a shadow moving over the water that doesn’t look right.”

The Destroyer Leader looked out at the harbor and said, “Where?”

“I can’t see it any more but it moved from the south to the north and I saw it again when it moved back south.” The Leader knew that with the sun being just over the horizon that if a shadow was being cast on the water it had to be much closer to land. He looked back to the east and saw the Pterodactyls were already flying high above the inland forest. The warrior saw him looking east and said, “Those reptiles are flying in packs. I saw a single shadow moving alone on the water.”

The Leader looked out at the harbor and knew the Commandant suspected the new enemy might be able to fly some kind of aircraft. He looked at the warrior and said, “Do you think you could have seen the object that made the shadow?”

The Warrior shrugged, “Sire, I’ve been watching these waters for years and I’m pretty good and finding anything that casts a shadow. I didn’t see anything in the air that could have cast the shadow I was seeing.”

The Leader nodded and glanced out at the harbor and saw a shadow moving quickly over the water. The two of them turned simultaneously and saw a Pterodactyl that had launched from a tree was flying quickly along the tree line beyond the harbor’s shore. “Did it look like that, Warrior?”

The warrior thought for a long moment and said, “I guess. It wasn’t shaped the same but it was moving similar to that.”

The Leader blew out a breath, “I suspect that with the early sun, you saw one of the lizard birds trying to fly up to join those already above it.”

“Sire, it just didn’t look right to me.”

“Well call me if you see it again.”

“Yes Sire.”

The Leader moved along the wall and inspected the other warriors manning the defenses. He wondered if he should report the sighting but knew if he did that the new Commander and the Commandant would question him. He didn’t have a good answer for what his Warrior had seen and he wasn’t going to risk that inquisition without more information. The Commandant’s anger was legendary and he wasn’t going to risk it. The Destroyers missed the opportunity to get all of their defenders raised to a higher level of alert. The Community’s luck had held out so far. Could it continue?

• • •

Striker sailed the small squadron of ships toward the south. He had arrived more than eighty miles north of the Destroyer city and had begun his approach close to shore. The six ships were completely covered in the camouflage material and were difficult, if not impossible to see. The ships carried no cannons, gunpowder, or other heavy ordinance that a normal ship of war would have on board.

It was prepared for speed and it had made the crossing in record time. He knew he was more than ten days ahead of the fleet and he sailed the squadron slowly. He had fliers over the land ahead of their approach and they were ordered to fire on anything that looked like a destroyer scout. So far, none had been seen. That wouldn’t continue much longer. He knew he would run into the pickets about twenty five miles out from the city. He was going to have to take the one stationed close to shore out without being seen. However, that would happen after the first wave of fliers was launched. It was crowded below decks. Each of the six ships had more than three hundred and fifty fliers on board. That was a hundred more than the ship was designed to carry. Removing everything from the armory increased the space, but it was crowed. More than eighty of the fliers had to be on the main deck at any one time to allow the others room below.

Striker peered into the darkness and saw Tyler approaching. Tyler smiled and said, “Do you need a break?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Do you mind if I sit here with you?”

“Pull up a stool and sit down.”

Tyler pulled up a small stool from the rail and sat down. He looked at the shoreline two miles away and sighed, “Do you think they can see us out here?”

“Not really. Our speed isn’t fast enough to cause a large wake in our passage. I don’t think we’ll encounter a problem until we get much closer.”

“How could anyone move south fast enough to issue a warning if they did see us?”

“If there’s a scout on shore that spots us, he’ll launch a large red rocket. It will go high enough to be seen by any scout south of here. They’ll in turn launch another rocket until the picket ships see it. They’ll pass the warning on to the city and then come looking for us.”

“Would they pose a danger?”

“We didn’t bring any cannons.” Tyler stared at Striker and took a deep breath. Striker smiled, “I don’t think we’ll be seen.” He paused and said without looking at Tyler, “I hope you know how I feel about you taking Olivia back into that city.”

Tyler shook his head, “Striker, you can’t feel half as bad as I do doing it.”

Striker looked at Tyler, “Then why are you taking her?”

“We’re going to try and save the babies and infants from being killed. What do you think she would feel if I refused to do that?” Striker looked back out to sea and remained silent. Tyler shook his head, “She would lose the feelings she has for me if I didn’t try. She would wonder just how hard my heart was every time we had an issue in the future. She would wonder about my love for my own children. And, the truth be told, she’d be right to do so.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re going to be there and if we don’t make the effort…”

“You’d be no better than those you’re attacking.”

“Exactly. If we weren’t going in, then we could be excused. I happen to agree with her, Striker. Even if I die in the effort, it’s worth doing.”

“Your father would be proud of you, Tyler.”

“Are you proud of me, Striker? I know how much Zeck admires you.”

“I am.”

“That means more than you know. It’s important that you understand why I’m doing this.”

Striker smiled, “Just be careful.”

“I will as much as possible in a warzone.” Striker shook his head and knew the danger Tyler was going to face. It wasn’t going to be easy.

T
yler waited while two flyers set up the rings that would hold Olivia above him. The glider was fully deployed and Olivia waited as the two belts were fastened around her chest and feet. She was finally attached and Tyler pulled the two belts around him that wrapped around Olivia from the main rod in the glider’s assembly. Striker watched them getting ready and prayed that two of the people he admired would survive the coming mission. Tyler checked the belts and nodded. Gordon stood beside him and Tyler looked at him and smiled, “I’m counting on you to carry out your part.”

“I will not let you down, Tyler. We’re ready.”

Tyler put his hand on Gordon’s shoulder, “I have no doubt that you are. You are the key to making this a success and I know I’ve chosen the right person to do it.”

Gordon nodded as the five flyers tilted the large glider forward and held it off the moving deck. Striker saw the glider come down and turned the ship into the wind. The other five ships immediately turned with him and headed into the easterly wind. Tyler activated the electrical propeller and the glider fought to move forward. The five flyers held on to it and then ran forward. The glider caught the wind and immediately shot up off the deck as the five flyers released it. Tyler fought the huge push and kept the front edge of the wing up as the prop pushed forcefully against the prevailing wind. Tyler quickly turned the glider and it dropped a few feet before the electric motor’s push began pushing it high into the atmosphere. Tyler had his head covering on and he glanced at the six ships slicing at an angle into the wind. Gliders were pouring off their bows as his Command took to the air.

Tyler moved over the shoreline and started flying south. It was dark, almost to the point of blackness, except for the brilliant stars shining overhead. Olivia quietly said into his ear, “This is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life. This is beautiful.” Tyler reached up to his shoulder and squeezed her hand. It was three o’clock in the morning and they had thirty miles to go before they arrived at the city. Tyler had timed his arrival with daybreak when the dinosaurs were at their loudest. The fliers were going to have to land in the top of trees and that wasn’t always the quietest thing to do. He saw his flyers start organizing into two groups and he smiled at their efficiency. The largest group fell in behind him and the second group formed up into a single line with more than five hundred flyers following each other. Tyler saw Lance leading the long line and smiled. He had proven himself to the flyers and they respected him almost as much as Tyler. He looked up and said, “You’ll need to make a fast decision when we arrive.”

“I know. Just get me close to the area and I’ll let you know.”

“Tyler nodded and kept the coast line directly under him as his glider pulled away from the other flyers. He felt his fear about what was coming but he hid it well. To not feel fear meant you didn’t know what was ahead of you, he knew what was coming. He looked up at Olivia hanging above him and knew she was also frightened, but she hid it as well. Three more hours and they’d be in enemy territory. Now he would see if he had prepared properly for what was coming.

• • •

Rory and Johnathan listened to Mindy and knew they had messed up royally. Rory shook his head and said, “We need to tell Andy about this; our plan won’t work.”

Mindy looked at them and after a moment said, “The old plan will fail, but it’s not too late to make new plans.”

“What are you talking about? This is a suicide mission.”

Mindy looked at John, “No, things will have to be done differently to make it work.”

Rory’s brow furrowed, “What do you have in mind, Mindy?”

“What is the goal of our attack?”

“To take out the cannons that could fire on our ships at sea.” Rory looked at Johnathan and he nodded.

“Rory, you aren’t going to like this but Johnathan and I are going to fly in and disable those cannons and spitters on top of the islands.”

“WHAT?!”

“Just listen for a few moments and then tell me what you think.” Rory’s mouth was open to protest but he closed it and nodded his head. “There were only ten Destroyer Warriors guarding the guns at night and they all sat on a long bench facing out toward the ocean. Half of them were asleep and the other half were fighting falling asleep. John and I can fly in and land our gliders on top of the tarp that’s covering the spitters. It would make for a soft surface to land on that would be masked by the noise of the waves breaking on the rocks at the base of the island.” Rory started shaking his head and Mindy said, “I practiced landing in those circles on the beach when Tyler moved his command north of the wall. I also saw John doing it as well.”