Trapped in Time-Extinction (21 page)

She had come in a sport glider on this trip. It was much smaller than a normal glider and miniscule compared to the powered gliders. However, it was much more maneuverable and half the weight of a standard glider. There was no way she could have landed on the tarp with a powered glider without collapsing it. Time to play. She kept her eyes on the Destroyers sitting on the bench and saw most of them were asleep. A few of them appeared to be carrying on a discussion but their attention was out to sea and not the tarp covering the spitters. She came flying up the face of the rock on the harbor side of the island and stalled her glider as it came over the top of the cliff wall. She pulled the retract cable and she dropped three feet to the tarp directly below her. She aimed at a depression but landed on something round and three feet off the ground. She fought to keep her balance and after several twists and turns she managed to remain standing. She bent down and went to her belly on the tarp. She quickly crawled six feet to the edge and dropped off it, landed on her feet, and pulled her hand blaster out of her holster. She started moving quickly toward the warriors on the bench when suddenly, three warriors came out of a hole in the ground and walked over with some food.

She froze where she was and knew John was going to cause a huge amount of mayhem across the harbor. She decided she couldn’t wait. She pointed her blaster at the Warrior sitting furthest from the three warriors bringing the food and she pulled the trigger as she swept it across the bench and into the three approaching warriors. Every Destroyer disintegrated into an orange mist that blew off the top of the island. The plates the warriors were carrying fell to the rocks and shattered.

Mindy shook her head, that noise would draw a crowd. She pulled her cutter and hit the activate button on it. She ran under the raised barrels of the cannons and held the cutter over her shoulder with the blade slanted backwards. As she ran under the barrels she heard loud thuds behind her as the front four feet of the long barrels was cut through. She moved as fast as she could but she heard loud voices behind her. She heard shots ring out and heard the bullets ricochet of the cannons. She passed the last cannon and as the piece of its barrel fell with a thud, she swerved slightly and dove off the cliff. She pulled the expansion cord on her backpack and the small sport glider popped out and a few moments later the wings caught the air. Mindy pushed the front edge of the wing up and swept up from the jagged rocks only ten feet below her. The Sport Glider was nimble but its wings were smaller and didn’t catch air as quickly as a normal glider. A half a second more hesitation and she would be dead on the rocks.

She turned the glider into the wind and fought to gain altitude. Something wasn’t right. What was it? That’s when she heard a massive blast across the harbor where the northern cannons were located. She looked up at the top of the cliff and realized that the spitters hadn’t been eliminated. She turned the glider into a tighter spiral and wondered if she should land again and go after the spitters. The thought had barely entered her mind when her glider was rocked by a blast emanating from the top of the island. The sound deafened her and the shock wave blew by her and flipped her glider. She saw the glider go from directly above, to her to under her, and then back above her. She was stunned for a moment and fought to regain her senses. She shook her head and continued to spiral upward without conscious thought.

The years of training to become a Master Warrior paid off. She flew the glider without thought and continued to fight for altitude. She shook her head numerous times to clear it and she finally managed to clear her vision. She looked around her and saw Rory was flying twenty yards away from her and he appeared to be yelling at her. She couldn’t hear anything. She suddenly felt a pain in her left arm and she saw her camosuit over it was dark. She tried to think about what would cause that and then she realized she had been hit by something. She looked up at her glider and saw a hole in the left wing. She shook her head again and reached around to her backpack and pulled out a bandage. She held the glider level with her weak left arm and tied the bandage around her bicep with her right hand. She held one end in her mouth and pulled it tight. She looked over at Rory and saw he was scared.

She nodded and he flew ahead of her began playing out a rope. She flew in behind him and grabbed the rope with her right hand and tied the two ends to her control bars. Rory turned on the electric motor and turned west. She had flown toward the Destroyer defenses and he pulled her away before she had flown out over the city. Mindy felt incredibly weak and wondered how much blood she had lost. She pulled the bandage as tight as possible and held the glider level with her right hand. She had to continuously adjust the wings to compensate for the hole through the wing. She glanced at the hole and saw that it appeared to be larger than when she first noticed it. She fought off sleep and wondered if she was going to make it back to the ship. She shook her head again and fought losing consciousness.

• • •

Gordon came rushing out from below deck and ran up the steps to where Zeck was turning he steering wheel. “WHAT WAS THAT!?”

“That was two large explosions from the direction of the Destroyer City.”

Gordon looked quickly toward the south but knew the city was over the horizon and couldn’t be seen. He shook his head, “How large of an explosion was it so that we could hear it this far away?”

“It had to be a gun powder explosion. They weren’t cannons firing; the explosion was far too loud for it be that. We’ve also not heard any more since those two.”

Gordon turned and looked at Striker, “Do you think the fleet is starting its attack?”

“No, I don’t. The plan was to start the attack during daylight and I just can’t see Andy making that large of a change without sending a flyer to warn us of the change.”

“If it wasn’t the fleet, what could it have been?”

Striker turned his head to the left and back to the front, “There were two explosions.”

Gordon looked at him and said, “You think it was the two batteries of cannons guarding the harbor?”

“If I had to guess, that would be it.”

“I thought they would be the first thing attacked?”

“If it was the two batteries, then something must have happened to make them do it at night.” Striker straightened out the Ship and said, “Get all your warriors on deck with their blasters.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to run by that picket ship and I’m going to need your warriors to rake it from bow to stern with their blasters.”

“I didn’t think you were going in until tomorrow.”

Striker looked out ahead of the ship and saw the Destroyer Picket Ship on the horizon. “It was the intent to hide our presence until the fleet arrived. However, blowing up those two batteries pretty much ends our hiding efforts. I’m not going to wait until tomorrow to get your fliers close to the city. You can also send out a scout to take a look at what’s going on so we can make an informed decision.”

Gordon nodded, rushed below decks, and began shouting orders. Fifteen minutes later, all two hundred and twenty eight fliers were gathered on the starboard side of the ship as it rushed toward the picket ship that was visibly growing in size. The other five stealth ships got under sail and followed the Storm Chaser. The water rushing from the ship’s bow was clearly visible and if they could see it, then the picket had to see it as well.

• • •

The look out on the Destroyer Picket yelled, “Sire, there is something moving toward us through the water north of our current position.”

“What is it?”

“I can’t see anything but it is huge. It’s making a large wake.”

The Ship Commander looked to the north and saw the wake but didn’t see anything making it. He looked at his gunnery officer and shook his head, “What could be causing that?”

“You know how big those giant sea carnivores can grow. It’s probably one of them that was spooked by the explosions.”

The Commander looked to the south, “What could have caused two explosions that big?”

The Gunnery Officer shook his head, “I have no idea. Do you want me to load the cannons to take a shot at that sea creature?”

“No, I’ll never hear the end of it by giving away our position because of a predator.” The two turned and watched the wake getting closer, and larger, by the moment. The Commander shook his head and said, “I’ve never seen a predator large enough to make a wake that large. Get your cannons loaded and ready to fire.”

The Gunnery Officer began shouting orders to his gun crews but before they could load one cannon, the deck was swept by hundreds of bright red beams and everyone on the main deck as well as everyone below decks was blown into numerous orange mists. They had waited too long and the picket ship was left anchored behind the six stealth ships as they flew over the waves toward the city just over the horizon. It was manned by ghosts, who no longer cared about what was happening in the real world. Striker knew the war would start the next day and he knew his ships would be needed for the fliers to have a place to escape if the worst happened. He offered a prayer for Tyler and Olivia.

T
yler sat in the tree and watched the Destroyer City to see if the war was starting. The two giant explosions from the direction of the harbor had almost panicked him but he quickly thought things through and realized they had to have come from the two harbor batteries. He wondered why they were attacked at night but figured something must have happened to change the plan. He knew the fleet wouldn’t attack at night. It would place his warriors in huge jeopardy by allowing their red beams to be seen by the Destroyers on the coastal wall. The beams weren’t easy to see in full daylight. He settled in and knew the attack was going to happen after the sun rose. He held Olivia in his arms and said, “I’ve been meaning to ask you, why the Destroyer’s young children aren’t taken to the care center?”

“Some of them are.” Tyler’s eyes went wide and Olivia shook her head, “Any child older than two is expected to be at the wall to observe how the city is defended. Children older than eight are expected to assist in the unloading of materials needed on the wall.”

“They can’t do much.”

Olivia shrugged and nodded, “They’re really not expected to do anything. They’re there to witness what their future responsibilities will be. The older children will take care of the youngest and explain what’s going on.”

“I hate that those children are in danger.”

“Don’t!” Tyler looked at Olivia and she saw his surprise at her response. “Tyler, you have no idea just how deadly their children are. I’ve seen five year olds viciously kill slaves for fun while the four year olds watched and laughed. By the time they’re eight, they are vicious, mean, and enjoy inflicting pain.”

Tyler stared at Olivia and knew she seldom exaggerated. He pulled her close and waited for daylight. He glanced under his tree and saw the T-Rex had fallen asleep. It remembered his smell and knew it had not killed the prey during the first encounter. Olivia saw him staring at the Rex and she shook her head, “I think I agree that it has a death wish.”

“But I can’t kill it here.”

“Why not?”

“How many scavengers would be drawn to it if I did?” Olivia shook her head and looked up at the sky realizing he was right. Tyler pulled his whistle out of his collar and blew lightly on it. On the third blow, the giant leapt to its feet and looked around it. It turned and ran away from the wall.

• • •

The Commandant stood on the coastal wall and watched the former sites of the harbor cannons burning. His anger nearly took him and he asked with venom in his voice, “Just how were our cannons attacked?”

The Commander watched the two islands burning and heard move explosions taking place inside the rock fortresses, “I have no idea, Sire. It had to be done from the air.”

The Commandant turned to his Commander and was about to order him shot until he said, “This new enemy will be here after daylight to attack our positions. I would highly recommend that you leave the wall and go to a place where you will be safe. We can’t afford to lose you; you’re too important and our moral would suffer a huge hit if something happened to you.”

The Commandant’s anger evaporated faster than a Raptor attack. He could be in danger! His eyes started moving in all directions and he said, “Keep me informed on what’s happening.”

“I intend to start firing the new spitters at random so don’t be surprised if you hear them. The cables over the city will keep anything that flies from penetrating the city.” The Commandant nodded and quickly went down the steps and left the wall. The Commander watched him leave with a disgusted expression. He knew the Commandant wanted to kill him but he was such a coward that he couldn’t focus around his fear. What a waste of flesh! He issued orders and the spitters began firing at random intervals and places. He went home to get some rest before the next day. He arrived to find the pouch on his dining table. He looked at his mate and she sneered, “Our son found this under some bushes in our backyard. Did you put it there?”

The Commander stood up and hit her squarely on the side of her face. She flew back into the back wall and he grabbed her by the blouse, “You will mind how you speak to me!” His mate nodded quickly and he released her. She collapsed to the floor and he went back to the table. He opened the pouch and saw the pods inside it had decayed. He brought the pouch up to his nose and smelled the contents. His brow furrowed and he brought it closer. It smelled pretty good. He slowly sat down and tried to figure out what was the orange powder at the missing slave’s quarters that smelled so awful. It couldn’t have been the pods. He thought of every possible scenario and nothing made sense except for one conclusion, an outside agency had killed the slave leaving the orange residue. The new enemy had been there. He didn’t know why they took the slave and killed the other one, but they had been there.

That meant they had scouted his defenses. He knew if he changed anything in the plans, the Commandant would have him killed for being incompetent. He thought long and hard about the situation and made his decision. He left his mate and son and went down to the harbor and boarded one of the sailing ships. He ordered it north to check on the picket ships and sailed out of the harbor. The defense of the city was no longer his problem.