Once Jayden and Vines were strapped in, the three of them were assisted into jump tubes by Specialist Crawford’s crew.
“Flight check and visual inspection compete, sir. Go time, t-minus one minute,” Specialist Crawford announced in his gravelly voice.
Jayden felt more nervous anxiety as the tubes were aimed at an optimal trajectory that would maximize acceleration to launch them on a course that calculated the highest launch while allowing the Hoppers to use the constant gravitational descent without their operators passing out from a ten-second 12 g eyeballs-in jerk of a launch.
Manning a Hopper wasn’t “flying” one in the conventional sense; it was more of a controlled descent, as their primary purpose was to give their pilot the ability to glide over long distances and land in tight quarters. They weren’t made for actual flight. It wasn’t possible to make more than one or two sweeping turns while in flight and only minor corrections to the pre-plotted course were allowed by the computer guidance system. The four fluttering wings kept you aloft, but really their only purpose was to stop the pilot from falling like a rock. Hopper flight reminded Jayden of paper airplanes: you pointed it in the right direction, threw it and hoped to hell a tiny breeze didn’t knock it off course.
“Three, two, one …” Specialist Crawford gave them an up signal and there was a rush of acceleration.
Vines squeezed her eyes shut and hoped Eli remembered to do the same or they would be escorting a blind and useless scientist through the hot zone.
Pumpf, Pumpf, Pumpf
.
The roar of air rushing past tore at their helmets as the Hoppers’ guidance system aligned the three pilots into formation. The Hoppers arms flexed tightly across their thighs to slow blood pooling in the legs to prevent passing out. Their ascent slowed and the four thin wings unfolded and began to beat the air, pulling them up the last few yards to a preprogrammed height.
Vines felt her legs retract into a horizontal position and she opened her eyes and looked out across the water at the glowing fires illuminating the darkened buildings of Singapore.
In her estimation, the biggest flaw with Hoppers was the lack of arm rests. There were no grips, handles or anything. On her countless jumps, she realized that folding your arms underneath, as awkward as that sounds, was much better than holding them out Superman-style or letting them dangle below.
There was no way of knowing whether Eli was alright until they reached their destination. Once they were above the targeted landing point, the beating motion of the Hopper wings would treble to control their descent. But even then, landings were always dangerous given that, even with the optimal pilot weight, the impact was close to jumping off a one-story building.
Eli will be lucky to make it to the ground without multiple compound fractures
.
They sped along through the night air high above the city-state and the mayhem below. Fires, explosions and swarms of people congealed between the skyscrapers and office buildings. Cannon fire erupted from AH-64 Apaches as they fired on crowds storming the Parliament and the Istana, the president’s residence.
It was anarchy.
While studying the maps of Singapore, Jayden had come to the conclusion that retrieval of the two girls wouldn’t be much of a problem. It was about five miles from their apartment complex to the harbor where an extraction team would be waiting. In the comfort of his room, Jayden had figured he would have plenty of time to get the samples, the girls, and maybe even Tomas. But now that he saw the extent of the chaos on the ground, he realized they may have to fight every inch of the way.
The Hopper wings began to beat faster.
Vines signaled the two trailing operators to prepare for landing.
When they began to hover, Vines dropped out of sight, presumably landing safely on the targeted roof.
Jayden counted the requisite thirty seconds then motioned to Eli to go next.
Eli frantically shook his head,
No
.
Hopper wings could sustain hover for a maximum of five minutes before burning through their fuel cells.
Jayden had no choice but to break com silence, “Vines, he’s refusing to land. You’re going to have to surrogate. Be quick about it. I don’t want to die in this contraption.”
“Roger that, Sarge.”
Vines accessed Eli’s guidance system remotely and he began to descend as Vines took over his apparatus controls. But he started to freak out, jerking around and flailing his arms. Jayden could hear him screaming. His extra weight along with the additional movement was putting undue strain on the wings and the flow engine.
Risking being blinded from the white hot fires burning below, Jayden switched his visor to night vision to watch Eli’s approach. He could see Vines in the center of the rooftop, her arms orchestrating the descent like a symphony conductor. Eli swung about wildly as the Hopper’s guidance lost its ability to maintain a linear path to its target.
At about fifty feet above the rooftop, the wings malfunctioned and Eli dropped like a dead weight directly on top Vines, the two of them collapsing in a heap of limbs and metal parts.
Jayden landed on the rooftop nearby the wreckage.
He shucked off his wings and ran to them.
Eli lay motionless on top of Vines. Only Vines’ legs were visible, sticking out from underneath his torso.
Jayden grabbed Eli by one arm and pulled him off Vines.
Ignoring the scientist, he yelled, “Vines!” as he dropped to his knees. She wasn’t moving and her helmet, cracked in two, was lying in pieces beside her. He found a faint pulse. Jayden examined her head and found a large goose egg growing on her forehead underneath her hairline.
I hope the impact didn’t fracture your skull, dear friend.
He turned to Eli. The collision of his helmet against Vines helmet had broken his visor; his dead eyes were wide open in a permanent look of terror. On closer examination, Jayden saw that one of the metal arms securing the Hopper around his torso had sheared in two and penetrated his chest cavity right below the rib cage, piercing his heart.
Sitting between the two bodies, he tried to repress the anger he felt towards Eli and the sorrow for his injured colleague.
Completing my mission takes precedence above all else.
He would have to recover the samples and the girls on his own. He took the waist pack off Eli’s corpse and tried to make Vines as comfortable as possible. She seemed stable, but was still unconscious. The best he could do for Vines was leave her until he captured their targets and collected the samples. Then he could try to retrieve her and get her medical attention.
The mission is all that matters. She’s a soldier and would do the same.
He injected her with a strong dose of sedatives from his field pack. He could have finished her off then with another dose, but didn’t believe that he had the right.
“I’ll get back to the ship with a few hours to spare and come get you, I promise.” Jayden told his unconscious colleague.
“VIRaL control. VIRaL control. Tippy-toe. Tippy-toe. Do you copy?” Jayden whispered into his com.
“This is control. Tippy-tai-toe, over.”
“There’s been an accident. Delta 1 is down and Tango 3 is out, over.”
Jayden held his breath, waiting for the order to abort.
After a few minutes, there as a click and Supervisor Bertrand’s voice slithered into his ear, “You are to proceed with the mission, Sergeant. And Jayden, we’ve received word that Tomas is on the island. If at all possible, take all three alive.”
“Yes, sir,” Jayden replied.
There was another audible click and Specialist Crawford said, “Sergeant Jayden, sir. What’s your status? Delta 1’s vitals are very faint and I’m getting nothing from Tango 3, over.”
Jayden looked back at Vines lying helpless and vulnerable. “Nothing I can’t handle. Keep an eye on Delta 1’s readings. Alert me if you see any changes.” He paused and then risking insubordination charges, asked, “Are we on a secure line?”
“Of course,” Crawford answered. Like Jayden, his loyalties to the company only went so far as the terms of his employment contract.
Jayden whispered quickly into the com, “I’ll lead another party in to retrieve Delta 1 after the mission, over. Prep a drone. Remove the ordinance and make room in the payload bays for three warm bodies. In and out, over.”
There was another pause on the other side, “Affirmative, Jayden. Watch yourself. My prayers are with you.”
He did a hasty recon of the rooftop to ensure that there was no else around to harm his injured colleague. Then he barricaded the two stairwell doors leading to the floors below with air-conditioning units he’d ripped out off their platforms.
As he was checking the south end of the rooftop, he happened to glance across at the other five rooftops that made up the block of flats and noticed movement on the furthest of them. He pulled down his visor and switched on augmented visuals. The visor came online, reading where his eyes were focused and adjusting the night vision and magnification accordingly.
There was a small mob gathered in a semicircle, most of them armed with kitchen knives, frying pans and chair legs. Inside the circle and leaning against the low wall lining the edge of the roof were four women, two men and a child huddled together in a state of terror.
Three men from the mob rushed forward, grabbed one of the women and heaved her over the wall and off the roof. She plunged down the fifteen stories. Jayden could hear her scream abruptly cut off when she hit the pavement below.
He continued to watch, not able to pull away as the rest of the mob rushed their remaining captives and pushed them all over the side. When they were finished, they dispersed and disappeared down the stairwells into the darkened building.
Jayden looked more closely at the ground below and saw bodies, too many to count, strewn along the ground like broken fruit.
He scanned further in the distance at the sidewalks and driveways surrounding the multitude of apartment buildings. By now, everyone on the island suspected there was contagion spreading through the populace and that those infected with it were attacking the healthy, biting and consuming their flesh. Those who were bit and survived the attacks quickly turned into flesh-eaters themselves. It was a nightmare scenario for Singaporeans and they were taking no chances. As he had witnessed, they were killing family members and neighbors that showed signs of flu-like symptoms, just in case they were infected with the contagion.
Unsure how to process this information, Jayden decided it was time to move. He crossed back to where Vines lay, gave her a kiss on the forehead and left her lying there beside the man who may have condemned her to a pointless death.
Chapter Eight
Vitura International Research Laboratory Ship
Singapore Strait/International Waters
Supervisor Bertrand took a sip of water, scanning the faces of Singapore’s bureaucracy huddled in their tidy conference room deep underground.
Prime Minister Cheung,
such a strong jaw on him
, waved his hands wildly in the air and the rest of his cabinet nodded as he spoke. His military chiefs were also nodding, but Bertrand saw those eagle eyes locking with one another as though they had a private conversation going at the same time.
Bertrand sneered and waived his hand at them dismissively.
Thank God for the holoscope,
he thought.
I couldn’t imagine actually having to sit among them, cloistered in what could very well be their tomb if they don’t agree with the WHO directive to evacuate the country’s leaders before nuclear hellfire consumed on their piss-ant country.
He activated his side of the holoscope.
The conference room went silent, all attention now on Bertrand’s holo which was now sitting in the previously vacant seat on the opposite end of the conference table.
Bertrand chose to forego a formal introduction. It was an unnecessary pleasantry as they had already been sent the data packet that contained details of Vitura Pharmaceuticals, including a full screening of him as head of VIRaL operations. It also held the WHO’s directive to evacuate Singapore’s leaders.
Bertrand began. “Prime Minister Cheung, dignified Ladies and Gentlemen of the Cabinet, Generals. First of all, let me offer you my sincerest condolences for the heartbreaking circumstances that have befallen your proud and glorious country.”
Glorious? A bit much, but they are in such a state of anxiety, I could pour on the sarcasm and it’s doubtful they would notice.
“Please allow me to give you my take on the present state of affairs. Then we can discuss evacuation procedures. As you know, the WHO has confirmed that Singapore is suffering from an outbreak with characteristics similar to that of zombie fever, but much more virulent and deadly. The infection plaguing your country spreads far faster than anything they’ve encountered before. To make matters worse, there are no physical markers to differentiate the sick from the healthy. It’s only their overly violent and aggressive behavior, their crazed hunger for flesh and the accompanying rage associated with that need that sets them apart.”
Bertrand continued. “Tragically, at the rate of transmission occurring across your country, it’s just a matter of time before this new form of zombie fever spreads from your borders, if it hasn’t done so already. The WHO has come to the decision that containment outweighs the need to save those Singaporeans who haven’t yet succumbed to the virus. Like Guangzhou and Hetang Island, the population of Singapore will have to be sacrificed to stop this potential global killer.”
He paused while they gathered themselves, some Ministers were weeping openly, and others stared vacantly ahead.
Prime Minister Cheung, however, was resolute. “We’ve examined the directive, Mr. Bertrand. We are well aware of the final decision. But Singapore will not go down without fighting. As we speak, our UN representative is appealing for a stay of the order’s execution. There is no evidence these riots stem from an outbreak of mutant zombie fever. There isn’t even any evidence of a new strain of IHS. The first indication of street violence occurred less than twelve hours ago. We are requesting another twenty-four hours for assessment and to give us time to get the situation under control and minimize casualties to our people. The nuclear decision doesn’t have to be the only option. Our military is up to the task.”