Earthfall (26 page)

T
he sun was
already kissing the eastern horizon by the time the SCEV made it back to the manufacturing complex, turning the sky from midnight black to cobalt blue, then to ever-brightening shades of red, orange, and yellow. As Mulligan drove the big rig across the parking lot, Andrews watched the side of the warehouse loom large in the viewports. Mulligan cranked the yoke hard to the left, and the big vehicle turned obediently, leaning hard to the right as it did so. Even Andrews was surprised by the sudden movement, and he was strapped into the copilot’s seat. He heard Laird swearing up a storm in the back as he and anyone else who wasn’t already strapped down had to scramble to find handholds before they were hurled off their feet.

“Take it easy, Mulligan!” Andrews barked.

“I’ll take it easy when I’m dead,” Mulligan replied. He brought the rig to a halt just shy of the door the team had entered through day before, then crawled forward until the entrance was directly across from the airlock. Laird stormed into the cockpit and glared down at Mulligan.

“Sergeant Major, what the hell do you think you’re doing to my rig?” he snapped.

“Just breaking it in, Captain,” Mulligan said, unperturbed. An ugly bruise was spreading across the right side of his face, and Andrews noticed his right eye was red with broken blood vessels.

“Mulligan, you don’t look so hot,” Andrews said, suddenly concerned.

“I’m good to go, sir. The second I start losing the edge, I’ll let you know.”

Laird bent down and looked at Mulligan closely. “Holy shit, you really
do
look like hell, Sarmajor.” All traces of anger had left his voice.

Mulligan swiveled his eyes toward Laird. “Ladies, I’m touched by your never-ending concern for my well-being, but maybe you should stop commenting on my less-than-stellar looks and get the goddamned core supports?” His voice was a harsh rasp.

“We’re on it, Sergeant Major. You stay put and keep an eye on things,” Andrews said as he unbuckled his harness.

“You might find this useful, sir.” Mulligan reached into one of the cargo pockets and pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper. Andrews took it and unfolded it. It was the manifest from the warehouse detailing the location of the core supports.

“Great work, Sarmajor. We’ll have Eklund come forward and keep an eye on things with you.”

“Gee, thanks,” Mulligan said, turning away and looking out the viewport to his left.

“Is there a problem with that, Mulligan?” Andrews pushed the seat back and rose to his feet, crouching slightly to avoid hitting the overhead panel.

“Negative, Captain.” Mulligan hesitated. “But please hurry. I think Eklund has the hots for me.”

Andrews exchanged a look with Laird, and both men snorted. Andrews gently patted Mulligan’s beefy shoulder.

“Well, I’m sure there are worse things in life, Mulligan.”

“I can’t think of any, sir.”

***

It wasn’t tough to find the supports, since Mulligan had saved the manifest he’d found during their earlier foray into the structure. Andrews, Laird, Rachel, Choi, and Kelly suited up and armed themselves for the extra-vehicular activity, and Andrews led the group to where the supports were supposed to be. He saw the signs of struggle from when Law’s people had taken Spencer, and he wondered how long they had until they arrived. He knew one of the survivors’ network of tunnels extended to the warehouse; it was the only way they had managed to get the drop on the SCEV Four team.

“Yes,” Rachel said over the radio as she bent over the open shipping crate. “Yes, these are the supports. They’re in great shape, too.” She straightened and looked back at Andrews. “We should take four, at least. We only need two, but we need some safeties.”

“How can we tell if they’re structurally sound?” Laird asked.

“We can’t, but they’re extremely dense. It would take a significant amount of energy to deform them, and this area of the city,” she waved one arm at the warehouse, “didn’t seem to get hit by a direct nuclear strike, so it’s very unlikely their composition has been altered by ionization.”

Laird turned to Andrews and shrugged. “Well, okay.”

“Let’s get going,” Andrews said. “Rachel, go back to the rig. Choi, Jordello, you guys stand guard. Keep aware of what’s going on around you at all times—we’ll need you to provide security while Laird and I move some of these things to the vehicle. Questions?” No one had any, so Andrews turned to Laird and nodded toward the shipping crate. “Okay, let’s do this.”

Kelly and Choi escorted Rachel back to the waiting SCEV, then returned to stand guard over the two captains as they went to work on the supports. They had a special dolly with them that was motorized, so they wouldn’t have to carry the supports all the way back to the SCEV themselves; since each support weighed almost four hundred pounds, that was a huge plus. Yet getting them out of the container was a struggle, and it took almost ten minutes to load one on the dolly. Then their return to the rig was limited by the dolly’s slow rate of speed. Andrews was sweating profusely beneath his environmental suit and respirator assembly, and through the visor of his facemask, he could see Laird was as well.

“Man, this is going to suck,” Laird gasped over the radio.

“You think it’s bad now? Wait until we have to get them in the rig and store them in the locker,” Andrews said. “We’ll both have herniated discs by the time we’re through.”

“Thanks, man. Thanks
so
much.”

Andrews was right. While extracting the core support from the container had been arduous, getting it off the dolly and into the airlock required some Herculean effort on their part. Stowing it in the SCEV’s tight confines was a hellish nightmare; it seemed like there just wasn’t enough room for them to move while struggling with the support’s incredible weight. Rachel wanted to help, but both men warned her away; if someone lost their grip, the result would be a shattered floor plate, or worse, a crushed foot. They finally managed to wrangle the support into the floor-level locker without causing any injuries.

“Okay,” Andrews gasped when they had secured the support. “On to the next one.”

“Man, this is kickin’ my ass,” Laird said.

“Better that than leaving everyone in Harmony to die, Captain,” Mulligan said over the radio. He and Leona were listening in to their commo from the cockpit.

“You’re a hell of a motivational speaker, Sarmajor,” Laird said.

“I am a man of many talents, sir.”

Andrews waved Laird to the open airlock door. A beeping alarm sounded every ten seconds, telling the crew the obvious: both doors were open, and the potential for internal contamination was increasing. Andrews led Laird outside, then he cycled the airlock closed.

They repeated the sequence twice more before they had to stop to rest. With three supports aboard, Andrews was motivated to bust some ass and secure the last one, but both he and Laird were almost dead on their feet. They drank from the hydration packs they carried on their backs and leaned against the SCEV for a few minutes, catching their breath and trying to regain their strength. Andrews’s legs and arms felt rubbery, and his back and shoulders ached. His forearms burned, and he knew the pain would just increase over the coming days as abused muscles, tendons, and connective tissue grew inflamed.

But it’s still nothing compared to what Law could do …

“Mulligan, this is Andrews,” he said.

“Go ahead, Captain. Over.”

“Do you know anything about some special weapons programs that could turn a man into …” Andrews paused, trying to figure out how to explain it. “Into some kind of super-warrior? A man who could inflict incredible pain just by
thinking
about it?”

“Lieutenant Eklund has been briefing me on the individual called Law, Captain. No, I’m unaware of such a program, but it wouldn’t surprise me. I did know of a program called OMEGA, where soldiers were subjected to nanite treatments that increased their ability to heal and gave them superior strength and endurance, but as far as I know, it was never fielded. As a matter of fact, Congress passed legislation to outlaw activities like that, but I guess the CIA or whoever created this Law bozo never got the memo. Over.”

“I wonder how he could have survived all this time,” Andrews said, more to himself than Mulligan.

“Nanites are interesting little machines, sir. They can self-replicate and continue doing their job for as long as there’s enough raw material to keep the process going. Have no idea if this is the case with that Law guy, but I’ll tell you what—let’s not hang around to find out. Are you guys about done with your smoke break, Captain? Over.”

Laird pushed himself away from the SCEV tiredly. “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he groused.

“You guys want to trade places?” Kelly asked. “You can stand overwatch while Choi and I get the last one.”

“Negative, there’s no reason for all of us to risk getting injured,” Andrews said. “We’ve got it. Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

“Take it easy, Mike,” Kelly cautioned. “It’s a long way back to Harmony, and I’d hate it if you guys were laid up for the entire run.”

“We’ll take care of it,” Laird said, his tone terse and clipped. Andrews could tell his fellow officer was getting awfully close to his limits.

“Easy, man,” he said.

Laird shot him a thumbs-up. “I’m all right, Mike. Don’t worry.”

“SCEV Five to all troops—once you’ve stopped sharing this tender moment, I’m going to have to ask you guys to cut some butt. We’re being scouted. I have visual contact on several OPFOR glassing us from another building down the block. I can engage, but they’re right on the edge of azimuth violation for the minis. Over.”

“How many, Mulligan?” Andrews asked. As he and Laird struck out for the last support, Kelly and Choi flanked them. If they were going to be attacked, it would be while they were away from the SCEV. Both of them held their rifles at low ready. Laird towed the dolly along after him, kicking up dust as he ran.

“I see three, but that doesn’t mean jack. There could be fifty more on the other side of the building. You guys need to decide if that last support is worth it. Over.”

“It is,” Andrews replied. “Mulligan, if we get into a furball, you need to leave right away. You got that?”

“Sorry, Captain. Your transmission’s breaking up. Over.”

Andrews almost laughed. He had expected a terse acknowledgement of the order and nothing else. After all, Mulligan was the one who was supposed to babysit the others and make sure the mission was completed. And here they were with goblins approaching, and he wasn’t going to leave the others behind without a fight. Andrews had to admit he was impressed by the old soldier’s attitude.

“They like to get up high and attack from there,” Andrews said as he crawled into the crate and grabbed another support. “You guys keep your eyes open, and if you see movement, open up. There’s no one friendly out here.”

“Roger that,” Kelly said, taking up a guard position on one side of the warehouse aisle. Choi hung back, positioning himself so he could see the doorway to his left and maintain watch on the other side of the warehouse.

Andrews and Laird grunted and strained, struggling to get the last support out of the crate. They finally managed to do it, but at the last moment, Laird lost his grip. With a yelp, he jumped back, and Andrews felt his end of the support slide out of his hands. The support slammed to the concrete floor with a tremendous crash, blasting a deep crater into the cement, sending chips flying.

“Goddamn it, Laird!” he shouted.

“Sorry,” Laird said. “Come on, let’s get this thing loaded up—”

“Captain Andrews? You there, my friend?”

The sudden voice over the radio made everyone freeze in place. Laird looked up at Andrews, the question visible in his eyes, as Kelly and Choi shifted uncomfortably. Andrews felt a stab of fear run through his heart.

It was Law. And if he was broadcasting on their frequency …

“Mulligan, position of SCEV Four!” Andrews shouted, panic plain in his own voice.

“Negative contact,” Mulligan reported back, and there was an almost embarrassed quality to his voice. “Sorry, sir. We weren’t paying attention to Four’s transponder data. It’s been shut off. Recommend you get back immediately. Over.”

Laird bent over, struggling to get a grip on the support. “Come on, let’s get this thing—”

“Everybody back to the rig!” Andrews grabbed Laird’s arm and yanked him away from the support. “
Now!
”

“Too late, my friend,” Law whispered over the radio.

The warehouse became a living hell. From outside came the long, drawn-out ripping sound of miniguns firing, their six-barreled, electrically driven guns pumping out four thousand 7.62 millimeter projectiles per minute. The barrage ripped through the warehouse’s shell as if it were made from wet paper towels, opening up great holes through which harsh sunlight poured. The bullets continued across the warehouse, decimating ancient shipping crates and sending splintered wood and fragmented metal whirling through the air like a vicious, barbed cyclone. Steel shelving units rocked back and forth, and as Andrews ran down the aisle, he heard all manner of shrapnel strike the crates and shelves around him. Outside, he heard SCEV Five’s turbine engine begin to wail to life, and then another minigun blast exploded into being as Five opened fire on another target.

“Mulligan, SITREP!” Andrews yelled.

“Taking out their observers, Captain. No visual on Four, and I’m prepping to evac. Over.”

“We’re on our way!” Andrews followed Kelly and Laird as they turned the corner. Choi remained where he was, rifle at the ready, finger on the trigger. Another salvo of minigun fire tore through the structure from the opposite side of the warehouse, and Andrews flinched as something cracked past his head. He signaled Choi to head out, and the young Asian man did as instructed, running in a crouch for the door. Andrews turned the corner and saw the bright rectangle of light ahead of him. The SCEV’s airlock was already open, and he watched as first Kelly, then Laird, vaulted up the short stairway and into the rig’s interior. Then Choi emerged into the bright sunlight, and he skidded to a stop beside the stairway and squatted there, keeping an eye toward the SCEV’s rear. He raised his rifle and started shooting immediately.