Authors: Eric Nylund
Operation Inferno
A
BIG CUMULONIMBUS CLOUD LOOMED AHEAD
. I
T
looked like a black anvil floating in the sky. There was no time to go around.
Ethan led the way. He plowed straight inside. His cameras went gray. His radar started bouncing mirror images all over his screens.
Must have been the static charge inside the cloud.
He and his wingmates emerged in a clear space—
And ran smack into the middle of the enemy squadron of bees.
Flashes and blurred colors made a jumble of his displays, disorienting Ethan for a split second as he fumbled at the controls.
A bee clipped him and sent the wasp spinning.
Those bees hadn’t gone after Angel and Madison. Somehow they’d fooled Ethan’s sensors.
This ambush was for them!
Also by Eric Nylund
The Resisters
The Resisters 2: Sterling Squadron
The Resisters 3: Titan Base
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2013 by Eric Nylund
Cover art copyright © 2013 by Jason Chan
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Yearling, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
Yearling and the jumping horse design are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Nylund, Eric S.
Operation Inferno / Eric Nylund. — First Yearling edition.
p. cm. — (The resisters; 4)
Summary: “Ethan and his team must infiltrate a heavily guarded Ch’zar industrial complex to stop the aliens from attacking the Resisters’ new base.” — Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978-0-307-97855-4 (pbk.) — ISBN 978-0-375-97128-0 (lib. bdg.) — ISBN 978-0-375-98119-7 (ebook)
[1. Science fiction. 2. Extraterrestrial beings—Fiction. 3. Leadership—Fiction.
4. Brainwashing—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.N9948Ope 2013 [Fic]—dc23 2013004689
Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.
v3.1
CONTENTS SITUATION UPDATE Filed by Lieutenant Blackwood, Ethan G., commanding officer of Sterling Squadron, Eight days after the destruction of the Seed Bank base.
SUMMARY
: Seed Bank survivors continue to explore base of unknown origins.
GOALS
(in order of priority):
Find food, fuel, ammunition, and other resources to survive.
Continue to resist the alien Ch’zar.
Investigate base communication system to infiltrate Ch’zar satellite network.
Discover who built this complex (we’ve named it Titan Base), and why it was built and then abandoned.
DETAILS
: See previous entries on how this all started—how fifty years ago, the Ch’zar took over the world and kids like myself formed a Resistance to fight them.
The Ch’zar then discovered our previous base, the Seed Bank, and bombed it into rubble, killing the adults or recruiting them to their cause.
I’m not sure what happened to the other kid pilots, but considering the overwhelming odds that we faced, I have to assume that they are dead or have been captured as well.
So, that leaves us, on our own, to fight this war.
From the Seed Bank:
SERGEANT FELIX WINTER
—piloting the Gladiator-class rhinoceros beetle I.C.E. Big Blue has minor structural damage throughout exoskeleton. Supplements and the insect’s natural healing should repair this over time.
CORPORAL MADISON IRVING
—her reconnaissance dragonfly I.C.E. is in good working order but low on the special high-energy diet required for its upkeep.
PRIVATE PAUL HICKS
—in the Crusher green praying mantis. Some hydraulic irregularities, which he’s checking. No significant damage.
EMMA BLACKWOOD
(my sister)—piloting the assault-scout hybrid ladybug I.C.E. The unit is low on missiles. Searching for suitable replacements.
OLIVER PONDSMITH
—minor hull cracks to his silver cockroach I.C.E. Minor energy cell coolant leak (think it’s fixed, but watching it closely).
KRISTOV WORTON
—his red locust is in good shape.
LEE PRINCETON
—housefly I.C.E. needs major work on camera systems. Most of its lenses were shattered. Luckily there are lots of replacement parts in the base’s flight bay.
ANGEL
(no last name on file, and she’s not telling)—Nightmare-class black wasp I.C.E. In good shape,
although it’s acting a bit aggressive. Note: check programming.
These are mostly people from my school’s Grizzlies soccer team. They have no I.C.E.s assigned. They are: Bobby Buckman, Sara Smyth, Leo Jacard, Rick D’Oro, Marta Paseo, and Kyle Evans.
These Santa Blanca refugees are just trying to catch up. They’re more numb than anything else.
The original Seed Bank pilots have more training and combat experience than the others (even me), but they’re traumatized. They saw the destruction of their homes and the deaths of their parents and loved ones. They have to deal with that.
The Sterling recruits are in the best mental shape. They’re following orders for now, but I get the feeling they’re unsure about everything.
They’ve all followed me into battle. We’ve faced impossible odds together. Even death. They believe in me.
But do
I
?
1 A MILLION TONS OF RUST