Second Chances (128 page)

When they were all clear Mitch went back to his room. Travis nodded to him as the others stood guard. “Security is on it, Mitch,” Travis said as he took the pistol from Mitch.

“They'd better be,” Mitch said, yanking the door open. He startled Sandra. He gave her a tight nod as he went to his nightstand and grabbed his tablet. He came back to the others as he booted the device and started tracking the intruders.

Max was torn apart by a flock when he tried to stand and defend a door that led to one of the kid's bedrooms. Mitch watched impotently on his tablet, pissed as the animals hit his beloved dog from the rear, making him twist about until one got an opening and jumped onto his back, biting his neck and severing his spinal column. Coldly Mitch sent in a robot to stop them from feeding and to chase them out.

“Son of a bitch!” Mitch snarled.

“We'll get them,” Travis said again.

------*------

Janet had been checking on the Cheetah during her normal morning routine. She saw the raptors and then got a wild idea. She opened the cages and turned the big cats loose. “Go get em! Turkey dinner!” she said, pointing.

A raptor saw the spotted cats but it was moving in the other direction. The cats saw the animal retreat and instinctively gave chase. They gave chase, ran each of the raptors down, trip them up with a swipe of the paw, and then kill their intended prey with bite to the throat and shake of their head. Other raptors nearby who witnessed the death of the three members of their flock turned on the big cats and battle royal ensued, claws out on both sides, hisses and squawks, teeth bared...they slashed back and forth, feathers and fur flying.

The raptors realized attrition was working in the defenders’ favor so they broke contact and fluttered up over the cheetahs and retreated outside. One landed on a door handle; its weight pushed the handle down. Candy and Bill came out with their daughter just in time to see four of the raptors open the door and retreat. Bill sheltered his wife and daughter but Candy was gaping and pointing as she went into hysterics. “They know how to open doors?? Who taught them? Did you see that? Did you? Did you??”

“I know. Get over it. It's almost like you never saw the damn movies,” Gunny Usher snarled as he passed them.

------*------

“What the hell! Is this some kind of drill?” Professor Hinkley said, coming out of the office he and Evan had been using to work on the wormhole equations.

“No! Something escaped!” Evan said. “I don't remember them being in the cages the last time I was here,” he said, frowning in bewilderment as he looked about.

Maggie and Ducky came out of a nearby room at a run. “They aren't ours! We're not that stupid!” Maggie snarled. “They are raptors! Get back in that room and stay there until someone tells you it's all clear!” She said.

“Oh my,” Evan said as Ducky pushed them back into the room and barred the door.

Security, robots, and volunteers chased the remaining flock outside. Those with weapons shot after them into the dark. The remaining animals oriented on the north and then broke into a sprint. They darted under vehicles for cover, then hopped the interior pasture fence. Phyllis ran after them in time to see them glide through the gaps in the fence and off into the forest. She also saw and heard the delayed reaction from the computer as it set off the lights, sirens, and sonic weapons, giving the intruders a harsh send-off.

“Shit,” Phyllis said, hands over her ears. She tried to shut it off but couldn't be heard over the distant noise. Mitch cut it off with his tablet from where he was at.

“Well, now we know we have to fix that,” Mitch snarled. He watched as Phyllis, both gunny's and the chief ordered a sweep of the base. The older Gunny Usher had been limping but he seemed game.

“Definitely,” Sandra said, looking over his shoulder. He turned and wrapped her in his arms. She shivered, hugging him tightly.

“Come on, we've got work to do. And people to reassure,” Mitch said. She opened her mouth to protest but he swept Tucker up, grabbed a shirt and then yanked open the door. “Well? Coming?” He demanded. She wordlessly followed.

------*------

“Computer, casualties?” Mitch demanded as they gathered in the courtyard. Janet winced, expecting a grim toll. “No human fatalities at this time,” the AI reported.

“Well, that's a relief,” Phyllis murmured. Brian nodded.

“I've got to go,” Sandra said, kissing his her husband. He nodded as she handed Tucker off to Ester and then went to work on a limping Gunny Usher. Fortunately no humans were killed, but several people had been bitten or clawed, and many were obviously terrified out of their wits. Janet sobbed. “So much for being safe and secure.”

“We took it for granted and let our guard down. Obviously we were wrong. I was wrong,” Mitch said. He wrapped his arm around the woman's shoulders and hugged her. He winced when she hugged him back but didn't protest.

“Boss, I'm in charge of security,” Phyllis said. “If there is any fault, it's on me. You did pass on that warning.”

“No, I should have...” Mitch sighed when he saw the set expression. “I'm making excuses for you, is that it?”

“In a word, yes,” Phyllis said stiffly. “We need to find out where they came in and plug the hole. Obviously we need to put nets up or something,” she said. Mitch nodded.

“And people. Someone not just watching monitors, but running patrols,” Gunny Usher said, rubbing his jaw. Mitch nodded again. “Day and night.”

Mitch turned to Phyllis. “Get on it. Create a duty roster. Anyone not busy can keep an eye out. We've been complacent. If anyone has a problem with it, let me know. You're going to have your hands full in a couple weeks when people start getting complacent again,” Mitch said.

Phyllis nodded grimly. “Leave that to me. A few surprise inspections and a drill or two should keep people on their toes and not sleeping on the job.”

“Roger that,” Gunny Usher said with a curt nod.

Chapter 56

Brian tried to fill in for Vance by working out how the animals got in and how to keep them from getting in. By day it was easy to track where they'd come in. They accessed the computer's files and grimly watched the intrusion unfold. They took notes and then worked out how to overhaul the computer program and its timing.

“It boils down to we need eyes on this. Physical eyes, people. We need someone checking the perimeter every minute.”

“A bit much don't you think, Phyllis?” Brian said, aghast. “We don't have the manpower,” he said shaking his head.

“The price of liberty is ever vigilance. Or in this case, the price of survival is vigilance. We'll have to figure it out somehow,” She said. He looked at her and then nodded.

------*------

Bob wasn't happy about the raptor intrusion. It had scared the piss out of him; he freely admitted that to himself. What he'd thought was the safest fortress on the wretched planet was turning out to be a sieve. Sure, no one had been killed, but they'd gotten lucky.

He was reluctant to go outside but was forced to when he noted a problem with the hydrogen farm. He cursed and went to check on a potential leak, wondering if someone had hit it with a bullet while firing blindly into the night. “Nothing would surprise me now,” he muttered as he stomped to the nearest truck, climbed in making it rock, then tore off.

The one good thing about being outside, he didn't have to worry about being in on the raptor mess cleanup or be anywhere near Dunn. The colonel scared him these days; the way he scowled at him every time they saw each other. He went out of his way to avoid the man. He just didn't feel safe anymore and hoped he'd be gone soon. He wanted to put the whole nightmare behind him.

When he got there he noted the smell. He swore again and then started to get to work on fixing the problem before someone noticed and bitched.

------*------

With Brian and most of the able-bodied people out and about reworking the perimeter defenses, there weren't a lot of people back in base minding the store. Mitch was still on convalescence...Sandra had banned him from participating in the meetings to keep his stress level down. He'd resented the restriction publicly...but secretly had been relieved.

That didn't mean he was just going to laze about, watch videos and sleep all day. No, he was going to watch videos and access the net, but for the live feed. He monitored Phyllis and Brian's efforts in a split screen while he kept his usual eye on the health of the base. After a while though, he got bored with it and set the tablet aside to feed Tucker.

“Low stress right. Your mother has a funny way of thinking about stress. Babysitting a bunch of people or you?” Mitch asked. Tucker giggled at him. He snorted. “Yeah, right,” he muttered, pouring the cereal into a bowl.

Something was wrong he thought; but he wasn't sure what. He kept glancing at the door and then his tablet to see but nothing occurred. Tucker picked up on his misgivings. He put on a brave face before he escorted his son back to Ester in daycare.

When he got back to his office he sat down and tried to think, to focus on the feeling. Nothing came to him though, just flashes of pain.

The computer alerted Mitch there was a problem with the chemical works. “Here we go,” he muttered. Mitch pulled out a tablet to check. He saw the potential for a leak and saw something else. Pressure was building where it shouldn't be. That was odd, and a disaster waiting to happen.

Immediately he tried to call Bob, but Bob refused to take the call. He put in a call to Brian, but Brian and the others were all outside the perimeter working on a section of the wall. Mitch went to call Vance and then kicked himself mentally. He scrambled out of his chair, hissed at the pain in his abdomen, and then grabbed a jacket as he rushed out.

------*------

Janet and Anne saw Mitch tear through the great hall at as close to a run as his battered body would allow and then jump into a nearby hummer. “Wonder what that was about?” Janet asked, feeding her daughter.

“I don't know, but someone should go find out,” Anne said, feeding the twins.

“I...hell,” Janet sighed.

“Go. I've got this,” Anne said, indicating the kids. Janet nodded and moved out. She saw the dust trail and set out to trail behind.

------*------

Colonel Dunn lurked by the hydrogen plant, about two hundred meters out near a berm wall. One couldn't be too careful he thought, then swore as a truck came flying past up the road to the plant. He watched for a moment as Chambers climbed out of the hummer and then swore again. He moved in, ready to finish the job if he had to. Either he was about to kill two birds with one stone or it was all about to fall apart. If it was he had to get in there to try to salvage what he could fast. He was pretty sure he wouldn't have a choice about how to do it but he was out of options. Besides, a frontal attack was more his style anyway he thought.

------*------

Mitch saw a familiar figure lurking by the berm out of the corner of his eye as he drove past but didn't stop or consider it; he was on borrowed time. “Computer! Alert! Go to code red! Tell everyone here and get the fire brigade on standby! Divert all hydrogen from the chemical works! Shut down production upstream! Suck that puppy dry!” Mitch snarled as his truck tore up the track.

Bob looked up to see a vehicle approaching and felt both relief and alarm. Klaxons went off around the area.

------*------

“What the hell?” Brian demanded, looking up as he heard the distant klaxons. “Someone screw up? Did we set them off?” he demanded. He looked down in frustration then went over to the tablet he'd left out on the truck's hood to see it flashing red. “Fire? What the hell?”

“Hydrogen!?” Phyllis said. She tapped at the controls then frowned, there was no camera feed. “If this is real, we're in serious trouble. We could lose it all; I've seen a hydrogen explosion in Texas. It goes off like a bomb. Big enough to cause an earthquake,” she warned.

“If this isn't a freakin’ false alarm,” Brian said. “Who called it in? The computer?”

“No,” Phyllis said getting into the truck. “Mitch did.”

“Frack,” Brian said, tucking his tablet under his arm. “Move people!” he bellowed. They looked up to him. “Leave the robots to secure this area. We've got a crisis in base!” he yelled and pointed to the farm as he climbed into the passenger seat of the hummer. Phyllis let him get his ass in the seat before she pulled out in a roar of gravel.

She cut across the road and then went right into the newly-plowed field. “Ivan's going to love you for this,” Brian said, grabbing the oh-shit bar to hang on.

“Bite me,” Phyllis said as she drove.

------*------

Bob was turning the valve desperately, but the thing just kept spinning. He cursed, unsure what to do.

“Did you shut it off?”

“The valve's stuck or something!” Bob snarled, hitting it with the palm of his hand. “We need to get the hell out of here!” He said.

“Not a chance, I shut my truck off. The batteries could spark an explosion,” Mitch said. He moved in and brushed Bob aside. He spun the valve and realized it was stripped. “Fuck,” he said. He scanned the pipes. “There is...” He pointed to a ladder.