Striker (The Alien Wars Book 2) (12 page)

“Such as?”
Loreto said.

Mike walked over
to the large oak desk in the
center
of the small
room. A detailed map of
Mount Shasta
lay on top of it. “What if I told you that I’ve been inside the
structure and seen where the weapon emplacements are?”

“I’d say that it
would be helpful, but not essential,” Loreto admitted. “I have to get my men
inside the mountain first.”

“There’s a way
that a small group of men could traverse the mountain and enter one of the
secret entrances without getting killed.” Mike waited for the general to walk
over. “This mountain is rigged with every possible device to stop anyone who
isn’t invited. Believe me when I tell you this: the only way that you won’t
have a slaughter on your hands is if you blow up the emplacements before your
men climb up the mountain.”

“My men are not
climbing up the mountain. I have a bunch of helicopters flying in from
San Diego
. They
should be here within the hour. Once they arrive, I’ll order my troops to
attack the mountain with heavy mortars. That should get rid of the emplacements
or at least block them up with falling rocks. While they’re still reeling,
we’ll fast rope down, right on top of them.”

“How are you
going to get into the mountain?” Mike asked.

“As far as I can
tell, there’s only one entrance,” Loreto said, “which is where
Clarence
King
Lake
is. At
least, that’s where it was. I managed to get some surveillance photos of the
area the other day from one of my jet fighters. He had a hell of a time taking
them and crash-landed, but he and the camera survived.” Loreto shuffled through
some papers and found the photos. “Here they are.”

Mike looked
through them.
“Hmm.”
He frowned. “I wonder why they created
this.” He cocked his head at Frank. “Did you know about this?”

Frank hesitated at
the door they had come through. “Can I speak to you for a moment?”

“Sure,” Mike
said, sidling over.

As the two
whispered to each other, Logan and the others took a look at the photos. As the
general had pointed out, they showed the crater near the top of the peak. In
the middle of what looked like a frozen lake was a giant black hole.

Loreto glanced at
Logan
. “Can I trust them?”

Logan
tilted his
head toward the two arguing Hybrids. “They seem to be telling the truth. They
also seem to want what we want. So yes, I would trust them, for now.”

The general
frowned and raked a hand through his
graying
hair. “I
see.”

As Mike and Frank
rejoined them at the table, Loreto turned to them. “What were you two talking
about?”

The two Hybrids
shared a grimace with each other before Mike spoke up. “We were wondering why
that hole is there.”

“Isn’t it
obvious?” Kenneth asked. “How else could someone get into the mountain?”

“There are numerous
tunnels crisscrossed all across
Mount Shasta
,” Mike said. “We never needed a big entrance, so there are four
small entrances on all four sides of the mountain.”

Loreto frowned. “I
didn’t spot them in our surveillance. We had men scan every inch of the
mountain, and I can assure you that the only entrance we saw is at the top.”

“You can’t see
the entrance until you’re standing right beside it,” Frank answered. “And even
then, unless you know what you’re looking for, it’s still hard to see. Now
getting back to your plan, once you attack the weapon emplacements, you can be
sure that an aircraft will be sent to destroy you.”

“If that occurs,
I have men with Stinger missiles,” Loreto said.
“Though I
must admit that our missiles couldn’t get a read on the two aircrafts last
night.”

“Lucky you had us
then,”
Logan
said.

“What do you
mean?” Loreto asked.

“We were in the
smaller aircraft,” Mike stated. “If it wasn’t for us, this city would no longer
be standing.”

“Was the other
one that powerful?
Enough to wipe out an entire city?”
Loreto asked.

Mike nodded.
“Absolutely.
So you can imagine what would happen if your
soldiers faced one of our aircrafts.”

“I realize that,”
Loreto admitted, “and that’s why I’m not waiting for your species to strike us.
I’m taking the war to them today.”

“Why don’t you just
blow the mountain up?” Kenneth asked. “If you plastered the area with bombs,
you might not be able to get in, but no one would be able to get out.”

The general shook
his head. “I do have weapons that could do the job, but I can’t take the risk.
I know
Mount Shasta
is regarded as a dormant volcano, but there have been several
tremors this past week. If it did erupt, the loss of life would be more than I
could bear.” He studied the map. “How long do you need to disable the weapons?”

“Give us an
hour.” Mike reached forward and pointed to four spots on the map. “Here are
where the four entrances are. Two of them are used as runways. The others are
for individual use. So, that being the case, we should head for the one least
likely to be attacked, which is this one.” He pointed to a spot just above the
tree line on the north side of the mountain. “Now do you have any motorcycles
we can use to get there?”

The general
thought. “I have some ATVs. Will that suit you?”

“Excellent.” Mike
and Frank locked eyes. “Is the north side the best?”

“It should be, but
once we disable the weapon systems, we still need to capture the base.”

“That’s where my boys
come in,” Loreto said.

“Just wait
fifteen minutes before you attack. I’m hoping that when they see that it’s all
over, everyone in the mountain will join forces with us. It all comes down to
who they are aligned with, and I have no way of knowing that until I get
inside.” Mike gazed into Loreto’s eyes. “Do we have a deal?”

Loreto stood up.
“Fifteen minutes and not a second more.
Now how will I know
when their weapons are out of commission?”

“We’ll have to
split up.” Mike jerked his thumb at Frank. “You can stay with the aircraft and
fly back here when you see us give the signal. Plus, if we do encounter
trouble, you can help us.”

“Sounds good.
What shall I do about the
Alliance
?”

“What’s the
Alliance
?” Loreto
asked.
“Some kind of rebel group?”

“No.” Mike shook
his head. “Rebels act against the leader. We act for him.”

Kenneth frowned.
“But isn’t your leader the one who invaded Earth?”

Mike fiddled with
his watch. “It was done in the best interest of everyone—”

“Everyone?”
Loreto interrupted. “What
the hell are you talking about? We don’t need your help. We never have and we
never will. You obviously don’t think much of our species, but I don’t think
we’ve done too
bad
for ourselves.”

Mike chuckled. “Two
world wars, as well as countless others,
isn’t
what we
would call good.” His jaw went taut. “But that’s nothing to what will happen if
we don’t return to our planet with what we came here for.”

Frank scratched
his neck. “If we don’t return before time runs out, all hell will break loose, and
I’m not just talking about this country. I’m not even talking about this
planet.”

“What the hell
are you talking about then?” Loreto asked.

“Earth, our
planet, as well as countless others, will be thrust into a war that will
stretch from one side of the galaxy to the other.” Frank stared at the general.
“I know you might not believe me, but it’s the truth. You’ll die, as will the
rest of you.” Mike stared into the faces of everyone. “Once we start this
mission, there’s no turning back. We only get one chance, so make it count.”

Mike put up his
hand. “Time is running out, so let’s drop this discussion.” He gazed at the
map. “We’ll have to clear the airspace.” Tapping the board, he craned his neck.
“Frank, talk to our contact and see if you can arrange something.”

Frank puffed out
his cheeks and quickly left the room. Mike locked eyes with everyone who was
left. “This will only work if we are all in agreement.”

“I’m willing to
trust your judgment in this matter, but if it fails—” Loreto said.

“If it fails, you
don’t have to worry because you’ll be dead.
As will the rest
of you.”
Mike stared into the faces of everyone. “Once we start this
mission, there’s no turning back. We only get one chance. So make it count.”

The sun was
rising above the horizon as the group got ready to depart. It had been decided
that only the fittest would climb up the mountain, and so Kenneth,
Logan
, Mike, and
Jet had been chosen to make the trek.

Once they’d
gathered their gear and weapons and put them into several backpacks, they
walked over to the nearby military truck and dragged out three ATVs. The others
waved goodbye as the five climbed onto the ATVs and drove away.

Frank looked at
the driver of the truck. “I’ll circle with the Striker when the job is done,
okay?”

“I’ll tell the
general.” The soldier climbed into the truck and drove down the road.

Frank surveyed the
quiet campground to make sure they were the only ones there. Satisfied that
they were, he joined the others at a picnic table. Through the binoculars he
had placed on the table earlier, he glanced toward
Mount Shasta
.

“Can you see any
sign of them yet?” Lucy asked.

“Of course not.
It’ll be another
fifteen or so minutes before they emerge from the trees.” Frank looked in the
direction of
Redding
.

Even though he
knew where to look, the city was too far away to make out any specific details.
“I better scout the area.
Better to be safe than sorry.”

As Frank faded
away, the teens asked Lucy a barrage of questions about
Logan
to pass the
time.

Frank took his
time and had just returned when an explosion rocked the silence.

“What was that?”
Molly asked, glancing around.

“It didn’t sound
good, whatever it was,” Lucy said.
“Seemed to come from that
direction.”

“Right in the direction of
Redding
.”
Frank reached
for the binoculars, but before he put them to his eyes, he saw plumes of smoke
rise into the air.

“Damn! They must
have hit the city,” Derek said.

Frank scanned the
sky and spotted an aircraft. “You’re right. It’s right above
Redding
.”

“Do you think the
soldiers had time to escape?” Molly asked.

“I don’t know.”
Frank sighed as he stared at the destruction unfolding. He couldn’t see much
from where they were, but he could still see the smoke, and as more smoke
appeared, he groaned.

Lucy reached over
and squeezed his shoulder. “At least we weren’t in
Redding
.”

Molly glanced
around. “But are we safe here?”

“Of course,” Lucy
replied. “Why …”

An aircraft
roared overhead and drowned her out. It was a Striker heading for
Mount Shasta
.

“I hope he
doesn’t see the others,” Molly said.

The four watched
on as the Striker circled once, twice, and then headed back to
Redding
. But before
anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, it flipped around and dove.

The
color
drained from Lucy’s face. “What’s he doing?”

Suddenly, red
bolts spurted out of the aircraft and hurtled toward the slopes of
Mount Shasta
.

“Damn!” Derek
didn’t need the binoculars to confirm what he had assumed. There was only one
thing of interest on the mountain.

“They’ll be
killed!” Lucy cried out.

Frank gazed
through the binoculars. He moaned in relief as he spotted the group huddled
behind a huge chunk of rock. “They’re fine for the moment.”

“But for how
long?” Lucy shouted. “We need to do something. I can’t sit here and do nothing,
knowing that the one I love is going to get killed.”

Frank hesitated.
“I don’t know.”

“If you’re not going to do anything, than I am.”
Lucy hurried toward the Striker.