her.
They traced cables. Losing track,
they had to start over. Zombie pulled out a small roll of colored
duct tape and started tagging the cable as they went. It helped
immensely.
“ Where did you
get that from?” Christina asked him.
“ Duct tape is a
soldier’s best friend, ma’am. You can fix shoes and uniforms and
even loose magazines with it. I’d never be without
it.”
“ I didn’t know
that.”
“ Yes,
ma’am.”
They followed the cable to a
series of routers, all turned off. She turned them on, one by one,
and watched the flickering green lights.
“ Zombie, you stay
here and watch these. I’m going to try to see if any are working.
Just let me know if any of them turn any color other than
green.”
“ Yes,
ma’am.”
She went back to the terminal.
Ping to the server worked, and it appeared to have a connection to
the outside world. At least, to something off base. The terminal
couldn’t give her much information, but her computer upstairs
should work.
“ We should be in
business, boys. Let’s go back up.”
Shane led the way this time, his
MP23 drawn, but the trip up the stairs was uneventful.
Christina sat back at her computer
and muttered, “As long as nothing has changed, this should work.”
She cracked her knuckles and started typing.
This time she, after connecting to
the landline server, had limited access to a military network. The
Air Force had published several alerts, with instructions for both
combatant and non-combatant military. The nuclear war with the
Soviet Republic appeared to be over, with the republic mostly
destroyed. China, angered by the radioactive fallout crossing its
borders, had declared war on the United States, but the US hadn’t
responded.
No nukes had reached the United
States from either country, but then, and she had to read this part
twice to be sure, the aliens, the Hrwang, had begun dropping
asteroids from space on Earth.
These attacks were as devastating
as nuclear missiles, and military and government facilities were
being targeted. All nonessential personnel were to abandon their
bases and reform at designated rally points. A long list of such
locations was attached.
Combat units were to follow their
plans for total war.
After explaining all of this to
her airmen, Christina asked, “What do we do now?”
Zombie didn’t hesitate. “We
evacuate. Head to the rally point.”
“ There’s not much
good we can do sitting in that silo, ma’am,” Shane
added.
“ I had wanted to
gather up some equipment so we could help track things from the
silo, but I don’t know how to get the hardwired connection all the
way out there. And if we’re going to evacuate
anyway...”
The two men didn’t say anything.
Christina felt the weight of being an officer on her shoulders.
This was her decision.
Actually it wasn’t, she realized.
It was the Colonel’s. They needed to bring this report back to him.
That lifted the burden off her and she knew what to do.
“ Alright,” she
said, “Let’s get this back to the Colonel.”
“ Yes, ma’am,” the
two airmen said simultaneously and stood.
They went back up the stairs as
cautiously as they had come down them, just in case. Who knew how
aliens would fight? Who knew what looters might show up? The
building felt less eerie now that they had been in it a while, but
it was still strange because it was so empty.
There was a smell in the lobby on
the main level that hadn’t been there before. Christina looked at
the men with her, but they shrugged their shoulders. She sniffed.
Rotten eggs and salty fish.
“ Gas leak?” she
suggested.
“ If so, we’d
better get out of here without making any sparks,” Shane
replied.
“ Good
idea.”
Shane opened one of the front
doors carefully, then stopped in the door frame. Christina walked
up behind him and looked past. There was water receding from the
street, leaving seaweed and a few fish behind. One flopped in death
throes at the edge of the
They traced cables. Losing track,
they had to start over. Zombie pulled out a small roll of colored
duct tape and started tagging the cable as they went. It helped
immensely.
“ Where did you
get that from?” Christina asked him.
“ Duct tape is a
soldier’s best friend, ma’am. You can fix shoes and uniforms and
even loose magazines with it. I’d never be without
it.”
“ I didn’t know
that.”
“ Yes,
ma’am.”
They followed the cable to a
series of routers, all turned off. She turned them on, one by one,
and watched the flickering green lights.
“ Zombie, you stay
here and watch these. I’m going to try to see if any are working.
Just let me know if any of them turn any color other than
green.”
“ Yes,
ma’am.”
She went back to the terminal.
Ping to the server worked, and it appeared to have a connection to
the outside world. At least, to something off base. The terminal
couldn’t give her much information, but her computer upstairs
should work.
“ We should be in
business, boys. Let’s go back up.”
Shane led the way this time, his
MP23 drawn, but the trip up the stairs was uneventful.
Christina sat back at her computer
and muttered, “As long as nothing has changed, this should work.”
She cracked her knuckles and started typing.
This time she, after connecting to
the landline server, had limited access to a military network. The
Air Force had published several alerts, with instructions for both
combatant and non-combatant military. The nuclear war with the
Soviet Republic appeared to be over, with the republic mostly
destroyed. China, angered by the radioactive fallout crossing its
borders, had declared war on the United States, but the US hadn’t
responded.
No nukes had reached the United
States from either country, but then, and she had to read this part
twice to be sure, the aliens, the Hrwang, had begun dropping
asteroids from space on Earth.
These attacks were as devastating
as nuclear missiles, and military and government facilities were
being targeted. All nonessential personnel were to abandon their
bases and reform at designated rally points. A long list of such
locations was attached.
Combat units were to follow their
plans for total war.
After explaining all of this to
her airmen, Christina asked, “What do we do now?”
Zombie didn’t hesitate. “We
evacuate. Head to the rally point.”
“ There’s not much
good we can do sitting in that silo, ma’am,” Shane
added.
“ I had wanted to
gather up some equipment so we could help track things from the
silo, but I don’t know how to get the hardwired connection all the
way out there. And if we’re going to evacuate
anyway...”
The two men didn’t say anything.
Christina felt the weight of being an officer on her shoulders.
This was her decision.
Actually it wasn’t, she realized.
It was the Colonel’s. They needed to bring this report back to him.
That lifted the burden off her and she knew what to do.
“ Alright,” she
said, “Let’s get this back to the Colonel.”
“ Yes, ma’am,” the
two airmen said simultaneously and stood.
They went back up the stairs as
cautiously as they had come down them, just in case. Who knew how
aliens would fight? Who knew what looters might show up? The
building felt less eerie now that they had been in it a while, but
it was still strange because it was so empty.
There was a smell in the lobby on
the main level that hadn’t been there before. Christina looked at
the men with her, but they shrugged their shoulders. She sniffed.
Rotten eggs and salty fish.
“ Gas leak?” she
suggested.
“ If so, we’d
better get out of here without making any sparks,” Shane
replied.
“ Good
idea.”
Shane opened one of the front
doors carefully, then stopped in the door frame. Christina walked
up behind him and looked past. There was water receding from the
street, leaving seaweed and a few fish behind. One flopped in death
throes at the edge of the
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