Read Online The Sixth Level (Secret Apocalypse Book 2) by James Harden - Free Book Online
Authors: James Harden
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been shot in the arm. She hadn’t been bitten. She was not infected.
"What do we do now?" I asked. "What’s the change of plans?"
"We can't land in New Zealand anymore. It’s too dangerous. The government and New Zealand forces will be on high alert. We can't risk being spotted."
"So what the hell do we do? We're not going to abort the mission are we?"
"No. We're going directly to Australia. We go dark. We fly in stealth mode. They won't see us."
"We're going in by ourselves? Into Australia? Are you nuts?"
"We'll meet the others there. Rendezvous point is a temporary camp situated in the Nullarbor plains. It's a sparsely populated area in South Australia," he said as he pointed to a map on a display monitor. "The military forces, the US navy, Australian navy and UN have set up a blockade around the entire Australian coastline. But this section of coastline is not that populated. There’s a small but substantial gap in the blockade. We can avoid radar detection."
Daniel told me that a stealth jet isn't totally invisible to radar; it just limits the radar's effective range.
"We’ll set down about three hundred clicks inland on the plains," he continued. "The guys are already on their way. They’ll set up a small base of operations. Out there it's about as isolated as you can get. There'll be minimal military presence."
"And hopefully minimal infection right?"
"Yeah, that's what we're hoping."
"Hoping? You mean you don't know for sure?"
"No, we haven't been able to obtain any recent satellite imagery that shows the spread of infection. Infra red heat images are ineffective and there's been a lot of interference from that dust storm."
"So we're going in blind?"
"Relax, it's the Australian outback, there's nothing out there. It's a desert. A wasteland. We'll be fine."
I looked at the map. The section of coastline was called ‘The Great Australian Bight’. And the area Daniel pointed to was called the Nullabor Plains.
He said it was a huge area of nothingness. He said we’ll be fine.
I wanted to believe him.
But I didn't.
Chapter 6
We got through the blockade and over the coastline without incident. A few minutes later we began our descent for landing.
The first thing I noticed when we broke through the clouds was just how red everything was. A dusty, deep, burgundy red. The color of blood.
We landed as the sun was setting on what appeared to be an abandoned road in the middle of nowhere. As we came to a stop at the end of the makeshift runway and turned around I saw a large helicopter with two massive rotor blades take off in a mini-tornado of red dust.
"What's that?" I asked Daniel.
"That's our supply drop. It drops in fuel, food, ammo. But it's heading back to the Dark Crystal."
"The Dark Crystal?"
"Yeah, that’s the name of our ship. It’s a bit dramatic, I know."
"Where's the ship?"
"Off the coast."
"Won't the navy blockade see it?"
"No. like I said, this area isn't as heavily patrolled as the rest of the country and the ship itself has stealth capabilities."
"Wow, you guys are all about stealth, huh?"
"Being invisible is the only thing that matters in our line of work."
Daniel began to turn the jet around so we were pointed back towards the camp. I looked out the front window of the cockpit and saw a desert camouflaged Humvee driving along side us. The huge vehicle reminded me of my first close encounter with the Oz Virus at the North Sydney police station and our high speed escape. I remembered Kim’s amazing and expert driving in the thunder storm. I remembered Kenji being all cool, calm and collected. And basically saving our lives. I remembered throwing grenades and blowing up the interrogation room. I remembered poor old Officer Dennis and the huge shard of glass stuck in his leg, his blue uniform, covered in blood turning it a weird purple color.
The memory seems surreal, like a strange dream. Or nightmare. It’s amazing to think that
"What do we do now?" I asked. "What’s the change of plans?"
"We can't land in New Zealand anymore. It’s too dangerous. The government and New Zealand forces will be on high alert. We can't risk being spotted."
"So what the hell do we do? We're not going to abort the mission are we?"
"No. We're going directly to Australia. We go dark. We fly in stealth mode. They won't see us."
"We're going in by ourselves? Into Australia? Are you nuts?"
"We'll meet the others there. Rendezvous point is a temporary camp situated in the Nullarbor plains. It's a sparsely populated area in South Australia," he said as he pointed to a map on a display monitor. "The military forces, the US navy, Australian navy and UN have set up a blockade around the entire Australian coastline. But this section of coastline is not that populated. There’s a small but substantial gap in the blockade. We can avoid radar detection."
Daniel told me that a stealth jet isn't totally invisible to radar; it just limits the radar's effective range.
"We’ll set down about three hundred clicks inland on the plains," he continued. "The guys are already on their way. They’ll set up a small base of operations. Out there it's about as isolated as you can get. There'll be minimal military presence."
"And hopefully minimal infection right?"
"Yeah, that's what we're hoping."
"Hoping? You mean you don't know for sure?"
"No, we haven't been able to obtain any recent satellite imagery that shows the spread of infection. Infra red heat images are ineffective and there's been a lot of interference from that dust storm."
"So we're going in blind?"
"Relax, it's the Australian outback, there's nothing out there. It's a desert. A wasteland. We'll be fine."
I looked at the map. The section of coastline was called ‘The Great Australian Bight’. And the area Daniel pointed to was called the Nullabor Plains.
He said it was a huge area of nothingness. He said we’ll be fine.
I wanted to believe him.
But I didn't.
Chapter 6
We got through the blockade and over the coastline without incident. A few minutes later we began our descent for landing.
The first thing I noticed when we broke through the clouds was just how red everything was. A dusty, deep, burgundy red. The color of blood.
We landed as the sun was setting on what appeared to be an abandoned road in the middle of nowhere. As we came to a stop at the end of the makeshift runway and turned around I saw a large helicopter with two massive rotor blades take off in a mini-tornado of red dust.
"What's that?" I asked Daniel.
"That's our supply drop. It drops in fuel, food, ammo. But it's heading back to the Dark Crystal."
"The Dark Crystal?"
"Yeah, that’s the name of our ship. It’s a bit dramatic, I know."
"Where's the ship?"
"Off the coast."
"Won't the navy blockade see it?"
"No. like I said, this area isn't as heavily patrolled as the rest of the country and the ship itself has stealth capabilities."
"Wow, you guys are all about stealth, huh?"
"Being invisible is the only thing that matters in our line of work."
Daniel began to turn the jet around so we were pointed back towards the camp. I looked out the front window of the cockpit and saw a desert camouflaged Humvee driving along side us. The huge vehicle reminded me of my first close encounter with the Oz Virus at the North Sydney police station and our high speed escape. I remembered Kim’s amazing and expert driving in the thunder storm. I remembered Kenji being all cool, calm and collected. And basically saving our lives. I remembered throwing grenades and blowing up the interrogation room. I remembered poor old Officer Dennis and the huge shard of glass stuck in his leg, his blue uniform, covered in blood turning it a weird purple color.
The memory seems surreal, like a strange dream. Or nightmare. It’s amazing to think that
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