Event

THIRTY-TWO

At the confluence of the small range where the edges of the mountains joined together and formed the small valley that Chato's Crawl sat in, the combat engineer company from Fort Carson was beginning their evacuation as the special ordnance section wired the remote firing trigger and placed the portable antenna that would send a signal to the fifteen-megaton neutron warhead buried a quarter mile beneath the target area. The remote sending unit, sitting in the back of the engineer's Humvee, would now be placed under the orders of Jack Collins, who was in total control since the death of Colonel Sam Fielding.

"That does it, Captain," the communications technician said to Captain Reggie Davis. "The antenna is hot. Now all you have to do is enter your code to arm the device."

Davis had done this over a hundred times in simulation and knew the procedure by heart. But as he lifted the transmitter that would send the signal down the shaft and arm the weapon, he knew this was the first actual nuclear device he had ever activated.

Davis punched into the transmitter, which was no larger than a handheld calculator, 1178711 code 1T2 actual and pushed ENTER. As he watched, the small window at the top went blank, then showed in red letters, Code accepted. Fielddevice 45145 activated. Davis swallowed and held his breath, then pushed ENTER again.

Armed.

"Let's get the hell out of here and inform base camp they have a live nuke on their hands."

As they were the last two in the target area, they were alone as they climbed into the Humvee. Davis climbed into the right-side seat and let the COMM tech take the wheel. He reached into the back and brought out a black case, making sure to keep his hands away from the telescopic antenna attached to the side. He clicked open the box and made sure the remote detonating device was working. In the window at the center of the box was the word Activated. The keyboard below was live, and all the triggerman had to do was enter 1T3 and raise the clear plastic cover, then push the red flashing button. Then all hell would break loose underneath the sands of the valley. Captain Davis closed the case, checked the antenna once again, and carefully replaced it in the backseat.

"Okay, let's go, and hope they don't have to use this godforsaken thing."

The technician gunned the engine and started speeding across the valley toward the base camp.

The Pave Low III settled onto a high ridge. It would have to stay put and be refueled when the other helicopters returned because she was now nearly empty. Jack ran to where they had placed some backup command radios and started asking everyone from Washington to Nellis about the location of large amounts of alkali.

"Niles, I'm not even sure, but it may just weaken the animals' armor enough for the X-rays and gamma rays that the neutron bomb releases to penetrate and kill them. As it is right now, the bomb won't get them all. I need that stuff before they make a run for freedom."

No one knew what to do about getting the quantity they needed to them in time. Jack slammed the microphone down onto the table and bashed it a few times in frustration. He ran a hand through his filthy hair and looked up in anger.

"Let's get a team together and go gather what we can from the remains of the hardware store," he said to Everett.

Billy, who was sitting in the shade with his mother and Tony after seeing Hal into the first aid tent, overheard what was being said at the communications table. He stood and shrugged his mother's restraining hand off and approached Jack.

"M.... M... Major?" he said, tugging at Collins's armor.

"What is it, Billy?" Ryan said, trying to get in between the boy and Jack.

"Alkali--will that hurt those things?"

Jack turned and looked down at the boy, then quickly lifted him to the table. "That's exactly what we need. Do you know where we can get some?"

Billy looked from Jack to Ryan. "Only a whole big lake of it. But Gus told me never to go there. He said I could get really hurt by it."

Jack couldn't talk; he didn't know how to pursue his questioning.

"A lake?" Ryan asked.

"He means a dry lake bed, it's called Soda Flats," Julie said as she stepped up to the table and took Billy's hand. "And he was supposed to stay away from there; the damn place is clearly marked as a danger."

Everett took the map from Virginia as she ran up to the group after overhearing Billy. He quickly spread it out on the table. "Where, son, where is the lake?"

Billy half closed his eyes as he found Chato's Crawl, then ran his finger east. "Here, right here," he said as he jabbed his finger onto the map.

"God, it was right in front of us the whole time, Soda Flats, looks like about three miles in diameter," Jack said. He quickly ran his own finger from the dry lake bed south. He jabbed hard at the confluence of low hills that marked the funnel end of the valley and where the engineers were placing the bomb. "Goddammit!"

"We can't catch a fuckin' break!" Everett said loudly as he turned. "If the animals are afraid of this stuff, Jack, they'll head straight for the back door and won't go anywhere near the damn alkali."

"The cattle, the cattle have to be moved!" Jack said as he reached for the radio.

Valley Forge, Valley Forge, do you have indication of movement on GPS ground sensors? Over," Ryan called from the open rear hatch of the Pave Low III. At first Ryan got only dead air, then the AWACS finally reported: "Negative ground contact at this time. Valley Forge will advise, over."

As Collins and the remaining members of the tunnel assault teams watched from a ledge just sixty feet from the recently destroyed Site One base camp, Everett held up a map and explained where Soda Flats was. They didn't notice the beast watching them from its high vantage point in the rocks. It was badly wounded. Blood coursed down into its thick hair, matting it together as it dried in the sun. The mother leaped from the rocks toward the unsuspecting group of soldiers.

Sarah and her team had just crawled from the large hole and into the battlefield of the crash site. She removed the night-vision goggles and tossed them aside, breathing in the fresh air.

Sarah saw the creature just as it jumped. She brought her weapon up and fired, knowing as she did she was too late.

The large animal struck Collins with its shoulder, sending him over the ledge from which they had been scanning Soda Flats. It then landed and swiped at Mendenhall, catching him in the chest and flinging him into Everett. They both crashed to the ground as if they were made of nothing more than paper, leaving a fine mist of red that swirled in the air as the animal moved again. The Talkhan raised her head and roared, catching the pilot and copilot of the Pave Low that had ferried Collins and his team from the town with one blow of its massive claws, decapitating both. She then turned to leap at two Blackhawk pilots who fired point-blank into its exposed back. The beast turned with lightning speed and grabbed one of them by the head, squeezing until the pilot's skull exploded under the pressure, the body falling onto his bleeding copilot.

The creature turned to the spot where Collins had gone off the small ledge and had landed on another outcropping of rock instead of falling a hundred feet to his death. The Talkhan easily hopped down, fully intending to finish what it had started. Standing over the major's still form, it brought its right set of claws up to swing downward, and its tail, with venom dripping from its stinger, rose into the air, then suddenly something small and almost insignificant jumped onto its back. It hesitated for a split second, then easily reached back and pulled the screaming Matchstick off and angrily tossed it over the cliff. But the small alien's attack hadn't been in vain. It gave Everett and the remaining soldiers enough time to get over their shock and start firing at the beast.

Bullets ripped into the mother from all directions. Some bounced off and one even grazed Collins on the forehead, but others found damaged places in the already battered armor of the mother Talkhan. It staggered backward and lost its footing, trying in vain to straighten as more rounds tore into its armored skin and found soft spots. The tail swung in a slow arc, trying to strike something, anything. Finally it made a last lunge toward Sarah and its antagonists as it stumbled one last time and fell to the ground, unmoving.

A moment earlier Gus had been unable to control Mahjtic. As soon as they saw what was going to happen to Major Collins, the alien, without a moment's hesitation, jumped from the old man's arms and leaped onto the Destroyer's back in a show of pure hatred. Gus had seen it all as if he had been watching outside of his own body. He remembered his own screams as the mother had grabbed the little being and thrown it off the cliff. Now he just went to his knees and placed his hands over his eyes.

Major, Valley Forge is broadcasting; they say they have something moving on the valley floor."

Collins turned to look at his second-in-command, wincing as he did from at least two cracked or broken ribs.

Collins looked at Sarah. "You stay until Gus is out of here; nobody gets near Matchstick unless it's someone from the Group, clear?"

"Yes, sir, nobody will touch them."

Collins and Ryan turned away, and with Everett helping them they climbed back into the base camp. Jack went to the Pave Low ramp and took the headphones from the 101st sergeant who was already holding them out.

"This is Site One Actual, what have you got exactly?" he asked, wincing at the pain in his ribs.

"Site One, we have an intermittent contact bearing on heading 445, moving east at a high rate of speed. Contact is larger than previous targets, repeat, larger than previous targets. It comes shallow then goes deep; we lose it at that point until it comes shallow again. GPS confirms from remote sensors. Contact is definite and now is being joined by at least ninety smaller targets. Over."

"Roger, Valley Forge, Site One will advise," Collins said as he quickly tossed the headset to Ryan and turned, and, in pain, ran for the cliff overlooking the valley. Ryan looked at Everett and followed.

Sarah left Gus and Matchstick and climbed the cliff face and joined them at the edge, wondering what they were looking at.

So far they hadn't seen any indication of movement from the sand and scrub below. When Jack locked his eyes on the prone body of the mother, he saw a few underdeveloped eggs that had burst from her abdomen wounds, and that started him thinking.

"How big around was that hole we came across near the diner?" he asked, still looking at the dead form of the parent Talkhan.

"Twenty-three, twenty-five feet in diameter," Everett answered, following Jack's eyes to the mother.

"Too big," Jack mumbled.

"What do you mean 'too big'?" Sarah asked.

"Look, this has to be the mother. It's larger than the ones in the tunnels, the tail and stinger are more developed than the smaller ones, and if I'm not mistaken, those are eggs. That hole we saw down there was too damn big for this animal. Whatever made that hole is huge, much larger than this creature."

"God, I didn't see it," Everett said.

"What in the hell do we have out there now?" Jack said.

As they watched, they saw the sands below the mountain about two miles distant shimmer and start jumping and vibrating, creating an eerie blurred effect.

"What the fuck?" Ryan asked no one. "Look!" He pointed to the right. "Who in the hell is that?"

Collins looked but didn't see it at first. Then he hobbled over to one of the tables and started slashing reports and other equipment from it until he found what he was looking for. He grabbed the binoculars and turned and focused on the thing that was kicking up dust to the west of where the AWACS said the target was.

"Damn, is that the engineers? They were the only unit east of us, correct?"

"They reported in about ten minutes ago. They confirmed Orion was active," Ryan said.

"Shit, get on the radio, Ryan, and warn them off, they're heading right for whatever that is down there!"