“Uh oh, Xander, what you can’t see can still kill you,” said the voice of Jonas Lemon. “I told you I’d be around. So who was it that I just crushed?”
“It was me, you bastard,” Hugh Barden announced over the intercom. Xander had linked the communication to the rest of the team, just in case Jonas gave away a clue as to his location.
“Now that gives me great pleasure,” said Lemon. “I’d say that other than Xander, you’re the one I most wanted to beat the most.”
“Is this still about Linda what’s-her-name?” Hugh asked. “You know she never liked you anyway.”
“No, she preferred pretty boys like you — brainless geeks with a flashy smile.”
“Eat your heart out, you ugly muther. If I recall now, she was the best I ever had, so you really missed out on something special.”
“Keep at it, Barden. Now I’m filthy rich and I just knocked you out of the game. So sit back and be quiet like a good little boy while I do the same to the rest of your Team Alpha. You see, Xander, that’s been your major weakness throughout the years. You’ve always relied on others to help fight your battles. I only counted on me, so I was better than you.”
“Yeah, and that go-it-alone attitude got your ass fired and your wife out the door with your daughter. I understand she’s remarried, and that Katie loves him, unlike the hatred she now feels for her real dad. Oh, I’m sorry… is it too soon?”
“Stop trying to bait me, Moore. It won’t work. But I’ll tell you what I will do. First of all, I’m going to take out the remaining Goliaths you have in Karachi, and then I’m going to take over one of Billy’s little JEN-Tech drones outside your hiding place in Washington. Then I’m going to kill all of you, and not just your machines, but your flesh and blood bodies. That will be a new experience. It’s rare when we get to use our drones to kill a real enemy. So let’s get the preliminaries out the way so I can get on with the real contest. I’m in the furthest corridor to the north, the one marked with the large bronze flowerpot. There’s a connecting tunnel between all the south to north corridors. I shouldn’t be too hard to find.”
“Switch to backup frequency,” Xander ordered, and a moment later he said, “Don’t take the bait, Karen. We’re here to find the pilots room and that’s it. Maybe after that’s done we can go after Jonas.”
“I’m tempted,” Karen said, “but I know to follow orders. I haven’t found anything promising this way. I’m cutting south down another corridor. I assume most of these tunnels j—”
Xander could sense the dead air on the frequency. “Karen, are you there? Karen…?”
The line crackled. “I’m here. Comm cut out after the two RPGs were fired.”
“RPGs?”
“Yep. They missed, but I won’t be leaving the same way I came in. The tunnel’s collapsed. Where are you?”
“Hell if I know. All the corridors look alike. Wait… this looks interesting.”
The corridor Xander was in suddenly expanded in width and height, and he rolled into a large circular room with three double-wide doors lining the far wall. All three were closed.
Chapter 28
Charlie Fox was about to drop down and survey the damage to the control hangar when he was suddenly swarmed by half-a-dozen flag-colored drones. He spun the Goliath around and in a fit of rage gunned the throttle, plowing directly into the middle of the incoming flight.
His vision jarred as two of the RDC drones bounced off the titanium frame of the Goliath and broke apart, spiraling to the ground a thousand feet below. Next, he whipped the Goliath into a vertical stall, coming to an abrupt stop in mid-air. The remaining four attack drones were caught off guard by the unexpected maneuver and shot past. Fox let the huge drone begin its fall tail-first to the earth, yet a moment later throttled up again and leveled out. He fingered the trigger on his control stick, sending a spread of heavy-caliber slugs in the direction of the four RDC drones now ass-end to him. They shattered apart in a blossom of colorful debris.
The assault on the hangars at Andrews had been going on for over ten minutes and Abdul-Shahid Almasi knew the batteries in the remaining forty-one combat drones under his command were nearly drained.
He also knew there were enemy UAVs in the underground complex, although from the security cameras and reports from his men, only two of the stealth units remained. The battle taking place on the surface was inconsequential. When the pilots in the control room took out the hangars in America, the attacking drones above would simply transition into hover mode, awaiting new commands, commands that would never come.
The flight command bunker was one of the most-isolated chambers in the complex, and even more than that, Almasi had a secret weapon he hadn’t even known he would have: Jonas Lemon.
Originally, the Ninja V had been meant for Almasi himself — if it was needed. With the presence of the American stealth drones, it was now a vital part of the compound’s defense. Yet he was not in command.
Jonas Lemon was still in Dubai, yet somehow he had acquired the necessary portable relay and control equipment necessary to link with Almasi’s base in Karachi. With the proper access codes, Jonas could operate any of the units the terrorist had in his arsenal. With his guidance critically needed elsewhere in coordinating both the defense of his compound, plus the attack on the hangars in Washington, D.C., Almasi gladly allowed the American access to the Ninja. With Lemon in control of the most advanced killer-drone in existence, and guarding the underground command post, Almasi had one less thing to worry about.
His main concern at this moment was the remaining battery life of the drones in America.
“Attention, all pilots operating in the United States…” His voice was loud and strong and got everyone’s attention as it echoed off the walls of the huge control room. “Guide all your remaining drones directly into the two hangars. Overwhelm the few defenders they have, and once you impact the buildings, detonate your explosive charges. Their command center must be destroyed, and your batteries are running low. Line up and attack at will.”
The pilots turned back to their stations. Camera gimbals were manipulated as visual contact with the target buildings was established. Courses were altered, and in a huge, seemingly choreographed movement, the attack aspect of the drones all pointed in one direction. They hovered for a moment, as if taking a deep breath in preparation of the sprint to the target, and then with one mind and one purpose the flock of drones attacked.
Charlie Fox and the other six surviving defenders noticed the momentary break in the battle. They watched with heart-stopping concern as the drones performed their deadly ballet and then shot off toward the hangars.
It was an odd situation for Fox to wrap his mind around. He was in two places at once, and he fought the conflict of emotion that resulted from his split perspective. To the Charlie Fox sitting in a control pod in one of the hangars, he knew his death was quickly approaching. Yet from his perspective within the Goliath drone, hovering high above the hangars, he felt an odd detachment from the tragedy about to take. In a strange way, he felt… safe.
Fortunately, the feeling quickly passed.
He ripped off his goggles. “All the drones outside are on a suicide dive towards the hangars!” he yelled at the top of lungs.
Time in the hangar froze as shock and inevitability affected everyone in the building. No one knew what to do next.
No one except Xander Moore.
He throttled his Goliath, far away in Karachi, aiming it at the center doorway. The four wheels screeched before finding a purchase, then the drone surged forward. The front prop rings struck the metal doors with a boom like a thunderclap. The matching panels separated, and Xander found himself racing along a short platform running along the elevated outer rim of a large, semi-circular room. Beyond the platform, the floor transitioned down into a series of steep steps, leading to a lower floor area packed full of control stations and startled pilots.