Wright felt a lot better for about three seconds. That was the total amount of time that elapsed between his looking down at the river and returning his gaze to the road ahead. Looming immediately in front of them was a bridge spanning the river that had swallowed the Moto. Sitting in the center of the bridge and blocking the road completely was a hovering Hunter-Killer. As he was trying both to absorb what he was seeing and figure out a way to cope with it, the waiting HK fired.
Able to rely more on brutal force than precision, since its directive did not include trying to take humans alive, its aim was not as precise as that of the Harvester. As Wright slammed on the brakes and cranked the wheel, the blast blew apart the road directly in front of the tow truck. As it spun wildly, centrifugal force sent the still-hooked Moto swinging around in a wide arc. Smashing into the blockading Hunter-Killer, the smaller machine erupted in a burst of flame and ignited munitions.
The force of the explosion was strong enough to buckle the narrow bridge. As Wright fought for control, the truck started sliding into the gorge.
“Hold on!” he yelled.
Screaming, yelling, and unable to grab onto anything to halt their fall, first Star and then Reese were sent tumbling out of the truck. Their plunge was halted by a pair of hands. Unfortunately, they were hands of metal. Scorched and dented but far from incapacitated, the trailing Harvester had caught up to the confrontation in time to pluck both children out of the air. Unyielding digits deposited both of them into a waiting Transporter.
That was enough for Wright. Grabbing an axe, he took a short run, jumped, and managed to grab hold of the hovering Transport. Reese and Star were clearly visible within the human-proof enclosure. Bringing the axe up, he started to swing it around when the nearby Harvester swept him off the vehicle’s roof. Apparently deciding that this particular specimen was especially valuable, it prepared to deposit him into the Transport’s forward section.
“Marcus!” Reese yelled from inside the holding basket.
“Get back!” He raised the axe again.
A new presence marked by a double scream caused it to pause. The source of the sound was a pair of A-10 Warthogs that came roaring across the top of the river gorge. Recognizing the appearance of this greater threat, the Hunter-Killer ascended skyward on its impellers and immediately took off in pursuit of the two aircraft. Moments later another HK arrived on the scene, followed by a third.
“Williams—Harvester’s got a friendly pinned to that Transport. HK’s coming in to finish him off—get in there.” Connor barked into the radio. Kate and Barnes stood next to him in the control room, while the control operators worked with calm efficiency around them. Connor’s mission for his two A-10 pilots—Williams and Mihradi—helping a few civilians through a dead zone had in the past few minutes become deadly serious.
A female voice came through on the radio.
“Got it, sir. Closing in—2,000 meters. Locking on—”
Above the gorge, the sky was suddenly filled with bursts of cannon fire as the two pilots found themselves unexpectedly outnumbered and outgunned. That didn’t keep the second pilot from blasting apart the HK that was pursuing the Harvester.
“Good hit, Williams. You nailed it.”
Barnes clenched his fist in silent victory as Mihradi’s message came through. He glanced over at Connor who was already working through the next move. He leaned in toward the radio, speaking intently.
“Mihradi, take out the Transport’s main engine—”
“What about the prisoners?” As if anticipating the pilot’s concerns, Connor barely paused in his instructions.
“It’ll auto-land on passive thrusters—and we can get ’em out.”
The pilot’s voice was crisp and clear.
“Affirm, coming in 200 feet off the deck.”
The lead pilot banked sharply, dove, and shredded the rear half of the Harvester that was holding a large human prisoner.
Hit multiple times and losing power, it still retained control of its captive. The towering machine reached toward the slowly accelerating Transport for support.
The effort came to naught as an internal blast destroyed the Harvester’s processing unit. Still holding tight to its prey, the machine plunged over the side of the canyon and toward the river below. The man fought his dying captor all the way down, when they landed in the river, and as they sunk toward the bottom of the fast-moving watercourse.
“HK’s on our six!”
As they heard Williams’ voice the three Resistance fighters watched the monitors intently as the red blip that represented the HK closed in on the two Resistance A-10s.
“It’s got a lock on you—break off!” Connor yelled into the radio.
“No! He’s down; he’s down.” Williams’ shout came through as one of the green blips disappeared from the monitor.
High above, caught in an unexpectedly ferocious crossfire, one A-10 disintegrated in a shower of metal and composite splinters. As the second plane banked and attempted to get away from the overwhelming firepower of the swarming HKs, it took a hit that blew away one engine.
***
“Evasive maneuvers—now!” Connor ordered and his knuckles turned white as they gripped the table. But his voice remained steady.
The same couldn’t be said of the pilot.
“It’s all over me. Can’t shake it.” Her words were taut as if Williams was gritting her teeth when she spoke. “Engine’s out! I got half speed only!”
Connor’s response was instant and his voice turned urgent.
“Eject, Williams! Eject!”
Swept away by the fast-moving river, the dead Harvester finally lost its grip on its single human prisoner. Kicking free, Wright struggled toward the surface. He broke through the white water overhead long after the average swimmer would have blacked out from lack of oxygen. Long, deep breaths filled his lungs—as he saw the second A-10, trailing flame, come plunging directly toward him.
Arching his back, he dove and kicked as hard as he could for the bottom he had just escaped. He moved fast underwater—faster even than he remembered being able to—but not fast enough to escape the pile of metal that landed almost on top of him. The river quickly quenched the flames that were pouring from the fatally damaged aircraft. It also dragged the plane and the man who had been trapped beneath it swiftly downstream.
He had no idea how long he had been underwater or how far from the destroyed bridge he had been carried. Of the downed A-10 there was no sign. Coughing up river, barely conscious, wondering how he had survived, Wright grew aware that half of him was still submerged in the eddy that had deposited him on the sandy shore. He told himself firmly that answers to such questions could come later.
For the moment, being alive was enough.
Feeling that if a sudden rush of water came downstream and caught him he would not have the strength to fight it, he knew he had to get completely out of the river. Rolling over, he lay on his back exhausted, trying to recover some sense along with his wind.
This won’t do, he told himself. Out in the open and lying flat on the riverbank, the sun would dehydrate him quickly. Furthermore, sprawled helplessly he was completely exposed to the eyes of any patrolling machine. With a groan, he rolled over again and worked to get up onto his knees. That accomplished, he took a deep breath, stood, swayed for a moment, and steadied himself.
Since he had fallen into the river it stood to reason that any Terminators looking for him would begin by searching there. Checking the position of the sun, he headed inland in a northward direction and away from the water.