The howling wind picked up. A vortex swept across the dry fields, whipping up a cloud of dust. Grit pelted her visor, and the first fat drops of rain spattered on her helmet.
The wind had exposed something in the dirt between the runway and the hangar. She set off to examine it.
“Hey, hold up, Mags,” Rodger said.
He trotted over, and they squatted down by what looked like bones. Most of them were covered in dirt, but the skull was exposed. She nudged it with her rifle barrel.
“Holy hog balls,” Rodger breathed.
Magnolia stared at the chipped and cracked eyeless skull. This wasn’t human. It was Siren.
She slung her laser rifle and brushed away the dirt with her gloves, exposing more of the skeletal remains. Rodger bent down to help while Sofia watched from the runway.
A few minutes later, they had unearthed most of the skeleton, including the wing bones of a male Siren.
“Wow,” Rodger said, standing.
Magnolia remained on her knees. The remains had been here for years, maybe longer, judging by the weathering of the skull.
Michael opened a private channel to Magnolia and Rodger. “What are you two doing over there?” he asked.
“We found the bones of a male Siren,” Magnolia replied. “It’s been dead a good while, but better keep an eye on the sky.”
Michael sent out a heads-up over the public channel.
“More of those things?” Banks said.
“I’ll redirect my cameras,” Timothy said. “I’ll let you know immediately if I spot anything on the feeds.”
“Gee, thanks,” Banks deadpanned. “That makes me feel so much better.”
“Timothy, do our records show any ITC facilities on this island?” Les asked.
“Negative, Captain. My guess is, that Siren flew here many years ago in search of food.”
“So what killed it, then?” Banks asked. “I doubt it was starvation.”
The screaming wind died down, and they heard Cricket chirping away as he worked on the scaffolding. The robot used one arm to attach the platform around the left bank of thrusters, and the other arm to secure it. Alfred helped from the ladder while the other techs and engineers waited on the ground.
Magnolia left the Siren’s bones and went back to the stern with Rodger.
While the other divers stood sentry, Magnolia stole a moment to check on Sofia, who was staring out over the bleak landscape.
“How you doing?” Magnolia asked.
“I can’t believe he’s gone.”
Magnolia wanted to give her a hug, but now wasn’t the time. That didn’t mean they couldn’t talk, though.
“He gave his life to protect what he believed in—a home where our two societies can live in peace,” Magnolia said.
“There’s more to the story than that, and I’m going to find out what it is.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Magnolia replied.
Much had happened back at the Vanguard Islands since they departed, and the Hell Divers had only a piece of the puzzle. Les had kept most of what he knew, including King Xavier’s condition, to himself.
She was starting to worry that it might be worse than they all thought.
“I just hope we get home before his burial at sea,” Sofia said.
“We’ll be home before you know it.”
Sofia finally looked over at Magnolia. Though she couldn’t see through the mirrored visor, Magnolia knew that her friend was crying.
A gust slammed into them, knocking Magnolia back a step. Sofia slid a foot before digging her boots in.
“Watch out!” one of the techs yelled.
The top crate on a stack of three toppled over, scattering the contents in the dirt. Alfred descended the ladder, battling the rising gale.
Static broke over the comm channel. “That storm is picking up and heading right for our location,” Eevi reported from the bridge. “Looks like we can expect fifty-mile-per-hour winds and heavy rain.”
As they picked up the tools, one of the engineers said to Les, “Captain, maybe we should consider pulling everyone back inside for now.”
“Or maybe we should get out of here while we can,” suggested a tech. “Use the turbofans to get us away from the storm.”
Les looked at the sky in all directions. “Ensign Corey, how long until the worst of it hits us?” he asked.
“We’ve got about forty-five minutes if we’re lucky.”
Les seemed to think on it another few seconds, then said, “We’ll keep working for now, then head inside if it gets really bad, but it’s too late to flee. We’d never make it with the turbofans alone—we need those thrusters online.”
“Better get to it, then,” Alfred said. Clipping a rope to his harness, he set up the ladder to the first scaffold that was complete. Cricket had moved over to the right bank of thrusters, to assemble the platform for the other techs and engineers to use.
Magnolia moved closer to the airship. The techs and engineers were arguing about who would join Alfred.
“Screw it, I’ll go,” said a voice.
Magnolia didn’t recognize it over the wind but figured it was Michael.
She was wrong.
Les wrapped a tool belt around his waist and slung a coil of wiring around an arm.
“Watch my back,” he said to Michael.
The tall former engineer, Hell Diver, and now captain moved quickly up the rungs. He had worn many hats, always putting everyone before his own safety.
Another twenty minutes passed before the acid rain really started dumping. Cricket swayed slightly as it worked on the other scaffold.
Alfred and Les had removed the access panel for the left bank of six thrusters and were busy pulling out the fried wiring.
Magnolia wasn’t sure what they had to do, but she hoped they could do it quickly. The storm front was moving in fast. Lighting forked from the bulging clouds rolling across the island.
“Michael, command Cricket to help us,” Les said. “Screw the right bank. We need to focus on getting the left bank up and running!”
Michael tapped his wrist computer, and the drone hovered back to the first thruster to work with Alfred and Les.
The public comm channel crackled to life again. “Commander Everhart, this is Banks. Your team might want to take a look at our view on the starboard side of the ship.”
“Rodger and Sofia, stay here,” Michael said. “Magnolia, with me.”
The two divers ran around the stern, pelted by sheeting rain. A gust slammed into them as they made their way toward the bow.
“Timothy, you seeing anything on your cameras?” Les asked over the open channel.
“Negative, sir.”
Magnolia caught up with two of the militia soldiers. Banks stood halfway between the airship and the hangar with the jumbo jet, looking up at the swollen clouds.
“I don’t see anything,” Michael said.
Magnolia brought her scope up for a scan but couldn’t see anything, either. She switched to infrared, apparently the same moment Michael did.
“What the hell…” he said.
Magnolia tried to make sense of the readings. The entire skyline seemed alive with red dots, but that was impossible…
“What do you guys see?” Les asked over the comm.
“I’m not sure, sir,” Michael replied. “It could be Sirens, but I don’t think so.”
The two Cazador warriors came running around the bow, talking in Spanish.
“Timothy, you seeing what we’re seeing?” Magnolia asked.
“Yes, it’s very odd,” he replied. “I believe Commander Everhart is correct. Those do not appear to be Sirens.”
Magnolia started toward Banks, but Michael grabbed her by the arm.
“Hold up,” he said.
The other militia soldiers moved out into the rain, but the Cazador soldiers remained near the Hell Divers, as if sensing something was off.