“We need to get in the sky,” Les said. He started running toward Discovery. “Protect the capitol tower, Sergeant,” he said over his shoulder.
The divers followed him at a run all the way across the rooftop. Machine-gun nests pointed out over the railings. The militia had even installed a mobile missile launcher.
Also, the thirty-millimeter cannons taken off old-world warships were now mounted in strategic locations. They were the same cannons the Cazadores had fired at Discovery and the Hive during the battle for the Vanguard Islands.
Les swallowed hard at the thought of going back to war. This had to stop, and with X disabled, he had to be the one to stop it.
A voice called out from under the airship. Engineers, technicians, and mechanics were still at work, with Alfred and Samson supervising the repairs.
“Got another turbofan up and running,” Samson called out. “But we still have only three of the six thrusters operational.”
“We’ll deal with the thrusters later,” Les said. “Get back inside the tower unless you’re coming with.”
“I’ll come,” he grunted.
Alfred and his team of technicians also joined them.
They stopped at the side entrance to the airship. To Les’s surprise, Eevi was waiting at the ramp, wearing her white uniform and standing stiffly at attention.
“Captain, I hear you need a flight crew,” she said.
“You heard right.”
“Permission to come aboard.”
“Permission granted, Ensign,” he said. “Glad to have you back.”
Two militia soldiers opened the hatch and let them inside.
The passageway to the bridge took the team past the sealed interior launch-bay doors. Passengers rescued from Rio de Janeiro were still quarantined inside, and Les slowed to check on them.
Most of them sat or lay on their bunks, but several stood at the door, looking out. A girl the age of his Phyl smiled and raised a hand at Les. He tried to smile and waved back at her, then pushed onward.
“Michael, take the divers to loading dock two,” Les said. “Samson, Eevi, with me.”
Michael peeled off at the next intersection with the divers. Two more militia soldiers stood guard outside the bridge. They used the keypad to open the doors.
Overhead lights clicked on as Les stepped inside the empty space. “Fire her up, Timothy,” he commanded. “We’re taking off.”
The AI appeared in the center of the bridge, the glow washing over the stations.
“I was hoping you’d say that, sir,” said Timothy. “I’ve had plenty of time to watch the events unfolding outside, and frankly, I don’t like what I’m seeing with the cameras.”
“That makes two of us.”
Les took the captain’s chair, and Samson and Eevi sat at the stations to get them operational. With Layla staying behind, he must rely on the two of them and Timothy to get them in the air and keep them there.
“Path is clear for liftoff,” Timothy said. “Turning on turbofans and retracting legs.”
The deck rumbled, and the bulkheads vibrated with a distant whining sound.
Several warning sensors rang out, but Les ignored them, keeping his attention on the monitor to his right. The working turbofans activated at a low speed, lifting the airship slowly off the surface.
“Steady as she goes, Timothy,” Les said.
“Aye, aye, Captain.”
The speakers crackled with a message from the combat operations center.
“Weapons systems are online,” Samson said. “What’s left of them, that is.”
“Timothy, how many missiles do we have?” Les asked.
“Twenty of the smaller Sidewinders, eight Hellcats, and three cruise missiles, plus twenty-one bombs,” Timothy said. “That’s the good news. The bad news is, we’re almost out of twenty-millimeter ammo.”
“We won’t be needing it tonight,” Les said.
The airship rumbled as it continued to rise off the rooftop. They were even more vulnerable now that they had risen into the sky. Being grounded had at least provided some cover from the Cazador warships.
“Eevi, I want you to identify and then target every single Cazador vessel out there with our Sidewinders and Hellcats,” Les ordered.
“Define ‘every single Cazador vessel,’ ” she replied, visibly taken aback.
“The warships all the way down to the fishing boats.” Les turned toward her. “Anything bigger than a WaveRunner or a dinghy.”
“Roger that, sir.”
Les tapped his screen again, opening the hatches over the bow windows. The Sirens and the bats had done a number on them. Cracks webbed across the glass, but at least they were clean of blood, giving a clear view of the dazzling star-filled sky.
He swung his monitor away on the stand and got up from his chair. Through a section of unbroken glass, he studied the water below. He had no problem identifying both Elysium and Renegade.
“Eevi, are they targeting us?” Les asked.
“Not yet, sir.”
“Send out an alert to hold on to something, then fire the thrusters and get us out of range ASAP.”
Les strapped into his chair as a message to hold on went out in English, Portuguese, and Spanish. The short wait was agonizing, and he braced to take enemy fire. This wasn’t his first time to face the possibility of being blown from the sky, but he hadn’t expected it to happen here at home.
The enemy fire never came, and the bank of boosters finally fired, propelling the airship into the sky.
Les had to give X time to heal by keeping the Cazadores away from the capitol tower. The king had gambled and lost, leaving himself even more exposed to assassination attempts.
Now it was on the Hell Divers in the lower compartment, the militia on the rooftop, and the few trusted Cazador allies like Colonel Forge to protect them—assuming that Forge was indeed an ally.
“Ten thousand feet and climbing,” Timothy said. “Life-support systems at seventy percent.”
“Thrusters are holding, but I’m diverting power from the turbofans,” Samson said.
“I’ve got weapons locked on every vessel in range,” Timothy said.
Les was fully prepared to give the order to send them to their Octopus Lords. But the thought reminded him of something Ada Winslow would have said. He thought of his former XO as the airship climbed.
Sloan was telling people she had killed herself, but Les knew the truth. He wondered where she was now, whether she was even still alive out there.
She had been right all along. The Cazadores would try to kill King Xavier.
But that still didn’t absolve her of her sins. She had disobeyed orders and committed mass murder and deserved punishment for putting everyone at risk. Still, Les felt conflicted in a way he hadn’t before. He pushed the thoughts aside.
“We’re almost out of range of their weapons,” Timothy said. “Should be clear in thirty seconds.”
Les began to relax. If the Cazadores were going to fire, they would have already. But that didn’t mean they weren’t planning something.
“All clear,” Timothy said.
“Good, you have the bridge,” Les said. “Let me know ASAP if anything happens on the surface.”
Samson coughed into his handkerchief and then stood up at his station.
“Where are you going, sir?” he asked in a scratchy voice.
“To brief the Hell Divers on what Pedro told us about the defectors.”
Eevi also stood. “I’d like to hear this, too.”
“And I,” Samson said.
“I can handle the bridge, sir,” Timothy said.
Les realized that they both needed to know. He jerked his chin for them to follow, and together they left the bridge.