Chapter Seven
"That's Really Me!"
It seemed like forever before the helicopter made a slow turn and settled down on a hilltop, near a large hangar like structure. A pile of debris that had once been a warehouse sat off to one side. "The Engineers have my compliments," the General announced, as they approached the building. "They've done an incredible job. Is the escape system I ordered installed?"
"Yes, sir," the Lieutenant answered. "On your command explosive charges will clear away the north end of the building leaving the craft a clear path of exit."
The General nodded. "I'm going to take a walk around," he said, "I want to familiarize myself with the lay of the land before I approach the ship, itself. Meet me at the secure entrance."
"Yes, sir!" the officers snapped.
They all waited nervously as the General circled the building. "All right, gentlemen," he said when he returned, "I'm satisfied. "We've got a good clear exit route. Where's the man in charge here?"
An Army Captain approached. "Captain Hollowell," he said, saluting, "I've been ordered to give you this, sir." He handed the General what looked like a wrist watch. The General put it on his wrist. "Signal operations," he ordered, "I'm sending a test signal to the bomber. I want to make sure this thing is working. Let them know it's a test."
The Captain nodded to an officer who began to speak into a radio. A few moments later he spoke to the Captain. "All set, sir," the Captain reported.
The General pressed the button on the side of the device and then its face. A moment later the Captain spoke again.
"Bomber received release signal, sir. System is fully functional."
The General looked at the device, then took a deep breath. "Well, gentlemen," he said, "shall we take a shot at saving the world?"
The other officers only nodded as they made their way through the decontamination lock into the structure.
"Where's my computer expert?" the General asked.
"Right here!" a young man answered. He was approaching the General when the man carrying the radio shouted to the Captain. "Sir! Two of our air cover are under attack from low flying aircraft. One is hit. The other is turning to engage. They're propellor driven craft, sir, but heavily armed."
"Don't let any of the other aircraft leave station!" the General snapped. "They're decoys trying to draw them off. Get one of them overhead immediately!"
"Too late, sir," the radio man cried. "Radar just picked one up. He's right on top of us!"
Suddenly several holes appeared in the side of the building and there was a series of explosions.
Smoke and dust filled the room, and the cries of injured and dying men. "Get out of here!" the General cried. "Scatter!"
The officers wasted no time in following his directions. They sped through the decontamination area then scattered outside as the plane made another pass, spraying twenty millimeter ammunition. A soldier near the General took several fragments from an exploding round and sprayed him with blood.
"Damn!" the General snapped. "I've had enough of this! Lieutenant, watch my body."
He fell to the ground and curled up as the Lieutenant fell by him. From his position behind a pickup Donald saw something take shape out of the air. It was almost as tall as him, had big, leathery wings, and a strong muscular body. It bent down and took up the fallen soldier's weapons.
"In the name of The Givers Of Light," it cried, and leapt skyward. In the smoke and poor light it was hard to follow its flight, but it was pretty obvious it was heading straight for the incoming aircraft. When it came in range the rifle came to life, and continued to fire until the plane passed by. The plane rolled over, plowed into the ground, and disappeared in a terrible blast. The form descended from the sky, threw down the weapon, and disappeared as it had appeared, fading into the night. The stunned troops gathered around and the Lieutenant got up.
"Is he all right?" Donald asked, coming over.
"Yes," the Lieutenant told him, "it'll just take him a little while to get contact with his body again."
The General began to stir, shivering, then coughing. He sat up and looked at Donald's bewildered expression. "Yes," he said, "that's really me. That's what I am inside. I know I'm a little frightening but you'll get used to it. Let's go see what the damage was."
Off in the distance the sky lit up and the radio man hollered "That's the last one!"
Inside the building was quite a mess. The young computer man and several others were dead. If the pass had begun a few seconds sooner, they would have all been killed.
"Well, there goes my inside man!" the General sighed. "Patch those holes! Get everybody else out of here. I need somebody that knows something about computers, not just how to use them, but how to fix them."
Everyone was silent. Finally Donald spoke. "I took two years of computers, sir, in college, before I switched to criminology. Looks like I'm all you've got."
"I guess so!" the General agreed. "Let's get suited up and get this show on the road."