Learning To Fly Read online

  “There is nothing you can do to guarantee your victory. You don’t honestly think we will give up that easily, do you?”

  “Your world’s military forces are no match, and I know you won’t use nuclear weapons and destroy your own land. The only threat to us is in this room, and once I remove the leader, the rest will scatter.”

  “The leader? I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

  “I should have seen it sooner, and I should have seen sooner what must be done.”

  He raised the pistol with one hand, pointed it straight at Kendra, and pulled the trigger.

  Franklin was only a couple feet away and saw before Kendra did what was about to happen. Before he could even think about what he was doing, his body seemed to move of its own accord and he dove in front of her at the same instant the weapon went off.

  Mike McCormick watched the elevator door open onto a short corridor. He stepped cautiously out of the elevator and could hear voices ahead, a man and a woman in what sounded like a heated argument. He walked that way, proceeding slowly to try to avoid making too much sound. To his own ears, the sound of the crutches on the floor seemed to be deafening, but it didn’t seem to draw attention from the room ahead. When he reached the room, he could see through a partially opened door what was going on. A young black woman and a middle aged white man were in some sort of heated discussion and the man was extending his hand and pointing a pistol at the woman.

  He was unsure of what he could do, and while he was mulling over the options in his mind, the man fired the weapon. A young black man dove across at the same time, took the shot center mass, and fell to the floor. The young woman screamed and ran to his side, and the first man leveled the weapon again and aimed at her. Wishing he had a weapon of his own, Mike was hit with a sudden burst of inspiration. He reached down and carefully removed one of his prosthetic legs from below the knee, and then, balancing carefully on his other leg, removed the shoe from the leg he had just removed. What he was left with was in essence a twenty pound titanium club, which he held in one hand, while slowly hobbling into the room.

  With the young woman sobbing and the others in the room talking all at once, nobody heard him coming, and when he was right behind the gun wielding man, he raised the prosthetic in both hands and brought it down with all his strength on the back of the gunman’s head. He was rewarded with a sickening crack and the man went limp and fell to the ground, just before he lost his balance and fell as well.

  Morrison came over and inspected the fallen man, observed that he was out like a light but appeared to still be breathing, and turned around to face the door.

  “Just who the blazes are you and where did you come from?” he asked.

  “Give me a sec,” the man said, putting his prosthetic back on and retrieving the shoe before he stood and offered his hand, “Name’s Mike, and I came from outside. I was looking for Christy.”

  “Your name’s Mike?” Fiona said, “Doesn’t that just beat all. You just knocked out Mike.”

  Kendra got up and approached, sticking out her hand.

  “Hi, I’m Kendra. Did you say you were looking for Christy?”

  “Yeah, we hadn’t heard from her in a couple days, so I came out here to check on her. You care to tell me what’s going on?”

  “You don’t know what’s going on? For starters, my friend’s been hit and I’m afraid he needs to get to a doctor now.”

  “Good news is, he’s still alive, but I don’t know how bad the damage is,” Moses said, “There doesn’t appear to be a bullet.”

  “There’s a hospital not far from here, but if you call 911, they’ll see all this when they come for him,” Mike said.

  “Not if we take him upstairs to the main part of the house,” Moses said, “I’ll take care of that myself. It’s the least I can do. He saved my daughter’s life.”

  Moses picked Franklin up and disappeared upstairs, dialing his cell phone as he went.

  “Now, what exactly is going on?” Mike asked.

  “You really don’t know?” Fiona said.

  “Haven’t had the TV on all day, so we’re a little behind on the news.”

  Kendra filled him in, starting with how Walter got his powers and ending with the forces that were in control of several cities worldwide. When she was done, Mike was at a loss for words.

  “So, Christy was killed...on the moon?” he finally managed to ask.

  “Yeah, and we had to leave her body, since they were shooting at us as well.”

  “And you’re telling me she built this house, darn near 150 years ago?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “That’s a lot to take in. We just thought she was a young girl without any family living out here. That’s why we’ve kept in touch, why we invited her for dinner. Man, this sucks. Is there anything else I can do to help?”

  “You’ve already done a lot. You probably saved us all, showing up when you did. Just leave us your phone number and go back home to your family. We’ll fill you in when we know more.”

  “If it’s all the same, I’ll call my wife and have her come out here. It has to be safer here, and I’d like to stick around and see how this all plays out.”

  33

  Kendra came back to the room after a search of the house with a length of rope and two rolls of duct tape. She handed this to Morrison who tied up the unconscious Mike as well as he could.

  “I hope that will hold him. We really don’t know how strong he is, do we?” Morrison asked.

  “He doesn’t appear to have any super strength, at least not that I’ve noticed,” Kendra said.

  “You said there was another one,” Fiona said, “Do you have any idea where he might be?”

  “Probably at my place,” Mixon said.

  “When did you wake up?” Kendra asked.

  “Just now. I feel like I have a hell of a hangover. What happened?”

  “You got zapped by one of their gunships and Walter brought you here. He said you took out a few of their foot soldiers before it got you.”

  “Those things that were flying above the big robot guys?”

  “Yeah, their guns can knock you and Walter out for a bit, and they’d kill any of us with one shot. We couldn’t even get close with the fighters.”

  “Do you think it’s just their goal to take over this planet? I heard them talking a lot back at my place and it was like they had something going on someplace else and they wanted soldiers to deploy there.”

  “We thought that as well, but now it seems their focus is on here.”

  “Maybe it’s both. Maybe they want this planet for its resources, but one of the resources is people. You’re thinking that it was always one or the other, but what if it’s both?”

  “You have a point, but about this other alien. Should we maybe nab him as well?”

  “You’ll have to catch him unawares. I think Walter and I could manage, but it looks like he’s sleeping on the job at the moment.”

  “He got zapped like you did. It’s not been long, so give him an hour or so. What do you think we could do with both of them?”

  “Figure out how to shut down their forces. If you watch them, they’re obviously being controlled from somewhere. They’re all moving precisely as units, and when I was fighting them, they didn’t appear to be capable of much individual thought or movement. They were almost like robots, but it looked like there were people inside those suits. I’ll bet there’s a mother ship somewhere.”

  “No mother ship. We were watching them and there didn’t appear to be anything like that in orbit, but...that could be it.”

  “That could be what?”

  “They have a base on the moon. It’s well defended. That might be our shot.”

  “Explore that option, but when Walter wakes up, we’re headed to my place to nab Jack.”

  “Jack?”

  “That’s what he calls himself. Just like this guy’s real name isn’t Mike.”

  “Okay, I
’m headed to the hangar to see what else we might have down there. Let me know when Walter wakes up.”

  Shawna Williams found her daughter in the hangar a level down, wandering among the ships parked there.

  “Hey honey, how you holding up?”

  “Hey Mom. We need to find something useful down here.”

  “That’s not what I asked. Your friend—“

  “Franklin.”

  “Yeah, Franklin. You like him?”

  “Is this the time for that kind of talk?”

  “Yes, it’s the time.”

  “We have so much to do. He would understand.”

  “That’s not what I asked. Do you like him?”

  “He’s my friend.”

  “Honey, a guy who takes a bullet for you is not just a friend.”

  “Well...Mom...”

  “It’s okay, Kendra. Your dad just got back. If you want to go and see him, I think everyone else will understand.”

  “Is...is it bad?”

  “They don’t know yet, but it doesn’t look good. Mike can drive you up there. Take your phone. The rest of us will look after things here.”

  Kendra looked around the hangar, then at her mother’s open arms, and accepted the offered embrace, crying in her shoulder for a moment. Mike cleared his throat nearby.

  “If you want me to run you up there, we best be going. It might take me a while to walk to my car,” he said.

  “No need,” she said with a barely concealed sympathetic look toward his prosthetics, ” We can take one of these.”

  A minute later she landed the small fighter in the hospital parking lot and they walked in together.

  “We’re here to see Franklin Jones,” she said to the woman at the front desk.

  “I’m not sure if he’s in a room yet,” the woman replied.

  “It’s okay,” a nearby doctor said, “Just follow me, ma’am.”

  A moment later they were outside a room, the doctor went in for a few seconds, and came back out.

  “If you want to see him, you’d best be quick. I don’t know how to say this. There’s been a lot of internal damage. I don’t know what we can do.”

  Kendra walked in and Mike stayed back at a respectful distance. Franklin was in a bed and there were two nurses standing by checking the monitors. When he saw Kendra, he managed a weak smile and tried to raise a hand to wave. She was at his side in an instant, not even trying to hold back the tears. She saw his lips moving, but couldn’t make out what he was trying to say, so she bent closer and he repeated what he was saying.

  “Mike...didn’t get you...good.”

  “No, Mike...another Mike...showed up and knocked him out. We have him tied up.”

  “Good. Make him...tell you...how...stop them.”

  She reached down and put her hand to his cheek.

  “That’s the idea. Why...what did you do?”

  “He...gonna shoot you.”

  “And he got you.”

  “Bad aim.”

  “I don’t think so. You dove...Franklin...why?”

  “Couldn’t let him shoot you.”

  “But...you could let him shoot you instead?”

  “Yeah...didn’t think much...just seemed like the thing to do. I...don’t want nothing...happen to you.”

  He raised one hand and with a great effort tried to brush the tears off her cheek.

  “Don’t cry girl...don’t hurt too much now...you gonna go back...save the world?”

  “There are others. I want to stay here with you.”

  “You got a job to do.”

  “I’m not the only one. You could have died. Why?”

  “I...already told you...just seemed like the thing to do...I...kinda like you...well...maybe more...think...love you.”

  “W w what did you say?”

  No response. She looked down at him and his eyes were closed, his breathing shallow. She wiped the tears from her eyes, bent down, and gently kissed him, then pulled up a chair next to the bed and sat, crying softly until she nodded off.

  Walter opened his eyes and massaged his temples.

  “Lord, feels like the worst hangover. I get zapped again?”

  “Yeah, but you’re awake now,” Mixon said, “I was hoping you could help me with something.”

  “How long you been awake...and why are so cooperative all of a sudden?”

  “I don’t know. Folks attacking my planet? Not so hard to take sides on that one, is it?”

  “You got a point. What about when this is all over? What then?”

  “I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. You want to help me with something or not?”

  “Depends on what I’m helping you with.”

  “Well, a lot happened while you were napping. Look over there in the corner.”

  Walter looked over and saw Mike tied up, still out.

  “Whoa, how did that happen?”

  “Some guy showed up here looking for Christy, just happened to walk in the door over there right behind him, and whacked him with his leg.”

  “Come again?”

  “Took his fake leg off and knocked him out with it. That was after he shot the black kid.”

  “Franklin? He shot Franklin?”

  “That’s what I hear, that he was aiming for the girl and he just jumped in front and took it for her. I woke up right after. He’s at the hospital and she went to see him. Anyway, we got one of them tied up and the other one is still loose, but I think I know where he is. I think we should go grab him.”

  “How does that help us?”

  “We get both of them and we make ‘em talk, make ‘em tell us how to stop their troops. Or we just keep ‘em both tied up so they can’t get in our way and we figure out how to end this.”

  “Where do you think the other guy is?”

  “At my place. They’ve been spending a lot of time there. They were there earlier today.”

  “And you have a grand plan for grabbing him?”

  “Not really. After Mike knocked out Mike—“

  “Huh?”

  “Yeah, the guy who knocked Mike out is also Mike, but I figure that’s his real name, unlike bad Mike. Anyway, if a regular guy could knock him out with a fake leg, you could probably nail Jack just as easy, especially if distract him. I just fly in and get him talking, and you come up behind and give him a love tap. Easy peasy.”

  “Things rarely go that easy.”

  “If he’s there, I don’t see why it won’t. Just don’t hit him too hard and kill him.”

  “Well then, what are we waiting for?”

  As it turned out, things didn’t go exactly as planned, but easy enough. When they got close, they could hear a conversation between Jack and Salazar, getting more heated by the moment.

  “I told you, I have no idea where she went,” Salazar said.

  “I saw on one of my video feeds that several soldiers were taken out, that she was hit by a gunship, but now she is nowhere to be seen. Did you know that’s where she was going.”

  “Honest, she didn’t tell me anything.”

  “Well, if you don’t know anything, you’re no further use to me,” Jack said, raising a pistol and aiming it at Salazar. He was about to pull the trigger when Walter administered his love tap to his temple, knocking him out cold.

  “Oh man, am I gad to see you. He was about to—“

  “Stuff it,” Walter said, “You’re welcome.”

  A couple minutes later they were back at the house in Seaman, and a few minutes after that, Jack was tied up and dumped in the corner opposite Mike. Walter walked over and looked over Fiona’s shoulder at the computer monitors showing views of the mechanized troops and gunships circling various cities.

  “Is this what Kendra was monitoring?” Walter asked.

  “Yeah, it shows all of their units. Occasionally you’ll see a fighter jet zoom in and get shot down. They can’t seem to touch those gunships. The missiles just bounce off the shields.”

  “The jet
s had some luck against their smaller fighters when they used guns instead of missiles, but you’re saying they haven’t managed anything against these larger ones?”

  “No luck at all. These ones on this screen have managed a few hits with their guns, but I don’t think they’ve taken one out yet.”

  Walter looked at the screen she was pointing at and cracked a smile.

  “A-10s. Gotta love the Warthog. Man, if those things had the shields the alien ships have, they’d be more than a match.”

  “I think it could be done,” Patrick Morrison said.

  “What could be done?” Walter asked.

  “Put those shields on a fighter jet. I’ve been looking at the specs on the other computer. The detail is amazing. There’s no way you could put the engines on a fighter because the power plant is something that’s so far beyond our tech, but the shields appear to have an independent power source and the thing that generates the shields isn’t that big. I’ve been in the hangar looking at some of the transport ships that are down there. They’re fitted with shields, but it looks like they’re designed to be removed and fitted out on other ships if needed.”

  “Do you think it could be done, take one of those shields off an alien ship and put it on a fighter jet?”

  “Only one way to find out, but the computer has detailed instructions on how to install it on a fighter, and some of their fighters are about the same size. And with the independent power source...I think it could be done, and it wouldn’t take much longer than an hour or two. The tools and everything are down in that hangar. That lady stored everything here.”

  “That’s fine, but where are we going to get a fighter jet to test it out on?”

  “They’re getting shot down every time they get close to those gunships. You think you could talk one of them into following you here?”

  “Hmm...maybe, but there’s no place for them to land.”

  “Come on Walter, you know how strong we are,” Mixon said, “I saw you land one of the jets I sabotaged, and that was a lot bigger.”

  “You have a point. Do we have working weapons on any of the fighters that we didn’t lose?” Walter asked.