Ascendant Saga Collection: Sci-Fi Fantasy Techno Thriller Brandon Ellis (ebook reader for comics txt) 📖

“Yo, co-pilot,” said Segarra. “Put us on their channel. I’ll talk to them and let them know we’re friendlies.”

T-hacker ignored him, computing more info into the remote control.

“They’ll shoot us down if you don’t let them know who we are!”

“I’m in control, Master Sergeant,” said Anderle, putting the craft in a steady descent. “We’re landing at Alliance Municipal Airport. Now settle down. We’ll get back up in the air when those two fly boys run out of gas, ’cause there isn’t any room for them to land and refuel at Alliance.”

“What the fu—” Segarra looked everyone up and down. “Are you boys criminals or something?”

“Nope,” replied Anderle. “Us boys are not, and we need your help. That’s why we’re going to Whitefish.”

“Put me on their channel and I’ll tell them—” Segarra flinched as another rumble filled the cockpit. “Son of a bitch. You have to let me tell them we are friendlies. They’ll leave us alone.”

“That one was Chinese,” said T-hacker.

“We’re being targeted,” warned Anderle, pointing the nose of the helicopter down, speeding the bird at a faster pace. “By the Chinese.”

“Get down to the ground,” yelled Segarra, gripping his seat, his knuckles white, his forehead covered in perspiration.

Mya squeezed his arm, closing her eyes tightly.

“I’m not making this up. We don’t have much time,” screamed Segarra.

“Weapons lock is on.” Anderle was panicking. “The Chinese aircraft just let one loose.”

“Fly to the floor, pilot. Go, go! They are likely shooting an air to air missile, not an air to ground, meaning the closer to the ground you get the more chance the guidance will stop tracking you and track something else. An air to air doesn’t have top attack capabilities,” shouted Segarra.

Anderle tilted the helicopter even more. “Oh no, we’re going to crash.”

Drew held on to the straps around his shoulders, his fingers chaffing against the seat belt’s polyester webbing. He held his breath, his eyes wide.

“Pull back, pilot, and land,” instructed Segarra.

Drew couldn’t help it. He needed to know, needed to see what was about to happen, whether it be their doom or a miracle. He gulped when he turned and peered out of the cockpit window. The municipal airport’s tarmac was coming up fast, as if the ground was moving toward them as fast as the helicopter toward it.

Anderle screamed, waving his arms in the air.

“Not funny, Anderle. Stop,” said T-hacker.

Anderle cracked up, pulling back on his control stick, grabbing his belly in the process. “God, I feel like a dick. It’s not April Fool’s Day, but I got you three in the cabin so good. Damn, I wish it was April Fool’s Day so bad.”

Segarra’s nostrils flared and the muscles in his arms flexed, making the veins pop. He licked his lips, looking away from Drew. “Are you telling me, pilot, that you were screwing with me the whole time?”

Anderle brought the helicopter into a slow hover, lowering onto its skids. “Yeah,” he chuckled. “The planes were real, but the weapons were all dummies. They’re all on our side. I asked them to put on a show, just for shits and giggles. Cool right?”

“Don’t you ever—” Segarra leaned back against his seat, refraining from saying anything else.

“And, Mr. Segarra, if you try to do anything to us while we refuel...well...don’t. We have things setup to really hurt your daughter. You remember, the bomb? We’re hackers. We embedded it in her underwear, shirt, and pants,” said Anderle as he opened the cockpit door and stepped out of the chopper.

That had to be the dumbest lie.

Segarra appeared to take it for truth. Perhaps he had to. He was her dad. That’s what dads did.

Segarra’s hand shook as he combed Mya’s hair with his fingers. He looked into Drew’s eyes. “Whitefish is the new beacon of hope.”

Drew tilted his head. “Then tell me why we can’t go there.”

Segarra scooted up in his seat. “Because of me. You take me, and you bring a shit show to a good place, a place that is keeping the revolution alive. It started out as the US resistance against the Chinese, but since these spaceships have been dropping through the atmosphere and obliterating cities, it has become the central hub for planetary resistance. You take me to Whitefish, and all enemies change their target to all those good people in that city, because that’s where I’ll be.”

“Why would that happen if you show up?”

“Because I have something they want. Something I was trying to hide from them. Now they probably know I’m with her. And where I go from now on, they will also know that she’ll also be there.”

“Who is her? I don’t understand.”

He glanced down at Mya and then back at Drew. “You’ve seen my daughter’s powers, I bet. But you don’t know the entire story about my daughter.”

42

Edge of J-Quadrant, Starship Atlantis (Slipping Further Away from Jupiter)

Slade stood on one leg, the other leg up in a kick, a hundred-pound bag in one hand and a seventy-five-pound bag in the other hand. He was motionless, eyes closed, concentrating on perfect equilibrium. He couldn’t think about the decks he and his men had attempted to retake from Senator Furr and his gang. He couldn’t think about the momentary cease fire. Or the fact that the ship still hadn’t turned around to fly its butt to Callisto.

It was just him, his balance, and the bags he held.

“Good,” said Dr. Cross. She had her holographic data pad in hand, studying the graphs, lines, and numbers, and assessing Slade’s mental, physical, and emotional state.

Slade was hooked up to electrodes, sending information to half a dozen computers around the room.

Cross typed on her pad. “I’m finding it’s a balancing act, Slade. You can control these powers. It’s all about your emotions and intent. It doesn’t matter if it’s anger or love, as long as your emotions are extreme and focused. What are you feeling now?”

Slade’s arms shook and sweat beaded down his neck. “The weight of each bag