Christine waited impatiently for the live satellite imaging to appear in the Command Post.   

“Status?”

“We’re still bringing sensors online. OPCON negotiations with local assets ongoing. Hostiles have a lot of hardware in the air, and more inbound.”

“What’s the hangup?” Christine tried to conceal her irritation. The tech’s eyes flicked to the side briefly, fingers still flying across multiple control surfaces. Col. Staley listened intently.

“Waiting on the DA authorization.” Christine saw the tech visibly tense, bracing for a sharp reply. 

“Proceed on my authority. We have a National Security Special Event designation from the NSC and authorization for any necessary direct action. The Governor has it, probably hasn’t worked down their chains yet. Keep pushing.” She looked at Col. Staley, who responded with a short nod.

That had been a trick. First, navigating the interagency suspicion, then the regional power politics, complicated by always simmering resentment of federal intrusion, on top of all the local complexities. The insurgencies were dug in like ticks and always improving their capabilities, especially since the Fast War. The escalation was proceeding faster than she liked.

The cluster of structures where their subjects holed up came into view, as well as the outbuildings and surrounding neighborhood, houses and farmettes on large lots.  To her practiced eye, she saw the numerous terrain features and improvements creating firing lanes, hard points, and observation sites. 

“Tribal militia assets still cooperating?” Staley asked the tech.

“IFF protocols operational. Coordination is adequate.”

Christine noted the hedged response.  

“Update the DTA, and inform the NMCC we anticipate a brief direct action to secure our objective,” Col. Staley ordered.

“Roger. Cybercommand standing by. Still seeing some activity. They are isolating the source.”

“Acknowledged. You’re finished mapping the target area?”

“Yes, ma’am. We’ve got imaging inside all of the surface structures. We still can’t see the tunnels the Epsilon Team reported.”  Christine could see the red Xs denoting the hostiles, and the green silhouettes of known civilians, mercifully scant.  The airspace overhead became more congested by the minute.

“Kill box parameters uploaded? This is pretty tight quarters,” Col. Staley continued.

“Yes, ma’am. All parameters loaded,” the tech confirmed.

Christine scanned the screens again, then her private feeds. So far, so good.

“Notify all teams to prepare for pulse,” Col. Staley ordered.

“Ready for EMP.”

“They may proceed when ready.”

***

Bina huddled with Danae in the barn. The soldier with the prosthetic leg worked on his terminal, Astyanax stood watch by the door, while Telemachos checked and loaded weapons.

The soldier on the terminal looked up. “We’re green. They’ve got the Umbrella in place. Time to clear the sky.”

Telemachos looked at Astyanax. “Ready yourself, brother.” He turned to Danae. “Protect her. We will tell you when it is time to run.”

***

Ed paced back and forth outside the mobile command post, trying to pick out the soldiers hidden around him. When they stood still, they blended perfectly into the surrounding brush and trees, but movement betrayed a subtle shimmering, similar to what he saw with Astyanax and his cloak. Overhead, drones hovered or moved slowly just above the treetops. Suddenly, all the drones dropped down and moved under the protection of the large canopy covering the area around the vehicles. Some of them landed nearby, others hovered just off the ground behind the mobile command post. A moment later, he noticed all the soldiers he’d roughly located shimmer in synchrony, then disappear again.  The drones immediately lifted off back into the air. Ed startled as three large pieces of equipment hummed and lifted off quickly, skimming the trees in the direction all the other soldiers were facing.

***

Christine saw the message from Sahar: “EMP complete. Airspace clear. Establishing local air supremacy. They have an umbrella up.”

One of the techs called out, “Cyber activity at Malmstrom. Air Force Cybercommand working it. Three different launch facilities. Similar activation. The associated MAF deploying countermeasures.”

Christine nodded, watching the displays showing the combat drones deployed from Mountain Home approaching to join the Fairchild equipment already on station.

“Tell the Epsilon Team to prepare for extraction,” Col. Staley commanded.

“Roger.”

“We’ll need…” Christine began, interrupted by the sight of three flashes on the long-range video. 

“Incoming fire.”

“Whose? At what?” Christine demanded. 

“Working it.”

***

“Down!” Telemachos barked. Danae threw herself on top of Bina at the first explosion.

Astyanax crouched by the door, peering out. “It is not directed at us. The impacts were off in the trees.”

“What do you see?” Telemachos asked Pedro, who worked his equipment intently.

“Somebody hit the bad guys. They are responding. They’ve got energy weapons, taking out our drones. They have more inbound. We may lose our eyes. Umbrella still working. Working on contingencies with the CP.” Pedro glanced at Telemachos. “Hand me my leg.”

***

Ed crouched next to the stairs of the command post vehicle. In the direction he came, another series of explosions erupted, sending columns of smoke over the trees. Rockets and bright beams lanced upward, some finding targets overhead. Debris rained down around him.

The door of the command post banged open. “Father! Get in here! It’s not safe out there!” a soldier yelled at him. He climbed the metal stairs in a crouch and entered the crowded interior, immediately appreciating why they didn’t initially invite him in. The young woman stood next to an Air Force officer behind three technicians in front of a bank of displays. Multiple conversations created a low babble that he could only partially follow.

***

“New instructions?” Telemachos asked Pedro. He and Astyanax adjusted each other’s gear.

“We’ve got to give them a sec to move their equipment. We’ll make our move before those new drone swarms arrive. Look there. The tribal militias are punching hard.” Pedro projected a display into the air. “We’ve got to wait until they give us drone cover. See these positions? You and I will take those out, give them an opening to extract the assets.”

Danae leaned over to Bina. “That’s us,” she whispered. Bina gulped.

***

“Do we know where that is coming from?” Christine called out, watching the feeds. The battle to the east intensified, with waves of drones and missiles colliding over the mountains along the Idaho-Montana border. The heaviest activity was over the I-90 corridor as the scouts of a tribal forces mobile artillery column leapfrogged west, flushing out militia defenses, shooting, scooting, and repositioning with heavy lift drones.

“It was one of ours, ma’am. I don’t know how, but we just threw the first punch, they reacted, and the defensive AI protocols engaged. Tribal militia equipment is now also fully engaged. Our AI systems are still cooperating with the tribal AIs. We’re currently degrading local hostile defenses with counterbattery fire. Hostiles have both lasers and microwave directed energy weapons and are knocking out our EW systems as they are identified.” He paused. “Tribal missiles inbound.”

“Can you see which platform launched? How many systems are compromised? Do we have any control?” Christine peppered the tech.

“At least half of what’s on station is unresponsive. We’re securing the rest.”

On the screen, the icons shifted colors, the blues and greens interchanging. Two of the techs gaped, baffled by the sight.

“Alert cybercommand,” Staley ordered. “What’s the hold up on reducing their air defenses?”

“They appear to be using tunnels to shoot and scoot. We’re playing whack a mole.”

“Our systems, or the rogue ones?”

“Both. They appear to be coordinating, don’t know how.”

“The mapping from the Epsilon team?”

“Only partial. We’re making some projections, but there isn’t a pattern yet. They’re well shielded.”

“How long until the heavy lift drones are on station?”

“ETA 4 minutes.”

“Quad Scouts online?”

“Yes ma’am. Three squads, with operators.”

“Do we still control them?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Load out?”

“Anti-personnel, concussion, biochemical, plus the minigun and the kamikaze kit.”

“Send the first squad down the nearest tunnel.”

One of the heavy lift drones dropped down through covering fire and off loaded the Quadruped Scouts. They watched the feeds as the robots scampered through the tunnels. The look ahead radar indicated ghostly figures of humans, none moving. The video feeds confirmed as the robot drew closer.

“Arm the weapons?”

Christine held up her hand, staring at the monitors.

“What the…” muttered one of the operators. Bodies littered the narrow corridor, some dismembered, all mangled, blood and gore splattered on the walls and floor.

“Keep it moving. Slowly,” Staley ordered.

“Looks like somebody beat us to them.”

“HiMEC team?”

“Perhaps. The lead elements have disappeared. They may be down there.”

“Good god, they don’t fuck around,” someone muttered.

***

“Once they can shield us from above we will move here and here…” Telemachos touched the map display, directing Astyanax, “…drawing their fire. Our brothers are now in the vicinity. We will reduce these positions and create cover for you to move, first to here, then here. There is a small base with reinforcements beyond these trees. That is your objective.”  Astyanax nodded. “It is time. Comport yourself with honor,” Telemachos concluded.

Telemachos and Pedro sprinted out the door in opposite directions. Astyanax waited a few seconds then gestured Danae and Bina forward. “Keep her under the cloak as best you can. Stay behind me. Carry her if you must, to keep up.”

Bina bristled at the suggestion she would be a liability, but any possible retort was cut off by a volley of explosions to the left, followed by bursts of gunfire, presumably directed at their protectors.

“That is our signal. Move!”

***

On the video feed in the Command post, Sahar saw them exit the barn before the technician announced it.

“The Umbrella is holding?” she asked.

“For now. They have a pretty sophisticated ECM system. It’s causing some problems but the nanochaff is revealing most of their DEW units. The AIs are keeping up, but our hardware attrition is starting to slow us down. We need reinforcements.”

“Do the assets have PPE for the nanochaff?” Sahar asked.

The tech hesitated. “Umm… unknown, ma’am.”

Sahar tracked the inbound units from Mountain Home. Readouts gave no indication which remained under their control. Everything on site was heavily engaged. There was no way she could land her rescue equipment near the girl and the grendels. She messaged back to the Command Center.

They’re on the move. It’s pretty hot. We need more back up for drone cover while they move. The CP cover is already stretched.

***

Christine saw the message from Sahar but kept her attention on the channel from Cybercommand.

Malmstrom holding. Your systems are compromised. Our AIs are engaged, probing and tracing.

She glanced at Col. Staley and saw she was seeing similar information. Christine knew that the audit logs would show the systems ostensibly under her control provoked the firefight, and once again she’d have to defend her use of force before another inquiry. She put that aside. This was always going to end up in some kind of investigation, she knew. She had to focus on getting those people out safely.

“Inbound hypersonics! Time to target 20 seconds!” one of the technicians called out.

“What are…” Christine started, then was cut off.

“Forward base air defense activated. Not us. Engaging. Two targets eliminated. Umbrella deflected the third.”

“Forward base requesting air cover. They are engaging locals.”

“They no longer have concealment,” another tech chimed in.

“Notify the NMCC we’re requesting additional air cover. Request the Shrike teams on standby from Mountain Home. Confirm their subsystem units are still secure,” Christine ordered.  Staley nodded, then turned to a subordinate to implement.

“Some of the rogue systems have repositioned to cover the CP and the assets,” a tech reported. The group watched a screen as one of the drone clouds extended a cluster like an amoeba, spreading out over the area over the CP and the barn.

“Tribal forces are requesting thermobarics.”

“No. Too many civilians.”

She’d hoped to avoid this. Having heavy weapons and manned systems in the fray would invite further military involvement and shatter the pretense that this was strictly a local affair. There was still plausible deniability for the involvement of the Epsilon team if it ever came to light, but the fighter jets and their supersonic drone swarms would be hard to deny.  She sent a quick message to her Canadian Air Force liaison, then turned back to her team.

“Tell Forward Base to defend themselves however necessary.” Now, how badly were their systems compromised?”

***

In the mobile command post, Ed watched the screens over the heads of the military staff. The young woman with the dark curls leaned over the back of the chair, intent on the displays. No one flinched as explosions buffeted the vehicle and the clatter of shrapnel and debris rained down on them, momentarily drowning out the voices.

“That one was close. Are they okay?” the young woman asked.

“Thermals unchanged. We’ve got to wait for that smoke to clear to confirm. Drone cover holding.”

“Zoom on that. Can we get a lift drone down there?”

The tech hesitated, then shook her head. “Too hot. We still don’t have their air defense systems completely suppressed. And look, they’ve got another swarm inbound.” 

Up above, groups of smaller drones swirled, launching small projectiles or flicking lasers, some colliding with their targets. Higher up, others rained down counter fire, creating a steady shower of debris.  As launchers on the ground were located, larger missiles streaked down, eliminating each threat as identified.

“Additional tribal assets inbound.”

Sahar bit her nail, eyes flicking from screen to screen, then checking again for any input from her Entity channel, now silent for many minutes. She leaned in on one screen up close. Ed leaned over to see her staring at three figures huddled on the ground, two attending to the third.

“Is she wounded?” Sahar asked the technicians.

“Not clear,” one replied.

Ed stepped to the door and was out before anyone could stop him. He ran hunched over to the EMS vehicle and commandeered a nearby ATV. He raced down a dirt track in the general direction of the fighting and pulled behind a storage shed. Ahead he saw rolling open fields, and on the far side, the larger metal pole barn he recognized from the video feeds. Overhead, flying objects collided and exploded, the air laced with glowing multicolored energy beams.

***

“Who is that?” Christine demanded, looking at the display of the figure on the vehicle. Hostile drones zeroed in to intercept but were eliminated in turn.

“Not clear.”

It’s Father Ed, Sahar messaged.

“Goddamit. Give him cover.”

“We don’t have enough…”

“Give him cover!”

***

Fr. Ed drove across the field to a small stand of trees separating two fields as a windbreak. He felt and heard the bullets zipping past him. Over the next rise he glimpsed the trio huddled in a shallow depression. He dismounted and dropped to a crouch as something exploded nearby, then sprinted.  He threw himself to the ground next to Astyanax cradling a smaller version of himself, smeared with blood. The girl was crying and holding the smaller grendel’s other hand. The injured grendel panted, eyes open and flicking between Astyanax and Ed.

“She is wounded,” Astyanax said without preface. Ed saw Astyanax applying pressure on her left side, blood oozing around his hand. “Hold this while I dress it.” Ed squatted down and pressed his hand on the wound, at first gingerly.

“Harder,” Astyanax commanded.  Bullets hissed and popped overhead. Drone fragments hit the ground around them.  Ed pressed down and Danae winced.

Astyanax pulled out first aid supplies and applied a dressing. It adhered tightly, and he removed a strip, making the dressing contract and compress.  The bleeding mostly stopped.

“We have to get her to a medic,” Ed advised.  Astyanax looked at the Bina. 

“She is my mission.  I cannot leave her.”

Ed thought quickly.

“Can you do something to distract them? I have a vehicle close by. There’s an ambulance and medics back there. I will move her.”  Astyanax looked at him, then at Bina, then made a decision.

“Yes.” He turned to Bina. “You stay here. Do not lift your head, no matter what. I will draw their fire, then Father will run with her.”

Astyanax scuttled away, and shortly after there was more gunfire away from them. Ed lifted Danae, then shifted her to a fireman’s carry. He staggered under the unexpected load, found his balance, and ran as fast as he could. Danae groaned with the bouncing. 

Legs burning and gasping with effort, Ed made the cover of the trees. He gently lowered Danae into the ATV and sped back to the command post. The EMTs surrounded the vehicle as he pulled in and began working on Danae in the back of the ATV. Two others wheeled over a gurney from one of the ambulances.

***

“What is he doing?” Christine asked.

“He made it. That’s the younger HiMEC,” one of the techs observed.

“Activity at one of the silos,” Col. Staley called out.  “They got a message.”

“What is it?” Christine asked

Do not hurt her. I will hurt you.  Do not hurt her.

“What? I need more context. Hurt who?”

“They are tracing.”

***

“Elder Stamm, we have to keep moving. Our defenses won’t hold much longer. We’re losing air cover. We’ve got to evacuate.”

“They are out there,” Stamm replied, looking through a slit window in the field bunker with binoculars. “Give me the rocket launcher.”  Atticus Stamm lowered the binoculars and turned to Walter Cortez. “We’re going to finish this.”

“That will reveal our position. And what about the girl?” Cortez responded.

“She’s one of them, I’m sure of it. We can’t let that other one get away. Better be done with this. They’re going to find an excuse to kill us all, you know that. At least let’s finish the mission.”

“My mission is to preserve our forces to fight the enemies of the True Free State. This vendetta of yours is a distraction.” 

Stamm fixed him with a withering glare. Cortez pointed at the case against the wall, then gestured for the rest of his men to retreat down the stairwell into the tunnels. He opened the door and was greeted by gunfire. Two of his men backed out of the stairwell, returning fire as they retreated up the stairs. One of them pulled out a grenade and hurled it down, throwing himself clear. 

“Fire in the hole!” he shouted. They all fell to the ground as the explosion rocked the bunker.

“It was one of those robot dogs. Wiped out most of my squad. Between them and the monsters, they are chewing up all our reserves in the tunnels. We’ve got to get out of here.”

Stamm unpacked the launcher. “Help me assemble this,” he commanded one of the soldiers. With a glance at Cortez, the man complied, while Cortez and the rest conferred about alternate escape routes. 

While they worked, no one noticed a small drone fly in through the slit portal along the wall, overlooking the fields in the distance. The drone silently flitted about, hovering and scanning, then went to the middle of the room and emitted a loud chirping sound. Reflexively, everyone turned to the source. The drone scanned the faces, then zipped out the opening and up into the sky.

“They’ve marked us. We’ve got to get out of here now,” Cortez ordered.

“Not yet,” Stamm replied. “Put a dot on them.”

“They’re in that depression,” the young soldier helping Stamm said.

“The fragmentation load is in there?”

The young soldier nodded, looking up at the sky. Stamm shouldered the launcher and squatted down at the opening.

“Thy will be done.”

Cortez and the others climbed out of the bunker and ran.

***

Serena stood behind Adam, hands on his shoulders.

“Is everything okay, sweetheart?” she asked, caressing the skin on the back of his neck and kneading his shoulders.

“I have him. I have him,” Adam muttered to himself.

“Who, sweetheart?”

Adam made no reply, hands flying over the console inputs.

Serena heaved a deep sigh. “I love you,” she whispered.

Adam paused. “I love you, too,” he replied, eyes locked on the screens.

***

“We’ve got a fix on the control signal interfering with our systems. It converges with the systems interfering at Malmstrom.”

Christine watched the feed, saw the rocket explode near Astyanax and Bina.

“Ma’am, there’s a new bogie approaching from Canadian airspace, in excess of Mach 3, and we’re having trouble tracking it, not sure why.”

“Whose bogie, ours or theirs?”

“Neither. Definitely not ours, and the Canadians are just as concerned.”

“Target?”

“Not clear. They don’t know where it originated. It hit their screens about the same time as ours. Best estimate, this vector intersects with the compound ETA 2.5 minutes.”

Christine turned to the MP at the door. “Get Ms. Shank and Ms. Chung in here now.” He hurried out.

Sahar broke in on Christine’s private channel. 

They’ve got a fix on the control signal. It’s close! Oh my god…

Sahar, what is it?

It’s the brother’s house. Where Michelle and Mei met him.

“Bring up the coordinates from Cybercommand,” Christine said out loud. “Mountain Home, do you have anything that can intercept that bogie?”

“Diverting the Shrike team now. It will be close.”

She looked back at a disturbance from the entrance as Michelle and Mei entered.

Michelle scanned the room, then looked at Christine.

“That’s my daughter out there.”

“I know, Ms. Shank.”

In that brief exchange, Christine recognized the rapid analysis skills of someone like herself and was impressed. Michelle’s face and eyes showed the unfocused flickering gaze of someone taking it all in and processing instantaneously. She wished she had gotten to know this woman under other circumstances. In an instant, the two women came to an understanding. Michelle stepped back and watched the monitors.

Christine looked at Mei and pointed to the rapidly approaching object on one of the displays. “Ms. Chung, is this the Entity? I need to know right now what that thing is and its intentions.”

Mei stared at the screens. “I…I don’t know. This isn’t anything I know of. No one…I’ve never had a sharing about this. I don’t know.”

An aerial view filled one of the screens, zoomed in, then out, then in again. A house on a large lot, semi-rural. A small luminous green cross hovered over the roof.

Reaper in position. Minimal risk of collateral, came the voice in Christine’s headset.

“Ms. Shank, can you communicate with your brother?” Christine called out, staring at the screen.

“What? No, he….”

“Can you contact him now?” she said again, voice rising.

“No, he won’t talk to me. I don’t have any way of reaching him.”

“Ma’am, inbound comms from Missile Command. Multiple intrusion attempts. Systems holding, but they’re concerned.”

“Bogie closing. ETA CDA 90 seconds.”

Michelle looked up at the screen, attention drawn by the in and out movement of the image. On one of the closeups she saw the bright red wading pool in the backyard. In a rush of recognition, she stepped forward.

“That’s Adam’s…”

“Take the shot,” Christine spoke into her headset. Col. Staley pointed to a tech and nodded, issuing the command.

***

Ed’s head whipped around at two closely spaced explosions back in the direction where he left Astyanax. The EMTs lifted Danae off the ATV onto the gurney and wheeled her to an ambulance.  Ed jumped back on the ATV and sped back toward Astyanax. He drove heedless out in the open, dodging and weaving. No one shot at him this time. He pulled right up to the depression where he left Astyanax and the girl.  Astyanax lay on his back, grunting, feebly trying to remove something from his pouch. His left arm was missing, a bloody stump protruding, seeping blood. The strap from his harness had slipped down over the stump. Other wounds bespoke the cloud of hot metal that must have engulfed him from the explosion.  Ed knelt next to him.  Astyanax looked up, eyes heavy, frowning.

“What are you…the girl. Help her. The girl…”

“I have to stop your bleeding. Where is the medic kit you had?”  Astyanax shook his head weakly, then coughed, splattering Ed with blood.

“I am spent. No time.” 

Thinking quickly, Ed grasped Astyanax’s good hand, touched the blood, and made the sign of the cross on Astyanax’s forehead.

“Do you reject Satan and all his works?”

Astyanax mustered a weak frown, then closed his eyes and whispered yes.

“Do you believe in God the Father, the creator of everything?” Ed was rushing now, desperate to finish while Astyanax still lived. Astyanax grunted, eyes closed.

Ed hurried through the rest of the ritual.

“Through this holy anointing may the Lord, in his love and mercy, help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit. May the Lord who frees you from sin save you and raise you up.”  By the time he finished, Astyanax’s breathing was shallow and slowing. The bleeding diminished to a weak pulse, less with each slow beat.

Ed looked up, still holding the huge taloned hand, searching for Bina. He laid Astyanax’s arm across his chest and crawled sideways along the slope. He put his hand on a piece of hot metal and jerked it back. He continued searching, more frantic. Then he saw her.

A jumbled bundle of clothing lay down the hill, arms and legs at odd angles, unmoving. He scrambled to her and gently turned her over. Her face and lips were pale white, unmoving. He put his arms under her, feeling warm wetness, then lifted her easily. He cradled her close and stood cautiously, looking around, assessing the danger.  Until this moment, he hadn’t noticed the eerie silence.

***

Michelle watched in horror as the screen filled with a silent white flash, the sensors momentarily saturated. When the light faded, the house was gone, replaced by a cloud of smoke. Debris sprayed out in a starburst around the yard. As the cloud cleared, the red pool sat unscathed. Small flames flickered in the wreckage.

“What just happened there?” Christine almost shouted, pointing at a different monitor.

“Don’t know, ma’am. That wasn’t us, either one. A shot from a bunker and one from a drone.”

“The drone is ours,” another tech interjected.

“Goddamit! Who did that?” Christine demanded. “Who is that?” she demanded again.

“We’ve got him,” one of the techs said, pointing at a different monitor.

Michelle shifted her gaze, in a fog.  Bina, Bina, oh god please, Bina…

On the screen, she could see Fr. Ed running hunched over, a bundle clutched to his chest. She saw two legs protruding, bouncing as he ran. A small pale hand waved with each stride.

“Is that…” Michelle mumbled.

“Get her out of here,” Christine commanded without taking her eyes off the wall of monitors.  Two firm hands grasped Michelle’s arms and pulled her back.

“No! No!” she screamed as she was dragged out the door, fighting.

***

Fr. Ed carefully laid Bina in the back of the ATV, his arms soaked in blood. He checked her again, feeling the depression on her back. He fumbled with her arms and legs, trying to find a pulse, debating whether he should try to do anything before driving her. Seeing no first aid supplies, he jumped in the driver’s seat and sped off.

The EMTs swarmed the vehicle before it even came to a full stop. He got out and stepped back and was pushed to the periphery by more medics rushing over. He looked on helplessly as they worked, people squatting behind the crowd, opening packs, handing equipment and supplies into the circle of people working at the back of the ATV. One person straightened up, holding an IV bag up in the air, squeezing it with one hand. He saw a head bobbing up and down as someone performed CPR. A blizzard of trash quickly accumulated around the area, packaging materials from bandages, tourniquets, IV fluids, and other devices.

 He felt dizzy and nauseous from the surge of adrenalin and the dawning horror of everything he just witnessed. He looked down at his bloody hands, then up to the blue sky. It was only then he noticed all the aircraft hovering overhead, drones large and small circling, one large one hovering almost directly overhead.  A breeze stirred the colorful leaves on the ground sending some skittering. His eyes were drawn to the bright foliage, thrown into sharp contrast by the low angle sunlight and the clear blue sky.  He turned his face up to the sun and took a deep breath, offering a prayer for Bina, Astyanax, and the other grendel he carried back earlier.  Thinking of her, he looked around for any sign, but only saw the waiting ambulances, lights flashing.  He turned back to the ATV. The activity slowed, several people now standing by, watching, faces grim.  His heart fell at the sight of one of the inner circle straightening up and shaking his head.

The crowd flinched as one as a sonic boom hammered them. Shortly after, equipment fell from the skies all around them. Concealed soldiers suddenly appeared, their camouflage tech disabled. They tapped communication gear, fumbled with equipment, all offline. A large, heavily armed drone crashed through the trees nearby, coming to rest on the ground, weapons pointing toward the group.

Off in the distance, he heard a long mournful howl, joined by a second, then a third.

***

“What is happening? Why can’t we see anything?” Christine nearly shouted.

“Everything’s either dead or went into standby. All the AI systems are bricked. Most of the drones self-grounded. The Shrikes turned back, dodged the shockwave. They are on station, circling. We have some imagery from their surveillance drones. We lost the Forward CP when the bogie arrived. Wait, check that, we’ve reconnected. They are saying they went dead as well, except for their comms. And the medical. They’ve got eyes on the bogie.”

A view from somewhere near the battlefield filled the main screen. The strange craft hung motionless over the area around the barn. Three smaller objects detached from the bottom and sank to the ground. Two moved across the field, hovering briefly, then moving on. The third descended to the ground out of sight, then rose again, descended and rose again.

“What’s that one doing?” Christine asked.

“Got it. Screen 4,” one of the techs directed. The craft appeared on the screen on the ground. A grendel emerged from concealment and boarded the machine. It lifted off, travelled a short distance, and collected another. It then descended next to Astyanax’s prostrate form. Three grendels debarked, lifted his body, and carried it back. A dog raced out of the trees loping toward the group, following them into the ship.

The smaller ship returned to the larger, reattached, then the larger accelerated away, a sonic boom resounding in the distance.

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