“If they hit us, I need to be close to you guys in order to phase you.”
“We haveshields.”
“You really think that will stop them? They’re using stealth within our borders. That’s an act of war any way you look at it. What other illegal armament you think they might be carrying?”
“Fuckin’ hell. Can you control their minds, Viper?” Annabelle wanted to know.
“Not and fly those jets safely. I don’t know if we have towns or empty plains below us,” was Katie’s response. “Base, this is Viper, how copy?”
Sean tuned out Katie’s conversation with headquarters, more focused on Annabelle’s flying and the trio of stealth combat jets attempting to shoot them out of the sky. The onboard computer was having a difficult time tracking the fighter jets and they couldn’t fully see the enemy themselves.
Stealth technology had grown in leaps and bounds over the past few centuries. These days, properly built and applied stealth skin could make a jet seemingly disappear in broad daylight. Radar couldn’t track stealth jets, pilots could barely see them up close, and dog fights could be a death sentence.
Having Annabelle piloting increased their odds of survival, but even she couldn’t pilot a dead combat jet.
The HUD suddenly went dead, all equipment across the flight board blacking out at the exact same time the engines stopped functioning. For a few seconds, the combat jet continued on its straight vector before the nose dipped toward the earth below, gravity pulling it down. Sean could feel the drop in his stomach, sudden and sharp, before it disappeared and he lurched against the seat, suddenly feeling lighter.
“EMP!” Annabelle yelled, smacking her hand on the harness release button. “I can’t keep us aloft for long!”
A high-powered electromagnetic pulse bomb had rendered their transportation dead in the air. Sean reached for Annabelle and Katie’s hands, holding on and refusing to let go as they each scrambled out of their seats. Sean hauled them out of the flight deck, looking over at the two MDF agents who had remained strapped in for the flight. Jansen was sprawled on the decking inside his transport cage, face a mask of white terror.
“Get over here!” Sean yelled.
The two agents undid their harnesses and rushed forward. They were halfway to him when the missile hit.
It slammed straight through the dead-in-the-air combat jet, the concussive force of the missile’s impact ripping the combat jet apart. Sean felt that wave as a pressure against his body for a split second before he phased the three of them out of the fireball.
Annabelle must have retracted her anti-grav power, because debris started to fall toward earth. Through the smoke, fire, and jagged metal, Sean got a glimpse of the damaged transport cage Jansen had been in, but saw no sign of the man himself—most likely because the enemy missile had killed him.
At least that saves taxpayers some money,Sean thought to himself.
Katie snorted into his mind.It saves them, but that doesn’t save us.
Debris from the jet fell through their phased bodies as Sean altered their density enough to start them sinking toward the ground. The earth was a patchwork of green and brown, with roads crisscrossing the ground far below his feet where they dangled impossibly high above.
Does base know we came under attack?Annabelle asked.
They know. They’ve scrambled fighter jets from the nearest military base to try to—
She broke off as high-energy laser bolts ripped through where they floated in the sky. The passage of the bright bolts didn’t harm them in the phased state Sean was controlling, but it was real fucking unnerving to not see where the next strike was coming from.
Can’t come soon enough,he said grimly.
They’d be dead or worse if Sean hadn’t been on that combat jet, a fact that made him really fucking angry. But he didn’t have time to focus on his anger. He needed to get them all back down to earth, and his usual way wasn’t going to cut it right now. If he solidified them so they went into freefall to get down faster, it would be a sure sign to the enemy they were hittable targets. Sean was quick with his power, but he didn’t want to risk Katie or Annabelle if he didn’t need to.
The cold and wind this high up didn’t bother them as Sean kept his focus on getting them to safety. The ground below kept getting closer, but not quick enough to stop another attack that cut through their bodies. The second volley of high-powered laser bolts was followed by the jet itself, the internal mechanics of the machine ripping across Sean’s vision, momentarily blotting out the sun.
When he looked over his shoulder, he could see the stealth skin losing the reflective invisibility it created. Sean’s power could disrupt anything electronic—and that included a fighter jet that ran on an integrated computer.
Not ours,Annabelle said flatly.
How can you tell?Sean asked, genuinely curious.
I know everything that flies. That jet is twenty years old, but it’s Russian-made.
Not ours, but the pilot is one of Declan’s people,Katie said.
Sean thought about the investigation this attack would spawn and made a face.That doesn’t really help us.
