“I’ll cover you,” Davis replied.
It took Alexei mere seconds to make it to the ground. Regrouping with Matthew took a little longer, but Alexei soon found himself by his former captain’s side, once again staring down the enemy.
“Ready?” Matthew asked as he reloaded while Alexei covered him, dropping his empty magazine to the ground.
“Da,” Alexei said.
“Then let’s get you to Apollo.”
Alexei nodded grimly, trying his hardest to shove the heavy worry over Kyle to the back of his mind and focus on the mission.
It was harder than it should have been, but he did it, because Alexei knew his brother was counting on him to be there for him, just like when they were kids.
16
The Silence Screams
The Ellipse Visitor Pavilionnormally acted as an information center for tourists. The automated kiosks provided downloadable maps and suggested points of interests for the National Mall. The bathroom facilities weren’t anything to write home about, but the old building near the intersection of Fifteenth Street NW and E Street NW had withstood the test of time and was a familiar landmark on the National Mall.
It just couldn’t withstand sustained shelling from a Howitzer.
“Incoming!” one of the Strike Force operatives yelled.
“How many of the damn things do those arseholeshave?” Liam demanded.
“Too fucking many,” Jamie snapped as they hunkered down behind the M2398 Mobile Gun System armored vehicle Strike Force had deployed.
The explosion from the shell finding its target made Jamie’s ears ring through the thin protection of the borrowed hard helmet he wore. Debris flew through the sky, most of it falling far past where they knelt for cover. Dust from the collapse of the building blew over them, the armored vehicle not enough to keep it at bay.
“I want that Howitzer taken out!” Jamie yelled over the sub-channel of comms that included everyone within their vicinity.
“Copy that, Apollo,” a cool soprano voice replied, not sounding ruffled in the least.
Jamie straightened up, careful to keep his head below the bodyline of the armored vehicle as the remote weapon station with its 105 millimeter M368C5 rifled cannon swung around toward its target. The sound of it going off practically deafened him, but Jamie could still access his comms, and that was all that mattered.
“Target destroyed,” the gunner announced seconds later.
“You know,” Liam began mildly. “Across the pond, we aren’t prone to losing military weapons like this.”
“Not the time,” Jamie growled.
He wasn’t in the mood for Liam’s battlefield brand of humor, not with Kyle still missing. That fact was like an anchor weighing down his thoughts, distracting him from the pressing need to stay focused on the fight he was in.
It didn’t stop him from reaching out to Katie on the mental link tying them together. For once he was thankful she wasn’t an empath and couldn’t read the terror saturating his thoughts.
Have you found him?Jamie asked.
No,Katie said.I’m sorry. I’m trying.
The director had cleared Katie, Mercedes, and the handful of other telepaths for full use of their telepathy in this fight. That meant broad scans of the population were allowed, but in a megacity with millions and millions of people living within it, searching for a single mind amidst so many took time.
And time was something they didn’t have.
SomethingKyledidn’t have.
Jamie walled off, yet again, the overwhelming worry and despair he felt over Kyle’s MIA status. Gritting his teeth, he split his focus between barking out orders to their Strike Force contingent over comms and staying in contact with Katie.
Kyle was in our condo. He didn’t update anyone that he was resetting position. What happened?Jamie wanted to know.
