Starcross

Chapter Four - Part lV

30,000 feet above the Continental United States

Inside Aztec 246 Romeo

aka “Rosie the Riveter”

5 March 2020

            “I don’t want to do this,” Sadie said quietly. She was rubbing the little silver cross that she always wore between her fingers. “I really don’t want to do this.”

            “A little late for that, Hun,” Harrison replied, keeping her hands firmly on the control stick of the B-52. They had received their orders barely an hour after they got to their plane and had taken off soon after that. Yes, a snow storm raged outside but it didn’t really matter to the big plane; if anything it actually helped break up the radar signature and mask their approach to the ‘target’, a word they all decided to use to de-humanize what they were actually doing.

            Sadie shifted in her seat and turned around to check the radar console that displayed the other planes in Aztec flight, since Elaine was in the back checking on the payload. “Doesn’t mean we have to actually go through with it.”

            “Babe,” Ann started to ask her if she wanted to turn the plane around and face Blackburn’s wrath, but the radio crackled to life.

            “This is Major Blackburn, Aztec One, to all Aztecs, Over.” Harrison got a chill like the Devil himself had walked over her grave. That’s what you get when you think about doing bad things with Blackburn around…

            “Aztec Two,” She radioed back. One by one each pilot checked in.

            “All Aztecs listen up,” The gruff Major Blackburn started like he did every speech. Sometimes Ann thought he enjoyed being flight leader more for the chance to practice his speech voice than the actual responsibility of leading. “I just got word from NORAD that as of ten minutes ago some thirty plus nukes have been launched toward the Druidth ships in orbit from a pair of our submarines in the Atlantic.” The way he said it Blackburn seemed proud of himself, not for reporting the news but, for personally launching the missiles that would kill thousands of sentient beings. “Within twenty more minutes the armada that has been threatening us, and even attacked us, for the past three days will be wiped out. All that is left is for us to eliminate the ground forces that have been massing in Lake Fort- Peck colony in the North-Eastern part of Montana.” He paused, just for a moment, but long enough for Ann to find a hint of hesitation in his voice when he spoke again. “High Command has deemed everything in the area hostile and ordered us to strike without prejudice. You heard correct, we are to level the place then return home for medals and Champaign.”

            “Sir, they can’t be serious!” Tyler’s voice sounded in protest almost immediately. Personally, Harrison was numb across her body save for her hands which still held the controls steady. “What about the civilians in there? That’s the largest colony in the U.S.”

            “Intelligence reports that most of the civilians were evacuated to other, smaller colonies elsewhere in the world.” The Major was trying to make everyone okay with what they were about to do but it still didn’t sit well with the crew of Rosie. “Currently we are five minutes out and I’m ordering radio silence to be broken by me alone when the time to drop comes. We have our orders, Aztec. Out.”

            Blackburn cut the mike and left everyone in the cockpit alone with their morbid thoughts. Ann was torn internally between the guilt of bombing what was still considered, in her mind at least, a civilian target and getting payback for all the other service men and women that the Druidth had killed unprovoked. Instantly, guilt washed over her. Hundreds of thousands of her brothers and sisters in arms, regardless of their nationality and not to mention all the families that resided on base, lay dead and here she was feeling bad about killing a few aliens.

            “All Aztecs,” Blackburn’s voice broke the silence. Has it really been five minutes? Ann asked herself. “We will be over the target in thirty. Remember, anything that looks remotely military is to be hammered. I drop first, Aztec One, Out.”

            “Elaine, Hun, we ready back there?” She called back to the crew chief. Secretly, a small piece of her prayed that Elaine would say that there had been a problem and they needed to turn back without dropping.

            But her prayers went unanswered for Elaine peeked her head in the cockpit. “Ready to rock and roll, Potluck.”

            Below them, unseen by the naked eye from this high up, was about a twenty-five mile diameter of razor wire fences and concrete walls. Within those walls were the oddly colored, perfectly square prefabricated buildings that the Druidth used radiating outward in smaller and smaller concentric circles until they reached the center which was a solid concrete slab made for landing and take-offs of the shuttle craft that ferried supplies to and from the ships. Harrison titled the control stick to the right a little bit, along with working the pedals that controlled the trim with her legs, to make the heavy airplane drift to the position just to the right of Blackburn’s plane. Flying as his number two was a daunting task since she knew that he held the highest standards for his wingmen and that he would definitely be watching her every move.

            Together, all the planes gracefully glided into position so that they were in a tight Delta formation, promising maximum destruction. “Bay doors open,” Orr said from her console. Outside the aircraft two thick steel doors fell open, allowing the bombs in the bay to stare down at their soon to be fate. Behind the pressurized door wind was whipping around in there creating a whirlwind and making the heavy bombs rock in their housings.

            Blackburn keyed his microphone. “On my mark…three…two…one,” What seemed like an eternity passed before she heard what she dreaded, but knew was coming. “Drop!”

            Elaine heard the command and flicked the master switch causing all 70,000 pounds of mixed ordinance that Rosie carried in her belly and beneath her wings. She was told that they had loaded a combination of impact bombs, which would exploded when they hit the ground or anything solid, and airburst bombs that exploded in mid-air after a set amount of time, showing the area in shrapnel and concussive blasts.

Ann imagined a whistling sound coming from each one as the plummeted to earth, she pictured the building being empty, filled with only military hardware, explode as the encased metal tore through the roof and detonated. The airburst bombs bursting only a dozen or so meters above the ground, raining hot metal onto anything that wasn’t protected. In her mind’s eye she saw the strange shaped craft the Druidth used being blown apart as the bombs landed on and nearby them, the forces tearing the metal to pieces.

In reality, she felt the plane lighten and jerk upward as the collective weight left the airframe. Blackburn titled his plane to the right, setting a course for home and Ann, along with the rest of Aztec flight did the same. Across Sadie’s busty chest cloaked in the olive green flight suit, Harrison saw out the co-pilots window and saw the death and destruction she helped create.

What was once known as the Lake-Fort Peck Colony was now just a burning wreckage; fires burning anything they could touch and feed themselves on. Here and there she saw explosions, which must have been massive if she could see them all the way up here, detonate and billow outward. Down there, she knew thousands were dead and dying just like all the Humans they had killed. Looking away, Ann Harrison righted the plane and looked away, smiling internally.