I turn around as the others step out of the elevator. The doors close behind them and the whole unit slides down into what used to be the floor. That’s how it wasn’t destroyed.
“What now, bossman?” Woodstock asks, but he’s in no condition to do much of anything. The same goes for Lilly and Hawkins, though he’s not going to be happy to hear that. But I can tell by the way he’s standing, with the slap-happy Lilly actually helping to support his weight, that he took a serious beating. Vince Neil and crew were never this motley.
“We need transportation.” I turn my attention from my people to the surrounding area. It’s a wasteland.
“We have transportation,” Endo says, stepping out of what little remains of the blackened building. Alessi heads out with him, locking her arm in his and putting her head on his shoulder, just for a moment. The affection is brief, but it seems even someone like Endo can be loved, and that might be weirder than aliens... A smile slips onto my face. There are aliens at Area 51! The nerds would be so happy to find out, though they might not sleep again if they knew the details.
I follow Endo with the rest, and for a moment, I think he’s lost his mind. Stretching out before us is a mile long circle of black. Beyond it is desert, and then mountains, and then nothing. But something emerges from the black as my perspective changes. There’s something there. Something resting on it. When we’re standing beneath the blackened form of the X-35, I ask, “How?”
“The X-35 isn’t just designed to replace helicopters and fighter jets,” Endo says. He looks up at the blue sky above.
“No,” I say. “Are you kidding me? This thing can fly in space?”
“It survived the blast because it’s designed to exit and re-enter Earth’s atmosphere. Given what we just learned, is it really that surprising that we’d be developing a fighter capable of space travel?”
I reach up and rub the blackened hull. The char rubs away, revealing the unharmed, shiny surface beneath.
“Slap my ass and call me Sally,” Woodstock says. “Can we keep it?”
I lock eyes with Endo, suspecting he might have his own plans for the X-35. Oddly, he acquiesces with a nod. I turn to Woodstock. “Woodstock, meet Future Betty.”
Woodstock gives a whoop as Endo lowers the cargo bay ramp.
We quickly board the vehicle, and I let Woodstock take the cockpit seat so he can watch and learn how Endo pilots the craft. Once everyone buckles up, Endo pulls the X-35 up to a height of just fifty feet, and hovers. “Where to?”
“Cheeseburgers!” Lilly says.
As hungry as I am, a burger joint is still third on my list of potential destinations. The first, most obvious target is the Tsuchi. I look Lilly over. She’s clad in black like the rest of us, but the black covering her is natural fur. The uniform and the bacteria bomb are missing. I nearly ask, but the answer is obvious; when Lilly was patched up, the bomb was removed along with her clothing, and while getting beat up by Silhouette, Hawkins hadn’t thought to bring it. So there goes that strategy.
“Any ideas?” I ask.
“The Tsuchi’s destination is most likely Salt Lake City,” Alessi says, accessing the X-35’s wall screen system with such fluency that it’s clear she’s had inside information from Endo.
“It will take time to get there,” Collins says. “Time enough to evacuate at least some of the population.”
People will die in the ensuing panic-filled evacuation, too, but Collins’s plan reveals she holds no hope of actually stopping the Tsuchi’s progress. And that’s discouraging, because what good are we? Without weapons developed by people like Cole, we’re basically lucking our way through these messes.
Alessi scrolls through several streams of information displayed on the screen. “If the Tsuchi moves in a straight line between here and Salt Lake, it’s just over three hundred miles. With a top speed over a hundred miles per hour, it won’t be that long before the Tsuchi arrives.”
Lilly giggles, but says nothing. Whatever drugs she was given seem to be wearing off some.
“What about Nemesis?” I ask.
Alessi taps and swipes her way to the information. Live aerial footage of Nemesis charging across a group of large green circles in the middle of a desert appears. The label at the bottom of the news feed identifies the location as Oasis, California. “Oasis is four hundred miles from Salt Lake in a straight shot. With a similar top speed, Nemesis is just an hour behind the Tsuchi. If it stops in Salt Lake, there’s a good chance she’ll catch it there.”
“So, best case scenario, Nemesis takes care of our pest problem.”
Lilly giggles again.
Maigo loses her patience. “What’s so funny!”
“Nemmy has tentacles.”
I’m about to write her off and keep working on our futile plan, but then she adds, “On her head. She tried to hug me. Wanted to pull me into her hole.” She cracks up a little, laughing, but I’m not. I unbuckle and kneel in front of Lilly. She’s still drugged, but trying to tell us something. I lift her face so her yellow eyes are looking at me.