God of Chaos: Built for War: Book Two by J.D. Lancey

Author:J.D. Lancey [Lancey, J.D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Unbated Productions
Published: 2024-09-25T00:00:00+00:00

HOUR THIRTEEN

As kind as Cowboy Dave’s offer to lend us his truck was, we were not enticed by the rusted remnants of a vehicle over a century old meant to get us home. I could not order Kay and Ector to breach NUN territory to get us airborne, but it would not hurt to make the request.

“We’re on our way,” Kay said.

“Negative,” Ector said. “We’ve just received our own orders from Command. Surveillance of Salt Lake.”

“You’ve been pulled from Operation Eris?” I asked.

Static. I tried to regain the communication link with Ector and Kay, but I knew I would continue to fail.

“Perceval?” I radioed.

“We just lost Kay and Ector,” Perceval said. “Everything okay down there?”

“Affirmative,” I said. “Command has diverted them. They’ve gone dark.”

“Roger,” Perceval said. “We hurry up and wait. We’ll remain standing by.”

“NUN surveillance drone,” Gareth said glancing up to the sky.

“Wait, before you destroy that thing—” Cowboy Dave said.

A puff of smoke was followed seconds later by a faint explosion high above us. Cowboy Dave shook his head.

“NUN drone eliminated,” Gareth said.

“They know you’re here,” Cowboy Dave said. “You’ve just proved you’re a threat.”

“We are a threat,” Gareth said. “Now we can’t stay here. Now we need to go.”

“Kay and Ector have been sent inland,” I told Gareth. “We need to get into the air. The truck can ferry us to a location for a drop, yes? We’ll need a two-hundred-meter nosedive.”

“You want a cliff face. There isn’t one, not nearby, but there’s more than one way to get those jets to speed,” Cowboy Dave said. “You might not like it, but in theory, it should work.”

We all stared at the rusted wreckage of the machine Cowboy Dave called a truck. The machine had four rubber tires that appeared to be buoyed by air. Despite the multiple polymer grafts holding these tires together, they seemed to have the pliancy to travel the rough terrain. The engine was a rudimentary combustion six-cylinder antique fueled by a dirty hydrocarbon. Cowboy Dave claimed his dirty fuel would also power the A55. My analysis indicated that it might.

“Unless this truck can fly,” Gareth said, “we are grounded.”

“You’ve heard of catapults?” Cowboy Dave said.

“We’re aware of the principle,” I said.

“The truck can be your catapult,” Cowboy Dave said. “We just tether the A55.”

“You want to tether the A55 to the truck,” I said. “Your truck won’t be fast enough to launch us to speed or altitude, not off any of the hills in this range. We need that two-hundred-meter nosedive.”

“Your parasails glide, and they are rated to carry roughly a thousand pounds,” Cowboy Dave said. “I’ve never seen it done, but if you get a good run over the top of Crow Peak, which is just up the trail we are standing on now, from the top of that peak, you can catch some thermals that will climb you to altitude. One of you just drags the A55 up into the night.”

“How fast does the truck go?” I asked.

“I can get it up to ninety on rough terrain,” Cowboy Dave said.

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