V04 - Chicago Conversion by Geo.w. Proctor

Author:Geo.w. Proctor [Proctor, Geo.w.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780450058547
Amazon: 0450058549
Publisher: New English Library Ltd
Published: 1985-07-31T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Walker's feet worked the control pedals while his hands shifted the levers on both sides of the pilot's couch. A blip of light on a minidisplay inset on the console slid two degrees off center of a circle that represented Earth. He reversed procedures and eased the shuttle back on course.

"A piece of cake!" He grinned at Jennifer. "This thing practically flies itself."

"In space all you have to do is lock your scanners on your destination and keep on course," she said, returning the smile. "However, in an atmosphere, the response is more like one of your own aircraft, only easier."

Like a child with a new toy on Christmas morning, Walker maneuvered the craft back and forth in a swinging arc. He wished for more control to fully test his ability with the shuttle, but with this particular squad vehicle, Alicia had eliminated the possibility of pilot hanky-panky.

Janus poked his head over Walker's shoulder, stared at the ever-increasing orb ahead of them, and asked, "Where do you intend to land this thing?"

"Navigational computer is locked on the outpost at

Arlington Park," Jennifer replied. "My attempts at overriding it have failed. We land where the computer takes

us."

Walker bit at his lower lip. Jennifer had sketched the scene waiting for them on Earth. Gerald and his immune shock troopers were dug in at the abandoned racetrack. Arlington Park's isolation made it a perfect location for the first handhold in the Visitors' bid to regain control over humanity.

"I still do not understand how they expect to accomplish anything with only two hundred men." Janus shook his head. "The air, the water, the land itself is poisoned now. They can gain nothing."

"Alicia gains a center of operations, one she hopes will eventually allow her to retake Chicago and the Great Lakes." Jennifer slipped back into the pilot's couch when Walker stood. "Earth's wealth of water is too large a prize to simply abandon."

"But the V-Dust! Everything is poison to you!" Janus insisted.

"Your scientists developed an antitoxin." Jennifer turned to the old man. "Do you think ours can be that far behind?"

Janus's shocked expression equaled Walker's. The younger man's mind stumbled while he tried to accept what should have been obvious. The red toxin was humanity's only weapon against the Visitors' might. He had never considered the possibility of the aliens' developing an antitoxin of their own. Yet he now saw it as a very real probability. After all, this race of extraterrestrial reptiles had traveled over eight light-years to reach the Earth. The best of humankind's space efforts had only taken a few men to the surface of the moon.

"It's not water or food Alicia's after right now," Jennifer said. "She wants Paul Nordine and others."

"Nordine?" Walker's head snapped around, and he stared at the woman.

"She paves the way for her eventual return. One by one she plans to abduct Chicago's new leaders and convert them, starting with the head of the city's resistance," Jennifer explained. "You two were supposed to aid in kidnapping Nordine.

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