I noticed the layer of fear that had settled over Cody. “Is that a bad thing? They could be coming to help?”

“They aren’t,” he replied with certainty.

“How do you know?” asked Cris.

He glanced out through the door into the distance. “Because I kind of stole the helicopter.”

“Cody!” Liza gasped.

“I wasn’t going to let you stay out there without knowing what was going on, was I? It was bad enough on pops when mom vanished, without losing you too.”

I left that little titbit alone for the time being as I joined him at the doorway. It was obviously still raw for the both of them. “They tracked you here?”

“I can’t see how. I took out the transponder and disabled the remote pilot just in case. The satellites being on the fritz should’ve meant that it wasn’t even necessary, but here they are anyway.”

I didn’t like the look on his face. “Shall we get the hell out of here?”

“There’s no way we can outrun the T-4s.”

“T-4s?” asked Cris, joining our little gathering.

“T-4. Attack choppers. They’d shoot us down in minutes.”

“You must have damned good hearing, because all I can hear is a low throbbing.”

“They fly out of a base beside ours all the time. I could recognise them in my sleep.”

Sun and Liza stepped out after her, and we all stared at the dust cloud rising on the horizon.

I hooded my eyes from the beaming sun to try and see what was coming, but the distance was too great. I thought I caught the reflection of glass on the road, as well as two or three black specks in the sky. “Why would they send attack helicopters after a rescue mission, even if you did steal their equipment? It seems a bit overkill.”

Cody paused as he thought it over. “They wouldn’t. It’s outside their jurisdiction. This stinks to high heaven. There’s just no way they could know where we were.”

“I think those things racing towards us tells us that they could, and do,” Cris argued.

“What should we do?” asked Liza.

“We could all run into the brush and hide?” I suggested. “There’s a thousand places we could take cover.”

Cody shook his head. “They know someone’s here.”

“Ok, how about the rest of us then? That way you can try and talk them down, and we can introduce ourselves when you see the lay of the land?”

“No,” Cody replied. “They’ll know I went to find Liza. If she’s not stood with me, they might start looking. You folks should go and take cover though. I’ll try and talk my way out of whatever this is and then call out to you.”

I had another thought, one I didn’t like at all. “What if they just snatch you and Liza up and take you back? We’ll be stuck out here.”

“I’m the one they’re after. If it was just one of my division’s choppers coming to investigate, I’d be inclined to have you wait with me, but something about this is off,” he replied, pointing off behind the building. “Go. Just through those bushes is a shallow arroyo. You should be able to stay out of sight, while still listening.” He ducked inside and I heard a cupboard door crash open in the second room. Cody came bustling back with a folded netting that closely matched the dirty yellow of the surrounding land. “Camo for when we’re on a surveillance op. Lay it over yourselves, just in case they do a sweep before landing. Worst case scenario and it looks like they’re going to grab us and run, you just pop up with your hands high. They’ll have to take us all back to base and we can deal with that when the time comes.”

I knew there was danger afoot, so I led Sun and Cris to the dried out waterway. It was about four foot deep, which allowed us to kneel in the baked soil and peek over the rim, just below the lowest branches of the scraggy bushes. We huddled tightly and covered ourselves as much as possible. Unless someone was right on top of us, I doubted they would see anything. Knowing what was at stake, I made one hundred percent sure and slipped a set of silkweb armour into my companion’s inventories.

“Switch over to the sets I’ve just given you. It’ll hide you.”

I felt the air settle as their clothing changed with a simple thought. “Stealth gear?” Cris whispered.

“Yeah, from the spider loot. I just want to be certain we don’t get discovered.”

“Sound reasoning,” agreed Sun.

Cody and Liza moved a little further away, waiting by the helicopter. It was still close enough to hear their low conversation. They were nervous, with the younger sister bollocking her brother for being so reckless. “You could lose your job,” she exclaimed.

“You could’ve lost your life,” he argued.

The approaching helicopters snatched away what followed. The first T-4 took up position watching the rickety gate, while the other two circled around behind us, as Cody had assumed.

“What about heat tracking?” Cris whispered in my ear.

It was a sound point and I had no real answer. “If they see us, we’ll know about it.” I wanted to say by having a missile shot up our arse but I think she already knew that. “I think we’ve got surprise on our side.”

The choppers were of a similar design to Apache’s from Earth, sleek and lethal. If they had spotted us and wished us harm, there wasn’t much we could’ve done. Instead of lighting up the arroyo and vaporising us, they moved further out and scouted the arid land at our backs. Through the swirling dust, I made out a trio of vehicles in tight formation race up the last quarter mile of track. Two black SUVs rode at the head and rear of a limousine. All the windows were tinted, which spoke of covert three letter agencies and shady shenanigans. This was so far beyond a reasonable reaction to a pilfered helicopter, I just knew my quest log was about to go batshit crazy.

Whoever was in control of the scouting choppers had them all pull back to a holding pattern in the distance, cutting down on the hellish noise and stinging grit that was flying in all directions. Our shroud settled back onto us in the narrow waterway, just as the doors swung open on the two 4x4s. Soldiers fanned out, watching all angles from the sights of their rifles. If our camo netting had been fluttering like a drying blanket, we’d have been screwed from the outset.

Cody slipped a protective arm around Liza as the limo drew up alongside them. I wasn’t immediately privy to who was inside as another, besuited soldier jumped out from the front seat and opened the back door for them. Cody’s face was enough to tell me he wasn’t expecting whoever sat within, quickly followed by an unconscious pulling of Liza out of harm’s way behind his back.

I first saw a heavily polished boot and razor sharp crease on a trouser leg drop into view below the open door. The owner rose to his full height and stature, and I was reminded of the grand marshal. It was the arrogance and self-assuredness. The look of casual disdain for the world at large, as if the people as well as the elements themselves should bend to their will. In Milton’s case, it was a requirement to hold a kingdom together. In this man’s case, it was all about power. The uniform itself was alien to me, but the markings on shoulders spoke of a high ranking official. His character tab showed him to be General Anton Milley. Even without the getup, his posture and bearing screamed military. A tightly buzzed flattop on what was left of his thinning hair could’ve been from any one of the recruiting videos from back in my world. I could only see him in profile, but I could tell from the weathered features and narrowed, solitary eye that he was a cruel man.

“Afternoon, sir,” Cody began. “How can I help you?”

“Cut the shit, Fisk. I’m here to retrieve the stolen helo, and the work my team was supposed to bring back.”

“Your team?” asked Liza. “They were attached to me via Homeland Defense. What has this got to do with the CID?”

“Everything and nothing. Is that all the material you managed to gather?” asked Milley as one of his subordinates emerged with the small, chiller case containing our samples.

Liza nodded. “It is. We were just taking it back to the lab to begin working on it.”

“Sir, you have no idea the danger we’re all in,” said Cody. “If we could just explain, then you could take word to the top and blow this thing wide open. You’d be saving so many lives.”

The general laughed, and I hated the way he resembled Alwyn. Far too knowing when he had no way of knowing. Unless...

“That’s all sounds very conspiratorial, son. I’m sure I don’t need to hear tall tales from a thief, do I? It’s almost as if you’re trying to excuse your desertion.”

Cody took a step back. “Desertion? I’m not employed under the military.”

“With all that’s going on with the crazy damned air and lack of communications, we’re at war, son. Not sure who with, but you bet your ass it’s a fight that’s brewing.” Once again, the little smirk that curled on his lip told me the man was neck deep in the shit that was coming.

“I need to speak to my director!” Cody snapped. “She’ll confirm this is all bullshit.”

“There won’t be any speaking going on,” said the general, matter-of-factly. The speed in which he pulled out his pistol and fired off a round was astonishing. I saw the blood spray from Cody’s thigh as the bullet punched through.

“Cody!” Liza screamed as the retort of the shot echoed away across the plains.

His face paled in an instant as he tried to hop to stay upright. The shock was enough to knock him to his knees, which caused him to yell out in agony and collapse fully into the dirt.

“Take her,” said Milley.

Two of the soldiers grabbed Liza and dragged her to the waiting SUV.

“I love reunions,” he said, smiling mysteriously.

Liza fought like a wildcat, drawing blood with her fingernails, but eventually they wrestled her inside and climbed in after her.

His grin vanished as he turned back to Cody. “And shoot this sack of deserting shit. Then bring the chopper back to base so we can disappear it. I don’t want any traces of what happened here.”

“Yes, sir,” said one of the soldiers.

All but two of the party loaded up and started to drive away. The T-4s zoomed overhead in pursuit, tearing at our camouflage. The men were too intent on mocking Cody who was trying to staunch the blood that slowly pumped through his fingers. When the noise and dust had settled down once again, I could make out their mocking laughter. One of them lifted a boot and pressed down on the wound, making the ranger scream in pain.

“We need to take him out into the bush and kill him,” said the second. “Let the locals have first pick at his corpse.”

“I’m not carrying him,” said the first, kicking Cody in the side. “Get on your feet and hop and we’ll make it quick. Make us carry you, and… well, I’m sure you understand.”

The men dragged Cody upright, but he was so weak that he collapsed back to the ground.

“I’ve seen enough,” hissed Cris, readying herself.

“Just a few seconds more. Let the others get right out of view before we show ourselves. Do you have any ranged spells?”

“Of course, what do you need?”

“I want you to take out the radio of the one on the right. I’m sure we could take them quickly enough, but I don’t want to risk Liza’s life if they call in our attack. Not to mention drawing the attack choppers back to wipe us all out.”

“What have you got?” she asked as a small purple orb started to bloom to life in her palm.

“This old thing,” I said, withdrawing my crossbow that was no longer ancient. During my brief spell in the world, it had transformed into a modern hunting version, complete with sight. Why it hadn’t changed at the same time as my armour, I had no idea. More than likely down to staffing issues in the mothership. Perhaps a general strike. Were the aliens even now standing in the ruins of Slovakia, waving placards about fair wages and unionisation? None of it was making much sense.

“What about me?” asked Sun.

“Stay low and get ready to fight. The guns they’ve got will ruin your day fast.”

“The guns did that to his leg?” she said slowly, learning the word.

“Exactly. Think of a tiny goblin rocket moving a hundred times faster.”

She grunted and stayed low. I would go through the finer points of gunpowder weapons when we had a bit more time.

“Ok, say the word,” said Cris, aiming at the equipment attached to the man’s shoulder.

I yanked on the string with little effort, and the bolt glowed into life. Resting my elbows on the edge of the arroyo, I said, “Now!”

The glowing projectile hit my target’s shoulder and exploded, tearing apart the mic and snapping his head back like he’d been cracked by a Tyson uppercut. Cris’s magic missile thudded home, burning through the equipment, the suit, and the soldier’s skin beneath. Though caught off guard, their training kicked in and the weapons were already rising toward us as we jumped from cover. I popped holy shield and moved to protect my companions. I couldn’t help but cower away instinctively as the muzzles flashed and the chatter of automatic fire tore apart the silence. The bullets hit my shell, impacting with tiny golden flashes before ricocheting off into the distance. Another pinkish orb lanced past me, hitting one of the machine guns. I hadn’t felt heat, but the arcane energy melted the metal and the still firing weapon exploded in the man’s grip, sending him reeling. Sun’s old axe whipped past the other side of my head, embedding itself in the exposed face of the second soldier. His insensate finger held the trigger down until the magazine ran dry. Death claimed him, and he collapsed in a heap at Cody’s side.

I got hold of myself and charged at the survivor, aiming to keep the pistol out of his hands. It wasn’t needed, as there was little left at the end of his wrists except for a steaming red mess. His face had suffered severe burns from my holy bolt and the backfire of his gun that had sent shrapnel in all directions.

I surveyed the scene and wondered what the heck to do next.