We were airborne in less than five minutes. I made Scott use Clint’s working rifle to do the deed of disguising the spell and axe damage. He grimaced as he did it, which had me wondering if they were actually friends or if our little encounter had opened up pathways in his mind about angels and demons, and the fact he was on the wrong side of the equation. I’d obliged his request for a couple of licks with a split lip and broken nose, while Cody shot him in the side, making sure the bullet only grazed the meat. After a quick bandage job and a blob of tissue up each nostril, we were good to go.

Our captive’s voice was almost unrecognisable to the operator on the other end of the radio. Only by confirming a secret code did they finally accept his check-in and explanation of the wayward mission. Milley had interjected, ranting and raving at Scott for a full half minute before calling him a fuckup and ordering him to double time it back to base.

As their exchange went on, it got me thinking. When the bollocking had finally stopped, I asked, “How is it you still have radio when everything else isn’t working?”

“I heard one of the tech guys say it was like a thousand lane freeway. Everyone else is sat there, horns blaring, but we know which lane will be open at any given time and we can ride it. Then it switches before anyone else can pick it up and use it.”

It was beyond my understanding. He’d only pressed transmit on the stolen helo’s radio without any adjustment to the dials or instruments. I was expecting a few twists and turns with a gradually revealed channel appearing through the fog of static. The one thing I could confirm as I listened to the general scream and holler was that I wanted to hurt that man very badly. Surrounded by a base full of loyal soldiers meant he was out of my reach for now, but if the time should come when we faced each other… I’d end him painfully.

“Why didn’t Milley fly in with the rest of the team? Why the extravagance of a limo for a kidnapping?”

“He almost died once in a chopper crash when he was a captain in the army,” Scott explained. “He refuses to fly on anything except his private plane, and even that’s limited to short journeys. There was no way to taxi or land on the dirt track leading to the refuelling station, so we drove from the nearest airfield.”

That only added to the mystery. “If he’s that important, why on earth would he leave his cushy base to come traipsing around in the dusty wilderness?”

“I can’t help you there,” replied Scott. “I guess your doctor friend must be quite important to him.”

The question was – why? As with all things Bart, it would come out in due course. That had me worrying anew. “Our route won’t take us near Milley will it? He won’t try to make you land to dress you down out here?”

“Unlikely. He’ll want to do it in front of as many of our people as possible.”

“So we’re going to be ahead of him a little? How long does it take to get to this out of the way airfield?”

After checking the time, Scott turned back to us. “He should be airborne in about twenty minutes. It doesn’t intersect with our journey at all.”

“And what about our journey? How long until we get where we’re going?”

Cody caught my eye and then spoke through the headset. “We should be in Ashbourne in about fifty minutes.”

“Ok, but why there? Is it helpful to us at all?”

“No, but it’s the only town that sits on the flightpath back to their base,” he explained. “Now that the tracker’s turned back on, we can’t deviate from the route or they’d know something was up.”

“He’s right,” agreed Scott from the pilot’s seat. “You’ll need to get clear quickly so I don’t have to land. Knowing Milley, I’ll bet he’s got someone watching me on the radar like a hawk. That fucker doesn’t even trust himself.”

“That’s no way to talk about your boss,” I replied, sarcastically. The damascene conversion wasn’t unexpected considering our powers, but it still irked me. I couldn’t get the picture of his merciless sneer out of my mind. The attempted murder of Cody was the final act of a doubtlessly long and blood soaked career at the end of a gun. I realised that I too now dwelled in the grey area of morality between black and white. I was a killer, it was true. I could only hope that the reasoning for the deaths I’d caused put me at the lighter end of the scale.

My mood soured and I turned to the small window, watching the scenery as the miles passed in a blur.

I’d never travelled to anywhere like Africa, but I could see similarities to the rolling plains that we zipped over. Our passage disturbed the wildlife, causing all manner of familiar, yet unique, creatures to flee. A pride of lions that were dark furred. A herd of what seemed to be buffalo except for their antlers. And a small group of horses that took my breath away.

“Cris! Look!” I blurted, pulling her over.

“Hold on,” she protested, “I’m still buckled in.”

When her face pressed next to mine, she gasped too. “Unicorns? For real?”

“Uni-whats?” asked Cody.

“Unicorns. Horses with a horn sprouting from their forehead.”

“We call them zebras,” Cody replied.

They did have the same striped colouration, but my eyes were only drawn to the protuberant horn and the marvel of a supposedly mythical species existing on this world. Cody’s nonchalant explanation really hammered home that we were no longer in Kansas, Dorothy, or however the saying went. Technology aside, I wouldn’t have been surprised if we landed on a wicked witch and watched her toes curl back from a pair of red shoes. Or were they slippers?

My excitement was short lived as I noticed a black scar on the land. A vast area that had been a forest was now nothing but ash with the charred stumps sticking from the ground like rotten teeth.

“I see what Liza meant about the fires,” I said, trying unsuccessfully to see the end of the devastation on the horizon.

“Another consequence of the cut in funding,” Cody replied with a snort of anger. “We used to carry out land management and controlled burns to cut down on things like this. When that bad boy went up, not even god himself could stop it. You could see the glow on the clouds at night for a thousand miles in all directions.”

“Jeez,” muttered Cris.

It wasn’t just the lost flora, but the animals that lived within who had been wiped out as the fire tore across the landscape.

“Poor things.”

“Animal lover, eh?” asked Scott over comms.

“I’d like to think of myself as a life lover,” I replied.

“I know I don’t deserve shit, but do you feel like spilling the beans on the threat you were talking about earlier?” he asked.

“You wouldn’t believe us.”

“Try me. I was dead, or as near as someone can get to it, yet here I sit flying a helo like nothing happened. Plus, I want to keep my family safe if I can.”

What the hell. As crazy as it was, one more person carrying the message was better than none. “Dinosaurs. They’re going to wipe out the world.”

I heard the scoffing laughter through my headset, exactly as Cody once responded.

“Told you.”

The mirth died away. “You’re serious?”

“With all you’ve seen, by your own admission, what the fuck would I have to gain by lying? Believe me or don’t. Save your family or don’t. I couldn’t give less of a shit.” That was only one fifth a lie. I didn’t give a shit if Scott croaked, but not his wife and boys. I doubted they were party to his murderous ways.

Oh, it’s bedtime, daddy. Please tell me about all the people you whacked today. You had to dig a shallow grave in the woods? Wow! You must be so tired. No wonder you’re always grouchy with all those bodies you bury. We should get you a new shovel for Christmas!

The mocking tone was gone when Scott asked his next question. “Why?”

“Because crazies are gonna crazy,” replied Cris, eloquently.

It really was as simple as that. As far back through history as it was possible to go, people at the top lost it, and everyone else had to suffer.

He started to babble and the chopper swayed a little. “If you aren’t the crazy ones, how the hell do I protect my family from that? Where’s it coming from? Why hasn’t anyone seen them?”

“The sample you helped to steal was from a scorpion that’s been extinct for millions of years. It was as big as this helicopter. I can only guess, but I think Lake was testing them out in the real world now that the air is at the right level. The sample was going to be our way of blowing the lid off.”

“Why steal it when no one would believe your story anyway?”

“A raving story is one thing. Genetic evidence of what’s going on out in the trial areas would be something else entirely. Together, they might’ve been enough. Even the most sceptic of politicians would have to acknowledge what was coming. I think Lake wants everyone caught completely off guard before they can respond to the threat.”

“Even so. Flesh and blood against bullets and bombs? How could they win?”

I had no answer to that, and I wasn’t about to strategize the possibilities with an enemy. “How far to Ashbourne?”

Cody looked out the window. “Five minutes, give or take.”

“Cody, I’ve been thinking about the secret channel that the CID has been using. Would you be able to get a message back to your people using Milley’s signal? Piggyback or whatever?”

“No. We wouldn’t even be scanning the right frequency to look for a broadcast. They’ve got us completely deaf and blind.”

“I can try and get word back when I drop out of rotation,” offered Scott. “I’m on four day’s leave after the weekend. Unless Milley locks me up for the mess I made of this.”

“What are you going to do? Go and knock on my bosses door?” Cody balked. “Forget it. They’d lock you up, and that’s if Milley wasn’t having you followed and took you out as a precaution. This is too big and too insane to go in half-cocked. Just worry about your family.”

“Let us worry about the bigger picture,” I finished. And what a big picture it was. I pulled up the quest log to check the obvious.

Quest – Rescue Liza Fisk (optional)

Description – Rescue the doctor from Milley’s evil clutches, and reunite the Fisk siblings. Her knowledge, though not vital to the overall mission, will prove extremely valuable.

Reward – Companion Support Kit x 2

Selecting the quest only provided two glowing golden spheres deep within the city directly north of us, centred on what I assumed would turn out to be the two addresses provided by Scott. Neither gave me a clue that they held our missing friend, so we would need to check them both out. The reward itself would allow Ratty to become a full part of our party, which was reason enough to attempt it even if I didn’t like the woman, which I did. We were going to be a veritable Dolittle family soon, surrounded by creatures intent on killing at our instruction.

The scenery changed as soon as we flew over a hefty steel fence that stretched off in both directions. I saw what they had been talking about in terms of taking over the land. We’d gone from shades of yellow and green to the drab grey of buildings. In our world, the properties were as unique as the people that dwelled within them. White picket fences adjoining brick walls covered in creepers. Most of the small, single storey homes were like square blocks. Here and there, the roofs were pitched instead of flat, but I could see no rhyme or reason for it.

“This place is miserable,” I said with mild disgust.

“Why do you think I work out in the wilderness?” replied Cody.

“Is it all like this?”

“The modern stuff is, yeah.”

“I thought Lake had brought about a golden age of wealth creation?”

“Ashbourne was built in the last few years to account for the increase in population as people moved here with their new money. They wanted them up as quickly and cheaply as possible. The prices were still exorbitant, but people paid regardless.”

“It shows,” I muttered, looking at the bleak landscape.

“Just set us down near the interstate,” Cody told our pilot.

“You got it!” Scott picked out a clearing that bordered the mostly empty road and started to descend. “Everyone ready?”

“We’re ready,” said Sun, tearing off her headset with relief.

Cody peeled back the passenger door and guarded the way as we dropped lower.

“Just remember what we are, and that we know where you live,” I said.

“I know,” replied Scott. “I’m done with this shit. If we survive, I’m going to open an ice-cream shop. Everyone loves ice-cream.”

We were hovering at about six feet, moving slowly. “Look after your family,” I said, and jumped out after the others.

Cody was last, slamming the door as he leaped into the whirling dust storm. Shielding my face, I watched as the helicopter gave it full power and rose into the afternoon sky. We would find out in the next few hours if the man was full of shit and would drop us in it. The waiting army of killers would be a good indication.

“What now?” I asked my companions.

“Now we steal a car and find my sister,” Cody answered, moving towards an underpass.

“What’s a car?” asked Sun.

“The things that you saw on my world. Metal boxes with black wheels on the roads.”

“I prefer horses,” she grumbled, marching after the ranger.