Specimen(78)

They have to be searching for us by now.

I’m trying to remain calm, but it isn’t easy. The information in my head says this type of helicopter should be equipped with two parachutes, but one is missing. For all I know, there is a platoon of soldiers just over the horizon on their way to apprehend us. Due to the tracking device in my implant, they’ll know our exact position.

Fuck!

“I have no idea how these things are usually equipped,” Riley says.

“There are supposed to be two.”

“I take it that’s important?”

I stop and take a breath, recalculating possible actions. If it were only me, I could make it on foot and find a way to breach the wall, but Riley can’t. The journey would be too long, and she would require water and food. She isn’t fast enough.

We need the helicopter.

“Put it on,” I tell her.

“What about you?” Riley slides the straps over her arms and I make sure it’s fastened properly.

“Let me worry about that.” I’m definitely worrying, but my options are limited. I have to get us out of here and into Carson territory. If we can get across the border, we won’t be followed. It wouldn’t make sense tactically; they’d need time to strategize.

Eventually, they’ll send other specimens to retrieve us.

After helping Riley get her medical bag secured to her waist, I grab a half-full canteen and a flashlight from the back of the helicopter and shove them into pockets.

“Get in.”

Riley climbs into the helicopter, and I take the pilot’s seat. We rise gently into the air, and I check the instruments to make sure there isn’t any other air traffic near us. Looking around at the ground, I see no vehicles approaching.

Maybe we got lucky.

I can’t quite bring myself to believe that.

I see the monorail below us. There’s no train on it at the moment, but the track leads the way to Yorkstown and the border wall. As we approach, a train zips by beneath us, and a sensation ripples through me.

Isaac is on that train.

“Getting close.” I glance at Riley. She doesn’t reply, the tension in her body clearly visible. “Just over the wall and across the river.”

“We’ll never make it.”

“Trust me.”

I pull the cyclic to the side, aiming for the part of the wall that is closest to the Grey River. Monitors flash, informing me that there are two other helicopters approaching. They’re not like the medical transport I’m flying; these are heavily armed war machines. The maneuverability and speed is also much greater, and they’re approaching rapidly.

We’re still a half mile from the wall.

I twist the throttle and open it up to maximum speed, but the others are still closing on us. I won’t make it to the wall before they’re close enough to fire.

A crackling sound in my head momentarily distracts me.

“Sten? It’s Isaac.”

I don’t need to hear his name to know his voice in my head.

“What the fuck are you doing, man?”

I don’t respond. I raise the collective to take us higher.

“They fucked with your head,” Isaac says. “I know they did, but you gotta listen to Dr. Grace. You gotta listen to Riley. You know you want to obey her—just let it happen.”

He thinks Riley is my hostage. Good.

“They’re gonna shoot you out of the sky, Sten! Don’t do that to me, bro!”

“Sorry, Isaac. Someday, I hope you understand.”

“Sten? Sten!”

That’s not my name.

Lights flicker on the control panel as alarms go off all around me. The display shows an incoming missile.

“Hold on!” I veer left and then lower us rapidly. Riley grips her seat and closes her eyes, and I’m sure she’s holding in a scream. I pull up again, and she places one hand on her stomach.

Please don’t puke.

The missile flies past us, but another is fast approaching. Behind that is a third and fourth. I can’t dodge them all. The final one clips the rotor, and we go into a spin. I pull at the collective, and gain a little altitude, but the cyclic is nearly useless.

I look over the side. The wall is just below us, and I can see several soldiers arming missile launchers on the top. I only need a hundred and fifty feet for us to land on the far side of the river, but I’ve got to get more altitude.

I fight with the controls as another barrage of missiles comes from below. We gain a hundred feet and then two hundred. We’re almost high enough when one of the blades is hit with a massive explosion.

There’s a fire above and behind me. The controls burn in my hands. I’m not sure we’re far enough over the border, and I’m out of time.