Page 5
The transmission depot was quiet at two in the morning. The alien guards were within their tents for the night with only a few guards posted at the entrance and walking the fences. Denny and Ramsey stood near the communication shed in the shadows. Denny calmly connected wires to explosives while alien guards patrolled just several feet away. Denny removed a pen and drew a tiny smiling face on the digital clock. Ramsey glared at Denny as he punched in some numbers.
�How much time did you give us?� Ramsey asked.
�One minute and counting,� Denny announced and chuckled softly.
Ramsey�s eyes widened. He smacked Denny and hurried around the side of the building. They ran to the next building. Guards saw them. The aliens began to fire.
Ramsey fired back. �Abort!�
Denny fumbled with the explosives. �Go,� he announced firmly. �I have it.�
Ramsey glanced back at him. �Are you insane?�
Denny slapped the explosives onto the building. �Go!�
Ramsey fired at the aliens and backed away from the building. The first building exploded. The aliens were caught off guard. Ramsey ran for the woods. Denny punched in the time and execute. He turned. Alien guards appeared before him with their guns drawn. Denny tensed and slowly raised his hands.
�This�ll be cutting it fuckin� close,� Denny muttered.
There�s an explosion from somewhere in the compound. Both Denny and the guards are equally surprised. Several aliens fall to the ground only yards away. Out of a wall of smoke, a horse and rider appear at a full gallop. Both are completely in black. The rider shot at both guards with a high-powered dart gun. The aliens were hit with the darts and dropped to the ground. Denny waved his hands.
�It�s gonna blow!�
Denny raced for the shelter of the woods in a blast of laser fire. He dived behind a wall of rebels, now returning the alien fire. The horse rears then bolts forward toward the gate. An alien stood before the masked rider and prepared to fire. The masked rider removed a bullwhip and snagged the alien around the arm, pulled him off of his feet, and drug him as he passed. The building blew behind him. Molten debris showered the area along with a cloud of smoke. Nadine stopped firing and watched the man on horseback race away from the disaster and a barrage of laser fire.
Whitney entered the kitchen with a slight limp to her walk. She wore a shoulder holster a gun. She placed a jacket on over top of the shoulder holster. Hawk entered with a pleasant smile. He hugged her.
�How's my baby this morning?� he asked warmly.
�Much better. How are you feeling?�
�Not bad,� he replied. �I�d be better if I could actually sleep at night.�
�Let�s not get into that argument again, okay?� Whitney announced with a tiny sigh.
Hawk fell silent. He attempted to smile. �I want to talk to you about tonight.�
�Don�t worry, I�m temporarily out of commission,� Whitney announced with a defeated sigh. �I�m not going anywhere.�
�I want you to come with me tonight,� he said gently.
�With you?� Whitney asked with confusion. �Where?�
�To Brent Valdemar's party.�
�Be serious,� Whitney remarked lowly. �I'm not going to his party.� She turned away from him and removed some change from the table.
�Please, Honey--will you come with me? I need a date, and you're the
most attractive lady I know,� he begged softly.
Whitney turned around and looked into her father's eyes. She couldn't refuse a request like that. She frowned. �Alright, if it'll make you happy.�
There was a knock at the front door. Whitney approached to answer it. Nadine stood on the porch with a huge smile across her face. Whitney quickly stepped onto the porch and closed the door behind her.
�Well?� Whitney asked excitedly. �What happened?�
�You are not going to believe this,� Nadine cried out softly.
�Did you blow the transmitter?�
Nadine began to dance around happily. �We not only blew the transmitter, but we were assisted by a living God!�
Whitney was confusion. �I don't understand. What do you mean?�
�We were at the transmitter compound. Denny had just planted the last explosive when some alien guards caught him. Out of nowhere came this man on horseback. He saved Denny and distracted the guards so we could escape. He rode away seconds before the complex blew. It was magnificent!�
�What did this 'God' look like?� Whitney asked.
�Oh, he was gorgeous,� Nadine boasted. �He wore this tight black costume, a black mask over his eyes and head, and a long, black trench coat.�
Whitney smirked. �How do you know he was gorgeous?�
�A woman knows these things,� Nadine replied.
�So who was he?�
�We don't know. Rumor has it he might be Zach,� Nadine said with a bright smile.
�Zach? Wasn�t he that mutant who first stood up to the alien intruders?� Whitney asked curiously.
�Yeah,� Nadine remarked. �But supposedly he�s dead.�
Whitney�s eyes were wide with excitement. �Imagine if Zach is still alive? That would be exciting. He�s like a hero to me. He could make our fight that much more stronger.�
�It had to be him,� Nadine announced and danced around once more. �He was magnificent!� She raised her brows with a humored smile. �Frazer isn't too happy though.�
�Why not?� Whitney asked with a puzzled look.
�I guess he feels threatened--you know, as a leader.� Nadine giggled then tilted her head. �Are you coming along tonight?�
�I told my dad I�d go with him to his boss�s party,� Whitney replied with a deep sigh.
�Brent Valdemar?�
�Yes, Prince Valdemar,� Whitney announced dramatically.
�Be sure and give him a hug from me,� Nadine said in an icy tone.
�First thing,� Whitney replied dryly then laughed.
Whitney linked onto her father's arm as they entered the ballroom. There were fifty guests having drinks and enjoying themselves. Whitney wore one of her mother's old evening gowns. It was a black strapless gown that had a fitted bodice to the waist then flared out with black lace covering the knee length gown. She also wore black, strapless high-heeled shoes. Brent approached from the small crowd with a pleasant smile. Brent clasped Hawk�s hand.
�Glad you could make it,� Brent announced to Hawk.
