Amber
Taking back Nellis Air Force Base had been a textbook mission, by all accounts, but it was a huge loss for me. We’d lost a few more soldiers than expected, worst of all our fearless leader, because extra Baelese personnel happened to be at the encampment for a punishment. We hadn’t been expecting that. It was good that we’d gotten there when we did, though. Remy’s account of what had been about to happen gave me chills.
There would be no rest that night. At sun up, we immediately took stock of the base and what was left, making sure no straggler aliens remained. Unfortunately, a good portion of the amazing Baelese communications equipment had been in the obnoxious palace they’d built. But Matt and the other tech guys were busy in the older buildings getting us back online to communicate with our people in Alaska, and other allies around the world.
It was strange not to have Top in control. Colonel Latham was good at planning the overall picture, but it felt a little like we were flailing as we tried to prepare the small details. Thankfully, Officer Sean rose to the occasion and had natural, even-keeled leadership qualities. I stuck close to Rylen, not wanting him out of my sight. He hadn’t had to battle anyone in the Nellis takeover, but what was to come was a mystery. We had no idea if the Baelese ships would just be traveling vessels, or if they would have firing capabilities.
“Look at this,” Sean said, leaning over an area map. I wasn’t good at reading maps, but it looked like he was pointing at a place outside of the base lines.
“Area 51,” said Rylen. He squinted and leaned in. “They’ve got it marked as an underground weapons silo.”
“For years they’ve said there’s nothing out there,” Sean said. “That they use it for weapon testing and nothing else.”
Matt crossed his arms. “Well, let’s check it out.”
I was shocked when they let me pile into the vehicle with them. The drive through the dusty desert should have felt peaceful, but we were all edgy. Maybe we always would be, even after whatever was to come was over. No peace for our generation.
We slowed when we got to the middle of nowhere, and noticed the glimmering shine of a manmade surface on the ground, painted the same color as the dirt. A massive square. Was it a landing area?
Matt found a cellar door at the corner and opened it, whispering when he peered in. “Holy shit.”
Sean and Devon followed him down, followed by Rylen and me. We went down about three flights of stairs in the darkness until Matt found light switches. What I saw made me grasp Rylen’s hand hard enough to cut off his circulation.
A spaceship. It was rounded with a domelike top, just like pictures often depicted of UFOs. The whole thing was sleek. It looked light and airy, not heavy like one of our spaceships. I was frozen to the spot and freaked out.
“Just like the one at Dugway,” Rylen murmured. He gently tugged me forward, mesmerized.
“Let’s get inside it,” Sean said.
My fight-or-flight instinct was screaming for me to take flight, as in,run. I didn’t want to be near this creepy thing.
“It’s all right, Pepper,” Rylen said, urging me to come with him. He knew exactly what place to touch on the bottom of the vessel to make a set of stepswhooshdown.
“What if aliens are in it?” I hissed.
Everyone took out their guns to appease me. I took mine out, too, and followed them up the stupid steps. When we got inside, it was like something at Epcot center. For a second, I went slack and just stared around.
“How old is this thing?” I whispered.
“Roswell era,” Rylen said.
“Been on Earth eighty to a hundred years,” Sean whispered.
Matt stared at a wall panel of buttons and screens in awe. “Who knows how long it was made before that, and how long it traveled to get here.”
So freaking weird. This ship was practically ancient, and it looked like futuristic technology.
“Okay, this is cool and all,” I said. “But does this thing have weapons? And does anyone know how to work it? Otherwise, I feel like we’re wasting our time.”
“Amber,” Rylen said from what appeared to be the pilot seat. “This thing is their equivalent of a comfort fighter jet. And yes . . .” He looked at me and my heart dropped. “In theory, I know how to fly it.”
In theory.
I crossed my arms and grumbled the entire way back to base. The Baelese mother ships were coming tomorrow and my husband was like a kid with a big, dangerous, unknown toy. It was going to be hard enough with him in a fighter jet with missiles and high powered guns. To think of him on an alien ship that he kinda sorta maybe knew how to operate made me want to vomit.
Remy found me the second we got back, and the two of us walked off together to find something to eat.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
