Out of the Black (Odyssey One, Book 4) (16 page)

Gaia observed it all
.

That was, in many ways, the only thing she normally ever did, though she wouldn’t exactly describe it as such. It was more accurate to say that she
experienced
everything than to imply that she was in some way a Peeping Tom, but the end result was much the same
.

She felt the anxiety of the world leaders, their generals and admirals. She knew the fear and tension of the soldiers as they marched and rode to war against a foe that, for the first time in millennia, she knew to be truly unknown
.

More importantly, she experienced the sheer terror of those on the streets as they faced creatures that triggered every deep-seated primal horror that seemed to exist in the human psyche. Some of those even existed in
her
psyche it seemed, because she felt that same terror again within herself as she watched the Drasin begin to reproduce within the cities they had targeted
.

It was only a mere doubling for now, but she was well aware that would not last
.

Gaia turned her focus to something she had spent the last few decades toying with, as had her people. She began to tinker with the little electronic ones and zeroes that now ruled the world she inhabited, sometimes altering orders as they were sent in to point soldiers in the right direction, and in extreme cases even creating new orders from the ether
.

In less chaotic times she wouldn’t dare be so blatant, because while she knew of no way she could be harmed by humans, it wasn’t in her interest to have them searching for ways to neutralize her influence
.

As things stood, however, she felt confident that even if her machinations were noticed, they would be discounted as memory lapses, glitches, or other unremarkable happenings in the course of war. She’d gotten away with far more devious actions in the past
.

It was her way
.

BENEATH 1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, WASHINGTON, D.C.

THE REAL-TIME war map had depressingly large black spots still filling it, but those were smaller than they had been. Routing SIGINT (Signals Intelligence) through alternate means was tricky business, but it could be done. Some were now running through the civilian network because it had mostly been moved over to optical fibers in the last few decades. Other bits were now being bounced off recently launched microsats that were actually just tiny communications arrays tied to helium-filled balloons.

It was a stopgap solution to the gaping holes in their communication network, but it was low cost, fast, and it worked. Between those microsats, orbiting UAVs, and the civilian network, they were almost fully back to operational standards.

That meant that now they all knew just how bad the situation really was.

“Jesus. Look at the chunk they took out of Los Angeles.”

“Get reinforcements down the coast. Who’s in the area?” the President demanded.

“The GW is in San Diego for refit. They can launch from there.”

“Do it,” he ordered. “How are we in other cities?”

“They’ve ignored most of middle America,” the general answered. “We do have landings in Texas, the Dallas/Fort Worth region of course, but most of middle America has low population density . . . I really think that these things are just targeting people.”

“That doesn’t make me feel much better, General,” the President sighed, slumping in his chair.

“No sir, I understand that, but it gives us a fighting chance.”

“Do we have any forces in Texas?”

“Not a lot, sir. Mostly just Guard units and, to be honest, they’re slow to move.”

“Are we going to lose Dallas, then?” Conner asked tiredly.

“Maybe not. Locals are armed in that area. Between civilians and police there’s a pretty heavy firefight all through Dallas.”

Conner blinked. “Are they actually doing anything?”

The General shook his head. “No. Just distracting them at best. Casualties are heavy as hell, but the aliens are taking smaller chunks out of the city than in L.A. and New York.”

“Hardly seems worth it, the loss of lives,” Conner said as he shook his head.

There was a long silence around the table before the general spoke up again. “Do you want me to order the civilians out of the area? I don’t know how many would obey . . .”

“No,” President Conner said, shaking his head. “No, I want you to tell them to get bigger guns.”

“Sir?”

“It’s their city, General. Arm them with the weapons they need to defend it.”

“Yes sir.”

“The same goes for everywhere else,” Conner ordered. “If we can’t get troops into an area those things are in, drop weapons. I want every man, woman, and child on this blue-green ball of ours armed if that is what it takes. Whatever it takes, people. Clean my country, clean our
world,
of those damn things.”

“Yes sir.”

DALLAS, TEXAS

THE SOUND OF the building as it began to topple was frightening, a steel screaming sound that shot to the core of everyone for blocks around. The fighting had been furious in the area as men threw themselves at the things that had crashed into the city from above, but the aliens just shrugged off their weapons with depressing ease.

The few Guard units that had made it into the area helped, their heavier weapons able to at least blunt the actions of the insect-like monsters that were tearing the city apart building by building, but they were too few and ineffective.