Cookie Jar

The Man from N.E.M.O. Case # 48

October 2, 2041

The Machine dropped onto Highway 514 at the southern end of Scrumptious Orchards at 2:14 AM. Traffic was light, and the Machine landed with little noise. People in the area still believed it sprouted from the ground because they had heard no engine roars or rockets flare.

N.E.M.O. Team Six will immediately perform cleanup duties. No evacuation plans at this time. Marine Unit Delta will meet you there. The requisition package is on route with the Hopper AXT as requested. Coordinates to follow. General Kirby.”

“Swell,” said Glenn Manning as he approached Jason’s H9 with two trays of coffee cups. Jason Sabatini took one cardboard tray as Akira took the second tray to the other vehicle in the convoy.

“Your coffee is always so much better than at HQ,” said Doctor Hubbard, holding her two cups.

“I hate the stuff in the cafeteria,” said Glenn as he strapped in next to Jason. “I always have Carella make this up special for me whenever we have an assignment.”

“What gives you that privilege?” asked Doctor Hubbard.

“He’s my first cousin,” said Manning. He switched off his comm-mike. “I’ve got a gallon more in the back. Don’t tell Akira or Shelley. They’ll take it all and leave us empty.”

Image by Hans from Pixabay

“We’ll share,” said Jason as he turned onto I-95. “Our target is next to Scrumptious Orchards in Gloucester City, New Jersey.”

“I love their apples,” said Shelley over the intercom. “I’m monitoring all traffic in the area. We’re lucky it’s in the middle of the night. Few people about.”

“How’s the traffic between here and there?” Jason asked.

“They’re clearing the roads for us and Delta group. Delta is coming from east Appalachia while we are coming north.”

“Who will get there first?” Glenn asked. “And who will have the most hicks interfering with our jobs?”

“It looks like Delta will have about 40 minutes to take care of any problems that may come up.”

Jason heard the firefight blocks before he saw the action. Smoke rose from three spots off the highway. The gray of the smoke smudged the inky blackness of the sky. A half-moon broke through the light clouds often enough to make out the perimeter of the orchard.

A dozen cars and trucks forced them off the road at one point, going the other way. A police cruiser was last in line, its lights flashing. The vehicle slowed to a stop, as did Jason. “Good evening, officer. Can I help you?”

The window of the cruiser slid down, and a serious face stared up at Jason. “I’d advise you right now to turn your vehicles around. This is a Federal Emergency, and your presence could cause a distraction to those trying to prevent the deaths of innocent civilians.”

“Thank you, officer Williams,” Jason said, noting the name on the badge. Manning handed him a clipboard. “I appreciate your diligence, and we could use your help.” He handed the officer his N.E.M.O. ID and waited.

Williams’ stoic face softened. “Commander Sabatini. You got here just in time. It’s hell back there. What can I help you with?”

“I need to make sure no unauthorized people or vehicles come down this road after we move on.”

“Consider it done. I’ll call for more units to block off the side roads around here.”

“How many side roads are we talking about?”

“Ohh, 5 or 6. Old farm roads mostly. But the curious and the press buzzards always look for a way to get to a story.”

“I hear you. Listen, we have orders to shoot looters and ravagers. Pass it around, will you? No questions asked.”

“Shoot on site?”

“New orders. As you said, they make my job harder than it needs to be. I will not have any of my team killed protecting some scumbag who needs a photo for their story.”

“Understood,” said Williams. “We’ll try to keep those numbers low.”

“I’d appreciate it, Sergeant. There will be time once everything that doesn’t belong here is dead.”

Williams nodded. “Let me get on the phone so you can get to work .”

“Right. And, Sergeant?”

“Yeah?”

“Take my card. If something unusual happens out here, give me a yell. The Nets are never perfect.”

William swallowed hard and took the card. “I’ll do that.” He looked down the road and saw headlights in the distance. “Gotta get to work. see you.” he drove away and parked his car to block both lanes, lights flashing.

“He didn’t sound like a hick,” Jason said, handing the clipboard back to Glenn.

“No, we’re not far enough South,” said Cynthia North. “The apple orchard might contain a lot hicks.”

“Not this time of night, regardless of whether or not they’re hicks,” said Doctor Hubbard.

“We’ll be lucky not to have to shoot anyone today,” said Shelley.

“I don’t have my looter quota for the year,” Akira called from the vehicle behind them.

“Not funny, Akira,” said Jason. “They can’t help being stupid after all the alerts went out.”

“Now who’s being funny,” said Doctor Hubbard. She shook her head at their childish antics.

“We’re coming up on the action,” said Ahmed, whose eyes never left the satellite feed of the area.

They drove through a delivery gate, taking them into the orchard. 1000 apple trees stood around them, their treasures waiting to be plucked. As they drew near the main buildings, Jason saw a flamethrower ignite a pair of Category 4 Monsters, designated as Mammoth.

These creatures looked nothing like mammoths, except in size. Category four had five different creatures on the list. More creatures joined the list as more Machines landed and spewed out their intergalactic garbage. “Looks like a 4-E,” said Manning, who was an expert in collecting details about anything larger than a Category 3 Monster.

Four tentacles emanated from a spot the N.E.M.O. team designated as a head. In reality, it was a mass of bone with little or no purpose to the creature’s body function. The tentacles were deadly at close quarters, with an average length of 22 feet. Four thick, armored legs smashed anything they encountered. The Monster made no physiological sense but was deadly enough.

At that moment, Delta Unit was working to prevent the creatures from strolling through the barn housing the orchard’s cows. Flames only slowed them down a step. “Anyone with suggestions on how to stop them, speak up now,” said Jason as he pulled up 50 yards from the creatures.

“Hurt them or make them mad enough to turn away from their course of action,” said Doctor Hubbard.

“How about using the RS-11 at its hindquarters?” said Akira.

“It’s worth a try. In the meantime, let’s get a look at the Machine,”

While Akira and Cynthia strapped the RS-11 onto their shoulders, Jason took Doc and Glenn along the sidewalk to get a clear view of Machine 436. Every Machine had the same dimensions. Standing 411 feet tall with a diameter of 52 feet, the exterior was a mixture of rustproof iron, pure aluminum and silver, polished to a highly reflective surface. All three metals were 99.9% pure, something not found in nature or anywhere in the known solar system.

Their tendency to drop onto busy areas or rural, uninhabited areas caused much debate. Some claimed the Machines came down at random. The distribution across the country did not indicate any pattern. Others, exobiologists in particular, point out the randomness as a sign that the aliens are monitoring our responses to each Machine, probing for any sign of weakness.

It was Doctor Hubbard’s view that the same aliens who were sending the Machines were searching for a home for themselves. Whenever Machines found little or no resistance, they reckoned this would be an ideal place to call home. Jason Sabatini had a unique point of view. To these aliens, Earth was just a place to dump their garbage.

“It’s like when you visit a campground,” he began. “Most visitors are neat and take their garbage away to a proper dumpster. Here and there, there are the slobs who leave all their candy wrappers, beer cans at dirty diapers wherever they dropped them. This is precisely what these aliens are doing. Getting rid of their own garbage.”

“Professor Kendall’s theory,” said Doctor Hubbard.

“Kendall makes the most sense of most of you scientists out there studying this thing,” Jason said.

“All right, Jason,” said Doctor Hubbard. “But what about the creatures that are released when a Machine opens?”

“Have you ever had to empty a dumpster filled with a week’s worth of old half eaten food at the back of a restaurant in the summertime?” he asked.

“I can’t say I’ve ever had the pleasure.”

“Well I have, Doctor. It stinks like hell, and it’s always filled with critters.”

“What sort of critters?”

“Everything from raccoons to mice. And there’s always at least a hundred yellow jackets or hornets. Sound familiar?”

“Okay, but what about all the other materials found inside the Machines? Electronics, high-tech materials and parts of Machines we’re reverse engineering?”

“That’s just it, doc. Pieces of Machinery. Bits of someone’s broken bicycle. No entire devices. It’s their garbage.”

Doctor Hubbard sighed. “You make a good argument, Jason. I still believe we are benefiting from all this garbage. It’s revolutionized our server motherboards, for instance.”

“So we’ve got better computers to work while we’re getting bitten on the ass by their wild dogs. I don’t call that a good trade.”

“A fair analogy.”

“And another thing. Until recently, every Machine had unique life forms in them. Creatures quite different from what had dropped on us before. How likely is it that every dumpster you encounter will have a critter in it you haven’t seen in a dumpster before?”

“Not likely, considering the fauna is generally the same in this part of the country. We are at a loss to explain it.”

“So am I. Maybe they’re from different worlds.”

“Possible. There’s a Machine outside of Memphis where all the Monsters died after the hatch opened.”

“Some of them even caught fire. Was that the one?”

“Yes. The smoke was very toxic. 87 people perished.”

“Those numbers are much worse than a typical Machine opening.”

Machine 118 was different from the others in the past year. The smell wasn’t pleasant. Initial exposure caused vomiting and intense sweating. Hazmat crews were spraying the area with an aerosol to neutralize the odor. Another crew arrived with a bulldozer and a garbage truck. The garbage was loose and in a near-liquid state, making cleanup almost impossible. Jason and Doctor Hubbard couldn’t get within 100 feet before the stench stopped them.

“What a stink,” Jason said, holding his nose. To his left, he heard the distant hiss of the RS-11 blades. Jason turned to see the hind legs of one of the enormous creatures buckle under it. The creature collar much like an elephant sitting down to rest. The tentacles whipped around in a frenzy, smashing anything within range.

Akira took careful aim and cut away the two main tentacles. Delta unit hit it with some explosive shells, caving in its skull. The tentacles ceased their movement. Akira turned his attention to the second of the Monsters. It saw them cut down by the tiny humans and it wasn’t happy. With a roar, it charged at Akira.

The lethal tentacles stretched out 20 feet in front of the Monster, which was over 100 feet away. There were two small targets for Akira’s blades, so Akira set its sights on the creature’s skull. Team Delta fired armor-piercing shells into the Monster’s side, doubling up on the fire gel. The shells blasted the Monster open as the RS-11 blades made an impact upon the upper skull.

The explosive sent the Monster off course and it was no longer headed at Akira. Blades sliced open the fleshy upper portion of the skull, sending brackish blood behind it in a cloud. Two more shells exploded inside the burning beast. It came to a stop as it reached the orchard’s general store. As the life drained from it, a high-pitched whistle pierced the air. Akira and everyone within a block covered their ears.

Looking around, Akira saw no other Monsters about. He sighed and sat on a nearby bench. Sweat dropped off him, falling onto the RS-11 and sizzling as it evaporated on the hot surface. Delta Commander Hodges stepped up to Jason. Both men exchanged salutes.

“What’s the situation, commander?” Jason asked.

Hodges wiped his brow. “We have three more of the Cat 4 Monsters a quarter mile from here.”

“Do you need any help?”

“Nah. We have an RS-11 crew with them. Should be a piece of cake. There’s one pickle I’d like to draw your attention to.”

“Shoot.”

“We have a dozen of the odd critters roaming the orchard.” He held up a screen. On it, a Monster as tall as the apple trees was shaking a tree and eating the fruit that dropped to the ground. They were sleek, shiny gray with no sign of feathers, scales or any sort of protective covering.

“What’s the problem?”

The orchard owners requested that we not harm the trees or any other part of the orchard. We try to push them out, but no form of persuasion has been effective. And they’re ravenous. The orchard owners want to lose as little of their prized crop as possible.”

“Have you tried giving them a nudge, like with a single bullet or maybe some smoke or electricity?”

Hodges nodded. “Yep, I tried all that. Everything short of explosive ordinance. Force won’t work.”

Jason watched the Monster eat with apparent glee. A second Monster came into view and bent to pick up some apples. The first one shoved the other away and kept eating. He smiled. “I’ve got an idea. I’ll need some help getting some equipment together.”

“I’ve got some of my men standing around scratching there asses. Tell me what you need.”

“Two tons? Yeah, we can move them,” said Sergeant Devereaux. “Just tell me where you need ‘em.”

“We need to fill them with apples, and then you can drop them as close to these newer Monsters.” Jason smiled as he watched six soldiers pouring bushels of apples into an 8-inch hole in the top of a 400-gallon steel drum. Workers attached 2 tons of steel plates to the base of each drum. They attached the drum to a pallet.

“So, what’s the idea behind the apples and the hole again?”

“It’s a bit complicated. In parts of Asia, there are small monkeys that are quick and smart. Local merchants figured out a way to catch them. They put a cookie it would jar and screw it on the lid. The lid had a small hole in the top. When the monkey grabbed the cookie, it wouldn’t let go of it. The merchant could then pick up the jar and then sell the monkey still holding the cookie.”

Sergeant Devereaux person’s lips and nodded. “Okay, I get the concept. But how is it going to work with these Monsters?”

“We had a situation in Virginia back in March of this year. An enormous Monster reached into a barn and took hold of a cow. It couldn’t get the cow now the hole and it wouldn’t let go of it. Akira came up with the idea of the monkey and the cookie jar and it worked.”

“And do you think these Monsters will do the same thing?”

“Their behavior is very similar to the monkeys in question,” said Doctor Hubbard. She looked at Jason and gave him a rare smile. “Your ideas sound, Jason.”

“Let’s just hope it works.”

“And if it works,” said Sergeant Devereaux, “We just pick up the drum and haul it away, Monster and all?”

“That’s the general idea. You can take them down the road and dispose of them somewhere the orchard owners won’t say anything.”

“Got it. Alright, Rafferty, let’s get this drum into place as close as we can to one of these suckers.”

“Sergeant Devereaux, I’d suggest you dump some smashed apples on top of the drum,” said Doctor Hubbard. “The extra scent of open fruit might do the trick.”

“You got it, doctor.”

The steel drum rumbled along the orchard path. Jason and Akira kept pace off to both sides, keeping an eye open for any of the Monsters. At first sight of one, Rafferty was to drop the drum and put the smashed apples on top and get the hell out of there. On cue, the forklift backed away as quickly as possible when the first Monster approached. Rafferty could hear its huge nostrils sniffing the air. It swept the apples into its mouth. When it was done, it sniffed at the hole on top of the drum. With a satisfied whine, it stuck its nostrils into the hole.

“Here we go,” Jason said, standing 20 feet from the steel drum.

“Careful, Sir,” said Akira. “There’s more than one of them around. I can hear them.”

“I can hear them too, Akira.”

As they watched, the Monster reached up and squeezed a hand inside the drum. The Monster then tried to remove its hand, which was full of apples. The hull was too small. The hotel took Jason by surprise. His smile grew big as he watched the Monster struggle to get its hand out while holding on to the apples.

“Alright, Sergeant, it’s time to see it’s this cockamamie idea will work,” said Jason.

As the oversized forklift approached, the Monster growled and pulled at the drum. The Monster could not move the heavy drum as the forks slid into the pallet. The growls turned into whimpers as they tried to get at Rafferty with one of its free arms. Rafferty kept his cool as the Monster could not get past the cage enclosing the soldier.

“Pick it up and get moving,” said Jason. “We don’t know how long we have until it let’s go of the apples.”

“Roger that,” said the sergeant. “Stand back. I’m going to pick this palette up and step on the gas.” The forklift groaned under the extra weight but it held. The Monster hung on, howling and pulling at the apples it could not get to.

Glenn Manning found an open field across the street from the orchard. He directed the forklift to turn around and drive across the highway. 50 feet into the field, the forklift set down the drum. The Monster howled in desperation but refused to let go of the apples. Akira shot through its head with a Max-9 bolt.

“Good choice,” said Jason as the Monsters slid to the ground. Rafferty approached and poked at it. He gave Jason a thumbs-down.

“All right Sergeant, let’s get the rest of these drums into the orchard,” said Hodges.

By dawn, they had disposed of 14 of the gray Monsters. Chaos ensued along Hwy. 514 as local traffic found its way along the road and saw the field decorated with dead Monsters. Doctor Hubbard called in a team of anatomists, biologists and pathologists to measure and examine and create enough specimens to fill an 18-wheel freighter.

“At the rate they’re going, they’ll take all the Monsters with them,” said Shelley. “They give me the creeps. No hair. No scales. Like the surface of a beach ball, you know?”

“That’s how I would describe it,” said Akira.

“The rubber ball Monster,” said Glenn. “I’ll suggest the name to doc.”

“Yeah, you do that,” said Jason. “it’ll go over about as well as the other dozen name ideas you’ve given her.”

“It’s worth a try, man,” said Cynthia. “Got to play the odds.” She grimaced and turned her face away from the image of the Monsters. The sight of them was frightening her. The uninterrupted parade of monstrosities that they had to deal with nibbled away and her nerves. Each new Machine held fresh horrors for her.

Manning smiled and got off the edge of the truck and walked over to where Doctor Hubbard stood. Jason and the others all stood and watched as Doctor Hubbard interrupted her measuring to look at Glenn.

“I think Glenn’s sweet on Doctor Hubbard,” said Shelley.

“Nah, you think so?” Jason asked. Shelley nodded. He looked at Cynthia.

“Now that you think about it, you think Shelley’s right,” said Cynthia.

“I’m not that naive to not have also thought about it,” said Jason as he shook his head. “He’s trying to make small talk with her as she that’s her best to ignore him. Poor Glenn.”

Movement in the trees near Doctor Hubbard made Jason move toward them. A gelatinous mass covered Glenn and Doctor Hubbard before Jason could call out their names, knocking them to the ground. “Get medics here quick,” Jason yelled as the others followed to where Glenn and Doctor Hubbard lay.

Akira still had his RS-11 strapped to him as he tried to light into the trees where the gel had come from. He saw nothing at first but darkness. Then the darkness moved. “What the hell?”

An Obsidian colored mass filtered through the trees toward them. To a cure it looked like solid stone. The side he was looking at was smooth as glass. But it was moving toward them.

Jason reached his hand into the gel and pulled Doctor Hubbard out. The gel clung to her like cold cream of wheat, sticky and unpleasant. He cleared her mouth and nose, and eyes with a cotton cloth from his bag. She coughed and gagged and sat up.

“My skin is burning,” she said. “You need to get this stuff off of us. It’s some sort of digestive fluid. Do it now before we’re in trouble.” She looked over at Glenn. He was standing and scrubbing the gel off his skin.

“This stuff burns like hell,” said Glenn. “What is it and how do I get it off of me?”

Jason and the others moved Glenn and Doctor Manning away from the trees and into the emergency medical vehicle as it pulled up. “For want of a better word, we’ve been spit on,” said Doctor Hubbard. “God, this hurts,” she said as a medical operative sprayed warm water on her.

“There’s a small apartment attached to the general store,“ the operative said as they pulled up. “It has a shower come on and that’s where you’re headed.”

Jason and two nurses took Glenn and Doctor Hubbard into the store and carried them through into the small apartment where the owner often stayed. They dropped Glenn and Hubbard into the old-fashioned tub and turned on the water. They scrubbed the gel off with their hands. Some liquid hand soap finished the job, and soon they were clean.

Doctor Hubbard looked up and saw Jason still standing there. “Don’t you have a Monster to kill?”

“Your safety is more important,” said Jason.

“We’ll be fine,” said Doctor Hubbard. “What’s your name, officer?” Doctor Hubbard asked the medical operative.

“Martin Corday, ma’am,” the operative said.

Doctor Hubbard looked at Jason. “Leave us with Martin. We’ll be fine. Get going. And take pictures.”

Jason grinned at her and left the room. He found Akira and Cynthia standing inside the store, looking out the window. “What’s going on?”

“This new Monster is quite amazing,” said Akira. “It looks like a giant block of Obsidian. A2 year old could outrun it. But it spits at anything moving within 50 feet of it.”

“We need to destroy it somehow,” said Jason. “Have we tried anything yet?”

“Not to my knowledge,” said Cynthia. She shivered as she watched the 20-foot tall block of dark matter move through the trees toward the tourist buildings where they stood. “We’d better do something. It’ll be on us in no time.”

“Let’s get into some strategic spots and try our luck with the RS-11,” said Jason.

“If we circle around to our vehicles, there’s a whole lot of explosives and other guns we can use,” said Akira.

“Now you’re talking. Let’s roll.”

They parked their vehicles 100 feet from the creature. Jason took out the LAW rocket launcher. Cynthia readied the flame ejector. A grim but determined look was on her face. She felt an urge to kill this thing all by herself, and shooting napalm cells into it made her feel better. To keep her mind off her nerves, she set up an infrared camera and a digital camera to record all the action.

“How do we want to do this?” Akira asked.

“Let’s move away from the vehicles come on just in case we have to get out of here quick,” said Jason. “Maybe put the vehicles between us and the stores.”

“Good come on” said Cynthia. “I’m looking forward to going home and getting drunk after this.”

“So let’s make this quick so you can do that,” said Jason.

They took positions at the edge of the trees. The Monster was now in the parking lot, creeping along and taking out the white paint lines of the parking spaces. Akira stepped forward first. He sighted on the dark mass and fired a dozen discs in a flat pattern 15 feet above the ground.

The discs entered the entity with little impact on it. The thin holes made by the discs closed up as if they had entered water. The creature didn’t slow down or register that anything had hit it. Akira shook his head and laughed. “That’s pretty wild. No effect at all.”

“My turn,” said Cynthia. “Step back and see how a pro does it.” She trained the long tube of the firing device on the center of the creature’s mass. With skill unmatched by any of them, she placed two cells into the creature two inches apart. The cells erupted on impact, flushing the creature with the newest version of napalm.

The Monster caught fire easily. Its movement stopped. Thick tendrils shot out from all sides and ejected the flaming substance onto the pavement. The Monster tore pieces of itself from its mass to stop the burning. When it was done, the creature reverted to its original cube shape.

“Well, that hurt it,” said Cynthia. “See what you can do, Jason.”

“What you did will be hard to top,” said Jason to cheer her up. Her frown suggested that nothing he said would help. He shot two rockets into which center mass and waited. Seconds later, they exploded deep within the black cube.

The cube lost its shape, dropping onto the pavement as a massive puddle. It lay there, pulsing and rippling along its edges. Akira took a step toward it, but Jason grabbed his arm. “Whoa, there, Akira. It’s not done yet. Look.”

The edges of the Monster curled up toward its center. Within a minute it had taken on its familiar cube shape. It shimmered and moved toward Jason and the others. “I think we got its attention. Let’s hit it with everything we have and run.”

Seven well-placed discs, 3 napalm cells and two Laws rockets slammed into the cube before Jason and the others ran into the trees. They didn’t stop to see what effect their ordinance had on the creature as it was getting too close. Jason called Commander Hodges as they moved between the trees. “Commander Hodges. Come in. Urgent.”

“Yeah, Jason. What have you got?”

“In the parking lot of the general store, there’s a black cube Monster. Don’t get within 50 feet of it. It spits and acidic goo that hurts like hell. Approach with caution, but it needs to be destroyed right now.”

“Affirmative. Where are you now?”

“We are in the Grove east of the parking lot. I’m taking my people and circling around back to our vehicles.”

“Be careful. We have activity in that area. Unknowns.”

“Can infrared detect it?”

“I think so. You have nothing to lose to try it. We’re moving in on that cube. Be careful. Over and out.”

Jason had Cynthia and Akira turn on their infrared goggles. Four multi-legged Monsters were milling about less than 100 feet from them. Jason ducked down behind a large tree. Cynthia and Akira Kneeled next to him. “Four Monsters 100 feet behind me. I say we avoid them.”

“No argument from me,” said Cynthia. Nervous sweat ran down her chin and onto her weapon.

“How are you holding up, Cyn?”

“Right now, spit’s all that’s holding me together. I need some time off.”

“I’ll get it for you, even if I have to kill Kirby with my hand at bare hands.”

“You don’t have to go that far, but I appreciate it. Let’s get the hell out of here and into our vehicles. Then maybe I can take a breath.”

Jason led them through the trees, bent over and hugging the ground and making as little noise as possible. They heard the whoop and whistle of the creatures behind them. It sounded like communication, but it could have been delight at finding a rich food source. As they saw the edge of the trees, one Monster stepped out onto the trail.

Jason calculated it was a Category 3 Monster at least. Thick and bulky, it had the shape and size of a rhinoceros with six legs. The strap of a rifle hung from one of its thick fangs. A great, gnarled nose flared, nostrils quivering as it picked up their scent. The wolf whistle dropped in tone until it was a growl that made Jason shiver.

“Triad position four,” Jason said as he lifted his weapon and looked through the viewfinder. “Fire at will.”

Akira slammed another disc cartridge into place and fired 2 experimental discs at the creature’s head. The discs shaved off the rough hide near the top of its head. Jason fired a Laws rocket into the eye of the Monster. The explosion dropped the creature to the ground. It moved in shakes, its nerves kicking in.

Jason stepped up to Cynthia. She hadn’t moved since they spotted the Monster. Her shoulders shook with shock. Her eyes never left the Monster.

“Cynthia. Are you Okay?” Jason asked. She didn’t answer him at first. Finally, she sighed and sat on the ground.

“I’m done, Jason. Take me out of here. Now.”

Jason and Akira helped her to her feet, and they moved to their vehicle. In the parking lot, a squad of soldiers trained their flamethrowers on the cube. The fire was reducing it to the size of a compact car. Even with the windows closed, the stench made Jason’s eyes water. He started the H9 and drove off away from the orchard.

“Shelley, where are you?”

“I’m with Glenn and Doctor Hubbard,” said Shelley.

“How are they doing?”

“The skin has some burns, but nothing fatal. They’re itching to get up and back out into the fight.”

“Get Glenn and Doctor Hubbard into one of the other vehicles. Drive north on 514 and meet me at the next town.”

“Why? Did something happen?”

“Cynthia needed some time away from the fight. We’ll meet you there and we’ll talk. Right now, I’m done for the night.”

“We’ll be going in 10 minutes, Jason. We’ll meet you there.”

“Roger that. Over and out.”

Jason’s phone buzz. He looked down and saw the new alert.

“Attention: Devil’s Squadron. New Machine descending over Lafayette lake, XX county, Virginia. Machine seeing disappearing into the center of lake Daniels. Lake Daniels is 227 feet deep. As of 0445, Machine has not opened. Contents still unknown. Leave ASAP.”

“Trouble, Jason?” said Akira.

“I hope you’re all scuba certified.”