Page 51 of Kai (Alpha Heroes #13)

Kai

The small plane glided over the ridge’s crest and dropped in altitude, flying due west across the cove, casting a shadow over the reef, and then banking a wing and veering north.

Fuck . My gut squeezed a warning. Legit pilots didn’t work this way.

I quickly put together a scenario where this could happen without triggering my alarms. For Cece’s sake, I hoped I was wrong, but I had a feeling the setup playing in my head was right on.

The slider swooshed open, and Cece ventured out. “This can’t be good,” she murmured, her face grim. “Did they find us?”

“The shield is holding, and I don’t have any evidence the Cessna’s pilot saw us,” I replied, tracking the little plane. “At least not on this pass.”

“Is it looking for us?”

“Highly probable.” I shouldered my carbine as I lost sight of the plane behind the northern cliffs. “Let’s find out.”

I grabbed her hand and marched us back to my navigation station, where I bent over the keyboard and pulled up surveillance data from all of my system’s sources.

“I don’t understand.” Cece frowned. “How come your alarms didn’t go off?”

“Excellent question.” I tapped on the keys as fast as I could. “Someone must have disabled the Cessna’s transponder. I also have to assume that the four-seater has been flying under the radar horizon.”

“What does that mean?” Cece asked, her frown deepening.

“It means he’s flying ‘nap-of-the-earth,’” I explained. “The pilot has maintained an altitude of less than a hundred feet throughout his approach, taking advantage of the curvature of the earth to hide from radar detection.”

“So, whoever is piloting that plane set out to trick your radar?”

“Not only mine, but all regional radars.” I pointed at one of my screens. “There are no signs of the plane’s flight path on any of the radars I’m monitoring.”

It was another clue that supported my worst-case scenario theory.

I pulled up images from my surveillance cameras and got a live visual of the little plane as it turned south at the tip of the island and flew over the coast on the other side of the ridge. I could still hear its sputtering motor. It sounded like a motorcycle in the sky.

I pinged the Cessna with a virtual geolocator and assigned four cameras to track its movements.

At least now I had eyes on the threat. Rewinding the footage, I homed in on the camera concealed at the summit, where the plane had made its crossover.

Sure enough, the camera had recorded the Cessna as it flew by.

I tapped my keyboard and activated my AI system.

“Bellator, activated,” a smooth, masculine voice announced, the sound of BB’s advanced AI system. “Identify, please.”

I punched the keys and typed my identification code.

“Identification authenticated,” the bot announced. “Bellator, ready.”

“Bellator,” Cece murmured behind me. “It means ‘warrior’ in Latin.”

“Correct,” I muttered. “Bellator, rewind camera seven’s footage for analysis. Replay the last five mikes in slow mo.”

“Rewinding, now,” the bot said. “Preparing playback. Replaying.”

The moment Cessna’s propeller entered the picture, I ordered. “Pause the feed now.”

“Feed paused,” the AI complied.

“Enlarge image,” I said now that the camera had a better angle on the cabin.

“Enlarging image.”

“You’re trying to identify the occupants,” Cece guessed, leaning over my shoulder.

“Affirmative.” I spread my fingers apart over the screen and further enlarged the frame.

“Increase resolution,” I commanded.

“Increasing resolution.”

Cece gasped as the blurry figure in the cockpit gained definition.

“There you are, you fucked-up son of a bitch,” I spat between gritted teeth.

“It’s him!” Cece gasped. “Jack Levine!”

“Jack Levine in the flesh, along with his black Stetson.” I studied the picture up close. “He’s flying solo.”

“And that’s significant… why?”

“Because none of his mercs are with him.” My mind processed at top speed, considering a variety of scenarios.

“Do you think Tracker Team knows Levine’s here?” Cece asked. “Will they come to our assistance if we have to shoot him down?”

“We’re not shooting down anyone just yet,” I said.

“Our job is to remain concealed and make our exfil destination tomorrow night. Guzman and Bozeman reported Levine was one slippery snake. We know this ourselves. Our guys are sharp, but it’s possible that Levine’s ditched his Tracker Team tails.

” And most importantly, his boss’s surveillance, if I had this right.

“Bellator,” I said. “Home in on the aircraft’s tail number.”

“Homing in,” the AI announced, displaying a snapshot of the numbers.

“Activate satellite connection on fast track,” I said. “Bounce your signal.”

“Activating.” A small red circle popped up in a corner of the main screen. “Connecting.”

“Search the FAA aircraft registry database and establish who owns the aircraft registration number.”

“Searching,” Bellator reported. “Accessing database.”

Cece cocked her eyebrows at me. “I thought we didn’t want to break comms silence.”

“We don’t,” I confirmed. “But Bellator can stealth-connect through a complex web of emergency hookups. It’s able to piggyback on other signals to get us the info we need.”

“Won’t the transmission give away our location?”

“It’s fast-tracking to minimize the risk of detection, but there’s still a slight chance someone could pick us out.

It’s a risk we have to take, given that Levine is circling so close to us.

Bellator’s activation will also alert Tracker Team that something’s going on.

If they’re able to help, they’ll do so.”

Cece seemed somewhat relieved at hearing this.

I didn’t tell her that, even if the team knew what the threat was, they might not be able to assist us.

If I knew anything about the NWO hires, it was that they covered their asses.

Levine was a mean SOB, but he wasn’t dumb.

He’d probably deployed his best remaining assets to engage Tracker Team in order to keep them pinned down and out of his way.

It’s what I would do if the situation were reversed.

The team’s ability to move was further complicated by their on-time capabilities to access our remote location without increasing the odds of detection and endangering Cece’s life.

Since we were not under attack yet, Tracker Team and I had to stick to the logical approach.

To protect Cece and complete our mission, we had to stay put, watch, and wait.

Not my favorite MO, but it was the best tactical decision.

Cece furrowed her eyebrows and pointed at the screen. It showed the Cessna flying around the southern tip of the island. “What’s he doing?”

“I’ve got a theory.”

“Care to share it?”

“Information acquired,” Bellator announced. “Cessna Turbo Skyline. Owned by Island Adventures.” One of the screens shifted to show us a GPS location. “Hangar Boulevard, Oahu, Hawaii.”

“That makes sense.” I knuckled my chin and continued to monitor the aircraft.

Cece elbowed me gently. “What is it?”

“Levine’s rented a plane. From an island outfitter.

Or maybe he stole it; I don’t know. He turned off the transponder and skimmed the water on his way here so that he could fool radar and other surveillance systems and conceal his whereabouts.

He’s undertaken additional reconnaissance on his own.

This supports the information Guzman and Bozeman brought us.

Xi is done or about to be done with Levine.

This is Levine’s last-ditch effort to locate us.

He’s hiding from us, but he’s also hiding his activities from his boss. ”

“He flew right by us and didn’t see us,” Cece pointed out.

“BB’s cloaking capability is holding for now, but Levine is a stubborn SOB.”

I watched the screen as he flew the Cessna over the reef again, near enough that we could hear the single engine sputtering as he turned due west, flying away from the cove toward the next set of cays.

The sound dimmed as the distance between the Cessna and us grew. Our cloaking system held, thank fuck. I sat on the chair, clicked a few keys, and designated a couple of cameras to track the little plane, just in case it came back.

“That was his second pass.” I released a breath. “He might be done with us for now.”

“I have an idea,” she said. “All we have to do is get him to come back.”

Snapping my head up, I found Cece’s sparkling eyes narrowed in an expression that spelled high-level thinking and trouble, with a capital “T.”

I returned my attention to the screens. “That’s a firm nope.”

“We can use me as bait—”

“Negative, I’m not using you as bait, and I’m not putting your life on the line. We sit tight and go for our exfil tomorrow night as planned. Period.”

“But—”

Our discussion came to an abrupt end as my screens flashed with red frames. “Warning,” Bellator alarmed. “Military grade aircraft detected. Approaching at high velocity.”

“Give me a visual,” I barked. “Lock onto the approaching aircraft.”

Several cameras swiveled at once to focus on the threat. It was only after the cameras acquired a blurred image that the visual radar locked in and showed me a red blimp moving at brain-defying velocity. Like Levine’s Cessna, this aircraft must be flying without a transponder.

“Maximize images,” I commanded. “Increase resolution.”

“Maximizing,” the bot said. “Increasing resolution.”

Even with amplification, my eye had trouble focusing on the aircraft.

All I got was a blurry glimpse of… what the hell was it?

It was unlike anything I’d ever seen before, fast, sleek, with a weird flat nose and a narrow profile I wasn’t familiar with.

It reflected its surroundings, which made it nearly invisible in the sky and suggested a high-end, new-gen camouflage.

“Bellator,” I said. “Identify.”

“Identifying,” the bot reported.

Cece blinked at the screens. “I’ve never seen a helicopter like that one.”

“Neither have I.” If that wasn’t trouble, I didn’t know what was. “It’s some kind of helo moving at warp speed. Come on, Bellator. What am I looking at?”

“Tracking fast attack helicopter,” the bot reported.

“Distance?”

“Thirty-five clicks.”

“Specs,” I demanded.

“Stealth mode detected. Designation unknown. Configuration unknown. Registration number unknown. Weapons, confirmed. Transponder, off. Velocity, four hundred and five miles per hour.”

“What?” I choked out. There were very few helicopters in the world that could move that fast. All of them were classified projects.

“Kai?” Cece’s voice caught my attention.

“It’s not one of ours.”

Cece twisted her mouth into a grimace. “Is it coming for us?”

I typed in the vectors, and my gut yanked. “If it maintains its current course, it will be on us in…” I didn’t need Bellator to do the math for me. “Three minutes.”

“Warning,” Bellator said. “Infrared deployed.”

“Oh, shit.” Cece wrung her hands. “Does that mean the helo is seeking a target?”

“That’s an affirm.” I hit the keys, trying to get a fix on the aircraft, but it was like trying to catch a greased pig. The thing was too fast and sleek to pin down, and it dipped in and out of my camera range.

Before I could get any more answers, Bellator piped up. “Target acquired.”

Cece flinched beside me. “Can you shoot it down?”

“It’s too fast.” I tried catching a set of coordinates, but the helicopter dipped out of radar range again. “Hell, even if it got closer, the weapons I have would only tickle its belly.”

“Unidentified aircraft decreasing velocity,” Bellator reported and then, “Unidentified aircraft engaging hover mode.”

I studied the screen as the helo hovered just below the cliffs on the east side of the island.

“What is it doing?” Cece asked, her voice shaky.

I gave her my best guess. “It’s preparing.” To attack , I didn’t say.

“Weapons engaged,” Bellator reported.

“Can they see us?” Cece’s nails sank into my shoulder. “Is the cloaking device working?”

Before I could answer, the bot announced. “Warning. Missile loaded.”

Best case scenario, it didn’t know we were here.

Worst-case scenario, we were done. Perhaps I could blow off all the explosives I’d planted in the cove and hope to shock them long enough to allow us to escape.

Or maybe the explosion could create enough turbulence to slow or down the beast. But if I activated my explosive defenses, there was no going back.

We’d be at war with a superior enemy armed with enormous capabilities for destruction.

“Target acquired,” Bellator announced.

I pulled up the cap of the explosive’s ignition control. The moment I flicked it on, the helo would know we were here. But then again, there was a chance it already knew…

Cece started, “Kai, I—”

“No.” I pushed the words through gritted teeth. “You and I, we have a future. This is not goodbye.”

I hoped I hadn’t told Cece a lie.