Page 58 of Trigger Discipline
“…Red One?”
He pressed the ‘talk’ button so hard he thought the thing would shatter. “Red One, over.”
The radio fell silent just long enough for his anxiety to ramp up before it crackled back to life.
“Damn, it’s good to hear your voice.”
Phin snatched the radio. “Fuck Irv! You managed to?—”
“I told you not to call me that,” Irving snapped. Gabriel could picture the constipated look on his face. “Report.”
This wasn’t a secure line, and they had no idea how long it would last, so Gabriel made it succinct. It was difficult imparting everything he had discovered, even more difficult to decide what was important and what wasn’t. To him, it was all groundbreaking, but he knew Irving was only interested in what could be used against the aliens.
Turned out, Irvingdidhave a telegraph machine, and ithadpicked up their Morse code message. He just couldn’t return it. Until now.
Until the shield went down.
Gabriel froze.The shield. It was never meant to contain anyone. It wasn’t meant for humans at all. Because the shield was broken, the first aliens must have withheld it until the last moment—when the second set ship arrived. That’s why it wasn’t up when Gabriel and his team came through.
Voice sounding faraway, Gabriel depressed the talk button on his radio. “There’s a second ship. We think they’re fighting each other.”
“I know,” Irving said, voice tinny. “What was left of the government was trying to organize a counterattack when the second wave of ships arrived.”
Ships?
Irving continued to update them. “What the first attack didn’t destroy, the second did. Infrastructure, military bases, power grids, and most major cities are gone.”
All the blood drained from Gabriel’s face. He tightened hisfingers around the radio to keep from dropping it. It was impossible to fathom. Theentirecountry? How could?—
Shaking his head, he realized Irving was still speaking.
“—managed to get drones in the air just after the shield went down. Before they were shot down, we noticed a pocket of friendlies—looks like a National Guard Unit is protecting some civilians inside a small gift shop to your west.”
Scott jerked like he’d been shocked.
“I’ll try to find an evac for you, but—there isn’t…” the silence crackled over the radio. “It’s like Dresden.”
Gabriel looked up to meet Phin’s eyes. They were wide and vacant. The firebombing of Dresden, Germany, the carnage had been unthinkable. DC was already rubble—they weren’t going to risk any more lives. And they’d done that to his country. To his people.
“We have to help those Guardsmen!” Tommy shouted, looking over at Scott.
Phin still looked shaken. “There’s only three of us, and Scott is hurt.”
“Fuck you,” Scott snarled, hefting his gun. He swiped the back of his hand across his nose. “That’s a Guard group out there. I’m going to help them.” He didn’t wait to see what the response was; he stomped off toward the ambulance bay.
Tommy pushed past Phin, following Scott.
“What the hell?” The grenadier grabbed Tommy’s bicep, dragging him back. “The fuck you think you’re doing? This isn’t your fight.”
Tommy smiled sadly, prying Phin’s fingers off his arm. “It might not be my fight. But I will always fight for my humanity, Phin.”
The big soldier watched him leave, face drawn. He stared at the space Tommy just vacated before groaning and muttering to himself.
“…fucking twink with a goddamn moral compass to rival Gandhi…” Then he followed Tommy with his shoulders so high his head almost disappeared.
Gabriel lifted the radio to his lips. “We’re going to rescue those civilians. If possible, get us coordinates for the evac.”
“I can’t guarantee anything. I’ll try to get transport at the rendezvous but…”