Earth Awakens (The First Formic War 3)

"If we're only getting one Formic," said Shenzu, "why wait until three Formics have disembarked from their transport? Why not hit it as soon as the first Formic steps off?"

"Because when their transport goes," said Mazer, "there will be all kinds of shrapnel. We can't risk puncturing the backpack. With three, we're playing at safe. At least one backpack should come out of that unscathed."

"Anything else we should consider, Mazer?" asked Wit.

Mazer tapped the box of shotgun shells. "If we wipe out the transport with most of the Formics inside, we'll break open all of their goo tanks and unleash the gas. That's unavoidable. But if the transport is in a populated area, we would be putting a lot of people at risk. I suggest we find a transport headed to either a sparsely populated area or a city or town that's already been given an evacuation order."

"They'll be spraying that gas anyway," said Shenzu. "Does it matter?"

"It matters if we're the ones releasing the gas," said Mazer. "It matters to me."

"The CMC is tracking the transports via satellite," said Shenzu. "And we know which cities and villages have been evacuated. We could probably find a match."

"It also needs to be a transport that's alone," said Mazer. "If it's near other transports, we're inviting a dogfight."

"Anything else?" said Wit.

"We'll be enveloped in the gas during the raid," said Mazer. "Everything will be contaminated. The entire aircraft inside and out. There's no way we can decontaminate it before we reach India. If we successfully cross the border, we should warn the Indians and offer to burn the aircraft as soon as we land."

"Seems extreme," said Shenzu.

"It's a polite gesture," said Mazer. "If they refuse and offer to clean it, fine. Otherwise, we will have shown them we value their safety more than the Goshawk."

"Which isn't cheap," said Shenzu.

"Add it to my bill," said Mazer.

"Is that all?" asked Wit.

"You tell me," said Mazer. "Did I pa

ss your test?"

Wit smiled. "I'll tell you when we land in India." He picked up the box of shocker rounds and placed them in the aircraft.

"So you're sticking to the shotguns?" said Mazer.

"There's never a single plan, Mazer. You plan for every contingency." He snapped open the action, looked inside the empty barrel, and snapped it closed again. "Besides, I like shotguns."

They loaded the biohazard containers and other supplies into the Goshawk and took off. Mazer followed the Yangxi River through the mountains, staying low and out of sight. They flew west for several hours before Shenzu found their target.

"There's a Formic transport ten kilometers ahead of us, moving north up the Menghe River. All the towns along the river were given an evacuation order. If the transport stops at one of them, we should make our move."

"What's the next closest transport?" Wit asked.

"Twenty-four kilometers away," said Shenzu.

"We're not going to find a better window than that. Track them. Mazer follow at a distance and stay out of sight."

Mazer turned north slightly and made his way toward the Menghe River. They tracked the Formic transport with a sat feed, watching the map in the holofield. Mazer flew low. Ten minutes passed. Then twenty. The transport skipped over every town along the river.

"It's leaving the river and moving north into the mountains," said Shenzu.

"Heading where?" asked Wit. "There's nothing in these mountains."

"We can't keep this up," said Mazer. "We're losing daylight. And other transports are getting closer."

It was true. On the map, three transports were converging on a point north of them, in the same direction their transport was heading.