Earth Afire (The First Formic War 2)

"Anything, Patu?" asked Mazer.

"Not yet."

"Northeast," Mazer said to Reinhardt. "Keep your eyes open for a spot with decent elevation and a place to hide the HERC. As soon as Patu gets a clear signal we'll land."

Captain Shenzu's head appeared in the holofield above the dash. "Captain Rackham. You and your team will kindly return to the airfield immediately. You are not authorized to seize government property whenever you choose. Disengaging the tracker box is a serious offense. Please, for your own safety, return to the airfield. If you fail to comply, we will be forced to take action to recover our property. I repeat, we will be forced--"

Mazer shut off the holofield. "Patu?"

"Working on it. Still no signal. But the jamming is weakening the farther we go out. That's a good sign."

"Keep on it."

"So what are we going to do if we do get a signal and nothing is happening?" said Reinhardt. "What if that ship is just parked there in space doing nothing? We can't sit out here and watch it forever."

"Couple of options," said Mazer. "Once we run out of rations, we could fly the HERC back to base and face the fury of the Chinese, who, worst-case scenario, arrest us and imprison us for life, or best-case scenario, throw us out of the country."

"Getting tossed out of China is preferable," said Reinhardt, "since it gets us home. But, since we'll also likely be court-martialed, stripped of our rank, and humiliated upon arrival in Auckland, I'm not too keen on that either. Other options?"

"We fly the HERC south until we hit the South China Sea," said Mazer. "We dump the aircraft somewhere on the coastline where it can be recovered, then we find passage on a freighter back to New Zealand."

"Where we'll promptly be court-martialed, stripped of our rank, and humiliated," said Reinhardt. "Option C?"

"You take Patu as your bride," said Mazer. "We buy a few rice paddies and live among the peasants. I'll pass as your handsome, inexplicably old, inexplicably dark-skinned son of two white parents, and Fatani will be your water buffalo, plowing the fields with you in the blazing sun."

"Do I get to whip Fatani?" asked Reinhardt.

"Naturally," said Mazer. "But he also gets to bite you and poop wherever he pleases."

"Why don't I get to marry Patu?" said Fatani.

"Because you're the size of a water buffalo," said Reinhardt. "We all must play to our types."

"I'd rather marry a real water buffalo than any of you," said Patu.

Fatani laughed.

"Your words sting me, Patu, queen of the rice lands," said Reinhardt.

Patu rolled her eyes, and Reinhardt maneuvered them slightly to the east, heading toward a low range of mountains covered in lush tropical forests.

After a moment there was a beep from the backseat.

"I got something," said Patu. "A visual. Not the best image, but it's getting clearer by the moment. An American news satellite. There's no audio though."

"Patch it to our HUDs," said Mazer. "Reinhardt, take us a few more kilometers along this mountain, then find a high place to land."

"You got it," said Reinhardt.

A fuzzy video feed appeared in Mazer's HUD. The superimposed text on screen read LIVE.

The vid was of space. The alien ship was there in the center, small and distant and unmoving. The satellite wasn't directly between the ship and Earth, but rather off to the side, at an angle, giving Mazer a slight view of the ship's profile.

"I see a place to land," said Reinhardt. "I'm taking her down."

The HERC descended through a break in the tree canopy. Mazer allowed himself a glance outside. They were on the crest of a wide, lush mountain ridge, almost entirely consumed with dense jungle forest. The air was thick with the scent of flowers and composting vegetation.

The HERC set down gently, and Reinhardt killed the gravlens. There was a slight jolt as normal gravity took over, and the aircraft sunk a centimeter or two into the soft jungle topsoil. No one spoke or moved. They sat there, watching their HUDs.