First, she pushed a big red button. Hydraulic jacks began retracting the rear exit ramp. If she did not close that ramp, the ship's trajectory would be adversely affected.
Nina felt her heart beat. Before it beat again, she slammed the EMERGENCY BOOSTER activation switch and raced toward the closing rear ramp.
Exploding plumes of thrust melted the frozen ground under the Skipper’s wings. Smoke and sparks of fire danced around the shivering rockets as they nearly split apart due to the overload of thrust.
Nina jumped through the last sliver of daylight peeking in the closing ramp just as the wheels left the ground. Despite having her wind knocked out, she instinctively threw her arms over her head. She gasped for breath as her world filled with the roar of the boosters detonating in a controlled, focused explosion.
The Skipper went airborne. Not a flying ship, not a helicopter, not a plane but an impromptu guided missile. Its rotors did not even turn and the angle of its ascent was far from perfect as it raced skyward, aiming for the underbelly of the beast.
The Geryons’ anti-air batteries fired frantically at the approaching hulk of metal.
Nina crouched to a knee and watched the ad hoc missile fly toward its target. She saw panic in the Geryon's anti-air fire. No doubt they prepared for the Skippers to take off and make strafing runs but failed to consider a suicide flight, particularly in this manner.
Nevertheless, a shell from one of the flak guns hit the rocketing chopper in its starboard side. The engine there smashed to pieces; the thrust sprung loose from the containment of its baffle. Instead of funneled to push the craft up, the now-uncontrolled explosion of that rocket spread in all directions. The Skipper tumbled as it climbed. For a moment-a long, hair raising moment-Nina feared the missile would miss.
It nearly did.
Instead of impacting the undercarriage and command module of the Zeppelin as planned, the Skipper cart wheeled into the outer wall of the port side mini-blimp. The spinning mess of metal and more hit like a burning bullet. The rust-colored cover of the air ship crumpled then punctured. The flaming wreckage of the smaller craft continued to spin as its remaining engine casing lost integrity. It became a whirling ball of disintegrating aircraft, eviscerating the zeppelin in a jagged line.
Then the secondary explosions inside the Skipper began. With fire suppression systems disengaged, the auxiliary fuel tanks erupted as did the fully-flooded fuel lines.
Next came the ammunition caches. The bang and pop of grenades and bullet cartridges was lost in the rumbling blasts from the armed warheads fixed beneath disintegrating wings.
Finally, as the whole ball fell to pieces, the batteries-overcharged to the point of instability-exploded.
Debris from the Skipper fell to Earth leaving behind a long gash in the side of the Geryon Reich’s Battleship. Flames flashed from that gash as the volatile gases inside ignited. The entire aircraft listed as the explosions acted like a thruster, shoving the beast off-course.
Nina heard alarms ringing inside the giant ship. She heard engines roar to life as the pilots tried to regain control.
"I dare say, perhaps we should evacuate ourselves to-"
Johnny did not need to finish his suggestion; a rain of debris-most of it on fire-fell onto the field. First small chunks from the Skipper, then larger pieces from the Battleship…
…Trevor watched the beautiful destruction from the top floor of the badly-damaged summer home. Below him, human and Geryon infantrymen diverted their attention to the sounds of destruction above and behind them.
For his part, the usually boisterous Brewer stood in a trance mumbling over and over again, "Wow."
Trevor seized the opportunity and told this mirror image of his friend, "This is how you win this war, Jon. Every battle is a roll of the dice. You don't play it safe, you don't second-guess. Know your enemy and go for the throat."
Brewer turned to him, his eyes wide and his lips still mumbling.
Trevor put a hand on the taller man's shoulder and told him, "You have it in you. I've seen it. Stop being such an arrogant ass and you'll find it."
He did not know if he got through. Was it even possible to get through to this alternate Brewer? It had taken the shock of invasion plus personal failure to change the Jon Brewer he knew, could a victory such as this do the trick here?
Trevor hoped so. He missed the advice, the camaraderie, and the strategic mind of his friend. Perhaps he could find it again in this man, if only he could unlock it.
The sound of an explosion carried over the battlefield. The Geryon Battleship-the one with the rust colored exterior and gray lightning icon-turned and descended. The flames in its side grew; the aftershocks of the successful attack rippled beneath the surface of the craft.
It was dying.
The nose swung down. The rear propeller seemed unaffected, spinning in the same lazy motion and helping to speed the craft's doom as the aft rose and momentum drove the Battleship toward Earth.
"Look," Brewer pointed to the war zone below.
The Golems staggered back and forth, some throwing their arms in the air as if fighting off phantom attacks.
Trevor chuckled. No, he laughed. An evil laugh.
"Controlled with virtual reality modules, right? Look at them," metal arms flailed, heads swiveled. Trevor laughed again. "Their pilots are burning up there in the ship and we get to watch it through their pet robots. Say, looks like that guy got his arm caught on fire," one of the Golems waved its right arm around as if there might be flames there but, of course, it was the operator in the dirigible-not the robot in the field- alight.
"Burn you bastards," Trevor mumbled
As the dirigible plunged into the lake, the Golems stopped acting and stood silent.
Trevor radioed, "First and second squads, attack."
The human soldiers from the remaining two houses poured out and quickly overwhelmed the handful of flesh-and-blood Geryons, most struck down from behind while staring in horror at their falling mother ship.
A sound like thunder rolled across the basin of the lake. It bounced off the sentry mountains and cried toward the heavens. It was the sound of the Battleship crashing into the lake; sinking into the lethally-frigid waters.
– While most of the troops stood by the water's edge shooting any swimming Geryons who managed to stave off hypothermia, and Reverend Johnny led a patrol to sweep the surrounding forest for stragglers, Nina hurried in to the mansion.
Corporal Brewer and two men hovered over radar and communications gear there. When he saw her, the Corporal quickly reported, "Radar is clear."
The report did not interest her.
"Where is he?"
Brewer answered with a glance toward the ceiling…
…Trevor stood on the balcony, the remnants of doors open behind him.
He stood and watched the corpse of his enemy. The Battleship’s front was fully under water, the back half still burned. Smoke from a dozen small fires and as many large ones joined to form a massive stream of black and gray rising to the blue sky.
Behind him, Major Forest hurried into the office. She saw him, calmed, and then slowly walked out onto the balcony next to the man who had engineered their unlikely triumph.
He felt her presence but did not look to her.
Together-side by side-they gazed upon the spoils of battle. A fireball burst from the dead ship. A moment later the clap of the explosion reached their ears.
Without turning, she spoke with the slightest — merely a hint- of awe in her voice.
"You did it."
The carnage on the lake hypnotized Trevor with the realization that, yes, he had done it. As he had done time and time again. He had brought ruin and death. He had vanquished another enemy. And it had come to him as easily on this world as it had come on his own many times, without one visit from the Old Man, without any K9s at this command, and far removed from the library of knowledge hidden in the basement of his house.