The VISOR’s display came alive in a flash of color. To their north-east, there was a giant ball of red. The coms channel shrieked with static and feedback, then went silent.
A voice he heard once before — the VISOR’s emergency protocol AI — spoke up. “EMP detected. John, are you okay?”
“Yeah, but I’m about to crash into the ocean!”
“Your vital signs are elevated. Please remain calm. You are about to crash into the ocean?”
He wanted to smack Doc Elliot. The AI had barely saved him in New York City, and now it was going through its protocol, trying to figure out how to save his life. “Yes.”
“Okay, you are about to crash into the ocean. John, the VISOR has three minutes of air. Once you enter the water, you will have time to ensure your survival. Can you swim?”
“Stop talking!” he shouted.
Across from him, Deion was staring. “What the hell is going on?”
He had the same question, but an EMP could only mean one thing.
The bomb detonated.
“Grab the life raft,” he shouted, pointing to the package stowed at the front of the cabin.
Deion gave him a thumbs up and started barking orders to the men. John lurched to his feet and ran the length of the helicopter until reaching the cockpit. The pilot and copilot were screaming at each other and he grabbed the pilot’s shoulder. “What’s our altitude?”
“Six hundred feet and descending fast,” the pilot said between clenched teeth. “Right before we hit, I’ll flare and the nose will lift. When that happens, tell the men to be ready to egress!”
“Copy that!” He ran back through the helicopter. The battery-powered emergency lighting barely illuminated the cabin. Redman and his men were handing out life vests and Taylor and Mark had the life raft ready to go.
“Drop your gear,” Deion shouted.
As one, the Operators began shucking their packs and equipment. John pulled his M-11’s and threw them in the corner, along with his HK. The only thing left was his emergency medical pack, but it was integrated into a hard pouch on his waist. He grabbed the door handle, braced himself for the blast of air, then pried it open. He turned to Taylor and Mark. “When the nose pitches up, be prepared to jump.”
The men nodded. The Sea Knight was dropping fast but suddenly it shook violently, then the nose pitched up. “That’s it!” he yelled.
There was a brief hesitation when the helicopter’s descent stalled, then it dropped like a stone. When it hit the water, he felt the stinging impact all the way up his feet, into his thighs and back, smashing his teeth together. Taylor and Mark jumped through the hatch, hauling the life raft with them. Operators quickly followed as the water rushed through the open hatch. The Operators bailed out as quickly as they could until only Deion was left. “Come on, John.”
The water was quickly filling the cabin, swirling around their feet and rising to their knees. “The pilots!”
“We can’t wait!” Deion yelled. “It’s going under!”
“Go,” he said and pushed Deion through the door. He spun around and ran back to the cockpit where the pilot was frantically trying to unbuckle the copilot’s harness.
The pilot turned to him, his face ghostly white in the VISOR’s night vision. “He’s unconscious,” the pilot said, grunting with effort as he strained against the harness.
“Go,” John ordered. “I’ll bring him.”
The pilot stared at him for a moment, ready to argue, then turned and ran toward the back. John grabbed the copilot’s harness and yanked, but even with his enhanced strength, he was unable to rip the harness free. He pulled his Kabar knife from his ankle sheath and sliced through the nylon, but by the time he was finished, the water was up to his hips. He pulled the copilot up, but the man’s foot caught in the controls. He yanked harder, trying to pull the man free, but the water was rising fast.
He finally managed to clear the man’s feet from the controls, but as he did, the helicopter listed to the side. He tried to hold the copilot’s head above the rising water, but he lost his grip and the man went under.
He dove, glad of the air supply. The VISOR displayed everything in a ghostly yellow and white.
“John, are you okay?” the AI prompted.
“Not now!” He was pulling the man against the current, trying to reach the back door, but the water pulled the man from his grip. He struggled to orient himself, grabbing for the copilot’s arms and legs, anything to pull him to the door.
The water was now to the top of the cabin and his countdown air timer ticked away the seconds. “Damn it!”
“Are you injured?” the AI asked.
He gritted his teeth. The helicopter had slipped beneath the surface. He had seconds to get himself out before it was too deep to make it to the surface.
He squinted, his eyes burning. The copilot wasn’t going to make it. The man probably had a wife and kids, maybe parents who were still alive.
The copilot would die, but he would live.
He gave one last glance at the man’s slack face, spinning in the water, then pulled himself along the cabin and exited the helicopter. The VISOR’s thermal vision showed red heat blooms from the men floating above.
The countdown timer on his air supply was down to ninety seconds as he inflated his own life vest and kicked his legs. Without the VISOR, he would have been lost, unsure of which way was up in the darkness of the ocean, but with its help, he made it to the surface, fighting the weight and drag of the Battlesuit.
He broke through and the countdown timer climbed as the VISOR refilled its internal air supply. For a moment he thought of diving, trying to rescue the copilot, but even with the VISOR he could no longer make out the Sea Knight as it sank to the bottom.
The men were climbing one by one into the life raft. He kicked his legs, struggling to stay afloat. The life vest helped, but the Battlesuit felt like it was made of lead.
Deion clung to the life raft with his left hand, helping the men aboard with his right. When he realized it was just the two of them still in the water, he glanced down.
John leaned in and said, “He didn’t make it.”
Deion shook his head. “Get in.”
It was John’s turn to shake his head. “You first.”
Deion started to argue, then hauled himself aboard. John waited until he was in the life raft, then grabbed the nylon straps and pulled himself aboard.
Finally safe, he stared at the giant fireball still visible on the horizon. He guessed it to be about twenty miles from their current location. He deactivated the VISOR, popped the clamshell, and took it off, slumping next to Taylor and Mark.
Deion turned from the fireball to John. “Nothing from Eric?”
John shook his head. “EMP messed up communications. The VISOR is hardened. It came back online, but I guess the atmospheric disturbances have to settle down before we regain contact.”
Deion’s head snapped around, searching the water. “What about the other helicopter?”
The sickening realization hit… he had forgotten about the other Sea Knight. He slammed the VISOR back on his head and activated the electronics. There was a whirr as the air filtration started. He stood in the soft bottom of the life raft and scanned around, trying to pick up any signs of life, any heat signatures indicating the other Operators had escaped.
There was nothing.
He increased magnification and made a complete three-sixty. The pilot stared up at him. “Where’s McHugh?”
John didn’t know what to say, but he didn’t have to say anything as the pilot sank back against the life raft. He grabbed the pilot by his vest and shook him. “How far away was the other helicopter?”
The pilot stared at him dumbly. “What?”