The Iron Pillars

Chapter 5

The Stingray cruised through the nighttime sky just high enough to evade the sweeping beams of the spotlights below. Here and there, one of the beams would pierce the darkness just enough to reveal the ship's location, but with a quick tilt, it shot right past the wings and into the starry sky beyond. 

Aaron's hands gripped the control wheel and gently rotated it back and forth as his eyes scanned the airspace ahead of them. He cast a quick glance at Sila in the copilot's seat. "Switching to cold fuel now." 

Sila nodded its metal head. "Got it." 

Ace coughed from where he stood in the back of the cockpit, opening a metal cabinet and removing a pair of bundled parachutes. "What's cold fuel?" 

Aaron twisted his body to look back at the chamber behind him. Wendy and Khemera sat in the two back seats, both with folded arms. Brant and Ace stood against the back wall and removed the wrapping around the parachutes. 

"It's a special kind of fuel." Aaron finally answered, turning back around, "Keeps you from showing up on heat scans. Slightly less efficient, and only good for lower speeds, but excellent for what we're doing." 

Ace nodded. "I see." 

Aaron cleared his throat. "Sila, how're we doing on cloaking plasma?" 

"Two minutes' worth." 

The sandy-haired man gritted his teeth. "Oh boy. This is gonna be tight." 

"Haste is necessary." the robot declared. 

"Indeed." Aaron glanced back at Wendy, "We're coming up on the generator soon. I'll need you up in the shock tower." 

Without a word, Wendy rose to her feet and took a headset from Aaron's hand. Then she padded out the door. 

A smile lingered on Aaron's face as he watched the blonde leave. Then he focused his attention forward again. He steered clear of another spotlight beam before straightening the ship's course again. 

He tapped his headset. "Alright, mic check. Wendy, you hear me?" 

"Loud and bloody clear." her voice answered without a second's delay. 

Aaron chuckled. "Gotta fit that gore in there somewhere, don'tcha?" 

"Just focus, you nutter." 

"Right." He inhaled a deep breath and looked over at Sila. "Activate cloaking mode." 

"Countdown starts now." the robot said as it clicked a button on its control board. 

Aaron grinned as they flew right through an intersection of light beams without detection. His eyes darted across the rooftops below, searching for the boxy target. Then, with a nod, he twisted a knob in the middle of his wheel. He turned it 45 degrees clockwise. 

He clicked his headset again. "Alright, I'm tilted now. Fire when appropriate." 

"You got it." Wendy replied. 

Aaron watched through the looking glass as a sparking blue ball launched from somewhere behind. It arced through the air. He narrowed his eyes as the projectile missed the generator and instead touched down somewhere over the edge of the roof, likely in the grass below. 

"Girl, what even was that?" he asked. "That was about as accurate as—" 

"Calm down!" Wendy snapped on the other end, "It's not like we've even tested this! I really don't understand the bloody physics of this thing."