Escape 2: Fight the Aliens Read Online Free PDF Page B

Air Force in Cheyenne.” Jane blinked at her family memory. “Growing up at Francis E. Warren base led me to join the Air Force.”
    “For which we are most thankful,” Poindexter said. The Air Force chief looked around the table, catching the eyes of each service chief, then nodded to both the vice chair and McAuley. “As directed by JCS Chairman General Paul J. McAuley, the Air Force and I will be lead coordinator in the defense of America and Earth from attack by Collector ships. CNO Vice Admiral Chester J. Richardson will board the Blue Sky and be principal combat liaison with the submarines USS Minnesota and USS Louisiana . I will also direct our special ops teams to board your transport that brings down the drives, so they can come aboard with Admiral Richardson.” The middle-aged woman paused as she took a deep breath. “Command of all battle action above the atmosphere will be the duty of Air Force Captain Jane Yamaguchi. Command of all battle action within the atmosphere will be handled by myself in coordination with other service chiefs. This plan will be presented to the president, who will be the final approving authority. I expect her approval to happen within five hours.”
    Around Bill the other crew folks reacted positively to the news that Blue Sky would not face the Collector ship attack alone. Those reactions were unique to each species. But Bill could understand them thanks to months spent working with his crewmates. Soon, there would be 18 new crew aboard the ship. Plus one new officer. He hoped the CNO could adjust to the reality of combat in space, a place of black emptiness where death came at you at the speed of light by way of lasers, by way of an antimatter beam, or by a sleet of deadly neutrons from a nearby thermonuke blast. He, the transport pilots, Jane and the other crew had all risked their lives during the battle of Kepler 443. Now, they would do it again. Only this time, the prize was the survival of Earth, a place where people chose the dangers of space travel in the hope of finding new friends, new worlds and new adventures. He made a mental note to himself. Sometime during the next 50 hours he would make a neutrino comlink call to Diligent Taskmaster and remind the giant cockroach of the vow he’d made upon first being captured.
    “I will escape, take control of your ship and capture you!” he had vowed from the inside of an escape-proof containment cell.
    Time to do it again.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

 
     
    CHAPTER THREE
     
    Jack’s Deep Six saloon occupied a former Knights of Columbus building on Lowell Boulevard in north Denver, not far from where his sister Joan lived. The transport had dropped him off in the cul de sac that faced Joan’s apartment building, before heading off to hide in the woods next to Standley Lake. He’d spent an hour hugging Joan, telling her about his fly fishing, thanking her for paying the rent on his apartment, and then swiped her Jeep Wrangler to get to the saloon. Earlier, he’d iPhone-called his vet buddies from orbit and asked them to be at the saloon by eight tonight to hear about an amazing adventure he’d had. He’d told each of them to bring a travel bag loaded for back country travel as he hinted his surprise involved a trip to the forest near Boulder. That was the best he could do. He could not talk openly about Aliens coming to Earth until President Melody Hartman gave her nationwide address at midnight East Coast time. Which was also the time the Russian and Chinese bosses would make their national announcements.
    Bill parked the Wrangler in the lot behind the saloon, grabbed his backpack and stuck his .45 into the shoulder holster under his Navy blue windbreaker. Getting out, he headed for the back door entrance to the saloon. Jack the owner had long ago grown used to the covert entry mode favored by SEALs like Bill. While he doubted the saloon’s owner would be occupying the back office, still, he liked being