The past twenty-four hours had been very eventful, to say the least. Through mental communication with Troop members at the Perimeter Camp, Cairo learned that 274 highly flammable explosive charges had been put in place throughout the Zeta DC facility without any of Jake's infiltration team being detected. This was good, she thought. What was even better was the fact that the Rigel bioweapon was working more efficiently than anyone had imagined. Twenty-four hours earlier, Jake's Infiltration Team had managed to penetrate the ET command post and release an airborne variant of the ET-specific, gastrointestinal bio pathogen that Drs. Coker and Holland had perfected decades earlier. And now, it was exceedingly clear that it was working. The top two Zeta military leaders were near death. Over the past six hours, they began to experience severe internal bleeding. Both would be dead soon and there was nothing the ETs could do to stop it. In addition, Cairo had heard enough mental chatter over the past twelve hours to know that the compound's physicians were completely flummoxed and had no Earthly (or any other celestially-induced) idea what was causing the "illness" that suddenly confronted them.

The Troop's apparent "success" helped explain the giddiness that currently surrounded her at the Resistance Command Center (RCC). While Cairo understood the emotional response given the enormous pain and suffering that Humanity had experienced at the hand of the Greys, it nevertheless bothered her. The periodic waves of vitriolic hate mixed with feelings of "joy" that she sensed were quite literally starting to make her sick.

"Had we become them? Was pure hatred now driving our actions? Did we derive pleasure from watching others endure pain and suffering?"

Philosophical thinking aside, the distractive and emotionally-charged mental traffic swirling around her was impacting Cairo's ability to do her job....again.

"For the third time in as many days, and regardless of your rank, I will have to ask you to leave if you cannot control your thought patterns. By now, you should know that they are in no way helpful given our current precarious situation. We are not out of the woods, both literally and figuratively..." Somehow Cairo managed to keep her cool even though she really wanted to let them know how she really felt about their collective thought vibe.

Not now, she thought with a heavy sigh. She knew it simply wasn't worth it to let any sort of sideshow distraction get the best of her.

General Coker, probably the worst offender of the group, responded to her comment. "My apologies, Cairo. You're absolutely right. We will tone down our excitement."

"You mean tone down your thirst for blood?" she openly thought. Quin looked at her and gently shook his head in an attempt to stop her before she went any further. Cairo backed down. She knew she needed to focus on the Troop, who, as she correctly surmised earlier, was still in danger, especially Jake's Infiltration Team. The overall mission was unfolding as planned but many of the important details had yet to be successfully executed...

~~~

Jake had his Infiltration Team in place just outside the southern perimeter of the Zeta DC compound. The next move was for the Perimeter Team to remotely detonate distraction charges near the infirmary on Jake's command. All they had to do now was wait...and wait some more. My stomach won't quit. His uneasiness was related to the realization that, so far, absolutely nothing had gone wrong over the past twenty-four hours. Given the disastrous adventure the Troop had just experienced, the recent tranquility was not sitting well with him. Somehow, a day earlier, his Infiltration Team had managed to set hundreds of strategically-positioned charges and successfully compromised the circulation system of the heavily guarded Zeta compound without detection from the countless IR seeking drones that routinely monitored the facility. Despite all that, and no matter how hard he tried, Jake couldn't shake the feeling that things were going a bit too smoothly and that their good luck couldn't last forever.

"What was that?" he mumbled as he looked in the direction where he thought he had seen movement. Nothing now... After an additional moment of intense scrutiny, he broke off his gaze. Mind games from a lack of sleep, he concluded. In an attempt to reset his body and mind, Jake opened his eyes wide, blinked rapidly several times and shook his head. His last action acted as a reminder that he was wearing thought–blocking headgear. He understood the logic of having the Infiltration Team wear the tech, even though they looked like they had hollowed out watermelons on their heads. Eliminating all "mental traffic" that nearby ETs could potentially detect was a must, especially for non-TP capable humans and hybrids who leaked thoughts like a broken hydro dam. However, the helmets also limited his team's ability to coordinate and communicate. Jake attempted to mitigate this downside by using colored markers and line of sight hand signals whenever possible.

As Jake regained his focus, he adjusted the fit of his tree harness. His strategic position, which had him approximately 10 meters above the surface, provided an excellent line of sight to the south-facing entrance of the structure where the target Human-Zeta Hybrids were being held. Upon Jake's command, well-positioned snipers and ground support personnel would quickly and quietly neutralize the unsuspecting Zeta security detail, infiltrate the structure and extract the target Hybrids within a 3-4 minute operational window. The smooth execution of this plan was based upon the strategic assumption that everything that could go right would go right. Of course Jake knew better which only added to his existing level of anxiety...

~~~

"I don't understand. The Perimeter Team Runners should be seeing this!" exclaimed Cairo.

"Are you sure?" asked General Coker. "The Troop didn't report on-foot ET patrol traffic last night, which was odd. Even more surprising is why the ETs are out there now."

"I can't answer that, General," Cairo responded. "What I can tell you is that I cannot detect electromagnetic communications and what I'm sensing now is definitely biological in nature."

"How far is the Troop out?" General Holland asked.

"8.6 kilometers," she replied. "I sense between 6 and 10 individual thought patterns associated with the Zeta patrol. It's difficult to be precise given the distance but I am certain that multiple beings are approaching. They are 11.1 kilometers from the RCC, 6.2 kilometers from the Perimeter Camp, and just over 1.8 kilometers from our Infiltrating Team. The Zetas also have a drone fleet advancing with them based on inferences I've picked up from their internal communications. Exactly how many machines and their exact location relative to the ET ground forces are unknown."

"Direction?" Maddy interjected from the back of the room. "And are they headed towards the Hybrid holding facility?"

"Yes. Based on the biosignal I'm receiving, the ETs appear to be heading in that general direction," Cairo replied.

As she was making her way up towards the front of the room, Maddy continued.

"Then we must make sure that the Perimeter Team detonates the infirmary charges immediately. The Infiltration team is already out resourced. If they're detected early and lose their only tactical advantage of surprise they will be sitting ducks. The IR gear is a Godsend for night ops but won't give them a fighting chance against those killing machines now especially with additional ET ground forces in play."

Coker, who initially looked directly at Maddy with a mild air of disdain, turned her gaze towards Cairo and nodded in agreement.

Acting on the General's orders, Cairo closed her eyes and telepathically instructed the Troop Members at the Perimeter Base to detonate the distractive charges immediately.

"It's done...our instructions were received," she announced.

~~~

The drone of drones...

The evil hum of the killing machines was permanently etched into Jake's brain. Even though he couldn't communicate with his entire team, he was certain they all recognized it too. Based on the intensity and direction of the sound, Jake estimated that there were at least 10 AI aircraft and they were between 1 and 1.25 kilometers away. As part of the surveillance set-up, Jake had made sure that he was in direct visual contact with his most experienced Runner, Alana. He instructed her to remove her headgear. Jake knew that action would introduce mission risk but he also knew that Alana would be able to control her outgoing mental airwaves if need be. Using sign language and exaggerated motions, he instructed her to mentally surveil their surroundings and to communicate back to him only using non-telepathic, physical gestures. Jake wasn't thrilled with the prospect of initiating a daytime ET confrontation, but he needed to know if ground support was part of the Zeta plan. At this point, his only viable option was to use a TP-capable Runner to scan for biological ET forces. Alana would serve as his virtual eyes and ears in this regard.

Jake's Troop had escaped by the skin of their teeth during their last AI encounter. They were unlikely to strike lightning a second time given the myriad of visual tools available to the killing machines during daylight operations. Jake also knew that their odds would rapidly approach zero if the drones were accompanied by ET ground forces. Not good. Just as his adrenaline-fueled mind was about to shift into overdrive, Alana caught his attention.

"9 on foot... 1.6 kilometers out...heading in our direction..." she communicated visually. "Drones scouting one-half kilometer ahead of the ET forces...number of unmanned aircraft and mission objective...both unknown..."

Spectacular, Jake thought sarcastically.

He proceeded to communicate with Alana using giant sign language. Jake reminded her to keep "listening", not only for additional ET actionable intelligence but for possible mental messages from Cairo as well. Jake realized that the odds of receiving external telepathic guidance from Resistance forces was low given exiting mission protocols but Jake also knew that, given the chance, Cairo would do anything she could to save them if conditions warranted...

~~~

This isn't good.

"I don't sense any mental reactions from the approaching ET formation and we still have complete silence from our Troop," Cairo communicated to RCC leadership.

Seconds later, she received a mental transmission from one of the Runners at the Perimeter Camp.

"The decoy detonation sequence failed...We are trying again...Stand by..."

"Failed ?!" cried out Cairo.

General Coker looked dismayed.

"What exactly is going on??" General Holland demanded.

"I'm sorry, it's not easy being in the middle like this," Cairo informed them. "The Perimeter Camp's attempt to remotely detonate the charges failed. They're trying to figure out what happened and will make a second attempt as soon as they can."

Cairo saw herself in a reflection. Wow. Her normally pale complexion was now several shades whiter...

~~~

Jesus Christ. I knew our good luck had to end at some point. How are they not seeing this ??

In this case, the contingency protocol was to "prematurely detonate". Something must be very wrong. This was precisely why Jake wanted his Team to have direct control over detonation given their obvious potential front line vulnerability. That "potential" was now their reality. Jake knew he would soon have no choice but to engage enemy forces. His two unpalatable options were to act now and use what little element of surprise he had or, wait (pray?) a little longer for the detonations that should have already gone off to actually go off. There was one thing he was sure of. If he was forced to engage before the diversionary explosions were activated, his Team would not survive...

As he looked towards Alana, he remembered why he was happy that his headgear was still in place. Alana, who was eager for further instruction wasn't the only one looking for additional guidance. Knowing that the drones were nearly on top of them, both snipers had temporarily taken their eyes off the compound and were staring directly at Jake, waiting for his next directive.

Sadly, Jake knew he had no viable options left. There was no rabbit he could magically pull out of his hat as he had done before. Given the options of bad and awful in front of him, Jake decided to take out what he could and strike before being struck. He looked over at both snipers and was now ready to give them the kill sign with a simple swipe of his hand to his neck...

~~~

The atmosphere at the RCC was morbidly quiet as everyone anxiously awaited word from the Perimeter Team. Cairo's updates of an advancing ET and drone squadron only served to intensify the already anxious environment.

"What the hell...If they can't detonate we need to send Runners up from the Perimeter camp now!" exclaimed Gus.

"That's not going to help us, Gus." Responded a visibly deflated Cairo. "There's no time for that. Either they figure out how to detonate the charges or it's over. From everything I can tell it doesn't look good."

No one followed Cairo's dire comments with a word...or a thought...

~~~

All three engineers at the Perimeter Camp were frantically trying to figure what went wrong. One of the two Camp Runners, Seth Roberts, was trying to keep the mental traffic down, especially since he knew they could potentially be monitored from afar.

"Can you at least keep your panic waves down to a minimum and just focus your energy on the task at hand?" he asked.

At that, the lead engineer, Gabe Jackson, stopped what he was doing and looked up.

"Seriously? That's what you're worried about right now? Appearances? If we don't figure this shit out in the next minute nothing else will matter. Please do us all a favor and let me focus." And with that, Jackson immediately went back to intently studying the detonation-triggering device that had failed a few minutes earlier.

Roberts didn't appreciate the nervous overreaction from his colleague but decided to let it go. Besides, Jackson was absolutely right about one thing. Time was running out...for all of them.

~~~

Jake could now see the leading edge of the drone squadron rapidly approaching. The accompanying overwhelming hum made his stomach turn. He knew that a combination of ET ground forces with daylight drones would be insurmountable. Still, his team would be able to inflict some damage before going down for the count, which was a better option than doing nothing and still dying in the end.

At this point, Jake had waited as long as he could. Whatever was going on at the RCC and the Perimeter Camp it had to be pretty bad. He had his headgear on but Alana didn't and she had yet to hear anything other than chatter from the ET group that was now just under 0.6 km away.

Jake gave one last desperate look at Alana, who gestured sadly back at him that she had nothing good to report. As he reluctantly turned his attention towards his sniper tandem and began raising his right hand towards his neck an enormous explosion shook his eardrums.

A few seconds later, after the (literal) shock subsided, Jake reacted audibly to no one in particular.

"YES! They did it! That had to be the infirmary!"

He quickly and emphatically lowered his right hand to his side, realizing just how close he had come to giving a universal death order not only for the unsuspecting ET guard at the south entrance of the Hybrid compound but for his entire team as well. Jake was now visibly shaking and incredibly relieved at the same time. He managed to gather himself and quickly signaled everyone in visual range to take cover.

Within a minute of the first explosion, which occurred north and east of their current position, a second, larger explosion went off roughly 1 kilometer directly to the east. After the second detonation, the ten or so drones that had been buzzing above them suddenly headed towards the east. Within a few seconds, a few of the aircraft began flying northeast while the majority continued due east where a fireball could be seen.

At this point, Jake needed to know exactly how ET ground forces were reacting to their diversionary tactics. He looked over at Alana who thankfully had quickly and accurately assessed the situation that was rapidly evolving around them. Jake didn't even have to ask her before she responded in exaggerated, rapid-fire sign language.

"Ground troop trajectory diverted...at an accelerated pace to the northeast...majority of drones to assess the second explosion to the east...ET and remaining AIs to investigate higher priority infirmary detonation to the northeast..."

Spectacular! Jake thought to himself non-sarcastically this time. Thank God they took the bait! Before he got too excited though, he realized that it was their turn now and they had a lot to do.

He quickly motioned to Alana to take her mission position. He also motioned the snipers into position and this time followed through with the visual kill order for both ET guards who were standing just outside the south entrance of the Hybrid compound. Within seconds, they were no longer standing as the Infiltration Team quickly advanced upon the compound and began executing the plan they had long since committed to memory...

~~~

The atmosphere at both the Command and Perimeter Camps was euphoric. This was understandable given the amount of tension that was instantly released after confirmation that both diversionary explosions had been successfully executed. Cairo was now trying to regain control of the situation at both locations. To save time and quickly regain control, she spoke and communicated telepathically, simultaneously.

"The Infiltration Team is in the compound now and are in the process of securing all Hybrids as well as the two Human females that were previously detained..."

Her communication consolidation plan worked. She was now in direct contact with Alana on the front line while everyone at the Command Centers eagerly awaited her communiqué.

"Alana estimates they will need another two minutes at the Hybrid facility," Cairo said with puckered lips and a squint. "She does not expect any casualties."

Cheers rang out almost immediately as everyone responded to the good news.

As Cairo made futile attempts to "listen" by covering her ears and closing her eyes, her feeling of relief also became apparent as an undeniable smile formed on her face. Even so, Cairo knew she could not relax. She was still very much aware that the Troop, which included her very special Jake, was not out of the woods just yet...

Eyes still closed, she stood up and began waving her arms up and down, silently pleading with people to settle down so that she could "hear" Alana's communication. Within seconds, everyone complied.

"Full detonation of the entire ET facility will proceed as planned once the front line team and their extricated Hybrid contingent safely reach the perimeter camp..." she calmly added.

Unexpectedly and rather abruptly, Maddy broke the silence that Cairo had asked for.