* * * * *
CHET NORTHFIELD'S P.O.V.
The planes that had helped rescue us landed at the Gen. Mitchell Air National Guard Base. Like the neighboring international airport, it had been named for General William "Billy" Mitchell. The U.S. Army officer who was court-martialed for the manner in which he had expressed the need for a post-WWI air force independent of the army and navy.
There, we were met (in a carefully blacked-out hangar) by two squads of Security Police. One squad led Jean-Loup Cervier and his co-pilot to the refueling facility in order to top off both the Caribou and the Firecat. The other squad brought over the disembarking passengers from a USAF JetStar, before stationing themselves outside the front door of the hangar..
At first, it looked like there were only two paasengers from that third plane.. But, I immediately recognized one of them as my cousin Sam's daughter: Naomi Watanabe.
And I knew full well she now worked for M.A.CH.O.
"Daddy? Uncle Chet?"
She ran forward and embraced the two of us in a shameless bear hug. As a result of which, I suddenly heard a somewhat high-pitched voice yelling at her!
"Hey! HEY! Watch it up there, sweetie!"
I backed away a step.
"What the frig...?!"
Naomi blushed a little.
"Sorry about that, Cap! Dad? Uncle Chet? Meet Captain Miles Stone (USAF Reserve)."
Whereupon, she held up what others might have initially assumed to be a young boy's action figure, about six inches tall and wearing scale-model cover-alls. The very next second, however, that notion was destroyed by the "action figure" actually giving me and Sam a salute!
"And, this..." continued Naomi: "...is my co-worker, Eric Bravo."
The guy who taciturnly nodded at us, in greeting, was in his early-to-mid-forties. With the kind of dirty blond hair that used to be called "sandy brown." But, like me, he wasn't entirely Caucasian. You could see it around the epithelial folds of his eyes! And, the look in those eyes?
It was the same look I'd seen staring back at me, from a mirror, after the very first time I had killed someone as a full-fledged ninja. Definitely a hard-ass, of some kind!
"Gentlemen?" he finally spoke up: "Let's sit down and get started."
He gestured to one of those rectangular tables with foldable legs that are more commonly used for church spaghetti suppers. With Bravo, himself, seating himself at the head of the table, while I sat at the foot of it. He then asked that I give my statement of events, first. That took me about an hour, at least!
When I got to the part about having to kill Naomi's Uncle Reggie, she frowned a little. But, true to her training, she nodded her head in silent understanding while managing to keep a dry eye.
He then turned to Cornell Brown who was seated to Sam's left.
"Mr. Brown? You told Mr. Northfield that these women--and the men they've enslaved--operate through some kind of hive mind. How is you can tap into that hive mind without one of those mind-controlling nanites they seem to employ?"
Cornell shrugged: "I'm only guessing, of course, But, I think the telepathy I developed (as a result of Project: Silenus) allows me to access them on a semi-conscious level. I certainly don't seem able to do so when I'm not dreaming!"
Bravo then looked to his left.
"You were another of those five astronaut-candidates, Mr. LaPierre. Is that correct?"
Francois nodded. So, Bravo asked him if he had been having any strange dreams since leaving Project: Silenus. And he nodded, again. Only, this time, he added something out loud:
"I never showed the telepathic potential that Miles and Titus--I mean, Cornell--did. Yet, what I do remember from those dreams was truly frightening. The aliens controlling these girls have been at this a long time. And, they have moles, everywhere! At least, in your armed forces."
"Well, that may be true," Bravo conceded with a shrug: "Yet, we do have two things we didn't have before, Two of their weaponized batons; and a nanite that's no longer microscopic. With Captain Stone's help, we should be able to do some very interesting reverse-engineering, relatively quickly,"
"I'm afraid I must dispute that statement."
The voice that had made that reply came from the shadowy rafters overhead. And it was definitely feminine in origin!
tbc
Giantess World
Author's Chapter Notes:
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN
AUGUST 2, 2014
AUGUST 2, 2014