Nicholas Smith - Extinction Age

“Move it, Doc!” Lombardi shouted.

Kate pulled off the plastic tip of the needle and grabbed the Variant’s arm again. This time she didn’t flinch as it clacked its teeth together.

She inserted the needle into the bone, removed the center, and moved the hollow needle deeper. The monster let out a low whine, the tone almost melancholy. Kate withdrew the needle, retreated to the wall, and placed the sample in a secure plastic box.

The Variant thrashed and screeched as Kate darted through the open door, past the soldiers, and down the hallway until she was at the entrance to the building. She didn’t even glance over her shoulder to see if Ellis and Lombardi were following. When she got outside, she placed the box carefully on the ground, pulled off her helmet, and took in a long breath of fresh evening air.

“Is that you, Kate?” came a voice below.

Kate brushed a curtain of hair from her face. Beckham stood on the walkway, looking up with a furrowed brow. He was decked out in combat armor, a rifle slung over his back.

“What the hell are you wearing that suit for?” Beckham asked.

She took a second to catch her breath and said, “I could ask you the same thing.”

He glanced down and then looked away. “I have to go back out there.”

Kate followed his gaze to the north, where the Truxtun had last been seen. It only took a second to realize where he was going.

“You said you were staying for a while,” she said.

“I have to, Kate, I’m sorry.” His eyes flicked to the box on the concrete landing. “What were you doing in there?”

Kate huffed. She wanted to hear something from him; an apology, an explanation, some display of emotion—anything but questions.

“Were you inside of one of those cells? With a Variant?” Beckham asked.

“Does it matter?”

“You put your life in jeopardy, Kate, without even telling me—and you’re going to lecture me ?” He shook his head. “How about you do your job, and I’ll do mine. Things will work better for us that way.”

Kate’s heart ached. He was right, she should have told him. But he should have told her too.

“When were you going to tell me about your mission?” Kate asked, her voice softening.

“What do you think I was on my way to do right now?” He straightened his helmet with a tap of his hand, and turned to walk away.

“Don’t go, Reed. Please, don’t,” Kate said, walking down a single step.

“I can’t let my men go without me. I won’t ,” Beckham corrected. “I won’t abandon them.”

“What about…” her voice trailed off and she searched his eyes for an answer. It wasn’t that Beckham didn’t care, Kate realized. The problem was that he cared too much.

“I’m sorry, Kate. I’ll be back in a few hours,” Beckham said. He offered a short nod and then hurried away.

Darkness shrouded Plum Island. Another precious day humanity would never get back had passed. Countless more lives, lost. The scars from the previous night still lingered. Beckham noticed every single sign of battle as he strode across the tarmac with Fitz, Jensen, and the others.

After two hours of downtime and a fight with Kate, he was having second thoughts about the mission. Maybe he needed to sit this one out and let someone else take his place. He was injured and exhausted.

A simple sidelong glance at his team reminded him they were all in the same boat. Every man wore the same solemn, tired look. Beckham was just doing a better job of hiding it than they were.

There was no one else to take his place, and he wasn’t about to let Chow go out there on his own. The memory of the mission to Bragg was still fresh on Beckham’s memory. In the search for his family, Horn had broken a cardinal rule—he’d let his emotions get the best of him. Beckham had done the same thing by giving chase in New York when Jinx was taken. Chow was liable to make the same mistake on the Truxtun . Beckham couldn’t stop him from going now, but he could monitor his actions. Just like he’d monitored Horn’s at Bragg.

To add to the stress, Beckham felt growing dread from the way he’d left things with Kate. She deserved better. He’d been a prick, but he would make it up to her when he got back.

The distant chirp of crickets followed the teams across the tarmac to the choppers. As soon as they arrived, Beckham and his squad began their final preparations. He tightened the strap of his helmet and checked his optics.

“Listen up,” Jensen said. He licked his lips and waited.

All around Beckham, the other men stopped what they were doing and faced the lieutenant colonel.

“Situation is still the same. Ops has been hailing the Truxtun all day—still no answer. Recon hasn’t found anything. Guess they heard a dog barking, but that’s about it,” Jensen said.

“A dog?” Fitz asked.

“Yeah, a dog. Four legs and a tail,” Jensen said.

Fitz blushed and Beckham grimaced. Tensions were too high. The knot in his sour gut tightened. Maybe the mission wasn’t a good idea after all.

“You know the drill. Once we clear the ship, I’ll call in Echo 1 and 2. We’ll load up on all the weapons and supplies we can manage to jam into the birds. Got it?” Jensen said.

Beckham locked eyes with Jensen, ready to protest, but he backed down at the last second. Now wasn’t the time to question the mission. He should have done that hours before, during the briefing. His job now was to follow orders and achieve their objective.

“Yes, sir,” Beckham said after a brief pause.

“All right, men, let’s mount up,” Jensen said, his voice filled with a dangerous enthusiasm. He grabbed his weapon and jumped into Echo 1.

The rotors on both choppers made their first pass, whooshing overhead. Beckham jogged after the others to Echo 2. He took a seat next to Fitz and immediately traced a finger over his vest pocket. Inside was the tattered picture of his mom. He patted the pocket carefully, worried that he would damage his last copy.

Chow took the seat next to Beckham and pointed the tip of his M4 to the metal floor. Closing his eyes, he whispered something under his breath and then exhaled.

Good , Beckham thought. Maybe Chow had his emotions under control after all. He bumped his fellow operator on the arm with a friendly fist.

“In and out. Easy as shit,” Beckham said. “Get some ammo and grub and get back safe. Then we honor Jinx and the others. Give them the funerals they deserve.”

Chow slowly nodded. The chopper rose into the air and Beckham leaned back, resting his helmet on the metal wall, praying the Truxtun was an unguarded treasure chest free of Variants.

The domed buildings shrank as the chopper pulled away from the island. Somewhere down there, Kate was working on another weapon that was supposed to save the world. She’d put her life in jeopardy to get a sample from a Variant, and although the thought of her getting hurt made him furious, he wasn’t mad at Kate for doing her job. Neither of them was good at delegating the most deadly work, especially when protecting the lives of others was involved.

As the facilities vanished from view, he feared that what made them alike would also be what drove them apart.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Kate snapped.

Ellis held up his hands defensively. “I’m sorry. Jeez.”

“I can’t believe he’s going back out there,” Kate said. “He hasn’t even been back for twenty-four hours yet. And I can’t believe Jensen is attempting the salvage run.”