"No way." I shook my head. "Our nukes don't have seeker warheads, they can only hit a preprogrammed targets, on the ground." Unless the Air Force had some amazing toys I didn't know about. There were still spots in my eyes, I shielded my eyes and looked toward the horizon. More explosions in the sky, farther away. "That's not us." Was that an EMP blast, the aliens setting off a nuke high in the sky, to knock out our electronics? We didn't know it then, but the second set of lights in the sky was a Kristang battlegroup jumping into orbit, then attacking the Ruhar.

"Then who is it?" Tom asked.

"Hey, look!" Debbie pointed up the road. The alien ship that was tracking our captive was descending again, fast. It was on the ground only a few minutes before taking off again, and this time, it stood on its tail and went straight up, fast. We heard a sonic boom, and it left a contrail behind. Wherever it was going, it was in a hurry. "Whatever is going on up there, that ship just got new orders. Let's get Fuzzy Face in the truck again, and bring him to the National Guard armory, before they come back."

"Then what?" Tom asked, as we scrambled down the trail, all of us glancing at the sky. We needed to get Fuzzy Face away from the area, before the aliens changed their minds again.

"Then, I see what my orders are." If I couldn't contact the 10th Division, I'd hook up with a local National Guard or Reserve unit for now. "And we survive. I have a feeling Margie's warehouse of canned goods is going to be more important that these guns, with winter coming on."

CHAPTER TWO    DEPLOYMENT