“No!” Lana screamed. The images and symbols flashed across her view as her mind struggled to comprehend what was happening.

The machine’s mouth opened again, aiming at the young man.

Nathan stirred. He lifted his head to stare directly at the death that awaited him. He pointed a finger at the giant machine and his mind filled with the insistent demand of the Tec to be heard. Then his eyes rolled up and he fainted again.

At her perch on the excavator, Lana’s eyes widened as she felt another’s presence in her mind, and suddenly the symbols organized on their own.

Hack successful. Score results: 30/30

Access granted.

The text displayed on the machine’s monitor slowed and formed into new options.

Excavator Controls:

Logs

Deactivate defensive mode

Lana's hand shot forward, nearly punching the console.

The excavator's mouth, already filling with energy, froze in place. Its eyes dimmed and its body slowly descended. The legs folded around the ring-like body, and the head lowered to rest in the middle. It looked surprisingly like a flying saucer.

Lana breathed a sigh of relief and jumped off the dormant construct.

She looked around frantically, searching for her friends.

Bulco was nowhere in sight. Nori was sprawled on the ground nearly fifty meters away and was struggling to move. And Nathan lay motionless on the ground not far from her.

Earth Force was down.

15 - Earth Force Rising

“Nathan!” Lana bent over him and sighed in relief when she saw his spacesuit was still intact. The young man didn’t seem injured, as far as she could tell, but his eyes were glazed over, the white showing.

A movement caught her attention, then Nori stumbled toward her.

Lana gaped. One of the woman’s arms was bent the wrong way, and her legs didn’t seem to be working properly, but the tough Navigator pushed through the pain to reach her.

“Nori, are you alright?” She looked even worse from up close.

“I’ll live,” the tall woman said, clenching her teeth. “I broke my arm, and I think I smashed both my kneecaps, but the Tec’s already working on fixing me up. Where’s Bulco?”

Lana lifted a shaking hand and pointed at a boulder. “The excavator stepped on him just as he was about to throw that boulder. I think … “ she swallowed hard. “I think he’s dead.”

Nori’s expression hardened. “We’ll see about that.”

She limped toward the boulder and squatted next to it. A leg, obviously crushed, protruded from under it.

Nori tapped the leg lightly. “Wake up, big guy.”

A low moan sounded over their comms.

Nori signed in relief. “He’s alive. I figured it would take more than a giant rock to kill someone with his strength.” She winced as she looked at her broken arm and glanced back at Lana. “I’ll need your help, I can’t lift that thing on my own.”