"Can you give us a second? The Skitters must have changed the frequency they're using for communications again. When we find the signal, we should be able to stop the Skitters and Mechs right in their tracks," Scott said. Anne entered. Dad walked off to talk to her. I took Ben's hand gently.
"You're a genius," I said.
"Scott is too," he replied.
"I know."
"Ah, for the love of -! The generator must've run out of gas," Scott announced. "I told those kids to make sure it was full up!"
"I think there's a spare can in the store room," Dad told him. "Ben, you wanna help me out?" They headed off, as did Anne.
"Um, Scott?"
"What's up, AJ?" he asked.
"This thing, will I feel it too?" I asked.
"I assume so," he answered. "Don't quote me on it though." There was a flash of movement. I shook it off, but turned when I felt eyes on me. I looked up. Rick had climbed the wall. I gasped.
"I won't let you hurt them," he said. He jumped on Scott, knocking him into the table, before turning to me. I took a shaking step back.
"Rick," I stammered, gulping. "Whatever you're planning on doing -" He lunged at me suddenly, throwing me at the wall. I slid down, clutching my head. I must have blacked out for a minute or two. When I opened my eyes, Ben was crouched over me.
"Wait here, I need to get Anne," he ordered. Rick was gone, the transmitter was broken, and my head hurt. Ben ran from the room and returned a minute later with Anne, who took me and Scott to the medical room. She inspected my head and gave me a cold pack.
"You're not bleeding," she said.
"Good. That would have been the icing on the cake," I replied. Dad entered as Anne was sticking up Scott's head.
"Oh, Tom, Tom, I'm glad you're here," Scott told him.
"It was Rick, wasn't it?" Ben asked.
"He's right."
"How did you know it was him?" Dad demanded.
"I just did," he murmured.
"Rick was hanging from the ceiling like some crazy bat. He must have been there a while because he knew exactly what to take in order to take out the transmitter," Scott explained. Ben looked at me.
"You're always getting hurt, have you noticed that?" he remarked.
"No, of course not, you know, I've just been kidnapped, threatened with a gun multiple times, had my wrist fractured and been pushed into a wall, but no, I hadn't noticed," I answered. He chuckled.
"Always the sarcastic one," he said.
"It's one of my quirks." I shrugged. He disappeared suddenly, running out of the room. "Ben!" I got up, threw down the cold pack and ran after him. Right to Rick's room. I followed him in. "Ben, let's go."
"Rick?" he called. "Rick, are you here?"
"I knew you were coming." I whirled round to face Rick. Ben grabbed his shirt and pushed him into the wall gently.
"Why'd you hurt Scott and my sister?"
"To get this," Rick answered, holding up the transmitter piece. He tried to grab it but Rick pushed him aside. "No, Ben, he's trying to keep them away, remember?"
"If you give back the part, he'll forgive you," Ben reasoned. "They know you're confused because of the harness."
"I know you can hear them too. Both of you."
"I want them out of my head."
"Why? Ben, they're better than the humans. We can be a part of that. Ben, I want the harness back."
"What?"
"I can tell you want it too. Come with me," he pleaded. "We'll find them. We'll find them together." Ben went to the door.
"Help! Help! Get my dad!" Rick climbed out of the window. I clambered out too and sped after him.
"Rick, stop!" I shouted.
"He's gonna warn the Skitters, don't let him get away! He's gonna warn the Skitters! Stop him! Stop him!" I could hear Ben yelling. Dad tried to grab him, but he flew through the air and over a car. I vaulted over the car too.
"RICK! STOP!" I bellowed again. I followed him round a corner, and heard a gunshot, but I didn't stop running. I followed Rick to a marsh, and lost him. I wandered aimlessly, hoping for an indication of where he was. "Rick? Rick!"
"No, wait!" I heard after a few minutes. I ran towards the noise. "I told you all I know! All I wanna do is come back!"
As I pushed my way through the foliage, I saw Rick on the ground. Dad was approaching at the same time I was.
Dad asked, "Rick, who are you talking to out here?"
"She left me," he answered weakly. "They left me. I only wanted to be with them, but they didn't care."
I made my way forward slowly. "Rick, are there skitters near here?" I queried.
He kept his eyes cast down. "I'm not one of them," he muttered. He turned his head to look at Dad. "I'm not one of you. I don't wanna live like this anymore. Just go ahead and … why not? Shoot me."
Dad looked stunned. "What?"
"Isn't that why you followed me here, Tom? To kill me?" he replied.
"No," he said, placing a hand on Rick's back. "I came to take you home."
"But I really miss my dad," he sobbed.
A lump rose in my throat. "It's okay, we understand," I told him.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
Dad shook his head. "It's okay. Nobody deserves this," he assured him.
Rick sat up. "No, I'm sorry, I thought they loved me. All they wanted was information," he admitted.
"Rick, what did you tell them?" he demanded.
"I told them everything," he answered. "The school, Weaver, you … everything."
Dad pulled him to his feet. "Come on," he muttered. He looked up at me. "AJ, we have to go. Now. Come on."
I nodded. "Okay," I croaked.
Falling Skies
Anne and Lourdes met Dad, Rick and I halfway to the clinic.
"You found him," Anne exclaimed.
"Yeah," Dad said. "Take him to the clinic."
Scott ran over. Dad handed him the missing piece of the transmitter. "I need you to get that transmitter up and running as soon as possible," he told him. "AJ, you and Ben are gonna help him."
I nodded. "Got it," I said.
He pulled me in and kissed me on the head. "Thanks, sweetheart."
"No problem." I ran after Uncle Scott. "Hey, Dad's assigned me and Ben to helping you out with the transmitter." I was gonna help bring these bastards down, no matter what.
Falling Skies
"I'm surprised Rick held onto it," Scott remarked. "It would have been just as easy to smash it."
"Maybe he wasn't as far-gone as we thought," Dad replied.
"Well, we just gotta make it work. During battle, no pressure. You ready to give it another go?"
Ben and I exchanged a look before nodding.
Dad checked his watch. "We've got eight minutes and then you two go into the tunnel," he informed us.
Scott looked surprised. "Tom, they're keyed into the communications grid," he stated.
"I know, so find the frequency and start jamming."
"But they keep changing the frequency!"
"I said they could stay to find the frequency and that's it. Now you've got seven minutes."
He started to walk away, but Ben exclaimed, "We can do this, Dad!"
Dad turned back to him. "I know you can, but if this attack comes, I don't want you here."
"What if they change the frequency again? Scott will never find it!" he declared.
"I'm sorry, Tom, but he's right. This is our one shot, and if this doesn't work, it won't matter where any of us go," Scott reasoned.
"Dad, I know what they're saying about me, Rick and AJ, that we're infected by these harnesses, but we can use what they did to get back at them. You have to let us," Ben pleaded.
Maggie appeared in the doorway. "Scouts had Mechs within a mile," she informed Dad.
He started to run after her. "If I say run, you run," he ordered. "Find it!"
Then we got down to business.
Falling Skies
Ben was looking out of the window.
"Anything?" Scott asked.
"The Mech's still coming," he answered.
Scott ran to the window. "Damn thing must have changed the frequency," he muttered.
We watched as it was shot at until it went down. "Shut the front door," I whispered. "That's one less Mech to worry about."
Then the ground started to shake again.
"Ben, come on," Scott ordered, searching for the frequency. My eyes widened as I stared out of the window.
"Guys," I called, "you might wanna hurry. That's a fair few Mechs."
I felt a few twinges of pain in my head until the real pain came along. I grabbed my head. "Oh, God!" I cried out. I looked up. "They're still coming!"
"We've got the frequency, maybe the signal's not strong enough," Scott suggested.
Ben looked panicked. "Can we make it stronger?" he asked.
He thought for a moment. "The generator's maxed out. Maybe an antenna."
"How about the flagpole?" Ben queried.
"Well, it's metal."
Scott attached giant wires to the transmitter, and Ben climbed out of the window. "Ben! Get one of the fighters!"
"There's no time! There's more Mechs coming! I can hear them!" he said.
I called out, "Hurry up!" I watched anxiously as Dad helped him to connect the wires to the flagpole.
Suddenly the pain became to intense. I dropped to my knees, letting out a blood-curdling scream. When I looked up, the Mechs were running away. "We did it!" I murmured. "We did it!"
I clambered out of the window and threw my arms around Ben and Dad.
"Good job, you two," Dad said.
I grinned. "It was all Ben."
Falling Skies
Ben and I ventured outside with Dad.
"Aw, this must be really messing their heads up," Ben remarked. "The frequency's still locked in place." Hal was helping Scott load the transmitter into a car. "I just hope they were feeling as crappy as we are."
"I know what mean," I groaned, rubbing my forehead.
Scott told Dad, "Okay, so I connected the leads up to the car, which means this car's one big antenna. Get the generator full of gas and you're good to go."
"Will it be enough for me to hold them off of me until I get to the city?" Dad asked.
Ben said what I was thinking. "What if they change the frequency again?"
Dad just answered with, "Let's hope that they don't."
"Dad, I can do this, I can help you."
"You already did," he said.
Hal handed Dad a map. "So, I drew the route that we took to get down there but we should reconsider. You could bring me with you," he told him.
He sighed. "No. I need to know that you're safe and that you're looking out for your brothers and AJ," he answered.
We all looked down, before he pulled us into a hug.
"I love you," he told us.
I felt a couple of tears sliding down my cheeks and swiped at them as we pulled away.
"Ignore me. I'm just being a pussy," I muttered.
He thumbed away a tear. "Make sure they don't go too crazy, okay?" he asked.
I gulped and nodded. "Yeah, Dad, you know I will," I replied.
Then, after a final goodbye, he got in the car and left.
Falling Skies
When Weaver finally returned in the early hours of the morning, Dad wasn't there.
I was asleep when Weaver returned. Sleeping in our temporary camp with my brothers around me.
It was Hal's shouts that woke me.
"What's going on?" I asked, as I approached Hal. He was being held back by Maggie. No one answered me. "Hey! What is happening? Where's Dad?"
Hal gave me a pained look. "AJ," he croaked.
I shook my head wildly. "No. No, he can't be dead. He can't be!" I declared. Tears welled up and threatened to spill over.
"He climbed on board an enemy ship," Weaver told me softly.
"He - No. He can't have done. He wouldn't!" I insisted.
"He did it for you and Ben," he explained.
It was like a dam broke. My knees buckled and fell. I tumbled to the ground in a sobbing heap and screamed until my throat burned.
After everything we'd been through … those things still saw fit to take more from me. And I would get revenge.
Boom, baby! And that's it for part one! I know how long this has taken, but it's here now. It has arrived! Did you miss it? Hopefully, the next part in the AJ saga will arrive soon. Until then, adios, and I love you! Bye!
Beth xxxxxxx
