A Hard Rain: Book Two Of The Shift Trilogy

Chapter 13

Chesapeake Bay, Maryland

Near Baltimore

January 2013

The inflatable rafts raced across the Chesapeake with the only the light of the moon to guide them. Chris was never particularly afraid of being on the sea, but he felt really vulnerable being weighed down by all of his gear. The life preserver was just a token gesture to give the illusion that you could survive if you fell off the boat. Another explosion landed nearby and capsized the raft next to him. Chris grimaced as some of his Vicious Rabbits plunged into the frigid waters of the Chesapeake.

"Oh, shit!" Kendra cried out involuntarily.

Chris couldn't see exactly where the firing was coming from. He just knew they had to cross the distance and reach the shore as fast as they could.

"I can see the boat launch, Captain!" Kendra called out. The original plan was for the Lafitte to coast up just a hundred meters from the boat launch at Fort Armistead Park, which lay about a quarter mile south of the 695 overpass, and disembark in an orderly manner with the shore only a few yards away. But when the Abercrombies spotted the Lafitte and started hammering them with 100 pounders, Chris had to grab his company and get them into the inflatable rafts while they were still in the middle of the Chesapeake. The engines screamed at full throttle sounding like a Cuisinart on crack. There was little point in worrying about making a ruckus now.

Another explosion sent another raft into the air and it, too, capsized. "Christ! That was the gunny's boat!"

Chris felt his testicles taking residence up in his stomach. Over the past few years, Chris had managed to become a competent leader of the First Bicycle Mounted Cavalry Company. He had come to accept the weight of leadership begrudgingly. But he always felt reassured knowing that Gunnery Sergeant Jay Birmingham had his back. The gunny acted as a safety net for the officer learning how to command. When the he was given a field commission of lieutenant to command the bike mounted cavalry during the Obsidian War, Chris had enough wisdom to defer to the gunny on almost everything including where to set up latrines until he felt confident enough to make decisions on his own. Chris still consulted with the gunny to get his take. Now with him gone, Chris felt as though he were in just a little bit more danger than he had been. Not that the mortars plunging into the water and machine gun strafing all around made him feel particularly safe.

"How far, Lieutenant," he asked as he revved the motor that started to sputter. He couldn't see between the heads in front of him and the water droplets crystallizing on his goggles.

"A few more seconds!"

Chris looked around and could see only two other rafts were still in the game. Chris swallowed the taste of bile realizing the rest of his company had been neutralized, an antiseptic term to mean that most of his company was either dead or dying. Goddammit! What did I do? Out in the distance motor boats, Abercrombie motor boats, raced towards them.

"Prepare for landing, Captain!"

Everyone on the boat prepared for a rough transition. Chris' bike was tucked beside him and he clung to it for dear life even though it wasn't secured to anything. There was a scratching sound on the bottom of the raft as it jetted over sunken boats near the launch. Chris gave one final twist with the throttle as the rotor blades made contact with something in the water and protested angrily and then ground to a halt.

They made it to land. Everyone on the raft immediately flopped out onto the field and grabbed their bikes.

"Form a perimeter," Chris barked. Lieutenant Baraka immediately pressed forward a few meters while Chris focused on the incoming crafts. Two of his cavalry's rafts were coming in fast, right on top of his raft being pursued by enemy boats. Chris took his M4, released the safety and took aim on the enemy crafts approaching closely behind. He didn't bother with automatic fire. In the predawn moonlit hours, he aimed for the boat's window reflecting moonlight back and shot. Rita knelt down beside him and with her M40 sniper rifle, cycled the bolt, took aim, and took out the driver in one shot within a second.