Chapter 24

"Are you ready to have fun, Daddy?" Amy giggled, as she turned and strode purposefully towards the abandoned Apache sitting there on the helipad.

"Amy! Wait! Do you know how to fly one of these? I sure don't."

"What a silly question! Remember the prophecy?" Her eyes went blank.

"Remember, the armed Indian that flies will save you, save us all; look for it."

She reached out to open the door when I stopped her again.

"Amy! The pilot programmed something into the keypad on the door just before he died. It might have been an autodestruct code. We have to disarm it somehow." I was trying to remember the code I saw him type in, but I had been pretty far away, and it was many battles ago.

Amy looked at the keypad closely for a minute, then ran her fingers lightly over the numbers, her fingers glowing faintly green.She looked closely again, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she opened her eyes, typed a series of numbers into the pad, and opened the door. I cringed, waiting for the explosion. When nothing happened, I opened my eyes to see her grinning at me.

"Are you coming, or are you going to stand there with your eyes closed all day? If you really want an explosion, I can give you one, no problem!" She grinned at me again, her bright green eyes shining through her black windswept hair, which was misbehaving everywhere. My heart leapt into my throat at her beauty.

"How did you know the code to disarm it?" I asked, amazed at her never-ending talents.

"Easy. A five-digit code is most often used. You can't have your soldiers spending all day trying to type a code in. On a five-digit code, the most common error is on the third digit. Therefore, by inspecting the keys closely and seeing which ones were typed most commonly, the most commonly used are going to be digits one and two. The next two most common are the correct third digit, then the most common incorrect digit. Finally, the next two most common digits used are the fourth digit and the fifth digit. Also, my fingers could detect the slight increase in electric current on the keys that were the correct ones. So the next two questions were 1) what if they used the same number twice. I knew they didn't, because the total number of commonly used digits would have been five then instead of six. Also, the military hardly ever does that. 2) How would I know, for instance, which number was #4 and which one was #5? Again, simple. The military almost always goes by increasing numbers. They seldom decrease or skip around. It was a risk, but what was the worst that could happen? It blew up and we died? Piece of cake." I looked at her crossly as she giggled.

"Amy, you are giving me a headache. Can you fly this thing?" I asked again.

"Daddy... Do you love me? Do you trust me? Fine. Thank you. We don't have time for this! Now get your butt into that front seat and learn how to fire the weapons while I get this thing into the air."

"Shouldn't you be in the front seat if you are going to fly this bug?" I asked. Apache's were not exactly my forte. The few experiences I'd had with them scared the hell out of me.

"Nope. The pilot sits in the back seat of these things. Are you getting in or not?" Patience was not Amy's forte.

I climbed in, against my better judgment. I sure hoped the prophecy knew what it was doing, because I was sure we didn't.

"Speak for yourself, chicken heart! Put on that helmet. See the ocular on the side that swivels? Pull that over in front of your left eye. Now, wherever you look, that is where the guns, missiles or rockets will go. Neat, huh? See the switch there that says 'Master Arms Control'? Move that to 'on'. Now, see the switch on the joystick? F1 is guns, F2 is unguided rockets, and F3 is Hellfire missiles. Very nasty. F4 is guns and rockets together. Got it? Can we go now?"

As Amy was telling me the controls, I heard the jet engines and the rotors fire up. Within seconds, it was very noisy, almost impossible to hear. Amy grinned at me affectionately, rolled her eyes like I was just the biggest dork ever, and pointed to the earphones lying on the console. I smiled weakly at her and put them on. Much better.

Seconds later, we were airborne and flying east at a rate of speed I never would have thought this ugly thing capable of. Then something awful occurred to me.

"Amy, you never answered my question. Have you ever flown one of these before?" I asked this as we were skimming across the ground at less than 50 feet at over 300 miles per hours.

"As I said before, silly question. Never even seen one before. Where do you think I would have flown one before? Cheerleader camp? Stop whining and hang on. If I crash us, you'll never know it before you're dead! You won't suffer, I promise!" I heard her giggle over the earphones.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" I whined, contrary to her instructions. I held on tight!

"Would you have gotten in here with me if I had told you that? Trust the prophecy. Trust green. That's me, by the way. Or you. I'm not sure which. I hope it's me, or we're in big trouble, 'cause I'm pretty sure you can't fly this thing!" She was having fun. I wish I was. Then the radio crackled in my earphones.

"Amy! Are you close? I have to make a decision here soon! We are running out of ammo. The other girls just landed, but that's only going to give us a few minutes leeway. Where are you, girl?" Samantha sounded almost jovial; she knew she wasn't going to suffer if they lost the battle, as she would kill herself to save the others.

"I'm ten seconds out. You sissies get your heads down and Mommy Amy will save your butts. Can't anyone but me do anything around here? Wimps!" I could hear Amy's giggles over the air.

"Sissies?!? Wimps?!? Amy, I am so going to kick your ass when you get down here... if you ever stop screwing around and show up here! We're busting our asses down here trying to stay alive and you're joyriding all over the sky!" Samantha was about to die and she was horsing around, having fun! Teenagers!

"Kick my butt? You and what army? Heads down, girlies; the world is about to explode. I am taking out the ones in front of you first." Then she gave me my instructions.

"Guns and rockets, F4, Daddy. Five-second burst. No more than six seconds or you will fire across our girls. Go, boy, go!"

I was surprised when I felt the Apache actually lunge in midair as the guns and rockets fired. I guess I shouldn't have been — I read somewhere that the chain gun fired 600 rounds a minute. The whole earth below us exploded into flame. I couldn't see how anyone lived through that. I hoped the girls had their heads down.

"Ok, Daddy. I am turning around and hovering. Lay down half of the Hellfire's next to where the rockets hit." I flinched as the whole underside of the weapons pylons seemed to erupt in flame. That was nothing compared to the explosions that shook the ground.

"You girls ok down there?" Amy asked. There was a short silence, and then Cindi answered, her voice almost in tears.

"Jesus, Amy, you think you could come a little closer with those things? We're on your side, you know!" Amy got serious, trying to calm her twin down.

"Sorry, Cin, but if they're not on the enemy, or between you and them, they do no good. I won't hit you, I promise."

"Whatever!" Cindi sniffled.

"Same thing on the other side, Daddy," Amy instructed. "Bury your head, Cin!" She quipped.

"Amy," Megan called out over the radio, "save four rockets. You will need them later." That scared me; I wondered what for.

"Gotcha. Four second burst this time, and fire the Hellfire's at the end just like last time, starting... Now!" Once again, the world exploded.

"That's it. Out of ammo. How you guys doing?" Amy asked. Was she laughing? Not for long as Samantha answered.

"Not so good, Amy. There are still more coming. You gave it a good try, sister; I guess we do it my way now." She sounded sad.

"Not on your life, Sammi. Literally. You girls get your heads down, and get your shields up to maximum effect. Someone wrap a shield around Rhonda and her brother; it's considered bad form to kill your hosts. I mean it, girls; maximum shields. This is going to be hot and nasty." Amy was suddenly dead serious. I felt cold feathery fingers run up and down my spine. Apparently, so did Megan.

"What are you planning, Amy?" She asked.

"I'm planning on killing these toads. What's the sense in having all this power if I can't use it to save my sisters? Final warning; shut up and get your heads down, girls." Then Amy spoke quietly to me.

"Daddy... there's a switch near your right hand. It says 'Pilot Master Arm Weapons'. Switch it to 'on'. I'm going to be both flying and firing now. I need you to link with me and stabilize me; otherwise, we'll be a greasy patch on the ground."

"Amy, what are you doing? We're out of ammo," I asked. I heard a soft giggle, subdued for Amy.

"More than one way to skin a cat, Daddy... or send it to the other side of the house, for that matter. Stay with me Daddy... I mean it, don't let me go or we're in big trouble. I love you!" Now I was scared. I linked to her as hard as I could, ignoring everything else.

"Yeah! That's it! Final call, heads down. Oh, and someone shield that helicopter or it's going to be a long walk home." Amy's voice was soft and faint, as if she was really concentrating on something else. I saw the area where the girls were bathed in orange, yellow, blue, green, purple, and pink light. The helicopter turned a faint brown.

"Hold me close, Daddy," Amy said softly. I saw bright green tracers shoot out of the barrels of the chain gun. Each one, as it hit the ground, exploded into a huge fireball, several feet across. Green balls shot out of the Apache in all directions, seeming to home in on everywhere the enemy was. The whole area was bathed in green fire, with little green sparklies and green electrical sparks playing across the surface of the shields. Men were collapsing, dying, and even disintegrating everywhere. I heard a shout over the radio.

"Amy! Tone it down! We can't take all of this. You're burning us up, girl!" It sounded like Becky.

"You either die from them or this. Your chances are better with me," Amy muttered, more to herself that anyone else. Suddenly, the entire area was bathed in intense silver light, silver energy intertwining and mixing with all the other colors, and laying in a protective coating over all the other colors. Ten seconds later, the green died out as suddenly as it started. I heard Megan's voice over the radio.

Remember, the armed Indian that flies will save you, save us all; look for it.

Use the thunderstorms, lightning, thunder; your friends, terror in the skies, no defense.

"Are they ok?" Amy asked softly, weakly. There was a pause, then Megan responded.

"We're all ok, Amy. A little warm and well done around the edges, but we'll survive. Love you, Baby!" She giggled.

"Love you too, Mommy! Tell Sammi she can stop whimpering and crying and hiding her eyes now! Big chicken!" Amy laughed as she made gobbling noises. Amy always maintained turkeys were just big chickens. Or was she making another statement?

"Get your gobbling ass down here, Jolly Green Giant, so I can kiss you!" Sammi shouted.

"I hate to break up this love fest, guys, but Amy, you have a high speed object approaching you from behind showing up on radar. Looks like a plane. Better move it, girl," Rhonda called out.

"The four rockets you saved, Amy," Megan called out.

"Why four? I don't need four to take out a plane," Amy protested. "Two will do it."

"Yes, but you need the other two for the other plane," Megan explained.

"What other plane?" Several voices asked at once.

"Amy, that's two planes coming at you," Megan announced. "They're so close together they only show as one on radar. They'll split apart soon and attack you from both sides. Careful honey," Megan said. Was that to me, Amy, or both?

I heard Rhonda curse quietly.

"She's right! How does she do that?"

"You think that's scary, get to know her better. She'll make your hair stand on end," Samantha said seriously.

"Darn! Daddy, I'm still weak. I'm going to need your help," Amy whispered. "Switch the arms switch back to you. When I say 'Now', hit the F4 guns and rockets switch once. That will fire two rockets and a short burst from the gun. I think we still have a few rounds. The rockets are not guided, so we have to be exact."

Amy headed off in a direction away from the girls, to keep the planes from attacking them. One of the planes followed closely behind, while the other one headed off, trying to maneuver to the other side.

"He's getting really close to us, honey," I told her unnecessarily.

"I know. That's what I'm trying to do. He's apparently forgotten he's fighting a helicopter. Hold on to your hat, Daddy!" She said.

Suddenly, Amy shot straight up and hovered, stopping in mid air. The plane flew past us before the pilot could even react. Amy zipped in behind him.

"Now!" She yelled. I pushed the button and two rockets flew right up his tailpipe as the bullets sheared his tail fin off. Amy dived towards the ground as he exploded. I heard the girls shout over the radio.

"Not bad for an Air Force puke," Rhonda joked.

"Speaking of puking," I muttered. Amy grinned tersely.

"Don't you dare, or you clean it up," she said, mimicking what her Mom always told her when Amy was little.

I saw the other plane slide in behind us. He was staying farther behind, having learned his lesson. Amy started climbing almost straight up.

"How are you going to take this one out, Amy?" I asked. "I don't think he'll fall for the same trick." She grinned.

"Nope, he won't. But he'll fall for something that can't be done in a helicopter. Or at least, never has been done." She sounded entirely too cheerful. Never been done? I didn't like the sound of that.

Amy climbed rapidly until she was at about 5000 feet. Then she slowed, as if she was going to hover again. The plane dropped quickly in altitude, firing guns as he tried to avoid the fate of the previous plane. Then I found out what Amy meant when she said she was going to do something never done before. She pulled back on the stick and put the Apache into a loop.

You can't do a loop in a helicopter, the manual says. It works in a plane because the engines keep driving it forward even when it's upside down. The jets in a helicopter keep driving it forward too, but most of the control in a helicopter is in the blades turning. When they are upside down, there is no lift and you drop like a stone.

Apparently, that's what Amy was counting on. As we reached the apogee, she kicked the jets and pushed forward on the stick as far as she could. I'll be damned if the silly bug didn't just come around the rest of the way and settle down into level flight again. Since the plane had dropped to avoid us, we were right behind him at the same altitude.

"Now, Daddy!" Amy yelled again. The combination of bullets, as the last 25 shot out of the gun before it sputtered, empty, and the last two rockets blew him apart. Two seconds later, every alarm on the Apache went off as we flew through his debris.

"Damn! That's why they say not to do a loop," Amy muttered as lights flashed, sirens screamed, and the Apache started flying like a drunken sailor.

"Amy!" Megan screamed. "Don't you guys die in that thing!"

"No one's going to die, Mommy, except you if you don't move your ass away from where you are. This bug's coming down right on top of it if you don't! I can't control it!"

Ever seen ants pour out of an ant hill and scatter when something happens? That's what my girls looked like from up where we were. If it weren't so serious, I would've laughed. Then I noticed Amy wasn't having fun anymore. I saw her struggling and then heard her sad little voice over the earphones.

"I don't think we're going to make it, Daddy," she sighed. "I'm sorry. I tried. Mommy, I'm sorry, I don't think I'm getting Daddy back to you in one piece. I'm sorry," she said with a little sob. "Please don't hate me, Megan."

"Just keep trying, Baby, you'll make it," Megan told her reassuringly. "We didn't come this far just for you to die after we've won."

I heard an excited voice I had never heard before on the radio.

"Megan, do you have enough energy to vaporize that helicopter before it plows into the one on the ground?" Who was that?