Reconquest: Mother Earth

Chapter XII

Chapter XII

Mitch flew northeast of Las Vegas, keeping a close watch on the three dimensional radar screen. When the visual display was blank, he gave Ginger a tour of the aircraft. They had placed her belongings underneath her cot, located in the opposite side of the vessel from his cot.  

"So where are we going?" Ginger asked. 

"Toward the Rocky Mountains," Mitch said. "I don't have any real destination in mind. I want to find a populated area and scope out the situation." 

Thus far they had seen small groups of people. Mitch was looking for something that resembled a community.  

"Why don't we fly east?" Ginger asked. "You got New York and DC." 

"I can't imagine it's any better there. I don't want to fly across the country, just to find out that there aren't any people around. Sarm had limited intel on both alien and human settlements since he did not travel much because he was taking care of me." 

"I had family in Wyoming," Ginger suggested. "Maybe we could try that." 

"The population was sparse in Wyoming to begin with. It's probably more so now, although, it might be a good place to hide out." 

Mitch took out the road atlas. He had been to Wyoming for SEAL training. He flipped through the pages. "Canada might work. I've spent some time in Western Canada. Hmm, maybe Alaska." 

"That sounds cold. I don't like cold weather." 

Mitch raised his eyebrows. "What did I say about not complaining?" 

Ginger sat on the co-pilot seat and frowned. "I guess Canada wouldn't be so bad." 

"We could try to go outside of North America, but at least around here we'll be able to speak the language. Let's see what's out there, and then we'll make a decision." 

"We?" Ginger asked. 

"I'll take your opinion into consideration." 

After an hour, Mitch put the craft in autopilot, still unsure of where to go beyond surveying the Rocky Mountains. They ate lamb chops and potato salad prepared by the kitchen at Sam and Ron's casino.  

As they were finishing, Ginger pointed at the monitor. "Hey, what's that?" 

Four large shapes were flying toward them. Mitch gritted his teeth. "Salenkos." 

"What are they?"  

"Something you want to avoid. We're changing course." Mitch turned left. A few minutes later, they were no longer on the visual display, and he breathed easier.  

Later, Mitch caught a glimpse of what he was looking for. They were traveling over the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. Houses mushroomed among the trees and steep hills. They weren't refined like the ones that existed before the invasion. These were crude and likely to have been built by new settlers. Although well hidden in the mountainous landscape, he occasionally spotted people. They were trying to conceal themselves from the aliens, which was a good sign.  

"Should we land?" Ginger asked. 

"Let's circle the area first." 

Mitch scouted the territory closely. He lowered the craft's altitude and flew for a few miles, making a zigzag pattern, eventually returning to his starting point.  

"What do you think?" Ginger asked.  

Mitch nodded. "Looks good to me. I'm going to find a clear patch to land on."