(8)
Whatever sound the surveillance drone might have made was drowned out by the turbine engines of the transports when it suddenly appeared in the sky and hovered above the convoy before anyone could react.
“We’ve got company,” Charley called over his shoulder to the team riding in the transport box.
“Sitrep?” Alpha’s calm voice asked from the other side of the thin wall.
“Single multi-rotor drone, hovering above the trail in front of us and it looks like it has optics on the front of it,” Charley replied quietly. “But there’s something else happening up here.”
“Report, soldier,” Alpha replied.
“Um, the...ah, dash lit up with a string of symbols, or... characters and then a couple seconds later, it did it all over again. It looked like the same string of characters both times,” Charley replied quickly.
“What do you make of that?” Alpha asked the CAED at his elbow.
“Um, the drone might have queried the transporter, twice. The driver should probably answer somehow, I guess,” Dog theorized.
“He would if he could. Charley, your radio is out, wave to the drone,” suggested Alpha.
“What?” Charley replied in disbelief.
“Wait!” called Fox. “Keep your fingers together and wave quickly. Don’t let them get a good look at your hand.”
When Alpha looked questioningly at the medic, Fox replied,” They only have two fingers and a thumb on each hand.”
“Okay, here goes nothing, ”Charley replied uncertainly. “Hey, the dash lit up again with a bunch of stuff and...well I’ll be a...”
“What happened?” Alpha asked impatiently.
“The drone blinked some blue lights a bunch of times and then took off behind us. I can’t see it anymore.”
“Baker?” Alpha asked the sniper.
“Heading straight back the way we came, Alpha,” the sniper replied looking through her scope.