It was incredibly difficult, but I was able to fly out of the city and make it to the open ocean without crashing.
“Calculate the fastest route to Aukholm city via an ocean approach,” I said.
“Calculating.”
I flew generally northward until the computer finished.
“Calculation complete.”
“Display,” I said.
A map with estimated flight time and the most direct route to Aukholm lit up the windscreen. I followed the map along the coast, flying exactly four meters above the water, assuming that Flick had always done that in order to avoid detection and not simply for the juvenile enjoyment of doing so.
The helicar chirped constant alerts about the low altitude as I headed north, and finally, I had to override the warning system to stop the verbal distraction.
By the time I reached the city it was past midday, and I needed to work quickly.
I landed in the same clearing Flick had used before, climbed out, and locked the helicar.
I did not have a chameleon net and instead used the plasma cutter to remove a few branches from nearby trees to hide the helicar from the air. It was a sloppy attempt, but unless someone was looking in exactly the right location, it would most likely provide sufficient cover.
My Grey-issue clothing would stand out so I needed to find a disguise. As soon as I reached the walkways of the busy city I managed to find an unattended brown tunic by a vendor’s kiosk and slipped it over my head.
I quickly located the Bahnam product development building on the city screenboard and went straight to it, walked inside and palmed the inclinator panel, instructing it to take me to the testing level. I didn’t have time to convince someone else to operate doors on my behalf, and all I could do was hope that Thane was busy scrubbing my feed.
The product testing level looked deserted when I stepped out, and I palmed the panel again.
“Location Devan, Ule.”
“Ule Devan is on the catering level.”
I stepped back inside the inclinator and went up to the 9th level, exited the doors, and walked to the food preparation and serving area.
The tables were primarily empty, and I managed to locate him quickly.
Ule gaped at me when I sat down across from him.
He chewed rapidly. “When you said we would see each other again soon I never hoped for this.”
I took his hands.
His face blossomed with anticipation.
“I have a confession,” I said.
“You always wanted to have sexual intercourse inside the air tunnels?”
I smiled conspiratorially. “The last time I came here, I wasn’t looking for something I’d forgotten.”
“You just made an excuse to come see me, didn’t you?” he asked.
“Yes, but not only that,” I said, leaning in and lowering my voice. “I was sent to evaluate you.”
His eyebrows alternated between alarm/surprise and fear/alert. “Am I in trouble?”
“No trouble at all. I came to determine if you might belong with us,” I said.
“Us. You mean…?”
“We want to recruit you for service.”
“You want me? You want me to be a Grey?” Delight/anticipation.
“I personally recommended you. But to convince my team leader, I need to give him something that will prove your value beyond question.”
He shrugged. “What?”
“I’ve been authorized to take your prototype drop-suit to him for demonstration. After they have seen your work in action, there will be no question that you are qualified to join our team.”
“Would you and I be working closely together?” he asked.
I fluttered my eyelashes, licked my lips and smiled. “Very closely.”
His pupils dilated.
He gulped the last of his drink while pushing the chair back. “Let’s go.”
He took me down to the product testing level and led me into his private work area. “It’s locked up, but I can have it in a few minutes after I call my supervisor.”
I halted his steps by tugging his arm. “Ule, this is a test.”
“What kind of test?”
“They want to see you under pressure to determine if you can handle stress. I shouldn’t have told you that, but I want to see you accepted.”
He hesitated. “What do I have to do?”
“You must give me the drop-suit without anyone else being aware of it.”
“But, that’s against regulations.”
I shrugged. “Those are the terms.”
“Why can’t anyone else know?”
“If I knew that I would tell you,” I said.
“How am I supposed to get it out of the building?” he asked. “It’s a protected product. There are safeguards.”
“I can always tell them you changed your mind and decided against coming to work for us.”
“No, no! It’s a test, right? I’ve taken lots of tests. Just, well, just never one like this before.”
“So you are still interested?” I asked.
“I’ll figure it out. Give me a little time.”
“That’s the second part of the test,” I said. “They want to know you can do it quickly.”
“Tell me about the credit budget in Grey development again?”
I smiled. “It’s basically unlimited.”
He pulled away. “I’ll do it. I’ll get the suit.”
I headed for the inclinator. “I’ll be outside by the front door. Meet me there in two minutes. Time starts now.”
I palmed the call panel as he hurried away.
After reaching the ground level I found an inconspicuous spot to wait that provided a full view of the entrance.
Four minutes elapsed before he appeared, sweaty, holding a silver case.
He handed it to me. “Was I in time?”
“Just,” I said, kissing his cheek and patting his shoulder. “I will be in contact in three days to let you know what the committee decides.”
I left and moved along the walkway quickly.
It took several minutes of scanning a city screenboard to find a shop that carried protective gear intended for high-speed sporting and recreational outdoor activities.
They did not stock helmets but they did have goggles, gloves, and headgear intended to prevent discomfort in cold weather.
I took the necessary items and put them inside the silver case along with the drop-suit.
As I left the city, the sun was already dipping alarmingly low in the sky.
Perhaps three hours remained for me to find a location that offered relative safety before my unnatural sleep cycle overtook me again. I jogged back to the concealed helicar as quickly as my stamina would allow.
I took off and flew back to New Dublin at top speed, and when the city skyline appeared, I oriented my position relative to the city in a due south trajectory and headed toward Flick’s bunker.
It was logical that the bunker was where they had taken him. The place provided security, secrecy, and proximity to the NARPA base. He would be there, I was completely certain.
Almost completely certain, that is.
There was no time to succumb to creeping doubts and I forced myself to stay focused on the task.
The sun began to set and I made my best guess for the true location of the bunker. I couldn’t risk landing too close to it. I focused on finding a clearing far enough away that the sound from my engine would not alert the enforcement team, but close enough that I would be able to use the distance viewers to see their airship take off.
I chose a clearing somewhere to the west of the bunker and eased toward it carefully.
A single branch snagged one of the rotor blades, causing the helicar to shudder uncontrollably for a moment, but the blades sliced it to bits. The branch was not large enough to cause permanent damage and I managed to set the helicar down without further disruptions.
As the last of the sunlight completely f
aded, I used the plasma cutter to remove several tree branches and hide the helicar from view before climbing inside and locking it down.
For the next hour, the computer and I talked back and forth as I ordered it to triangulate the required distance calculations, determine maximum weight tolerances, and set up a system for a countdown.
The computer informed me that our current weight load was too heavy and I knew it would be necessary to use the plasma cutter in the morning and take everything out of the cab that I could spare.
Then I reclined the pilot seat back as far as it would go and strapped myself in so that I wouldn’t slump over in the night and accidentally choke myself during sleep.
I took the remaining time to run possible event scenarios, doing what I could to anticipate what might go wrong, and thought about what I could do to mitigate obstacles.
My eyelids drooped as the hour of my sleep-death came upon me, and I tugged the harness one last time to check it, placed my arms and legs into the most comfortable position possible, and relaxed my muscles.
Then I dropped into darkness.
∆
My eyes finally opened well after dawn and I immediately requested a visual image of the outside.
Trees appeared on the windscreen. There was no sign of any movement other than the occasional bird flickering between the branches.
I checked the time.
I’d been asleep for exactly 10 hours.
There was much to do.
I unlocked the helicar and located the plasma cutter. I cut out the seats, the standard safety equipment stored behind them, and the protective mats covering the floor.
I drank only enough water to prevent dehydration and emptied my bladder twice. Each and every milligram would count.
I climbed back inside the empty cab and sat cross-legged on the floor.
“Check weight allowance,” I instructed.
“Maximum weight exceeded.”
I searched the interior. There was absolutely nothing left I could discard.
What about the exterior?
I climbed back out, opened both hatch doors and sliced them off, first one then the other. They dropped to the ground and I stepped out of their way as they fell. The doors left divots in the soil, which indicated they were very heavy, and maybe the absence of that weight would be enough.
After the helicar was stripped down to nothing, I took off all my clothing and slipped on the drop-suit. It clung to my skin like painted-on grease, and I ran my fingers over the filaments experimentally. They felt flexible but incredibly strong, and I hoped that using the suit was intuitive and not instructional based, or this would be the most unsuccessful rescue attempt of all time.
I put the goggles on, and then slipped the protective headgear over my ears to hold them in place. The plasma cutter slipped underneath the back of my right glove snugly, and though it hampered my ability to fully close my hand, at least it was secure. I could not afford to lose it.
The tiny mechanism that I needed to disrupt the airship hatch fit underneath my left glove, barely. It was even tighter than the plasma cutter and I couldn’t close my left hand, but there was simply nowhere else to keep it.
The oxygen mask sat inside the helicar on the floor and I checked to see that it was fully charged. It was self-contained and fit securely over nose and mouth, not requiring any sort of canister, which was an advantage. The disadvantage was the short duration of use. It would only last about five minutes before running out.
The last amenity I allowed myself was my boots. Performing this action barefoot would be too hazardous. I needed to withstand a hard impact and doing so barefoot was a good way to incur injury, which would jeopardize the mission.
I climbed back inside the cab. “Check weight limitations.”
The computer performed its internal diagnostic. “Maximum weight allowance within acceptable limits.”
Finally.
No doubt Nasha’s orders would be taken quite literally, and immediately after the NARPA base had power once again, Flick’s escort would remove him from the bunker cabin and take him there. I intended to be in position to see it when they did.
I checked the location of the sun, noted the time, and slipped down to the ground. I took the distance viewers with me and climbed up the nearest, tallest tree in sight.
It was difficult to reach, but I was able to settle on a branch that gave a clear view of the area where the bunker should be located.
I settled in to wait and scanned the area with the distance viewers every ten seconds. After forty minutes with no sign of movement, my legs and arms started to grow fatigued.
Had they already left? Were my deductions flawed?
No, I was correct. My anticipation had grossly warped my sense of time, and they simply hadn’t departed yet.
I kept scanning, willing myself to stay focused, until, finally, I saw what I’d been expecting.
An airship slowly rose from the trees off in the distance and gradually accelerated in an easterly direction. It was closer than I’d anticipated and I took that fact into consideration as I hurried back down to the ground.
I ran to the helicar and climbed in, managing to squat on my knees and get into an acceptable position from which to operate the controls.
After waiting a full minute, so the airship would be moving away and my takeoff would be out of their line of sight, I started the engine.
The lack of hatch doors meant the engine noise reached shocking levels, and it would be impossible for me to hear the computer as it communicated instructions. I shouted to the computer to display instructions on the windscreen and felt incredible relief when it flashed a written message.
AFFIRMATIVE.
Flying as low as possible, I managed to maneuver out over the open water, taking great care to fly below four meters.
I programmed the distance viewers to display a gap readout and speed indicator, and locked it on the moving airship. When the airship stopped accelerating and leveled off at a cruising altitude, I practically shouted the air speed and location to the computer so that it could hear me over the engine noise.
The helicar computer lights blinked as it calculated, taking into account air temperature, wind speed, and humidity. The scrolling jumble of numbers and weather conditions cascading across the screen was meaningless to me, and I simply had to trust that it was correct.
A final flash from the control panel preceded a written message on the windscreen.
PROGRAM COMPLETE.
I threw the distance viewers out through the hatch. They would only be in the way now.
I attached the oxygen mask to my face, then tilted it off my mouth far enough to accommodate my verbal command, and braced myself.
“Initiate!”
The engine screamed.
My body collapsed sideways as the autopilot launched the helicar into the sky. My face stung when the oxygen mask snapped back into place, and I hit the floor hard.
The launch force knocked me down like a hammer blow and stars swam through my vision.
I flexed my shoulders and gritted my teeth to keep myself conscious as the helicar accelerated, the shrieking engine nearly obliterating my ability to concentrate.
The air chilled within a matter of seconds. Icy temperatures permeated the cabin, and in less than a minute, I was shivering uncontrollably.
A warm current of air puffed out from the mask as it detected the low oxygen environment. I sucked the oxygen slowly and concentrated desperately on taking deliberate, steady breaths.
After more than two minutes the helicar abruptly stopped climbing and hovered in place.
I shook my head to clear my mind and looked up at the windscreen.
MINIMUM ALTITUDE ACHIEVED.
The only reassuring thought I could manage was the knowledge that they would not anticipate my arrival.
This was, as Thane had pointed out, most likely impossible.
But it was the only way to save Flick. If I ha
d attempted to chase them down with the helicar they would have simply blasted me out of the sky. This way, I could surprise them.
And I had one asset that no one inside the airship even knew existed.
I had the drop-suit.
Time to see what the thing was capable of.
I forced myself to focus on the next step and ignore the biting cold.
My fingers and toes already felt the effects of the subzero temperatures and I struggled to pull myself into position.
The chill crept up my arms and legs quickly, hampering my ability to move and forcing me to crawl to the hatch opening and kneel there awkwardly.
The windscreen flashed a message.
COUNTDOWN COMMENCING.
My eyes blurred and I had to wipe them to clear my vision.
25. 24. 23.
I nodded with each successive number, willing the machine to count quickly before my legs went completely numb.
15. 14. 13.
I struggled up and dangled my legs out through the hatch opening.
9. 8. 7.
Fluffy clouds completely obscured the ground from view. I had no idea which way was east.
6. 5. 4.
My arms shook with effort as I braced myself on the lip of the opening.
3. 2. 1.
I stared out at nothing but white mist and took a slow, deep breath.
JUMP.
The helicar rocked as I pushed off.
I fell through the thin air, tucking my arms close to my chest and spreading my legs slightly to get my head pointed down.
The rushing wind instantly burned a patch of exposed skin on my cheek, but I didn’t want to risk slowing my fall by moving a hand to cover it.
I counted silently.
After fifteen seconds I extended my left hand and instantaneously flipped upside down, which was totally unexpected.
I held out my right hand and flipped over again.
For every action, there is an equal and opposite…
Duly noted.
Suddenly I fell through the bank of clouds and blue light burst forth all around.
The wide ocean appeared below.
I scanned the vast expanse and searched quickly for any sign of movement.
Nothing.
My bearing was incorrect.
Clouds obscured the location of the sun, so I used the coastline to orient myself and adjusted my position until I was facing east.
The New Authority Conspiracy (The Keeley Dorn Adventures Book 1) Page 21
