crumpled form and the pool of blood slowly growing beneath him.
“Nooooooo!” Donna screamed, breaking the spell. She pulled free of her father, got up and ran to Kyato. "Oh God no, please, no, no, no, no!" she cried as she reached him and knelt down, turning him gently over as the others rushed up to join her. Father Kelly, Dr Hatfield, Marko and her father knelt down beside and around her.
Kyato was still alive, though breathing very quickly and shallowly. The wound was bleeding freely and they could hear sucking sounds coming from it. Donna’s eyes widened and she slapped her hand over the hole, trying to staunch the flow of blood. Kyato coughed and specks of blood spattered his face, a trickle ran from his nose and down his cheek.
“It’s punctured a lung,” Ed grated.
“Daddy?” Ninah half sobbed, walking slowly over, in shock.
“Ninah don’t look, go away, you don’t want to see this,” Ed said thickly. Ninah stopped and stood crying a few paces away.
Kyato’s hands came up to cover Donna’s, over the wound. Father Kelly, murmuring prayers under his breath, placed his hands over Kyato’s and Ed put his over the priest’s. Kyato turned his eyes to Donna’s and she couldn’t read what they wanted, she was crying freely now as in the distance the sound of more helicopters grew louder.
Carlisle had recovered his mettle and was shouting orders to his men again. They began to pull Ed and the others away, allowing black clad medics to get in and work on Kyato, snapping on bandages, injecting him and placing an oxygen mask on his face. One of the soldiers pulled Donna away; she swore and kicked in his arms, turning to rake her nails down his face. He threw her violently aside in irritation.
“Get him into the chopper!” Carlisle was shouting, indicating the sleek black shape of a helicopter that had settled down in the street and was ringed by a protective cordon of black clad soldiers. The approaching helicopter noise was getting louder. ‘How much weaponry did they have to use to catch one unarmed creature?’ Ed thought in disgust but as the new choppers drew closer, Ed could see they weren’t black, but the regular green army ones.
Ed frowned. “What’s going on?” he muttered. He looked around him; Carlisle’s people were withdrawing with uncharacteristic haste. Carlisle himself was haranguing the medics to move Kyato to the chopper, but was met with the shaking of heads. The lieutenant was yelling something to Carlisle, gesturing frantically at the approaching choppers as the rest of the crowd stood by watching mutely, totally shocked by the proceedings. Donna was crying and Father Kelly was doing his best to soothe her. Ninah was crying also, in her mother’s arms, Felicity must have just arrived. She looked questioningly at Ed but he didn’t know what to do.
The green helicopters came in to hover a little way down the street. Ropes fell out from their open side doors and more soldiers began to swiftly descend, dressed in normal camouflage fatigues. Upon reaching the ground the new soldiers charged forward, weapons at the ready, aimed not at the crowd but at their black clad brethren.
Carlisle, along with the medics carrying Kyato, was moving towards the grounded chopper now, hurrying as much as they could. The black uniformed soldiers brought their weapons away from the crowd to train them on the new threat as the green fatigued soldiers approached.
“Drop your weapons and stand down!” a green sergeant roared, bringing his assault riffle to his shoulder.
“Drop your weapons!” the black lieutenant shouted at the same time.
“Stand down now!” green ordered again.
“Negative.”
“You are ordered to stand down!” The other soldiers facing each other were shouting similar threats and orders.
“I cannot obey that order unless my superior officer issues it!” the black lieutenant shouted. The clack of carbines being readied was loud over the screaming soldiers as they stood at weapon’s length from each other, refusing to give in. More greens appeared, surrounding the chopper, and yet more surrounding Carlisle’s group, cutting off their retreat. The shouting went on.
“Oh, God,” Ed murmured, his heart going a million miles an hour.
Just as Ed was sure the situation was about to deteriorate for the worst, a green camouflaged officer, and a colonel by his epaulets, approached Carlisle, service sidearm in his hand.
“Agent Jonathan Carlisle, Department of Scientific Security, I order you to command your men to stand down!” the colonel barked.
“On whose authority?” Carlisle snapped back.
“I am Colonel Jacob Vanders, US Marine Corps. I have with me a Presidential order commanding that you and your department immediately desist in your pursuit of the creature you designate as Aerosapian 1. I’m here to enforce that order at all costs, now stand down!” The colonel raised his pistol, aiming it at Carlisle’s face.
Carlisle looked at Kyato, then at his badly outnumbered men. There were also two marine gunships hovering close by now and both carried a fifty caliber rotary cannon in a nose turret. Presidential order or not, he was sunk. Slowly and very reluctantly he gave the order and his men lowered their weapons. The marines stepped up to disarm them.
Ed, along with the rest of the crowd, let out a sigh of relief. Marines along with Carlisle’s medics loaded Kyato into the black chopper and climbed in after him. The two DSS pilots were ousted and two marine flyers took their place. At that the machine lifted off and headed away, the two gunships falling in on either side to escort it.
As the rest of the marines rounded up Carlisle and his tac team, placing them into choppers, Colonel Vanders walked up to Father Kelly who was standing with the Blairs, Jennifer Hatfield and Marko. He introduced himself and offered his hand, shaking all round before saying, “I know I was briefed about all this, but would someone mind telling me just what is going on here?”
29
Three weeks later a light breeze blew across the runway of Mitchell Town Marine base as the Blair family, along with Father Kelly, Jennifer Hatfield, Marko and a group of dignitaries and marine officers, including Colonel Vanders stood waiting at the edge of the airstrip. Off to one side, Carlisle and a few of his men stood quietly with their own armed escort, and out in front of them all stood Kyato. He was wearing a modified flight coverall that had the whole back removed to allow for his wings and an intricate system of fasteners to allow him to get in and out of it. Standing protectively about him, but not so close as to be over bearing, was yet another group of marines.
Kyato had survived the gunshot wound and over the past weeks again displayed the incredible powers of self repair and regeneration that had so amazed Dr Parker and Dave Morris when they’d first worked on him. He wasn’t totally recovered, but he was certainly in far better condition than a human suffering the same injuries would have been, provided they had survived in the first place.
Thanks to pressure brought to bear by the church and numerous other rights groups, an inquiry was launched to investigate the events leading up to and related to Kyato’s attempted capture and Kira’s incarceration. Even so, despite the evidence and Marko’s video, Carlisle swore blind that there was no female in his custody, that Kira effectively didn’t exist. He merely claimed it was all fabricated.
The board of inquiry wasn’t fooled in the least and ordered Carlisle to hand the female over or it would be assumed she was dead and he’d face trial for murder, treason and breach of rights issues. That convinced him and he admitted to having her, but he used that and his contacts to work a deal, which exonerated him from prosecution in all matters pertaining to Kira and Kyato. Certain members of the board wanted more in the way of justice, but their hands were tied.
Today, the Blairs had been invited out to the marine base to witness Kira arriving and being reunited with her mate. They weren’t sure if Kyato knew what was happening today. He’d been shown pictures of Kira to try and convey the idea of her return, which he may have understood. At any rate he seemed tense and eager as he stood, scanning the sky.
D
eciding what to do with the pair after they’d been reunited had been more difficult than getting them together again, as every man and his dog had their opinion. They couldn’t very well put them in an enclosure, and outside they’d always be prey to Carlisle’s type of person. Some suggested tracking devices or soldier escorts near the nest, but these ideas were disregarded as intrusive and impractical.
Eventually it was decided that they just be released to go where they pleased. There was of course a protection order in place for them, forbidding anyone to bother, study or even approach the pair. This stood for everyone, not just Carlisle’s group. Passive attempts would be made to check on them from time to time, though always at a discrete distance, but that was it. Protection orders of this nature were almost impossible to enforce.
There was a loud droning as a small passenger jet plane came in to land on the runway and the two F18 Hornets that had been escorting it shot by high overhead. The plane taxied over toward them, stopping fifty meters away, and a stair trolley was wheeled out. The hatch opened and several fully armed and armored marines descended, followed by Kira herself and then more marines.
Kira was also wearing a baggy modified flight coverall which was at least three sizes too big for her. She looked fragile and tiny as she
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