by Chogan Swan
“You’re welcome of course,” Jerry said, putting his hand on top of hers.
“I imagine you’ve got questions,” said Tiana. “I’m ready to offer you answers, but I need you to promise not to tell anyone, not even Wendy—”
Jerry held up his hand. “Hang on a second, Tiana. Let me go first. You know how much I love talking. When you go climbing with Jonah, he wants to figure things out on his own when he works on a new climb, right?”
Tiana nodded, her eyes on Jerry’s
“I’m the same way about medical diagnosis. Now, all your secrets are safe with me. I consider them part of my doctor patient confidentiality, even though you aren’t under my medical care. But, because you first came to me for the situation with Jonah and the pheromones, and I’ve deduced that you are an integral part of that condition. You are under the umbrella of that confidentiality because Jonah IS under my medical care. Can I assume,” Jerry waved his hand to include the plane’s cabin and cockpit. “That everyone on this plane knows these secrets?”
Tiana nodded.
“Well here’s my hypothesis then.”
Jerry picked up Tiana’s hand from where it rested between his knee and his hand. “You aren’t wearing half-finger gloves today. So, in addition to the highly curvate fingernails I’ve already noticed…” He traced his finger over hers. “It confirms your fingers are different from any I’ve ever encountered. The same is true of your limbs. Though I’ve never seen them bare, I’ve watched their motion within your clothes and marked that the joints move in a peculiar, though, for you, natural, way. A uniform downy hair covers the parts of your body I’ve seen, and it does not conform to the patterns one would expect. Today I learn that you can diagnose and treat a complex medical condition before any symptoms are presenting, without a lab. Now you tell me you can give someone immunities.”
Jerry grinned. “But, let’s not forget the kicker. You have a tail. I’m guessing it’s about three-feet-long. So, who is this beautiful creature that I’ve had the privilege of calling my friend and sometimes mom? She’s not from around here, that’s sure. What I am sure of is that Jonah trusts you, and you fight the bad guys.”
Tiana laughed. “Would you be willing to consult with me on my future efforts to pass as human? I thought I was better than that.”
Jerry picked up her hand again, examining it. “I’m not sure I would’ve ever pieced it together if Jonah hadn’t refused my offer of medical consultation about the curse of the pheromones. After that, it was a matter of observing one thing after another, like pulling on a thread to watch it unravel.” He grinned.
“Like the seam on your trousers,” Jonah said.
Jerry grinned. “Right down to the boxer-brief hearts.”
“Well, you adjusted to aliens on Earth better than I did at first,” Jonah said.
“Well, you probably had to swallow the elephant all at once,” said Jerry. “I had the luxury of eating it a bite at a time.”
The fasten seat belts sign above the cockpit hatchway came on, and the sound of the engines grew louder as the plane readied for takeoff. Jonah and Tiana rotated their seats to face front and fastened their harnesses, pulling them snug. Jerry managed his with only a little fumbling. “Why does this plane have such fancy seatbelts?” he said.
“That’s not the only thing fancy about it,” said Tiana as the thrust knocked them back in their seats.
“Whoa!” Jerry said with a sharp intake of breath.
The plane climbed for a few minutes before leveling. When the seatbelt sign went off, Tiana unfastened her harness and stood. “I need to check on my patient,” she said.
Jonah turned his seat back around to face Jerry.
Jerry sat forward. “What happened to Amber Jonah? Who are your enemies?”
Jonah leaned back and sighed. “I’ve thought about that question a lot. What keeps coming to my mind is that verse from the sixth chapter of Paul’s letters to the Ephesians that my Sunday School teacher Eileen Brandt had me memorize in sixth grade. You know, the part where it says, ‘For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age…’
Jerry’s eyes widened. “Seriously? You think demonic forces are after you?”
Jonah shrugged. “Even though you can’t prove demons exist or don’t exist with logic, I don’t think humans need help from demons to create their own forces of darkness. Every unfair act, each power brokering bastard in management, every corrupt judge or bullying police officer, contributes to the creation of a system of darkness. Call it the forces of darkness if you want. It exists like a separate entity from the things that make it work, because it’s the system created by the individuals and their decisions, the things they do.”
Jerry winced. “It’s a big club?”
“Right,” said Jonah, “… and you ain’t in it. You don’t need a formal conspiracy where interests converge.”
“George Carlin, rest in peace.”
Jonah nodded, silent and thoughtful for a minute, then “Maybe that’s why we create myths where so many demons have more than one head,” he said. “The humans who put the bio-warfare attack in motion that ended up in Amber’s body are just one head on the monster. In this case, that doesn’t mean they get a free pass though.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Jerry said. “So where are we going?”
Jonah put his hand on Jerry’s arm. “Well, you can tell Wendy her tree allergies won’t be a problem in your new location.”
“And where is that?”
“What? I gave you a clue. You only solve one mystery a day?”
“Believe me that last one took longer than a day, and I still want details.”
“Okay, Jerry. Details… to a point,” Jonah conceded. He owed his cousin that much.
Jerry stretched and yawned. Jonah grimaced, fighting the urge to follow suit. His adrenaline spike almost two hours ago had left him drained. Jonah sensed Tiana and looked up to see her coming back from Amber’s stretcher.
“Jonah, would you join me in the cockpit? I’m giving Max a chance to rest. It’ll be a long flight. Jerry, You should sleep. It will be a long day tomorrow too.” Tiana handed Jerry a blanket, he took it and yawned again, nodding.
“Thank you,” he said, wrapping the blanket around his shoulders and lowering the seat.
Jonah followed Tiana into the cockpit. Max looked up as they entered.
“We’re on autopilot,” Max said, standing and moving aside for Tiana to take his seat.
“That’ll change soon,” she said. “Make sure everyone has a good supply of airsick bags.”
“Are we expecting rough weather?” said Jonah.
Tiana grinned. “Not exactly,” she said. “Max, tell Jerry there’s dimenhydrinate in the compartment on his left.”
Max chuckled and ducked out.
Tiana motioned Jonah to the co-pilot’s seat. “Jonah, how many hours have you logged on the flight simulator now?”
“I’d need to ask Minerva. Around fifty, I suppose.” Jonah sat and put his hands and feet on the controls. Tiana switched off the autopilot and Jonah’s stomach jumped as he flew a jet for the first time. The sun was setting off to his left, and the world looked like a huge, green quilt beneath him.
Tiana’s fingers flickered across the computer keyboard. “We’ll be reaching our decoy airfield just after dark. I’m cloning our transponder signal into the drone. We’ll land the drone at the Charlotte airport where the real Falcon 8x is hangered.”
“The real one? What am I flying now?”
“Well, Jonah, a B-22 may be stealthy, but this plane is not only stealthy, it can also hide in plain sight.”
“It’s not a business jet?”
“Let’s call it a multi-purpose jet. It only looks like a business jet. Bring us down to five hundred feet, but stay on course. We’ll rendezvous with the drone then go our own way.”
Jonah jockied the Falcon look-alike
down to five hundred feet. Tiana coached him occasionally. From the pilot seat, the ground seemed much closer, rushing by in a blur. The last ray from the sun fell below the horizon. “Time to go dark. I’m taking controls now," she said.
On her control pad, she pressed multiple keys at once in combinations. “Running lights off and transponder signal shifted to drone.”
Jonah looked up and spotted the drone, pacing them.
“Electrical signature stealthed,” Tiana continued. “Engine intakes rerouted to stealth mode. Go tell everyone to fasten their belts; we are about to begin nap-of-the-earth flight.”
“Can’t you just turn on the sign?” said Jonah, getting up to go anyway.
“When stealthed, we minimalize or disguise all electronic signals. That includes luxuries like cabin lights. Come back when you’re done.”
Jonah walked through the cabin, telling everyone they were stealthed and descending to fly under the radar. Jerry must’ve taken the dimenhydrinate; he was already asleep. Jonah moved on to Amber. Jacksie was monitoring her vital signs. He finished checking her temperature and handed Jonah a slip of paper with his latest measurements and time taken for Jonah to deliver to Tiana. In the tail section, Jonah came to Max, working on his computer.
“How’s it going, Max?”
“Lots of moving parts, Jonah. Tell Tiana we should get an update on several fronts when we reach our destination.” Max typed a few more words into his keyboard then closed it. “This old soldier is getting some shuteye. Come get me if you need a break.”
“Will do,” Jonah said, heading back to the cockpit.
Tiana had switched to the co-pilot’s seat. “I want you to get more actual flight time. As soon as we rendezvous with the next drone and pick up a new transponder signal, we can increase altitude then you can take the helm. We’ll be clear of the Atlantic flyway migratory route by then. It isn’t getting much bird traffic today, but I’ll show you how we detect and avoid bird strikes with our sensor suite.”
“Max said to tell you we’ll be getting situation updates when we get there.” Jonah handed her the slip of paper from Jacksie.
Tiana glanced at it, nodded and slipped it into the trash bag. “I’ll check on her again when we get to cruising altitude. Right now, sleep is the best thing for her. Rendezvous is in fifteen minutes. Buckle in, I may have to dodge any tall trees.”
Jonah looked outside. The ground was coming up fast.
Jonah sat down and buckled in to watch Tiana flying the jet. The land beneath them blurred as they hurtled above, hugging the treetops. “So what is this, if not a Falcon?”
Tiana grinned as she slid through a pass in a remote section of the Blue Ridge mountains. “The design team called it the Mockingbird because it’s stealthy and disguises itself. It isn’t the fastest or the stealthiest aircraft, but we can land at a commercial airfield without causing a stir. It allows us to travel anywhere and avoid being tracked.”
“As long as we’ve got drones to piggyback.”
Tiana shook her head. “That’s just one method. It can take off or land on much shorter runways than the Falcon. That gives us access to private airfields across the world by disguising our transponder. Drones are just one way of shuffling the pea under the cup.”
After an hour of NOE flight, Tiana turned to her control pad and punched it twice. “Acquiring new transponder code. Okay, you can take us up to cruising altitude.”
~~~{Jonah}~~~
Jonah looked out the window, watching the city lights of Tucson as they circled the city. He checked his parachute harness again. Max’s voice came on the cabin speakers. “ETA to jump site is five minutes. Altitude holding steady at twelve thousand feet.”
Amber exhaled in exasperation. “Jonah is my responsibility. I should jump with you,” she said to Tiana.
Tiana shook her head. “You aren't at full strength, and I need you on the team that stays with the plane. I’ll be with Jonah. I need you to get Jerry, Max and Daniels to the nation. None of them has been there before, you're familiar with the security teams, and don’t take off those units for at least twenty-four more hours.”
“Besides,” said Jerry. “I need someone to make me feel useful. This way you can shoot people and I can play doctor. It’s a win-win.”
Amber looked sideways at Jerry. Jonah hid a smile. Amber hadn’t quite figured out his cousin. Jonah shrugged mentally. It was possible that he hadn’t either. Jonah had always respected Jerry’s intelligence, but his cousin’s non-invasive sleuthing abilities had surprised him.
I’m related to a medical Sherlock Holmes.
Jonah stood. “Besides that,” he said. “Bandit will need your guidance in a strange environment.”
Bandit, shut in his kennel, barked once at hearing his name. The auditory illusion of the dog agreeing with Jonah made Amber grin.
“Okay then.” she turned to Jerry. “Just point out where you want me to bust a cap.”
Max’s voice sounded on the cabin speaker. “Okay, kids. Jump team report to the rear of the plane. Everybody else please fasten your safety harnesses.”
Jacksie handed Jonah a bullpup rifle and clipped an ammo pouch to his utility belt. “Right behind you, sir,” he said with a wink. Jonah nodded and followed Tiana through the door to the cargo hold. In a line, they moved past stacks of crates to the rear hatch. Jonah grabbed a strap of webbing holding crates tight to the wall. A thump—as Austin shut the door behind them—announced their isolation from the passenger cabin.
Tiana’s voice sounded in his helmet’s earpiece. “Okay, Max. Open the rear hatch.” A clunk, followed by the whine of motors and the sound of air rushing past the hatch filled Jonah’s ears as he swallowed to equalize the pressure. The glow stick attached to Tiana’s back emitted an eerie green light in the dim cabin. Tiana took two steps down the cargo ramp and launched into the dark.
Jonah followed, leaping out, angling his body to follow the green dot. To the east, the lights of Tucson glowed, but below him it was dark. Jonah positioned Tiana’s glow stick to his right, keeping it in his peripheral vision as he matched her angle of attack.
“Number two, in position,” he said.
Jacksie’s voice came through his earpiece over the rushing wind. “Number three in position.”
“Number four, in position,” Austin drawled.
“Go when ready, four,” Tiana said.
“Four…” Austin called. “Chute deployed!”
“Three… Chute deployed!”
“Two!” called Jonah, pulling the ripcord. He glanced up as his harness jerked, flicking on his helmet headlight, as his parafoil opened above him. “Chute deployed,” he shouted and turned off the light.
“One… Chute deployed!” Tiana said as her gray parafoil blossomed below him and to his right. “Form up on me. Let’s see if we can make it home without walking.”
“Roger that, One,” Austin said. “Let’s get to the bunkhouse in time for breakfast.”
Tiana spoke again, this time on the scrambled next-level frequency. “GC, this is papa, echo, victor, two, zero, one. Magician. Report in please.”
The channel was silent.
“GC, I’ve got eyes on the LZ. Report please.”
The channel remained silent.
“One, that looks like muzzle flash near the LZ,” Jacksie said.
Jonah hadn’t spotted the landing zone yet, but he heard the pops of automatic weapons firing from somewhere. “Shots fired,” Jonah reported, knowing Tiana had heard them too, but Jacksie and Austin might’ve missed the sounds.
“Confirmed,” said Tiana. “Our ground crew is under fire. We’ll assist. Assume the muzzle flash marks the hostiles. Our ground crew has better weapons tech than that. It might be drug runners. We’ll swing right to hit them with crossfire from the higher ground. I’m targeting the new LZ with my laser sight. Do you have it spotted?”
“Two, confirming spotted,” said Jonah.
Jacksie and Austin confirmed right after
him.
“Proceed to new LZ at best speed and take cover,” said Tiana. “I’m circling behind you.”
Tiana’s green glow stick veered to the right.
“What the hell?” muttered Austin.
Jonah angled his parafoil into a steeper descent. “She knows what she’s doing Austin,” Jonah said. “It’ll work.” The sound of gunfire grew louder. The ground was coming up fast.
He flared back to stop his forward momentum and caught his weight on both feet.
Lucky landing.
Jonah took a deep breath, unclipped from his harness and scrambled behind a boulder as his chute collapsed behind him. Jacksie and Austin took up positions on either side. Jonah flipped down the night-vision eyepiece and looked over the boulder while his fingers fumbled at the straps that dogged the bullpup to his chest.
He peered through the riflescope. A hundred yards down the slope, five men with assault rifles had pinned down the ground team. The attackers had partial cover. Jonah had only one clear shot.
“No shot here,” said Austin from his left.
“Here neither,” said Jacksie.
“I’ve got a head shot,” Jonah admitted.
“I’ll come set up next to you,” said Jacksie. “We can improve our chances if we both take the shot.”
“Okay,” said Jonah.
The slight scuffling—as Jacksie moved behind him and Austin worked across the sand for a better shot—was followed by Jacksie’s, “Shit, that’s a narrow gap. I’ll need to take a standing shot. Are you ready?”
“Yeah,” said Jonah, resting the bullpup’s pistol grip on the rock to steady his aim.
“Slow count to three, then fire on my mark. We’ll only get one chance to surprise them, if we miss they’ll take cover. Ready. Mark…”
One thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand squeeze.
The bullpup bucked against his shoulder and the suppressed subsonic rounds from the .458 SOCOMs coughed together.
“He’s down, said Jacksie.
Jonah’s stomach lurched. He fought to keep from vomiting.
