Justification For Killing

by Larry Edward Hunt

  Most of the mumbling and questioning centered on one question, “Captain, what are you going to do?”

  The Captain tried to be honest with the passengers. He explained that they were in a terrible predicament. The best he could tell, they were sitting on a frozen lake, with no recognizable civilization within sight. Even if a rescue plane flew directly overhead it would not be able to see them - they were buried in a huge mound of snow. The emergency beckon may or may not be working – the Captain didn’t even feel certain if it actually works at fifty below zero. The Mr. Walker could not get their radio to operate - lightening may have hit the antenna while they were in that terrible snowstorm. He had no idea what was wrong with the radio, but he told the passenger they had two chances that some local populace will stumble upon them - slim and none. That was the grim news... he did not have any good news. Actually he did have one piece of news that could be considered good: the plane appeared to be undamaged when it ‘landed’.

  “If more information concerning our situation comes to me, I will pass this information on to you all – whether good or bad. Right now my co-pilot and I will be in the cockpit working on the radio. We might by chance get it to work.”

  He told them Sam Lin and Si Lei from Row 11 had gone back out into the snow and were using clothing from the luggage compartment to form an SOS on top of the aircraft. Anyone flying over should be able to see the distress signal.

  “Captain,” a lady in the crowd of passengers asked, “why not ask for a volunteer to go outside to go for help?”

  “Ma’am, as you realize we are in our third day – our situation is dire but we are not desperate. Allow me to give you all some facts - we can go a long time without food, probably a week or two. The critical item is water. Fortunately, we have all we need - outside as snow. With water, we have the ability to wait until rescued. It is just a matter of time... the authorities at Hong Kong realize we are overdue and have, I’m sure, initiated a search and rescue mission, but I’m sorry, it could be quite a long wait for them to find us.

  As far as sending someone out – it would be irresponsible of me to allow someone go outside. Who would go? In which direction would they walk? Walk? That’s a laugh. The snow is at least two to three feet deep, and we have no snowshoes. The temperature is minus fifty degrees and we have no suitable clothing to wear in this bone-chilling, frigid, cold. No, I’m sorry, but we will just have to stay inside our aircraft and wait... just wait... days or maybe weeks if need be... just wait, someone will come - we cannot give up hope.”

  Sam Lin and Si Lei returned to their seats after positioning the SOS distress signal, bundled up and tried to get warm. Captain Hunter and his assistant Co-pilot Walker returned to the cockpit and continued their attempt to reach the Hong Kong airport.

  “Sam Lin? Sam Lin, are you awake?”

  “Yeah, Si Lei, what?”

  “Sam Lin, do you think we will ever get to Bangkok and complete the mission of investigating Mr. Ryan Rousseau for Captain Scarburg? It’s not looking good, is it? We’re going to die out here in this frozen wasteland. Die Sam Lin! They will find our bodies frozen stiff like popsicles! I told you Brother I don’t like whale blubber.”

  “Hush... Si Lei, don’t be so morbid, be optimistic, we will get out of here - somehow, someway. Do not worry, everything is going to be okay.”

  “Whale blubber - yuck!! Yeap, frozen! Frozen stiff, like popsicles, that’s how they will find us... frozen solid!”

  Most all the passengers, including the captain and co-pilot, could do now were to stay wrapped up, and occasionally doze off for a few minutes. For the most part, they were in the midst of this activity when...

  WHAT IS THAT NOISE?

  “What is that noise?” asked the co-pilot to Captain Hunter. “Do you hear that?”

  “What,” responded the Captain? “What did you say?” he replied as he sleepily, aroused from his nap.

  The co-pilot again directed the captain to the sound he heard. The Captain sat up in his left pilot’s seat and cocked his head to the side to enable himself to hear better. There... there it was again... he did hear it this time. It had a high-pitched whine that sounded surprisingly like a household vacuum cleaner.

  “What is that Don? It seems to be coming from outside. Listen... it is getting louder!” Both men were leaning forward faces close to the front windshield straining to see if they could discern the source of the hum, which was beginning to increase in volume and intensity. Now it sounded more like a high-pitched whine of a jet engine than a household appliance. Actually one jet engine could not make that sound, thought the Captain.

  The door from the cockpit to the passenger compartment was standing wide open - a small crowd had gathered. They had heard the sound also. Sam Lin and Si Lei were standing at the front of the group, practically inside the cockpit. “What is it?” asked Sam directing his question to Captain Hunter.

  Before the pilot could respond the snow suddenly began blowing against the windshield. So much snow was flying their vision outside was totally obliterated. The noise had become exceedingly loud... it was right outside... it seemed to be coming from directly in front of them. The blowing snow slowly subsided enough to allow again the crowd inside to see the wintery, landscape outside.

  The whine was diminishing, and the snow was settling down. The shine off the dazzling circular metal craft sitting outside the window was blinding. It appeared as if the rays of the sun were shining off a gleaming mirror. In spite of the blinding glare, they could see an emblem formed into a circle on the front. The disc-like symbol was divided into four sections. In one, was a face of a man; the second a lion, the third a bull and the final section contained an eagle. Sam Lin and Si Lei recognized this emblem immediately - they had seen it before - this was the symbol of the planet Sunev.

  It was sitting – no, not sitting hovering would be a more apt description – floating, as it seemed, about ten or fifteen feet above the ground! The craft was so large and so close to the front of their aircraft the UFO’s right and left edges could not be seen. Slowing, the machine began to retreat. At first ten feet, then twenty feet, at approximately fifty feet it stopped moving.

  All those squeezed into the cockpit now could see its enormous size. It was no less than twenty feet high, circular and stretched at least one hundred feet edge to edge. It was still humming, like a tuning fork but softly. Streaks of, what looked like small bolts of lightning, danced along the bottom of the UFO and leaped to the snow below.

  “Don! Don! This is the same object, which passed between the A330 and our plane. Its turbulence threw us into the spin, which prevented our two planes from crashing head-on. Isn’t it the same one?”

  With eyes almost twice their normal size Co-pilot Walker swallowed hard and replied, “Uh-huh.”

  Not only did Sam Lin and Si Lei recognize the round emblem on the front they recognized the strange craft staring them in the face. They both remember reading Captain Scarburg’s report of Tinker’s encounter with this same craft at Pac Toul, Cambodia back in 1967.

  They remembered she said the craft looked like two saucers turned one on the other. The circular body was divided into four sections. The lower bottom section would be the upturned saucer. The upper portion, the overturned saucer was divided into three sections. She said the bottom ring was spinning, emitting a humming sound. This ring glowed a bright orange but was not hot, but she could feel air rushing from it. She said static electricity was jumping from the craft to the ground. It danced all around the craft. Above this glowing ring was another ring that did not rotate. There were four portholes mounted in this section. This ring was of a silver color, platinum thought Tinker. Above this ring was another ring exactly the same width with the appearance of being gold or gold plated. It spun opposite to the bottom ring. Above this ring was the final ring, also gold. This ring extended to the very top where a blue-tinted observation dome was located.

  Looking out the front windshield, Sam Lin thoug
ht, ‘Well Tinker did a terrific job describing this sucker, she hit it right on the nose.’

  Someone questioned if the Captain had any weapons aboard. The Captain had barely finished shaking his head when one of the passengers yelled, “Then how are you going to defend us from this... this... flying saucer?”

  “Defend!! Defend you - are you kidding? That thing probably has weapons of which we never have dreamed. Trying to use a gun against them would be like throwing rocks at a battleship.”

  Sam Lin turned to the crowd and proclaimed, “Calm, stay calm I do not think they intend us any harm.”

  Someone yelled, “How do you know?”

  Before Sam could answer, the lower ring of the ‘saucer’ began to spin faster and faster and started to glow a bright orange color. The ring above the portholes dropped down and covered the portholes and this ring began to spin counter-clockwise to the first. The wind produced by the spinning rings began to increase, blowing harder and harder. It was beginning to blow the snow away from the ground underneath the ‘flying saucer’. In a second or two, the ice covering the lake became visible; the craft moved closer and closer to their downed plane. The snow was being blown away as if a giant leaf blower were at work.

  The alien vehicle moved over the entire giant Boeing 777, clearing its cocoon of snow better than a ground crew could do at any major airport. Once the saucer had removed the snow it moved back to the front of the aircraft and stopped. Sam Lin and Si Lei crowded close to the cockpit window could they saw a tiny ‘person’ with large almond shaped black eyes peering down at them from the craft’s blue, observation dome. Seeing Sam Lin and Si Lei this little ‘person’ reached up and tipped the brim of his hat. An old, brown, sweat stained, tattered cowboy hat.

  “Anhur, you son of a gun,” said Sam Lin softly as he and Si Lei bowed their heads. Only the three of them realized they knew each other.

  The UFO began slowly to move across the snow-covered ice blowing clear a runway as it gently floated across the frozen lake. Its large size created a clear path in the snow at least 150 feet wide. So clear, Captain Hunter could see the rays of the sun reflecting off the blue of the frozen ice crystals beneath. It proceeded down the length of the lake for a few thousand yards before lifting from the icy surface. It then shot off and at an incredible speed disappearing in a flash over the distant horizon. Captain Hunter later would say the craft’s speed surely must have approached 2,000 to 2,500 miles per hour. He said it was faster than any military jet he had ever seen.

  “Okay, Don, start through the checklist, get all the systems set. We’re getting ready to see if this sucker will fly again.”

  “What? We’re going to try to takeoff from this frozen lake?”

  “Nope! We’re not going to try - we are going to DO IT! Get ready Mr. Walker, we’re going flying. I don’t know who they are or where they came from, but obviously they were here to rescue us. We didn’t survive a near collision, a crash landing and fifty below temperatures, on our good looks. I have the feeling all our flight systems will work.”

  Speaking into the intercom, “Ladies and gentlemen, please replace all your tray tables and return you seats to an upright and locked position. Flight attendants prepare the cabin for takeoff - we’re getting ready to put this bird back into the air!”

  A tremendous roar shook the windows of the plane; everyone was clapping, and at the same time yelling, “We’re leaving!”

  Captain Hunter turning to Mr. Walker, “Switch on the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU).”

  “Roger, APU engaged.”

  “Open the APU Bleed Air Valve.”

  “Roger, APU Bleed Air Valve open.”

  “Open the Central Pneumatic System valves.”

  “Roger, CPS Valves open.”

  “Release APU Bleed across turbines.”

  “Roger, turbines beginning to turn.”

  “Once the oxygen percentage reaches fifty per-cent in the combustion chambers we will introduce fuel.”

  “Roger, fuel control switches engaged.”

  “Okay, Mr. Walker - the moment has arrived - auto ignition - one, two, three...”

  Before the Captain could say ‘four’ the engines began to turn over. At first they were slow and shook violently. Captain Hunter thought, must have been a lot of snow still in those GE-90 turbofan beasts. A couple of seconds and the rpms on the engines began to increase, and the shaking subsided. The rpms continued to increase. They were beginning to roar. That sounds good, thought Captain Hunter.

  Reaching over to the center console, the Captain pushed the throttles forward, about a third power at first. The engines seemed to be operating flawlessly - their roaring scream increased smoothly to a deafening whine. The engines were warming up, so was the air blowing into the interior of the passenger compartment. “Heat! Heat! Thank you Captain!” Someone yelled from the back.

  “Release the brakes Mr. Walker.”

  “Release the brakes? What brakes... we never used any brakes!”

  “Okay, well... well, Mr. Walker,” the Captain said pushing the throttles wide open, “Keep your fingers crossed. Let’s go!”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  LONNIE JOE AND ROCKY

  “Krista! Krista! Get in here! The Captain yelled into his Personal Communicator. Catching himself, “Krista, would you please come into my office!”

  Without answering she, hearing the tone in his voice, leaped from her chair and hurried into his inner office. Throwing his door open, she saw the Captain sitting at his desk. Cigar smoke permeated the whole room. It appeared he was on his third or fourth one, and it wasn’t even ten in the morning.

  “Land sakes! What in the devil are you yelling about Captain?”

  “Krista... that sun-of-a-gun downstairs in the laboratory has to be taken care of. I don’t how and I don’t know when but he’s got to get his. You know he tried to kill me? Kill me, I tell you. Me! Me! He tried to kill me!” The Captain said storming around his office, flailing his arms into the air and speaking almost incoherently.

  “Calm down Captain... just calm yourself. Tell me what you want me to do about Mr. Rousseau. We know people... you want to have him hurt, maimed, killed? Which one? Just tell me which way to go, and I’ll set the plans in motion.”

  “Right! By-ned your right Krissy, but which... but which... now that’s a good question? Well I cannot answer right now, what I need to find out is what does this have to do with SCAR. I know he has been with us from the beginning, and I have known for years he thought he should have been included as a SCAR founder, but I do not believe that would be enough to make him a killer. He must have another reason. He surely must have had some prior involvement with us, or some of the things we deal with. This we must find out. You know I had already sent Sam Lin and Si Lei to Bangkok to do some background digging on him, but I just returned from Spook and Tinker’s home. They took the news of the boys plane crash hard... hard... I tell you, and I don’t blame them. I’m taking it hard too. Something has to be done... I mean I’ve got to get that guy. If it hadn’t been for Rousseau I would not have assigned the investigative mission to Bangkok to Sam Lin and Si Lei... those two would still be alive today!!! Alive, I tell you... alive... Rousseau killed them... if it had not been for him Sam Lin and Si Lei would still be alive. I’ve got to get Ryan Rousseau. He did all but commit the murder himself. You hear me Krista – he is a murderer!”

  “Yes I hear you Captain, please put the Cutty Sark bottle down, I believe you have had enough Scotch, we need to talk. What do you want me to do?”

  “I don’t know Krista, but I know a couple of guys who can help us find out and take care of the problem if you understand what I mean. I had intended to send them to Bangkok to help in the Rousseau investigation, but now Bangkok will be Sam Lin and Si Lei’s mission alone.”

  “But who Captain? Who are they?”

  “Krista, get me the two people I need, and have them report to me ASAP. Tell them I needed them yesterday, that’s how quick
they should endeavor to get here.”

  “Okay, Captain, right away... one small question though?

  “What,” asked the Captain, frustrated?

  “Who? Who are the two people you want me to get?”

  “Why, Lonnie Joe and Rocky! That’s who!” He replied.

  Krista knew exactly who they were. Lonnie Joe was Dr. Lonnie Joe Wheeler, and Rocky (as he preferred) was Jacque Jolliet.

  Gabby was the only one who could call him Jacque... and she pronounced Jacque in the style of the French. Not Jack as an American would do. Jacque loved the way she pronounced his name, letting the word roll off her tongue ever so silky.

  He and Gabby had been an item while working together in Egypt, but the timing wasn’t right for them. They might have become more than an item had Gabrielle not been called back home from Egypt, and Jacque had not been sent on another assignment to Iraq.

  Gabby had to return home after hearing Bud, Forrest and Olive Marie had been reported lost on the downed plane destined for Mexico City.

  At the mention of Jacque, Krista could not contain her excitement any longer. She knew how much he meant to her daughter Gabrielle. They had not seen each other since their separation in Egypt. It had been a long year with Rocky gone to the warzone of Iraq.

  “Gabrielle, Hon you will never in a thousand years guess who is being re-called back to SCAR Headquarters for re-assignment to a new mission,” Krista said excitedly to Gabby on the telephone.

  “Come on Mom, you know I don’t like these guessing game... just tell me, who?”

  “Hold your breath - Jacque... Jacque Jollett! Your Grandpa has a mission for him. The Captain is pulling him out of Iraq and returning him to Washington. I am trying to locate him at this very minute, but I just couldn’t wait to tell you the news. I have tried all his contacts, but he is off the radar, in fact, it is possible he is on his way home as we speak. In fact, his year assignment was up last month. He may have left on his own. I don’t want to worry you, but something could have happened to him.