by A. D. Winch
"I have of sorts. Andrea said that she is able to fly, but I've not had the pleasure to witness her take the controls."
"Do you think I could?" Ursula asked. "When I first met you, I stood in your cockpit and just wanted to fly. Could I do that now?"
Captain Hudson smiled, and his grey moustache quivered. For the next quarter of an hour, he guided Ursula through the workings of the Gulfstream aircraft and the controls to fly her. When he was satisfied that she had listened enough, he let Ursula bank the aircraft to the left and to the right. The thrill of moving something so large through the air excited Ursula more than she had expected. The tiredness she had been feeling vanished, and she felt alive. She knew that this was what she wanted to do when she was older, and she told Captain Hudson that.
"Well, if I am still young enough I'll happily teach you. I'm a qualified instructor, and I taught a certain Mr. Martin Meyer."
As if on cue, Eric entered the cockpit.
"Would you like a flying lesson, Eric?" Captain Hudson asked warmly.
"No, thank you. I just thought I'd come and say hi, and tell Ursula that there is something that Andrea wants to show her."
Ursula said goodbye and left Eric and Captain Hudson as she returned to the cabin. In the front row, Andrea stood with a laptop in her hand. On the row behind, Alexander and Johan sat on chairs beside the window, leaving one in the middle free for Ursula.
"You have to see this," Alexander said, barely able to contain his excitement.
"What is it?"
Andrea replied, "Before the European Space Station was destroyed, Professor Larsen regularly sent me back-up files of her work. I stored all these on a flash drive. Before we left the Meyer Villa, I collected it from my safe."
"And neglected to tell anyone," Alexander interrupted.
"There was no neglection of my duties. You are agitated because you have not seen these files previously."
"Exactly."
"Yet, you never asked to see them. So I fail to understand why you are agitated."
"It doesn't matter," Johan said. "Just explain to Ursula, what you explained to Eric and us."
Andrea looked away from Alexander and addressed Ursula. "There is little of interest to you apart from one file that I will ask you to read. If you have any questions, please ask."
Ursula looked at the computer that had been placed on her lap and read from the screen.
Workings and Capabilities of the IFOs (Identified Flying Organism)
Introduction
The IFO is both an escape pod and a craft in its own right. It does not work like conventional aircraft, for example, aeroplanes and helicopters, nor does it resemble them. However, its capability is possibly far in excess of any current air-based technology. The IFO is both an inanimate and an animate object. I have called it an Organism but organ may be more apt, as once connected to its pilot, it will act like an additional organ - an extension to the human body.
The IFO is flown using the power of the mind. It is able to read and interpret brain signals with such speed that it is impossible to detect any delay. If you think 'travel left', the IFO will travel left. If you think 'travel right', the IFO will travel right. However, it is necessary that the pilot visualizes these movements in order for the IFO to replicate it accurately. It is possible for anybody to fly these, but the two that I have built will only work fully with Adam and Eve. They have been configured to respond best to their brain waves.
The IFO is based on and uses alien technology and as such the same limits do not govern it as human technology. What these limits are is difficult to explain. I know that if I build a car, the components may combine to have a top speed of one hundred km/h. And that a full tank of gas will take it no more than four hundred kilometres. We can state these facts with a degree of certainty as we can use what we already know to make accurate estimates.
These two IFOs are unique. There is nothing we already know about them. They may fall to the ground on the first flight. They may explode. They may never take off, or they may transport the pilot beyond anything that was previously possible. I simply cannot say.
Over the next few pages, I have detailed my schemata, thinking, skills, knowledge and understanding in building the IFOs.
Ursula could feel the excitement from Johan and Alexander beside her, but did not feel the same. Eric had already told her about his experiences with the IFOs or pods as he called them, and the pages in front of her were dull in comparison. Even so, she read on.
"And you didn't know?" Eric asked Captain Hudson calmly.
"That your father had named me in his will? No never. I hadn't seen him since just after you were born. I think you were about one. Martin had invited me over to his place in Paris for the first time in possibly more than a year, probably more like two. As I have told you before, at times your father was not socially skilled. He invited me in. We sat. We drank a little wine. We played some cards, but we did not talk much. We never did. Your mother was out, and while we played there was a baby scream from somewhere in the house. Martin had not even mentioned that he had become a father, and I had to persuade him to take me to see you. I congratulated him, but he did not seem concerned by my words. After I had seen you, he bid me goodnight, and I never saw him again until the news' reports of his death and your mother's."
"Why would he name you in his will, though?" Eric asked.
"Are you jealous?" Captain Hudson enquired.
"No. I just don't understand it. You said yourself that you didn't see each other much."
"We saw each other regularly from about eighty-four to ninety-one. I taught him to fly, and I accompanied him to tournaments when I could. After he had quit the big public poker tournaments, we drifted apart. I think I can count on my fingers the number of times we met since then. Martin was distracted by other things, probably your Mum, and then you. Maybe he put me into his will because I was one of the few people, possibly the only person, who did not try to get money out of him."
"Maybe," Eric answered absent-mindedly. "Have you got any other stories about him?"
"Of course. Let me think…"
"Why is this of interest to me?" Ursula asked after finishing the last page.
"Because it provides you with another escape route if our plan does not work out," Alexander explained. "You can use the pods."
"I am hoping that our plan will work out," Ursula stated in the same tone that Andrea used.
The others did not get a chance to reply.
"Buckle up," Eric told them as he left the cockpit. "Captain Hudson has told me to tell you all that we'll shortly be landing at Santa Fe Municipal Airport, New Mexico, USA."
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Chapter 16 – Last Flight
From the air, Santa Fe Municipal Airport looked like a black cross against the barren earth. Two runways bisected the light brown landscape and next to the tarmac there were clumps of dead-looking grass. A few spiky bushes provided bursts of green on the desert, but these were few and far between.
The Gulfstream touched down smoothly and proceeded to taxi under orders from the control tower. Eric looked at it as they went past - it had been built in the same desert brown as the landscape. Only the sun glinting off the large windows on the top level made it stand out from its surroundings.
They taxied to a white hangar, and Captain Hudson cut the engines beside a small cargo plane. A man in the regulation airport uniform was waiting for them as they disembarked.
"Howdy folks, good morning and welcome to Santa Fe," he said enthusiastically.
The passengers greeted him warmly and chatted with him amicably. He checked their false passports without suspecting anything, and then Eric and Ursula went outside into the sun. Andrea accompanied him on board the plane, and they checked the contents of the aircraft.
"You're going to an art exhibition, you say?" he said with a grin.
"Yes," Andrea replied. "We are a collective and are exhibiting in Aus
tin the day after tomorrow."
"Why didn't you just fly to Austin? It’s not much further."
"It was a logistics issue which is why we have to change planes here."
The man pointed to the plane next to the Gulfstream. "This is yours then. It's the Cessna Super CargoMaster that you purchased. All the papers have been signed, and I left them in the cockpit as your lawyers requested. Man, you must sell your art for quite a bit if you can just snap up a second-hand Cessna for one point five million bucks."
"Quite a bit," Alexander repeated, joining the two of them.
"I'm afraid that I am going to have to ask you to open some of these art boxes for me."
"That is to be expected," Andrea replied and proceeded to open any box that the Airport Official pointed to. It took longer than expected as the man wanted to ask about every 'art' piece that they unwrapped.
"Well, everything seems to be in order folks," he finally said after the tenth box. "I don't think we need to look at every piece of art. I don't want to offend you when I say that it's not for me. I'm not one for modern sculpture, and this looks like some weird alien stuff to me. I'm much happier with a picture I can understand."
"That's fine. We all have different tastes," Alexander reassured him.
"I have been told that you will be staying here for a few hours and then leaving. Is that correct?"
"Yes and no. Two of us are remaining here to promote our work in Santa Fe. The rest of us continue on to Austin. We will have some food, load up the Cessna and then depart early tomorrow morning. Is this permissible?"
"Fine by me. Your paperwork is in order, and as long as you pay for the hangar space you are free to stay in our fine county for as long as you need. When you want a bite to eat, come into the control tower building. On the bottom floor, you'll find a diner. It doesn't look like much, but the food is out of this world."
He said goodbye and walked back towards the airport building. He passed Eric and Ursula, who were sat with their backs against the hangar in the warm November sun.
"See you later, kids."
Eric and Ursula waved him goodbye and continued to sunbathe until Alexander fetched them for food.
Before they left the hangar, they all dressed up to make sure their faces would be hard to see and headed for the diner. They needn't have worried as there weren't any cameras.
Apart from Andrea, they tucked into the all-day American breakfast until they were stuffed. There was little conversation around the table. At first it seemed that this was due to the food. However, as one by one finished their meals, still no one spoke. It became apparent that they all had other things on their minds. Ursula had experienced this before in England with Alexander - the last meal - but it did not make her feel any better. She just wanted to go to Roswell and get it all over with before she changed her mind. Eric read her thoughts and excused himself from the table. Ursula followed.
Once the children were gone, Captain Hudson questioned Alexander, Andrea and Johan about Eric's and Ursula's health. In ambiguous terms, in case anyone was listening, he asked if what they were about to do was the only solution. Alexander nodded sadly and answered that there was no other way.
Outside in the sun, Eric and Ursula rested beside the hangar and waited for the adults. By the time they were ready, the sun had already begun its descent. The children didn't mind. Their time under the rays had re-energised them, and they were ready to work when Andrea requested their help.
Each box from the Gulfstream was unpacked, and the 'alien object' placed inside the Cessna. There was a large cargo door below the wing, and it was easy to slide the objects straight into the body of the aircraft. It was not long before all but three of the items were loaded up. These last three were the most important and had been adapted by Alexander so that they each had an inside 'door.' He took each of the sarcophagi and slid them carefully into the cargo area. Loose netting hung against the interior walls of the plane. He placed each one behind this and made sure that they were secure before attaching flares to them with duct tape. Without these sarcophagi, their plan had no chance of success. They had to hide Eric, Ursula and Johan completely so that the OSS did not suspect that anyone was inside. He was sure that they were good enough.
Alexander checked each sarcophagus for his own piece of mind. This was his final job before he had to go, and he made it last. After this, they were on their own, and the thought worried him. He tried to reason with himself that Eric and Ursula were more than capable of fending for themselves, and that Johan was going back to a place he knew inside out, but it did not help.
Once he left, he would no longer have any influence on what was happening nor would he know if they were succeeding. An image flashed across his mind. He saw himself standing in front of Mr. and Mrs Benjamin; explaining that their granddaughter would not be returning. The thought filled him with dread, and he banished it to the back of his head.
From outside the plane, he heard Captain Hudson calling his name.
"Alexander, are you ready to go?"
Alexander jumped down and joined him. "I need to get some things and then I'm ready."
He stepped back into the Gulfstream. His laptop was still on the front row, and his duffel bag was on the floor next to it. He double-checked that he had everything, and took a big breath to calm his nerves. When he went back outside, the others were waiting for him.
"Do you know where to go?" Andrea asked.
"Yes," Alexander answered immediately.
"And you know what to do?"
"Yes."
"It has all been arranged. In addition, I have paid for our jet to remain here for two more days. Alexander, it will be your job to inform Captain Hudson of a take-off time, when we know it. This will most probably be around dusk tomorrow evening."
"I will be waiting," Captain Hudson reassured them. "I wish you all luck." His voice changed and became very serious. "If I do not speak my mind, I will never forgive myself. What you are about to do is your own free choice, but I would like you to know that I believe it is suicidal. If I had known about this before I flew you here, I would never have agreed. I hope with all my heart that I will see you again, but I fear that I won't. I wish you au-revoir and…" he didn't say anything else but simply shook his head.
Alexander was more upbeat as he said goodbye, but everyone, including Andrea, realized that he was trying to balance out what Captain Hudson had said. He kept it short and then both men quickly left.
"It is sixteen hundred hours. We leave in fourteen hours," Andrea told them and entered the Cessna.
Eric and Ursula remained outside. Johan joined them, and they went to eat at the diner before bed. The sleeping arrangements consisted of them stretching out across a row of chairs on the Gulfstream. It was far from ideal, but they all managed to sleep to various degrees before being woken at five in the morning by Andrea shaking Johan and his ensuing coughing fit.
Once awake, Eric and Ursula put on more clothes than was usual. They began with warm underclothes; followed these with desert camouflage trousers and top, and then they added their small equipment bag. Eric flattened the red cushion around his shoulders. Over this layer, he put a white body sock similar to Kurtz's protective clothing and then his wingsuit on the top. Ursula did the same while Johan finished putting on his parachute. Nobody spoke as they dressed.
On their chests, Eric and Ursula secured three small but powerful, coloured lights. Eric had gone for blue while Ursula had chosen yellow. The colours matched their wingsuits. Similar lights were attached to their ankles and wrists, and they had powerful lasers on their helmets.
Johan checked that everything was fastened properly, and then they crept from the Gulfstream. Apart from a light in the Cessna's cockpit the hanger was dark and silent. A chill wind blew in through the open doors, and a tumbleweed rolled past.
Johan joined Andrea in the cockpit while Eric and Ursula took up their positions in the cargo hold. There were no seats for them, and the on
ly thing they could hold onto was the net that held the sarcophagi against the walls. Alien artefacts covered the floor around them, but they were not secured.
Andrea started the engine and the propeller in the nose began to turn. The noise was louder than expected and not welcomed. She steered the plane out of the hangar and into the night. They trundled to the end of the runway, and once they had permission from the tower, they took off. The acceleration pushed the loose artefacts toward the tail of the plane, and the children gripped the netting tightly to stop themselves from following. As the nose rose, the remaining pieces slid backwards - blocking the cargo door and shifting all the weight to the rear.
"As I level out, you must distribute the cargo evenly across the compartment," Andrea shouted at them, pushing the control wheel forward.
The plane levelled out, and Eric and Ursula did as they were asked.
"I will fly at the lowest possible, safe altitude until we near Roswell," Andrea explained above the noise of the engine. "We have twenty-four minutes."
It was difficult to make out what she was saying in the back, even though the cockpit door was wide open. There was no soundproofing in the cargo area, and the engine noise rumbled around them.
The plane flew on without a word spoken inside. For Eric and Ursula, there was no in-flight entertainment system to distract them or even a window to look out of. They were lost in their own thoughts. Eric's fear of returning to Roswell had resurfaced, but it made him even more determined to avoid capture. He desperately wanted to avenge his parents' deaths but was not sure how that opportunity would present itself if he kept to the plan. Ursula simply wanted to live. Not like this, but like a normal person of her age. She wanted to be back with her grandparents and vowed that she would get there. Granddad Benjamin had told her that she and Eric could do anything they wanted. She wanted to go home. He had told her to use her instincts and she would. This was the beginning of the end, she told herself.