Equinox (Beyond Moondust Trilogy Book 2)

by J. E. Nicassio

Before I knew it, we were sprinting. The numbers N11129 in bold blue lettering were stamped on the body. I crouched under the wing of the pilot’s seat. Trying to picture myself actually boarding was causing a knot in the center of my gut. I held the side of the smooth, sleek frame of the Piper while I checked my pockets for my rubber band, hoping I could snap myself out of this wave of panic.

  Gabe opened the front door of the Piper and climbed in. Cassiel boarded and was al-ready rummaging through the front of the cockpit. Dusty climbed in and then held out his hand, motioning for me to board the tiny aircraft.

  “Come on, Samantha,” Gabe insisted.

  “You want me to go in there? There has to be another way we can get to Greenbrier.”

  He narrowed his brow. “Well, are you getting in or do I have to carry you?”

  I was deathly afraid of heights, but I couldn’t get out the words. But again, I didn’t have to; he already knew.

  “Samantha, it’s not that bad; you can do it.”

  As much as I wanted to take his word, it wasn’t going to happen.

  Cassiel was glaring. “Come, Samantha, we don’t have time for this; sooner or later the line boy is going to see us and get security.”

  “Unless you want to hitch a ride with that trucker?” Gabe’s eyes shot across the airstrip where a big, tired-looking trucker was filling up fuel tanks.

  I thought about it for a half-second. Looking around the airport and brooding, I noticed the wind had calmed and a faint hint of spring infiltrated our air, but it wasn’t the chill that rippled over my skin. Fear was crippling me.

  Cassiel was busy searching for the owner’s manual. After a long, fearful moment, Dusty leaned over the seat and reached his arm out the door, pleading with me to take hold of his hand. This is not what I had planned. Dusty was being so brave for someone so young.

  No hope of getting out of it, I surrendered. “Okay, you win.”

  How could I resist those eyes? I clambered aboard while Gabe and Cassiel argued about who was going to fly it. We were going to steal an airplane, and there wasn’t any talking them out of it.

  No big deal.

  Cassiel picked up the manual and threw it behind him. Gabe touched one of the controls. The moment of truth had arrived.

  “What are they doing?” I asked Dusty.

  “They’re undoing the tie-downs and the wheel chocks.”

  “Everything checked out. Let’s get this birdie in the air,” Gabe said.

  “Okay, start the engine,” Cassiel said.

  “Set brakes, master switch on, advance throttle a quarter, push starter.…”

  “Hurry!” I yelled.

  “You’re ridiculous. Just go,” Cassiel bellowed.

  Dusty nudged me and started to laugh.

  “What’s so funny?” I asked.

  One turn, two turns, and the still-warm engine purred to life.

  “I guess I’m the only one in here sweating bullets,” I said.

  The engine fired up and the propeller began spinning.

  “Oh, my God.”

  Dusty’s hand found mine. I squeezed down hard, then closed my eyes and held my breath. Not being a religious person, I made up my own version of the Lord’s Prayer.

  “He can fly this bird with his eyes closed. Don’t worry. He’s just playing,” Cassiel said.

  “What about you?”

  “Just a wave of my hand.”

  “We’re all gonna die.”

  Gabe accelerated down the ramp. He advanced the throttle as if he’d done it a million times before.

  Gabe and Cassiel’s emotions seemed to be in check. With each second, Gabe’s roughness on the yoke smoothed out and so did the plane’s erratic flight. He was definitely a quick study with both his mental abilities, and with his hand-eye coordination.

  Bracing myself on my seat, I could feel the nose start to lift into the air. In less than a minute, we were leaving the airport behind. No one else seemed frazzled until the radio came on and two Apache Helicopters were right beside us.

  “Oh no! Now what?” I said.

  “Piper Cherokee 180 numbers N11129 this is control tower, you don’t have a flight plan on our roster, over?”

  “What are we gonna do?” I said.

  “Just be silent. I’ll handle this,” Cassiel said.

  “What the heck does that mean?”

  “Hey, I said be silent.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m planning our next move away from this beehive.”

  “Just go!”

  “Damn, Samantha. The military has strict policies in this airport,” Cassiel said.

  “Oh God. You don’t know what to do. You’re an alien. Can’t you make us invisible or something?”

  Cassiel and Gabe both turn around and look at me.

  “What don’t you understand? I said just be quiet, this beehive is about to get worse.”

  “They will shoot us down if we are not cleared for flight,” Gabe said.

  Cassiel turned to Gabe. “We have to get clearance.” Then he spoke into the headset. “Pilot to control tower, this is an emergency flight, we are being called to assist in an opera-tion, and my passenger has a rare blood type, it is urgent we arrive there soon before the doctors are there.”

  “You aren’t serious. They’re never going to buy that,” I said.

  Cassiel turned around. “Well, you do have a rare blood type, don’t you?”

  “This is control tower, please proceed to runway 5-A at heading Northwest 10 degrees. You are now clear, proceed with caution while we review your status, then we will advise ASAP. Over and out.”

  Relieved, I looked out of the small window at the former military base, which had been the first home for the Fosters after they were abandoned by the military. Now it’s only a ghost town containment center for Roswell alien crash remnants that haunt this place with tales of experiments and secret alien autopsies.

  Our new home until we got Dusty to Greenbrier was so small. It was just a speck on radar, which worked to Cassiel and Gabe’s advantage. Nervously, I watched Gabe scan and study the instrument panel, mindful of any problems that could occur. My thoughts went back to when Dad and I were on our way to Albuquerque. That was only my second time on a plane. This was nothing like that 747. This was the smart car of air travel.

  53 Alien Pilots

  Gabe announced our destination was 1,400 miles away.

  “At the normal cruise rate of one hundred twenty-four miles per hour, we would need to refuel twice. However, flying at one hundred five miles per hour, the Piper could make the trip with just one fuel stop.” Cassiel made it quite clear each stop was a chance to be intercepted by the Illuminati.

  Fortunately, we were going to land in Arkansas less than seven hours after we had taken off from Roswell, and it would still be light. Cassiel spotted the lights of the town first. Then he could just make out the airport.

  “Turn left about fifteen degrees, Gabe, and we’ll be perfectly lined up for landing from right where we are. I have been monitoring the radio, and there are no other planes in the vicinity.”

  I pictured my body in pieces on the runway.

  “Hey, Samantha, open your eyes. Most accidents result in minor injuries or no injuries at all, and only twenty-four have been fatal. Just eleven of the accidents involved Pipers. It’s a fairly safe plane.”

  “Thanks, Gabe, that’s just what I needed to hear,” I mumbled.

  “Yeah, and it’s usually in the first two hundred hours of flight,” Cassiel added.

  I hated how all my thoughts were open for discussion. Another bummer to being stuck in a plane with three aliens.

  “And your point is?”

  “The point is you have a greater chance of being killed in a car accident than up here with us,” Gabe
rambled on.

  “Twelve percent of the accidents occurred during takeoff and forty-five percent during landing. And the chances of being killed in a plane crash are one in thirty-five million. So relax,” Cassiel said.

  “Oh, my God, you two are computers.”

  “It’s true,” Dusty said.

  I rolled my eyes and looked out the little window. A wave of nausea rose in my stomach. I closed my eyes and started to pray again.

  54 Runway

  I had no idea how long we had been flying when my eyes opened with a start.

  “I see it, Cassiel. Time to start slowing down.” Gabe pulled back the throttle and let the plane begin slowing while he maintained his altitude.

  At first the runway seemed to hang in the space where it was, but then it began to look bigger in the windshield. He struggled to keep the plane steady.

  I held onto Dusty’s hand. I felt my stomach drop, holding my breath. Logically, I knew Gabe could land this plane, but my gut wasn’t so sure.

  As the plane passed over the end of the runway, Gabe pulled back on the yoke, causing the nose of the plane to rise even higher into the air. I held my breath as the plane settled with a thump when the tires met the pavement. We slowed to a walk and Gabe looked over at Cassiel and grinned. I glanced out the window and tried to relax, placating my mind with thoughts of Lucien.

  ***

  I just remembered that the equinox was coming up in two days. Could it be this equinox? I felt a sudden rush of anticipation. What would I say to Lucien? Did I really want to see him? I had so many mixed emotions. Did he have any idea how much he had hurt me? I hurried up, did my business, and stood next to Dusty. The airport was quiet except for one old man in coveralls who watched us taxi onto the ramp. They shut the plane down near an old rusty fuel truck and got out.

  “Can we get fuel?” Cassiel asked. “The charts say you have aviation gas available.”

  “Yup, sure do,” the man said. “Can’t vouch for the quality of it, though. We don’t get many calls for it here so we have it in the tank for a spell sometimes.”

  “Well, give us whatcha got. Beggars can’t be choosers, and we have a few more miles to cover.”

  “Where ya headed?”

  “Going to Cincinnati to visit family,” Michael said, making up a story.

  “Ya sure are a young bunch flying in without your folks and all.”

  Cassiel filled the tank, and we were back on the plane in no time.

  “Cass, did the engine just miss?” Gabe froze.

  He turned to his brother. “I didn’t catch it if it did. I’m getting tired. Whoa! I did notice that and I don’t like it.”

  “What’s happening?” I took Dusty’s arm and urged him to tell me what was going on.

  He just shook his head and closed his eyes. “I can’t see anything, but I haven’t slept. I can only see the future in my dreams.”

  “Oh great, now you can’t see the future. What good are you?”

  I leaned in to the front seat. “Guys, what is it?”

  “The engine’s starting to miss,” Michael said.

  “What do you mean? Miss what?”

  “Samantha, please, just sit tight,” Cassiel insisted.

  The engine was starting to miss regularly now, according to Gabe. Although we could see a few lights from many small cities in this part of Kentucky, it was mostly pitch black.

  “Cassiel, see where the nearest airport is. I think we have to get this thing on the ground as soon as possible.”

  I looked at Dusty as I cupped the palm of my hand to my mouth.

  “It’s not going to run like this much longer, and the terrain below us is not too welcoming to airplanes dropping in,” Cassiel said. “Those lights up ahead and just to the right are Corbin. The GPS says the airport is ten miles from here. Let’s head for that.”

  I leaned in close to Cassiel as I watched tiny beads of sweat cover Gabe’s forehead. My eyes shot back to Dusty. His body was stiff, and his lips were not saying any audible syllables, just gibberish.

  The plane was filled with anxiety, and this time I wasn’t the only one feeling it. “Okay, is someone going to tell me what’s going on?”

  They all turned their attention to me at the same time. It didn’t make me feel any better, I might add.

  “There seems to be a little problem with the engine,” Gabe said calmly. “Now, that doesn’t mean there’s anything to worry about.”

  I wanted to hit him right on the head with the back of my hand, but I stayed calm. “What do you mean something’s wrong with the engine?”

  Cassiel, for once, decided to keep his mouth shut.

  “Engine failure?” Judging by the look on Dusty’s face, he didn’t know either.

  “Shit!” Dusty took my hand and clenched down hard. “I-I can’t help it.”

  55 Not In Kanas Any More

  All I could think of was Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. This isn’t Kansas, and the ruby slippers aren’t missing from my feet. There’s no place like home; there’s no place like home! They say in the last moments of one’s life, his or her past flashes right before their eyes. All I could see was Lucien. My dad would have lost me three times: once at Hidden Valley, once at the fire at Oakridge, and now in a plane wreck. The instant silence was almost worse than an explosion. It became quiet, unlike in the movies. It was an eerie quiet, the kind of quiet that scares the hell out of you. The airplane was still flying, but it was now in a gentle glide back to Earth. We were going down.

  “It’s six miles to the airport now. Fasten your seat belts and hang on,” Gabe shouted. He looked at his brother. “We can do this.”

  No matter how high his IQ was, I couldn’t help wanting to scream. How could this be happening? How could they let this plane go down? I turned to Dusty. “How come you didn’t see it coming until now?”

  “I didn’t see it coming because it just happened,” Dusty bellowed.

  “I don’t get it. Why can’t you just wave your hand and land this plane?”

  “Sam, shut up!” Cassiel shouted.

  “We’re all going to die.”

  Dusty turned to me, this time seizing my shoulders. He was a scared little boy no more. “N-No, we aren’t. Stop it, Samantha.”

  “Shut up, you two!” bellowed Cassiel.

  I arched back against the bucket seat, still holding tightly to Dusty.

  “Maintain airspeed, no matter what. Too slow and the plane will stall, Gabe. Dive in vertically, certain destruction. Too fast and the plane will not glide as efficiently.”

  Oh, my God, does he have to describe everything out loud?

  “Six miles and we’ll be on the ground in four minutes,” Gabe stated.

  Our immediate crisis behind us, Gabe rolled to a silent stop at the far end of the runway.

  I glared at Dusty, who was listening and watching Cassiel and Gabe’s every move. I believe, given the chance, he could fly this airplane too.

  “What are you thinking, Dusty?” I asked curiously.

  “It’s not uncommon for pilots passing by to turn the runway lights on just to verify their location.”

  “Okay….” I had no idea what he was talking about.

  Cassiel heard Dusty’s comment. “Dusty, we’re sitting at the end of a soon-to-be blacked out runway inside a locked-up airport. You can relax.”

  “And you know this how? Never mind.”

  I’d rather be back home in an instant. I didn’t know how much more of this I could take. I glanced out at the night sky, searching for some glimmer of a star; but only blackness caught my eyes.

  It didn’t take Gabe and Cassiel long to diagnose the problem causing the plane’s loss of engine power.

  “The old dude pretty much implied it was contaminated,” Gabe said.

  56 Hanga
r

  Once we were safely on the ground, Gabe demanded everyone’s attention.

  “First, we need to get the airplane off the runway. We don’t want to be sitting here if another plane decides to land.”

  “Then we need to find some tools,” Cassiel said.

  “And how do you plan on doing that?” I said.

  “One way to find out: let’s go look for them,” Gabe said.

  I was tired and hungry and needed to sleep more than I needed to look for tools.

  With the airplane parked near one of the private hangars and an outside light fixture, Gabe and Cassiel were able to pry open a locked door to one of the small hangars. Inside were a few basic tools, enough to do what they needed. I had no clue what they were up to. Dusty seemed to be doing his part while I found a spot on the cement block. My thoughts drifted to Lucien. I wondered if he had any idea how much trouble we were in.

  I watched as they removed the engine cowling, and tracked the fuel line back to the fuel filter. When they removed the filter, they found the problem: rust particles. Dusty found several empty five-gallon cans. Carefully, Gabe drained the fuel tank sump of ten gallons. Not only were there more rust particles in the fuel, but Cassiel discovered the bad fuel had water in it also.

  “The water caused the rough running, but the culprit was rust that ultimately plugged the filter and stopped the flow of gas.”

  Gabe had no sooner replaced the cowling when the runway lights flashed on, startling us. “Shush, listen.”

  We listened to the drone of an approaching plane. Cassiel lifted his hand toward the light bulb that was hanging from a cord. Using his gift of telekinesis, he caused the light to go out.

  As the approaching plane’s landing lights reached for the runway, the sound of vehicles caught our attention. The electric gate into the airport opened, and a dark sedan drove out to the ramp. I held onto Cassiel with one arm and gripped Dusty’s shoulder, pulling his back into my chest. Gabe crouched behind me while we waited and listened. We slowly walked toward the only visible window and saw two military officers jump out as the plane landed and taxied in. Two men in dark suits exited the airplane and were saluted by the officers.