Jack shook his head, "Some kind of static charge buildup I guess... he touched the ladder again, "the tires isolated the machine - we made the ground connection..."
"Did you notice this?" said the copilot, pointing at the ground, "it's weird, it doesn't look like concrete to me..."
"It's not..." came a voice from the darkness.
The trio spun in unison, carbines leveled, safeties clicking to the off position. Fritz spun, growling, irritated at being surprised. In normal conditions, he could hear or smell someone long before a threat occurred, but this strange place baffled his sense of smell and sound did not seem to carry very far.
"Whoa, take it easy..." said the bodiless voice.
"Step over here... slowly, where we can see you..." said Jack. The three people from the Sweet Susie stood together under her wing in a crouch, fingers poised over the triggers of their .30 cal carbines.
Two men stepped out of the darkness, their hands raised, dressed in flight suits. Jack recognized the Navy flight suits. Lowering his carbine he snapped the safety back on. Maria and Brian did the same. "Commander Smiley I presume..." said Steele.
"Fancy meeting you here..." said Smiley, putting down his hands, "say, that was some neat maneuver you pulled out there, ditching us like that..."
"Thanks, timing is everything... didn't get us very far though, did it...” It was more of a rhetorical question. “So are we friends or enemies...?”
"Do we have a choice?"
"Sure. You go your way we go ours," said Jack. "Or we work together. As far as I'm concerned, there's no hard feelings here, and besides, there's safety in numbers..."
"Well... you sure don't sound like a murdering drug runner," said Paul.
"Drugs..? Funny...” he snorted. “Have a seat..." Jack said, motioning to the ground. “Let me tell you a little story... you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be amazed.” After everyone introduced themselves, Steele went on to explain what actually happened - from the very beginning.
The conclusion reached and all questions answered, the five people sat in a semicircle in reflective silence. Brian was the first to speak. "Paul, I think you're right, this doesn't feel like concrete, it's too smooth..."
"Like it's not hard enough..." said Mike Warren.
Strange foggy images filled Jack's mind, he changed the subject, "Do you guys have any idea where we're at?"
"None," said Paul shaking his head, Mike was shaking his head too.
"Do you remember landing?"
"No..." said Pappy, scratching his forehead in dismay, "y'know, that hadn't even occurred to me... till now... How did we make it to this landing strip? We were over water, lots of water."
"My point exactly..." said Jack, standing up, "none of us can remember anything either. Our landing gear has been deployed, our batteries are near dead..."
“Ours too,” added Paul.
"The last thing I remember," said Mike, "was gettin' lost in that cloud, no navgear, no electronics of any kind..." he paused, staring off into the darkness, deep in thought. "I remember a flame-out... and as I tried to restart it, I closed my eyes to say a little prayer... when I opened them again... I was here."
"Our planes landed themselves," said Jack without emotion, “how is that possible?”
Mike shrugged. "It's the best I can do for now."
"Anything else?" asked Jack.
"Climbing out of my plane and gettin' the damn shock of my life!” commented Paul.
"Us too," chimed Maria with a grin, "knocked us on our butts. Jack thinks it was some kind of static charge buildup."
Paul nodded, “that might explain the whacked-out avionics and dead batteries...”
Jack had random images floating through his mind and was finding it difficult to tell which were real and which were manufactured by his imagination. The pieces were disjointed but began falling into place, the puzzle gradually becoming whole. His recollections flooded forth, all the blanks gradually filling in, the pieces fitting together... it still didn't seem real but he knew it was... He stiffened and his eyes widened, watching it play again in his mind.
Brian was the first to notice, "Dude, what the hell man, you look like you've seen a ghost!"
Maria grabbed his arm, "What, Jack, what is it?"
Jack spoke slowly, "Think real hard... does anyone remember what was in that cloud?"
They stared blankly into the darkness, struggling to remember, laboring to make sense of the bits and pieces. Time passed slowly, one by one, the expression of enlightenment crept over each one of them. They sat speechless, pie eyed, fighting to comprehend what would normally be passed over as a dream, as a reality.
"We're inside it," said Jack softly.
"Get outta town..." said Mike, standing.
"Holy shit..." groaned Brian, “I don't want to believe that... I don't want to,” his stomach knotted. “It can't be, we can't be there...” he had to work hard to control his breathing.
"Now wait just a minute..." said Pappy, "I've never disbelieved in UFOs but this is a little hard to take... there's got to be a reasonable explanation... something logical..."
“Who's to say it isn't a reasonable explanation, Commander? Just because it's beyond our realm of knowledge or experience doesn't make it illogical.” Jack waved his hand, “Do you think the idea of a man on the moon to an early explorer who thought the Earth was square, would've thought that possible..?”
“I get your point Steele, I'm just not ready to accept that reality yet.” Paul Smiley rose casually to his feet.
"Ok, Commander, you go with that... lemme know when you're ready."
Jack glanced at Maria, who was wide-eyed but quiet, in fact, she looked like she was in shock. He felt the need to inject some levity,"I think we ought to face the fact, boys and girls, that we're not in Kansas anymore..." Even though it seemed everyone else was struggling with it, he seemed to be getting more at ease with it, if you could call it that.
Maria stood up and shot him an icy stare, "that's right, laugh it up... we end up who knows where, with who knows what... or who and you think it's funny or something..."
"Who...? Aliens," said Jack, "you can say it. Go ahead, try... A-l-i-e-n-s. C'mon, boys and girls, can you say aliens?"
"Stop it!" she said poking the pilot in the chest for punctuation. "I didn't spend four years at Harvard and a year in the academy to end my career as somebody's guinea pig!"
"Harvard... Harvard? As in, Harvard University?" You spent four years at Harvard to be an aircraft mechanic..?"
"Um well..."
"Wait a minute, wait just a fuckin' minute," said Jack waving his arm, "something's not right here. Just what were you studying at Harvard? And wait, academy? What's this about an academy? What academy?"
"I didn't say academy..." she said weakly.
“Yes you did,” said the men together.
His suspicions peaked Steele pressed further. "Tell me about this academy. Tell me about four years at Harvard...” His hands on his hips, he towered over her. “So what's the story here? All of a sudden I don't trust you. Why is that?" He backed her up against the B25's landing gear. In a flash, a landslide of things came into question.
Maria could see Jack would not likely relent and decided that in their present position, telling him the truth had no bearing on the bigger picture. And it was probably the only way she could get the pilot back under control, but she'd have to do it carefully. “I was born in Puerto Rico and my parents...”
Jack was in no mood for a lifetime special, “We haven't all night here, skip to the Harvard part...”
“I'll get to it in a second,” she said, pushing him back. “My family moved to California and that's where I grew up. I was a straight
-A student and got a scholarship to Harvard. I studied business and communications...”
“Something every good mechanic needs,” commented Jack wryly.
“You want to hear this or not...?” Maria didn't wait for an answer, “In my third year, I was approached by corporate recruiters for a company that needed international experts in communication. I began training with them involving intelligence communication as well as working on my studies at Harvard. At the end of my last year, I ended up in Langley to finish my studies there...”
“Langley, as in the CIA?” asked Paul.
"I didn't know what I had started in my third year at Harvard, but yes, CIA," she said, rather matter-of-factly. “Had I known what I was getting into, I wouldn't have...”
"CIA.." repeated Brian, automatically.
"Special Agent Maria Arroyo", she added.
"Well whaddya' know..." said Jack, "a spook." His voice was filled with sarcasm. "That's just great! I knew there was something strange, but I was hoping... aahhh, forget it," he said with a wave of his hand. "I'm not saying another word." Something clicked into place and his brain switched gears, "Wait, Stephen...?"
Maria nodded, "CIA..."
"Son of a bitch," growled Jack. "What did you people drag me into? This was some kind of operation wasn't it?" She nodded and shrugged at the same time. "What kind?! And just how long did he have this planned?" Suddenly everything he'd done for Stephen in the past, he suspected as clandestine.
"That I don't know. I was just supposed to check the plane," confessed Maria, "and send you on your way."
"Well you did a wonderful job!" Snapped Jack. "So... did you arrange for that wonderful little sendoff? Or was that what you people lovingly call a little snafu? And last night..! I suppose that was just part of the assignment eh? Anything for your country, right? Anything for the cause... keep the dupe happy, keep him in the dark..." It might've been a cheap shot but Jack couldn't help himself.
"No it's not like that, you've got it all wrong..." This is not what Maria expected at all, he was furious, and the fiasco in San Juan was a simple fluke of fate. What really hurt was now he thought her feelings for him had simply been part of the job, when the real truth was, she felt something very deep for him. "Jack you've got to believe me, last night was very special..."
Steele cut her off with a wave of his hand. "Oh, save it." If there was anything he couldn't stand more than being taken advantage of, it was being lied to, especially when it involved his personal feelings. "Spare me all the bullshit rhetoric you were taught at the academy... `cause I don't want to hear it." He turned to walk away and hesitated. "If it wasn't for you, we'd be on our way to Rio... instead of here, wherever here is. So, do yourself a favor lady, unless you want your ticket punched, stay outta' my way!"
She was crying now, she hated to cry. "If it wasn't for me, you'd be dead, remember that!"
Jack bared his teeth in an evil snarl, "Well if it wasn't for you people and your stupid operation, I'd be home on my beach... or driving my Cobra..." It took a moment for that to register, “Holy fuck, my Cobra, that asshole has my car in his hangar... son of a bitch!”
Pappy stepped in between them, before it could come to blows, "Look y'all, I hate to break up this lovers spat, but there are more important things to deal with here!"
"He's right Jack," said Brian.
“You have a Cobra?” Mike Warren nodded, “those are sweet! What year?”
"It's a '66 427 Shelby,” he replied to Mike. “Hey, whose side'r you on?" He asked Paul.
"Give it a rest Jack, let's move on." Brain sympathized because he was stuck too, but he knew this was getting them nowhere fast.
"You got any more of these?", said Paul, taping on Jack's carbine, "because all Mike and I have, are these Beretta 9mm's," he said, pointing at the gun in his shoulder holster.
Steele sighed, "Uh yeah, sure, c'mon up." He motioned to the open belly hatch and paused to shoot a glance full of daggers at Maria. "Bri, stay here, Ok? Keep an eye open." The copilot nodded as Jack, Pappy and Mike climbed into the Sweet Susie.
When the men reappeared, Paul and Mike both had their own M1's and loaded mags.
"Ok..." said Pappy grinning, "let's go waste some green, bug-eyed, scum-sucking, space freaks."
"Ahh, a man after my own heart..." said Jack with a smile, "I think we're gonna get along just fine."
"We're missing something important, aren't we?" said Maria.
"What's that?" said Brian.
"What if they're friendly? I mean, after all, if they didn't like us we'd probably be dead by now, right?"
"If they're this advanced, this thing might be completely automated," said Paul. "We could be the only ones on it..."
"And maybe," continued Jack, sardonically teasing Maria, "we're their Sunday dinner..." He grinned an evil grin then turned to the others in a more serious fashion. "In either case, we're not gettin' any closer to an answer, standing around. I don't know about you guys, but I'd like to find a way off this tub," he shot one last hateful glance in Maria's direction, "`cause I got a personal score to settle back home." The group decided on a direction and set out. "Hey, where's Fritz? FRITZ! COME FRITZ!" Steele suddenly felt a pang of fear. Fear for the life of his closest friend, suddenly realizing, he hadn't seen the dog for almost twenty minutes. "Shit! FRITZ!" The worried pilot picked up his pace.
Brian raced forward, grabbed his friend by the arm. "Easy Jack, let's not lose our heads here, we can't afford to rush, he could be anywhere, this looks like a pretty big place."
Jack clicked the M1's safety off, "If any harm comes to him I'll..."
"Hey relax, he probably just can't hear you, besides, he can take pretty good care of himself, we'll find him."
Steele clenched his teeth and relocked the carbine's safety, "Yeah well..."
"C'mon let's keep going," urged Brian.
The group continued on, forging through the semidarkness; Jack and Pappy in front, Mike, Maria and Brian, fanned out behind. The soft, distant thrumming of some alien machinery drew closer as they progressed. Only being able to see about twenty feet or so in the poor light, the group moved slowly, cautiously. Soft, muted sounds, their sources hidden by the darkness, drifted through the still air. They had walked quite a distance, two city blocks by Jack's estimation, and yet had seen absolutely nothing.
Nothing except the cruel visual tricks perpetrated upon them by their imaginations. It was curious, that though it was indeed dark, there was, some light. Strangely, it seemed to emanate from the ceiling although the ceiling could not be seen and it only glowed above where they stood, not producing enough light to see any great distance.
It came out of the darkness and without warning, whizzing across the floor on rubberized treads. It looked about three feet tall and maybe four feet long, basically cubical, with one small arm and a single photoreceptor on a stalk, above its body.
"Look out!"
The group scattered, diving out of its way. The speeding automaton passing through their ranks and off into the darkness, mindlessly pursuing its errand, oblivious to their presence.
"What the hell was that?"
"Christ, it almost killed us...! Whatever it was."
Jack was crawling on the floor. "It was an automaton..."
"A what?" said Maria, bending closer to see what he was looking at.
"An automaton... y'know, a robot... hey you guys, look at this," the others crowded around him.
"What is it?" asked Mike, getting closer.
"This line, it glowed green when that thing went by, some kind of guidance line or something," explained Jack. They looked at the line in the floor, which basically, looked like an ordinary seam.
"Hmmm..." said Paul thoughtfully, "maybe we should try to follow it, see where it leads."
"Sounds like a plan to me..." Jack stood up, "except, let's not walk the line, if you get my drift, I have no desire to become a hood ornament for the next one that comes by."
The five explorers gathered themselves up, turned and followed the line, heading in the direction the automaton had appeared from. They walked as before, only now, had a direction to follow. From time to time, Steele would call for his missing partner, hoping to find him frolicking irresponsibly, like he was known to do. They came to a cross junction of guide lines and stopped to discuss the best route.
Maria heard it first, "Ssshhh! I hear something...!" It was coming from behind them, much slower than before. "It's coming back again."
"Shit, let's hitch a ride," commented Mike, "beats walking."
"I don't think it was large enough..."
"This one is! Look!" Pappy pointed to the barely visible form approaching in the darkness. As it approached, it became clear, the unit that had passed them earlier had been sent to retrieve a load. It pushed in front of it, a large platform laden with containers of various shapes and sizes. The platform, having no wheels or tracks, was not touching the floor.
"Jack! Look at that will `ya? It's not touching the floor!"
"Bri's right!" exclaimed Jack. "Man, is that cool or what?"
"I'd say, or what," sneered Maria.
Steele shot her a sharp glance, "Ok, let's not look a gift horse in the mouth," he said, "everyone jump on." He waved everyone aboard. A pang of excitement rolled in his stomach. He was in awe of the technology.
"I hope it can hold us all," remarked Maria as she jumped on.
"If it doesn't, you can get off and wait for us here."
"Funny, Steele, real funny."
The platform dipped under the increased load as each person boarded, but the deft hand of the automaton, quickly compensated for the weight, on the platform's keyboard.
Brian spoke in hushed tones. "Wow, did you see that?"
"Must be some kind of... I don't know... anti-gravity device..?" Jack wondered, aloud.
Wings of Steele - Destination Unknown (Book 1) Page 9