Then they were up, flying, gaining altitude. How long until the air force launched jets to intercept them? They needed to get pretty high up to detach, fifty miles according to Davidson. Supposedly though it would take less than ten minutes to get there. Would that be enough time?
Davidson could only imagine the chaos at the air force base. They were probably scrambling pilots from their beds, getting flight crews out on the runways. The usual calamity of an unscheduled excursion.
* * *
“How are you doing up there?” Stark’s mom asked Lopez.
“Great,” Lopez said with a chuckle.
Stark wasn’t so sure that was accurate assessment. They had patched into the space shuttle’s command deck. Lopez was only a third of the way through his detachment prep and the shuttle was already at twenty five hundred feet. He had a little over five minutes to finish what usually took a full two hours to accomplish.
A red light blinked, drawing Stark’s attention to another screen. “They are launching now,” he reported. “They are scrambling five jets to intercept.”
He quickly did the calculations in his head. It was going to be close, really, really close.
“Prenner, can you climb any more steeply?” Stark asked.
“I’m already risking engine failure, especially the higher I go,” Prenner stated.
“Oh, stop being such a little girl,” Lopez pressed. “Trust your machine, she’ll get the job done.”
Prenner didn’t answer, but Stark noticed the plane pitched up a little, climbing into the sky more rapidly.
“I’ve got the window,” his mother announced. “Patching it through to you, Lopez. It should bring you right alongside the satellite.”
“Sure, I’ll look at it once we are ready to detach.”
Stark looked at the controls again. Would Lopez really be ready to detach before Prenner’s jet ran out of oxygen?
Again, it was too close to call.
“Okay, new problem,” his mother said. “The jets are equipped with EMP missiles.”
That was not good. An EMP pulse could knock both the jet and the shuttle out of the sky and had a far greater distance than conventional missiles since they were so much lighter which all meant the fighter jets didn’t need to get nearly as close to the aircrafts to disable them as they had hoped.
“I know, I know,” Prenner said, angling the jet up even more steeply.
* * *
Bunny clung to the metal seat. The engines were making the sound she imagined a tortured bunny would make. The entire plane was shaking and rattling, causing her to cringe. And to think they had a shuttle on their back. She could only imagine all of this jangling was not so good for the space shuttle.
The image of the Challenger blowing up mid-air haunted her. Davidson was up there. Sure they had a weird strained relationship, however she didn’t want him vaporized.
“I’m losing thrust,” Prenner reported. “There’s just not enough oxygen up here…
They all knew how slim their margin was and now with the EMP threat, they were really pushing it.
“Here goes nothing,” Lopez said.
A loud clunk reverberated throughout the plane, however she didn’t feel anything give.
“No joy. No joy,” Davidson announced probably because Lopez was spewing out a string of curse words.
“Not sure how long I can keep us afloat,” Prenner warned.
“Trying again,” Lopez yelled. “you mother….”
Again, a clunk, but nothing else. Bunny assumed they would jump up in altitude once unburdened with the shuttle’s weight.
“Bendaho!” Lopez shouted.
So no detachment.
Then Bunny felt her stomach in her throat as the jet lost air. Then the slamming of her butt the seat as they regained control. She’d felt that before on a commercial flight, but it had only been a few feet. That had been hundreds of feet.
“They are gaining on you!” Stark yelled. “The jets are on an intercept course. One minute before they can fire.”
Sixty seconds. When warming up a burrito in the microwave that seemed like forever, but now? Now those seconds were going to fly by.
“Closing,” Stark informed them. “Their weapons are hot, including the EMP missiles.”
Like they really needed to know that.
“I’m losing thrust!” Prenner yelled.
Bunny gripped the metal tightly. Sometimes pure faith didn’t come through for you.
Even Bunny could feel the shudder that went through the plane then the sudden lack of engine noise.
“I’ve lost all four engines! We are in free fall!” Prenner yelled.
* * *
The shuttle tilted at an odd angle. Lopez had given up all finesse and was just slapping any controls he could reach. Alarms blared and the entire flight deck was shaded in red.
Then they began to fall and spin. Prenner had no control over the plane. They didn’t even need the EMP missiles. They were falling back to the earth on their own. The shuttle’s alarm system screamed its disapproval.
“Puta!” Lopez yelled then slammed his fist down on the control panel.
A sudden lurch nearly broke Davidson’s bungee cords. Another loud clunk then the sensation of your world spinning wildly out of control signaled they were free of the jumbo jet.
But they were still falling. Davidson knew they had to wait a few seconds before starting the engines to avoid scorching the piggyback plane, but this seemed excessive. And Lopez’s cursing told him something was wrong. They were tumbling back to earth.
Then what sounded like a backfire ricocheted through the shuttle.
“Come on, baby, I know you want to catch, I take back everything I said about you,” Lopez coaxed, then the engines caught fully.
Davidson was thrown back against the bulkhead yet the shuttle was still flying downward. Lopez struggled with the controls, trying to right their flight.
“You are going to miss your window,” Stark’s mother informed over the com.
“Tell that to her,” Lopez hissed. “Come on, nose up, nose up, don’t you want to see space one last time, baby?”
As impossible as it sounded, the shuttle seemed to respond to Lopez’s coaxing, soon they were flying up and in the right direction.
Suddenly they were plunged into a silence only broken by the background roar of the engines and the red lights blinked out. They broke through the atmosphere and into space.
It was like climbing out of hell to find yourself in heaven.
The stars were so bright. Space was so black. Everything was so surreal.
Davidson realized he had been holding his breath. He let it out, never taking his eyes off the blue orb that rotated beneath them.
Lopez had done it. They were in freaking space.
The satellite was not far in front of them. It had dozens of antennae spikes that made it look like a space porcupine, bristling at them to just try and take it out.
Everything wasn’t totally okay though.
Screams carried over the com as the jumbo jet fell from the sky.
* * *
Bunny clung to the metal as the plane spun round and round. Prenner was giving updates, but all they added up to were that they were screwed. The engines had lost power and didn’t seem inclined to restart.
Out the window, Bunny could only watch as they fell past two fighter jets that streaked past. At the least the jets hadn’t felt the need to launch their EMP missiles. That would have doomed them for sure.
Bunny ignored the flow of conversation over the com. She didn’t understand half of it as Stark and his mother tried to help Prenner get the engines restarted.
Instead she turned inward. This wasn’t her first brush with a life or death situation. Ever since Paris, she’d sworn she wouldn’t die terrified. She wouldn’t be a victim. She had chosen this path. She had knowingly boarded a jumbo jet headed for the mesosphere, being chased by the United States Air Force. The chances they w
ould land safely were on the low end of the bell curve.
At the least Lopez and the rest were heading to the satellite so their sacrifice wouldn’t be for naught. Would she get a bare star on the CIA’s memorial wall? Would her parents know what she had done? That she didn’t die a cheerleader?
She died a hero.
Seldom did she think of herself in those terms. She was a supporter. A facilitator, but in the end, didn’t she deserve as much credit as Prenner or Malvern? She might not wear a uniform, but she certainly served.
The thought filled her with a warmth. Pride. She could die proud. In Paris she had been a spoiled, childish grad student. Now she died a woman.
Bunny closed her eyes, no need to watch the water come closer and closer, faster and faster. They had saved Liza. They had helped save the world. That was going to have to be enough.
Then the plane lurched and the engines began their screaming protest again. Finally Prenner was able to get the plane to level out.
“Land now,” an order came over the com now that it wasn’t clogged with panic.
“Where?” Prenner asked.
“Straight ahead,” the fighter jet’s voice commanded.
“That’s Cuba,” Malvern commented.
“Land on the south end of the island.”
No one had to voice it. Even Bunny knew where they were landing.
Guantanamo Bay.
CHAPTER 10
Davidson grabbed for his pack. He hadn’t secured now in zero gravity it was wandering away.
They were in space.
Awesome.
And Prenner had gotten the jet started again. Granted they were landing in Cuba, but better to land in Gitmo than crash land into the Atlantic. Davidson was sure that they could talk their way out of the detention center.
Now to their task.
The satellite glistened in the low light. It wasn’t all that large. Maybe the size of an SUV. To think something the size of a car could bring about world war. It would be the world’s most effective car bomb ever.
“Aren’t you going to slow down?” Levont asked.
“Why would I?” Lopez replied.
“Um, so we can get suited up and go out there?”
“Oh, we aren’t qualified to space walk,” Lopez stated. “My plan was to ram the damn thing. Knock it out of orbit.”
“But, um,” Davidson interjected. “Won’t that damage out panels, making reentry impossible?”
Lopez nodded. “Ya, guys, this was always a one way trip. Didn’t I mention that?
No, definitely not.
“My bad,” Lopez said with a shrug, aiming straight for the satellite.
“Damn, I would have called my Grammy,” Levont said. “I’ve already been reported dead once, I would have liked to warn her about his one.”
“Come on, guys,” Lopez retorted. “Would you have given any other answer if I told you this was a suicide mission?”
That was true. Still, it felt like they should have more options.
“Since when did not being qualified for something rule it out?”
Lopez smiled. “I just thought we couldn’t take any chances with this one given it was a nuclear Armageddon.”
“We can always ram the satellite if we can’t figure another option, right?” Davidson asked.
“You’ve only got twenty seven minutes,” Stark’s mom informed them.
“Okay, then Levont and I go out there and if we can’t get the job done, then Lopez rams it?”
“Dang, I was kind of looking forward to space shuttle bumper cars,” Lopez admitted.
“Yes, and if we had actual bumpers, I would say go for it,” Davidson replied. “For now let’s try and get this done manually.”
Davidson unhooked his bungee cord and floated up. It was a truly amazing, yet nauseating experience. Levont popped his restraints and pushed his way over to the door.
“Any idea where the space suits are kept?” Levont asked.
“Nope, but I think we can follow the arrows,” Davidson said, pointing to the little placards posted everywhere. He figured that they would come in handy at some point.
* * *
Prenner might have problems up in the sky, but his landing at Gitmo was perfection incarnate. Just the slightest bump as the wheels touched the ground, then a nice smooth ride to the end of the runway. For a moment Bunny feared he was going to intentionally put them into the water and try to get away from the dozens upon dozens of troops that had been sent to escort them in from the runway.
Then Prenner turned the plane to the right, taxiing back to the gate.
That was a lot of troops out there. Two of the fighter jets landed behind them. They weren’t taking any chances anymore. There would be no distraction to rescue them this time.
Once the plane was parked and the stairs rolling up to the hatch, Malvern and Prenner came out of the cockpit. Bunny gave a weak smile. Malvern however gave her a broad, bright smile. What did he know that she didn’t?
“Stark, what’s the chatter?” she asked into her mic.
“All over the map,” he stated. “We are working to contact the Pentagon.”
Bunny wasn’t sure if even that could be enough.
They had just stolen a space shuttle. That wasn’t going to be easy to explain.
“Come along, time to pay the piper,” Malvern stated, putting his hand on her back, guiding her to the stairs.
The colonel was awfully damned calm about all of this. Which made him of all things hotter.
They were met at the stairs by dozens of soldiers pointing their rather large guns at them.
A general broke out from the crowd and met them at the bottom of the steps. “I’ve orders to take you into custody and check you into a few of our rooms.”
Malvern smiled though. “How about we call the Secretary of Defense first?”
The general frowned. “I have my orders.”
“And maybe you need new ones, so let’s give Harry a call.”
The general just frowned deeper.
“Stark?” Malvern asked. “Can you get him on the line please. If you need his personal number just look at the contacts on my cellphone.”
There was a silence as Stark apparently did as Malvern asked.
“Got it! Dialing now.”
Bunny looked over at Malvern with even more respect. He promised that he had pull. Enough pull to get them out of a situation like this though? That was doubtful.
Then the line ran through their coms.
“Hello?”
“Harry, this is Mitchell,” Malvern stated. “Can you please allow this conversation to be broadcast on the Gitmo frequency?”
“Gitmo? the secretary of defense asked. “I thought you were in DC?”
“Yes, long story,” Malvern replied.
“On,” the secretary stated. “Now do you want to fill me in?”
“Sir, as I was instructed, I allowed Alpha One to pursue the group identifying themselves as the Righteous after claims they were about to launch a credible apocalyptic attack on the US and her allies.”
“And you ended up in Cuba?”
“After a detour to Haiti and Florida were we requisitioned a space shuttle.”
“I’m sorry,” the secretary said. “I thought you said a space shuttle?”
“Yes, sir, your aids should be filling you in. We were pursued by the Air Force but were able to get the shuttle into space in time.”
“To do exactly what?” The secretary didn’t sound nearly as friendly to Bunny any more. But then again stealing a space shuttle would probably make most politicians a bit cranky.
“To knock a weapons satellite out of orbit before it can start a chain reaction nuclear war.”
“Oh, just that,” the secretary replied.
“I’m asking that we be released and given the fastest plane you have to complete our mission and dig out the Righteous so they no longer pose a threat.”
“Of course,” the secretary sta
ted. “General Liverly, please stand down and comply with Colonel Malvern’s requests.” There was a slight pause. “Mitchell, where are you headed?”
“To be honest, I’m not sure,” Malvern answered.
“Greece,” Bunny piped up.
Malvern turned to looked her, but he didn’t question her. Not a bit.
“Apparently we are headed to Greece, Malvern informed the secretary.
“Greece it is,” the secretary replied. “I will inform the President.”
Then the line went dead except for Stark’s exclamation. “Wow.”
“Confirmed,” Prenner stated giving Malvern a nod. “You came through, sir.”
That he did.
Silverbacks. They had their uses.
* * *
Davidson tightened Levont’s head gear. The instructions on the suits had been quite thorough. They needed to thank someone in NASA’s public education department.
Everything was complicated by the whole weightlessness issue though. You really didn’t think about how gravity affected you until you didn’t have it. You have no leverage. Nothing to push against. Which made wedging themselves into the spacesuits, problematic at best.
He was long and gangly under the best of circumstances. And these were definitely not the best of times. Levont had a slightly easier time. His body was much more compact.
“You guys done gussying up?” Lopez asked over the com.
“Just about,” Davidson reported as Levont returned the favor. There was a slight hiss as the suit sealed. “Heading out now.”
Davidson looked out the window. Lopez had done a good job of parallel parking the space shuttle next to the object. It looked so close. Except it was across open space. Davidson gulped. He’d never dreamed of being an astronaut.
For all his training he still had a rare form of agoraphobia. Davidson was classified as DM-5a. He wasn’t afraid of going outside, but he was terrified of large scale openness. Like lying in the grass at night and looking up at the sky. You would never catch him doing that and now look at him. He was up in that sky.
Yah, it wasn’t the weightlessness that was making him nauseated.
Levont patted him on the arm. “You ready to do this?”
The man was smiling ear to ear. Davidson tried to borrow some of that happiness. He smiled back. Levont didn’t have to know about his personal hang-ups. “You know it.”
Bull's Eye Sniper Chronicles Collection (The Second Cycle of the Betrayed Series) Page 13