Book 3: 3rd World Products, Inc (28 page)

"No, Ed. She broke the connection just as we lifted. May I ask why you didn't join the others in the bunkers?"

"Yes,” said Barbara, taking her hand from my arm. “Why didn't we?"

"We'd have been locked in,” I said. “Nuke or whatever, we'd have been down there until someone let us out."

Barbara asked, “So? If that's the usual procedure..?"

I shrugged. “They don't have a Stephanie. Anyway, we're up here and we're just as safe, okay?"

She didn't answer as she looked at Steph, who smiled and nodded. We watched the dot on the screen until Steph announced that we had traveled three full minutes and asked what to do next.

"Just hold us here, I guess. We'll see what happens and whether the base needs us for anything when it's over. If not, we can head back to Florida."

The jet-dot was less than an inch from touching the circle when I thought to ask, “Is there any way to tell whether the plane is carrying radioactive stuff?"

"Elkor sent probes to intercept and examine it,” said Steph. “He detected no unusual radiation."

"That could mean a biological weapon,” I said. “Or great shielding. Elkor, how many people are aboard that jet?"

Elkor said, “One man, Ed, but he wasn't sitting at the controls. I was unable to determine what he was doing."

"Were you able to tap the electronics?"

"The plane was on autopilot at that time, Ed. I received only nominal readings."

"Could you take control of it?"

"That was Linda's first suggestion, Ed. I was unable to do so."

"Can you show us what you saw, Elkor?"

Elkor said, “Yes, Ed,” and the radar image was replaced with a swooping view of the jet as a probe flew close, then circled it. All of the side windows were curtained. We got a glimpse of the cockpit twice, but both views happened too quickly.

"Elkor, can you freeze a view of the cockpit from each pass and put them both on the screen?"

"Yes, Ed."

The screen split into two panels and each panel contained a probe's-eye view of the cockpit. In each view, the man was standing in the open doorway behind the seats, facing the rear of the aircraft.

"Can I get a closer view of the guy from the waist up, Elkor?"

"Yes, Ed.” Elkor zoomed in as requested.

The guy was wearing a white, long-sleeved uniform shirt. His hair was dented around his head as if he'd been wearing some kind of hat. In our slightly side-view of his face, his mouth was slightly open as if he'd been speaking.

"Was he talking to someone, Elkor? Radio or phone?"

"No, Ed. He was apparently just talking."

I grinned and said, “Praying, probably. He was definitely alone up there, Elkor? Nobody else aboard?"

"No, Ed. Thermal imaging displayed no other people aboard."

"Thermal..? Okay, how about unusual heat sources anywhere else in the plane?"

"There was a device on the central floor of the jet that registered one hundred and seventy degrees farenheit at its core. It was connected to another device point seven meters away from it that registered eighty-one degrees farenheit."

"How big was the hot spot gadget?"

"The device measures a meter square, Ed, and appeared to be a small gasoline powered motor. The device connected to it is a two-meter-long cylinder that appears to have been part of a welding apparatus nearby."

"A tank. Maybe a compressor. Does Linda have this info, Elkor?"

"No, Ed. Base security asked me to look for radiation sources and explosives. They didn't ask me about thermal..."

"Well, damn!” I muttered, interrupting him.

Again with the damned ‘you didn't ask’ bullshit.

"Elkor, zap this stuff to her now, please, and put her on if she'll talk to me. No, put her on even if she'd rather not. Interrupt her if you have to. I'd bet money that the cool spot is full of some really bad-assed germs or gas. I can't think of anything else it would be."

"Yes, Ed. I'm sorry if I've..."

"Don't worry about it, Elkor. They didn't think to ask and you're still figuring out how to be intuitive. Done is done. Keep your probes near the jet and report anything and everything they see. Which way is the wind blowing over the base?"

"From East to West, Ed."

"Isn't that kind of unusual for this area?"

"According to meteorological data, yes. May I ask how you knew that?"

"Just a guess, Elkor. Most US weather comes from the West. It never flows the other way very often or for very long."

Linda's face appeared on the screen.

"It's a little late to be useful, but thanks for the input, Ed."

"If you shoot him down right now, what happens?"

"We aren't sure, and we can't shoot it down until it reaches the no-fly zone."

"Not good enough, Linda. If they start spraying..."

"We can't shoot down a plane based on your speculations, Ed, nor can we shoot it down until it reaches our zone, and that's final."

"
Final
may be just the right word for it, Linda."

"Opinion noted. We've asked Elkor to take another look and we're kind of busy around here at the moment. You've made your report and we'll consider it. Thanks and let us get back to work now."

Linda broke the connection and I swore in a manner that made Barbara cringe slightly and blush. I hate being hung up on.

"Okay, goddamn it,” I said, “We know it isn't a nuke. Steph, head us back to the jet at full speed. How big a field can you manage?"

As Steph snapped us around and back the way we'd come and Barb again clung to her seat, Steph asked, “A field for what purpose, Ed?"

"If you can change the structure of the crap on the gold, you can change the structure of most anything else, too, right? If the jet starts spraying something, can we either neutralize the stuff or kill it?"

Barb asked, “Change
what
structure?"

"Later,” I said. “Steph?"

Steph said, “Yes, if I can capture a substance, I can contain it. I can also broadcast a radiant field that will sterilize the atmosphere within a seventy yard radius of my hull, Ed, but that would not be wide enough for certainty unless we we are very close to the jet or in contact with it."

"We will be. Can the other two flitters do what you do and can you control them?"

"They can. I'm linking with them now. Instructions?"

"Just get us in close behind that jet and watch for spray or fog or anything else that comes out of it. For now, put the other two flitters on either side of the jet's tail so their sterilization fields overlap and cover as much air as possible. When we get there, shuffle us into the formation with the others."

"Ed, the other flitters are in hangar four, but the doors are padlocked due to the evacuation of personnel."

"What do you think I'm going to tell you to do, Steph?"

"Get them out of the hangar."

"You got it. Doesn't matter a damn to me how you do it, but do it quick."

Scarcely two seconds passed before Steph said, “Both flitters are now outside and enroute, Ed."

Barbara stared at Steph and asked, “How did you do that so fast, Stephanie?"

"There were several banks of windows above the hangar doors, Barbara."

"
Were?
"

"My use of the past tense was unfortunately appropriate, Barbara."

I asked, “Elkor, do you see anything on the outside of the plane that could be a means of spraying something?"

"No, Ed. There are no unusual protrusions or devices visible."

"There must be some way to get the stuff out of the jet, Elkor. Keep looking."

Several moments went by before Barbara touched my arm and said, “He must be expecting to be shot down, Ed, and he'd need an awful lot of whatever it is to be sure that any of it would actually reach the base in viable condition. Would he begin spraying before he enters the no-fly zone, in order get as much into the air as possible before they shoot him down?"

"Guess that depends on what kind of stuff he's using. Assume the worst."

Steph said, “The flitters are in place behind the jet, Ed. Linda just said that she would like a word with you if you happen to be available."

Barbara couldn't stifle a laugh. “
She'd like a word with you?
"

I grinned at her and said, “Sure, Steph. Put her on the screen, thanks."

Linda's face came on the screen again. “
Now
what? Tell me, Ed!
Now what!?
What the
hell
are you doing with those flitters? You're heading back to the base! I
don't
remember telling you to come back here!"

"All that in one breath? Wow. Elkor, tell her what we're doing. Steph, how soon will we be behind that jet?"

"One minute, eighteen seconds, Ed."

"Elkor, where's your big flitter?"

"I can't tell you that, Ed. It is, however, too far away to arrive in time to be useful in this activity."

"Then leave it where it is for now, but we may need it for cleanup later."

"Yes, Ed. I've informed base security of your plans."

"Thanks, Elkor, I..."

Barbara shouted, “Something's leaking from the wing!"

She pointed to the right wing. A small flap was open and something was creating a fog behind the wing. Although the wing was already within the leading edge of a field, the flitter on that side moved forward slightly for the best possible encompassment of the wing and whatever was coming out of it.

I said, “Good work, Steph. They rigged a wing tank to carry the stuff and a compression system to force it out. Linda, did you copy that? Don't let your people shoot it down yet. A hit would spread that crap all over the place. Steph, can we get a visual of what's going on? If so, do so, and patch it to Linda, too."

The screen split again. Linda was on the left and the jet was on the right. Our view was from the console of the flitter trailing the right wing. A thin, colorless, fog-like stuff was spewing out of the wing and flaring brightly as it passed through the flitter's field.

"Have that flitter grab a live sample and contain it, Steph. We'll get it to Linda's people later."

"Done, Ed. Will eight ounces be enough?"

"I should
hope
so, ma'am. How many germs are there in eight ounces?"

Barbara laughed and said, “Quiet a few."

Linda's grim visage regarded Barbara for a moment, then she said, “Do call if there's just any little thing we can do to assist you, Ed."

Her attitude surprised me. I almost asked her why she was so tense, then I decided to worry about that later. The guy in the jet had seen us coming at him and his expression had been one of vast surprise as we flashed by the cockpit.

"The guy on the jet; what's he doing now, Elkor?"

"He has entered the passenger compartment, Ed. He appears to be adjusting something on the tank."

"Probably trying to max the pressure. Steph, will your sterilizing field kill whatever is left in the wing tank?"

"Not unless I can get it inside the tank."

"Can you force the field through the tank vent?"

"No, Ed. There's an automatic valve blocking..."

"Okay, that would have been too easy, of course. How about ripping the wing open or poking a hole?"

"If there's enough pressure in the wing tank, that might explosively release more at once than the field can contain or treat, Ed."

"Can we force him down? Force him to land?"

"Not safely. The ground is too rough."

"
Suggestions,
people. We want that wing in one piece. We don't care about the rest of the plane."

Steph said, “I'm afraid that we do care, Ed. You know that Elkor and I can't cause harm to a human being."

"Yeah, I know. Just a thought. Linda, are you still there?"

Linda's face appeared on the screen again.

"Yes,” she said.

"Fire, Linda,” I said. “Missiles away. Take him down. Don't worry about us. We're going to catch the wing."

Linda said, “When the plane blows, you'll be right in the middle of it. Think of something else, Ed."

"Three flitters ought to be able to latch onto that wing and land with it, Linda. Steph, once you're absolutely certain that the jet will be destroyed, I want you and the others to shear that wing off and get us clear."

With only a moment's hesitation, Linda said, “Stephanie, we can't let him near the transport dock, and we have to assume that's his target. Firing
now
. Missiles are on the way, Ed. Get the wing if you can. If you can't, sterilize the entire area as quickly as possible."

Steph said, “Ed, there must be some other way. I can cut the jet open and get him out..."

"No time.
You
won't be killing him, Steph.
I've
already done that. Back me on this or come up with something else
quick,
lady. We're only twenty miles out."

Barbara asked, “Won't cutting the wing off be the same as cutting it open? Won't the stuff blow out?"

"We'll field-cap the end when we cut it."

Twenty miles is almost nothing to missiles. One moment we were flying along with the jet, lined up along the wing. The next moment, all three flitters suddenly wrapped fields around the jet's right wing and the one closest to the fuselage sheared it free where it met the fuselage.

A split-second later, the jet became a ball of incandescence behind us as we headed away from it. Multiple shock waves washed over us, but with little effect as Steph coordinated the flitters’ efforts to control the wing as they brought it to a halt from over three hundred miles per hour.

"Any leakage?” I asked.

Steph said, “No leakage, Ed."

"Great job, Steph."

She and the others laid the wing gently on the ground. As we settled above it, the other flitters climbed back into the sky to make sure that none of the wing's contents had escaped. An unseen blade gashed the wing open below us as the other two flitters zipped back and forth above us.

In a rather flat tone, Steph said, “I'm sterilizing the tanks."

Her image was facing away from us, gazing at the wing below.

"We had no choice, Steph. We had to do it."