The Last Airship (28 page)

“Mr.
Osborne, take your best men, and see if you can take out those gunners in the
north,” Blake Simmonds ordered.

“Understood.”

He
then watched as Osborne and 10 of his best soldiers climbed the debris field
above the tunnel opening in an attempt to reach the machine gunners.

Below
them, the fast-flowing, turbid water was surging through the tunnel opening and
flowing into the lake. Its whitewater turbulence was tearing at the sides of
the tunnel, and ripping out large chunks of limestone from its walls.

Any
man who had the misfortune to fall into the raging maelstrom would be dead
before he even knew what had happened.

Blake’s
eyes kept track of them for a couple of minutes until they disappeared from
sight.

The
myriad of tracer bullets continued to shoot through the air. It was hard to
tell whether his team was winning or losing
,
and he had no idea whether
or not the men he’d sent to destroy the gunners were even still alive.

Then,
he heard the grenades explode.

The
explosions emanated from north of the tunnel, and the entire area was lit up as
if it were broad daylight. The surrounding pine trees caught fire. He heard
loud screams of pain, but from whom
,
he had no idea.

The
machine guns went silent.

Had
his men destroyed them?

They
were now in control of the lake.  They would now be able to easily maintain the
upper hand.

The
fast-flowing water from the tunnel had settled as the water level inside the
tunnel and that of the lake, had finally reached equilibrium.

Then,
from out of the enormous tunnel opening came the unmistakable sound of large
propellers spinning.

Blake
Simmonds watched in awe as he bore witness to the nightmare of his father’s
past.

In
front of him, in all its evil glory, he saw it – The Magdalena!

Her
giant propellers spinning
,
they drove her inexorably toward
s
the
entrance of the lake.

“Get
ready men, don’t let her escape,” Blake warned.

More
than thirty of his men took aim at the propellers, ready to stop its forward
momentum.

They
never had a chance to pull their triggers.

The
ground shook violently as another set of explosions detonated below their feet.

Blake
watched, as the entire southern side of the lake burst into flames, as though
someone had poured aviation fuel on the lake surface and tossed in a lit match.

The
blast of heat that followed was so intense that those who weren’t immediately
incinerated dove deep into the lake trying to escape the conflagration.

Had
the mystery military team set a trap for them?

Blake
Simmonds couldn’t answer his own question as he waded into the icy waters of
the lake. All he knew, as he watched his professional team run for their lives
,
was that in the same instant in which he thought he had finally achieved
the lifetime goal he once promised his father that he would fulfill, he had
lost it all.

Without
any other possible alternative or solutions, once he reached the western edge
of the lake, he simply walked away from the disaster, finally free from the
corruption.

In
the background, the Magdalena sailed quietly into the night’s water of Lake
Solitude, unhindered.

*

Sam
Reilly felt right at home as his hands ably steered the giant craft. It hadn’t
taken him very long to get used to its controls. It slipped out of the tunnel
opening and sailed quietly into the lake.

Next
to him, Aliana had the burner on full, expelling enormous volumes of heated air
into the canopy of the Magdalena.

Sam
could feel the pitch of the nose rising further and further out of the lake as
the Magdalena slowly motored towards the lake’s center. He wasn’t completely
certain that they’d made the correct calculations for the amount of heated air
that was necessary inside the canopy, and he wondered, if it was even possible
to now get the Magdalena airborne.

Then,
like Peter Pan, the Magdalena started to lift out of the water and gently float
upwards into the sky.

The
Magdalena flew through the night.

Sam
Reilly was almost convinced that they had achieved the impossible. The enormous
canopy slowly floated through the night sky like a dark rain cloud. He had
flown many different aircraft in his life, but the Magdalena was one of the
most magical. Like the child who dreamt of one day flying, the Magdalena seemed
to belong in the sky. A part of him wished that he could have been around when
airship flight was far more commonplace.

Sam
watched as the beautiful girl, who was half asleep next to him, began to stir.
He gently slid his hand forward and entangled hers. “Good morning,” he murmured
softly as she smiled at him.

“We’re
still alive?” Aliana asked, surprised.

“So
far. I still haven’t found a safe place to land. We haven’t gone very far, perhaps
40 miles?”

“Now
what?”

“I’m
not sure about that, Aliana. You’re the microbiologist. What are we going to do
with this obscene virus?”

“You
know that it must be destroyed, don’t you?”

“I
do. But when we land this ship, they’ll never let it leave her.”

“Then
we must destroy it before we land.”

“So
many people have already been killed trying to acquire this weapon,” Sam said.
“How do we destroy it before they use it to destroy humanity?”

“The
burner. That’s what we’ll use. We need to burn the entire container, so that as
it melts, the virus won’t have a chance to escape.”

“Can’t
it escape as we open the container?”

“No,
as long as it remains inside the burner, the virus will die instantly. The heat
will most likely kill it before its container melts, anyway.”

“Then
let’s do it.”

Sam
picked up the metallic suitcase, looked at it once more and asked, “Are you
absolutely certain this will work?”

“Yes,
I am.”

Sam
then tossed the suitcase directly into the blue blaze.

It
took a few minutes for the shiny metal case to turn from a gloss to a blazing
red, before suddenly combusting. The contents of the glass vials inside it
bubbled as it was affected by the heat. Before long, the dreaded contents of
the suitcase were finally destroyed.

“It’s
over
,
then?” Sam asked.

“Yes,
it’s finally over,” Aliana replied.

He
took her in his arms
,
and held her, as they both sighed with relief.
Behind him, Sam heard the distinct sound of something he’d heard many times
before. Sam didn’t even have to turn his head to know that the Magdalena was
being followed by two Blackhawks.

He
only wished he knew who was piloting them.

*

Sam
heard an American’s voice, coming over a loudspeaker
,
and he gripped the
Magdalena’s steering wheel tightly, as he wished that it could help him find an
escape route. Advanced as she was when first built, the Magdalena was more than
75 years behind the times when it came to her engineering and was certainly
incapable of reproducing the speed and agility of modern day aircraft.

“Sam
Reilly, this is Lieutenant Commander Ryan on board the U.S. Navy Blackhawk
requesting that you land the Magdalena immediately.”

Sam
had no means of messaging the Lieutenant by radio, so he handed the steering
wheel to Aliana, and then walked out onto the open-air gangway.

Next
to him was the Blackhawk, which he presumed had ordered him to land.

He
waved his arms, and then pointed to the mountains and pine trees below, as if
to say, “Where the hell do you think I should land?”

“Sam
Reilly, follow the Blackhawk in front of you. It will take you to the nearest
landing site.”

He
waved his arms again to indicate that he would oblige.

It
took more than six hours to reach the landing site. Sam concluded since they
hadn’t simply been shot down, that the U.S. government obviously wanted
something that they had.

Finally,
Sam saw a flat grassy area came into view below.

“Okay
Aliana, I’ll take over from here.”

“She’s
all yours.” Aliana said, looking relieved to turn the steering over to Sam.

Sam
took the steering wheel in his hands again. It felt good. After making a couple
of slight arm movements, he once again felt in control of the Magdalena.

Next
to him, Aliana reduced the acetylene valve until the burner flame was almost
entirely extinguished.

“Okay,
pull the excess pressure lever,” Sam said. “Remember, small bursts, we don’t
want to go crashing to the ground.”

Following
Sam’s instructions, Aliana gently pulled on the excess pressure lever.

Above,
they could hear the sound of heated air being released from the canopy.

There
was no change in their flight.

“Okay,
pull it a little more,” Sam instructed.

After
the fifth release, the Magdalena began to lose altitude, ever so slightly.

“Okay,
let’s increase the flame, just a bit. The ground is coming in a little too fast
for my liking.”

There
was very little wind.

Sam
would have appreciated a slight headwind to help steady the ship, but no wind
was the next best thing.

Between
the two of them, they continued adjusting the burner flame, the valve release
and the speed of the motors, until the Magdalena eventually touched ground on
the grassy field.

“Touchdown!”
Sam exclaimed.

Aliana
then pulled the excess gas release valve, so that the entire canopy released
all of its heated air and the Magdalena’s now empty three gondolas sank heavily
onto the ground.

*

Immediately
after landing, several Navy Seals stormed the pilot gondola.

“Sam
Reilly?” Asked the young man wearing military camos who greeted him. With the
soldier’s finger resting just above the trigger of his assault rifle, he gave
Sam the immediate impression of a redneck hillbilly who wanted nothing more
than an excuse to kill someone. The military needed people like that, he
understood. They had their place, and for the most part, they could become
excellent soldiers, but they were rarely bright enough to make it in, let alone
to remain in one of the Navy's elite SEAL teams.

“That’s
me,” Sam acknowledged.

“Stay
where you are, and don’t move. Who else is with you?”

“Just
one other person. Her name is Aliana Wolfgang.”

“Don’t
move or I will shoot to kill you both,” the man said harshly.

“That’s
don’t move, sir,” Sam replied to his order.

“Who
are you to tell me how to address you?” The soldier sounded irritated, and was
just naïve enough not to show any concern.

“I
can answer that one,” stated the leader of the SEAL team. “Sam Reilly retains
the rank of Major in the U.S. Marine Corps, as a nonoperational adviser, in his
otherwise unspecified role – whatever the fuck that is.”

The
young soldier looked concerned, and started to justify his ignorance, but Sam
ignored him completely and said, “Lieutenant Commander Ryan!” Sam looked
genuinely pleased, “How are you, you old bastard?”

“Sam
Reilly!” Ryan broke into a grin that matched the width of his enormous hand, as
he reached out to take Sam’s hand and shake it. “I never thought I’d see the
day that I’d be the one breaking you out of a sticky situation.”

“But
how did you get involved here?” Sam asked. “And how did you know about me?”

“We
had no idea that you were even involved until we captured Tom. It was just very
good luck that the two of us once worked together in Afghanistan. He told me
about your exploits. I was a little skeptical at first, and then when he told
me that you were involved, I knew it had to be true.”

“But
why were we involved in any of this?” Sam asked, referring to the U.S.
military.

“Surely
you must know why, Sam.”

“I
can imagine, but I have no idea how your boss learned of its existence,
especially since I first heard about it only two days ago?” Sam was genuinely
surprised.

“I
find that hard to believe, Sam. So, where is it then?” Ryan Walker inquired.

“The
virus?” Sam didn’t even bother to try to deceive his old friend. They had
completed countless missions together over the years.

“Yes,
what else do you think the President would be so concerned about?”

“What
do you think I would do with a virus so lethal that it had the power to destroy
the human race?”

Sam
watched as Ryan’s eyes slanted a look at the burner, its blue flames still a
vibrant glow of amber.

“You
silly rich bastard! You burned it?”

“Would
you rather check the rest of the airship?”

“No,
I can imagine there’s no point.” Ryan looked at him and said, “You know he’s
going to be pissed off about this, don’t you?”

“Who?”

“The
President.”

“Publically,
in his war room, I’m sure he’ll appear to be mad as hell. But I’ll wager a
year’s salary that he’ll be relieved that this decision was taken out of his
hands.” Sam then looked at Ryan and said, “So, I guess that’s it then. Shall we
all go home now?”

“No,
there’s still the matter of the terrorist who has been after the virus.”

“I
thought we were the only ones after it?” Sam had decided early-on that the less
information he betrayed about how he got involved in the matter
,
the
better.

“No,
there is someone even more dangerous than an altruistic fool like you, Sam.
You’re free to go, but we’re going to have to borrow the Magdalena. Our one
saving grace after losing the virus may just be to catch the man who wanted it
so desperately.”

He
then explained to Sam exactly what they planned to do.

*

John
Wolfgang stared at the Magdalena in the field ahead of him as the Blackhawk approached
the landing site nearby. She had eluded him and his father for their entire
lives. He wondered whether any of it was worth it
,
and wished that his
father had never even discovered the damned virus.

The
Magdalena was much smaller than he’d imagined she would be. The sharp lines of
her aerodynamic canopy appeared more like sinister blades that took life than
the beautiful airship that he’d imagined.

He
wished the airship had never been built.

“Is
my daughter onboard?” He asked of the soldier who had greeted him kindly in the
Blackhawk, but who now acted as his guard.  John had a slight quiver in his
upper lip, the only visible sign that he was no longer in control.

Aliana
was all that mattered to him now.

“Yes,
she is,” the soldier answered.

“And
is she okay?”

“I’m
told that she’s fine.”

“Thank
goodness,” John said.

“You’ll
be able to see her soon.”

The
pilot then landed the Blackhawk.

“So,
it’s over then?” John asked.

“What
is?”

“Everything.
The deal, the virus… it’s all now under your control
,
and I hope your
government uses it wisely for the prevention of war instead of as a biological
weapon.”

“It’s
not over yet.  Lieutenant Commander Walker will explain it to you in more
detail. He’s waiting for you on board
,
and will explain everything.”

The
soldier then escorted John to the Magdalena.

A
Navy SEAL with fire red hair and a confident smile shook his hand when he came
aboard.

“John
Wolfgang?” He asked.

“Yes.”

“My
name is Ryan Walker,” he said
,
shaking John’s hand. “I’m charge of this
entire operation, and I’m here to tell you that we have a problem.”

“We
had a deal, Mr. Walker. It was quite clear. I get you the virus and the
terrorist
,
and you get me my life back. Am I to understand that the
United States government does not keep its promises?” John asked.

“We’re
more than happy to keep up our end of the bargain.”

“Then,
I want my life back.”

“But
the virus has been destroyed,” Ryan told him.

The
new information made John stop suddenly.

“After
all these years, the countless lives that the search for the virus has taken,
without ever even infecting any one of them, and you’re now telling me that it
had been destroyed back in 1939?” John asked, incredulously.

“No,
you can blame Sam Reilly for that,” Walker said.

“Sam
Reilly destroyed it?”

“Yes.”

John
laughed out loud at the stupidity of it all.