Wings of Steele - Destination Unknown (Book 1) (80 page)

COVERT
INCURSION: GULF OF MEXICO

Ensign
Myomerr adjusted the Invader's controls for descent and
nosed
it down. "Are you gentlemen ready?"

"All
set, Skipper," said Dooby.

"Fifteen-hundred
klicks to co-ordinates," stated Ragnaar.

"Thank
you, Lieutenant. We'd better hustle it up, we're running
late..."
She shoved the throttle forward.

■ ■ ■

"Where
are they, Jack?"

Jack
checked his watch, 12:15. "I don't know, Lisa." He leaned
back
on
the lounger and scanned the sky over the Gulf. Lisa moved a lounger
from the other side of the sundeck, next to his, Fritz was strolling
around on the sand. “They'll be here,” he added
confidently.

"Can
you see them?” she asked.

"Not
yet. Believe me, you'll notice their entry. But I can see the
Freedom."

"Really?
Where?"

Jack
pointed up at the moon. "There, see that little rectangular
shadow
on the left side? It's moving, can you see it?"

"Yeah..."

"That's
it."

"Wow,"
she whispered. “It must be huge if we can see it from here...”

Kyle,
Lynette and Phil Cooper stood in the house at the sliding
glass
door watching Jack and Lisa. "What do you think they're looking
at?" asked Lynette.

"Good
question..." mumbled Cooper staring at the night sky over the
Gulf of Mexico.

"What
do you suppose he's waiting for?" asked Lynette, stepping away.

"I
wish I knew," answered Kyle. "But in a minute I'm gonna'
go out
there
and get a straight answer out of him if I hafta' shake it out of
him..."

"Easy,
big fella," said Cooper. "Let's let him play it out. Maybe
when nothing happens, he'll come to realize that he needs our help."

Kyle
raised an eyebrow, he was starting to think his son was right -
while Jack rested, he'd had to stop Cooper from calling in other
agents. He'd begun to realize what Lisa had said about Jack being
changed - different, was true. They were deep changes, he had a
command presence that was unmistakeable, and Kyle felt a sense of
fearlessness that was almost palpable. While always a fairly tough
kid, his son had grown into a man that he would consider extremely
dangerous and capable if forced to fight. He had convinced Cooper
that forcing his way on Jack would end in disaster, in more ways
than one.

It
was a pleasant night and Jack was thoroughly enjoying it. There
was
a gentle breeze dancing through a set of wind chimes on someone's
house somewhere up the beach and the gentle tinkling notes made
Jack's eyelids heavy.

"Look!"
shouted Lisa, sitting bolt upright and pointing to the horizon.

Jack's
eyes shot open just in time to see the tail end of what
looked
like a shooting star. "That's them!" he said with a smile.
“Told ya you'd notice it...” The light had disappeared
below the horizon. He pulled the comm from his pocket as he stood
up, fitting it into his ear.

Cooper
and his parents had seen his actions and filed out onto
the
sundeck. "What's up, Jack?"

"Our
taxi's here, Mr. Cooper."

"I
don't see anything, Jack," said his mother. Thunder rolled
gently in the distance.

"Give
it a minute."

"Look,
son," said his father, aggravation dripping from his voice, "I
think
we've had just about enough of this, it's going on twelve-thirty..."

"Patience,
dad... There!" said Jack, pointing. A faint, rosy glow appeared
on the
distant
horizon, reflections dancing on the water. He looked up and down the
beach,
most
of the houses were dark, their occupants asleep. Thunder rolled
again, louder than before.

"What
is it?" Asked Cooper.

"You
government types," joked Jack, "would probably call it a
weather
balloon."
He keyed the comm unit, "Steele to Invader, slow down or you'll
overshoot."

"Invader
copy." Myomerr dropped the speed brakes and yanked back the
throttles.
Ragnaar toggled off the main engines as the throttles hit the zero
mark. She coasted toward the beach on anti-grav at over two-hundred
miles an hour.

"Set
it right on the beach," instructed Jack. The blue flare of the
braking
jets reflected off the water, their soft whooshing audible over the
gentle Gulf breeze. The shadowy profile of the Invader seemed to
grow as it approached, and Jack smiled to himself with self
satisfaction. "Invader, adjust your gear settings for soft,
uneven terrain."

"Invader
copy, sir." Ragnaar input the commands into the computer and
the
auto-controllers extended the gear to anticipate sinkage and the
need for auto-leveling.

Kyle
scratched his chin. "Looks like some kind of hovercraft,"
he
told
Phil.

"You
could say that..." commented Jack, overhearing, “but
you'd be wrong...”

"Hovercraft
don't have landing legs," said Cooper. His hair was
standing
up on the back of his neck. "You've been on a ship, haven't
you? That's why no one's been able to find you!"

"Very
good, Mr. Cooper." Jack smiled and Phil Cooper
smiled
back. Jack wondered if he had figured it out.

"Well
that would explain the uniform," whispered his mother.

"But
what country?" replied his father. "I've never seen a
uniform
like
that."

They
watched in silence as the Invader slowed to a crawl, turned,
and
crabbed sideways as it reached the beach. Jack was aware of a
distinct humming as it approached. Probably the anti-grav
generators, he thought.

Settling
to the sand, the humming subsided as the anti-grav generators spun
down. Jack approached the
ship
as the waist door hissed and the boarding ramp extended. Ragnaar's
hulking frame almost filled the doorway, and Jack knew exactly who
it was without seeing his face. Fritz darted by and up the ramp,
brushing past the Lieutenant. “Sir,” he saluted. Jack
returned the salute and was aware of the others crowded close behind
him.

"Sorry
about the delay, sir," began Ragnaar, "we had a few minor
problems..."

"That's
Ok Lieutenant." Jack turned to the others. "Let's get
everybody
aboard..."

Ragnaar
frowned. "I wasn't informed we would have passengers, sir."

"Is
it a problem, Mr. Ragnaar?"

"Uh,
no, sir!" he replied backing out of the doorway.

Light
streamed out across the sand. "C'mon..." encouraged Jack.
He
ushered
everyone up the ramp except Phil Cooper who stood at the bottom, one
foot on the sand, the other on the ramp. “Go or stay, Cooper,
makes no difference to me,” he shrugged, “but I would've
thought you'd want to see this through...” The agent took one
step up and paused, undecided. “We'll be back before
daybreak,” prompted Jack. Phil Cooper nodded and strolled up
the ramp. Steele gave the deserted beach one last scan before
closing the door behind him. Phil Cooper sat next to Kyle and
Lynette, studying Ragnaar and his unique features. Despite his size,
he looked human enough,
sort
of
.

Lisa
smiled wryly as she strolled past to see who was in the cockpit.
“It's not nice to stare...” she whispered. She returned
as wide-eyed as her parents after meeting the Ketarian pilot,
Myomerr.

"Dooby,"
said Jack, "find the med kit and get everyone a translator
disc, Ok? My sister will give you a hand."

"Yes,
sir." He turned to Lisa, smiled gregariously and stuck out his
hand.
"Hi. Name's Dooby, good to meet you. Didn't know the Skipper
had a sister."

She
shook his hand and smiled at the young man with no hair. "And I
didn't know he had a crewman
named
Dooby. I guess we're even."

Jack
stood in the doorway of the cockpit, his back to his passengers,
talking to Ragnaar and
Myomerr
as the Invader lifted off the beach and sped across the open expanse
of water. "So what was the delay?"

"The
ship's been on yellow alert most of the day, Captain. There's
been
a lot of traffic through the far end of the sector. The pilots are
flying a patrol as we speak." He paused to adjust the input for
the navigation computer. "Commander Smiley said better safe
than sorry."

"Roger
that..." added Jack, nodding.

"Did
I hear the name Smiley?" Jack turned to find Agent Cooper
directly
behind him. "That wouldn't be the missing Naval pilot Paul
Smiley, would it?"

"The
same," said Jack. "Mike Warren's with us too." He
motioned to the seats, better buckle up, Phil.”

"What
about a woman named Marianna..."

"Maria
Arroyo," interrupted Jack. "She's with us too. I had her
placed
in the brig last night when I found out her real identity." He
shook his head. "I didn't like it though, she's been a good
friend. I'm sure we've got quite a discussion in store for us when
we get back."

"We're
not going to a ship that floats on water are we...?" It was
more
a statement than a question.

Jack
smiled as he and the agent buckled into their seats. "No, Phil,
we're not."

“
Ascending...!”
called Ragnaar from the cockpit.

The
floor tilted up and pushed them all into their seats, although the
artificial gravity system vastly reduced the effects of the
acceleration into space. Once out of the planet's atmosphere, the
cabin gravity stabilized to normal and it was comfortable to move
about.

Jack
drew his father into the cockpit and pointed out through the
perspex
at the moon which seemed extraordinarily large. The rectangular
shadow on the center of the moon was growing rapidly. "I've
been out here, dad, in space. UFOs are
real
,
they always have been."

Kyle's
sharp eyes were studying the rectangular shape in front of
the
moon. "That's a ship isn't it..."

"Yeah,
dad, that's the Freedom, that's
our
ship."

Phil
Cooper, Lynette and Lisa, peered out the Invader's slanted side
windows, watching the ship grow larger.

A
flight of four Lancia fighters met and bracketed the Invader,
swinging past and looping around, two on either side,
escorting
it back toward the Freedom. They broke off on either side, arcing
gracefully away just before final approach. Lining up on the
flashing runway markers, Myomerr coaxed the Invader in through the
open stern, through the blue haze of the stasis field and settled it
gently at the end of the runway in front of the flight tower's
lowered safety nets.