Learning To Fly Read online

  A few minutes later, the ship entered a low orbit over the moon and Christy took over manual control. It took a couple orbits before she found the entrance to the base.

  “How are we gonna get it?” Franklin asked.

  “This is one of their ships. Unless they’ve changed the codes recently, we should be good,” Christy said.

  “What if the codes have been changed?” Kendra asked.

  “Then we get out of here fast.”

  She throttled down and began descending toward the surface, and when they were no more than a hundred yards out, they heard a high-pitched whistling sound.

  “We’re being scanned. We’ll know in a few seconds if we’re good,” Christy said.

  Ten seconds later, the sound stopped, and a door opened in the surface. Christy lined up and flew in, coming into a large hangar bay with marked landing pads on the floor. One of them had flashing lights around the perimeter, so she set down on that pad and shut off the engines. She went over the weapons one last time, and ten minutes later they exited the ship.

  Cat Mixon set the armored car down in a remote field and transferred the contents to a large burlap bag she had brought for the purpose. She leaned in the open window and gave the unconscious driver a pat on the cheek.

  “No hard feelings, buddy, just business,” she said, before flying off with the sack of money. A minute later, she was approaching her warehouse and her super hearing picked up voices from within. Those alien dudes again, discussing what she didn’t know.

  ‘What if Walter is right?’ she thought.

  With that thought, she landed on the roof and just sat there eavesdropping.

  ‘No point in letting them know I’m here just yet,’ she said to herself. The conversation stopped for a minute, then resumed. They were speaking in their language, and she could understand nothing of it. Then she remembered the earbuds she had found in her office a few days ago. She hadn’t taken any notice of them at the moment, but now she had to wonder if they might have a purpose she hadn’t thought of before. She put them in her ears and the gibberish became English.

  “You’re sure we have nothing to worry about from Mixon?”

  “I’m sure. She’s out doing whatever illegal activity suits her at the minute. I doubt her ambitions rise much above that.”

  “What about the man?”

  “Walter? He hasn’t been seen around for a couple days, but if she keeps up her end, he’ll be busy enough.”

  “What about the other woman? She could pose a threat. How much do you think she knows?”

  “Don’t worry about her. I have that taken care of.”

  “Care to enlighten me?”

  “You didn’t notice the camera?”

  “I wasn’t really looking for one.”

  “Well, there’s a camera on the ceiling. It’s not recording sound. It wasn’t here the other day, so I figured she planted it, or had Walter plant it when he was here recently.”

  “Why don’t you disable it?”

  “Think about that? If she put it here, she wants to keep tabs on us, not on Mixon. Mixon is nothing to her, but if she suspects we’re up to anything, we’re her real concern.”

  “How does that camera help us?”

  “She knows about the moon base, has for years probably. She won’t show up there if she knows we’re there.”

  “So you left the place wide open and you’re letting her see that we’re not there?”

  “Precisely. By the time she figures out what’s waiting for her there, it will be too late.”

  “You know we’ll eventually have to deal with Walter and Mixon.”

  “You’re probably right, but they’re not the biggest threat at the moment. They don’t know who we are and what our plans are.”

  “Not yet, but if Walter has been working with the other lady...”

  “That’s why we have to get her out of the picture immediately. We get her out of the way, then by the time Walter or Mixon figure out what’s going on, it will be too late. There are only two of them. There’s no way they can stop us.”

  “They are powerful. If they decide to work together, they could be formidable.”

  “Have you forgotten, they aren’t working together, and they show no signs of doing so. We have ways of removing their powers, if it comes to that.”

  “If you can get close enough. How do you propose doing that?”

  “First things first. Let’s subdue the planet and we can take care of that problem in due course.”

  Christy, Franklin, and Kendra moved cautiously through a corridor that ran from the dock area. The place was eerily quiet, just the gentle hum of the life support system.

  “You think they got a basketball hoop here?” Franklin asked. “I could dunk in this gravity,” he said as he took a couple large leaps in the air.

  “Might want to keep it low key for now,” Christy said.

  “What are we looking for?” Franklin asked.

  “There should be a control center here somewhere. We find that, and we find out what they’re up to.”

  “Then we get out of Dodge?”

  “Exactly.”

  A minute later, the corridor opened up onto a cavernous room that stretched farther than the eye could see. To their left and right, looking down, and looking away from them, they could see no end to the room. It had to stretch for miles. The room was full of cylindrical pods, each with a green light on one end. The pods were end to end, side by side, and descending farther than they could see.

  “Whoa...what are those?” Kendra asked.

  Christy just stood and let out a gasp.

  “Yeah, what are those?” Franklin asked.

  “An army,” Christy finally replied, in a barely audible tone.

  “You said they were assembling one,” Kendra said, “So why are you surprised?”

  “But...but this one is ready to deploy. You see the green light on each cylinder? Those cylinders are mechanized suits. They’re loaded in transport ships the way they are, but by the time they get close to the surface the pods transform to the suits. Each suit is weaponized, depending on the class of soldier, and they’re controlled by a remote link. When they land, it only takes...”

  “It only takes what?” Kendra asked.

  No answer. Franklin turned around and saw Christy lying on the floor, her face a mask of pain. There was a small burn mark on her chest, but no other signs of injury.

  “Franklin, get down,” Kendra screamed as she dropped to the ground. There was a flash from across the room and a hole appeared in the wall where her head had been a moment before. Three more flashes from across the room, and three more burned holes appeared in the wall.

  “This ain’t fair. I can’t even see who’s shooting,” Franklin said lying prone and pointing his weapon across the room. There was another flash, and he aimed in that direction and fired. He couldn’t tell if he had hit anything, but more flashes appeared and he kept firing at them, hoping to hit something. Kendra crawled over to Christy, who was moving her lips but no sound was coming out. She put her ear to Christy’s mouth and could barely make out a faint whisper.

  “Earth...it’s Earth...right pocket...”

  “Right pocket?” Kendra asked.

  “Y y yes...my right pocket...take...get out...warn Walter...I’ll...cover.”

  Kendra checked Christy’s pocket and found a small thumb drive. When she held it up, Christy nodded and her body convulsed again in pain.

  “Go...just go...too late for me...the target is Earth...you must go. Run now.”

  “We can’t just leave you here,” Kendra said, trying in vain to choke back the tears.

  “You must...if you want to live...just go...now.”

  Franklin grabbed her hand and started to pull her toward the corridor. She got to her feet and followed him. There were more flashes, and more holes appeared on the wall near them. When they got to the corridor, they stopped and glanced back. Christy managed to get to one knee,
then to her feet, aiming her weapon across the room and unleashing a barrage. There were more flashes and a moment later her body jerked from several hits, then fell to the ground.

  “Nooooooooo,” Kendra screamed, her face contorted in anguish and rage.

  “Come on, you heard what she said,” Franklin said, “We have to get out of here.”

  They ran for all they were worth, reaching the dock and the ship they had arrived on. They got in and strapped in, Franklin taking the controls.

  “You remember how to fly this thing?” Kendra asked.

  “Only one way to find out.”

  Franklin thought back to what Christy had shown him and eventually he managed to disengage from the dock and lift into the air. He was rotating around to face the exit when he saw some dark forms approaching and more flashes lit up the hangar.

  “They’re shooting at us. Punch it,” Kendra screamed.

  Franklin aimed at the door, but this time it didn’t open for them like it did when they came in.

  “Ah, crap, door’s not opening.”

  “What’s that trigger on the control stick? Maybe a weapon?”

  Franklin noticed the small trigger on the front of the stick and depressed it. A small barrel moved out from under the nose and a moment later, a blast of energy shot out toward the door. He held the trigger down and the beam became continuous, eventually blasting a hole in the door big enough for them to fly out. He hit the throttle and shot out the door and away from the surface.

  “Please select a destination,” a mechanical voice sounded.

  “Earth,” Franklin said.

  “Be more specific, please.”

  “Home...the place we departed from before we came here.”

  “Understood, calculating course. Stand by.”

  “Okay, we’re heading home. What next?” Franklin said.

  “We go save the world.”

  26

  Walter was sitting in the computer lab browsing the internet when Franklin and Kendra walked in. Kendra had the thumb drive and went straight for a computer, saying nothing.

  “How’d the trip go?” Walter asked.

  “I need to see what’s on this drive,” Kendra said.

  “Not good Pops,” Franklin said.

  “What happened?” Walter asked.

  “Someone started shooting. We got out...she didn’t.”

  “Oh no...how did you get back?”

  “She showed me how to fly the darn thing on the way up there. It’s pretty simple, really. We saw a large room with these weird pods, had to be thousands of them...there was shooting...she covered us. She’s gone.”

  “Man...that sucks.”

  “You can say that again, Pops.”

  “Guys,” Kendra said, “a lot of stuff on this drive. There’s another level to this place, an elevator down from the hangar. Got fighters down there and everything.”

  “What else is on there?” Walter asked.

  “A lot of intelligence on these guys we might end up fighting. Other campaigns they’ve waged on other planets, their favored tactics, specs on the mechanized suits, information on their fighters...it will take hours to go through it all.”

  “Well, you kids check out the other level and that drive. I’m gonna head out and make sure folks aren’t causing too much trouble. You got my phone number if you need anything.”

  “Yeah, just don’t go out of cell range,” Franklin said.

  “I’ll try to keep at a low altitude.”

  Catherine Mixon didn’t want to go inside with them there, not after what she had heard. She still had the drive Walter had given her, and she was curious to see what was on it, but she didn’t want to go in to retrieve her laptop. She flew away and into the suburbs, checking parked cars along the way and before long, she saw what she was looking for. There was a car parked in a mall parking lot with a laptop in the back seat. A few seconds later, she was flying away with the laptop to the incessant beeping of the car alarm. She went out of the city farther and found a secluded spot where she sat down and plugged the drive in.

  What she saw only confirmed what Walter had said, and seemed to make sense in light of what she had heard a few minutes earlier, but what was she to make of all this, and what was she to do about it? One minute, she was on top of the world, and now this. She closed the computer and let out a stream of unprintable oaths, then leaned against a tree and closed her eyes.

  “That isn’t any way for a lady to speak,” a voice intruded on her thoughts. She opened her eyes to see Walter standing there with a smile on his face.

  “How in the hell did you find me?”

  “I heard the car alarm and saw you making a quick exit. Wasn’t hard to follow you. Figured you had a use for that laptop. You care if I return it to the rightful owner?”

  “Go ahead and take the damn thing back. I’m done with it.”

  “You still gonna be here when I get back?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe...maybe not.”

  “You want to talk?”

  “Not particularly...least not to you...and not to those bastards back at my warehouse either.”

  Walter grabbed the laptop and returned without it a minute later, only to see her flying away at a high rate of speed. He caught up to her easily enough.

  “Where you off to?”

  “I’m not sure. Why do you care?”

  “Did you watch the video?”

  “Yeah...and heard them talking earlier...not sure what to think.”

  “You know they’re up to no good.”

  “But what exactly are they up to...and why should I care? I’ve been up to no good since I was ten years old.”

  “Nothing short of taking over the world...or another one...but we’re pretty sure it’s this one.”

  “You have got to be kidding me. Do you know how that sounds?”

  “Yeah, pretty over the top, like something out of a comic book.”

  “Or those cheap novels my uncle used to read when I was little. Always someone wanting to take over the world. Who wants that? That’s too much of a headache. Let someone else run the world. I just want my fair share.”

  “Even if it means taking it from others?”

  “It’s worked so far...or at least it was working.”

  “I’m not here to lecture you on that. You know where I stand. I don’t have what you’ve taken recently, but I worked for every last penny of it.”

  “Oh, spare me the moralizing. I don’t have any pretensions. I’m not one of these delusional criminals who claims to have a higher purpose to it all. I’m a thief, but I’ve been a pretty good one for a few years, without these...abilities. This just makes it easier.”

  “It allows you to be lazier, to take more risks.”

  “Perhaps.”

  “Uh oh, look out,” Walter said, pointing ahead to a 747 heading directly toward them. They dropped altitude to avoid the jet and when it was past, Walter pulled back next to her.

  “I think we’re out of cell range up here,” he said.

  “Is that much of a big deal?”

  “It could be if the kids need to reach me.”

  “I’m not even sure where we are. How fast have we been going?”

  “Let’s go down and take a look.”

  They dropped below the clouds and the first thing they saw was a herd of zebras.

  “If you were looking for a remote place to talk, you couldn’t have done any better,” he said, “Let’s go sit down by that watering hole. Nobody to hear us but the critters.

  “Do you find that using your powers works up a huge appetite?” Mixon asked when they were sitting down, keeping their distance from a lion that eyed them warily.

  “It can, depending on how fast I’m going. I wouldn’t worry about the lion. They can’t hurt you anyway, and I’ve never had one try yet.”

  “You’ve been here before?”

  “When I first figured out how to fly, I ended up here by accident. Didn’t know how fast
I was going. I’ve come back a few times when I need some alone time. Anyway, what do you think about all this? You got any ideas where you’re headed now?”

  “I have no idea. Part of me just wants to say screw it and go on with what I want to do, but the other part of me is a bit concerned with what those two might be up to.”

  “You’re only concerned because you’re afraid it might throw a wrench into your plans. It might disrupt your little criminal empire.”

  “You’re probably right. But I also know that there’s only one of you and you can’t be in two places at the same time. You have a moral compass. You’ll weigh everything and try to stop the greater evil. I could have a free hand.”

  “You’re probably right. Look, I need to get back to civilization, or at least the more populated parts of it. You think about all this. You know what I’ll be doing, but you also know that when that threat’s over with, I’ll be coming after you and I won’t rest until you’re shut down. I don’t know how and I don’t know how long it will take, but you will pay for what you’ve done. There’s no way around that, but maybe you can do one good thing with your life before the end. Give it a thought.”

  With that, Walter lifted off and flew westward as fast as he could go.

  On the way back to Ohio, he took the time to stop an aircraft hijacking and snag a drug smuggling boat in the Caribbean, eventually arriving back at the house, feeling that no matter how the conversation with Mixon had gone, he had at least accomplished something. He walked in, went to the basement, and still didn’t find Franklin or Kendra. He called out and received a reply from what sounded like another level down. Walking into the hangar where the other ships were, he saw an open door on the far wall and an elevator door beyond that. He went down and came out into another hangar, much larger than the other one, and with a vast assortment of ships.

  “There you are, Pops, how was your afternoon?” Franklin asked.