Wings of Fire Ch. 03

"Woah! That was in the closet too?!?" Ottilia goggled at the steel in James' grip.

"Yup!"

"Do you think it still fires?" Laura asked.

"Let's find out!" James said as he plucked one bullet from the dozens strewn on the table and inserted it in the cylinder. Closing the weapon up, James took aim at a rusty hanging pot and fired. The bullet punched through the weakened metal, causing that section of the pot to explode, before falling to the ground.

The shot startled both women, who immediately cursed at him in Italian, but James didn't hear them. He liked how the weapon had felt in his grip when it fired. A good amount of kickback ensued from the shot, but it didn't jar his hand like some revolvers did.

As he ejected the spent shell casing, James noted how smooth and clean the bore and the cylinder were. Whoever had owned this gun before took the time to care and clean it properly, so it could fire with no issue. The girls had kept yammering at him until he raised his hands, which quieted them.

"Sorry about that, but I had to be sure it would fire. I won't be taking any more shots, but let's hurry and finish picking clothes before we head off to the plane. It's getting close to time to leave," James told them.

Indignant at his actions, but accepting of his apology, Ottilia and Laura went back to squabbling over the clothes. James laughed as he set aside his blank uniforms into his bag, before securing and stowing the gun, the ammo and the small cleaning brushes he found in the box.

The girls were busy picking out jackets when he heard a noise. It was an odd noise to be sure, and one he wasn't sure about. He strained his ears to listen but failed to identify it. James then asked the girls to be quiet, but they were still yammering. He then rounded on them, almost yelling at them to be quiet. They both turned on them before he cut them off with his question.

"Do you hear that?"

Laura and Ottilia looked at him funny before they, too, listened.

"It sounds like cars passing by. So what?" Laura asked.

"We're in the middle of a forest!" James breathed.

Faces lighting up in recognition, both women followed James as he hurried to the entry area of the command building. Sure enough, they spotted what looked like four police vehicles and an ambulance of some kind. Ottilia's face was etched in horror at what she saw coming for them.

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Jack MacLaren slowed down to a stop around fifty meters short of the command building. Everyone in the car and he assumed the other vehicles had heard that shot too. It didn't sound like a shotgun, more like a pistol, maybe a revolver. He put the car in park and got out, his partner and a couple of other officers following suit.

"We all heard that shot?" he asked the assembled men. They all nodded before he continued. "It could be a hunter, but she could also have gotten her hands on a gun, so let's see if we can coax her out. I don't want to have to go to anyone's home today to deliver bad news."

That bit of information sobered them up, especially the orderlies who had been sent by the local asylum to help with detaining the woman. They had been told that she was crazy, bordering on insane, and would likely put up a fight. The orderlies were sent to ensure that she would be contained if it had to come to that.

"Remember boys, this is a seize and capture racket. No killing and you keep your hands to yourselves!" he reiterated to the gathering of officers. Once he turned back to his car, Jack's partner winked at a couple of the other officers and they winked back. They smirked at the fun times to come, thinking they'd have a damn good night ahead of them. Jack backed away from his car, holding a bullhorn, and spoke into it.

"Ottilia Natale! This is the police! We know that you're in there! Come out with your hands up and you will not get hurt!"

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"Holy shit!" James breathed as he saw the amount of police officers outside with their weapons trained on the building. "What in the hell did you do??" he growled at Ottilia.

"I stole that shotgun from a police vehicle not that long ago," she admitted quietly. James cursed as herded the girls back towards the kitchen.

"Ottie!" Laura yipped at her.

"No time for that now! They don't know that we're here, they're only here for Ottilia. So, we can at least get out of here, if we're fast and lucky," he said, rounding on Ottilia. "Please tell me that there's a back door on this place."

"SI! This way!" Ottilia squeaked as they gathered their belongings, stuffing everything into their bags before and taking them as they left.

Both women had selected a pair of coats that had been left behind, as well as two flight jackets that were a perfect fit for Ottilia and Laura. The warning came out again on the bullhorn, telling them that Ottilia had one more chance to come out before they came inside.

Quickly, the trio found the back door and taking a quick peek outside; they found no one there and bolted on out. They ran for the far side of the building, heading south, towards the hangars, shutting the door behind themselves. Running as fast as they dared, they made it to the rear of the first hangar before the first officers came around the building.

Keeping quiet, the three of them kept on moving away, as the officers' attention was on the command building. The men in uniforms were heading around the back, in the direction they had just left, heading for the back door. Both women crossed themselves that they had the good sense to close the door as they left. They all kept on moving until they had made it to the third hangar.

As they were coming around on the far side, the final warning of the officers coming in came out and they stormed the building. Seeing that they were all distracted, James, Laura and Ottilia hurried around to the front of the hangar. They slipped in quietly; the girls removing the old tarp from the plane as James opened the cargo compartments. Stowing their gear fast, the girls put their jackets on and grabbed the blanket, hopping into the back seat.

Closing the cargo bays, James put on his coat and hopped into the cockpit. He had them seal up the canopy before he dug out the keys from his pocket and inserted them. He closed his eyes briefly and muttered a brief prayer to his mother, asking her to keep them safe. He then turned over the ignition, starting the plane.

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"Well, this is damn bust! There's no one here!" one of the officers groused.

"It seems that our time has been wasted!" one of the burly orderlies grumped as he crossed his meaty arms.

Jack was sitting there, scratching his head in puzzlement, as they had checked most of the main areas where Ottilia could be hiding. They were still checking, as the command building was large and there was a lot of ground to cover.

"Detective!" he heard one officer call out. He hustled in the voice's direction and found himself in the kitchen. He saw there were some old dusty uniforms on the table, a busted lockbox, the remnants of a fire and filthy cooking utensils. He checked the fire, and seeing it was still smoldering, his eyes lit up.

"The fire was just put out. She can't be far, find her! Check the back door and the surrounding woods!" Jack shouted as he marshaled the men towards the back door.

They were out in seconds and were moving into the woods when Jack heard a familiar sound. He turned his head and couldn't believe what he saw! There was a plane coming out of hangar three and it was taxiing towards the runway! He stopped dead in his tracks as he shouted out new orders.

"There's a plane over there! Get back to your cars!" he screamed as he reversed his direction and charged around the building, trying to get to his car. He managed to get there first, while the other officers and orderlies were still attempting to reach their vehicles. Wasting no time, Jack slotted his keys in, turned the engine over, and gunned it.

He raced out past the buildings, frantically trying to keep the plane in his sights. Once he cleared the buildings, he saw the plane had made it to the runway. Jack saw that was moving down the runway and gaining speed fast! He put the pedal to the metal, trying to intercept the plane before it took off!

He closed with it as it moved along, picking up speed, but so was he! He was less than fifty feet away and it looked like he would collide with it. It would be a fiery wreck, but these people, whoever they were, would not get away! Suddenly, the plane picked up a burst of speed, shooting ahead of where it should have been! The collision that would have grounded it did not happen as it passed right by him!

Slamming on the brakes, Jack turned the wheel, drifting the car as he tried to straighten out to follow the plane. The car then stalled, the engine dying as it lost power due to the rapid stop. The plane coasted along a little further before it lifted off into the air and out of his reach. He cursed violently as he saw the plane gain altitude and then veer off west.

'Underground!' he thought to himself. Jack restarted the car and drove back over to where the officers were waiting. Many of them were huffing and puffing, not being nearly as fit as Jack was. He stopped and collected his partner and the officers who were riding with him before leaving the base.

"So, what do we do now?" his partner wheezed.

"You guys get to filling out the paperwork when we get back. We have a lot of work to do and I have a call to make," Jack said as he remembered that his old C.O., Colonel Rogers, was still in the military and a very active part of it.

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"Goddamn it, that was close!" James yelled as he brought the plane higher. "Whoever was driving that car was one crazy son of a bitch!"

"Watch your language, James!" Laura admonished him as they continued their climb into the clouds overhead.

"We just foiled a capture by the police, almost got grounded by a suicidal cop, I almost shit myself and I'm sure that some of those bastards shot at us!" James growled. "So, pardon me if I'm not speaking like a fucking gentleman at the moment!"

"Did we get hit?" Laura asked, changing the topic, hoping to get James to calm down.

"Look out over to your left and right, girls. Do you see any smoke or fluids leaking?" James asked them, his voice apprehensive. Both women craned their heads and saw nothing, reporting their findings to him immediately.

"Well, that's a relief. The engine sounds good and is purring like it should, so we're ok for now! That was way too close! I'm glad we moved as quickly as we did, or we'd be in handcuffs right now!" James said with a nervous laugh.

"Thank God for that! No way was I going to go back to my parents!" Laura agreed.

"Si! God only knows what would have happened had they caught us!" Ottilia said.

"Are you two OK back there? I know it's a bit chilly right now, but we need to climb high, so we can stay out of sight!" James wondered, as he explained their constant climb.

"We're a little cramped, but warm enough. Ottie grabbed the blanket and we're staying warm back here," Laura informed him.

"Good! I'll take it as high as we can go without risking the engine stalling. Here's hoping that no one spots us as we get near the border!" he told the girls.

"What's the plan? Just fly over the border? Won't they shoot us down?" Ottilia asked.

"They will try, but I have a plan. Once we get near the border, I'll kill the engine. It will be twilight by the time we get there. Because our engine won't be running, we'll be much harder to pick up on radar. Thankfully, we have a nice tailwind, heading directly to the west, so it will help buoy us and hopefully keep us out of range of any flak cannons," he explained.

"What about any patrols or other planes that might see us?" Laura queried.

"I didn't say there was no risk, but it's one that we'll have to take if we want our freedom. We can only hope and pray that we don't encounter any of that on our way there," he said, hoping that their luck would hold, and the skies would remain clear.

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Colonel Rogers was sitting at his desk, having gone over the daily reports and enjoying his cup of coffee. It had been a long day, and he was eager to be off home soon. Even though the base and the service was his life, he still enjoyed being at home with his dear wife. He was musing about what she was making for dinner that night when his phone rang. Grumbling at his train of thought being interrupted, he sat down at his desk and picked it up.

"Colonel Rogers here," he said into the phone.

"Sir, you have an urgent call coming through from the police. The man on the other end says that he served with you during the war," his receptionist told him over the line.

"What is his name?" he asked disinterestedly.

"Jack MacLaren sir. He said he had an urgent matter he was to speak to you about," she replied.

"Oh!" the old colonel said, his interest perking up. "Put the man through!"

"Yes, sir!" the receptionist replied. Seconds later, the line went dead, then reconnected.

"Colonel Rogers, sir?" the familiar voice of Jack MacLaren spoke.

"Jack! It's been a while! How long has it been since we had a word? Five, six years?" the colonel asked.

"It's been seven, sir, since the Boston riots. Anyway sir, I'm calling you because there's a matter I believe needs to be brought to your attention. I was running on some information I picked up from a tipster. Looking for this girl who's wanted back in Virginia. I took several units and went to look into a place she may have been hiding. You remember the old base outside my precinct?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, what of it?" Colonel Rogers asked, his interest growing in this case.

"We figured that she'd been hiding there, so we went to investigate. We found evidence she was there, but not long after we got there, a plane took off from that airbase and was headed west. I was calling to confirm that it was one of yours or something else," the detective told him.

"A plane at that abandoned base? No way that's one of mine! Was she on the plane?" the colonel asked, his full attention on Jack and his story.

"I believe so, sir. The pilot was a male, that much I know. If it wasn't one of yours, then it must be the..."

"... Underground!" both men said at the same time.

"Thanks for calling this in, Jack! You may just help us in apprehending fugitives from justice!" the colonel thanked him.

"Happy to help, sir! They were heading due west, straight for the border, if I was to guess where they were going," Jack told him.

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Jack! I'll be sure to let you know what happens when we apprehend them!" the colonel told him. The line then went dead, and Colonel Rogers bounded to his feet, heading for the command center. He walked and heard the traditional line that was always spoken when he, the C.O. of the base, stepped into the room.

"Commander on deck!" a young captain shouted, and everyone snapped to attention.

"As you were," he called out. "I have just received word that there may be a plane carrying people of interest out of our country. We have no idea who they are, but we have to assume that they are members of the Underground."

There was a general feeling of dislike in the room, as it appalled most people present that there were traitors among them.

"They took off from the old airbase where I had served, that had been decommissioned many years ago. They were headed in a westerly direction and I need to know where they are now! They are still in our airspace and I want them found before they even get close to the border! Let's get to work, people!" Colonel Rogers ordered.

The whole room exploded into action, everyone manning their posts and doing what they could to locate the plane.

"Talk to me people. Do we have them at all?" he asked.

"I think so, sir!" a young lieutenant said excitedly as he was looking over the radar. "I have a signal on a heading of two-seven-zero! It's faint, but there sir!"

"Do we have anything that could do a flyby to confirm that they are there?" he demanded.

"Yes, sir!" an older captain piped up as he came up to the colonel with a clipboard in hand. He was shuffling through the papers until he found the one he was looking for.

"We have four planes in the air as we speak, sir! Two of them are off on a training exercise and the other two are running a patrol of the local skies, sir!"

"Have all four of them snap to intercept immediately! Their orders are to ground that plane if possible! I want answers about how this slipped past us and who these people are!" the old man ordered.

"Yes, sir!" the radio tech answered as he got on the line, relaying the colonel's orders. Henry Rogers stood there like an immovable statue while the center buzzed around him. He sincerely hoped that they would nab these agents of the Underground, whoever they were. Too many had escaped his grasp and no one else would. Not on his watch.

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James had cranked their altitude to just over twenty thousand feet, getting them as high as they could. Though he could have gone higher, James didn't want to risk it. Even though the plane had a sealed canopy, they had to rely on what oxygen they had to make it across the border. The plane had not yet been outfitted with oxygen tanks or flight masks, so he had to improvise.

"How are you ladies doing back there?" he asked. "You two breathing all right?"

"We're OK, breathing fine. Thanks for asking," Laura replied warmly.

"How much longer before we get to the border?" Ottilia asked, wanting to be out of the U.S.

"Shouldn't take us more than an hour, with us flying at half speed," James replied.

"Half speed? Why aren't we going at full speed?" Laura asked.

"With the extra weight of everything we have and our extra passenger, it's a reasonable precaution. Remember, this plane hasn't been fully tested yet, so we don't know what it can and can't do. I'd rather be on the safe side and go at half speed than go full speed and find out that the engines can't handle it," James explained to Laura.

"Ok, that's fair," Laura muttered, somewhat chagrined at her attitude.

"What's that?" Ottilia asked, pointing out the window, looking south.

"What do you see?" James asked.

"On your left, two dots on the clouds over there. Are they getting bigger?"

James snapped his head to his three o'clock to verify what Ottilia had said. Sure enough, he saw the two dots, which he knew to be planes, and they were closing on them fast.

"Damn it! You ladies had better buckle up and hold on. Looks like someone took an interest in our getaway!" James stated as he banked right, trying to find cover in the clouds.

It did no good, as the incoming fighters had spotted him and zeroed in on his location. James cranked his speed to stay ahead of them, but it barely worked. He listened for any distorted or troublesome sounds in the engine, but heard none. Smiling, James executed a series of turns and spins, hoping to put the planes off their track.

But they stayed with him, the pilots being just as well trained as he was. They stayed on his tail, flying as close as they dared while pushing him closer to the ground. He pushed the plane as fast as it would go, but then remembered that he had swing wings he could put to use. James then flipped a switch, disengaging the safety latches and pulled the lever, swinging the wings into a more angular position.

Re-engaging the safety latch, James pulled up, surprising the other planes by how quickly he had executed it. The brief burst of speed and maneuverability gave him a slight lead on the fighters, outdistancing them. James then started a game of hide and seek in the clouds, jumping from cloud to cloud, keeping them guessing.