Without law 17, p.8
Without Law 17, page 8
The military aviation museum was all the way across town, so it was a decent drive over there, but the view was nice as the sun came up. I watched as the day went from light blue to orange, to the bright yellow of the sun. The sky was clear, except for a few clouds, and as we made our way to Virginia Beach, everyone was quiet and calm.
“We’re almost there,” Paige said after a while.
A few minutes later, I saw a dinosaur statue on my left.
“What the…” I said as I stared at the statue.
“Paige, are you sure this is the right place?” Anna asked hesitantly.
“Yes.” I watched the brunette roll her eyes in my rearview mirror.
“Really?” Tara asked with a raised eyebrow. “Because this looks like a dinosaur museum, not a plane museum.”
As we continued down the road, more and more dinosaurs became visible.
“I’m sure,” the brunette said.
“Yeah,” Bailey agreed. “I remember seeing them last time we were here. They call it Jurassic Park or something. It’s like a tourist attraction.”
“Right.” Paige nodded. “It’s owned by the museum, but it's not part of the museum.”
“Whatever you say.” Tara shrugged.
“Just follow the dinosaurs, Tav,” Paige chuckled.
“Never thought I’d hear those words strung together like that,” I laughed. “But alright.”
I did as Paige said, and after a while I saw an entrance with a large building at the end of the driveway. The building looked like a large hanger. It was brick on the sides, with large white hanger doors in the middle. There were a few other buildings nearby that looked like they probably stored planes as well, but it was clear the larger building was the main attraction.
The place was clearly abandoned, the grass was overgrown, and the building was covered with dirt and leaves, but there wasn’t a lot of debris around, so it didn’t look like anybody had been there recently.
“It looks like it’s intact,” Paige said as we pulled up to the building.
“It appears so.” I nodded.
“Should we clear it?” Bailey asked.
“It’s a pretty large area,” I said, and I pursed my lips. “Let’s just keep our wits about us.”
“Sounds good to me,” Anna agreed, and she opened her door and hopped out so she could stretch.
Something about the place told me we were there alone. I doubted anybody had come back here for any reason after the EMP hit. Most people were incapable of flying a plane, and a lot of people didn’t know this place existed. I hadn’t known about it until Paige had told me.
“Alright,” I said as I shut the jeep off and climbed out. “Let’s see what we can find.”
“Ooooh, I’m so excited,” Paige squealed, and she flashed me a wide grin.
“Nerd,” Tara teased.
“Count me in that nerd club, then,” Ben said. “Because I’m excited, too. I know we’re here to get a specific plane, but I love aircraft museums.”
“You’ll especially love this one,” Paige said. “Every aircraft is functional. Or was, anyway.”
“You’re kidding,” Ben said with a shake of his head.
“That’s why I chose this place,” the brunette said. “I thought it would make it easier to find one that still worked after the EMP.”
“I would think so.” Ben smiled and held up his hand. “High five.”
“High five!” Paige laughed and smacked the pilot’s hand.
My brunette navigator was smart as hell. I’d trusted her from the beginning, but I hadn’t realized this was a museum where all the planes were already able to be flown. Starting with a stockpile like that would make the process a lot easier. We didn’t have to worry about whether it was because of the EMP or something wrong with the plane. All of them were in working order, so if they didn’t work, it had to be the EMP.
The building was also quite large, so I figured they probably had quite a few planes inside. I didn’t think this was going to be one of those tiny museums with only a few attractions. No, this place seemed like a decent tourist attraction. There had been a sign in the driveway that said something about Virginia Beach Airport. I’d ignored it at first, but if what Paige said was true, then there was probably an area out behind the building where they could fly the planes.
“Do they do air shows here?” I asked out of pure curiosity.
“I don’t know about air shows.” Paige pursed her lips as we walked toward the building. “But I know they offer plane rides during flight season. I was really disappointed last time because we came at the wrong time of year.”
“Yeah, I remember that.” Bailey nodded. “I was kinda sad about that, too.”
“Oh, Bailey,” Tara said, and she patted the blonde on the shoulder. “You don’t have to lie to make Paige feel better.”
“I’m not lying,” Bailey laughed and swatted Tara’s hand away. “This place was really cool, you’ll see.”
I wasn’t sure if it was Paige and Ben’s excitement, or the thought of actually getting a working airplane, but as we got to the building, I found myself more excited to get inside.
“The front entrance is right there,” Paige said with a point toward a large door on the side of the building.
“Alright,” I said, and I put my hand on my plasma gun. “Everyone be prepared.”
“Ready,” Anna agreed, and her hand was on her plasma weapon as well.
I walked over to the door and jiggled the handle. I didn’t expect it to be unlocked, but with storefronts there was always the possibility that whoever owned it, or was operating it at the time, rushed off and forgot to lock up.
I turned the knob, and to my surprise it opened. There was a small clicking sound as the handle turned all the way, and I looked back at my crew with narrowed eyes.
Just because the door opened didn’t mean there was someone there, in fact, it probably meant the opposite, but still, I’d rather be safe than sorry.
The girls nodded to me. The plan had changed, it was time to clear the building.
Anna was right behind me in line, and Paige was behind her. Tara was next, and Bailey brought up the rear. Ben was last, which I think was mostly because the girls were so used to their spots in line they automatically lined up without even thinking about where Ben would go.
The pilot didn’t seem to mind, though. His eyes were narrowed, too, and he had his plasma weapon in his hand and pointed at the ground.
I pulled my weapon off my hip and held it the same way, then I carefully pushed the door to the museum open. To our right there was a ticket counter, but it was closed. There was a metal protector pulled down over it, and a schedule for Christmas tacked in the window.
I had almost forgotten the EMP hit during Christmas vacation, but that little schedule was an eerie reminder of how the world as we knew it ended.
It was dark in the hallway since it was just a long corridor, but I could see a set of doors further down that I assumed led to the hanger section of the building.
“Follow me,” I said, and I waved my team along.
On the walls of the hallway were photos, plaques, and informative brochures. I saw a photo of the man I assumed was the owner on the day of the grand opening. There was also a plaque for some award the museum had won, and a few paragraphs detailing how the museum began.
We made our way to the doors at the end of the hallway, then I paused and looked at my team. I nodded, then we all rushed inside. I flanked forward while the girls alternated sides, and though Ben hadn’t been briefed on the plan, he was a military man, and I knew he understood how to clear a room.
“Clear!” I hollered once we’d finished.
“Clear,” Ben called right back.
“Oh, my God,” Paige breathed as she stood in the middle of the room and looked around. “This is amazing.”
“It’s somethin’, alright.” Ben nodded.
“There’s a lot here,” Anna said. “It seems like this place was untouched.”
“Not quite untouched,” Ben said.
“What do you mean?” I asked as I walked toward the man.
“There’s an empty space here,” he said with a point.
“Hm,” I mused as I inspected the area. Ben was right, it appeared there should have been a plane there. It was at the front of the building near the hanger doors, and it was obviously the exact size for a plane to finish off the row.
“Do you think someone took it?” Bailey asked with a frown.
“I do,” Ben chuckled. “And I’ll give you one guess as to who.”
“You think the owner did it?” Paige gasped.
“Ben’s probably right.” I nodded. “If the guy was smart, he most likely took off after everything went to shit.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Ben laughed.
“You think he just left all his planes here?” Bailey asked.
“You only need one.” Ben shrugged.
“Where could he have gotten to?” Anna asked.
“Yeah, how far do these planes go anyways?” Tara asked. “Don’t they, like, need to refuel or something?”
“All planes do,” Ben joked. “But you’d probably be surprised at these babies. A lot of them are WWⅡ planes, so you have to consider what they were originally made to do.”
“Soooo, where do you think he went?” Anna asked.
“Cuba,” Ben and I said together.
“Right,” Ben chuckled.
“That’s where I’d go,” I laughed.
“You’re telling me one of these things could get us to Cuba?” Tara asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Who knows?” I replied. “We’re staying here and saving the U.S.”
“Fine.” Tara rolled her eyes, then she flashed me a smile. “But maybe we will go to Cuba later?”
“Maybe,” I laughed. “For now, let’s find a plane we can use.”
“What do you think, Ben?” Paige asked.
“We’ll probably want a bomber.” He nodded. “Let’s check those out first.”
Ben and Paige walked ahead, but Anna, Bailey, Tara, and I wandered around the planes and looked them over. Tara found some of the trainers to look at. I think she was drawn to them because they were the most colorful of all the planes. There were a couple bright yellow ones, and one that I think was supposed to be a sort of camouflage, but it looked kind of like cheetah print. The platinum-blonde climbed up into one of them and pretended like she was flying, which was the most adorable thing I’d ever seen.
“Hey!” Tara called when she heard me laughing. “I see you over there.”
“I didn’t realize you wanted to be a pilot,” I teased.
“Just trying to see what it’s all about,” Tara laughed.
“Some of these are really cool,” Bailey said as she and Anna walked over to me.
“I like the small colorful ones,” Tara said. “They’re cute. And the yellow reminds me of this car my dad had.”
“What kind of car was it?” Anna asked.
“Hm, I don’t remember exactly,” Tara said. “The logo was a little horse or something.”
“Your dad had a Ferrari?” the redhead asked, and she shook her head slightly.
“Oh, yeah, I think that’s it.” Tara nodded. “It was his favorite.”
“Gee, I wonder why,” Anna chuckled.
“I don’t get it,” Tara said as she climbed out of the plane.
“You really don’t know what Ferrari’s are?” Bailey asked.
“They’re a car, right?” the platinum-blonde asked.
“They’re one of the most expensive vehicles you can buy,” Anna explained. “They’re luxury cars, but they’re luxury sports cars, so they’re really fast, but also really nice.”
“Aren’t all really fast cars really nice?” Tara asked.
“No.” Anna shook her head.
“Oh.” Tara pursed her lips, then shrugged. “Well, anyway, the one he had was yellow.”
“What did your dad do again?” Bailey asked.
“I don’t know.” Tara shrugged again. “I think he, like, fixed phone lines or something.”
“That can’t be right,” Anna said.
“Oh, you know what my father did for a living?” the platinum-blonde asked with a raised eyebrow.
“No,” Anna admitted. “But I know it can’t be fixing phone lines.”
“Yeah, Tar,” Bailey said with a small frown. “Fixing phone lines doesn’t make you rich like your family was.”
“I’m pretty sure it was something to do with phones,” Tara said.
“He probably owned Verizon or some shit,” Anna chuckled.
“He did not.” Tara rolled her eyes. “I’m sure he’ll find me at some point, then you guys will totally see I was right.”
“Mhm.” Anna nodded. “Sure.”
“Whatev,” Tara said, and she playfully shoved Anna, who laughed and shoved her back.
“Hey, guys!” Paige called. “I think we found it!”
“Let’s go take a look,” I said.
The girls followed me over to where Paige and Ben stood in front of an aircraft. I recognized it at as WWⅡ era, but I wasn’t exactly sure what it was. The plane was dark green on top, with a tan underbelly and silver wings. It had a single propeller at the front of the plane, and several stars painted on it in various places.
“What is it?” Anna asked before I could.
“It’s a TBM Avenger,” Paige answered.
“This particular plane is the Avenger torpedo bomber,” Ben clarified. “She’s a real beauty. I don’t even see a scuff on her.”
“That seems like exactly what we need.” I nodded. “You think we can rig it to drop the plasma weapons?”
“I think so,” Ben agreed. “But I think there’s a bit of a problem.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“I don’t think we’ll be able to haul it with the trailer,” he said, and he pursed his lips.
“Right,” I sighed. “Well, let’s see if it starts up first of all.”
“We need to fuel her up first, though,” I said. “Assuming the tank is empty.
“Of course,” Ben agreed, and he hopped down to follow me outside.
Then we carried the barrel of gasoline inside and rolled it over to the plane.
“Are we sure that’s going to work?” Bailey asked as Ben and I started fueling the plane.
“Renee said it would.” Paige nodded. “Remember, she explained how gas from WWⅡ and today’s gas--”
“Yeah, yeah,” Tara said with an eye roll. “We all remember. Soooo boring. Let’s not go over that again.”
“I thought it was interesting,” Paige said defensively.
“We know,” Anna replied dryly. “You two talked about it for, like, half an hour.”
“Oh, my god, riiiiiiight,” Tara said, and she threw her head back with exasperation.
Renee had said the high octane fuel she sent us with would work for virtually anything we would find in the museum, and I trusted the fort leader’s judgement.
“What’s the fuel gauge say?” I asked the pilot.
“Over half a tank already, though I hope the fuel didn’t go bad,” he answered.
“Alright, let’s top it off,” I declared, and the two of us got to work.
“I need everyone to stand back in case it does start up,” Ben said once we had it fueled up, and he hopped up in the pilot’s seat.
“Right.” I nodded and waved for the girls to follow me.
We made our way to the opposite side of the building and watched as Ben moved around in the cockpit.
A few seconds went by, and I was starting to worry, but then the propeller whooshed to life, and I heard Ben let out a yell of excitement.
After warming up for a few minutes, I saw Ben checking all the instrumentation and ensuring the engine would operate correctly. Once he seemed satisfied it was all in order, the propeller died down then, and the pilot hopped out as we rushed over to him.
“It works!” Paige squealed.
“Yes, it does!” Ben agreed, and the two high fived again. It was kind of adorable seeing Paige have someone to nerd out with.
“Now we just have to figure out how to get it back to base,” Anna reminded everyone.
“Are you sure we can’t haul it?” Bailey asked.
“I’m sure.” Ben nodded sadly. “It’d be a lot easier if we could, but it’s gonna be too heavy for that little trailer. And there’s really no way to hook it up to be pulled.”
“Can’t Ben just fly it back to base?” Tara asked.
“He could,” I said, and I pursed my lips. “But there are NK foot soldiers everywhere.”
“Not to mention he’d have to cross the bridge,” Paige added. “And there are enemy boats in the water.”
“Look,” Ben said, and he held his hands up. “It’s your call, Tav. But, I want you to know I’m confident I can get her back to base. I know we’re in enemy territory, and I’ll make sure to be careful, but I think that’s our best bet.”
I thought for a moment. If Ben said he could get the plane back to base, then I trusted him. He hadn’t given me any reason to doubt him up til this point, so I wasn’t going to start now. Besides, though the girls would always be my most trusted teammates, our team had grown a lot recently, and I had to trust my crew.
“Alright.” I nodded. “Be careful.”
“You got it.” Ben smiled and clapped me on the shoulder. “Now, help me get this thing out of here.”
It didn’t take too long for us to open the hanger doors, then Ben maneuvered the plane outside.
“I’ll see you back at camp!” he yelled over the roar of the engine, then he saluted us, gave another yell of excitement, and pulled the plane to the back of the building to take off.
We watched as the small plane raised off the ground and up into the sky. It was a strangely surreal moment, especially knowing that plane brought us one step closer to fulfilling our plan and saving the entire United States. The Captain would have to lend me his SEALs now, and that would make taking the boats a piece of cake. We already had a place designated for him to land if this plan worked, and part of me had believed it was just wishful thinking, but now we’d pulled it off.
