“I don’t know,” Nico said in bewilderment. “None of it makes any sense.”
“And unfortunately what we do know,” Keane said, “is that, as soon as it does make sense, we’ll be in crunch time.”
“Yeah. We never really find out the actual details until we get to the end of this shit, do we?”
“No, it’s usually a FUBAR session when everybody finds out what’s going on.”
“It’d be nice to change that for once,” Nico said. “We could maybe get answers before everyone is in danger.”
“Yeah? Let me know how that works out for you,” Keane said.
Chapter 6
When Charlotte woke up the next morning, her bladder screamed at her. She rolled over to see the room was lit, if it could even be considered a room. It was small and sparse of furniture, very military, with double bunks on both sides and a very small table at the far end. There was a little bit more, but nothing that really caught her eye as her bladder screamed for release. She slowly slid down over the edge of her upper bunk and stepped onto the cold floor. She gasped, and instantly Nico sat up on the bunker below hers. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, but I need the washroom.”
He led her to the bathroom and said, “We have our own.”
Grateful, she walked in and closed the small door. It was almost as small as an airline bathroom. A little bit bigger but still it was a bathroom. And when she used the facilities and stood and washed her hands, she was beyond relieved. She checked her face, but she looked pretty decent, considering her kidnapping and all. Although she was still tired from the night’s goings-on, she had had some rest. As she opened the door, Nico leaned against the wall. She got out of his way so he could use it behind her. And then she returned to the bunks.
Keane lay on the other lower bunk with his eyes closed. She didn’t know if he was asleep or awake. She sat down on the lower bunk that Nico had vacated and waited until he came back. When he saw her sitting there, he stretched out and patted the bed beside her. “At least this way we can talk,” he murmured.
Not wanting to wake Keane, she stretched out beside Nico and whispered, “How long are we here for?”
“Quite a while,” he said. “But we’re on the move, and we’re heading off to a new destination. We’ve got several different legs to this journey, but they will get us home again.”
“Sounds good to me,” she said with a yawn.
He whispered, “Can you sleep some more?”
“I don’t think so,” she murmured, but she could already feel the drowsiness coming over her. “Or maybe I can.” She curled her knees up to her chest and whispered, “I should have gone to my bunk.”
“No need. Just rest.”
Her eyes already closed, she smiled. “What about you though?”
“I’m a big boy,” he said. “Besides, I have work to do.”
She heard him, but that’s about all she heard. She nodded. “Make sure you wake me if anything happens.” She knew it was becoming a habit to ask that of him. She just didn’t know why it was so important.
“Just forget about everything, and go back to sleep.”
Nico watched as she drifted back to sleep again; then he slowly sat up and shifted around her.
Keane opened his eyes and looked over with a smile. “Just like a homing pigeon.”
“Ha,” Nico said. “I’ll check our time schedule.”
“We’ve still got six more hours.”
Just then there was a beep. Nico checked the chat box to see transportation changes. He softly called over to Keane. “They’ve changed our plan. The private jet is no longer in the mix.”
“I wonder why.”
“No way to know,” he said. “But one of the stations, Thailand, is sending a military plane back home again.”
“And we’re going on it?”
“Looks like it. They’re heading to Alaska first.”
“And then what? We’re switching?”
Nico nodded. “Yes.”
“What time frame?”
“Two hours.”
“That’s enough for her to get some more sleep. Cargo planes won’t be an easy way to rest.”
“Nope, definitely not. But that’s all right. She can sit buckled in, and, in time, we’ll get where we need to.”
“I wonder why Alaska.”
“Well, we’re way the hell on the other side of the world, so why not? We have to go one direction or the other.”
“I was hoping for a jaunt into Germany,” Keane said with a half a smile. “Not that we’d get off the base at any time.”
“I was just hoping for a direct from Sydney to San Fran myself,” Nico said, a grin splitting his face.
“It’s never that easy,” Keane said with a laugh.
“No, it never is.”
Nico woke Charlotte fifteen minutes before they were due to leave. When she stared at him with bleary eyes, he smiled and said, “Go wash your face. We’ll leave here soon.”
She nodded and got ready.
With his bag in hand, he grabbed her hand and said, “Don’t say a word as we leave, please.”
Again she nodded, and he went ahead. She followed, with Keane bringing up the rear. Back up on deck, she was led to a different helicopter. Only this time Nico wasn’t flying. She raised her eyebrows at him as he sat down beside her. He shook his head and said, “He’s bringing the helicopter back.”
She nodded in understanding and watched as they took off, staring down at the massive ship below them. “I wish I’d gotten a tour.”
“Not happening,” he said. “As in never happening.”
“Too bad,” she said. “That was an experience of a lifetime.”
“And hopefully the only time you have to hide out on a carrier like that,” he said with half a chuckle.
She smiled. “So, where will we go next?”
He winked at her. “Wait and see.”
Chapter 7
When they landed at a military base, Charlotte smiled and said, “So I guess I get a military escort home?”
“Not quite,” Nico said. “It won’t be anywhere near as comfortable.”
She
