'Hi, Jon,' Patrick McLanahan said. Kelsey and Cheryl Duffield looked on with great interest as they heard the name of the man they most wanted to meet at Sky Masters.
'How are you? Any news about Wendy?'
'Not yet, I'm afraid,' Patrick replied. 'Are you secure?'
'I'm here with our new partners,' Jon said.
'Then buzz me once you're by yourself.'
'I can't do that, Patrick,' Jon said. 'They're our full partners now-they've got to be told about what we're doing. They have the proper clearances. I have no choice.'
Patrick paused for a long moment; then: 'All right, Jon. We're going to turn up the heat a little. I need some gadgets to fly a mission.'
'You got it,' Jon replied. 'Just tell me where, when, and how much.' +
'What about your new partners?'
''I said I have to tell them-I didn't say they had a vote,' Jon said. 'Don't worry about it. Whatever you want, you get, as long as it helps bring back Wendy.'
'It will either help bring her home-or punish the ones that took her,' Patrick said. 'I'll transmit the order of battle to you in a few minutes. They'll need to launch within the next sixteen hours.'
'I've had the crews standing by ever since this went down,' Jon said. 'Everything will be ready. If your… benefactor can keep the feds off our back while we generate, it'll be much better for us.'
'Getting a lot of heat out there?'
'Ever since the new partnership deal, we've been getting shit on… ' Jon looked sheepishly at the Duffields and shrugged an apology. Cheryl Duffield looked mad enough to scold him for the rest of the day; Kelsey just giggled. 'Yes, we've been getting a lot of attention-from everyone.'
'Our benefactor should be heading off most of the heat,' Patrick said. 'Hang in there.'
'We'll do whatever we need to do to get Wendy back. You just watch yourself. We're praying for you.'
'Thanks, Jon.'
'Good luck, Patrick,' Jon said. 'We'll be ready. Count on it.' He closed up the phone.
'Was that General McLanahan?' Cheryl Duffield asked. Jon nodded as he opened the phone again and dialed a number. 'Where is he? What's going on?'
'I'll explain everything on the way back to Blytheville,' Jon replied. On the cell phone, Jon said, 'Paul? Listen, we're expecting- You got it already? Good. Any problems…? Excellent. We're heading back now. We should be there in four hours.' He hung up the phone, then made another call to the flight crew of the corporate jet, then to the driver of their car waiting to take them back to Tonopah Municipal.
'Kelsey? Where is Kelsey?' Cheryl asked. The sound sent chills through everyone-especially through Sandy, the security guard….. because it wasn't until just then that she noticed that
Sasha wasn't right beside her. 'Sasha!' she shouted. 'Aspetta! Fermi! '
They found the two of them moments later-sitting in front of each other, with Kelsey leaning up against one of the AL-52 Dragon's huge main landing gear tires. 'Kelsey!' Cheryl Duffield shouted. 'Get away from that dog!'
'But she's nice, Mom….'
'Don't move, little girl,' Sandy said. 'Sasha, basta! Adesso!' Despite her commands, however, the dog stayed right with Kelsey. 'I don't understand this….'
'I think the dog likes Kelsey-and not as a snack, either,' Jon said with a smile. 'Don't take it personallyyour dog didn't rip a stranger to shreds.' Kelsey gave Sasha a big hug and a tickle on its head between its flattened, contented-looking ears before she was slowly, carefully taken away by her mother, and Sasha was led away with a string of sharp admonitions in Italian from Sandy.
Once they were back in the Suburban on the ninetyminute ride back to the airport, Cheryl Duffield finally asked in between a flurry of cell phone calls, 'Okay, what's going on, Jon? Who's going to launch what?'
He looked at her, then at Kelsey, with a little apprehension. He then shrugged. 'I promised I'd tell you everything at the appropriate time-I guess this is it,' he said. And he started explaining. The explanation continued well past the ride to the airport-in fact, it continued well after takeoff. Kelsey listened to each and every word, sitting impassively, her little hands folded on her lap as usual.
Cheryl Duffield, however, was not as patient. 'Do you mean to tell me, Dr. Masters,' she finally stormed after Jon had finished his explanation, 'that Sky Masters Inc. has been involving itself with unsanctioned, illegal military missions all over the world? You have been investigated and are currently under surveillance by the FBI because of these activities? And-let me get this perfectly straightyour vice president in charge of research, General Patrick McLanahan, is right now planning an operation ia Libya, and you are going to help him-by sending an aircraft loaded up with experimental cruise missiles and launching them against Libya?'
'Cheryl, that's not the half of it' Jon said in response.
'This is outrageous! This is… this is unacceptable she thundered. 'You didn't reveal one bit of this in days of contract negotiations! This is fraud! This is criminal! This is a major breach of contract! We will not be a part of it!'
'Cheryl, I warned you each and every day of our negotiations that we are involved in things that you might not want to be part of,' Jon said earnestly. 'You looked at our books. You interviewed our personnel….'
'All except the McLanahans-they were the ones we wanted to talk with! Now we see why-they were busy blowing up missile bases in Libya!'
'We couldn't tell you anything until your security clearances came through, and by then it was too late-the operation was already under way,' Helen said.
'We will not stand by and watch our company be destroyed by this… this lunacy!' Cheryl shouted angrily. 'You didn't answer to a board of directors when you started this wild escapade-but you have one now, and they have the power to oust you, the McLanahans, and everyone else involved in this crazy scheme right out of the company. And that's exactly what I want to see done!'
Jon was still busy on the telephone, coordinating launch activities with his Blytheville headquarters. He ignored Cheryl Duffield until there was a lengthy pause on the other end; then: 'Cheryl, I don't really care what you're going to do-go cry to the shareholders, sue us, close us down. I don't care. But I'm going to do everything in my power to support the McLanahans and the team out there in Egypt. I'll do as much as I can for as long as I can. In less than ten hours, our planes will be airborne. In twelve hours, it'll all be over-either we'll be successful, or folks will die. Either way, it won't matter what you say or do. You can't stop it.'
'Oh, I will stop you, Dr. Masters,' Cheryl retorted. 'Maybe not this time, but after this day, you won't be able to order a pizza, let alone an air strike. I guarantee it.' And she got up and disgustedly walked off to the front of the aircraft. As she moved forward she half-turned, waiting for Kelsey to join her. Their two gazes met. Cheryl saw something in her daughter's eyes, a request or a plea: Whatever it was, Cheryl recognized it. She obviously didn't like it, but she accepted it. She shook her head, her lips taut, and continued forward.
'Mommy's pretty mad,' Kelsey said.
'I'm sorry about all this, Dr. Duffield,' Helen said. 'We had no choice but to keep this information from you. Too many lives are at stake.'
'The McLanahans-are they in danger?' Kelsey asked.
Helen looked at Jon. He looked at Kelsey, wondering whether or not to answer. Most times, it was so difficult to remember that Kelsey Duffield was still a nine-year-old and not just a world-class, superintelligent, fully adult thinker. He always wanted to treat her as an adult, a peer-but most times he usually ended up treating her like a smart little sister. That time, Jon realized, was just about past.
He told his caller that he would get back to them, hung up the phone, and then looked seriously at Kelsey. 'Yes, Kelsey-the McLanahans are in terrible danger,' he said. 'In fact, Wendy McLanahan is missing, and General McLanahan's brother Paul is dead.' Kelsey's eyes widened in fear, becoming shiny with tears, but she said nothing. 'General McL-Patrick, is trying to force the Libyans to turn Wendy over to him.'
'What will he do?' Kelsey asked.
'He is going to attack some key military targets inside Libya, places that are vital to Libya's defenses,' Jon replied. 'All he has to help him are two men, Hal Briggs and Chris Wohl, with Tin Man battle armor; some soldiers, one or two aircraft… and us. The Libyans have over one hundred thousand troops, a very big air force, and nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons.'
