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The C-5 Galaxy touched down on the airport tarmac at 5:00 A.M. Pakistan Standard Time. The behemoth lumbered across several taxiways before arriving in front of Hail’s Gulfstream and the rented Huey.
Hail’s crew exited the Gulfstream to greet Hail’s new pilots.
“Jesus,” Renner said. “Could they have sent us a bigger cargo plane?”
Hail smiled and said, “I like it. I really like it. Big is good in my book.”
Nolan had seen dozens of C-5s during his career so the novelty of the plane had long disappeared.
Paige Grayson was almost giddy with excitement.
She looked at the plane like it was a unicorn and asked, “Can I fly it?”
Hail knew she had no simulator flight time on a C-5, of which he gently reminded her so he didn’t need to tell her no.
The plane’s big four turbofan engines wound down, and Hail watched the men through the cockpit window flip switches as they went through the post-flight checklist.
After the Marine pilots had finished the checklist, the nose of the aircraft began separating from the body of the aircraft and it rose into the air. Paige looked on in disbelief as the nose climbed higher until it had risen well above the cockpit. Unilaterally, a massive metal ramp unfolded from inside. After the nose came to a stop, the ramp continued lowering toward the ground, unfolding like a lawn chair until it was planted firmly on the tarmac.
“That has to be the coolest thing I have ever seen,” Paige said. “You have to get one of these things, Marshall.”
“Yeah, I’ll check eBay to see if they have any available,” Hail said.
“You better be ready to shell out some serious dough for fuel,” Nolan said. “These suckers have the third highest operating costs of any plane in the Air Force fleet. In today’s dollars, it probably costs approximately $100,000 per hour of flight time.”
“Duly noted,” Hail said, apparently not dissuaded by Nolan’s monetary factoid.
The lights inside the cargo bay snapped on. Far away, in the middle of the jet, they could see their drone strapped to the metal floor.
“It looks like a Tinker Toy in there,” Paige said, sounding a little less enthused about the weapon.
Hail said, “Good things come in small packages.”
Hail began walking up the ramp. “Come on,” he said, waving the others forward. “Let’s get the Starship off the plane and prep it for its maiden journey.”
The rest of the crew followed Hail onboard.
As they walked, Paige took in the interior of the aircraft. The first thing she saw was a ladder that led to the second story of the aircraft.
Nolan, confident in his knowledge as a jetfighter, told her, “There are typically seventy-five seats upstairs. Twenty-five additional seats are up near the front of the plane, including seats for the pilot, co-pilot, navigator, crew chief, and loadmaster. It also has some bunks so the crew can get sleep and spell each other. Let’s not forget about the bathroom that’s bigger than the one you have at home.”
Paige reminded him, “Marshall’s ships are my home.”
Nolan switched to another subject, believing he had touched on a sensitive subject. “It also has a full kitchen.”
They walked deeper into the plane and Nolan continued his tour. “You can put anything in here from tanks, disassembled planes, attack helicopters, and even a full-size diesel rig with its trailer. The back doors can be opened during flight, allowing it to drop cargo out of the plane at altitude.”
Grayson, imagining an airborne semi, smiled and said, “That sounds like fun.”
The group finally reached the Jefferson Starship. By the time they freed it from its bindings, Renner had unchained the forklift and had driven it over to the group. Carefully, Renner drove the forks underneath the Starship and lifted it off the deck. In reverse, Renner backed it the entire way out of the C-5, exiting the open nose of the aircraft. He didn’t stop until he reached the Huey. Pushing some levers, he set the drone down. Then he drove the forklift back into the jet and secured it before joining the group.
Hail’s Marine pilots, new to the crew, climbed down from the cockpit ladder, and joined the group clustered around the Starship.
“Any problems?” Hail asked.
“It kind of flies like a garbage truck,” Damon Hooper commented.
Hail smiled, remembering their conversation shortly after they’d met. “I told you driving a garbage truck was a tough job, didn’t I?”
The Marines looked neither pleased nor upset with their new boss. They looked exhausted.
“Where do you want us to fly this thing?” Marcus Walker asked, nodding his head toward the C-5 behind them.
“First, I want you to get some sleep and wait here for us. I’m not sure if the Starship will be leaving with us or not.”
Grayson appeared shocked and asked, “Why wouldn’t it be leaving with us?”
“Too many unknowns,” Hail told her honestly. “We have no idea what we will encounter on the ground. We are uncertain if we can get it out of theater. Hell, we don’t know if we will be able to get out ourselves.”
The C-5 pilots wished everyone luck before they returned to the Galaxy, eager to put the plane’s bunks to good use.
Hail addressed his crew, “OK, we need to get a heavy line tied to a releasable hook. The Starship borders the upper limits of the Huey’s lift capability. We’re going to need to remove anything we don’t need in the chopper.”
Paige said, “Most of the seats have rotted away so that should be the first priority.”
While Nolan, Renner, and Grayson started lightening the chopper’s load, Hail went to the Gulfstream to download and examine the video footage they had taken of the compound. This done, they could begin formulating a plan to successfully utilize Starship in the most dangerous circumstances imaginable.
Peshawar, Pakistan - Safe House Two
The sound of an incoming call, rather than her phone’s alarm, snapped Kara awake.
She answered, “Kara.”
Hail’s warm voice greeted her, “Good morning. Did you sleep well?”
Kara looked at the children, one sleeping on either side of her.
She spoke softly, “Are you close?” She yearned to hear Hail and his team were standing outside the front door, waiting to be let into the house.
“No, but we will be very soon. We’re flying in a weapon that was made in the lab.” Hail purposely avoided telling her it was designed and built by the young adults. No sense in freaking her out—at least not yet.
Kara sounded unsure. “What will that do for me?” she asked. “Can’t you just pick me up and get me out of here?”
There was a moment of silence. It felt like the foreboding silence of doctors before they delivered bad news.
Hail’s bad news was nothing she didn’t already know.
“There are literally hundreds of men surrounding the home. The only way to get you out is to enlarge the perimeter, and the only way to do that is by removing players from the board.”
“So what’s your plan?” Kara asked.
“Like I said, before first light we are going to chopper in and do a quick drop-and-go. We are going to set a drone we call Jefferson Starship in the front yard. From there, my team will use the drone’s weaponry to create enough wiggle room so we can fly in, land, and get you out.”
Hail waited for Kara’s rebuttal but when none came, he reassured her. “It will be OK. We will get you out.”
“The kids are coming with me,” Kara stated.
“That’s not a good idea,” Hail said. “It will be difficult enough suppressing gunfire to sneak you out, let alone you and your new family.”
Kara said in a soft yet determined voice, “Marshall, I came here to kill Zain Shallah. I have what he cares about most in this world, and I’m not leaving without either killing Shallah or taking his kids.”
Hail had known Kara long enough to know when she made up her mind, it was a done deal. He shared the same fault. Stubborn pride and laser focus. Sometimes those two traits didn’t mesh well.
Hail backtracked his initial statement and said, “Well, if we can create enough of a safe zone to retrieve you, I guess we have enough room for the kids.”
Kara smiled on the inside.
She checked the time on her phone and said, “If you are going to drop your drone at first light, shouldn’t you get moving? I won’t keep you.”
Hail acknowledged, “Yeah, you’re right.”
As he was preparing to hang up, he heard Kara say, “Marshall, I really want to thank you. I don’t think Pepper would have risked his men to bail me out. I owe you.”
Now it was Hail’s turn to smile inside.
“So the CIA owes me a favor. I can live with that.”
Kara corrected him and said, “I owe you a favor. After this, I don’t think the CIA will have warm and fuzzy feelings for me.”
“I still will,” Hail said as he disconnected the call.
Kara smiled, eased herself out of the bed, squeezed from behind the mattresses, and took up her position in the hallway.
She wondered if Hail’s chopper would be fired upon when it made its drop.
Knowing sunrise in Peshawar was at 7:16 A.M., she anticipatied hearing the glorious sound of Hail’s helicopter in the next half hour.