Chapter Eight
Troy activated the door of the Mark One and laid his comrade onto the floor of the mighty helicopter. Li Kym was like a dead weight but Troy suddenly noticed something that reinstalled hope; he was breathing faintly. Troy could not contain himself as his body filled with a sudden feeling of relief, he began to realise that the weapon would have killed Kym if it had struck his head, but lucky for the paralysed agent it hit his lower back.
‘Computer scan Agent Kym for vital signs, I do believe he’s still alive’
‘Agent Kym is in need of urgent medical attention his vital signs are faint but he is stable. All motor nerves appear to have been dissolved by a powerful energy surge, however his brain is still intact’
The Mark One lifted off the beach where it had stood for the past few hours and darted off into the pitch black of a warm Miami night. Troy wasted no time in bringing the super chopper up to full speed, she thundered through the night like a shark through water at nearly thirty five thousand kilometres an hour. It didn’t take long for the Mark One to reach its destination; the SIA's Alaskan base was now in sight. The Mark One slowed to landing speed, the stability cons on either side retracted and the rotors emerged from the tail and began to spin at incredible speed. The chopper landed gracefully as two figures in white overcoats ran to the chopper with a stretcher.
Troy waited patiently in the mess hall of the underground base as he awaited news of his new best friend. After some time Troy’s mind was beginning to ache with all the thinking he was doing, many things ran amok inside the intangible area of his head known as his consciousness. He tested theory after theory in an attempt to work out how Frost had found them it was almost as if he could now read minds. He lifted his black polo-neck sweater and rubbed his lower back. Exactly underneath his fingers was a tattoo of a wolf and ‘Designation 115’ was written above it. All the agents had gotten tattoos when they were younger much to General Thorn’s disapproval. They had all been to see an Indian elder who had told them of their spiritual animals. Troy was told that his spirit animal was the lone wolf the Indian shaman had completely freaked out and ran away gibbering when he tried to see Arrin’s.
They both laughed it off but now Troy started to think there was something to it. Troy was clearly missing his dead comrades. General Thorn and Dr Janner broke Troy’s solitary debate; they brought news of Kym.
‘Hello Daryl how are you doing my friend? I have some good news, Kym will be fine he's in need of a brand new limbic system because his nervous system’s fried but that won’t take too long, he should be back to active service in a couple of days all being well’ General Thorn told the young agent what he was hoping to hear and he breathed a sigh of relief.
‘He’s quite a lucky guy old Kym isn’t he! Cheating death twice he is truly blessed!’ Troy was pleased that Kym would be ok and his face clearly showed it. Thorn nodded at Troy and left the room taking a deep sigh as he did, the past few days were beginning to take their toll.
‘The General is quite right Daryl, he’s lucky to be alive. The weapon Frost used was a replica of one of ours although it was far more powerful than anything we’ve toyed with. Frost is undoubtedly enhancing technology that we have developed’
‘We think Frost intended the blast to hit Li’s head which would without question, have rendered him brain dead. However it seems by some force of luck he stood up just in time and the blast hit his back which took him close to death. I‘ve also found a microscopic tracking device which Frost must have somehow planted on him’
‘There is something sinister about him Janner he seemed cold, calculating, almost evil. I think he's using armour a little too much; something's taken over his sanity it’s almost as though the armour has corrupted his mind’ Troy was closer to the mark than he knew.
‘We know the material of the armour is partially organic and after prolonged use it attempts to bond with organic matter, we were worried that if the armour was worn too often it would overcome the wearer. We didn’t know it could occur so easily though’ Dr Janner knew of this side effect but he didn’t know how potentially dangerous the alien material could be to humans.
‘Well if he has been corrupted, there may be a way to exploit him, it may be his weakness. I’m not quite sure yet but it is something to think about. I‘ll continue the hunt and think of a new way of bringing him in’ Troy was a very dominant person when he wanted to be; his steely gaze and sharp features could pierce anyone’s personality.
‘Well from all I’ve seen and heard from you today I’m certain that you are our only hope Daryl, I just pray you don’t let us down. Get out there and find him my friend!’ Dr Janner sent Agent Troy on his way.
The slender blades of the Mark One began to spin; accelerating rapidly. The snow underneath her almost became a blizzard as the chopper lifted itself away from the base and into the dark cold night.
Troy took the incredible vessel to just under mach ten and activated autopilot he began to work away on the control console in front and searched for new ideas in the pursuit of Frost. The dark interior of the Mark One made Troy look menacing as he cleverly tapped away on his console. After a few minutes his attention was drawn to the main viewer and warning alarms filled the air; for some reason the vessel was now clearly visible to any organisation with access to radar or the Integral Grid. As soon as the device had failed the Mark One slowed down to nine hundred Kph which was procedure so as not to raise suspicion when the craft appeared on radar at incredible speeds.
‘Computer please explain to me why the hell the anti-tracking system is offline. We’ll have the entire US Air force on us in a matter of seconds’
‘This device has failed due to a minor power overload although it is not yet clear as to the reason why this has occurred. Primary and secondary computer systems are attempting to correct the problem. Please do not be alarmed this is a minor failure and will be rectified shortly’ the computer told Troy what he more or less knew already, the Mark One was now without stealth and was clearly visible on many a radar screen across the US, it was only a matter of time before the Air force would be onto it.
‘Unidentified object please explain yourself and your business or you will be met with severe force’ the Mark One was now filled with the voice of a young radio operator from some kind of military installation. Troy was clearly agitated by the situation but was not worried about it in the slightest.
‘You are in direct violation of the air traffic code you have no permission to invade US Airspace your aircraft will be destroyed this is your last chance’ Suddenly one of the screens flashed inside the Mark One.
‘Six Hellcat fighters have been dispatched on a intercept course from McIntyre Airbase they are fully laden with high yield air to air weapons, current speed five thousand Kph, ETA; two minutes’ The computer gave the bad news, the military obviously had no intention of letting this one get away with a deadly terrorist still on the loose.
Sure enough as the Mark One computer had announced six of the world’s most advanced fighter aircraft sped rapidly towards her. Troy could do nothing but wait anxiously for the repairs to be completed, he had no intention of having a fight with his new guests but he certainly thought a good chase was in order. He made himself comfortable and waited for their arrival with an excited grin.
‘Unknown vessel this is your final chance to turn yourself in we will use whatever force necessary to down your
‘Well sir I have given consideration to your stern words and I think I will now go about my day as I was, before I was so rudely interrupted’ Troy was now beginning to enjoy his ‘predicament’ and it showed. The squadron of fearless pilots were now bemused where before they were solidly confident of the might of their fearsome fighter jets. There was a slight pause whilst the pilots reported back to their superiors but this was suddenly shattered by a volley of missiles that struck the Mark One so hard the chopper actually lost a few hundred feet of altitude. The weapons were no mat
ch for her but they certainly packed a punch. Troy knew how powerful the blast would be it was part of his plan, he and the mighty Mark One were clearly unfettered by the might of the US Air force. The fighters broke pursuit of the fireball that replaced the hunted chopper but they slowly realised that the helicopter was still visible on radar.
The attack upped a level. The Mark One ducked and dived as streams of missiles only just missed her, with Troy at the helm she moved more graciously than she was ever designed to. He directed the chopper upwards and then braked sharply as the fighters unwittingly flew past. Troy manoeuvred up behind the rear wingman and sent his rotors into the aircrafts tail sending it into an uncontrollable spin; the pilot ejected. The other five now feared the Mark One and split off into various directions, just as instantly the Mark One computer broke the fun.
‘The anti-tracking device is now operational and working safely within designated perimeters, stealth has been regained. Shall I engage the previous speed and heading?’ The computer had fixed the problem and spoilt Troy’s game with one clever stone.
‘Yeah yeah ok then let’s get back on track’ like a young boy who has had his new toy snatched from him, Troy seemed glum as he replied to the computer. The Mark One retracted its rotors and thundered off into the new sunrise, leaving the US Air force with more of an enigma than it had started with.
‘This is Eagle leader, we have lost all visual and radar contact with the vessel in question, it just vanished!’ If the young pilots weren’t mystified before, they certainly were now.