Evohn Cystrom was ecstatic when Lorin advised him he would be flying the command staff when they evacuated the island. Unfortunately he hadn’t been able to get away to alert Rupra Bruda until everyone had taken off the next morning. When the hanger was nearly deserted he went aboard the Lukon PT22 and settled back in one of the passenger seats. Then he cleared his mind and made the connection.
“Evohn. I was expecting to hear from you yesterday?”
“Yes. Sorry, it was a madhouse around here until everyone left for the battle.”
“Where are they going?” Rupra asked worriedly.
“Lortec.”
“Lortec? How did they find out about Lortec?”
“Leek and another pilot discovered it on the way here, I guess. I hope you alerted them to the threat.”
“We told them to be on the lookout but frankly, we figured they would be hitting one of our bases on Ock Mezan. Scutz! How many planes did they have?”
“Several hundred?”
“That many? I didn’t think they had but forty or fifty.”
“They’ve been flying in twenty or thirty everyday. I went to Ledum yesterday and we brought back eleven.”
“Hmm.”
“How is the attack on LB1 coming?” Evohn asked.
“We were waiting for you to be off the island.”
“I’ll be off at noon. I’m taking the command staff somewhere.”
“The command staff?” Bruda laughed. “Well, that is most fortunate.”
“Yes. I thought so.”
Do you know where?”
“Lorin said it would be a long trip. That’s all I know.”
“Will you have any of your friends on board?”
“Yes, I managed to get two of them on my crew.”
“Then when you are up in the air you must divert the plane to a TGA base so we can take the command staff into custody.”
“Yes. That’s what I was planning.”
“Who is on the command staff?”
“General Zitor, Lorin Boskie, their staffs and Lucinda Demitri.”
“Lucinda Demitri. Who is that?”
“Peter Turner’s new mate?”
“What? He’s been mated?”
“Yes, to his guide. She’s carrying his baby?”
Rupra laughed again, more heartily this time. “I can’t wait to tell the Chancellor. He’ll be delighted with this news. Is there any chance Peter Turner will be aboard?”
“No. He went somewhere in a small boat last night. I couldn’t find out where he was going or why he was in a boat, but it had something to do with the attack on Lortec.”
“Okay. As soon as you know your destination radio it into TGA Command and we’ll have a reception party ready. Videl may even be there to meet them personally.”
“I’ll do my best to make that happen.”
“Good job. I’ll be expecting to hear from you this afternoon when you’ve taken control of the plane.”
“Yes, sir.”
Evohn disconnected the link but lingered a few moments in the Lukon PT22 contemplating how he would take control of the aircraft once they were airborne. All of the officers would be armed so it wasn’t going to be an easy task. He decided they’d have to be patient. Everyone would be alert for the first kyloon or two so he knew he would have to wait until their weariness took its toll, then when everyone was asleep they’d get the drop on them and disarm them. He played out the plan in his mind’s eye over and over taking into consideration every possible scenario. When he was done he was satisfied he had at least an eighty percent chance of success. He’d only imagined a few scenarios that resulted in failure, and each of them involved a gun battle, the loss of cabin pressure, and the plane crashing. He didn’t like those scenarios, but even the loss of the plane would be a significant victory for the Purist and probably bring the civil war to a quick conclusion.