Timestamp: Event +20 hours
Locations: Global Justice's Headquarters and The Team Possible Foundation Complex, Middleton International Airport, Middleton Colorado
Dr. Elisabeth Isis Possible, head of Global Justice, sat quietly behind her desk in her office as she tapped a small button hidden just under the lip of her desk. A red warning light activated above her outside door with that small button tap that repeatedly flashed "DO NOT ENTER!" Every Global Justice Agent implicitly knew what that blinking sign really meant: "Do not bother me for any reason short of the world coming to an end unless you want to be shipped to and stationed at an Arctic Outpost for the next two years… if I'm in a good mood."
The computer monitor off to one side was displaying static when it should have been displaying the Global Justice logo when not in active use. Attached to one of the monitor's USB ports by a retractable cable sat a small device that was emitting a faint hum. The device had been designed to scramble anything electronic within a 400 square foot range in all directions. There were only two electric devices that would work inside that static scrambled bubble: A Mark 10 model PosComm and a Mark 12 Kimmunicator.
There were only two of the latter and eight of the former in existence, and one of those was sitting beside the monitor on her desk.
Currently the PosComm was scrolling through personal pictures taken during the past five years: years that had changed her… years which she had stopped being Elisabeth Director and had become Elisabeth Possible. As the picture on the PosComm changed to a group photo taken at her wedding, she smiled as a recurring thought went through her mind.
The thought had come to her from time to time over the last five years. Picking up the PosComm and looking at the picture, she gave the thought serious consideration not for the first time: the thought that anyone with the name Possible carried a dangerous and highly contagious virus. A virus that infected anyone that came into contact with it. A virus that would change them forever…
…One way or another whether they wanted it to or not.
She didn't know it at the time, but she had first been exposed when she had met her friend Sheri Nicole Sensible's new boyfriend Dr. Samuel Clemons Possible. She had repeated and regular exposure over the years until Sheri Nicole's death.
That exposure had changed her; however its consequences went unnoticed.
The infection, now looking back, had caused her to become more determined and more driven, which had led her to be chosen as the first Director of a new agency called Global Justice. That direct cause she hadn't known about for years until Agent Will Du had pointed out how much she seemed to be like a certain "Amateur" in some traits at a debriefing. Agent Du pulled three months of winter Arctic duty for those comments.
However, another outcome she had known about almost from the second she had been exposed was readily apparent. That effect had been like an irresistible force drawn to an immovable object... Literally.
She had found herself attracted to the same young and handsome man her friend was drawn too… Samuel Clemons Possible who was totally smitten with her best friend... Sheri Nicole.
She could see the pair of them were a true match made in Heaven, so in the name of 'Friendship' Betty had resigned Samuel to that special place where all unrequited love is buried… to the deepest, darkest part of a woman's heart; her heart. Then did her best to be the caring and supportive best friend that either could ever have.
Years later she again became exposed to the virus again when she came into contact with Kimberly Ann Possible for the first time. Although she herself had no apparent side-effects from her repeated exposure to Kim, she could see the effects it had on others that came into contact with her. The contamination of Commanders William and Lindsey Du were prime examples. Her "Top Married Agents with ATTITUDE."
In the years after Sheri Nicole's death, she had kept in contact with Slim via letters or Christmas Cards or the infrequent phone call. However, it was his call to her, over five years ago, pleading for help with his and Sheri Nicole's only child, their daughter Joss, and her recurring nightmares brought her back into weekly, if not daily, contact with Samuel Possible. Contact that had rekindled old feelings that she had buried deep, very deep inside her heart. Feelings she thought that would never surface again in this lifetime.
That one week of almost continual exposure, when she had brought Wade to Montana for the first time. Almost a whole week of exposure to not one but two Possibles broke the walls around the dark secret that she had buried and allowed it to come to the surface like a surfacing submarine through the Arctic ice pack.
That exposure, that contamination, had allowed her to let her feelings show for the man that was her best friend's widowed husband.
The contamination increased when she started dating Samuel. It was with that now almost constant exposure to the "Possible" virus that she could feel the changes starting to happen. It was then she realized that her attraction to the man had changed and that she was very much in love with him.
She finally knew it was no use fighting her feelings and she completely gave in and let herself truly love him… especially after pulling an "all nighter" with Kim and her mother Anne. Both had seen which way the road went, and both had told her just what they thought about it. In her book, both Possible women had been brutal beyond belief with her. In the end, the two literally had her trapped between the proverbial rock and a hard spot with no escape: she either admitted she was in love with Slim or be forced to watch an entire 24-hour "Agony County Marathon" tied to a chair.
In her book they could torture a person beyond even waterboarding.
After that "talk" and the revelations that it forced her to look at, she surrendered without terms or conditions and that she had been led like a poor lamb to the slaughter. She could see it so clearly now looking back, but at the time didn't have a clue as to what was happening: that she had willingly surrendered to the force of nature that was the Possible virus. Her defenses down, and no know cure, and with nothing left to stand in her way, she did the only thing left to do…
…she married him.
Looking at the next picture, one of her in her wedding dress with Slim all dressed up in his finest, with his arm around her, she remembered another change the virus had instilled upon her. Something that gave her the feeling for the first time in her life like her heart and soul would explode: she felt truly loved for the first time in her adult life, if not her whole life. She could almost physically see that love pouring out of the family she had became a member of. Love that unconditionally flowed out to them and into her.
The final change the Possible virus infected her with she discovered on the day she gave birth to her children.
Every change the virus had made, before that one day, she could accept and maybe move forward from: that she might be able remove from herself and possibly go on with her life never to be exposed again. To maybe one day become be Elisabeth Isis Director again. However, that last chance died when they handed her new born babies to her. Her and Slim's children… the next generation of Possible twins.
In that brief second, any part of Elisabeth Isis Director that had survived until then was no more. In her place was Elisabeth Isis Possible. Like Anne Jean and Esther Possible before her, the Possible virus had finally taken over and transformed her completely.
She had become a Possible inside and out and now and as such she carried the dangerous and highly contagious virus: a virus that infected anyone that came into contact with it. A virus that would change them forever…
…One way or another whether they wanted it to or not.
'Ronald was truly doomed from the start' she thought as the picture in the PosComm changed to show a picture of Kim and Ron's wedding, the one when he was kneeling down in front of Kim as she held up her wedding dress while he removed the garter from her leg.
'We looked into the "Ron Factor" and even into the "Rufus Factor"' she thought to herself, 'But what we really should have looked into was the "Possible Virus."'
Smiling down at the picture of her niece and nephew she whispered "You fell in love with a Possible and you did it at the tender age of four. Poor Ron, what was it like to grow up infected?" Then thinking a bit more about her question she laughed. "I forgot about the Stoppable fortress of immunity there for a moment Ron... I'm sure it took years for the virus to break through that." Betty couldn't stop the fit of giggles that sudden exploded out of her.
She reached out with one hand and gently ran a finger across the image. As the picture changed she felt like laughing again when the image changed to a picture of Kim and Ron both holding one of her children each; both grinning like a couple of idiots. She could see that the kids were smiling and laughing in their arms.
Anything is possible, for a Possible. How true those six words really seem to be for her family, especially for those two.
"You're a Possible now Ronald. Just like me and Anne. Only you managed to keep your last name," Betty said to the picture when she heard a buzz from the door.
Reaching out, she grasped the small scrambling device and disabled it in one motion by pressing the hidden button on it that stopped the faint hum. She quickly stuffed it into her uniform pocket and placed the PosComm into a desk drawer. The second the scrambler was inside her pocket, her monitor stopped displaying static and started displaying the Global Justice logo. Pushing the button under her desk, she unlocked the door and it opened to the face of Commander William Du. A package wrapped in plain brown paper was in his hands.
"End of the world Will?"
"Hope not, but it sure seems that way. Especially with how you've been sneaking about. Lindsey's got your back though."
She got up and took the package from him and placed it on her desk. Turning back to the door, she said "If I'm not out of my office by the time that plane from the Sensei Yam-an Investment Firm starts its final approach, please come get me. I need to be there to meet it. Otherwise, you know the drill… please and thank you."
"Yes Dr. Director," he replied but as she started to close the door she couldn't as Will had stuck his foot into the doorway to stop her. Before she could say anything he quietly whispered to her "If we amateurs can 'unofficially' help, let me or Lindsey know." Then he removed his foot and the door closed with a solid click. Shaking her head with a smile, she started toward her desk.
Once back behind her desk, she plugged the scrambler back into her computer and turned it back on then pushed the button to relock the door and start the warning light again. As the computer screen went back to static, she opened the package and spread the contents onto her desk and sat back down in her chair as she looked at the six newspapers now spread across the desk.
The newspapers represented every major continent of the world. From North America, there was a copy of the New York Times. From Asia and Japan, there was a copy of Asahi Shimbun. From the Middle East, there was a copy of Al Arabiya. From Europe, there was a copy of the London Times. From South America, there was a copy of the Buenos Aires Herald. And from Africa, there was a copy of Afrol.
Each one carried a banner headline and a picture of the prime field agents of Team Possible. Each headline was different, but they all said the same thing in the end:
Team Possible to take extended time-off.
Picking up both the London and New York Times, she quickly scanned the articles. Both stories talked about how Kim and Ron had decided after more than a decade of "World Saving", they wanted to take a break and just be a married couple for a year. To not be Team Possible, but to just be Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Stoppable.
The articles both repeated stated that they were not retiring, but that this was more like a long vacation. They would be in contact with the TPF and would continue to be the driving force behind it, just not the prime field agents. That would be handled by Timothy James and James Timothy Possible, Kim's bothers, along with Andrea Jocelyn Possible, her cousin. Wade Agamemnon Load would continue working in the background providing tech and information support. Other members of the Foundation would help out when needed.
She put those two aside and pulled the copies of The Asahi Shimbun and Al Arabiya to her. Thankful that both were the English copies, she quickly read their articles. They told much the same story. Then she returned them and gathered the rest and quickly read them as well. They all said the same thing… more or less.
Nodding her head she carefully stacked the papers one on top of the other.
Once done, she reached into the drawer and retrieved the PosComm. Standing up she pressed the red activation button on the unit and heard a very familiar four tone beep sound. In less then two seconds after the last tone, Wade's face appeared on the screen.
"I take it that you got that package Betty?" he asked.
Betty reached across her desk to the only other thing that had been in the package with the newspapers, a small glass container. Placing the PosComm back on her desk and pressing the button that would turn on the unit's Holographic mode, she very carefully and deliberately opened the container.
Then in clear view of the PosComm's camera, she poured the contents of the container onto the top of the stack of papers making sure to spread it around as best as she could.
In a heartbeat the stack of papers started to appear faint, and then started to disappear. In less than three seconds, there was no evidence they had ever been there.
"What package would that be Wade?" she asked as she turned to face the hologram of Wade as he shook his head. She paused for a moment then asked, "How do we stand Wade?"
"The press conference is scheduled for the day after tomorrow here at the Bunker." He gave her a crooked smile as he went on, "When Team Possible asks for a press conference, most of the world's major news media turns up. Especially when there's a "rumor" that something major is going to be announced."
"And the military?" she asked.
"So far, so good. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is asking questions, nothing that Lindsey can't handle so far. RJ and Carlos are running interference here at the Bunker. All eight of us are using PosComms to communicate, so we are secure there."
Wade paused and Betty knew the next thing out of his mouth before he said it.
"Are you sure this is the right thing to do Betty?"
"Yes Wade, I'm sure."
"If anyone outside finds out what we are do…" Wade started but Betty interrupted him.
"We have had this conversation before Wade: most likely I'll be arrested, tried, and imprisoned for treason… if they don't shoot or kill me first. Then they will probably come after you and everyone at the Bunker with a vengeance."
She just looked at the image of her future Son-In-Law looking back at her and let her face show the fear and anger that was eating at her heart.
"That's my family we are taking about Wade and I'll do whatever I have to!" Wade could see from her eyes just how far she was willing to go to protect them. "I'm a Possible Wade, maybe I wasn't born one but I chose to become one of my own free will. And I think that makes me special in a weird kind of way. And you know what they say about us Possible's, don't you?"
"Anything is possible, for a Possible" was his immediate reply.
Betty nodded her head as the door sounded.
"I'll be there shortly Wade. Tell Slim, Joss, and the twins that I love them," she said then disconnected the PosComm and turned off the scrambler. Putting both into her pocket, she gave a voice command which would totally seal the room upon her exit and put it into stasis mode. As a disembodied female voice confirmed her command, she moved around the desk and went to the door.
Again, she knew it would be Will on the other side and she was not disappointed to find him there when she opened it.
"I take it that the plane is on approach?" she asked.
"Just entering Middleton airspace" he answered.
Nodding, Betty exited her office. She stood there for a moment and listed as the door give a faint hissing sound as it sealed itself. Her office was now completely sealed off and would only open for her bio and voice print or the same of the Chairman of the GJ's Governing counsel… maybe. Knowing the GJ system's avatar like she did, she doubted it. Turning she started making her way to the transport tubes. She took two steps and could feel Will following her.
"I really don't think I need an escort Mr. Du," she said over shoulder, not bothering to look at him.
"I understand Dr. Director, but I was going in this direction anyway," he answered.
He walked her to the tube vestibule in silence, following a step behind as others they met in the passageways moved aside to allow them free access.
As they entered the lobby Betty found Lindsey wanting by one of the tubes holding a vanilla folder.
"Ma'am, here are the current missions reports you asked for," Lindsey said in a calm and business like tone as she handed over the folder.
Taking the folder, Betty nodded as she moved into the tube.
"TPF hanger complex" she said in a steady tone.
"Destination: Team Possible Foundation hanger complex, Middleton International Airport. Bio-scan pass-code required" said disembodied female voice, this time she could hear her faint Australian accent.
Betty placed her right hand flat on an image of the hand that appeared on the side of the tube and turned to the face Will and Lindsey.
"Will, I'll be back in a few days. Please try not to rewrite the training handbook while I'm gone… again. Lindsey, keep an eye on your husband for me. If it starts to look like he is about to start slipping back into the old Will we all know and love from before he met you, you have my permission to threaten him with loosing his special privileges to the firing range with that damnable collection of bows of his." Betty said as the scanner passed a green light up and down her palm three times.
"Access granted. Standing by for transport" the female voice said. There was a pause then it added "I do not think he has any real idea how hard it is to track, scored hits, and then clean up the range after one of his training sessions Dr. Director. If he did, he would start treading a bit more carefully and give those additions for the manual that he has saved to the training server a bit more thought before he tries to submit them to the committee for approval."
Betty watched as Will starting blushing and Lindsey hid her smile, but not her gentle laughter, behind her hand as the tube closed round her. Just as before the tube shot her off, she saw Lindsey point at the folder in her hand. In less then Two minutes Betty found herself inside the tube room in the Foundation hanger complex. As the tube opened Betty heard a familiar voice.
"Hello Betty," said the voice of Wade-A.
"Wade-A" she answered.
"The tower has the Sensei Yam-an flight on final approach. The pilot is requesting taxi clearance to the hanger site."
Exiting the tube room, Betty started making her way toward the hanger's doors as she opened the folder and peeked inside.
'Mother-hen,' Betty thought as she saw the folder contained not mission status reports, but what looked like a complete status report on things happening at the Bunker. There was also what looked like a two or three page report stapled together that had the word "Urgent" stamped in red across the top.
Stopping, she pulled the smaller report out and quickly scanned the first paragraph or two.
'This could come in handy,' she thought. Splitting her attention, she starting reading the report committing it to her memory while asking the computer avatar that ran the complex "Clearance?"
She read in the silence as Wade-A either found the information she asked for or was confirming it. Betty flipped the report to page two before Wade-A replied.
"They have given the tower a code that is on the approved list for access Betty. However, it is a old one from a few years ago."
"How old?" Betty asked as she flipped to the last page.
"From Kim and Ron's wedding."
"I thought as much," Betty said as she flipped the report back to page one and returned it to the folder. Quickly she made her way to the walk-in door at the front of the hanger. Once there, she paused and looked back toward the center of the hanger.
"Wade-A, would you ask James and Anne along with Gene and Jean to meet me and our guests in the conference room as soon as they can? And could you get one of the Wade-Bots to bring some refreshments as well?"
"I thought you might ask that Betty… they are already there waiting for you. As for the refreshments, the complex has most anything. What would you like?"
Taking a moment she thought, 'Jack Daniels neat. On second thought, forget the glass and just hand me the bottle.'
Betty could not help a small laugh at Wade-A's next statement. She guessed that he had been scanning her face and did an examination of her facial expression.
"Do you wish a glass or should I just have a Wade-Bot bring you the entire bottle?"
When she managed to get the smile off her face she said, "You really are Wade's Avatar Wade-A."
As she opened the door and stepped outside Betty could hear Wade-A laugh before the door closed behind her.
As she took up station just outside the door, she heard a jet coming in for a landing on secondary runway. The plane, a Gulfstream by the looks, was painted a nondescript deep gray that looked like the Gunship gray that the Navy used to paint vessels.
At the end of the runway, the plane turned onto the main taxiway that led toward the hanger complex. Betty watched as the telescopic posts lowered and the gate opened to allow the jet inside the security fencing surrounding the complex. As the plane taxied closer, she could see very little to set the plane apart from any other.
The hanger's large doors opened as she heard the jet's engines start whining down. As the plane past her, she could clearly see the plane's registration number for the first time: JA-64658. The plane stopped moving just as the tail crossed completely into the hanger. Betty turned and stepped back inside the hanger as the doors started to close. Once inside she could see one of the hanger's automated tows was hooking up to the front landing gear.
Just as the door to the hanger closed, the forward hatch on the plane started to open. Once open, the collapsed stairs opened and lowered to the hanger's floor. Betty had just reached the stairs as a young woman dressed in a black gi with shoulder length black hair held back with a red hair-band entered the hatchway. The young woman placed her hand on her thighs and bowed from the waist.
"Dr. Elisabeth Possible?" the woman said and stood back up. It was clear from her tone that she was asking, but it was also clear she was asking per etiquette as she already knew who she was talking to.
Betty returned the bow, matching the woman's and replied "Hai. I am she."
Again, the young woman bowed. As she again straightened up she said "Possible-sama, I am Yori."
Yori walked down the stairs and stood off to one side.
Once there, she said "Possible-sama, allow me to introduce, as you would say, my fiancé Hirotaka."
A handsome young man that appeared to be the same age as Yori appeared at the hatch and repeated Yori's bow. As Betty returned the bow, he made his way down and stood beside Yori. The young couple looked at each other for a second then turned to face the plane.
"This, Possible-sama, is our Sensei" Yori said as a small man with a long white mustache and beard appeared at the hatch. He appeared to be old and was dressed in a red robe that was trimmed in gold that came down to just above his ankles and showed his feet clad in white stockings and the wooden sandals that he wore. He nodded his head at Betty and she returned the gesture. Then he seemed to almost float down the stairs and stood in front of the young couple.
"Possible-sama, we are from…" Yori started but stopped when Betty held up a hand.
"You are from the Yamanouchi School in Japan. You are Sensei," she said with a nod to the older man which he returned in kind, "Ron Stoppable's Sensei to be precise. Ron spent one week every few months at your school to help him learn more about Tai Shing Pek Kwar during his High School Junior and Senior years plus the first year after he graduated from Middleton High. He still tries to go as often has he can. He also brings his sister Hana during the summer months and Kim normally goes with him." Betty paused for a moment then added, "I believe that Kim is working on adding Tai Shing Pek Kwar to her Kung Fu skills."
"You are perceptive and wise Possible-san." Sensei said as he gave her a bow much like the ones that Yori and Hirotaka had, bowing from the waist. However unlike Yori and Hirotaka, he had folded his arms into the sleeves of his robe.
Betty copied the bow. Once done she motioned toward the elevators off to one side of the hanger and said "If you will follow me?"
The three person procession made its way to the elevator beside the transport tube. Betty pressed the button, hiding her relief that Wade-A had closed the security doors over the tube, and turned to the group as she asked "May I ask why you are here Sensei?"
She didn't know if he smiled or not under his thick mustache and beard, however she could hear a faint hint of one in his reply.
"As you are aware of the Yamanouchi School's association with Stoppable-san, I can assume that you are also aware that something has happened with Ron-san and Kim-san."
Betty nodded as the elevator beeped as the doors opened. Everyone moved inside and Betty pressed the button to take them to the hanger's conference room on the second sub-level. As they started to move, she turned to Sensei.
"I was not aware that the Yamanouchi School had regular contact with Kim and Ron."
Again Betty could sense the hint of laughter in his reply.
"Possible-san, I think we should, as you might say, "lay our cards on the table?""
With a nod of her head, Sensei went on.
"The Yamanouchi School has a way to know if something very wrong happens to the Chosen Pair, Possible-san. We were told that they had a great and difficult task ahead and that the Yamanouchi School would be needed in the events to come. We were also told to prepare as they will need our help."
Betty did her best to not let anything show on her face. The information that he had told her she and Wade had already figured out based on the little information that Kim and Ron had been willing to tell them. It was his next words that left her speechless as the elevator door opened.
"We are here to offer that help Possible-san… or should I say Elizabeth Isis Director-Possible. Head of Global Justice, wife of Samuel Clemons Possible also known as Slim, Step-mother of Andrea Jocelyn Possible and mother of twin children, a boy and a girl, named..."
Betty gestured and the old man stopped. She eyed him like a mongoose eying a cobra coiled and ready to strike. The smile that appeared on his face was very clear this time as he said in a low tone "As you seemed to know a bit more about Yamanouchi than we would like, I thought it only right that you be made aware that we know a bit more about you then you would like."
There was a pause as everyone exited the elevator and the door closed behind them.
"I think Stoppable-san would say, at a time like this: "how about a truce" then he paused for a second then tapped his right hand over his heart twice while adding "nothing but love Possible-san." And then flashed her a perfect 1960's peace sign.
Betty really didn't have to think it over before she replied "truce." The information that he had told her could be pulled from a number of sources, including Ron or Kim, but it implied that he knew more. 'Better yet let sleeping dogs lie' she thought.
"We only want to help Possible-sama." Sensei said and Betty noticed the change in the honorific to one of an equal.
Betty knew that Ron trusted these people. Still sometimes he could be a bit to trusting, even it he had learned his lessons the hard way. For Betty, the telling factor was that Kim trusted them with "her Ron" and that's what mattered now. If Kim can trust them to be alone with Ron with the jealous streak she had developed over Ron shortly after they started dating in high school, it said a lot about them.
'More company in that cell' she thought as she said "I'm sure that I can speak for everyone when I say thank you for your offer and that we are grateful for the help."
That said she gestured and everyone moved out of the vestibule, down the hallway, and into the conference room where Kim and Ron's parents and families waited. After the introductions everyone took a seat, except Sensei who stood behind Betty and to her right.
Pulling out her PossCom, Betty pressed the button that turned on the unit and Wade's face appeared on the screen.
"We're all here Wade" she told him. In a second, his face was shinning down from the room's large monitor behind her and Sensei.
'Cards on the table' she thought before she spoke again.
"Wade, why don't you bring everyone here up to speed on what happened at the Ranch yesterday afternoon, why the US Government and Military is in a panic and why you and I have agreed to activate Project Misdirection."
"Well," Wade said as he started to type at his keyboard, "as near as we can figure: at about 2:30 to 3:30 yesterday afternoon, after NORAD had been tracking an unknown target for about…"
-XX-
Two hours later, the hanger doors opened at the TPF complex and the gunship gray Gulfstream jet was moved out of the hanger by one of the Wade-Bots onto the taxi-way. Once there and disconnected from the Wade-Bot, the plane jets began to start up. Slowly it started to make its way back down the taxi way, returning the way it had come. Once it had begun moving on its own, a Global Justice JumpJet moved into the vacated space inside the hanger towed by another Wade-Bot. Once the plane came to a stop, its hatch opened and a set of stairs lowered from the plane.
Betty led everyone that had been in the meeting to the jet and made sure they where seated and belted in. Once that was done, she made her way to the cockpit. Opening the door, she found Will Du setting in the co-pilot seat.
"Dr. Director," he said as he started flipping switches that started a faint whining sound that was heard inside the cockpit, "I take it that everyone is in and belted it."
Betty didn't say anything; she just sat down in the pilot's seat. As she belted in, she listened to Will start the preflight check list.
She could feel the jet start to move and as the engines hadn't started their normal whine yet she assumed that one of the Wade-Bots was moving them out of the hanger. Once the jet had stopped moving, her suspicions were confirmed when she heard Will say, "Thanks for the tow Wade."
As she put on her headphones, she caught the last of Wade reply back.
"…big. See you in a bit."
"I'll make sure she gets there in one piece Wade. Will out." Without pausing Will pressed a button on the joystick and started up with "Middleton Tower: This is Global Justice JumpJet 21 requesting clearance for immediate vertical take-off from the Team Possible Foundation Hanger complex."
"Roger GJ JumpJet 21. You are cleared for vertical take-off once JA-64658 clears the pattern. Will you be filing a flight plan JumpJet 21? Over."
Betty pushed a button on her console and answered the question.
"Tower, this JumpJet 21. Roger clearance for vertical take-off. Intend a direct flight-path to Logan International airspace Tower. Over."
"Roger JumpJet 21. JA-64658 has now cleared the pattern; you may proceed with take-off. We have you on direct route to Logan International JumpJet 21. JumpJet 21 Current conditions: Middleton has clear skies, light wind from the south at one Knot, ceiling is currently unlimited. Be advised JumpJet 21: Logan International is currently experiencing a southeast wind of 2 Knots with cloudy skies. Also Logan International is currently working with Maelstrom Air Force Base in training exercises and is limiting its approach corridor to Runway 28 right only. Over." The tower called back.
Betty looked at Will and saw him nod his head in understanding of the towers instructions. "Roger Tower, JumpJet 21 is taking off now. Over." Betty replied as she applied the throttle and pulled back on the joystick. As the plane gained a bit of altitude, she noticed Will retract the landing gear out of the corner of her eye as she rotated the plane to a north by northwest heading. Once the jet was clear of the security fencing, she applied more throttle and pressed the controls that started the plane's reconfiguration from vertical to horizontal flight. As soon as the indicators shown the plane in normal mode, she opened the throttles to 75 percent and starting climbing.
In a few minutes, she leveled off at cruising altitude and adjusted the speed to just shy of Mach 1.
'"Into the valley of the shadow of Death, rode the 600",' she thought, and then corrected herself.
'Or maybe a better one would be something like: "Yea though I walk through the shadow of Death, I fear no evil. For Thy Rod and Staff comfort me."'
As she checked the gauges, she couldn't stop herself from wondering just what the beds in that special section of Cell Bock D would feel like.
Hopefully they weren't lumpy.
To be continued…