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Chapter 46: Fallen

Taylor was soaring, an uncontainable smile etched on her face beneath her oxygen mask, her hands gently clasped around the controls in front of her, requiring just the slightest touch to guide the jet through the air. The speed, the rush, the adrenaline, it was exhilarating. The new plane, though snug, effortlessly cut through the clouds, so sharp and so light, like it wasn't even there. It was like she was soaring through the sky on her own, unhindered, unhibited, unbridled. She was completely free and there was no better feeling.

Then she heard it, an unmistakable screech, like the toll of a warning bell. But before she could figure out where it came from, the cockpit turned red with flashing of warning lights. Her body stiffened but she took a deep breath and studied the control panel in front of her, trying to recall everything that Damon and Alice taught them. She tried to get the plane back under control but no amount of pushing or prodding worked.

Her stomach sank as the nose tilted downwards and began spiraling towards the ground. She leaned back in her seat and blindly reached for the eject switch. But it didn't work. No matter how hard she pushed she was trapped in the cockpit as the jet picked up speed on descent. Her eyes widened and heart pounded in her chest. A searing flash of yellow blinded her for a moment but when she opened her eyes she could feel her body straining against her harness as she watched the ground grow closer, closer and closer…

Taylor's eyes snapped open and she winced as agonising pain vibrated through her body. Her heavy breaths eased once as she focused on the white ceiling and her hands curled into the soft fabric of the sheets beneath her. She closed her eyes and took slow deep breaths, concentrating on the soft beeping sounds around her. Slowly she opened her eyes and tried to push herself up but found that she couldn't, she was however able to slowly turn her head to the side but in the dark, all she could see were the steady lights of machines and the shadowy forms of furniture.

The sound of soft breathing alerted her to a sleeping form in the chair by her bed, but it was too dark and her eyes too heavy to tell who it was. She turned back to the ceiling and lay still giving in to the darkness that was weighing in as she told herself, it was just a dream.

When Taylor's eyes next opened the room was flooded with light. As her vision came into focus she realised that she was at the base infirmary, alone. She tried to move but her body protested and she gave in wincing and shifting as the pain flared. So much for all of it being a dream.

She pushed her head back against the pillow as she tried to remember what happened. Their test mission had gone off without a hitch. With Zhane in the lead, their squad of nine had successfully carried out the assignment designed specifically to put the jets and their pilots to the test and they did it. But something strange started happening on the way back to base.

Following formation, Zhane, Sky and Summer were the first to fly in, followed by Kai leading Gem and Gemma, Kevin and Gia with her in the lead brought up the rear. Before they could begin their descent, the lights on her control panel flickered and to be safe she called in and adjusted her altitude breaking formation. But when everything seemed okay, she curled back in, signalling Kevin to take the lead as she took his place, making her the last to land.

One-by-one they began to descend as they approached the landing strips. That's when something went really wrong. All the lights on her panel flared up for a moment before going dead and her controls froze. She kept her cool and tried a couple of things to jumpstart the jet but it would not respond. She called in a Mayday but there was no response from the ground team or the other pilots.

She began to get a little nervous and desperately tried the controls once again but nothing worked. As the jet began spiralling to the ground she had no choice but to eject. Panic finally set in, when that didn't work either. She hurtled towards the ground rapidly gaining speed. On instinct, she reached for the controls trying her best to pull up but the plane did not respond.

In one last attempt she tried to eject again, this time it worked. She shot out of the plane moments before it crashed into the ground setting off a massive explosion. But as her shute sprung open, she was left dangling within range of flying debris and tooks a few hits, with some stray shards of shrapnel attacking her shute and leaving her unable to control her landing. She remembered hitting the ground hard and the impact vibrating through her entire body before the world went dark.

But here she was, in the infirmary, in pain but alive. She had no idea how much time had passed, her head felt heavy and her entire body drained. The soft shuffling of feet alerted her to the nurse that walked in. When she saw she was awake, she offered her a smile and immediately dashed off, most likely to inform the doctor.

What felt like hours later, after a battery of tests and the doctor explaining things to her in words she could barely keep up with, she sat propped up in bed staring out the window.

"Isn't this a familiar sight?"

Taylor turned to the doorway where Sky stood grinning at her with Summer and Gia right behind him. The girls immediately ran in to hug her as best they could. Gia plopped into chair by the bed while Summer sat by her feet and Sky made himself at home right next to her.

"What happened?" she croaked.

"That's what we'd like to know," said Gia, while Sky poured her a glass of water.

"All we saw was the crash," Summer informed.

"That was a pretty nasty dive and that explosion was something else. You had debris in your arms and legs and needed surgery to remove some of it," Gia explained, repeating what the doctor had already told her.

"Plane froze, called it in," she coughed out.

Sky frowned making her curious, and she definitely didn't like the look he shared with the girls.

"That's just it Tay, there's no record of you calling it in. And Damon's got this program that monitors how the birds are doing, there were no strange readings there either. It's like one minute you were fine and the next you decided to head for ground the hard way."

"Blackout," she croaked.

"If that's true, there no record of it. But we won't know anything for sure until Damon and Dr. K finish examining the wreck. Taylor nodded and fidgeted with her sheets. Sky squeezed her shoulder and Summer gave her a friendly pat on her leg but she couldn't feel it and even though she knew to expect it her heart sank.

The doctor had already explained that her scans showed a slight compression on her spinal cord that was causing temporary paralysis. Also, she was on a lot of pain medication which was adding to some of the numbness she was experiencing. Still, be able to see someone touching her leg but not being able to feel it scared her. She knew it was temporary but there was nothing else she could think about.

Zhane, Kevin and Kai dropped in to check on her, as did Gem and Gemma. While everyone asked how she was doing and the twins marveled at the explosion no one could give her any information. For the next couple of days Sky and Summer spent all the time they could with her, while the others dropped in every now and then until everyone stopped.

The doctor informed her that the entire base was on lockdown and no one was allowed to leave their assigned quarters until the Major General and Dr.K gave the order. The news was followed by Damon and Dr. K coming to see her, each with their own list of questions about what happened. They both seemed agitated and unsure, Dr. K's questions seemed almost like an interrogation. It was actually worse than being wheeled into the Major General's office to be questioned by him. She repeated every detail she could remember over and over until they were the only thing those sessions left her with were more questions.


A few days later, Taylor found herself being helped into a wheelchair. It was quite the task seeing as she couldn't move either leg and one of those had to be propped up, plus she only had the use of one arm since her left one was currently secured in a sling. But as she was being wheeled into the briefing room she was tingling with anticipation. She was finally going to get some answers.

The moment they entered Sky walked over and took over from the nurse wheeling her next to the bench he was sitting at. The others were already there and she felt so out of place seeing them in their fatigues while she was sitting there in an oversized robe over a surgical gown. She was about to ask Sky what was going on when the Major General, Dr. K and Damon walked in all the pilots stood at attention and saluted.

Major General Silverback called them to ease and told them to take a seat before allowing Dr. K to take the lead. Both he had and the doctor wore stoic expressions that revealed nothing but Damon's expression was grim and he refused to look straight at them. Dr. K cleared her throat and stepped forward.

"Good morning officers, thank you for joining us. I understand you must be curious about everything this unexpected turn of events. I would like to inform you that we have concluded our investigation into what happened with Yellow Eagle's aircraft. Be aware, that this was not human error and in fact a mechanical malfunction."

Taylor felt a shoulder slightly brush against hers and she released a breath she didn't realise she was holding. Her fingers loosened their grip on her robe and she looked straight at the trio in front of ther. The Major General's eyes met hers and he offered her the slightest of nods before turning back to Dr. K.

"However, the malfunction was caused by an external element which forces us to conclude that the aircraft was compromised. This is a single isolated incident, however it also means that the programme has been compromised. And until we know to what extent it would be unwise to continue as planned."

Taylor's eyes widened. The programme they had been selected for was being designed to better control outcomes, reduce civilian casualties and cause minimal backlash while still being effective. It would save lives and was too important to let go off. But from another perspective, it the wrong hands, this technology had the potential to be very dangerous. Too dangerous it appeared for Dr. K to want to continue with the project. She concluded her announcement by thanking all of them for their hard work before stepping back.

The Major General stood forward and looked down the line before addressing them. "Officers, know that each of you did an exemplary job during your time here. However, in the light on the information we have, until further notice this mission is officially aborted. Each of you will return to home base tomorrow, departing at 0800 hours."

He paused and turned to her. "Captain Earhardt you will be transferred to Turtle Cove General for the remainder of your treatment. That is all. Dismissed."

Her fellow pilots stood in salute as the three of them walked out. The moment the door clicked shut the room erupted in murmurs. Summer and Kevin turned to Gem and Gemma to ask if they knew anything but they insisted they knew as much as they did. The murmurs picked up again, each one putting forward one theory after another until Zhane called them to order.

"Look, I know I'm not your squadron leader anymore but I want all of you to know that it was an honour to fly with you. We may not have been flying into war zones but everything we trained for, all the work we put in was just as important. And while things may not have gone according to plan, it is not on any one of us. We did our jobs now we have to let Dr.K and Damon do theirs and figure out what went wrong and who's responsible. In the meantime, we continue to do what we have to even if that's heading back to our home bases and getting reassigned, so that when we get the call to come back and finish what we started, we're ready."

A murmur of acknowledgement ran around the room. Zhane looked around at them and nodded. "So what do you say eagles, we walk out of here with our heads held high. Whatever happens next, we did what we came here to do. Let's hear it, Aim high…"

"...Fight. Fly. Win" the rest of them called out in unison before breaking into applause.

Zhane was right, however they felt about the situation they had their orders, all they could do now was follow them. It was on a much lighter note that the pilots started to leave. But before he walked out the door Zhane stepped up to Taylor and dropped a hand on her shoulder. "Your assignment is to get better so you can get back in the air. We're going to need you."

"You got it Major," she replied with a salute and the best smile she could muster.

He nodded and left with Kai and Kevin just as Sky and Summer walked up to her. "Want us to wheel you back to the infirmary?" asked Sky.

"Actually, I think want to go outside for a bit. I've been cooped up in there too long. And if we're going home tomorrow I want to get one last feel of this place."

"We'll take you," Gemma piped up, racing over and grabbing the handles of her wheelchair.

"We haven't talked in ages," added Gem, as they wheeled her away.

Taylor was more than taken by surprise but she just shrugged it off to the twins being the twins and waved goodbye to the others as they wheeled her off, humming the same tune they always did while they were at work. But the moment they stepped outside the building the humming stopped and the twins were suspiciously quiet.

"Okay you two, what's going on?" she asked, turning to catch them sharing a worried look. "Gem, Gemma, spill it," she ordered.

"There's something we wanted to tell you," Gemma began.

"We're not supposed to," Gem continued. "But we think you should know."

Now she was really curious. Gem and Gemma may behave like kids most of the time but they knew when to follow orders. They only reason she could think of that they would come to her was that it had something to do with her crash and this time her curiosity got the best of her. "What's going on?" she prodded.

"We lied," Gem admitted, with Gemma picking up where he left of. "When Summer asked us if we knew anything…"

"We lied," Gem repeated. Gemma nodded as she stopped pushing the wheelchair. "We know everything."

"Dr. K told us," Gem revealed as the two of them jogged in front of the wheelchair so that they were now facing her. "She tells us everything," Gemma added, as she turned to her brother. "We're best friends," Gem concluded.

Taylor looked between the twins who had broad grins on their faces as they talked about Dr. K. Their close relationship with the always serious scientist was no secret. But apart from that, they had been working on this project with her since the very beginning, if there was anyone she trusted, it was these two.

"Okay, that's great guys. What did she tell you?"

The twins' smiles faded and they became serious again. But when Gemma nodded, Gem pulled out a tablet that was clipped onto his belt and handed it two her. The display showed her a blueprint of her plane, one she'd seen many times before during briefings. "What am I looking at guys?"

Gemma leaned forward and touched the corner enlarging the image of what appeared to be a microchip. "That is a mini electromagnetic wave emitter," she explained.

"Damon found it in the wreck," Gem continued. "It was remote operated to release a controlled electromagnetic burst…"

"That basically killed the electrical systems in your plane," Gemma added. "If you hadn't ejected…"

"You would have gone splat," Gem emphasized by clapping his hands together.

Taylor stared at the image of the rotating chip as she absorbed the information. It was a lot to digest but there were so many things that didn't click. "How did this get in there? And you said remote operated, so someone did this at a specific time, they had to be able to monitor the flight path."

"We don't know how or when it was inserted yet,"Gemma explained. Gem nodded, adding, "But whoever did it had to know the design very well."

"It was hidden from all scans and pre-flight checks, so whoever did this was good," Gemma pointed out. "And let's not forget," Gem jumped in. "They were able to mask Damon's tracking program so that everything looked fine on the ground."

"And yes," Gemma took over. "It was remoted activated so whoever initiated was tracking the flight path and movements. "It had to be someone who was working on this with us all this time. No pilot or outsider could have done it even with the right information," Gem explained. "It was very well protected," Gemma insisted, nodding alongside her brother.

Taylor frowned as she turned back to the schematics. "I don't get it. Whoever did this would have known that they would have pulled the plug on the project after this. Stealing the tech I get, but why would anyone want to destroy this project, especially after working so hard on it?"

When she didn't get an answer immediately she looked up and found the twins staring at each other, each biting their lips and fidgeting with their fingers. "Gem, Gemma, what aren't you telling me?"

Gemma turned to her, her expression very grim, before turning back to her brother who shrugged before nodding his head. "There is something…" she began. "That we haven't told you yet," he finished for her.

"Come on guys what is it?" Taylor prodded.

Gemma took a deep breath and explained, "After Damon found the chip and realised what it was…."

"He checked the other planes,"Gem took over. "Very thoroughly," Gemma added. "But he didn't find anything."

Taylor's eyes widened. "So what you're saying is, my bird was the only one that had the chip and someone was specifically tracking my flight path before activating it." She paused for a moment as she thought back to the moment it happened. "It was lucky I was coming in last, it would have thrown Kevin and Gia off course as well." She looked up at them expectantly but neither had an answer, they both looked just as lost as she felt.

"We don't know anything for sure," Gemma said eventually with Gem quickly following after, "All we know is that someone on the inside did this, who or why your plane was targeted…."

"Is still a mystery," Gemma picked up.

"There is one more thing though…" Gem began, giving his sister a weary look. "No one has seen or been able to find Alice since you woke up," Gemma explained.

Taylor's grip tightened on the tablet. That made even less sense. She barely knew Alice, the mechanic definitely didn't speak to her unless it was for work. And Alice loved this project, these planes way too much to destroy one of them. Then there was the fact that hers was the only plane targeted, why her? Was it a random pick and she drew the short straw or was all of this intentional.


That's it for now. Please review and let me know what you think.

Till next time...