"If you want to lead an extraordinary life, find out what the ordinary do – and don't do it."
― Tommy Newberry

Chapter 42

September 13, 1924 P.D.

The members of the academy flight squadron were eating their breakfasts and chatting about the upcoming flight. Several of them received calls on their uni-links from families looking forward to their fly-over. Rachel was no exception and she answered the first call of the day. It was Jeanette.

"We're here in a reviewing stand with the Queen! The president of Erewhon is here too, and Aunt Honor just arrived."

"Well, good morning to you too."

"Are you chewing?"

"We're having breakfast."

"You won't get an upset stomach?"

"Hasn't happened yet."

"Which one will be yours?"

"My one what?"

"Which one will you be flying?"

"It's painted a different color than all the rest, and I'll be one of the two in front."

Jeanette's voice was softer, and she knew her sister was talking quieter so that no one would hear her. "Okay… will Mr. Radford be there?"

"Yes, he looks forward to seeing you. He'll probably show up at your stand."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Okay, be safe. See you soon!"

The call ended and she slipped the uni-link back into a pocket. She took another few bites and the uni-link buzzed again.

"Hello?"

"Good morning, sweetheart. Eating?"

"Yep."

"I just wanted to let you know that the transports for us are about to leave. Fly safe, I love you!"

"I love you too, see you soon."

She left the uni-link out in case she received another call. She didn't and Lt. Lee announced that they should finish up and begin their pre-flight checks. They thanked the dining hall staff for bringing breakfast to the hangar and retrieved their flight gear from their lockers. They boarded their Javelins, performed pre-flight checks, and took off toward Landing City.

#

The people lining the streets of King's Boulevard were treated to the Academy Marching Band that kicked off the day's parade. The band was followed a company of Royal Marines, then a company of the Royal Army. They marched by the Royal reviewing stand and saluted as they passed, and Elizabeth stood and acknowledged them as they marched past. Next was an entertaining float from the Sphinx Forestry Service and the twenty treecats they brought for the parade, where two rangers carried a banner that displayed, "We're still here!" Ariel, Nimitz, and Monroe hopped to the front of the reviewing stand and acknowledged the visiting cats. A sound like distant thunder was heard and people pointed to the sky. The thunder sounded closer and the Javelins appeared and slowed when they approached the airspace over King's Boulevard.

Jeanette stood and pointed at a Javelin in front. "She said hers would be painted different!"

"So it is," the Queen said and clapped along with everyone else. Indeed, it was, painted Grayson blue instead of battle steel gray.

When the Javelins had finished their flight and taxied in their places on the tarmac, Lt. Lee formed them up for review. Elizabeth, Benjamin and their security details loaded into cars and headed for the tarmac. Justin, Katherine, Jeanette, and the Erewhonese president had opted to stay and watch the parade.

"Look smart, here they come," Lt. Lee said to the assembled cadets.

When the cars stopped in front of the Javelins, Elizabeth and Benjamin's security details performed a scan of the area and nodded to their principals, who disembarked the cars. Lt. Lee met them and saluted.

"Your Majesty, M'Lord, the cadets are formed and await your review."

"Very well, Lieutenant, lead the way," Elizabeth said.

Rachel saw that her father was accompanied by only Sparky Rice and another armsman. Only two? Out in the open like this? She held her bearing and stifled her frown. Colonel Shemais followed the Queen, and two Palace Security personnel stood a discrete distance way. What was going on with security today? The reviewers stopped in front of her, she saluted, and Lt. Lee spoke.

"Your Majesty, M 'Lord, may I present today's Alpha Flight leader, Midshipwoman Mayhew."

"Miss Mayhew, that was even more impressive than last year. Well done."

"I'm pleased you enjoyed it, your majesty."

"I agree, well done," Benjamin said, winked, and they moved to the next cadet.

When they finished with Alpha squad, they moved to Bravo Flight, led by Trent Hutchins.

Lt. Lee started with, "Your Majesty, M 'lord, may I —" but was interrupted from shouts by the cars. Pulser fire was heard, the personnel by the cars went down, and stray shots bounced off a nearby Javelin. Colonel Shemais shouted into her comm link, and the guards surrounded the Queen and Benjamin.

With an enraged hiss and flattened ears, Ariel leaped from Colonel Shemais' shoulder and streaked toward the cars. Hipper and Athena, who were with Nate and Sergeant McDonald at a nearby academy pinnace, took off toward the cars as well. When they saw three men run towards the cars and toss something under them, they skidded to a stop, throwing up dirt from running so fast. Treecats weren't stupid or suicidal, and they knew the men's intent to destroy the cars. Seconds later the cars exploded, and the men continued to run toward the formation. Ariel, Hipper, and Athena continued their chase onto the tarmac.

Lt. Lee grabbed Rachel and Trent's arms and pointed to the pinnace, ten meters away. "Get it started for takeoff!"

"Form up around them!" Angela shouted and the cadets didn't hesitate to form a cordon around the Queen and Benjamin.

Nate and Robert had taken cover behind the pinnace, pulsers drawn, when they saw Rachel and Trent running toward the pinnace. Once inside, Trent started tossing bins and crates taking up the passenger space from the craft while Rachel started the take-off procedures quicker than she ever had performed them before. Nate shouted, and pulser fire was heard. As Trent kicked the last crate out, the Queen and Benjamin arrived and were practically thrown into the pinnace. Their security personnel followed, and Lt. Lee poked his head inside. "Get them to the palace, quickly now!"

"Aye, sir!" Trent and Rachel shouted. Lt. Lee slammed the hatch shut and Rachel took off. Benjamin nodded to the Trent when he checked to see that he was properly strapped in, and then he checked the Queen. He removed a first aid kit from the bulkhead and gave it to Nate in case anyone needed it, then went to join Rachel in the second pilot seat. Colonel Shemais gestured for Trent's headset, which he handed over and she started talking into it. She rested a hand on Rachel's shoulder. "North toward the palace, parallel of the boulevard. LCPD has the airspace cleared."

"Yes ma'am."

"I've got perimeter tracking, you just fly," Trent added.

"Are you all right?" Elizabeth asked and patted Ben's hand.

"Yes, you?"

"Not a scratch," she said, but her bottom lip was wavering. "They didn't have to, but bless those kids that surrounded us."

"And the two flying us out of here," Ben said and nodded to the cockpit. "You know, I once told her that I was glad that she was trained so well."

"Justin, Lady Mayhew, the Steadholder, and the president have been evacuated to the palace, your Majesty," the Colonel reported.

Elizabeth's uni-link buzzed. "That would be Justin," she said and put the uni-link to her ear.

Next, Ben's uni-link buzzed. "Ben, what in the world happened!? We were enjoying the parade when the guards snatched us away! When Monroe took off, Justin was fighting them to get to you!"

"There was an attack at the tarmac."

"Good heavens, are you all right? Elizabeth?"

"Yes, we're fine. Shook up, but fine. We're on our way back to the palace."

"We're almost there too. See you soon, I love you."

#

When the palace was in sight, the pinnace's comm panel illuminated amber, indicating that they were in palace airspace. Rachel reported to palace control.

"Palace flight control, this is academy pinnace zero-two, on approach from four-one-nine by three-zero-zero. We have the Queen and Protector aboard. Sending clearance code now."

She pressed a button and the panel stayed amber. Seconds later, it blinked green.

"Copy that, pinnace zero-two. We have you on approach and you are cleared to land at beacon one. Do you have any injuries, over?"

Rachel looked at Trent. He shook his head.

"Negative, control, no injuries."

"Good to hear, we have you in sight. Have a safe flight, out."

As she approached the landing pad, she saw Palace Security personnel surrounding the pad. She reversed thrust, lowered the landing skids, and slowed her descent. Surprising herself, she made the smoothest landing she had ever made in a pinnace.

"Great landing," Trent said and left the cockpit. "Hatch open."

"Aye, hatch open," Rachel replied.

He extended the ramp and stood back to let everyone disembark. She saw her dad whisked into the palace with the rest of the group. Her uni-link buzzed, and she saw that the caller was Lt. Lee.

"Cadet Mayhew, sir."

"Safe flight?"

"Yes, sir. We just touched down at the palace."

"Were there any injuries?"

"No sir."

"Good. When you're done there, fly back to the tarmac. Well done, cadet."

"Thank you, sir."

The call ended and she saw a blinking light from the diagnostic panel. She left the pinnace and saw Trent talking to someone from Palace Security. When they were done, Trent shook his hand and returned to her.

"We can go back, but after everything has calmed down, they want our account of the day's events," he said.

She nodded. "There's a malfunction indicator from the port stabilizer."

"Well, it might be FOD from all the bins I tossed out. We had to get out in a hurry."

"I did a quick interior check, but not the exterior," she admitted.

"Like I said, we had to get out in a hurry, there was shooting going on," he said. "We didn't have any problems on the way here, but let's look at it."

#

When they landed the pinnace back at the tarmac, LCPD was there too. The area, now a crime scene, was cordoned off. They shut down and left the pinnace to claps and whistles from their classmates. Hipper ran to her and leaped into her arms.

"My brave boy," she murmured and pressed her face into his fur. She then drew Angela and Athena into a tight hug.

"When I was in the air, I saw what you all did, surrounding them like that… my dad… I'm sure he's grateful."

"Pickett and Costa were grazed by some stray shots," Angela said.

They looked to the two in question, who looked no worse for wear, and gave her a thumbs up.

"You and Trent flew them out of here, how amazing was that?" Angela asked.

"And her landing at the palace was flawless," Trent added, scratching the 'cats behind their ears.

Rachel shrugged. "If there was ever a time to make a perfect landing, today would be the day."

Lt. Lee got the squadron's attention and had them gather around him. "Without hesitation, you took on responsibilities that were not your own, and two of you were injured in the process. You've made the academy proud today, and you should be proud of yourselves. Now, get your pre-flight checks started so we can head back. Fall out."

#

When their Javelins were parked and secured at their hangar, the squadron stowed their helmets and gear in their lockers. Commander Esteban and the deputy commandant came into the hangar and Lt. Lee formed them up.

"At ease," the commodore said. "You're not trained security personnel, yet you took on that role willingly, unarmed, without hesitation. I understand two of you sustained injuries?"

Cadets Pickett and Costa raised their hands.

"They were grazed by some stray pulser fire, sir," Lt. Lee reported.

"Be sure to have them checked out by Commander Larabee asap."

"Yes, sir."

The commodore looked to Rachel and Trent. "And you two, evacuating the Queen and the Protector quick, fast, and in a hurry. Outstanding job, although I suspect you had more reason than most, Miss Mayhew?"

His gaze rested on the treecats. "And I hear that a bunch of treecats apprehended one of the attackers?"

Hipper and Athena stood tall and proud on their person's shoulders.

"Yes, sir. Other treecats in the area joined the chase, and it looked to be over twenty of them surrounding the man when he threw his hands up and begged the LCPD to not let them get him," Lt. Lee explained.

The commodore's lips twitched. He could only imagine the sheer terror of being surrounded by twenty angry treecats.

"Now, for the boring stuff. After lunch, the Commandant, the Sixth Space Lord, Colonel Shemais, and Colonel Rice will arrive here for a briefing. All of you are expected to be there to give your account of what occurred today, so you are to report to McCluskey Auditorium no later than 1320. That's all, dismissed."