Chapter Sixteen: Nothing Ventured
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"Okay, so we're just going to take some recon photos of the place, and then send them back to the boss, right?"

"Right. Word is that he's planning one hell of a nasty attack. He needs the recon data to pull it off."

"Oh. Hey, we're over the target."

The small aircraft flew high over the base, the spy camera mounted in its airframe snapping photos. It only took three passes to get all the shots they needed.

"That should do it. Let's get out of here."

"Right." The aircraft quickly turned around and left.

"I'm transmitting the data….okay. Pictures are sent."

The aircraft flew on, getting clear of the base and city before attempting to leave the atmosphere. As it began its climb, smoke started to come from its right engine.

"Hey, we've got a fault! We're losing power!"

"I can see that…!" The aircraft began to fall, going into a nosedive. "Damn it…I can't get us out of this!"

"Let's eject!" The man pressed a button. "It's not working!!"

"Let me see that…hey, wait a second…that's the wrong button!"

"Oh, for the love of…!" The aircraft spun and spun, getting nearer to the ground each second.

Meanwhile, at her house, Kina was asleep.

"Mmm…chocolate cake…so yummy…" Suddenly, a loud crash broke the relative silence. "AAAAAHHHHH!!!" She jumped out of bed, falling face-first on the floor.

"…Oww…that sucked. What in the name of God was that?" said Kina as she got back up. She put on her slippers and grabbed a flashlight from her nightstand. She went downstairs and opened her back door.

"Let's take a look…" She turned on the flashlight. Nothing seemed to be out there. She squinted her eyes a little, but still saw nothing.

"That's very odd…but I've got to go to sleep!" She turned off the flashlight and went back inside. She kicked off her slippers as she got back into her bedroom and flopped back down onto the bed.

"I know! I'll tell someone about it tomorrow." She yawned, then relaxed. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep again.

The next day, Tommy and Kina met again, this time in the park. Tommy was again perched on the back of a Zentraedi-sized park bench with Kina's arm providing the safety.

"Tommy, I wanted to tell you something. Did you hear anything weird last night?"

"No. Why?"

"There was a really loud crash near my house last night. It was too dark to tell exactly where, though."

Tommy rubbed his chin. "I see…assuming it was an aircraft, I doubt it was one of ours."

"What makes you say that?"

"There would've been a rescue operation launched in less than an hour after it happened. Standard operating procedure."

Kina nodded her head. "And you would've already known about it."

"Yeah…"

Kina thought for a second, then gave a sly smile. "Hey, Tommy…"

Tommy cocked an eyebrow. "Uh…yeah…?"

"Let's try to find it! It'll be fun! Who knows, maybe we'll be able to save someone!"

Tommy sweatdropped. "Uh…I don't think that would be a good idea…"

"Aw, c'mon! I wouldn't let anything happen to you! Please…?"

Tommy sighed, and then chuckled. "Okay, okay. Just in case, though, I'm gonna go and get my sidearm."

Kina blinked. "Why would you need a gun?"

"One of the things you learn as a pilot is that there is no such thing as being too prepared," said Tommy with a wink.

A couple of hours later, Tommy arrived at Kina's home. Well, technically, it was NEAR her house, because the nearest place to park was about half a mile away. He covered the rest of the distance on foot. Luckily for him, Kina was waiting for him outside, covered head-to-toe in hiking gear.

"Hey, Tommy!" She knelt down. "I'm all set. What about you?"

Tommy pulled back the right side of his shirt, revealing the grip of a pistol. "I'm good to go."

"I can see that…up we go!" She picked him up, and placed him carefully on her shoulder. "Are you balanced well enough?"

"Uh…I think so…I wouldn't run if I were you, though!"

Kina giggled. "Don't worry. I'm not taking any chances." She started off.

The air outside was hot, but luckily not too dry or moist that day. Tommy sweated a little, but Kina seemed totally unaffected.

"This the direction you said it was in?" asked Tommy.

"Yep. It was right around here. Let's see…" She sniffed the air.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, if it crashed and blew up, I might be able to smell the burnt metal."

"Oh."

Kina sniffed a couple of times, then sighed. "Nothing. The air's fresh and clear."

"Damn. Well, let's just keep going. Maybe we'll run across it."

They traveled together for about 10 more minutes, when Kina suddenly stopped.

"What is it?" asked Tommy.

"I think we're in trouble..."

Tommy blinked. "Why?"

"I just stepped on something crunchy."

"You did? What was it?"

Kina sweatdropped. "I don't know. I'm afraid to look!"

"It's probably nothing. We're probably the only people out here."

Kina gulped. "I hope so…!" She carefully lifted her foot. Under it was bits of broken metal and glass. The extremely thick sole of her hiking boot protected her foot from injury.

"So, what did you step on?"

"Got me. Bunch of scrap metal. Glass, too. Want me to set you down so you can take a look?"

"Sure!" She carefully picked him off her shoulder and set him down on the ground. Tommy picked up the flattened fragments of metal.

"It's got rivets in it…I think this was an airframe, Kina!"

"It was some kind of scout plane."

Tommy blinked. "Huh? How can you be so sure?"

"Eh…because the wreck's down there," said a blushing Kina. She was pointing to a huge ditch that was in front of them. Tommy ran over to the edge. Sure enough, the smoldering remains of an aircraft were lying there.

"Jackpot," said Tommy. The ditch was shaped like a shallow bowl, so Tommy was able to jump over the edge without falling far enough to sustain injury. He then carefully walked down the slope, paying attention to the loose sand. Kina, on the other hand, merely stepped in and covered the distance from the edge to the level center of the ditch in three strides. She carefully set her feet down when she neared Tommy, not wanting to knock him off his feet.

"We found it, we found it!" cried Kina.

Tommy smiled up at her. "Yep. Now, for the next phase of this little adventure."

"What do you mean?"

Tommy drew the pistol. "I'm going to go in and see if anybody's in there."

"Uh…are you absolutely sure that gun is necessary?"

Tommy sighed. "Kina, I'm going to tell you something I could get into real trouble for telling you. Please, please, PLEASE promise me you won't share this."

Kina nodded her head. "I swear it. Cross my heart."

"It goes back to the guys who attacked the base, and trashed up your workplace. They're a group of pirates called the Hammerheads. Very nasty people. They prefer to cause mayhem, but they are known to pull some sneaky tricks every now and again."

Kina mused for a second, and then brightened. "Oh, I get it. You're afraid that this plane might belong to them!"

"Exactly. I'm going to check now. I'll holler if I get into trouble, okay?"

Kina smiled, and gave him a thumbs up. "You can count on me!" She walked back a bit, and sat down. Tommy cocked the pistol, and started in. His hands were shaking somewhat, as he had no idea what he was going to find in the wreckage.

"…Hey, Tommy!"

Tommy turned back around. "Yes?"

"You look like you need a good luck charm, so…" She blushed, and then blew him a kiss.

"…Thanks, Kina." Tommy chuckled, then set his mind back to the task at hand.

Meanwhile, a few hundred yards away…

"Who the HELL thought of putting the eject button there, of all the stinking places?!"

"Will you calm down! Look over there!"

"Whoa…what the hell is that Zentraedi chick doing over there?"

"I don't know…she isn't moving."

"We've got to do something! The photo data is still in there. We can't let it be captured!!"

"…The heavies?"

"…The heavies."

In the wrecked aircraft, Tommy was checking each piece of broken fuselage one-by-one, making sure to present his weapon before his person. He came across a strange box in one of the pieces.

"What in the…'Do Not Open', huh? Must be the black box." He picked it up.

Kina, meanwhile, was tapping her feet and twiddling her thumbs. She looked up into the sky.

"It's so nice out here…I wonder what's taking Tommy, though…"

"FREEZE!" came a voice from beside her. She looked over. Two humans, both wearing leather jackets for some inexplicable reason, were standing there. One had a pistol pointed at her.

"Um…hi…why are you guys wearing leather jackets on a hot day, and why are you pointing a gun at me?"

"Uh…silence! Nobody disrespects the uniform of the Hammerheads! Keep still!"

Kina gave them a confused look, then suddenly giggled. "Wait a second…you guys are serious, aren't you?" She laughed. Although she felt a little guilty, she decided to have a bit of fun with them, and rose to her full height. "Now, boys, did you really think you could scare me with handguns?" she asked with a condescending smile.

The taller man sighed, and dropped his gun. "You're right. What were we thinking? We weren't supposed to point the pistols at you! We were supposed to use THESE!!!!!" They each leveled a grenade launcher at Kina. She gulped and stepped back.

"Uh…that certainly changes things…please don't shoot!!"

Tommy heard the conversation, and ran back to the edge of the wreckage, making sure that he wasn't seen. He slowly stuck his head out from behind a piece of fuselage.

"God, how could I be so stupid!? This is bad…if I shoot one, the other could still shoot Kina! I've got to do something…"

Tommy looked around, and then sighed. "Wait!!" he shouted.

The two Hammerheads turned in the direction of Tommy's voice.

"Who's out there?!"

Tommy took a deep breath. "Nobody important! What are you guys after?!"

"…We want the data box! Do you have it?!"

Tommy looked at the box in his hand. "Yeah!"

"In that case, if you don't give it up, we kill the girl!!"

Tommy gulped. "Wait! Don't hurt her! I'll give you the box!"

"Deal!"

Tommy looked around. He then saw another container, about the same size and color as the box he held. He picked it up.

"I'm going to toss it out to you!"

"…All right. No funny stuff, though!"

Tommy took the other container, and tossed it away from his shelter, making sure not to let it go to the side too much. He then set down the real data box and rushed to the other side of the fuselage piece.

"I'm going to go get it. Keep the girl covered."

"Gotcha."

The leader ran over to the box. He looked at it on the ground.

"C'mon…pick it up, pick it up..!" thought Tommy. The leader set his own grenade launcher down, and examined it with both hands. Tommy didn't waste his chance.

"NOW!" He popped out from cover and fired not at the leader, but the man still pointing a launcher at Kina. However, instead of aiming for the man himself, he went for the launcher. The shots forced him to drop his now-broken weapon. The leader immediately dropped his box and tried to pick up his own launcher, but Tommy quickly put his sights on him.

"Don't even breathe!"

The leader growled. "Okay, fine, I give up…RUN, MAN!!!" The other guy took off running.

"Hey, it's rude to leave a party without saying good-bye!" said Kina. She stooped and easily snatched him up.

"Huh? Whoa…whoa!!!!! Oh, God!"

Kina smiled. "Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you. Hey, Tommy, I got mine!"

"Great!"

"Tommy…I really enjoyed myself today. Thanks for coming down here."

The leader groaned. "Oh, for the love of…!"

"Hey, shut your face, ya jerk!" said Tommy. "You two are gonna be prisoners of the U.N. Spacy in a short while, so I'd just keep quiet."

"So, how do we…y'know, restrain these guys?"

Tommy thought for a second, then grinned. "Got any string?"