"So, explain to me again why we had to knock out B.A." After doing some shopping at TJ Max, the A-Team and I were in an old Army helicopter, over South America. We had started off by telling B.A. that we were driving to Texas, then catch a train to Argentina. He said he didn't care as long as we didn't fly or drive anymore- Murdock and I singing show tunes was more than he could take. The only problem was that instead of grabbing a train, B.A. was knocked out and put in the chopper.
"He's not to fond of flying," Hannibal called from the front seat. He was seated next to Murdock, who was at the controls, while I was seated behind them next to Face. Behind us was B.A., fast asleep.
"So what's this all about, Hannibal?" I asked. "What's shaking in Argentina that involves us?"
"We've got a group of hostels down there terrorizing a village," he replied. "The client is an old friend of ours- Boomer Rodriguez..." He chuckled. "Actually, Kay, your friend Chase Jones is in charge of these Guerrillas. So we just might be seeing him down here." I smiled.
"Nothing would make me happier." Suddenly, the helicopter jerked to the side. "Murdock, what's going on?"
"Something's shooting at us!" he cried. "Hang on, here comes another one!" The helicopter jerked to the side once again... this time causing Face to fall out.
"Face!" I wasted no time in getting to my feet and going to the opening where he'd fallen out. "See you on the ground, Murdock!" He turned around and instantly knew what I was going to do.
"Kay, don't!" Seconds later, I dived out. The first thing I did in the chopper was put on my parachute- Face hadn't done that was now free falling over the Argentinean jungle. "Aw, man!"
I kept my arms and legs as close to my body, providing less wind resistance and allowing me to move fast. I quickly approached Face and grabbed hold of him, wrapping my arms and legs around him.
"Hang on, dude!"
I pulled my rip cord- the parachute opened and we slowly floated to the ground. When we got there, I let go of him, got free from the chute and stood in silence... for about ten seconds.
"That was freaking intense!" I cried. "Oh my God, what a rush, that was great!" Suddenly, I realized Face hadn't said a word. I looked over at him- his face (bad pun) was pure white. "Hey, are you all right?"
"You," he whispered. "You saved my life." He shook his head. "Murdock told me how to tell if you don't like somebody... but you just saved my life." I chuckled.
"Eh, we got off on the wrong foot," I replied. "You have an ego the size of the Atlantic Ocean and I'm a teenager- we're bound to clash at least once." Before he had a chance to reply, I took off my second backpack- it wasn't exactly comfortable wearing it underneath my parachute, but I needed everything inside. I mean everything. "Here we go." I pulled out a package of spice gumdrops. "Want some, Face?" Face shook his head.
"Is that all you have in there?" he asked. "Candy?" I shook my head.
"No, of course not." I emptied out the bag. Yes, there was more candy: Candy hearts, spearmint leaves, red licorice, along with some batteries, a flashlight, cigars (I usually kept them on hand for Dad), rope, matches, paper, Reggie Bear and a gun.
"You have a gun?!" yelled Face. I clapped my hand over his mouth and gave him an annoyed look.
"Why don't you just let all of South America know we're here, all right?!" I removed my hand from his mouth. "Yes, I have a gun, but..." I squeezed the trigger and a stream of water hit Face directly in the eyes. "I don't use guns- never have, never will. It's so much more fun to just kick the crap out of them... a lot less messy too."
As Face wiped the water out of his eyes, then lit up a cigar, I looked in the smaller pocket of my backpack to see what was inside.
"Yahoo!" I exclaimed- not as loud as Face, but loud enough to get his attention. He looked over at me, confused.
"What's up?" he asked. "You got a homing device in there or something?" I shook my head, smiling.
"Nope, even better! I remembered to pack the Eludium Two Thirty Six Explosive Space Modulators!" Face looked at me, blinked a couple times and finally cleared his throat.
"You packed what?" I chuckled, then pulled a small stick out of the bag and handed it to him- dynamite. Another blink. "How the hell did you get your hands on that?!" Another smile.
"I can not divulge that information, thus it might endanger my fellow agents in the field." Without another word, I reached into the bag again, this time pulling out a small hand held radio. "I slipped this guy's partner into Murdock's jacket. It has a five mile radius... hopefully, Murdock and them haven't left that yet."
"How will you even be sure it's turned on up there?" asked Face.
"Easy- I turned it on when I put it in his coat."
"This is Jeff's Little Angel callin' H.M., come on back now, H.M. Over." Murdock knew he was crazy, but this was too much. "Look in your left jacket pocket, H.M. I'm right in there. Over." Murdock did as he was told and quickly found the radio.
"This is H.M., Angel," he replied. "Where you at? Over."
"This may sound a little crazy, H.M.," came the reply. "But I think we should listen to some of that country music before we talk. Over." Murdock was stumped... for a grand total of 1.789 seconds.
"The Dukes of Hazzard- 1980's TV show starring Tom Wopat and John Schnider. "Country Music" was the code for CB channel thirteen." In less time than it took for him to figure that out, Murdock was at channel thirteen. "You there, Angel? Over."
"I'm here, H.M.," I said. "Glad you made it. Over."
"Rebound- you two okay? Over."
"No worries, man- landed with out a hitch. Anyway, neither of us are too keen on being here. Over."
"That's a big ten four, Angel- any suggestions? Over."
"Yeah- as we were glidin' down, I saw a clearing about two miles from the drop zone. Over."
"I remember seeing it too, Angel. You want us to meet you there? Over."
"Read my mind, H.M- E.T.A.: hour, hour and a half. Over and out."
"All right then, Kiddo- see you then. Over and out." I switched off my radio, then looked over at Face.
"Ready to go, Faceman?" I asked. He gave a nod.
"Anytime you are."
"Murdock, are you sure it was Kayla?" asked Hannibal. "For all we know it could be a trap." Murdock rolled his eyes.
"With all due respect, Colonel," he replied. "How would anyone but Kay know that a radio, I didn't even know I had, would be in my left jacket pocket and turned to that particular channel. Hmm- and you say I'm crazy!" Hannibal shook his head.
"All right, you got me there Murdock. Let's go pick them up."
Meanwhile, Face and I were navigating the jungle, heading for the clearing I'd seen earlier. With any luck, we might actually be there before an hour was up.
"Ah," I said, taking a deep breath. "Smell that beautiful jungle air. The invigorating scent of nature and all it's... oh boy." Face had been caught up in my tree hugger-ish rant, but not enough not to notice my "oh boy."
"What's... oh boy." He was about to ask me what was wrong, when he saw it for himself- we were surrounded by a group of guys with machine guns. AK-47s to be exact. I turned to Face and gave him a nervous half smile.
"I knew we should have taken that left turn at Albuquerque."
