Monday, June 26th, 2017
Modibo Keita International Airport
Bamako, Mali, North Africa
08:18 GMT+2 (06:18 GMT June 26th)
Mad Mauve
The Antonov touched down with the usual chirp of rubber on tarmac before the aircraft turned about at the end of the tarmacked runway.
A fast taxi brought MAD MAUVE into the terminal area where the Antonov was marshalled into a slot to the left of THE PHOENIX. Even before the engines had shut down, the ramp at the rear lowered to the tarmac. Rachel and Andrew came running down the airstair, set below port Door No.4, and over to the rear ramp carrying an orange stainless steel basket stretcher. Amber was swiftly deposited inside the stretcher and covered over with a red blanket from head to toe before she was strapped in place across the chest, thighs, and legs. Next, Amber was carried out of the Antonov and into the oppressively hot weather of Bamako.
Rachel and Andrew raced up the airstair and passed inside THE PHOENIX, closely followed by the ambulatory cases and Jeanne.
08:27 GMT+2 (06:27 GMT June 26th)
The Phoenix
Inside, the stretcher holding the unconscious Amber was manhandled over the midships seating and through into the aft seating area and then into the medical bay which had been prepared for Amber's arrival and Jennifer was waiting, already dressed in scrubs with latex gloves on her hands.
With the assistance of Andrew, Rachel, and a bemused Jeanne, Amber was unstrapped from the stretcher and unceremoniously dumped onto the operating table. Swiftly, her clothing was cut off by Rachel, the bloody remnants being dumped on the floor in a corner of the medical bay. After pointing Jeanne through to the scrub area where the doctor could scrub up and pull on some scrubs and latex gloves, Jennifer carefully eased back each field dressing in an attempt to triage the wounds and figure out which were fine, and which needed to be operated on immediately. Rachel smoothly swapped out the endotracheal tube which Jeanne had fitted, and which was intubating the unconscious Amber for one compatible with the aircraft's life support systems. A plastic tube was affixed to the end of the endotracheal tube, the opposite end of which was connected to an electronic ventilator which took over breathing for Amber as her right lung had all but collapsed.
Jeanne reappeared, scrubbed up and ready to assist Jennifer, and that freed up Rachel to go check on the walking wounded who were even then lying down on four of the six double stacked lightweight frame bunks which had replaced the normal eight seats in the aft seating area outside the medical bay.
The Sahara Desert
Northern Mali
08:56 GMT+2 (06:56 GMT June 26th)
Only one of the three helicopters was still present at the landing site when the strike teams attacked.
As far as the Russians were concerned, the four General Dynamics Model 60 Light Strike Vehicles seemingly came out of nowhere, as they raced across the sand at forty miles per hour, spitting fire. Bullets erupted from their turret-mounted M2 Browning .50-calibre heavy machine guns. The bullets from the M903 Saboted Light Armour Penetrator rounds left the muzzle at 3,985 feet per second and struck the Mil Mi-24D Hind helicopter gunship's fuselage as the giant machine's rotor blades span faster and faster as they raced to lift the twelve-tonne machine off the sand to join the pair of identical helicopter gunships which had launched just a few minutes previously.
The Mi-24D Hind was a much-feared Russian-built helicopter gunship sold across the world. The machine hung below a giant 17.3-metre diameter five-bladed main rotor and was equipped to readily shrug off the bullets even then they struck its armoured fuselage. The pilot, in the upper cockpit, pivoted his machine the moment it gained a few feet of altitude while the gunner, in the lower cockpit, squeezed the trigger for the 12.7-milimetre Yatushev-Borzov Yak-B Gatling gun turret mounted beneath the nose of the attack helicopter. The turret moved independently of the helicopter, targeting the closest LSV which swerved nimbly across the sand. The heavy rounds threw up sand as they advanced on the LSV, chasing it down but missing by mere inches as the four-wheel-drive took the vehicle out of danger. The incoming .50-calibre rounds from the four heavy machine guns mounted on the LSVs could not penetrate the Hind, nor damage the titanium rotor blades, but they did begin to overwhelm the armour, slightly.
Then came the colonel's perceived trap as a short radio call brought the other two Mi-24D Hinds racing in from beyond a large sand dune, just fifty feet in the air and they fired off a stream of S-5M air-to-ground rockets from the four massive UB-32 57-millimetre 32-round rocket launchers mounted on the weapon wings of each of the two gunships. The rockets bored in, striking the sand all around the four marauding LSVs, the 0.8-kilogramme high-explosive fragmentation warheads detonating on impact, each warhead producing seventy-five devastating splinters which flew off in all directions. Sparks flashed to show where the splinters had struck the LSVs, bouncing off the light armour, but several got through, shredding the lightweight steel, and cutting deep into both body armour and flesh alike. The LSVs dodged and skidded across the sand, spoiling the gunner's aim as they raced over and down a sand dune.
The three helicopter gunships followed, eager for the kill.
09:01 GMT+2 (07:01 GMT June 26th)
The gunships dutifully followed Soviet gunship doctrine, and they split up to outflank and corner their supposedly inferior quarry, only someone else had read the very same books and manuals.
Therefore, as the pilot brought his machine around the sand dune in pursuit of two of the escaping LSVs, the pilot of the gunship suddenly flared as he saw an incongruous sight arrayed before him. There were three people standing in line abreast, facing him, and three more kneeling off to one side, also in line abreast. Normally, people ran when such a helicopter came into sight, but nobody moved. Then the pilot saw what each of the six people were holding and he shouted an urgent warning to the gunner below him, as he hauled his helicopter around into a sharp left turn, rapidly turning away from the unexpected ambush even as his laser warning system began to fill his cockpit with warning tones. The three people standing in line abreast wasted no time as they super elevated their missile launchers and then pressed their firing buttons.
The British Starstreak surface-to-air missiles ignited their first-stage rocket motors, blasting the missiles out of their sealed launch tubes, each resting on a shoulder, the rocket motors burning out before the missiles had left the tubes so as to not injure those firing the missiles. When the missiles were a good four metres from the end of the launch tube, the second-stage rocket motors ignited, accelerating the missiles to Mach 4 before those stages too burnt out and then three dart sub-munitions were released from each missile. Each 396-millimetre-long twenty-two-millimetre diameter tungsten alloy dart weighed in at just nine-hundred grams and the trio from each missile flew in a 1.5-metre radial formation, guided by a two-dimensional modulated laser matrix projected upon their target, which in this case was the fleeing Hind gunship. Seven of the nine darts converging on the helicopter struck the Hind gunship while each dart was travelling at 2,800 miles-per-hour and the nine-hundred-gram warhead on each dart detonated.
No armour could resist the shear kinetic energy of the darts' strike and the armoured helicopter began to disintegrate under the devastating blows, sending sections of armour flying in all directions, peppering the sand below. The crew of three were still alive even as the helicopter's fuselage split apart just ahead of the massive weapons wings. The starboard engine began to tear itself apart, sending more shrapnel into the already shattered fuselage and completing what the Starstreak missiles had begun. The crew chief died as his upper body was torn apart by turbine blades and he was able to witness the open rear end of the former gunship before he died and the sand beyond. As for the pilot and gunner in their armoured cockpits, they lived long enough for their cockpits and the front end of the once graceful helicopter to impact the sand at over one hundred knots.
The gunner's neck snapped under the rapid deceleration, killing him instantly, but not so the pilot who lingered much longer after his back was broken and he found himself fully conscious but unable to move as the remnants of the aircraft began to burn from the tonnes of aviation fuel still aboard.
In the shelter of a desert wadi...
09:14 GMT+2 (07:14 GMT June 26th)
The Strike Teams
Pyrrha glared up at Hit Girl.
It was like fire glaring up at ice, Rampart considered as Pyrrha went about treating the wounded. It had been reckless, but Rampart knew that they had had no other choice. As for Hit Girl, she was pleased that the attack and ambush had worked out, taking out one third of the gunships. There were still two more gunships out there, but both appeared to be decidedly wary of the cutting edge surface-to-air missiles of which they only had nine remaining, but it had been important to demonstrate the firepower they possessed on a single Hind and therefore put the remaining pair on the back foot.
The British hyper-velocity surface-to-air missiles were highly advanced and the batch of twelve had only arrived aboard THE PHOENIX shortly before their departure from Heathrow Airport in London, some days earlier. Mindy had known that they might face armoured helicopters in the desert and, therefore, she had sought out suitable weaponry to combat them, keeping the advanced missiles in reserve until needed. However, the attackers had not come out unscathed, but the damage and injury had been much less than expected. The LSVs had absorbed a lot of the damage, indeed, Alpha Five had a shredded rear tyre which needed to be replaced and they had lost a large percentage of their drinking water which had been carried aboard Bravo Three. Those aboard the LSVs had worn additional body armour, some of which had been quite literally shredded. Stripe lay on the sand as Intrepid pulled off his body armour and dumped the shredded ceramic panels onto the sand. The boy was in a lot of pain, and once his bruised chest was accessible, Pyrrha applied a liberal amount of a gel-like substance to ease the pain and promote healing.
"Fucking reckless!" Pyrrha muttered, throwing a dirty look at Hit Girl as she moved onto Psyche who was grimacing from the pain in her right shoulder.
Pyrrha winced at the sight of the scars already present as she treated the burn where a hot piece of shrapnel had bored through Psyche's armour and clothing to the skin beneath.
Modibo Keita International Airport
09:18 GMT+2 (07:18 GMT June 26th)
The Phoenix
Jeanne Benoit was more than amazed by the massive aircraft.
The medical facility was equipped to a very high standard and she knew that it could rival some of the better-equipped Emergency Rooms in America. Despite all the electronics and medical paraphernalia, fifty minutes of probing and suturing had not stopped all the bloody leaks within the young girl's badly torn body. Amber was lucky to have two surgeons working on her, but while they were both highly skilled, neither was a miracle worker.
"We're almost out," Rachel cautioned as she hung another bag of blood and swapped over the transparent tube which fed down into Amber's vein.
"We need more blood!" Jennifer called out. "She's taken three units already."
"I'll donate," Olivia called out from a bunk. "I'm O positive."
"That's fine; Amber is AB positive, making her a universal recipient," Rachel replied. "Ariana, can you get her started, please?"
Ariana was desperate to help, and all Predators had in-depth medical training, so drawing blood was both fun and quite literally, child's play.
"Yes, ma'am!" Ariana responded.
Olivia lay back down, and Ariana went to work, opening up a blood drawing kit. Olivia felt awful for what she had done to that girl, and it was the very least that she could do to try and keep her alive. Olivia felt Ariana attach a rubber tourniquet at the top of her lower arm, and then gently rub the inside of her left arm with an antiseptic wipe. Then came the needle and Olivia winced as she felt the sharp tip pushed into her vein.
"Just stay calm," Ariana advised.
"You guys love blood, don't you?" Olivia asked Ariana.
"We do enjoy spilling it, I suppose," Ariana responded coyly. "And, to be honest, I like the colour."
Olivia laughed at that. She liked Ariana – the girl was a laugh. However, she soon stopped laughing as she began to feel light-headed as her blood began to flood out of her vein and on into a one-unit plastic blood bag lying on the bed beside her. Ariana patiently stayed with Olivia until she had filled a bag. By then, three more donors had been found: Hailee, Saoirse, and Andrew. Each of them were processed by Ariana over the next half an hour or so.
The four extra pints of blood would be crucial in keeping the wounded Amber alive.
The Sahara Desert
Northern Mali
09:40 GMT+2 (07:40 GMT June 26th)
The Strike Teams
Neither of the remaining gunships came close, instead they remained way out of missile range, orbiting at a distance as they presumably planned a fresh attack.
Mindy was not happy – they needed to get moving and get on with their mission. By that, they needed to get to the facility and find out what it had been doing. Then she had a thought. Why were the helicopters there? It was not just because that bastard, Priabin, wanted revenge because she had killed most of his men and sent him packing, it was more that he was trying to keep her from something. Ruth and Mathilda had told her that a force of sixteen heavily armed soldiers had been dropped off by two of the hinds. Then the information from Joshua found its way into her mind – they had been packing equipment onto a train.
"Dammit!" Mindy exclaimed loudly enough to make Electra jump. "I've been missing the goddamn link – Dave!"
"Yes, my little deathstalker," Dave said as he stepped past Electra.
"I like that name," Mindy grinned before she snapped herself away from Dave's gorgeous eyes as Electra rolled her own eyes. "They're keeping us away from their goddamn train."
"You want to hijack a train?" Dave asked his wife, knowing the answer.
"Don't think I've ever hijacked a train," Mindy pointed out. "It should be fun!"
"Fuck!" Electra groaned.
"What's wrong?" Stephanie asked as she walked up.
"Your mother wants to hijack a train," Electra explained.
Stephanie considered that for a moment before she shrugged.
"It's not the craziest thing she's ever done," Stephanie commented.
"Thanks, runt!" Mindy growled.
"Always happy to help," Stephanie replied.
"This ought to be good," Electra said.
Mindy headed off to find Abby and her laptop.
Modibo Keita International Airport
10:07 GMT+2 (08:07 GMT June 26th)
The Phoenix
Things were not going well in the medical bay.
For someone unfamiliar with the goings on in an operating theatre, one could be forgiven for seeing chaos – only, it was organised chaos. The three medical professionals were moving as one, doing everything that they could to keep the youngster who was laid out on their operating table, alive. However, Amber's injuries were severe and there was a limit to medical science. But none of those three women would ever stop until there was no more that could be done.
"We're losing her...!" Jeanne stated as she studied the readouts on a flatscreen monitor on the bulkhead. "Blood pressure is way down – seventy over forty."
"We've missed a big bleed – she's bleeding out internally," Jennifer confirmed.
Jennifer's latex gloves were covered in blood, as was the front of her scrubs – Amber's blood. She was desperately trying to identify every location where blood was seeping out of organs, veins, and arteries. They had plugged many but not all of them.
They were running out of time.
..._...
Olivia was in the mid-ships seating, talking with Ariana when it happened . . . a two-tone beep sounded throughout the aircraft immediately followed by a computer-generated announcement.
"Code Blue – Medical Bay! Code Blue – Medical Bay!"
"God no!" Olivia exclaimed as she and Ariana rushed aft.
They reached the door to the medical bay in time to see Rachel pulling a machine out of a corner. Olivia recognised a defibrillator when she saw one and the sight filled her with dread. Jeanne was busy performing chest compressions while Jennifer was checking Amber with a stethoscope.
"I have nothing!" Jennifer stated. "She's in cardiac arrest. Give me the paddles and charge to two hundred."
"Charging to two hundred," Rachel responded as she handed over the paddles from the defibrillator.
"Clear!" Jennifer commanded.
"Clear!" Rachel responded.
"Clear!" Jeanne responded as she stepped back from Amber.
Amber received a jolt across her chest and Jennifer checked the readouts on the screen and Amber's chest with her stethoscope.
"Nothing," she said. "Milligram of epi."
"Milligram of epi," Rachel repeated as she injected the drug into Amber's vein where the IV connected into the back of her left hand even as Jeanne began another round of chest compressions. "One of epi in."
"Come on Amber!" Olivia called out.
"Again, clear!" Jennifer ordered.
"Clear!" Rachel responded.
"Clear!" Jeanne responded as she stepped back from Amber.
Amber received another jolt across her chest and Jennifer checked for the girl's vital signs.
"Nothing," Jennifer said after checking. "Again, clear!"
"Clear!" Rachel responded.
"Clear!" Jeanne responded as she stepped back from Amber.
Another jolt. Another check for vital signs. Jennifer looked at Jeanne and then Rachel – both nodded. Olivia was horrified that they had stopped working on Amber.
"Why've you stopped? What are you doing?" she demanded.
"Time of death: ten thirteen," Jennifer stated wearily as she pulled off her bloody latex gloves.
An ethereal plane of existence
Something strange was happening.
Amber found herself standing in a room with white walls. She was alone, but then she was not as three women appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. Amber felt worried for a moment but then she took a deep breath and she stepped towards the women, all of whom were smiling supportively.
"Hello, Amber."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Cathy; I have a daughter: Chloe Bennett."
"You're dead!"
"Yes, I am."
"I'm Kathleen . . . Kathleen Macready," the next woman said in introduction. "My daughter is Mindy . . . you know her as Hit Girl."
"And I'm Jocelyn. Stephanie and Jamie are my children..."
"Psyche and Rage," Amber muttered. "If you are all dead – then, so am I?"
"Not necessarily," Cathy said.
"I should be dead!" Amber said suddenly, and she found herself meaning it. "I'm a traitor!"
"No, you're not," Kathleen said forcefully. "You are an amazing young woman who took on a dangerous mission. We are all upset that you were put through such a thing, but you pulled it off, Amber."
"Not everyone can be a double agent and pull it off as well as you did," Cathy said. "What makes you not a traitor is the simple fact that you changed who you were, all by yourself. You decided to change because you wanted to do some good. You decided not to sell out your friends. Yes, Amber, you have friends. That's what helped you change; you found that people wanted you around. You found that people wanted to be your friend; despite you often pushing them away."
"Then you had to play the bad bitch and turn on them," Jocelyn said. "You had no choice and Lucy knew that when she told you that it was time . . . she had you figured out and she knew that you would do the right thing. You are incredibly brave, but then you went one step further and you saved your friends from certain death. You took six bullets to save the lives of those others. You selflessly sacrificed your own life without thought for your own safety."
"I didn't expect to get shot," Amber tried.
"You knew that it could happen, but that did not stop you pushing forward, did it?" Jocelyn Reeman persisted. "Anyway, I've noticed that you have something else to live for . . . Jeremy."
Amber felt her face heating up.
"I'm sure you've noticed Jeremy keeping an eye on you," Cathy chuckled.
"He's like the others – he doesn't trust me."
"No, Amber. He has the hots for you. You've gone out of your way to push him away. Let him in. Believe me, he wants to help you. He wants to spend time with you, Amber."
Amber did not like the way the conversation was going. Okay, she liked the boy, but she had no desire to have a boyfriend – there was no need of one; what did a boyfriend accomplish? A boyfriend did not improve productivity. A boyfriend did not keep operations on track. A boyfriend was simply a distraction which Amber did not need. A boyfriend did not fit into her ordered life. A boyfriend would want to kiss and make out and other gruesome things that she had witnessed the others doing. No way was she going to turn into a slut like that Olivia Kensington!
"I know what you are thinking, Amber," Cathy said. "You see no role for Jeremy in your ordered life. Honey, not everything can be governed by a clipboard and a list of tasks, quotas, and schedules. You need some fun in your life. Let the others in – let Jeremy in."
Amber did not look convinced.
"Look," Jocelyn said. "Nobody is saying you need to enter into a sexual relationship with the boy – just be his friend. Spend some time together – talk, laugh, watch a movie together. You don't have to kiss. You don't have to hold hands. Just be together. Believe me, you will find your life goes in a very different direction which you will not regret."
"Yes, you've suffered humiliations, but has anybody gone out of their way to humiliate or embarrass you?" Kathleen asked.
Amber thought about it for several moments and she was surprised by the answer.
"No."
"Well, start being nicer to people and letting them in," Cathy suggested.
"I suppose I can do that – and I will talk to Jeremy," Amber responded. "But there's not going to be any 'funny stuff' with that boy."
Amber found herself grinning.
"You are too young to die, Amber," Cathy advised the girl. "You have many years ahead of you, mark my words. You will do great things."
"Is it time for me to go back?" Amber asked timidly.
"Yes, honey, it is," Kathleen admitted.
"It's going to hurt, isn't it?" Amber asked, tears beginning to fall down her cheeks.
"It will, I won't deny that, but you will pull through, I promise," Kathleen replied.
"Will I remember any of you?"
"No, honey. Goodbye."
Modibo Keita International Airport
10:15 GMT+2 (08:15 GMT June 26th)
The Phoenix
From the very moment she had come aboard, Andrew had been more than concerned about his wife.
He had seen the images of her torture on the drone and he had been horrified. However, he was thankful that she was alive and finally back under his care. But he had been disturbed, as had the girls, when they had seen not just her injuries, but those displayed by Jake. The girls had been allowed to hug their mother briefly, and to say hello to Jake, but then they had been sent forward to allow Rachel to treat their mother. Cassie had insisted that Andrew stay while her and Jake's wounds had been inspected and then mother and son had been allowed to rest. Then had come Amber's death, and Rachel had called on Andrew to help Cassie and Jake forward.
There was only one place of privacy aboard the Boeing, and that was the master suite belonging to Dave and Mindy. On Mindy's orders, the Bedford family were to make use of the suite until her return. Mindy knew that the family needed time together, and that could only be done in private. Therefore, Andrew had helped Cassie down the aircraft and Rachel had assisted Jake. There had been silence as the pair's visible injuries had been seen by those in the midships and forward seating. Everyone was horrified by what they saw, but no one commented. Naomi and Kaitlin joined their parents and brother, following them into the suite where Rachel left them alone, closing the door behind her. Cassie told Jake to go for a shower first, then she would follow. For the both of them, it would be their first proper wash in over four days. Jake took his time, horrified by the sight of his body and the injuries, not least the amount of sand which gathered in the base of the shower at his feet. Finally, after several minutes of soothing hot water, he stepped out and wrapped himself in a towel before heading back into the suite. He grinned sheepishly as Naomi grinned at him. Cassie then headed into the bathroom and she pulled off her clothing, dumping it in the same pile as Jake's clothing. The water was hot and soothing, but also slightly painful where her skin was marred by burns, cuts, and bruises. She saw herself in the mirror for the very first time and she almost screamed. Her body was a mass of bruises and vicious marks. She could not believe what she was seeing, and she sobbed as she finished washing her hair and body.
By the time she stepped out into the suite, her body wrapped in a towel, Jake was in the bed, talking to Naomi who was sitting on the floor beside the bed. Cassie eased herself into the opposite side of the bed, glad to finally rest her head on a soft pillow rather than hard sand. She could see the horror on Kaitlin's face as she saw that what she had initially thought to be dirt was actually bruising. Jake's face was black and blue, as was Cassie's. Cassie had been just as horrified, so she knew what Kaitlin was feeling.
"I'm okay, honey, I promise," she offered.
"I hate seeing you hurt, I really do," Kaitlin said, tears spilling over and running down her cheeks.
"The bruises will heal, you know that," Cassie countered.
"Go sit down, girls," Andrew suggested, and the two girls got up and sat at the table by the windows, leaving Andrew to sit on the bed beside Cassie.
Jake turned to Cassie and she could see the tears in his eyes.
"I miss Charlie," Jake said. "Is she going to be okay?"
"Charlie always seems to come up smelling of roses," Cassie said. "You know that – I'm sure she'll be back in a day or two."
Jake reached up and grasped Cassie's hand, squeezing tightly. He had been through a lot in his short life, but having a family meant so much to him, and for once, he felt safe. He felt loved. He felt cared for. Despite the pain, he had never been so happy. All around him were his family, and he knew that they were all worried about him, just as much as he worried about Cassie.
Cassie felt Jake's grip ease as the boy fell asleep. She saw the smile on his face and knew that he was content. She herself was in pain but having her family around her meant so much and even as listened to the two girls talking quietly, she knew that she would heal and that they would all get back to be an abnormal family. She too worried about Charlotte, and she hoped that the girl stayed safe.
Andrew stayed holding his wife's hands until she too was fast asleep. He slipped off the bed and laid down on the soft carpet, a pillow under his head. He closed his eyes and thought of better times. He thought back to the days when he had had no idea about what Cassie had been getting up to. Why she was unable to call him and why she had suddenly vanished one day. He had thought that he would never see her again. That had been when he had realised how much he really loved her. He even found himself loving the two strange little girls and the boy they had also adopted. But he knew their history and he would never stop looking after them all.
For the moment, he was happy and content.
The Sahara Desert
Northern Mali
10:15 GMT+2 (09:15 GMT June 26th)
The Strike Teams
The train was beyond massive and the monstrosity stretched left and right for quite a considerable distance.
The consist was made up of over thirty wagons, each of which held a pair of 40-foot containers in various colour schemes. Two ginormous 4,500-horsepower EMD SD70ACS diesel freight locomotives, connected back-to-back, pulled the consist down the single track which led west, over several hundred miles of open desert, towards Mauritania. The strike teams had raced a dozen miles to the west to intercept the train. Mathilda and Ruth, as Bravo Two, were in transit to a location more than twenty kilometres to the west of where they had detected the Hind helicopters. The plans were very simple; stop the train and track down whatever it was that they were transporting out of the country. Spectre and Jackal were convinced that there was evidence pointing towards the manufacture of nuclear weapons, if not the actual nuclear weapons themselves. There was one key problem though: Mindy had no idea how to take down a train. She had taken down many things, in her short life, but she had never taken down a train.
Mindy, Dave, and Charlotte lay on a sand dune, staring down at the train which was approaching them at between fifty and sixty-five kilometres per hour, but was still about eight kilometres away from them. As it approached, they examined each of the two locomotives and they were not surprised to see armed men inside the air-conditioned cab at the front of each locomotive. As they watched, they saw a Russian soldier, an AK-12 assault rifle hanging from his shoulder, exit the cab of the rear locomotive and walk along a walkway before crossing over onto the front locomotive and then along another walkway before vanishing into the cab of that locomotive.
"Okay, Hit Girl, whatya gonna do now?" Charlotte challenged.
"I'm starting not to like you, Charlie!" Mindy growled.
"I hear you're actually a pussy cat," Charlotte teased.
"Charlie," Dave cautioned. "This pussy cat has sharp claws, mark my words."
"Still, my question stands," Charlie persisted.
"We go in guns blazing," Mindy stated.
"I figured that," Charlotte responded. "Are you forgetting the Hinds?"
"No," Mindy replied. "We blast them out of the sky."
"She makes it sound so damn simple," Charlotte complained.
"Hit Girl likes simple things," Dave commented.
Mindy laughed as she slid back down the sand dune and ran over to her LSV.
Modibo Keita International Airport
10:15 GMT+2 (08:15 GMT June 26th)
The Phoenix
Jennifer was angry.
She had lost a child – something that she had promised herself would never happen on her watch. As she washed her hands and arms, she looked over her shoulder at the shattered naked body which had been Amber Dawson. Only, it was just a corpse awaiting an autopsy instead of the living body of a thirteen-year-old girl with her whole life ahead of her. After drying her hands and arms off, she stepped over to the medical bay doors, past Rachel who was draping a clean white sheet over Amber's body, leaving her face uncovered. Blood soaked through the sheet almost immediately. At the door, Jeremy stood rooted to the spot, tears streaming down his face.
Standing beside the boy, Olivia simply stared at the body, her mind struggling to comprehend what had just happened.
..._...
Elsewhere aboard the giant aircraft, a young girl with more curiosity than was probably good for her, went to see more of what was going on.
She left her seat in the midships seating and headed aft. Her young eyes took in the scene of pain and of death. She had seen more than enough of both in her nine years of life, and she recognised suffering when she saw it. She had seen the bruising sported by Cassie and Jake, and it had worried her. In the bunks outside the medical bay, she found Saoirse and Abigail who were both fast asleep. As with Jake and Cassie, neither had got around to changing immediately after their arrival but had since changed into bland hospital gowns before laying down and going to sleep. As Becky walked past the medical bay, she caught sight of the dead body under the sheet which had once been Amber as well as Jeremy and Olivia standing beside the body. The youngster moved on, seeing the dead body as no longer relevant – it was just a piece of dead meat and no longer a living person in her damaged mind. Then she saw something out of the ordinary. In the very corner of the compartment, behind the aft most bunk, there was a young girl who seemed to have been forgotten about in all the chaos.
"Hi, I'm Becky."
The girl did not say a word, but she stared up at Becky with a scared expression. Becky clocked the torn clothing and for the first time in a while, she felt real compassion for someone else.
"Why don't we find you something better to wear, huh?" Becky suggested.
The girl slipped out of her corner and she stood up, still looking frightened.
"What's your name?" Becky asked.
"Frieda!" a voice suddenly called out.
The girl flinched away as Ariana appeared.
"Her name is Frieda – she's Freya's little sister," Ariana explained.
The girls were interrupted by shouting coming from the medical bay.
"Jen! Jen!"
..._...
Olivia nudged Jeremy forward and together, they both looked down at the dead girl.
Neither was a stranger to death but seeing someone they knew lying before them, dead, was something else. Olivia had never felt so much guilt in all of her life. Never had she got things so wrong. She knew full well why Jeremy was there, and the boy was struggling to cope with seeing Amber just lying there, her eyes closed as if she was sleeping, only, he knew that she was never going to awaken. For the twelve-year-old boy, losing someone that had meant so much to him was too much and he shamelessly shed tears as he stared down at the first girl he had ever truly liked as more than a simple friend. Olivia hesitated for a moment but then she took hold of the still warm hand as she spoke.
"I am so sorry, Amber. I wronged you. You are the bravest person I've ever met. I could never have pulled off what you did. You saved my life and many other lives."
Suddenly, Amber's eyes popped open and Olivia jerked backwards in shock, dropping Amber's hand. Jeremy was stunned to see the pale green eyes looking up at him, panic very evident. Amber then began to gag on the tube which had been inserted down her throat and the panic in her eyes grew worse even as she struggled to breathe as the pain kicked in.
"Jen!" Olivia yelled. "Jen!"
Jennifer stepped into the medical bay and her eyes went wide as she saw Amber moving and then she looked up at the monitor mounted on the wall which showed Amber's vital stats – all were coming up from nothing.
"How the hell?" Jennifer demanded as she ran over to the panicked girl, pushing Jeremy off to one side. "Calm down, Amber; you're going to be fine – Rachel!"
"Yes," Rachel responded as she appeared from forward and her eyes went wide as she took in the scene. "Oh my God!"
"Ten milligrams Midazolam and twelve milligrams Fentanyl," Jennifer directed.
Rachel rapidly dug the drugs out of a drawer, and she injected the relevant amounts into the IV fitted to Amber's left arm. Amber's movements began to slow as the Fentanyl eased her pain, and then her eyes closed as the Midazolam induced unconsciousness.
"Let's start fixing this girl!" Jennifer declared as she and Jeanne went back to work on the most serious of the injuries while Rachel monitored Amber's life signs.