Disclaimer in chapter 1.
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Episode 2
As Time Goes By
Chapter 13
The same men who brought them in originally, with no explanation of where they were going escorted the lieutenants out of the briefing rooms. A cold chill ran down the twin's neck, in their time this meant they were going to be 'further interrogated' or tortured, but the twins had been led to believe that this did not happen yet. Both were relieved when they saw each other for the first time since the raid. They were escorted outside and placed in a black SUV, two agents started driving, and the twins looked out the window hoping to recognize anything that told them where they were being taken. With the exclusion of the shopping center and the few spots they had been to within the past week the area was unfamiliar as it had changed rapidly and drastically over the next twenty years. They had been on the road for almost an hour or so when they finally saw something that looked familiar.
LANDON AIRFIELD
US MARINES – US NAVY
The sign of the base read on the gate, instantly they knew why they had been taken here they discovered their plane. Neither of the lieutenants spoke as they were pulled out of the car and back into the office of Colonel Whitfield. Doctor Roberts shoved some sort of document onto the colonel's desk, the colonel gave a glance of disapproval, and he made it quite clear he did not like non-military poking around his airfield. Unfortunately whatever the document said must have been the golden ticket before they knew it they were being escorted out of the office, and towards the hanger bays. One of the hanger bays had a set of marines standing guard outside, Colonel Whitfield waved them aside as he opened the doors to the hanger bay. The twins looked up and right at their old aircraft.
"It's beautiful." Dr. Roberts commented running his hands down the metal of the aircraft, he then turned and looked at the twins. "Well?"
"Nice aircraft." Natalie commented. "Looks like something from the sci fi channel." The doctor huffed in pure displeasure of the response, Natalie and Lucy both smirked.
"I will not tolerate any more of these games." He snarled, the twins were taken slightly back by his tone, but were sure not going to show it. "I know you two are from the future and I damn well sure know that this is your plane. Now tell me how it works or I will take it a part piece by piece."
"Go right ahead." They both responded, the doctor turned to the colonel, the colonel shrugged.
"With such a superior security system, do you believe if we were to start taking it apart it would have a self de-strut mechanism which is why they would allow it." The colonel sighed at the doctors questioning.
"I would believe so, why they would want to have their own aircraft destroyed is beyond me, but we are very close to similar technology now, so they would most defiantly have it." The colonel had been right as part of the new plane schematics the plane was to automatically self de-struts if the dismantling process was performed incorrectly and without the correct codes to avoid the enemy learning from any planes shot down. The doctor studied the twins looking for any non-verbal responses to them guessing correctly, the twins only stared back blankly.
"I know this is your aircraft and if we destroy it, there goes your chance at ever getting back to your time, and I promise to make your time here a living hell." He grew closer to the twins so the next part of the conversation was only audible to them. " I have come to understand that the world you left behind is war torn, I can also tell by the outside of your aircraft, I should make this clear, you being here is unraveling the timeline, you don't belong here. If you stay here you can only change history and that doesn't mean for the better. I suggest you compromise, and we can then leave you alone." He pulled back from the lieutenants a look of pure satisfaction plastered across his face. "Of course we can always bring in your family and friends from this time." The twins exchanged glances, they didn't know what that exactly meant but they didn't want to put their friends and family in jeopardy, and they certainly did not want to effect the timeline more then necessary.
"No way." Lucy began.
"Ok." Natalie interrupted, her sister turned and looked flabbergasted, Natalie gave one of her looks that only Lucy could read, it was their 'twin telepathy' as their dad use to call it, it meant I had a plan so go along with it. "Ok we will compromise, nobody else needs to get involved." Natalie glanced up at the plane "…but before we do anything we are going to have to unlock it."
"Very well you go unlock it alone, but don't try anything tricky." Natalie turned back towards the doctor.
"I can't unlock the aircraft by myself it needs both my authorization code and Lieutenant Lucy Rabb's." Lucy did not react she knew very well that the plane only need Natalie's code to unlock after all she was the pilot but she was willing to play along.
"Very well." The twins slowly moved towards the aircraft, as soon as they were out of audio range Natalie whispered to her sister.
"We're going to break out of this joint, I'm going to unlock from one side, I will start to explain the process while you need to start the emergency flight sequence from the data pad on the belly of the plane on the other side."
"Computer unlock hatch and engine security code Hammerbeta0804." Lucy quickly spoke up before the computer had time to react. "Security code Rio1205." The computer did not even registrar the second code, but with the team standing so close it had to sound like it was needed as well. The aircraft hummed to life.
"WELCOME, WEAPONS CURRENTLY DISENGAGED, THERE IS NO FLIGHT PLAN, PLEASE UPLOAD YOUR CURRENT FLIGHT PLAN." The computer chirped to life. Lucy sighed as she removed the panel from the other side, she wished they had not programmed such a verbal computer.
"Colonel Whitfield, sir, do you have the items you confiscated from us upon our arrival?" Inquired Natalie.
"They're in that locker over there why?"
"We need the items they're necessary for the aircraft to function." Lucy was punching in the emergency preflight code into the pad; she couldn't think anything of value they confiscated from them other then their oxygen masks and weapons. She then thought again that it would not be wise to leave their weapons behind, as far as their flight suits it was about time they got new ones, and the admiral would certainly destroy their old ones. One of the marines brought over their items; Natalie tossed in the oxygen masks that Lucy nonchalantly attached back to their helmets. Natalie laid their guns inside the aircraft, she held up a device an equivalent to a modern day palm pilot, but to their eyes was far more advanced.
"This is a remote that we use to operate the aircraft from up to fifty feet away in case of emergency." Natalie explained, the true purpose was it was a portable pocket computer used in ground operations, and weather tracking. Lucy finished her task and slid into the cockpit. The team was moving closer to the aircraft there wasn't much time left to kill. Natalie jumped off the ladder she was standing on and landed in the cockpit, ax the engines roared to life the hatch began to close, and the team on the ground scrambled to intercept.
"Great plan sis now what?" Lucy questioned, as her fingers flew across her console.
"Hold on." Natalie ordered as she started directing the aircraft towards the open hanger bay doors.
"This is insane." Lucy grumbled, but Natalie didn't respond she was to busy fussing over the computer. As they maneuvered the plane out into the open, Lucy glanced up into the sky. "Computer pull up the last flight sequence and reverse it."
"What are you doing?" Natalie asked.
"The only way I can think of us being able to get back is to fly the exact course we last took, and hopefully we can fall back into that temporal whatchamacalit." Lucy attempted to explain.
"Sounds logical enough." Natalie concurred. They could see in the distance teams being mobilized to intercept the aircraft. "This is going to throw them for a loop." The teams were positioning themselves on the runway strips but little did they know that there was no need for a runway. "Computer initiate vertical take off." Natalie ordered. For one second the engines grew silent only to be replaced by a loud roar and they reversed direction and began to take off. As they reached the proper altitude Lucy sighed.
"That was almost too easy." Just then two hornets closing in on them triggered the warning bells. "Spoke to soon."
"We don't want to hurt them were going to have to run out run them, switching to auxiliary engines." Lucy groaned, she hated the auxiliary engines, they gave a nasty kick when it initiated. Without further warning the auxiliary engines were engaged, Lucy gritted her teeth, as the aircraft raced away. The hornets could not keep up, there were repeated attempts over the radio to get them to return, but they ignored them.
"I've detected that same cloud formation that we escaped into the last time I'm setting the course." Lucy informed, as they approached the cloud formation the aircraft began to shake violently followed by a blinding white light.