Chapter 72:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain Speaking. We are now on final approach to Adolfo Suárez Madrid International Airport. Please turn off all electronic devices, out flight attendants will be collecting any rubbish you have now, and please return to your chairs, as the fasten seatbelt light is now on." came the voice over the speaker. Cho quickly finished washing her hands, and face, and opened the door to the lavatory. She hurriedly made her way back to her row as the instructions were repeated in Spanish. Cho than moved sideways past Carol and Mickey to her window seat, plopped down and buckled her seatbelt. She was still chewing the gum she had been given when the plane reached maximum altitude so as to relieve the pressure on her ears. Cho felt the plane bank right and got a better view of the Spanish country side, a patch work of green forest that that intermixed with beautiful earth toned architecture, accented by the towering Sierra de Guadarrama mountains in the back ground. She could feel the plane increasing it's decent to the South, and the nervous feeling in her stomach began to come back, but only a little, as she decided that she liked Muggle Travel. It was not as exciting as a broom, but it was very comfortable, and had its own advantages.

~*~ The wheels of the plane screeched as it touched down on the run way, and soon the plane was parked next to the terminal, and the door opened to the jet way. The voice of the Captain came over the radio on final time. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we thank you for flying British Airways flight 395 from London to Madrid. The fasten seatbelt sign in now off, and we ask that you please collect your luggage and proceed to the front." After the trio collected their things from the overhead compartment they made their way out of the plane with well wishes from the flight crew as they exited. They were soon walking down the corridors of the beautiful, modern airport. Carol and Cho then made their way to the food court and ordered burgers at Carl's Jr. for themselves and Mickey, who had excused himself to make a phone call to his friend in the city.

"Mmmmmm, this burgers well good. I shouldn't have skipped breakfast this morning, I was famished." Cho said, savoring the juicy flavor. Carol nodded in agreement.

"Yes, it's I love this restaurant. I haven't had it since my trip to Denmark last year. Hey Cho, how is your boyfriend doing?" Carol asked matter-of-factly. Cho frowned. What could she tell Carol. She had heard nothing from Harry, he was missing, and she had no idea where. And she couldn't tell Carol that he was possibly on the run from the ministry. Though Cho hoped it might be that other than something worse.

"Oh, um, I haven't heard from him other than to say he was busy with school work." Cho said. Carol shook her head.

"Poor him, I remember what that's like. Maybe all of us should take a train up to that school to visit him one day, you know, surprise him." Carol said.

"Oh, yes, well, maybe one day we should." Cho said squeamishly. How she was going to bring her muggle friends to visit a Wizarding school, she thought. How can I get out of this one?

Mickey sat down and took his burger from Carol, taking an enormous bite, and almost swallowing it whole.

"Careful love, you'll choke to death on it." She chided him. He waved it off.

"Gotta to hurry, Fernando is sending someone to pick us up." He said before taking another huge bite.

Ten minutes later they were met by an airport security guard that escorted the three Britons to a large concrete area behind the main terminal, on the opposite side of the airport from the road. Carol looked around for a private car or a taxi.

"Mickey, we're on the wrong side aren't we? Where is our ride." She asked sincerely. Mickey scanned the sky to the West for a moment.

"There!" He pointed to a small object in the sky, moving quickly toward them. The object moved closer to them at a quick pace and the chopping sound of spinning rotors increased steadily. Soon the three could identify the object as a blue and bronze colored helicopter. Nice! Cho thought. It was soon above and next to their position, and came to a hover. The helicopter slowly descended and lande a few yards away from Cho and her friends. The helicopter had no doors, but a large open space on each side. One of the pilots, clad in a olive green flight suite, ran out to greet the trio. He bent low as he did to avoid the chance of a rotor hitting him in the head. When he was clear of the blades he walked up to Mickey and shook his hand.

"Welcome to Madrid Senior Ayoade, I am Salvador Ramirez. Senior Ortega's chief pilot. He than glanced over to Carol and Cho. "Senioritas. Please follow me and keep your heads down until we are next to the side of the chopper." The man shouted to be heard over the loud engine and noisy concussion of the blades. His English was very good, and he had a pleasant Spanish accent. The three did as instructed, and soon gym bags were stowed, seat belts were fassoned, head and microphones were adjusted and plugged in. Cho looked around the compartment. She was by what would be the window again, but looking out of an open whole in the side of the helicopter. This would be another first for the day. Last minute instructions were given by the Ramirez about how to key the mic on their head piece, and with the chopper started to move up and forward at a quick pace. Cho grabbed the front of her seat from being nervous, as she watched the ground quickly get smaller. The chopper made a sharp bank to the left and for a minute it looked and felt as if they were flying sideways before the leveled out. Soon they were flying over the rout of the M-40 motorway, and would bank slightly left or right to keep inline with the road underneath them. Cho noticed that unlike the plane she had come in on that she could feel every accent, every decent, and turn the helicopter made, and it felt very much like flying a broom, but now she was flying with her friends on the same craft. She liked it very much, and the view of the city was astounding. They were flying towards the mountains in the distance. Soon they climbed a bit and were over a forested area, and were flying next to the Arroyo del Monte at tree top level.

The trees eventually gave way to a stunningly beautiful, walled Villa in the classic Spanish style. The chopper began a quick decent and Cho's former nervousness changed to excitement. The helicopter landed just outside the wall, and the ride was over far too fast for Cho who could have gone on for a bit more. The engine was turned off and the rotor slowed in it's spin. When it was stopped the three Brits stepped out, and collected their gym bags. Mickey shook hands with the Ramirez.

"Thanks for the ride mate. I've never been in an Alouette III before. It's brilliant machine." Mickey said sincerely. Ramirez smiled and patted the side of the chopper side.

"My pleasure senior Ayoade, she's my pride and joy. If, you'll excuse me I have to get her ready to for the hanger. Senior Torres will be waiting for you in the villa. Enjoy your stay." He finished pleasantly.

"Yea, Cheers mate." Mickey finished. Cho and the others slung their gym bags over their shoulders and started walking the path up to the villa. The outer wall had a large oak, wooden gate, wide enough to fit a large lorry through. It was opened and as they walked through it, it revealed a beautiful, front door, with what looked like real gold trim around the frame. The door opened as they approached, and a dark skinned man of about thirty five, wearing a grey Armani suit, and red tie stepped out. His eyes were crystal blue, and he his faced beamed a pleasant smile. Senior Fernando Torres was a good friend of Mickey's and they had trained together when the UK, and Spain held joint exercised. Fernando had been a member of Spain's Special Operations Forces, which Cho guesses was something like Mickey's SAS group. However Fernando had since left the army to pursue a career in politics, and was something of an important MP in Spain's government. He and Mickey started to walk to each other, and gave a one armed "bro hug", then quickly released jokingly punching each other in the arms.

"My friend, it has been too long. How is the regiment treating you these days?" he asked of Mickey in a friendly tone.

"Ah, I'm only in the reserves these days, making the dojo a full time project. Private sector, that's where the money is. Although, I see being an MP Is not a bad gig either." Mickey said in a serving the elegant Villa. Fernando scoffed jokingly.

"What this? Inherited. Prosperous family. I'm in politics to serve the people." He smiled. "And this must be Carol." He said smiling. "I've heard a lot about you, but you exceed all expectations." He said. Fernando gently took her hand and raised it to his lips. Carol blushed, and giggled.

"And I've heard many great things about you Senior Torres. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." Carol said.

"Believe me, the pleasure is all mine." He said. Mickey gave a cleaver smile.

"Ah, am I going to have to watch my girlfriend around you, when you turn on the famous Spanish Mochismo?" he joked to his friend.

"What me? I'm a perfect gentleman. Besides I have a girlfriend. She decided to take a weekend to Barcelona with he mum. Not much on the guns." You see.

"Ah, I see." Mickey commented. Fernando, then t turned to Cho.

"And you my lady, you must be his beautiful Scottish friend he said was coming. Allow me to Introduce myself, I am Fernando Torres of the Madrid Torres's. It's is my pleasure to meet such a lovely lady." Taking Cho's hand and raising it to her lips. He was a handsome man with warm lips and Cho was now blushing red, from his charm. She curtsied, not sure why.

"An honor to meet you Senior Torres, thank you for having me at your Villa." Cho said happily.

"My lady. It is my great pleasure. But we can't all just stand at the doorway all day." Fernando said. He looked back into the house and called loudly for his butler, who was in the back of the house. When he came to the front Fernando instructed him to take the bags and show the guest to their rooms. He then informed them that he when they were finished getting settled, they should meet him in the dining room for a glass of the finest Spanish Wine.

That evening Cho was seated with her mates and Senior Torres at a grand dining room in the villa. The table, and chairs, was a beautiful dark oak, with a high shine on them. All hand crafted in the sixteenth century. Curio cabinets along the walls were decorated with the finest China, and a decorative Conquistador Brest Plate and helmet were on display in the corner. The servants soon came out with the food, Cuchifritos, Lamb, along with olive oil, garlic, vinegar, basil, rosemary, bay leaves, and spearmint, Fideuà, a noodle dish with a similar recipe to paella, usually made with seafood and fish, and optionally served with aioli sauce (garlic and olive oil sauce), and many other deliciousous were on hand. During the meal Torres and Mickey talked of their training together, their experience as full time soldiers and what they had been doing since then. Senior Torres was a pleasant host, a Grand Spanish Gentleman, with a pleasant spark of energy about him. The evening was pleasant.

Later during a desert of sweet pudding the subject of why they were there was broached. It turned out that Senior Torres was one of three collectors in all of Spain who had a special license to collect fully automatic firearms, and other military equipment. He did not consider himself a survivalist, but was a serious collector, having a cache~ of guns from the Sixteen hundreds, including cannon, to the present day. Tomorrow, he and an instructor would give Carol and Cho a safety course for a few hours, and then go to a firing range on the property.

The next morning after the safety course Senior Torres and his weapons instructor/body guard, Maria Lupe, walked the group over to an outer room in the villa. As they entered they saw racks full of long rifles, assault rifles, and glass cases full of pistols. Everyone was instructed that the weapons were not loaded, but should be treated always as if they were. Each one was tagged with the name of the weapon. Mickey and Torres, knew all about the weapons on display, they each chose one pistol and one assault riffle to use on the ranger and instructed the girls to do the same.

"Take your time, look for one you think you like, and feel free to ask Mickey or I about it. He said pleasantly. The questions came freely from Carol and Cho, and Carol seemed pretty educated In the types as it was. Her questions were more about bullet caliber and ranger, and she finally settled on a berretta nine millimeter pistol, and a M-4 assault riffle. Cho looked the rifles over. Not having any experience with guns outside a movie they all looked the same to her. She finally found an orange pistol in the cabinet with massive shells that she liked.

"That one!" she said excitedly. Torres came to look over at what she was pointing at, and gave a short laugh.

"Ha! I'm sorry, that one is not supposed to be here, it's a flair gun. I guess I forgot to put it up. Feel free to choose another." He said in a friendly tone. Cho gave a confused look.

"Well, I would prefer to learn to use this one. I like the color, and it has big shells." She said. Torres gave a confused look now.

"Well… it's not a gun for self-defense. It's something to use to signal people if your lost at sea or in the mountains, or warn people of danger. It's just a flair gun." He said. Cho nodded, but still wanted to try it out.

"I understand, but will you please teach me to use it. I've never shot any gun before, not a flair gun either." Cho said. Torres smiled, nodded, and took the gun and shells out of the case, then handed it to Maria to put in a truck to go to the range. He then invited Cho to pick a rifle. She looked around again, and saw a green and black rifle with a massive scope on it, at the end of the rack. She pointed to it.

"What about this one?" Cho asked.

"Ah! The FN FAL Self-loading rifle. A Falklands favorite. Used in the Falklands War, by both sides. This one still has the original Starlight scope. A good choice. " Torres said. Cho didn't quite understand.

"What… what is a starlight scope?" She asked.

"It's night vision, you can see in the dark. I'll show you." He stated. Torres took the night vision scope off the rifle and handed it to Cho. He instructed everyone to be still for a second and had Maria to close the door and turn off the lights. He then told Cho to hold the scope to her eye, and look through it. Cho did so, and could see everyone in the large room clearly. Closer of course, but also clearly . Everything had a green tint to it, and she got a fright when she looked at their faces and their eyes glowed like those of a cat in the headlights of a car. Soon the lights came on and the sudden flash through the scope hurt her eyes for a moment. She decided to go with the FN Fal, and all items were packed into a vehicle. Torres selected the appropriate ammunition, and soon everyone was off to the range.

The vehicle had driven well worn dirt path to a shooting range. In the front were plywood stands that looked down ranged across a dirt field that ended in a sandbagged wall. Between the two ends were varicose paper and plywood targets at various lengths. Torres and Mickey did a final weapons check and spent some time alternating between firing full automatic and single fire, with an SA-80A2, and AK-47 Kalashnikov respectively. Their shots always hit the bulls eyes, a testament to the exhalent training by their respective armed forces. Soon Carol was up. She had never fired a gun before, and though she tried to be serious about it, she had a giddy smile and energy about her. Carol put on her headphones and safety goggles, and proceeded to raise the M-4 assault rifle. She steadied herself, fired, and missed the target. Over the next fifteen minutes with instructions, on how to sight, adjust for wind, and how to look through the open sight, she fired several times, soon getting several shots in the target area. Carol then moved on to the 9mm Beretta, and began putting rounds of ammunition into some of the closer targets. Carol was quickly more proficient with the Beretta, and scored almost every hit in the target area.

Finally, it came Cho's time to try her hand, Maria, the weapons instructor, handed Cho the goggles and ear protection, and Cho fired a couple of rounds, missing the target. More instruction was given and she eventually was able to get most of her rounds in the central target area, but no bulls eyes. When she had finished Cho then took instruction on the FN FAL. She steadied herself, fired one round and dropped the gun, grabbing her shoulder in pain. Everyone rushed to see if she was ok, and she said, that she was but that the rifle had hurt her shoulder. Torres than informed her that the rifle had a lot of recoil, and that she should expect it when she fired next. Mickey picked up the weapon and inspected it, making sure it was in working order. Cho took it up again and readied herself for the recoil. She fired again, and again missed the target. This time she didn't drop the rifle. The instruction continued and Cho eventually was able to get many rounds in the center of the target, and eventually got a bull's-eye, that she thought might be just luck.

The group continued rotating throughout the day, and Cho was surprised that she and Carol were picking it up easily once she got used to the recoil on the rifle. Finally as the sun began to lower Maria, the weapons instructor showed Cho how to open and close the flair gun and load a flair. She handed it to Cho, and told her to point the pistol in the air and fire. Cho did so, and a bright flaming projectile ascended with a loud pop, lighting up the dimming sky. It was an impressive sight. Cho than unloaded the flair and inserted another. She took aim at a plywood target nearby, and fired. The flair stuck inside a bullet hole and the magnesium quickly set the entire target aflame in a small, but intense inferno.

Torres grabbed a small fire extinguisher from the vehicle and put out the fire. Cho gave a sheepish look. "Errr, sorry about that, really." She said. Torres gave a chuckle.

"Heh, no problem. It was a nice surprise. I'd never seen that before. And it's a great finally to the day. But for now I think it's time to retire for dinner. And tomorrow, a tour of the City, and Shopping. " he said happily. Now it was Cho's chace to have a giddy, as she had hoped to do some shopping while she was here. Carol and Cho had never fired a weapon before in their lives, but, it was fun, and the instructors had made it safe. She would hope to perhaps come back and learn more after her mum got better.