Hello there people! It's been a year, no less! How time flies – during this past year I've experiences a lot, life has gotten in the way a lot of times and this story has just sat there on my computer, screaming at me to pay attention to it, while I frantically punched the mute button.

So, here is the fourth chapter of Prehistory: Reborn. We're nearing the point where the story starts to actually take shape. I'm trying to make this as thrilling and technically/factually accurate as I can, requiring a lot of research to get some highly technical parts of the story right. However, if you happen to come across any discrepancy, be good and point it out.

I love you guys!

Happy Reading!

DISCLAIMER: As I've said time and again, I DO NOT own the Hardy Boys or their friends. They're the property of their respective parents. Also, I have no association whatsoever with Apple Inc. or it's iPhones. I haven't even used any of its products (never liked them).

CHAPTER IV

"The End Will Be Near."

"WHAT do you mean it won't open?" Joe exploded.

Frank tried to calm him down. He addressed the manager:

"So what's the course of action now?"

The man shrugged. "He asked us to spread foam on the runway, just in case he has to make a gear-up landing."

The boys looked on as the emergency crew spread foam on the runway. Soon, Jack Wayne, who had been circling overhead was cleared to land. As the Globe Trotter descended, the boys saw that the left landing gear was still inside the wheel housing. To ensure that the aircraft did not tilt and touch the runway, Jack Wayne had rolled it slightly to the right. This position would put the weight of the aircraft on the right landing gear and the Hardy brothers knew that there was a great risk of it collapsing, sending the craft skidding on the runway and possibly being fatal for the occupants. There was complete silence all around as the Globe Trotter descended gracefully, the spoilers extended and the airspeed reduced to a point just above the minimum. An instant later, the aircraft's right landing gear touched the ground. There was an explosion as the tire burst; shards of rubber were ejected at high speed. Sparks flew as the metal rim left ruts in the hard asphalt surface. Having slowed down considerably, Jack applied the airbrakes and maintained lift on the left wing, preventing the aircraft from falling to one side. As soon as the aircraft stopped, a flat-bed truck with a hydraulic jack took its place under the left wing, stopping the aircraft from falling on its side.

The crowd cheered loudly, congratulating each other and the shaky Jack Wayne, who was followed out of the aircraft by a seemingly composed Fenton Hardy, yet the boys could easily see that he was as shaken as Jack, and there was a faint hint of alarm in his eyes. However, the young Hardys could not restrain broad smiles.

"Man! That was too close!"

Frank agreed. "I'd say! Jack's the most cool-headed pilot I've ever seen!"

The jubilant crowd soon dispersed and the Hardys and Jack walked the short distance to Hangar B. There, Jack collapsed on a chair. The boys noticed that their father's face bore a determined look. There was no hint of the alarm that had been there a few minutes earlier.

Jack exhaled. "Let's hope I don't have to do that again!"

Mr. Hardy nodded. "Either way, you did a great job with the landing, Jack."

Frank and Joe nodded in assent.

As the mood returned to normal, the boys gently broke the news of the fake bomb that had terrified Aunt Gertrude last night. Mr. Hardy pursed his lips and shook his head grimly.

As Jack went off to his office and Mr. Hardy attended to an important phone call, the boys realized that they had forgotten to tell the men about the fact that Jack's office was unlocked. Frank gestured to Joe to follow him outside.

"Jack'll find out about his office soon enough." He said.

"Yeah. Besides, Dad and Jack are still quite jumpy."

Frank nodded. "Come on. Let's check up on the Globe Trotter."

Out on the tarmac, the airport crews were in the process of securing the Globe Trotter to tow it back to the maintenance hangar. Realizing that nothing significant was happening, the Hardys returned to Hangar B.

As the boys entered the hangar, Mr. Hardy was putting away his iPhone.

Jack's tense voice broke the silence of the hangar. "You might want to see this!"

The boys and their father rushed to Jack's small office. The pilot sat at his desk in the dark, his face tense and worried in the bluish glow of his computer screen.

"What's the matter, Jack?" Mr. Hardy asked calmly.

"I'm afraid there's been a break-in. See this."

With that, the pilot turned the PC's screen to face the Hardys. The screen showed a word processor document. However, it was the written text which thoroughly alarmed the Hardys. Written in the center of the page, in bold red letters were the words:

SO DO YOU NEED A PLATOON OF SCIENTISTS TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WE WANT FROM YOU? YOU'RE NOT THAT STUPID, HARDY. OR ARE YOU? JUST INCASE YOU ARE, LET'S MAKE IT CLEAR TO YOU.

WE WANT YOU TO DROP WHAT YOU'RE DOING. RIGHT NOW.

SURELY YOU DON'T WANT TO WAIT UNTIL THE END TO FIND OUT WHAT WE'RE CAPABLE OF. IF YOU WANT TO, IT'S YOUR CHOICE; BUT REMEMBER THAT IN THAT CASE, THE END WILL BE NEAR.

Joe was incredulous. "Who are these people!?" he roared.

This brought Frank back to his senses and he realized that he had been gripping the edge of the desk with all his strength. His knuckles were white. Mr. Hardy looked tense and Jack looked completely drained of strength.

He was also out of breath. "I don't know what you guys are working on, but let me tell you – whoever these guys are; they play rough. And I have a bad feeling that the next time, they'll do something more than just sabotage our landing gear!"

Mr. Hardy's head snapped up. "What do you mean sabotage?"

Jack looked surprised. "You think what just happened was an accident, even after that?" He pointed to the computer screen.

"It was an accident. Anything from lax maintenance to a spontaneous problem could have caused it!"

Jack looked as if he had been badly insulted. "Mr. Hardy, I've been flying aircraft for 20 years. I've flown Learjets and F-16s and everything in between and I know that the landing gear of a brand-new super-fit aircraft does not fail itself!"

Frank realized that the situation was getting out of control. "I think we should take these problems one at a time."

Joe supported Frank's efforts to prevent a heated argument. "Right. First, how did you find this note, Jack?"

"My PC was turned on. I hadn't left it that way. And it wasn't locked. Someone bypassed the password protection."

"What!" The collective exclamation caused quite an echo in the corrugated iron building.

Mr. Hardy added grimly, "We're up against some well-equipped tech professionals."

Jack's nervousness gave way to sarcasm. "You can say that again!"

Before Mr. Hardy could reply, Frank spoke up.

"What could have caused the landing gear problem?"

"Pretty easy to sabotage. A small leak in the pressure cylinder and the system would have been drained of hydraulic fluid."

Frank interjected. "But isn't there some kind of backup for gear deployment?"

Jack nodded. "The backup failed too. Whoever sabotaged the gear wasn't taking any chances. He knew what he was doing!"

"My hunch is that - "

Joe's reply was cut off with the ring of Fenton Hardy's iPhone.

"Hello, this is Fenton Hardy."

Frank turned his attention to the note on the screen as his father listened to someone on his phone. He hadn't even read the entire message when he jumped in shock.

"WHO IS THIS?" Fenton Hardy shouted as the line went dead. The phone beeped again. It was a text message. Mr. Hardy opened it, his jaw tightening as he turned the iPhone to face the boys and Jack.

On the screen, the iPhone's signature IM view showed a single line of words:

"THE END WILL BE NEAR."