Wings of Fire Ch. 18 - Teaser (Patreon)

“Get that frame off him! He’s trapped!”

Philipp moved at once, face tight with convincing alarm. “You two, grab the beam! Not there, damn you, you’ll shift the weight onto him!”

He threw himself into the rescue effort with just enough authority to be useful and just enough chaos to make sure everyone else’s attention stayed on James. He was good, Li-Fan had to give him that, as he knew how to make himself part of the emergency. Tex did not move toward James immediately, and that was his first mistake.

He stayed back half a second too long, watching Keller and Li-Fan saw it. Her hand dropped slightly at her side, signaling Swoop, and it was so small anyone would have missed it. But Swoop saw it and was off, shadowing Keller, who was already moving.

He abandoned the aircraft he had been pretending to service and slipped toward James’ plane through the scramble of bodies. Keller did not run, as running would have drawn attention. He moved with the brisk urgency of a mechanic responding to trouble near the catapult, head down, tool satchel in hand.

The plane’s ladder had been left in place, which was another gift from Chimera’s preparation. Keller climbed up, swung himself into the cockpit, and dropped into the seat. His hands went to the controls with practiced speed. He knew his aircraft as he checked the Flash reactor charge, magnetos, primer and throttle. The moment he reached for the ignition button, he froze, as right next to it was a keyhole.

For one stupid second, he stared at it, then he looked around the cockpit, frantically trying to find it. He checked the panel, the side compartments, and even under the lip of the instrument housing. But he found nothing, and his mouth tightened in irritation.

“What the hell?”

He tried again, fingers moving faster now, searching for a bypass or hidden switch. There were none where they should have been. James had not simply added a key slot, but had designed the system around it. The lock was not decorative as it was part of the ignition path itself. Keller’s face drained of color as he realized the predicament he was in.

“Damn it,” he hissed.

A shadow fell over the cockpit, and Keller looked up. Swoop stood on the wing root, one hand braced casually against the fuselage, the other holding a pistol aimed directly at Keller’s face. His expression was almost friendly… almost.

“This thing yours, pal?”

“What?” Keller blinked and Swoop tilted the pistol slightly.

“Out.”

“I’m checking—”

“No, you’re stealing,” Swoop growled, his voice low. “Out. Now.”

“You’ve got the wrong idea,” Keller tried to laugh, but it came out wrong. “There was an accident, and I was making sure the plane was secure.”

“Funny thing is, the plane looks secure, but you don’t.”

Keller’s eyes flicked past him, searching the deck, but Swoop leaned closer.

“Don’t look for help. Look at me.”

Keller swallowed, and on the other side of the deck, the rescue effort around James grew louder.

“Careful! Careful!”

“He’s bleeding!”

“Don’t pull him yet!”

“Get Doctor Zelda!”

Ernie Sr. had dropped to one knee near the wreckage, trying to get eyes on James without shifting the load. “James! Boy, talk to me!”

A pained groan came from beneath the debris before James spoke, his voice a horrible rasp

“I’m pinned. Don’t… don’t lift the left side first.”

“Listen to him!” Ernie Sr. almost laughed from sheer relief. “He’s trapped under half a damned work lane and still giving engineering instructions.”

“James, stay with us,” Laura cried as she knelt nearby, shaking but focused.

She pressed a cloth against the visible gash where blood had started to spread. Ottilia had a hand on Laura’s shoulder, but her eyes were scanning the deck now, suspicion waking fast. Lacey had been screaming into the radio for medical aid, but she kept glancing back toward Tex. Because she knew and had heard enough in the observation lounge to recognize the shape of this moment.

Tex saw Swoop then, noted the pistol in his grip, and then saw Keller’s hands lifting slowly in the cockpit. In that instant, Tex understood the operation had failed. The trap had been sprung, but not on James as they had planned, but upon them. For one heartbeat, his face did nothing, then his thoughts flashed hot and vicious.

‘Ah, fuck.’

There were only two choices now. Slink away and preserve his cover, leaving Keller to be interrogated until the whole thread unraveled, or choose to burn everything in this moment, hoping to come out on top. Tex chose, and his hand went to the concealed pistol under his flight jacket.

He stepped backward, drawing a breath, then Philipp saw him from the wreckage and stiffened. Gerda saw Philipp see him, and Li-Fan, from above, saw all three. Tex shouted across the flight deck, loud enough to cut through the panic around James and the industrial roar of the Chicago dry dock.

“Sieg für Chimera!”