Aftershock: A Donovan Nash Novel (A Donovan Nash Thriller) by Philip Donlay

Author:Philip Donlay [Donlay, Philip]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oceanview Publishing
Published: 2015-03-03T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Donovan ended his phone call with a small amount of frustration mixed with disappointment. He’d wanted to talk to Lauren, but his call had gone straight to voice mail. He quickly informed her that Stephanie was still alive, and that hopefully he’d have good news by tomorrow.

He hurried through the lobby and joined Buck in the Suburban to head to the airport. His next call was to tell Michael they were on their way. He also asked Michael if the Learjet was still parked on the ramp. Michael said no, they’d just reopened the airport, and he’d seen it take off only moments ago.

“We lost them,” Donovan said to Buck. “Michael says the Learjet just took off.”

“Can we find out where they went?” Buck asked. “Or more importantly—who chartered it in the first place?”

“Remember the handler who met us when we arrived? Those guys usually take care of all the private aircraft. I’m guessing he might be persuaded to talk.”

Buck swung the black SUV up to the USGS hangar. He left the motor running. “Give me the ID badge you took from the Learjet pilot. I’m going to go have a little chat with the handling agent. You go in and brief everyone, get things started. I shouldn’t be gone long.”

Donovan didn’t argue, extracting information from the handler was probably a job best left to Buck. He stepped out and went to find Michael. It didn’t take him long to find the entire crew. They were huddled around the Scimitar, as if their entire purpose hinged directly on the experimental black aircraft. As he walked up, Donovan knew he was about to add another dimension to that concern.

“Donovan,” Michael said. “You’re just in time to hear the verdict on the Scimitar.”

“We’ll get to the Scimitar in a minute,” Donovan said, as all eyes turned toward him. “I want to bring everyone up to date. Stephanie’s kidnappers have made contact. The exchange could happen as early as this evening, and, if it does, we’ll need to shift our airborne mission priorities away from the volcano.”

“What is it you need us to do?” Janie asked.

Donovan turned toward Professor Murakami and frowned as he saw what looked like water dripping furiously from the Scimitar. “How bad is it?”

“What you’re looking at, is the water from the last of the ice that formed when the liquid nitrogen line ruptured. It’s a small leak, but, unfortunately, I’ll have to purge the entire system. Once I do that, I can run a diagnostic and make sure nothing else is damaged. It’ll take me the rest of the night. But, hopefully, I can recharge the liquid nitrogen, and we’ll be able to fly again in the morning.”

“Here’s what I know right now,” Donovan repeated. “Buck thinks that the exchange will take place here in the city. We’ll be stretched pretty thin in terms of personnel, so the Scimitar is key. We need it airborne as soon as possible. It doesn’t need to fly through volcanoes—it just needs to fly.

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