The Fossil: Science Fiction Thriller by Joshua T. Calvert

Author:Joshua T. Calvert [Calvert, Joshua T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-03-14T22:00:00+00:00

21

Agatha Devenworth, 2042

The trip to Malmesbury Airfield took nearly two hours, partly because they passed through two police checkpoints on the way. Both times, the officers couldn’t hide their surprise when they shined their flashlights through the open windows of the Tesla onto Agatha’s and Pano’s IDs, but they didn’t call it in, in the end, just waved them through.

So far, so good.

But they ran into a more significant obstacle when they turned onto the access road, passing the signs to the airfield, and the colorless light of their high beams hit a chain-link gate, locked with a heavy iron chain.

“Looks like this shop’s only open for business during the day,” Pano said, and pursed his lips. “Pretty standard for a private airfield.”

“Hmm,” Agatha growled, studying the gate and the razor wire through the Tesla’s windshield. Out of the darkness, huge numbers of insects, some small and some shockingly large, swarmed to the light and began collecting around the car’s headlights.

“You’re not thinking of going in there, are you?” Pano asked.

“Yes... Yes, I am,” she replied.

“That’s illegal.”

“I don’t see a sign.”

“I was kidding,” he said with a snort, then sighed, and said, “All right, let’s go. I brought the fission cutters.”

When Agatha was sure her partner was on his way to the trunk, she turned to her terminal and began scrolling through the file she had prepared on South African criminal and civil law. When she had found the spot she was looking for, she tapped it briefly and then got out of the car, too.

“Everything all right?” Pano asked, approaching with a tool that looked like a small drill. He set to work on the chain, and she nodded.

“Just what are you hoping to find once we get inside?” he asked, as the barely visible laser beam from the fission cutter ate its way through the metal chain. A thin cloud of smoke rose, and then the chain fell to the ground with a loud clank.

“The destinations would be good enough for me,” she replied. They each pushed one side of the gate open and went back to the car together.

“Private flights also have to file complete itineraries, right?” he asked, half optimistic, half worried.

“I think so, yeah. I’m pretty sure they don’t have to keep passenger lists, just pilot information. And that’s not even mentioning air freight.”

They sat back in the front seats of their car and she switched the drive mode to manual. Then they followed a gravel road towards the large hangar building. It was corrugated metal, standing like a block of gray in the middle of the blackness of the surrounding steppe. The access road turned sharply and then headed straight for the hangar. Agatha had turned off the low beams and was now driving with only parking lights on, something the software was aware of and pointed out to her with flashing warning symbols. She ignored them.

Pulling up alongside the hangar, she parked the car, and they got out and started walking, bringing along their flashlights.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.