Blood and Profit: Chapter 23

The tunnel let them out onto a small coast air strip. They drove by a small collection of civilian air craft and carter weaved around plane after plane. Carter stopped the cart next to a single seat zero G fighter. It looked old and was clearly second or possibly third hand. The original corporate ID tag had been hastily scrubbed or scraped off. Carter turned the key and shut off the cart. “it's not much but it's all yours. Whether you -”

“shhhh you're ruining the moment.” Toll said, holding up his hand to quiet Carter. Carter stayed quiet. “She's beautiful.” Toll stepped out of the cart and walked over to the ship. Running his hand along the side almost lovingly. “Why give me the plane first? What's the job?'

Carter got out of the cart. “The job is why I showed you the plane first. We have fourteen more just like this one. There's only one problem.”

Toll turned to face Carter. “There's not one combat pilot among this nation of egg heads.”

Carter smiled and took a draw off of his stick. “There is one, I'm hoping he can turn out fourteen more.”

Toll looked back at the plane. “You want me to take fourteen completely green pilots and train them as a unit for a mission that happens when?”

Carter smiled awkwardly “two weeks.”

“Two weeks” Toll kicked at loose concrete jutting from a crack in the runway. “you were smart to show me the plane first.”

“I am one of the smartest people on the planet.” Carter tipped an invisible hat.

“That was probably a more intimidating statement before humanity colonized the stars.” Toll shot back.

“How hard is it to shut up and be intimidated?” Carter asked as he sat back in the drivers seat of the cart.

“If I admit that you don't intimidate me, can I still keep the plane?” Toll asked as he pushed an old yellow rusty stair case toward his plane's cockpit.

“Yeah I guess so.” Carter sighed, slumping into the drivers seat.

“Give em two hours to check this thing out then have my unit gathered. We don't have much time to waist.” Toll said as he started his climb up the stairs.

Carter pulled a phone of out of his jacket pocket and typed furiously on the screen. “Toll hold on a second.” Toll stopped a few steps up the ramp and turned around just in time to catch the phone that Carter had tossed at him. “That's yours. Contact information for everyone you want to talk to is already in it. There's another cart parked next to the security station a few hundred yards back the way we came. You're cleared for flight as soon as you're ready to go. Anything else?”

Toll looked around the airstrip. “This isn't our only airstrip is it?” he asked as he finished climbing into his plane.

Carter shook his head. “This is an old hobbyist airstrip.” There's an actual airport about sixty miles north of here.”

Toll had situated himself in the seat and was buckling himself in. “Good because this is hard enough by myself. Overseeing fourteen others without ground crew would’a been a nightmare.”

Carter smiled. “Your nightmares haven't even begun yet. I'll see you in a few hours.”

“Thanks for reminding me.” Toll said reaching up to close his cockpit.

“Enjoy your flight.” Carter yelled as the cover latched closed. He turned the cart back on and spun it a hundred and eighty degrees to head back toward the tunnel.

The conference room was filled with a motley crew. Thirteen humans and one Baceten. Carter opened the door and let Toll into the room.  Toll took a quick survey of the room immediately noticing the Baceten. “Ok first question. How many of you have any kind of flight experience at all?” Two hands went up, one of which was the Baceten. “All righty then. Before we get to learning things like names and playing team building games were all headed to the simulators because if you can’t keep from crashing we can’t bond into an incredibly unlikely feed good team of misfits that beat the odds and become a crack team of colorful hotshots. On the off chance that any of you have any questions, my name is Toll and until each of you have two hours of simulator time none of your questions actually matter. So, everyone stand up and follow me.” Toll exited the room and the rest of the group followed him out and down the hall. Leaving Carter alone in the room.

“Well, at least he's not bored anymore” he said to himself as he left the room.