Young Skies: The Black Acts

CH7

"Hey! Calm down! It's just me!" The voice spoke again.

"BA-001? Is that you? But I thought you were deactivated in the crash," I said with fear. "How are you still talking?"

"Listen, I won't try to hurt you anymore. My aggressive programming was lost in my crash, so I'm a little more than an ally right now. As to why I'm still operational, I may have been restored with this aircraft by that strange power source you used. And please call me Felix."

"I see, this must be the INFC's doing. Anyway, I'm glad you're on our side now," I lost all fear as he seemed okay. "Liza, it's alright, he's cool." Liza nodded in response. "So... what say we return to my base, huh Felix?"

"If, you're too tired, I could fly us there as an auto pilot function," said Felix. "The location of the base is one of the things I remember. It's still in my database."

"That's cool and all, but I like to sail my own ship, if you know what I mean," I replied confidently. "Thanks for the offer though, Felix."

"Of course, I understand. All systems are go. We're ready to fly!"

"Having Felix as an AI sure is cool. Liza, initiate scramjets, we're going to RTB!"

"Aye-yi, captain!"

Powerful winds blasted under the plane, lifting us up like a helicopter. Once we were at 5000 feet, the landing gears were retracted and I pressed the right foot pedal, which really was an accelerator. We shot forward, and left the snowy highlands of Vancouver, Canada. At Mach 2, we jet across the sky, our destination, Alfred's Sun, in the northern most area of Nevada.
*****
Meanwhile, back at the base...
All seemed peaceful. The men are cleaning the jets, doing march drills, eating doughnuts and a host of other activities. My friends are in the quarters, watching TV in the living room of their house. Perhaps they've finally become at ease since the time Liza and I disappeared. Perhaps they don't need to worry. After all, they knew in their hearts that we'll be back, safe and sound. The skies above were a cloudless, deep blue. It seemed as today could be the most perfect day in the history of the world.

But not too far away, on the horizon, trouble was brewing. Since I wasn't there now, I had no idea what to make of them. Who knows?

"Awww man! Stuck on radar duty again," grumbled a fat guy. "Nothing ever happens when I'm around. This is so boring!"

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

"What in blazes? Oh my!" He took a good long look at the sheer number of red dots that appeared onscreen, then flipped a lever and activates the alarm. He then dashes out as fast as he possibly can. He ran like a madman through the base yelling, "Everyone! We're under attack! This is not a drill!"

Everyone paused to take in the message, then burst out laughing, the alarm still blaring in the background. It was a funny sight to see grown men rolling on the ground with laughter!

Until Bailey showed up. "ALRIGHT MEN! WHAT IN THE NAME OF NUCLEAR WARHEADS IS GOING ON HERE!!??"

"G-G-G-GENERAL! N-nice wea-weather we're... having!" Everyone stuttered.

"CODE RED! CODE RED! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" The guy was now running around in circles until someone tripped him. "Oof!"

General Bailey turned his attention to him, "Private Vinnie, would you care to explain what the blue cheese is going on!?"

"Ooh, the General never says blue cheese unless he's dead serious! This could get ugly!" Whispered one guy to another.

"You got that right, brother," he replied.