Young Skies: The Black Acts

CH8

"Wow!" cried Liza.

"It's just fantastic!" I was in shock. "Felix, how come you never told me about this?"

"I thought you knew already," he replied. "This was a feature from the old F/A-14F Tomcat."

"Yes, I know. I never got to use that feature. I didn't think it would've been incorporated into this plane."

"Yeah. Anyway, don't we have something important to do?" Felix asked matter-of-factly.

"Oh shoot! We gotta get to the carrier before it's too late!" I pressed the silver button again and floored the accelerator. The jet reappeared as it shot forward. We were already facing southward, and I positioned the plane to turn 30° to the right. This would take us directly to California. Then I'd go from there. There was a throttle to the right of me which controls the speed limit of the aircraft. I pushed it to level 4 from 2. In response, the plane sped up past Mach 2. Before long, the digital speedometer indicated a steady Mach 3.

Whoosh! The F-17 zipped through the air, with tight vapor cone racing in front of it. The clouds were whizzing by like streams of white. Many birds give way as my swift jet passed, scared out of their feathers. The ground below was just a blur. Trees swept by as we finally left the desert.

"I'm somewhat thrilled to see some green that doesn't have prickly spines on it!" I exclaimed to start a conversation going.

"Hahaha, real funny Jamo," replied Liza.

"Hey, Ajahmo," said Jai.

"Yes?"

"I've been wondering, do you have any food on board? I'm starving!"

The plane dropped suddenly as I became recumbent. The jet was headed for the ground at a sharp 45 degree angle!

"Hey, Jamo. JAMO! THIS ISN'T FUNNY!" cried Cassie.

"We're going to CRASH!" wailed Nikki. "AAAHH!"

My cousin's terror filled screams pained my ears and brought me out of my trance. The plane, having slowed down on its own to less than 400 knots, was 300 feet from smashing into the ground. With a quick flick of the joystick, I leveled us. The jet scraped the ground, almost stalling, until I floored the accelerator, making the engines blast with power, and lifting us back up into the air! All of this happened within a staggering 45 seconds!

"Phew! That was close!" I wiped the sweat from my forehead.

"You idiot! That was so reckless!" Liza scolded.

"Yeah! We all could've been killed!" joined Cassie.

"Hey! Give my cousin a break, will ya!" Nikki defended me. "In the end, he did save us after all. Sheesh!"

"I'm sorry guys. I'm just really hungry!" Jai became quiet as he received death looks from the girls left and right of him. "I mean, we all haven't eaten since this morning," he raised a nervous finger.

"It's 1:29 now. We missed lunchtime," I remarked after checking a clock. "I'd better speed things up, or Jai will go crazy with hunger!" I floored the accelerator again.

A camera watched as the jet disappeared from view. The camera belonged to a drone. "Hmm, those kids will be arriving soon. I hope my men will be able to kill them," says a sinister voice in the shadows of a dark office. "I'll just have to wait and see! But I do want that plane he possesses. I must have it!" A hand picks up a receiver from a black telephone. The other hand punches in some numbers. The phone rings for a few seconds.

Then a 'click!' is heard and a voice speaks, "Oh! Hello boss! What can I do for you!?"

"A boy and his friends are coming your way in a specially designed F-15 Strike Eagle doppelganger aircraft! Your orders are to kill those children without destroying the aircraft. Can you do it?"