The Edge of Honour

Chapter 27

CHAPTER 27

MORGAN'S POV:

The car journey to the small remote airstrip was a long and tedious experience. I was already weary from everything that had happened so far and the apprehension that I was feeling was not helping in boosting my overworked and drained body and mind. There was no disguising the worry I was feeling.

Worse still, there was nobody whom I could voice my concerns to which only made it worse. Of course, I could discuss it with Jet, but I was fearful of seeming weak. He was already wondering if he was making the right decision for my training and well-being and I was afraid that he would back out.

There were no security checks awaiting us. Jet drove straight onto the runway and pulled to a stop beside a small, white jet which had a thick blue stripe along the bottom of it. The area surrounding the small runway was barren except for a very small building a few hundred metres away from where we had parked. I could see a waiting area inside of it, complete with benches of various lengths and there also appeared to be a minuscule workstation for making hot drinks in the nearest corner of the building.

Jet quickly tapped a number into his mobile and spoke to the person on the other end in a hushed voice, the urgency in it was clear nevertheless. Jet's eyes swept the surrounding area as they had always done whenever we arrived somewhere new. I figured he had witnessed a lot in his life with the CIA, security was always at the top of his agenda.

His eyes had stopped moving and were focused on something in the distance. They seemed to widen in fear, something which I had rarely seen happen to him.

He hung up the phone and I could almost feel the fear diffuse from his body and into my own as he steadied himself with a deep breath. He always did that before he was about to do something important or when he was worried. It was as if he was summoning courage from some external source. The feeling inside me expeditiously increased as I watched him remove a gun from his rucksack and loop it under his belt.

"What's wrong Jet?" I asked worriedly as he once more stared into the distance towards the left of us. His eyes were focused directly on it, unmoving, unblinking; concentration was etched on every area of his face.

"Nothing that you need to worry about Morgan, but I do need you to honestly promise me one thing." I nodded, nervous of what he was about to ask of me. "No matter what happens when we leave this car, you have to do what I ask of you."

I nodded my agreement. All I could do was hope that Jet was worried about nothing, but I doubted it. He had a keen eye for danger. The terror inside of me was suddenly rife.

Jet stared intently ahead of us as he tightened his grip on the small silver shotgun. I could sense the severity of the situation as we sat in silence. I tried to prepare myself as best as I could for what would happen once we stepped out of the car. However, Jet was being evasive and suppressing information from me and that definitely did not help in steadying my nerves.

Jet motioned for me to stay seated while he exited the driver's door and approached my side of the car. He crouched, low to the ground as he moved around the back of the car and lay almost flat on the ground beside my door. It was only when I realised how much he was trying to disguise his movements that the dark shape in front of me took on the unquestionable form of a human.

Once again, Jet's eye and intuition had served us well. There was somebody watching us, waiting for us, but why?

Suddenly, it felt as if I could no longer breath, my airways were constricting and closing in on themselves.

Jet pulled a small rounded object out of his left pocket and threw it in the direction of the dark figure in the hedges. At the same time he flung open my door and pulled me out and urged me to crouch low to the ground. We made our way to the already opened steps of the jet as quickly as we could in our squatted position.

"Morgan, go inside," Jet ushered, pointing at the carpeted steps in front of me. "I will be there in a minute." I did not want to leave him outside alone, but I had made a promise and that was something which I was not about to break. "Quickly," he shouted as a loud bang filled the air and caused my ears to ring as I ascended the steps.

I made my way to the back of the jet. My hands rose to my ears, shielding them from the world around me as I heard somebody cry out in pain. I silently prayed that it had not been Jet. I could not bear if anything happened to him, but I also knew that if whoever was hiding in the trees had managed to injure Jet, I stood no chance against them. I was an open target, a sitting duck.

The scream died down momentarily, only to be replaced seconds later by the deafening squeal of a bullet flying through the air in the direction of one of the parties. I could not believe that I was stuck in a situation like this. This was never how I had imagined that my life would turn out.

Just a mere hour ago, I had been wishing that we were already at the airstrip and now I found myself wishing that I had never reached it. Maybe going to England was not a good idea. My life was already in permanent danger. The numerous attempted attacks against it had already soon that. I could only wonder if I would ever be safe again. For all I knew the people that I was going to be training with could be planning to capture and kill me. Anything was possible. 

I buried my head into my knees as another shot fired. In silence, I found my mind creating its own version of the events that were unfolding outside of my metal shield. It was truly a terrifying prospect. I heard footsteps running up the staircase. I knew that this was it, it was either somebody who had saved my life or somebody on a mission to end it.

To my relief it was Jet. He was panting slightly and a distinct line of sweat glistening across his forehead. I rushed over and hugged him tightly causing him to laugh.

"You didn't have too much faith in me, did you?" he chuckled.

I had been so worried and had managed to convince myself that the worst had happened. I should have had more belief in him because once again Jet had pulled through and saved the day.

However, there was a thought circulating in my mind. Even I could not understand how it made me feel. It was so complex.

"Did you kill them?" I asked quietly, as I pulled away from him. I still hadn't manage to learn how to cope with people being murdered. To me it did not matter what the reason was. A life was a life.

"No, he was only a young boy. He is injured, but he will be perfectly fine, an ambulance is on the way to take him to hospital," he assured me, noting the fear which I didn't even attempt to mask from him.

"Why would a boy be chasing me?" I queried.

"The group who are after you were most likely worried that I would be armed. They would have known that if they had come as a group, they would have drawn too much attention to themselves. They often use young boys as shields to save themselves. They sacrifice them, and put them in the most dangerous of situations. They may appear tough at the surface, but none are ever willing to put themselves in harms way."

He looked sadly down at the ground as he spoke and I knew that the whole situation had angered him. Jet hated having to hurt people just as much as I hated witnessing it happen. Unfortunately for him it was often interwoven with his task. It came part and parcel with his job and title.

"Thank you Jet," I said sincerely. "You have done so much for me. I have no idea how I will ever manage to repay you."

He laughed softly as I spoke. "Let's just get into the air now, so that you can finally begin training. Who knows maybe you and the other Invortomist will be saving my life some day."

Jet placed his gun into the small navy rucksack which had been resting on his seat at the front of the plane. "I guess I better get us on our way now, if you want to sit down."

"You can fly?" I exclaimed. This was something new for me. Jet had never even mentioned that he was a pilot to me.

"Well I certainly hope so Morgan or else you will be walking to England!" he joked as I settled myself into a seat with a table in front of it as Jet made his way to the cockpit.

Thankfully, it was completely open other than a small wall behind his back. We would still be able to talk the whole way and I hoped that I would be able to pick up a few tricks. The ability to fly a plane had now made its way onto my list of lifelong goals.

I was about to begin a whole new chapter of my life; in a different country, with new people and new experiences. There was no going back now!