Dateline

New Year's Eve, 2300 local / T plus 18 hours

Edwards Air Force Base

This is the place, he thought. The place where everything comes together, or everything falls apart.

Aaron stood outside the hangar doors, looking out across the airfield at nothing in particular, trying to find something to counter the sight within. It wasn't easy. Every thirty seconds or so he felt compelled to turn around and just look at the thing, an almost childish grin appearing on his face when he did. For the first time since the knowledge that the world was ending had settled upon him, he felt hope. And it was that, as much as anything else, that caused him to worry. 

Able Stone, the maverick billionaire, had stoked hope in them all. But Aaron knew that not everyone was going to get to follow Able on his charge west to escape the doom. There wasn't enough space, but not all could see that. There were twenty four people. Some were guaranteed to go. Cat, the pilot for one. Able, of course. Mike, the big Delta Force guy and his crew; that was another twelve. Alison, for certain. The injured General and his team, another three. Those that had come along as passengers from LaGuardia, Ellie, the stewardess, and himself. 

The old man, whose name he couldn't remember, had refused to leave the plane after they landed. Just wouldn't leave his wife's body. Had begged them to go and leave him there. He felt bad that no-one really argued all that hard. Not that it mattered. At least five wouldn't be going any further. 

He turned and looked back inside the hangar once more. The supersonic aircraft within; sleek, narrow, long, looking like a cross between a fighter jet and a small airliner, had the words 'EXPERIMENTAL' written down its side. It's nearest cousin would be the Concorde, but this plane was somehow more sleek, more poised and just more ... otherworldly.  Some of the Delta Force crew  were busy with fuel lines and power cables, the plane looking more like a a patient than an aircraft. with all the shorelines connected. Cat and Able were stood heads together, bending forwards occasionally to peer intently inside an inspection panel on one of the engines.

But man, was it small. Able had called it a 'half scale concept'. If taken to completion, it would seat fifty in comfort; albeit cramped comfort. But half size didn't mean half the seats. He'd been aboard briefly when it had been revealed to them. After getting over the shock of its futuristic looks, reality had impinged itself with a thump when he'd gone inside. The words 'Experimental' printed on the side really meant something. Inside, the cabin was full of cabinets with computers, sensors, wiring, monitors and dials. He'd had to stoop to walk down the aisle it was so low, and near the back, past all the electronic paraphernalia, he'd found just five seats. Even packing people in the aisle - standing room only - it would be a struggle to squeeze more than fifteen inside. 

Looking back out into the darkness once more, Aaron tried not to think about it. It was Able's problem, not his. Let the big man and his Delta Force enforcer make the difficult choices. And that choice would have to be made in twenty minutes if they were going to get away in time. 

Across the other side of the airfield, a light blinked on and off. Some airfield beacon he supposed, left on when all the others were turned off when the base was evacuated. It blinked again, three times. Then another three, longer this time, then three more blinks. Pause, repeat. 

That meant something, didn't it? He'd learnt, ages ago. Three short, three long and three short. It took him a few minutes to remember. It was an SOS.

Looking around, he saw everyone busy with getting the plane ready for flight. He would be needed soon to tow it out, but he reckoned he wouldn't be missed for a few minutes. Most of the heavy plant had been taken by the Delta Force guys to clear the runway of debris from the General's crashed transporter, but there was still a few vehicles about, including a large tow truck. No-one took any notice when he drove off.

As he approached, the lights on the car stopped flashing. He drove right up to the fence and set the trucks lights to full beam. In the glare, there was a woman waving. 

"You Kelly?"

"Yes. Are you with Able? I don't know how to get in!"

Aaron looked left and right, but as far as he could tell, the fence extended for miles in either direction. "I don't know where the entrance is either. Wait there."

Getting back in the tow truck, he turned it around, then backed up against the fence. It was surprisingly easy to tear the fence down, he found, and within a few minutes, he had a dole big enough for the woman to walk through.

"Thank you, thank you so much! I thought I'd missed him."  Kelly had fetched her daughter from her car and was now in the tow truck's cab, unable to stop talking. "I drove the long way to avoid trouble, but got stuck and and had to go across the desert, and we were late, and I saw a plane take off and I thought he'd gone."

She had a laptop in one hand, her daughter held tightly against her side with the other.

"That was us, probably. Missed our approach and went around." He couldn't help but think; another two passengers, and hated himself for it.

"I hoped he hadn't gone. I have data. Important data, from Europe. I don't know what it really means yet, but I'm sure it tells us something about them. Maybe we can use it, if only we have time to analyse it properly and... oh god, it's nearly here, isn't it?"

Aaron had no idea what she was rabbiting about, but the last bit he understood. He looked out to the east, and was almost certain he could make out a faint golden glow on the horizon.