The Soldier of Summer: Book 1

Chapter 4

We walked three miles in silence. They knew better than to ask about my plan, because they knew that there were ears everywhere. I just hoped they trusted me enough.
When we reached the air hangar, I checked to see if the group had their masks on. They did. I made the face I wanted them all to put on: plain and vacant. Once they all got the expression down, I walked them all to the front entrance of the air hangar.
I handed the guard a slip of paper that had a code on it. The code had my next mission on a file. It wasn't originally scheduled for the next five days, but the night before, I hacked the system and pushed it up. I also added that I needed four co assassins for this assignment.
My only hope was that no one at the compound had discovered that I was gone yet. If they did, an alert would have gone out right away that something was wrong, and they wouldn't have let me go on the mission. But the guard let us through, and I walked in front.
Since I was the "Lead Assassin," it was customary for me to walk in front, but Nat, Steve, and Sam didn't seem to get the hint. "Walk behind me," I hissed over my shoulder. Nat and Steve heard because they were on my left. Sam though, he did not hear. I was grateful when a metal arm reached out and pulled him back.
Another guard gave me a key to Jet 3. I gave him a nod and led my group over. We walked up the open door the the plane, and I threw my backpack down. Waving the rest in, I looked out over my prison. It was all so grey, and dull. With a sigh of relief, I pressed the button that closed the door.
   I ducked into the cockpit, sat in the pilot seat, and waited for clearance to take off. When the green light flashed, I started up the engine and turned on the seatbelt light. I didn't even look to see if the others were seated before I started down the runway. We picked up speed, and lifted off. That feeling of weightlessness settled over me as the Hydra facility disappeared into the night.
   As soon as we were level, I put the plane on autopilot and sprinted into the cockpit.
   "Okay," I started, "we don't have a lot of time, so Bucky, I need you to find all of the microphones in the plane. Natasha, I need you to find all the weapons. Steve, look in my bag and find the second little airplane. I'll find the tracker."
   We all turned to our tasks, leaving Sam crossing his arms. I quickly found the tracker and walked back over to Steve who had my backpack. Winter came back holding seven little chips in his arms.
   "Sam, I need you to wipe those mics and dispose of them." I told him. He rolled his eyes, and snatched them from Winter. Steve finally got my airplane out of the bag.
   Natasha returned holding a rifle. She didn't hold it up, she didn't threaten me, but I knew it was coming. She was waiting for when I finished ensuring her escape.
   I tied another chord to my airplane, and then the other end to the tracker.
   "Brace yourselves,"I said. I opened the jet's gate, and released my plane. I programmed that one to go France (which was where my assignment was). I closed the gate, ran back to the cockpit, and typed in new coordinates to go to.
   I walked back into the cabin, where I was met by three barrels up my nose. I put my hands up in a submissive position.
   "Please, let me explain."