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“It sounds like a cautious and well-conceived plan.” He handed her the parcel, which was leather and had a large wax seal on it. Tevryn then placed it in a watertight container. “Suffice it to say we will not be pleased if that seal is broken.”
Amelia looked down. “I’ll take a picture of the intact seal as it leaves the plane. I have no interest in your business.” She extended the package back to Tevryn. “But if you’d rather give your business to someone else, I’ll even return your deposit.”
Tevryn smiled. “My apologies, Amelia. Not only would I prefer you take the package, Phoenix Corp is hopeful that this is the start of a long and profitable relationship for both of us.”
“That would be nice,” said Amelia, returning his smile.
Tevryn stepped back. “I would normally say ‘fair winds and following seas,’ but somehow that doesn’t seem quite right. How about, safe journey.”
“That’ll do. Thank you for your business, Tevryn.”
Amelia untied the plane, pushing off from the dock as she climbed into the cockpit, slid the package in the pocket behind her seat, secured the drop box on the floor behind it, and did a quick doublecheck of her instruments. The last item was probably superfluous as she’d been standing next to the plane the entire time, but nevertheless, it was habit.
Putting on her headset she said, “I’m away from the dock and starting the engine. Radio our flight plan and I’ll let you know when I’m circling the drop point.”
“Gotcha. Have a safe flight. See you when you get back. Midnight Sun Flight Base out.”
Amelia grinned. Phoebe always sounded so professional. It just cracked Amelia up. Not that Phoebe didn’t always put her best foot forward, but she’d seen her be considerably less straightlaced. Hiring Phoebe had been one of the best decisions she’d ever made with regard to her company. When she was far enough away from the dock, she engaged the plane’s engine and taxied out into the bay, pushing the throttle forward so the plane lifted off in a smooth, straight line. Once she was aloft, Amelia banked north toward Alaska and continued to climb until she reached her cruising altitude.
She continued to monitor the weather and when it began to turn, she changed her flight plan, heading west earlier than she had planned so she could approach the drop point from the south as opposed to the north. The air was a little bumpy but not something she or the plane couldn’t handle.
Other than a little rough air, the flight was going according to plan, and there had been no problems. She thought about heading east after the drop and landing in Kodiak for the night. As the weather began to turn nastier than she had anticipated, she radioed Phoebe to let her know her location and to amend the flight plan to have her landing in Kodiak and then heading home tomorrow.
“Are you okay?” asked Phoebe.
“I’m fine. It’s just a little turbulence, nothing I can’t handle, but it’s taking more out of me than I thought, so for safety’s sake, I’m going to overnight in Kodiak. They have that great diner. I’ll be fine.”
“Okay, boss. But you be safe.”
“Always.”
* * *
COLBY
“You’re sure the pilot is still planning the drop for today?” Colby asked Tevryn over the phone.
“I did ask about the rough weather, and her assistant assured me that the pilot is very experienced and flies in the rough Alaska weather all the time. You know, dragons can fly, I could have brought it to you.”
“Yes. I am well aware, but the last thing we need is anyone—be they shifter or human—spotting a dragon. The sight of dragons would put everyone on high alert. I’m not sure your isolationist ways have served you well. And I sure as hell don’t need one landing at Windsong. No. This will work. I have people at Otter Cove who can pick the thing up and bring it to me. It’ll just add to my mystique as the local smuggler.”
“You and your games,” said Tevryn. “Do you think your people can break the code?”
“I’m pretty sure, especially given that we know that the papers detail what they were trying to do in Seattle. I’ve brought in a shifter known to my former second. She says he’s good with code—both deciphering as well as writing. And his brother is a geneticist and can be trusted. We’ll let you know as soon as we find anything. I take it the Phantom Fire is throwing in with us against the Shadow League?”
“I wouldn’t say that, but I would say we won’t oppose you and there are those that believe this is a fight we should take on. In any event, I think the information will benefit us all.”
* * *
AMELIA
The plane was getting more difficult to handle. The rough air was fighting her; Amelia was beginning to think about turning back, and then remembering what her instructor told her and countless others ‘there are old pilots and bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots.’ She felt a lurch—something akin to the initial drop an elevator makes when it starts its descent in a high-rise building. The plane tried to nose down, and she could see the dials beginning to spin as the engine coughed, stalled, coughed, and caught.
Shit!She began to reiterate the well-known pilot mantra: Aviate, Navigate, and Communicate, to be done in that order. More than one tragedy could have been averted if instead of focusing on trying to fix the problem the pilot had focused on flying the plane and using ‘checklists’ committed to memory. Especially with a small, private plane, looking for a place to land and then radioing for help. One of the things she liked about her plane was that it had amphibious floats meaning she could land on the ground or water.
Using all her strength, she tried to bring the plane’s yoke back in an attempt to raise the nose. As she did so, not only could she hear that the engine was failing, her vision was being obscured by the oil smearing across the windscreen as well as the smoke trailing from the engine. She berated herself for not having her headset plugged in, but there was nothing to be done for it.
At this point, she needed one hand on the yoke and the other on the throttle control in an effort to maximize the thrust before the engine seized and the plane fell from the sky. She glanced at her electronic navigation which showed a sizeable body of water not too far ahead. She could probably keep the plane in the sky long enough to reach it. Whether or not she’d have enough glide power and momentum to land properly was another matter altogether.
