“Don’t fret about it. I think she was just looking for another chance to slip the leash, especially with the way she feels about Barron.”
“Well, I can’t say I’ve enjoyed her company, but we can’t just leave her here.”
“I think that’s exactly what we have to do.” Dodge nodded toward the opening in the tail of the airship, which now looked more like an aircraft hangar built on the ground than a means of traveling through the sky. “Come on, let’s go meet the mysterious Walter Barron.”
“Into the belly of the beast,” Hurricane remarked.
Dodge hoped he wasn’t being prophetic.
Dodge and Hurley waited on the landing platform as Majestic’s crew hauled the death ray—the resonance wave generator, Dodge reminded himself — on board. A few minutes later, Fiona brought her autogyro back down and expertly flew it inside for a gentle landing. As the passengers extricated themselves from the cramped interior of the little aircraft, Dodge felt Majestic start to move; the dirigible was returning to the sky.
As soon as she spied them, Nora raced over and impulsively hugged Hurricane. Then she threw her arms around Dodge. “I was so worried.”
Dodge was a little surprised at the intensity of her embrace; despite their shared travels, he hadn’t really gotten to know her very well. He was a little surprised to find himself returning the hug. “One more chapter in the exciting adventures of Dodge Dalton,” he said, trying to sound lighthearted.
She drew back just enough to look him in the eye. “So this is just another day at the office for you? Well, this is a lot more exciting than just writing them.” Her dazzling smile slipped a little. “About them. In my journal, I mean. And reading the stories.”
Dodge tried to laugh away the awkward turn. “I’m just kidding. I was a little worried too. But we’re safe now.”
“Speaking of stories,” Hurricane said, “I wonder what’s become of Lightning Bug?”
To Dodge’s chagrin, at the mention of Lafayette, Nora dropped her arms and took a step back. “Goodness, I’d completely forgotten about Rodney.”
Dodge shot Hurricane a withering glare. The big man fought to hide a mischievous grin.
“He’s here,” Newcombe announced as he joined them, with Fiona at his side. “Mr. Barron has commissioned him to write his memoirs.”
“You don’t say.” There was an odd twinkle in Nora’s eye. “That’s marvelous news. I’m sure he’ll be eager to tell me all about it.”
Newcombe abruptly looked past the reunion, his expression twisted with anxiety. “There’s someone else aboard that you should know about.”
Before Dodge could inquire, someone behind them called out: “Hurricane Hurley, you old warhorse.”
Dodge recognized the voice immediately, and the realization hit him like a physical blow. A bottle of anger, forgotten but fermenting, burst open inside him as he turned to face the newcomer. “General Vaughn. Out of uniform, I see.”
Vaughn stiffened and it was all too clear that he shared Dodge’s displeasure at the reunion. “I’m retired now, thanks to you.”
“Well, as I’m sure you’ve heard, I decided not to freeze to death in Antarctica. No thanks to you.” Dodge was surprised at his own vehemence; he hadn’t recalled being so angry with the general.
Fiona pushed into the middle of the rising tension. “Gentleman, there are much better places on the Majestic to catch up on old times. And I’d say you lot have quite a bit of catching up to do. It’s been a busy day. Why don’t we all go below and freshen up a bit?”
Vaughn made a guttural noise as he did an abrupt about-face and headed for the stairs leading off the platform.
Dodge realized that he was breathing rapidly, as if still primed for a life and death fight, and with an effort, brought his breathing — and his agitation — under control. Hurley’s pained expression gave him further pause. The big man had fought under Vaughn’s command during the Great War and afterward, when Captain Falcon’s company had been carrying out secret missions around the globe for Uncle Sam. When Dodge had first told his friend of Vaughn’s actions at the Outpost in Antarctica — how the officer had left Dodge and Newcombe behind, escaping on a plane scant minutes ahead of the explosion that had wiped the place off the face of the earth — Hurricane’s response had been subdued. Did one foolish decision cancel out a long history of fidelity and shared sacrifice? More to the point, did Dodge have the right to demand that his friend choose between loyalties?
As grateful as he was to still be alive, Dodge somehow felt things might have been better if they hadn’t been rescued.
Although he spoke perfect English, Hiro Nakamura barely understood a word of the conversation he had just overheard. Language wasn’t the issue, of course. It was a matter of context. The people involved clearly shared some past experience well outside his comprehension that gave meaning to their words.
No matter, he thought. I’ve already seen much more than I could have hoped for.
It had been an easy thing for him to slip aboard the dirigible. His training had equipped him with the skills to be almost invisible, and his gray shinobi shozoku garments only made it easier for him to blend into the shadows. He probably could have strolled onto the airship’s landing platform dressed as a kabuki performer and gone unnoticed; combat situations tended to create a state of tunnel vision, where people saw only what was directly in front of their eyes. Now that the life-and-death situation had passed, the survivors would be more aware of things that were out of the ordinary, but he was confident in his stealth abilities.
Yet, he did not follow the group that slowly filed down the stairs. He was experiencing his own sort of tunnel vision; his mind’s eye was fixed on what he had witnessed in the final moments of the attack by the revolutionaries. He had seen the death ray in action, and it was everything his superiors had hoped it would be: a weapon that could melt a man’s bones inside his skin.
And yet, with such a power already in their hands, they had come to this obscure backwater, searching for some piece of ancient knowledge in the forgotten ruins of a conquered castle.
It could only mean that they sought something even more powerful.
His superiors would be very interested in that knowledge and Nakamura looked forward to reporting on his progress as soon as an opportunity presented itself. Yet, he did not need explicit orders to know that it was imperative to discover what the Americans were looking for. He would learn what they were up to, and when he returned to his ancestral homeland, he would bring with him a weapon that would make the Empire of the Rising Sun invincible against all her enemies.
As they washed away the dust of their subterranean misadventures, Newcombe brought Dodge and Hurricane up to date on all that had happened since the disastrous abduction attempt in New York.
His explanation cleared up some of the mystery surrounding Barron and explained Vaughn’s presence aboard Majestic, but did little to ease his deeper concerns. “So the general is still looking for the ultimate weapon.”
The source of his ongoing contention with Vaughn had begun with a debate over the ownership of the technology Dodge and the others had found in Antarctica. Vaughn wanted to find a way to utilize it for the national defense while Dodge believed it far too dangerous to be controlled by any one nation. The issue was moot now. The Outpost had been destroyed and all its devices were now useless, but Dodge’s fundamental convictions remained unchanged. Men like Vaughn and Barron would continue seeking new and more efficient methods of destruction, but that didn’t mean he had to support their endeavors.