Missions of the Retrieval Team - A Kilt By Any Other Name

[davedove]

Scene 2

Charleston International Airport

I have to give my team credit. They had gone from complete relaxation to completely packed in under five minutes. We quickly drove the car to the airstrip and transferred our bags to it.

We gave Jonathan the keys to the car so he could take it back to the chalet. I had every confidence that he would take care of the place while we were gone.

We climbed into the jet and buckled in. Ms. Falcon fired it up and soon we were airborne and on our way to South Carolina.

During the flight, we all checked out our traveling equipment. We had our general gear kits, as we didn’t know exactly what Panache wanted us for.

When we arrived at our hangar at the airport in Charleston, we found one of the League’s cars waiting for us. Our newest Herald, Arlen, waited there as we parked the jet in the hangar.

Grabbing our bags, we headed out to the car.

“We’re in a hurry, right?” Ms. Falcon asked me.

“Yes, we are,” I answered.

She nodded and walked up to Arlen. “Give me the keys,” she ordered him.

Arlen looked at me and I nodded to him. “Give them to her,” I said.

He handed her the keys, then climbed into the passenger seat. The rest of us quickly got into the back of the car.

Ms. Falcon fired up the vehicle and turned to Arlen. “Ya’ll might want to hold on,” she said to him.

Arlen’s eyes went wild and he quickly fastened his seat belt. He had barely secured the belt when Ms. Falcon stomped on the gas and the car’s tires squealed on the pavement as we left the airport.

“Okay, Arlen, what’s going on?” I asked.

Arlen, gripping the dash tightly as Ms. Falcon took corners at speeds at which he was obviously unaccustomed, turned back to me. “I don’t know for certain. I had just returned from a trip to town when Jamie ordered me to come pick you up. Whatever it is, it’s definitely big. I’ve never seen such frenzied activity in the Great Hall.”

“No ideas at all?”

“All I could make out before I had to leave was that something has happened to David.”

David, our resident evil genius; if he wasn’t one of our Moderators I had no doubt that we would be facing him as foes. Fortunately, he was on our side, and that meant we got to play with some of his more interesting toys. I wondered what could have happened to him that would cause this commotion.

With Ms. Falcon at the wheel, we made it to the Great hall in record time. I’m not sure Arlen will ever get over the trip though. I would almost swear there were dents in the dashboard where his fingers had gripped.

We grabbed our bags and headed up the stairs. There to greet us was Dee.

“Good,” he said, “You made it. Jamie wanted me to bring you to the briefing room as soon as you arrived.”

“What is going on?” I asked him as we moved down the hallway. “I take it from what Arlen said that something has happened to David.”

Dee nodded as he walked. “Yes, something has happened to him; he’s missing.”

“Missing?”

“It will be explained better in the briefing.”