Silent Assassin(26)

“I’m fine,” he said, his slightly wavering voice betraying the fact that he wasn’t quite. “Just not crazy about heights, that’s all.”

“I think we’ve found out who’s the girl of the group,” said Diesel. Rogue flipped him the bird.

“So,” said Barrett, after everyone had a chance to put on their wings. “If you old ladies are done with your chatting, how about we go try these babies out?”





“Yaaahooo!” came Spartan’s voice over the earpiece as Morgan adjusted his oxygen mask and pulled down his helmet. Beneath his feet, the aircraft rumbled. The wind blew bitterly cold from the open back of the plane. Spartan had dropped out the back, left behind due to the sudden massive resistance on her wings, and become invisible in her glider against the black backdrop of the night.

“You’re enjoying this way too much,” said Bishop, who had also already dropped from the plane. His chuckling, near giggling voice betrayed the fact that he was loving it every bit as much as she was.

Morgan edged up excitedly to the opening at the back of the plane, holding on tight to the straps overhead. Morgan turned on his night vision, and found the two gliders, now specks in the distance. Looking back into the plane, Morgan noticed that Rogue was hanging back nervously. Morgan motioned for him to come along without saying anything, so that the others wouldn’t hear through the wireless. Rogue inched his way into position, so that both were right on the edge, holding on to the straps to keep them from flying off, with the vast expanse opening up behind them.

“What’s the holdup back there?” asked Barrett. Morgan waved her off. Then he motioned for Rogue to come closer. He inched nervously toward Morgan, and leaned in as if to hear a secret.

“Sorry, Rogue,” he said, and pushed him backwards.

“Cobra, you bastaaaaaard!” he yelled as he fell into the sea of darkness, which Morgan saw as green in his night vision. Through the comm, Morgan heard him grunting as Rogue struggled to control the glider, which was twisting this way and that in the air. It took several seconds, but Rogue managed to gain control of it. Then, after a few moments, he said, “Hey, this is amazing! It’s the best goddamn thing I’ve ever done!”

Morgan smiled to himself. Then he let himself fall backwards.

He tumbled through the air, powerful G-forces yanking him back and forth. He didn’t know which way was up, and for a moment he thought he would hurl the plain oatmeal he’d had before leaving home. But with a few yanks of the glider, he managed to control the wings, and managed to stabilize himself.

“Nice moves, Cobra,” said Spartan. “Graceful as an albatross.”

And then, he was flying. The feeling of soaring through the air on wings was incredible. He was a raptor, a falcon riding the wind. He tested what happened when he moved around, trying turns and experimenting with angling up to slow down and speeding up by pointing downwards. He was beginning to forget himself when a dark shape crossed in front of him like a rocket. He swerved hard, missing it by what seemed like inches, but given the relative speeds must have been at least a few feet.

“Come on, I’ll race you,” said Spartan gleefully. It was her glider that had passed him, and now she was turning barrel rolls right in front of him.

She pulled up and buzzed him again, and this time he didn’t have time to swerve. She missed him by no more than two feet.

“Are you crazy?” he yelled. But he was loving it. He maneuvered as best he could to get behind her and do the same to her, but she was too fast for him. She was a natural, with strong instincts for the thing. Every time he thought he had the upper hand, she would evade him.

After a few minutes of playing like this, she seemed to pull away and get some distance between them. Morgan turned his glider so that he could see her, and noticed that they were moving toward each other, fast. She must have noticed too, but she didn’t correct her course.

So, it’s a game of chicken, then?

Morgan held firm, not turning away. The gliders moved astonishingly fast, covering the speed of a couple of hundred yards in a few seconds. They came within moments of collision before both pulled sharply sideways at the last minute. Morgan heard Spartan’s uproarious laughter through the comm, and couldn’t help laughing himself.

This started a game of aerial tag between them, a chase back and forth. They would try to get one behind the other, and come as close as possible without colliding. Before long, they were locked in another game of chicken.

“You’d better pull back,” she said.

“Why don’t you pull back?” he retorted.