“Russians, though! Not exactly our friends!” Jane shouted.
“I think you’ll find that anyone not actively shooting at us could be considered our friend.” Dr. Evans glanced back at Jane. “Besides, whoever has the resources to send a plane to the other side of the globe may also have resources that can aid us in stopping this global threat. Maybe they’re even here to try and do what we’re doing.”
Rick shook his head and slowed the car back down. “Not like that they’re not; watch!” He pointed out the window as the plane took a steep dive downward, plummeting toward the ground like a wounded bird. For a split second, as it vanished behind some buildings in the distance, Rick wondered if the pilots on board had managed to pull up. The massive ball of black smoke and fire shot down Rick’s faint hope.
“So much for that, then.” Dr. Evans slumped back in his seat.
“You’re sure it was a Russian plane?” Rick watched as the smoke rose into the sky and the orange flames began to fade away.
“One-hundred percent. Perhaps someone parachuted out of the plane earlier in the flight?”
Rick shrugged and slowly turned the car around once again. “Maybe. They would have been coming out of that storm not too long ago. I wonder if that tore them up and downed them. Can you imagine trying to parachute out in something like that?”
“Guys, I hate to butt in, but can we talk about how weird it is that a Russian plane potentially dropped Russian soldiers into Washington?” Jane leaned forward from the back seat. “Is no one thinking about what that could mean?”
It was Dr. Evans’ turn to shrug. “We don’t know that the plane was carrying soldiers or that anyone made it out before it crashed. You are right about one thing, though. It’s incredibly odd to see a Bear flying over Washington. The reasons for them being here are myriad and, frankly, none of them make that much sense.”
“So what should we do?”
Rick answered this time, his expression hardened into a mask of determination as he drove them towards the city. “We do what we set out to do. If someone else is here to do the same thing then we work with them. If they’re not… well, we’ll burn that bridge when we come to it.”