“Great to see you guys,” Kurt said, giving both of them warm hugs.
“Glad to be back on the A-team,” Paul said. “Not that it wasn’t fun dumping millions of dollars of equipment over the side of the ship, but we’re looking forward to being used as something other than a distraction.”
“Shall we go meet your new friend?” Gamay asked, shouldering her backpack.
“Not yet,” Kurt said. “I have a change of assignment for you.”
The look of suspicion appeared in practiced unison. Gamay dropped her pack. “What is it now? Shopping for alpaca sweaters?”
“I need you to do some research,” Kurt said. “Find out everything you can about the Nighthawk, and I don’t mean the surface-level stuff. They’re hiding something from us, something big.”
“What makes you think that?” Gamay asked. “Other than your general distrust of the NSA.”
“For one thing, they seem on the verge of panic,” he replied. “It’s felt like that to me right from the start. Losing the Nighthawk would be bad, but even at its worst all that would do is give whoever found it technologies they’re probably already trying to develop.”
“It is the most advanced aircraft in the world,” Paul reminded him.
“Was,” Kurt corrected. “The thing has been floating around up in space for three years. And they didn’t design and build it in a day. At best, it’s five or six years old. The plans were probably drawn up a decade ago. Even if the Russians or the Chinese found it in one perfect piece, they’d still have to take it apart, reverse-engineer every component and then build the factories and facilities to duplicate what we already possess. What we possessed years ago. By then, we’ll be on to the next technological leap.”
Paul nodded. “Like stealing a used car and watching the owner get a new model to replace it.”
“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Kurt said.
“It’s still a big loss,” Gamay pointed out.
“If you saw their faces, you’d think it was the end of the world.”
Gamay nodded. Paul did the same.
“And it’s not just our friends at the NSA; the Chinese and the Russians have gone over the top as well.”
“An opportunity comes up to get your hands on the adversaries stuff, you take it,” Paul said. “We always have; can’t blame them for that.”
“I don’t,” Kurt said. “But it’s not done like this. There are unwritten rules to the game. Boundaries that stop it from turning into outright war. None of those seem to be in effect here. The Chinese tried to kill us before we got to square one and the Russians tried to torpedo us twice. The second time, on the surface for everyone to see.”
“So the stakes are higher than they appear,” Paul said.
“Which is interesting, considering how high they seemed to begin with,” Gamay said.
Kurt nodded. “And we’re the only ones in the dark. That needs to change. I want to know what they’re hiding. And I want to know as soon as possible. I need you to find out what you can by linking up with Hiram and Priya on the satellite. I’m sure they can dig something up.”
“And then what?” Paul asked.
Kurt checked his watch; it was a long drive to the archaeological site. “We’ll be out of satellite coverage on the way up the mountain,” Kurt said, “but we should have a signal by the time we get there. That gives you four hours.”
“Four hours to do the impossible,” Gamay said.
Kurt was already on his way back out of the terminal. “It’s more time than I usually give you.”
“That doesn’t make it okay,” Gamay called out.
Kurt pushed through the door and let it close behind him, crossing to the Range Rover and climbing into the driver’s seat.
Emma was in the passenger seat. “Aren’t your friends joining us?”
“I need them to look into something,” Kurt said. “They’ll fly up with Joe, once he arrives.”
“So, it’s just the two of us on a romantic drive in the country,” she said with a grin.