The Covert Academy by Peter Laurent Read Free Book Online Page B

Sarah.
    Richard remained buoyant between munches on the fruit, ‘Well, give him some time, seems like he could-’
    The ship’s communicator hissed throughout the cramped room. Richard flipped a few switches over his shoulder, all business.
    A voice came over the comm. ‘Come in aircraft Nyctalopia... this is Ground One Oh Two Oh, we have you on our screens. Requesting transmission security clearance code, over.’
    ‘We passed through the blackout b arrier already?’ Sarah asked.
    Richard smiled at Sarah in confirmation and touched his headset mic. ‘Itchy! Is that you? They got you on ATC duty now? Pulled the short straw this week eh, ha ha!’
    The voice came back short and terse. ‘That is Hashi Ichiro to you. Just give me the imaimashī kami code.’ Richard chuckled at that, while the voice continued. ’...And say “over” when you have finished speaking on the communication system. Over.’
    Richard covered his mic with his hand and lea ned over to Sarah. ‘I guess he's a bit sore at being left minding the shop on this mission. No honour in that or some such most likely.’
    ‘You better give him the code,’ Sarah chided. ‘May I remind you that the Air Traffic Control also has access to the SAMs?’
    Richard at least had the decency to wipe the grin off his face. ‘Hey Itchy and me are bros. He wouldn’t fire a missile at us.’
    Sarah just looked at him, unblinking. Richard uncovered his mic. ‘ Okay mate, keep your skirt on. Here we go, commencing transmission.’ Sarah cleared her throat. ‘...Over.’ Richard finished, the grin back in place.
    He turned on the autopilot, got up, and took a step over to a nearby panel shaped like a synth keyboard. The relic had to be at least 50 years old. It looked very tacked on and out of place on the sleek profile of the aircraft. He hit a series of thirteen notes, the opening riff from one of Casey’s favourite classic rock songs.
    Never gets old , Sarah thought, very nearly letting herself nod her head in time with the tune.
    The comm hissed again. ‘Nyctalopia is cleared for landing, orokana pairotto . Naze watashi wa kore o gaman shinakereba narimasen ... Over.’ The channel closed.
    ‘Do you think he was talking about me?’ Richard flopped back down into the pilot’s chair.
    ‘Oh, Ichiro-san only speaks Japanese when he doesn’t want you to know when he’s talking about you,’ Sarah said with mock severity. ‘I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you too.’
    Richard lightly punched her shoulder. ‘Yer all right Jensen... fer a civilian,’ he said, putting on a strong Texan accent in a half decent imitation of Master Casey. Sarah gave a small chuckle.
    All business again, Richard sat up, cleared his throat and turned on the aircraft’s PA. His voiced echoed throughout the ship.
    ‘Attention passengers... this is... your Captain speaking. In a few minutes... we’ll be starting our descent... to beautiful “Classified Information” Island.’ He spoke in his best imitation of a professional airline pilot’s voice, even censoring his own announcement. ‘The weather is a balmy... 27 degrees Celsius... and the local time is 4:18pm... tomorrow. Please return your tray tables and seat backs to their upright position. On behalf of everyone on board... we’d like to thank you for choosing to fly Academy Airlines. We wish you... a pleasant day.’
    He turned to Sarah with another grin. ‘That ought ’ta wake him up.’
    Sarah shook her head. 'You spend too much time viewing the archives,' she said, and left him to bring the ship in for a landing by himself.
     
    Sarah stepped off the ladder from the cockpit and strode down the hallway. The ship was incredibly roomy for an ex-military vessel. Richard had stripped out all non-essential equipment and even knocked a few walls down. That left a large galley in the centre, with a small medical bay adjoining the living quarters tucked under the cockpit. Mission equipment was stored at the top of the