Southern Nevada, March 11, 1971

Steve Messer sat in a comfortable leather seat enjoying the company of a very attractive CIA operative. They had never met before this trip and the team which he was now a part of all had their established relationships. As far as he could tell by conversations and wedding rings, the only single and available people were him and Ms. Gina Pollas.

Steve was handsome, tall, and clean shaven with sandy blonde hair, cut short and tapered in the back. The other men in the team however, grew out their facial hair and half of them made it seem like the new hippie trend had invaded the agency. The only other female in the group was in her late thirties wearing business attire as if she worked for the IRS instead of Langley.

Gina by contrast was young for an operations agent, with primary strengths in nuclear physics and biological warfare, and secondary in actual espionage experience and skills. Her attire was less businesslike with long black pants, a long sleeve turn down collar light blue shirt, and low heeled shoes. Her smile was uncanny with attractiveness and mystery. She was strategic with her conversations about all subjects, which made Steve cared more about her as a person than her profession.

Steve kept quiet for the most part, letting people talk themselves into whatever came up. But when asked questions, he steered all conversations toward her, asking her opinions and views in life. It worked for a while, but she kept her distance as if she did have a boyfriend or just wanted a professional relationship. So Steve went along, but eyed her for most of the flight when not speaking directly to her.

The flight was long for a Lear jet, but extra fuel tanks on the wings extended the range of the plane. As the plane started to reduce altitude; Steve knew they were nearing their undisclosed destination. His attention veered to the horizon as he faced the front of the plane with the right and left windows out to his extreme fields of view. He peered through the plane and bodies in front of him. His extraordinary vision allowed him to see through matter thousands of miles away, but he only concentrated on the red sky and dark forming ground from the setting sun.

The jet flew towards a set of mountain ranges but then banked parallel to it as the plane went below the highest peak. Steve buckled his seatbelt and relaxed on the seat as his vision focused back on Gina. She noticed his stare and then looked at the buckle.

The fasten seatbelt sign lit up. Gina slightly tilted her head as if wondering how Steve knew the sign was going to turn on. “I see that you like to follow rules.” She smiled.

“Only the ones that matter.” Steve smiled back and took a mental picture of her smooth skin, long blonde flowing hair, and pearly blue eyes. Her left ear was slightly lower than the right, but unnoticeable to the average person, especially since they were covered by hair most of the time. They were beautifully shaped and any other imperfections on her face or body would have been considered perfectly human. He looked back outside hoping to calculate the exact time they would touch down to show off his predictive knowledge. “But don’t worry we’ll be landing in about…”

Steve saw the landing field and several empty buildings. Dead bodies lay in a room of one of the buildings, but what startled him most was the bright exhaust of a surface to air missile. The missile came from the north somewhere on the mountainside or at its base. There were seconds before the missile hit. Before he could say a word, the plane was taking evasive maneuvers as one of the pilots must have spotted the light in the dark background. Or perhaps it was the newly installed prototype radar system in the plane which warned the pilots to some degree.

The passengers’ calm faces changed to confusion and horror, thinking the plane was crashing. Gina hadn’t clipped her buckle so she and three others violently flew out of their seats towards the ceiling and to the right. But the direction abruptly changed towards the floor as the plane rolled left and looped as hard as the pilot could pull on the control yoke.

Steve adjusted to the direction changes and G forces with his flight abilities. He grabbed his belt buckle with one hand and reached for Gina who was now at his side on the wall and window portal. The buckle broke off the fabric as he ripped it with superhuman strength. Instead of releasing the latch, the excitement of the situation left him reacting to make sure the seatbelt didn’t prevent him from getting a firm hold on Gina. He straddled her against the wall keeping her from bouncing around at the same time protecting her from interior debris with his body.

Gina’s body dangled between him and the wall as the jet looped and twirled. Steve looked around over his shoulders at the chaos, then back at the heat seeking missile as it hit the tail end of the jet. One engine burst into pieces and flames. The concussion of the blast violently pushed the jet into a yaw. The body of the jet broke up into large sections. Heat and air rushed inside as two agents and added debris darted outside. Moans and screams were muffled into nothingness as the rush of air overshadowed most sounds. Steve instantly analyzed his options. The jet would soon blowup once the heat interacted with the fuel tanks, or at the very least disintegrate into pieces before it came to sudden stop. He was sure to survive the fragments, heat, and anything else in the air, even hitting the ground, but this wasn’t about him at the moment. Steve thought quickly on how to save the people in the plane. The expanding open areas to the outside gave him a shot at a rescue of one or two people.

The seconds seemed like a slow motion video to Steve as he grabbed Gina by the waist and flew towards the large open fuselage. With his free hand, he grabbed one of the other agents by the arm on his way out. He rotated in flight trying to avoid debris and plane sections as the jet plummeted to its doom.

The three of them cleared the burning ball of soaring jet wreckage in the nick of time. The night air was cool, a drastic change to the last few seconds of terror. Steve flew swiftly towards the desert sand. He felt liquid on his hand and arms as he laid the two agents on the ground. Steve looked down at the liquid, ignoring the explosion of the jet on the landscape several hundred meters away. He could see the chemical compounds of alcohol, water, blood, urine, and minute traces of jet fuel on his arm. His hand however, was drenched mainly in blood. Agent Nelson was profusely bleeding out of a large gash on his arm. Steve could see the brachial artery pushing life out of the man, as he placed his finger deep into Nelson’s forearm and stopped the bleeding.

Steve quickly scanned them with his vision looking for other life threatening injuries. He rushed the scan, and then looked up in the direction of the missile attack. The desert foliage prevented his vision from seeing the details of the hostiles. The one disadvantage to his vision was in the composition of plant life he couldn’t see through which he could never figure out how to overcome. But he did spot a vehicle leaving the scene over the ridgeline. He signed and looked at the other two agents. Nelson would die if he let go of Nelson’s arm to pursue the fleeing attacker. Both were unconscious, had concussions, and multiple fractures. Nelson had two in his arm and rib cage. Gina’s right leg and foot was broken. Their lungs were expanding as normal as could be expected, but Nelson’s heart contractions were weak from the large amount of blood loss.

Steve looked at the airfield buildings less than a mile away. The ten dead bodies in the room he saw earlier were still there. There were no signs of anyone else in the area, but he wasn’t looking for people. His first look from the jet told him that, but what he scanned for this time were small and numerous. His vision jumped from room to room looking inside cabinets and storage rooms. The things he needed were there, and that was the problem.

Steve sat Nelson up and wrapped his legs around Nelson’s waist from behind. With his free hand, Steve grabbed Gina’s wrist and flew off the ground about ten feet. He sped towards the airfield structures keeping note of the two agents’ vitals. The warm rushing air massaged Gina’s face and body as she went in and out of consciousness.

The pain of her foot and leg making contact with hard ground woke her up from limbo. Her hair covered her face as she felt a hand brush it aside. Her bruised hands instinctively went up to feel her head and body. “What, aaghh?”

“It’s alright Gina. It’s Steve.”

Pain surged through her body as the memory of bouncing around the plane became a reality. “What?”

“Gina! What’s your full name?” Steve asked.

“Gina Victoria Pollas.” She managed to reply with a grunt.

“What’s your service number?”

“3923-4800-92.” She replied wide eyed and alert.

“That’s good.” Steve said as he thought something else. ‘If that’s your real service number I wouldn’t know, but a number is better than nothing I guess.’

Her back was against a hanger metallic wall. Steve knelt between her and Nelson. “Your right leg and right foot is broken so don’t try to move them. But I need your help.” Steve grabbed Gina’s hand and put two fingers inside her palm. “Can you squeeze my fingers as hard as you can?”

Gina squeezed tightly. “Good, now here. Keep your thumb inside Nelson’s forearm so he doesn’t bleed to death. I need to get medical supplies.” Steve plunged Gina’s thumb inside Nelson and stood up with wet and dry bloody hands.

“What if he wakes up?” Steve heard Gina say as he was already out of sight inside the hanger. He sprinted and flew through the hanger rooms, collecting the needed items for an emergency surgical procedure.

Gina felt her fingernail buried inside Nelson’s flesh. Blood continued to seep out of the long gash as she reached with her other hand and applied pressure on the wound. She looked around out into the darkness, except for the burning crash site and mixture of a quarter moon and stars in the distance. She heard movement inside the hanger Steve was in, wondering if he could find anything in the dark. She could barely make out herself and Nelson, how could Steve see anything? But that thought quickly disappeared as Steve ran outside by her side with several large parachute cargo bags, one being a medical bag and a few mop poles. Steve turned on two large flashlights placing one on the ground next to Gina and another on the other side of Nelson.

Gina held her tongue as Steve moved with lightning speed setting up three I.V.s, utensils, medications, and sanitary covers. Steve didn’t stop to read anything or decide on what items to use or place in preparation for stopping the bleeding and caring for the two of them. Before Gina knew it, Steve removed her hands and thumb from Nelson’s arm. All she could see was Steve stabbing into Nelson’s arm, blood engulfing everything. “Do you know what you’re doing?”

“Yes. Hold his arm still.” Steve calmly replied.

Blood poured out from where the two metallic prongs entered; soaking the large sterile pads Steve had placed around the gash. In less than ten seconds after Steve removed Gina’s hand from Nelson’s arm, the bleeding stopped. “How did you do that?” Gina’s tired eyes widen.

“Did I tell you how lovely your voice sounds?” Steve said, as he took another set of instruments and thread, stitching the seven inch gash in a matter of seconds.

“What the hell?” Gina said in shock.

Steve positioned Nelson’s arm and pulled on it, resetting the bones and wrapped them with torn sheets and wooden stilts in less than a minute.

Gina looked at her leg and tried to bend over to touch her fracture.

Steve rapidly pushed her back against the wall. “Try not to move.” Gina felt the I.V. needle enter her arm like a quick and small sting before she could object.

The I.V. bags were already hanging on a makeshift standing mop pole. She looked up once again at the I.V. bags as her leg reeked with pain. Or was it her foot, or both? Steve held tight onto her fractures as he splinted her foot and leg. “I know it hurts, but they don’t have morphine or anything close to it. Please be as still as possible.”

The 3D transparencies of Gina’s blood, bones, tendons, muscle fibers, and many smaller particles and elements were Steve’s guide in making sure the bones were set properly leaving no blood clots or strained ligaments.

“Aarrgh… Ookaay.” Gina panted. She watched Steve inject Nelson with medication, and then her. “What’s that for?”

“It’s so you don’t get an infection, and it helps with the pain.”

“I thought you said there weren’t any strong pain killers?”

“It’s a weaker alternative. Luckily, chemistry and medicine were some of my strong subjects in school.” Steve smiled as he whipped out a few blankets from one of the large bags. He laid out a spot for Nelson and sat him at an incline on the tar mat and hanger wall. He looked around every now and then, instinctively wanting to avert anymore dangers in the area.

“How do you move so fast? And how did we survive the plane crash?”

Steve finished positioning Gina on top of her blanket and bundled pillowing. He had lied many times in the past about his abilities and superhuman attributes, but he could only stare powerlessly into her mesmerizing eyes.

“We didn’t crash with the plane. I grabbed who I could, which was you and Nelson, and flew out of the plane as it broke apart after the anti-aircraft missile hit it. We landed near the crash site, and I flew you two here so I could save his life.”

“You flew? Like Superman?” Gina almost smirked, but the fact of their survival begged an explanation, even if it seemed outrageous.

“Well, no. I can’t fly that fast or back through time like he can, and I was born here, so I’m not an alien.” Steve said as he looked around. “Sorry, I can’t talk anymore, but I need to get the power working and we need to contact someone so you and Nelson can get needed medical attention.” Steve said and flew off out of site into the darkness.

Gina stared at herself and then at Nelson. His chest was slightly rising and falling. He would wake up sometime, and she needed to be ready to calm him down if he did. She didn’t notice any injury on Steve, and hoped that this super person would soon figure out how to get Nelson and her to a hospital.

Steve flew directly to the main electrical junction box. The main cable was cut, but he grabbed the cable and spliced it back together with his fingers. A strong electrical current passed through his body and into the ground, but he endured the minor tingle as his metal hard like fingers restored the cable to normal. He flipped the levers and the hanger came to life. The two flashlight beams were overwhelmed by the hanger lights coming out from the inside, exposing a large portion of the tar mat and other buildings in the distance.

Steve flew back in front of her like a speeding race car. “There are a few beds in the back of that building. I’ll get them and place both of you inside the hanger while I look for a working radio or phone.”

“Who would do this to us?” Gina said out loud to herself, realizing it was never brought up until now.

A rifle shot came from the darkness in the distance, and the round mushroomed on the back of Steve’s head, sending his chin into his upper chest. Steve slightly moved forward but caught himself with an instinctive flight reflex. Steve instantly looked back for the origin of the gunfire. He saw a sniper in the lowland brushes several hundred meters away. He saw the sniper clearly, down to him squeezing the trigger, releasing another round. Steve quickly guessed the trajectory, but to make sure, he flew up into a horizontal position in mid air getting between Gina, Nelson, and the sniper. The round hitting his upper leg area.

A torn streak was made on Steve’s jeans as the round bounced off, his skin staying completely intact. Gina instinctively moved for cover by trying to lay flat, but the pain from her leg and other parts of her bruised body made her scream in pain.

Steve twirled around to see Gina in pain from moving, and quickly assessed the situation by scanning for foreign objects inside or next to her. In an instant, finding nothing was wrong, he twirled back and flew as fast as he could at the sniper. Another round exited the sniper rifle, but Steve had flown to the side away from Gina, so when the round left the barrel, Steve didn’t care if it hit him or not. The round passed Steve by a few feet, fifty meters away from the sniper. Before the sniper could move or fire another round, Steve plowed into him like a harpoon.

The sniper rifle caved into the man from the impact of Steve’s body, but primarily, Steve’s fists which were extended in front of him. Steve and the rifle tore into the sniper’s head, all the way through his body. Blood, bone, and flesh littered the desert ground as Steve came to a complete stop far from where the sniper used to be. A shallow trench of bloodied desert ground trailed behind him. Steve grumbled under his breath in disappointment. He stood up and shook his hands and body, trying to get the newly added blood, sand, and guts off of him. Blood splattered all around him, removing a large portion of blood and entrails, but it also served in spreading blood to all parts of his body.

He looked around for any other sniper or enemy that may have returned. He saw Gina huddled next to Nelson, as if she could protect him from another attack. Steve flew straight up and scanned the area. The metallic properties of the buildings, unoccupied vehicles, remains of the sniper’s equipment, plane wreckage, and mineral ores in the ground told him there were no more enemies in the area. So he hoped for sure this time.

Satisfied, Steve flew back to Gina. “It’s clear.”

“Who the hell is trying to kill us… and why are you all red?”

Steve knelt next to her and looked down at her neck, instead of her eyes. “Yeah, about that. I didn’t think about slowing down before I got to the sniper so I flew into him.”

Gina’s eyes squinted. “You killed him?”

“If you haven’t noticed the extra blood, here it is.” Steve said as he moved away and wiped his clothes and exposed skin with clean towels he had gathered.

Gina stared in disbelief or confusion, Steve wasn’t sure. “Why are you looking at me like that? Did you want me to let him keep shooting and maybe get lucky in hitting you?”

“No, of course not. As long as you know the difference, I’m alright with that.”

“Just so you know to set the record straight, I didn’t like killing the guy.” Steve stood erect in a moment of relaxation.

“Who are you?” Gina calmly asked.

“I had special powers since childhood. I grew up wanting to be an agent, but I guess the cat’s out of the bag now. But let me focus on getting the beds for now.”

“Are you sure there’re no more snipers?”

“The people who shot at the plane left the area to the north once the plane crashed. That sniper must have been positioned prior to the attack to confirm the damage assessment. I’ll go after them once I make contact with headquarters for help. Unless you want me to stay with you until help arrives?”

“Let’s talk about that once you get a hold of anyone.”

“Well in the meantime, think about the possibility that someone in the agency might have helped in this attack.” Steve replied and flew off once again.

“What?” Gina said towards an empty audience.

Steve quickly entered the hanger locker room latrine and washed off most of the blood and dirt, using up two bars of soap in minutes; wanting to make sure he didn’t expose his patients to more unnecessary infections. He grabbed a shirt and fatigue pants from a locker, easily breaking the padlock with his hands. Without delay, he grabbed two beds and flew them next to Gina and Nelson. He made sure to take the bed frames since they kept the mattresses from folding into unwanted positions.

Steve placed both of them on the beds and moved them one at a time inside the empty hanger. “We have a problem. The radios in the one aircraft on the other side of the airfield, and the two radios in the temporary control tower have been destroyed.” Steve said as he gently elevated Gina’s leg with pillows.

“I’m sure the pilots got out a Mayday or some type of signal, so someone should be looking for us right now.” Gina stated.

Steve sat at Gina’s bedside. “You think the agency is that good to be looking for us, out here in Nevada?”

“Well, if we’re in Nevada, I know they will be, but how do you know we’re in Nevada?”

“I can see very far, and saw where we were flying, to include the destination orders the pilots received in the cockpit. So that brings up the question. Someone had to know we were flying at this time and who was on board. Someone in the agency is a traitor, or there’s a leak somewhere and someone is taking advantage it.”

“It doesn’t make sense. We’re supposed to be a think tank initiative to locate and monitor nuclear and chemical weapon systems. Aren’t there more important projects they could sabotage?”

Steve stared into her eyes. “Maybe it was a person or people they wanted to get rid of?”

“You mean people like you?”

“No, I’m pretty sure no one knew about me, but you and the other brainiacs are another story. Besides, if they knew about me, they would have sent a lot more firepower.”

“Thank you.” Gina half smiled.

“Does this mean we can go out on a date later?”

“Aooh, I was wondering when you were going to ask me since we started talking on the plane.” She smiled in pain.

“After I get the bad guys and you recover some more of course. If, that’s okay with you?” Steve lightly held Gina’s hand.

Steve’s hand was warm and soft. Gina felt at peace, but excited as well. How could this man in front of her withstand a missile attack and bullet, but yet feel so tender and smooth against her skin? “Can I ask you a million questions while we wait for someone to find us?”

“I would love that, but Nelson won’t last too long if we just do nothing, or hope someone is really on their way.”

“Yes, I suppose… So, what do you suggest we do?”

“I can scan towards the four cardinal directions and look for a building with a phone. If there’s one within a hundred miles, I should be able to fly there and back in about fifteen minutes, including making the call.”

“So what’s the hold up?” Gina asked in wonder.

“Just because I can see far, doesn’t mean I can find something easily. The further an object is, the easier it is for me find for some reason. I can’t explain it very good but a few hundred miles is close to me. But if something is nearby it is easier for me to find if I know generally where to look within a few miles; it’s like I have a dead zone from within a mile to a thousand miles.”

“You mean like a telescope?”

“Yeah, sort of I guess. That’s why I haven’t started flying, since I haven’t spotted anything so far towards the west.”

“Oh.” Gina replied.

“Oh, wait. There’re six helicopters thirty miles out, coming towards us.”

“Do you know who they are, and how long until they get here?”

The silence of the area was broken by aircraft engines. Steve looked up higher into the sky and spotted three F4 Phantoms. They were soaring high, circling like vultures. “The jets are Air Force it seems; a recon maybe?” Steve looked back at the helicopters.

Steve examined the crews as if he were looking at a close up movie action scene in great detail. “They’re CIA. At least they’re wearing agency gear, and some of the identification cards and tags that I can make out… confirms it.”

“You mean to tell me you can read an ID card from this distance through everything in between?”

“Well, as long as it’s in English or Spanish.” Steve smiled. “Do you want me to move you to a safe location until we find out their intentions?”

“No, they’re a rescue team.”

“You seem so sure... How do you know?”

“I’m the new regional chief for the western states.” Gina slowly replied.

“So you would know their reactionary SOPs, and not tell me something important like that until now?” Steve looked at her with a strict face.

“I guess, I might have been the target.” Gina’s said with a reflective straight face.

Steve thought about her past facial expressions and words, rolling over and over in his mind.

She gave no indication of surprise or deception on the plane or when they were talking about who it was that attacked them or possible targets and motives. “For being the chief, you’re kind of clueless as to our location, or did you know that too?”

“I was supposed to stop here in Nevada, and continue on to L.A.”

“And you couldn’t tell me the truth after I saved your life twice in the past thirty minutes?”

“I’m telling you now, instead of keeping the charade. I want you to know I won’t tell anyone about what you can do and what happened here.”

“Huh, you think I can stay and work for you?” Steve stood up facing her.

“With the things you can do, we can change everything in law enforcement and the country.”

“What makes you think I’m the only person on the planet with these powers, or that I will agree in helping you or those people who seem to be trying very hard to kill us?”

“So you know there’re more people like you?”

“Yeah, you can find them in the wanted ads looking for a job as we speak. How should I know? And besides; if there were, they wouldn’t advertise it. I lived most of life hidden from people like you, until now.”

“Steve, if that’s your real name. Why did you join the agency?” Gina’s tone raised as Steve turned to walk away.

Steve stopped walking and stared at the hanger’s interior. “I wanted to make a difference, to learn about the world of spies and see if I could save lives, without a cape or Speedos.” Steve half smiled.

“Nothing has changed Steve. I will help you and you will help me do what’s right for this country and many people around the world.”

Steve faced Gina, her bloody and soiled tangled hair blended in with the rest of her appearance. A dirty beggar/zombie kind of look, but a very beautiful one to him. “They’ll be here soon. I’m going to go look for the people who fired the missile. If I return, then count me in. If I don’t return, it’s because I’m dead or decided to leave the agency.”

“I will look for you, no matter what you decide.”

“You’ll won’t find me if I want to disappear. But anyways, send a helo to the north after me. It was one vehicle and four people from what I could gather. Take care of yourself, Gina Pollas.” Steve came up to her, bent over and kissed her on the forehead.

Gina quickly grabbed the back of his neck with both hands and pulled herself up to him, kissing him in the mouth.

Steve let her hot lips and tongue dominate him, as he gently squeezed and supported her upper arms with his hands.

Gina pulled away after a long moment letting go of him. “Remember me at least, if you don’t see me again.”

Steve smiled. “My first day on the job, and the boss falls for me. I would have joined a long time ago had I known.” Steve turned away and silently flew out of the hanger.

Gina stared out into the opening, horizon, and stars beyond. Then her attention moved to Nelson. She stretched out her hand and felt for a pulse. It was weak, but thankfully it existed.

The roaring of the jets high above continued, being overwhelmed by the rotors of three Chinooks and three Huey gunships. Spotlights blared over the tar mat within minutes, and agents armed to the tee stormed the hanger.

The agents secured the area and lowered their trained weapons on Gina and Nelson once they were identified and found safe.

“Ma’am, I’m Agent Kevin Aries. What happened here?” Kevin asked and motioned for medics to tend to both of them.

The middle aged man was massive in stature, resembling a professional NFL linebacker. His face was camouflaged black like the rest of his night Delta Force outfit.

“Our jet was shot down while descending. Agent Messer saved us and went after the attackers. I need you to send a team to help him out, towards the north.” Gina twitched in pain as the medic touched her injuries.

“Sir, she’s stable for now, but we need to take some x-rays and she’ll need a cast as soon as possible.” The medic reported.

“Get them ready for departure. Team four leader, come to my location now, and prepare for new orders.” Kevin said on his mouth piece. “Ma’am, I’ll send my best team to the north. In the meantime, we need to get you out of here.”

“Wait… I need to talk to you alone right now.”

Kevin motioned the agents to take Nelson away on a stretcher, and the security team to give them space. He bent over next to her head and turned off his radio.

“How loyal are your men?” She whispered.

Kevin turned his head towards her. “Ma’am, we will die for each other any day of the week?”

“I knew I would like you after I read your file back at Langley.”

‘Then you should know my men and I will back you up with our lives, you’re safe with us Ma’am.”

“There’s a leak or a traitor in the agency. I need to disappear for a while for me to recover, and find out why we were attacked.”

Kevin stood up and spoke out loud. “Consider it done Ma’am... Maximilian, I want you to meet our new boss.”

A young agent carrying a sniper rifle as his main weapon, ran up to them. “Madam, I’m Randolph Maximilian, and honored to meet you.”

“Max this is my best team leader. His team will search for the attackers and the pursing agent Messer. Is there anything in particular he should know before he goes?”

“They have ground to air missiles, so I don’t know if sending a helicopter is the best idea. But I’m sure that agent Messer will have neutralized that threat by then.”

“How long ago was it since agent Messer left in pursuit?” Max asked.

“A few minutes ago.”

“A few minutes ago?” Kevin echoed, a little confused.

“It’s hard to explain, but by the time you get there he will have done most of the work for us. There is also a dead sniper out there so you need to clean up the scene before your last man leaves here.”

“My guys found ten dead agents in the other hanger, remains of several people from the plane, but we haven’t accounted for all the passengers, which might be scattered for several miles. In the meantime… Attention, all personnel, code name Shakespeare. Repeat, Shakespeare.” Kevin said over the radio as he gave the okay hand and arm signal to Max as he ran off to hunt down the attackers.

“Shakespeare?” Gina asked as Kevin faced her.

“It’s our internal codename for this kind of contingency. We’ll make a cover for what happened here with no survivors. The attackers will all also be reported as killed, even if we get prisoners. We’ll take you to our main office in the TS levels where we can attend to your medical needs and hide you, Nelson, and Messer.”

“Are the helo pilots your men too?”

“Yes, Ma’am. The pilots in the jets as well. We pride ourselves for being independent from outside assistance. We are always ready to react when new personnel come to this site, but honestly, this was a total surprise. I didn’t know you were on board the plane until the Mayday was flagged by Langley, then us.”

“Well, at least it makes it easier for you to report me dead without any weird explanations.”

“I would normally agree with you, but is agent Messer going to blow this cover?”

“No, he’s special… he’s some kind of superman.”

Kevin looked at her and then at the empty makeshift medical beds. “So, you’re saying he’s some kind of superhero like the Flash? I was wondering how all of this was done in the amount of time it took us to get here?” he said waving a hand.

“Superman would best describe him.”

“I’m not going to disagree with you Ma’am seeing that you’re alive, but you know there will be many people that will call you crazy or want proof.”

“Yes, I know, and that’s why everything here has to be covered up until I can get agent Messer to continue helping us, and find the people trying to kill me and the project.”

“I agree, and with that, I’ll call you agent Lincoln from now on.” Kevin said as three agents grabbed Gina and moved her on a stretcher.

“And don’t worry, this place isn’t on file and you don’t exist.” Kevin said as he focused on getting all his men on board with the cover plan, to include leaving a reception team for Langley’s replacement of the people to occupy the secret airfield and strengthen its defenses.

North of Area 51, Nevada

Steve flew short of the speed of sound over the mountain range. The plant life seemed to create a sheet of a solid three dimensional topographical layer on the ground. There were many patches of spaces where he could see into the earth, but he didn’t try to concentrate on these patches or plants since he was flying too fast and close to the ground. The vehicle left tracks, but he didn’t want to slow down to analyze them. Instead he sped up knowing that if the people made it to taller trees or a highway with other vehicles and directions, then it would make finding them a lot harder. Steve looked out twenty miles as he flew, scanning slowly from side to side at a 45 degree span. Ten miles out beyond the mountain’s base, a few dirt animal trails appeared, but no sign of people or a vehicle. Steve looked back and could barely make out pieces of helicopters at or around the tar mat. The fighter jets continued to circle the area ready to provide an air strike if needed. The foliage was too great for him to see through the mountain in fine detail, and he hoped Gina was right, and he hadn’t left her and Nelson to be killed or captured by the bad guys.

He turned his attention to the front, ensuring he flew a hundred meters above the ground as not to get hit by insects or debris from the desert night air currents.

Finally, the vehicle he was looking for was struggling to speed through the rugged terrain. The lights were dimmed which reduced their speed and made their getaway more difficult, but they had covered over twenty-five miles which was impressive when compared to a highly trained military special operations team. Steve could make out details of the attackers as he soared silently through the night sky. They were wearing mercenary gear, a mixture of military and civilian hunting uniforms and equipment, with commercially and privately customized modified weaponry. Steve’s in-depth research on weaponry and world militaries paid off to some degree. However, he still couldn’t make out if they were American, European, or Hispanic. But one thing was sure; they weren’t from the Orient or African.

Steve focused on any face, but it blurred the more he concentrated. At his speed, he would soon be on top of the modified large jeep. It seemed like an African expedition vehicle with a back mounted launcher system. The two prong launcher held one ten foot missile, the same as the one which hit the plane. It was retracted so the warhead was facing towards the front of the jeep. Steve’s clear vision was now going in and out of focus. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes as if trying to reset them, feeling like an electronic camera with dying batteries.

Steve took a deep breath and zoomed out so he could just see the vehicle popping up dust in its wake. The passengers of the elongated jeep thought they hit a big freaky rock as they heard and felt a very loud thump underneath them. The jeep lifted up forty feet and swirled multiple times. One of the mercenaries shot out of an opened door as the centrifugal force took him by surprise. The men yelled in fear as one would expect when facing disaster at the hands of gravity and uncontrolled extreme velocities.

Steve groaned as the weight of the jeep almost exceeded his max lift capacity. The spinning didn’t help either, something he hadn’t planned on so he tried to fly in the opposite direction he came from and land the jeep on solid ground. The jeep hit the ground sideways and would have flipped several times, but Steve held tight to the underbelly of the vehicle, stopping the first flip. The jeep rested upside down with the missile warhead going off skipping everyone’s near death experience into a worse situation.

Flak and heat burned the three passengers alive, if they weren’t already dead from the vehicle’s harsh stop, missile explosion, or secondary explosions of grenades in the vehicle.

Steve was blown backwards into the air. “You got to be kidding me!” He yelled as his T-Shirt and fatigues were half burnt or torn off his body with the under carry of the jeep keeping the explosion focused on the passengers and ground.

All three men were dead so Steve turned in the direction of the one guy who didn’t wear his seatbelt. He flew towards him, scanning his body at the same time. The man was unconscious with two broken shoulder blades, several nasty ruptured vertebrates, and abrasions all throughout the back of his legs and back.

“What’s going on!” Steve screamed in frustration or was it bad luck, as the man was also on top of a toppled cactus arm.

Steve grabbed the man at the most effective points on his body without injuring him further and moved him to a clear spot on the ground. “Well it’s a good thing I’m here, cuz you’re going to live.”

Steve removed all of the hundreds of cactus needles in seconds, and positioned the vertebrates to maximize reduced pressure. He flew back to the burning jeep and recovered pieces of metal and scrapes to make a frame for the man. In a few minutes, the man’s upper body was immobilized by a cage looking network of car parts. The abrasions were a little different. Steve didn’t have the medical bag or things to help the man’s open cuts, so he used the remains of his T-shirt to cover most of the wounds and reduce bleeding.

“Now that I think about it some more, you’re this way because I am here, or was it because you came to this desert, or following your destiny? Hmm, it’s a conundrum I or the CIA will most likely never be able to answer.”

Steve looked down at the man and then in the direction of the hanger. “Lucky for you the good guys are coming this way. But they’re gonna take too long to find you, even with the fire going.”

Steve looked around making sure no wildlife around would attack the helpless bad guy while he left the man there alone. Once satisfied, he flew off towards the oncoming helicopter.

‘Steve, I need your help. Come to me before it’s too late.’ A young woman’s voice said inside Steve’s mind.

“Gina?” Steve said and thought, but the voice didn’t sound like Gina’s voice.

A surge of mental pictures and memories blinded him as he flew aimlessly into the ground, then back into the air. The horizon and everything around him seemed to go in circles as he fell into unconsciousness.

Maximilian and his team spotted the burning vehicle in the distance. Their night vision goggles assisted greatly from such a stretch of land, but they failed to see Steve laying face down in the mist of desert foliage two miles from the dead mercenaries and soon to be Prisoner 1 of the Special Investigation Agency.