The man disappears around the corner and you rush to the professor. He has a nasty bump on the head and the few remaining hairs on his head are matted with sticky blood. From a first aid course you took as part of your training as a pilot, you know that cuts to the head often bleed profusely, even when the injury is fairly minor. You move the professor’s head to examine the wound more closely and breathe a sigh of relief, the cut is really just superficial.
The professor stirs slightly, his body responding to the slow return to consciousness.
“Wh.. What happened?” he asks weakly.
“Professor, who was that man?”
“They stole my work. You must stop him, please! The future of the planet depends on it! Now go!”
“Sorry professor, but what work have you been busy with?”
“I have made a breakthrough in how to control the weather with satellites. It’s meant to help us in the fight with climate change, to buy us some time! They want to use it in their weapons systems. It’s the last piece of technology they need!”
“But your head,” you protest.
“I’m OK, now go after them!” he holds his head and grimaces in pain, but the determination in his voice spurs you on.
“What am I looking for Professor?”
“They forced me to hand over the encryption key to my work and then destroyed the only way I can access it. They have it on a memory stick.”
You leave the professor’s lab and rush towards your helicopter, hoping that you can still catch up to them.
When you get to the landing pad and your helicopter, Emily is nowhere to be seen. You look towards the other landing pad and unsurprisingly, the other helicopter is no longer there, the clouds defying any opportunity to spot in which direction it is flying.
Panic grips you. Have they kidnapped Emily?
You search the oil rig, hoping that she is just hiding somewhere. After thirty minutes of searching, you return to the professor. He looks much better but is still a bit confused.
“Emily is gone, professor,” he slumps even further in his chair, looking utterly devastated.
“Oh no! What now, what can we do?”
Your cell phone vibrates in your pocket. The name on the screen tells you its Emily. You whisper a silent thanks to the professor for having a cell mast installed on the rig.
“Emily, where are you? Are you OK?”
A whisper on the other end. ”I’m fine, but listen carefully, I don’t have much time. I got suspicious and snuck onto the other helicopter. The pilot wasn’t paying attention. We are almost to the port city. I’ll send you the coordinates and messages. Just come get me!” you can hear the fear and excitement in her voice.
You quickly tell Emily what happened and hang up. You relay Emily’s message to the professor. Seconds later, a set of coordinates flash on the screen and you run towards your helicopter.
Outside the storm has lifted a little. There are still bands of dark clouds surrounding the rig, but at least the rain has stopped and the wind is not gusting as badly anymore.
You take off and fly as fast as the conditions allow, bleeding every ounce of performance from your chopper’s engines. Occasional messages from Emily confirms she is OK and that they have landed at the local airport. You spot the distinctive shape of the helicopter Emily is hiding in easily enough and manage to convince air traffic control to assign you a landing spot close by.
Your phone vibrates again. Emily’s voice is much clearer this time. “I am no longer in the helicopter. I have followed them to a massive warehouse where they are loading a cargo plane.”
There is a moment of silence and then your phone displays her location. “Hurry, I think I see the…” her voice is suddenly cut off. Two more voices come over the phone, shouting angrily. The line goes dead.
You rush over to where the warehouse is located. There are several planes parked on the apron close by. One of the planes have an open cargo door where several workers are busy loading the plane, forklifts rushing into the hold, depositing their goods. The workers leave the forklifts, get into a van and head off. The warehouse seems abandoned.
After a minute or so, two men walk towards the plane and the stairs leading to the front of the massive aircraft. Between them, each arm being held tightly by the men is Emily. They lead her up the stairs and disappear into the plane.
Contact the authorities, go to chapter 57
Jump into the cargo plane from the rear of the plane, go to chapter 58
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