James Huston - Fallout

“That’s a start. Thanks. Please let me know what they say.”

“If I do tell you something, it’s not for your brother.”

“He has a secret clearance with the new school.”

“Not good enough.”

“Okay. Don’t worry about that.”

“I’ll call you,” she said reluctantly, and hung up.

Luke glanced in the rearview mirror of his Corvette to make sure the tan Taurus was following him down the Nevada highway. Khan was matching his every turn.

Katherine had been unenthusiastic about having Khan and one of his pilots over for dinner, but she was willing if Luke insisted. She had no idea what to fix. She didn’t know what Pakistanis ate. Luke had asked the Major what food was acceptable, and he’d said that anything would be fine. Katherine had decided to fix steaks with fresh vegetables.

Luke rounded the final curve and headed directly toward his house. He saw that Brian was right behind the Taurus. He’d run into Brian in the gym at the hangar that morning and watched him fight his deteriorating muscles on the StairMaster. He’d looked as if he were dying, biting the air as he fought his way through every step.

It had been hard to watch, but Luke was glad he’d stopped by. Brian had told him of the efforts Kevin was making to look into Khan. Nothing to report yet, he’d said, but they were working on it. Luke had started watching every one of them carefully.

He turned onto the private road that ran for half a mile off the state highway and passed their house. He pulled into the driveway and activated the garage door opener, then skillfully guided the Corvette to its spot in the garage. He closed up the garage and went out the side door to show Khan and Rashim, his lieutenant, the front entrance. Thud was already there.

Katherine got up off the couch and Thud stood from the chair he was in. She kissed Luke and turned to Major Khan to extend her hand. “Welcome. I’m Katherine.”

“It is very nice to meet you. This is my lieutenant, Rashim.”

“Rashim is a pilot as well. I’m sure I told you about him,” Luke said.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Katherine said. She looked at Rashim, who was her height and impossibly young. “I’m glad that you were able to join us for dinner.”

“It is my pleasure. Thank you for inviting us. I hope it is not too much trouble.”

“You both know Brian Hayes,” Luke said, acknowledging the obvious, “and Thud. May I get you something? Beer? Wine?”

Major Khan said softly in his deep voice, “We do not consume alcohol. I told you that.”

“Right,” Luke said. “Sorry. Water? Tea?”

“Tea would be fine.”

“Tea it is,” Katherine said, heading for the kitchen.

“Please come in. Let me show you around.” They started walking toward the family room, Luke next to Thud.

Thud whispered, “Sluf’s still nowhere to be seen.”

Luke glanced at him. “Where the hell could he be?”

“No idea. He definitely flew in. I confirmed it with the tower. And no one’s seen him since. He’s missed three flights and two classes. No answer at his condo. He’s got one of those tape answering machines where the beep gets longer with the number of messages? It’s completely full. Can’t even leave a message.”

Luke was perplexed. “He can’t have just disappeared.”

“True.”

“What do you think?” he asked quietly as they stopped.

“I don’t know. But I think it’s time to get the sheriff involved.”

“The sheriff?” Luke exclaimed.

“You got any other ideas?”

“There must be some explanation…”

“I’m all ears.”

“All right. Call the sheriff in the morning.”

“Will do.”

Luke walked toward the back of the house, pointing out the unique Western and Native American art and furniture. He took them out onto the back patio. Luke had finally finished the shade covering, and the now-sheltered patio looked out over the fifty acres they owned and the thousands of acres that, although indistinguishable, were not their property. It was federal land, as was most of the rest of Nevada. The closest house was at least a mile away and barely visible when he pointed it out.

Khan studied the leveled dirt. “What work are you doing?”

Luke stared at the dirt and his unfinished work. “Building a runway.”

Khan and Rashim looked at Luke with surprise. “What for?”

“To buy an airplane to fly to Tonopah every day instead of driving. Or anywhere else I want to go.”

“Your own private airfield? Is this allowed?”

“Sure. You have to follow the regulations, but you can fly from your own airstrip anytime.”

Khan was stunned. “You own your own fighter squadron, your own private fighter base, and now you will have an airstrip at your own house?”

Luke detected bitterness in Khan’s tone. “It’s always been a dream of mine. I want to own a biplane. An acrobatic plane that I can just fly in the sky over my house and run out of gas and dead-stick right back down to my backyard. It may sound silly to you—”

“No,” Khan said.

“I could fly to work. Take off here, land at Tonopah, fly my MiG, then fly my own airplane home for dinner.” He thought about it. “Well, it’s not going to happen anytime soon. The plane I want costs too much money.”

“What kind of airplane do you want to buy?”

“I was thinking about a Stearman, but I don’t know. A good refurbished Stearman would be over a hundred thousand dollars, and they’re sixty or seventy years old. I was thinking of buying a new Pitts Special. You can get them brand-new right out of the factory in Wyoming. But they cost even more than a Stearman.”

“The Pitts? The one they used to fly in the acrobatic championships?”

“That’s the one.”

“Small biplane.”

“Yep.”

“I have seen them before. Very nice.”

“If I had a lot of nerve, I would buy a Sukhoi. It’s probably the best aerobatic airplane in the world right now. They’re a little squirrelly, and maintenance might be tricky, but what an airplane.”

“It would be in keeping with your ownership of Russian fighters. You could get your private airplane from the other Russian design bureau, from Sukhoi,” Khan said. “I’m sure you never expected to be one of the biggest operators of Russian airplanes outside of Russia.”

“Not even close,” Luke said.

“How have you liked the school so far?” Luke asked as Katherine handed them each their drinks.

“As you know, we would like more air-to-ground, but the training that we have been getting has been… adequate.”

Luke almost choked on Khan’s description. Adequate? It was at least a hundred times better than anything he’d ever known before. If he paid attention, he might actually leave the school knowing something—knowing how to fight in combat, how to employ his aircraft, how to defend his country. Instead he was more interested in insulting Luke and the school and the United States. “Have you learned anything?” Luke asked, trying to keep the sarcasm he felt out of his voice.

“Like what?” Khan asked.

Never mind, Luke thought. Just never the hell mind. “Don’t forget to go down to the flight line tomorrow at 1600,” he said, changing the subject.

“Why?” Khan asked.

“Class picture. The first class of the Nevada Fighter Weapons School. It’s a momentous occasion.”

Khan grew instantly uneasy. “I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“I have set a meeting for my group for that time.”

Rashim glanced at him, confused.

“This photo has been on the weekly schedule since you arrived.”

“Impossible. Our meeting is extremely important.”