“We’ve got company!” shouted Rooster from the copilot’s seat.
Several men dressed in suits and several more uniformed officers were looking out of the large hangar window facing out on the airport tarmac. When they saw the propellers spinning on the Caribou, they rushed from the windows and pushed against the door. It opened several inches and then smacked into the backside of the oversized barbecue.
Chase pushed the radio transmit button and spoke into his microphone. “They haven’t notified the tower,” he said. “Probably thought they had us in the bag.” Chase pushed the throttles up a little more and turned the Caribou sharply to the right, chafing the left tire.
“You might want to take it a little easier on the turns,” Rooster said to his brother. “If that tire gets hot were going to make a big hole in the runway.”
Chase spoke into the microphone one more time and then goosed the throttles forward, driving the Caribou onto the active runway. “We’re out of here!” he shouted.
Rooster jammed both throttles to the firewall, and the Caribou roared down the runway, lifted off and immediately made a left turn, taking them in a southwesterly direction.
“Ready or not, Antarctica here we come,” Rooster said. He turned and winked at Ridley who, despite the lunacy of it all, couldn’t help but wink back.
CHAPTER 40
Leah looked at her watch and then shivered. It was past one o’clock in the morning, nearly an hour later than Jack said he’d arrive in Paulson’s private jet. She stood with Garrett outside the familiar aluminum-and-steel Quonset hut, looking toward the star-filled eastern sky. Old Luke Derringer had trapped Juan and Marko inside, giving them the same twisted history lesson she’d heard just days before.
“Where the hell are they, Garrett?” Leah asked impatiently.
Garrett leaned against the wall of the Quonset hut, his eyes casually scanning the sky. “Paulson runs a huge company. I imagine he had to get a few things in order before disappearing.”
“What about the airplane that’s taking us to Antarctica?”
“My guess is they got the same call we did and are hustling to get off the ground with all the gear.”
Leah shook her head. “What kind of plane was that again? A deer, antelope, some kind of animal man has nearly hunted to extinction.”
“A DeHavilland Caribou,” Garrett said with a chuckle. “Probably a relic left over from the Vietnam war. A prop-driven Caribou is God-awful slow. It’s going to take those guys three or four days to find their way to southern Chile — wouldn’t surprise me if we have to wait for them.”
Suddenly the runway lights popped on. “What’s happening?” Leah asked.
“It’s Paulson.” Garrett turned toward the door of the hut. “We better gather our gear. I’ve got a notion he won’t want to stick around long.”
Luke hobbled through the door behind Juan and Marko and grabbed Garrett by the shoulder. “Good luck, son, with whatever you find.” The look of surprise on Garrett’s face caused the old man’s face to twist up in an ancient grin. “You be careful and take care of those city slickers.”
Garrett opened his mouth to speak, but Luke cut him off. “I’m going to tow that beat-up Cessna of yours into the hangar the minute you get that high-priced luxury yacht off my tarmac.”
“I appreciate it, Luke.”
“Just make sure you get back here to pick it up.”
The combination door and boarding ladder on the Gulfstream 550 dropped down after the jet rolled to a stop near the Quonset. “Paulson’s Global Express, Flight 201, bound for Antarctica, now ready for boarding,” Jack said, his grinning face sticking out through the door.
Paulson glanced over Jack’s shoulder. “Leah Andrews! What a pleasant surprise.”
“Wish I could say the same, Al,” she quipped but let a smile slip.
Garrett reached out and shook hands with the billionaire. “We’re sure glad you could help us out, Mr. Paulson.”
“The only people who call me Mr. Paulson are those who owe me money. My name is Al.” The billionaire reached over and patted Garrett on the back, then introduced himself to Marko and Juan. “Get your bags aboard. I want to be gear-up in less than ten minutes.”
Once the nose of the plane was lined up with the centerline of the runway, Paulson pushed the throttles forward and the twin Rolls Royce BR 710 engines delivered more than thirty-thousand pounds of thrust, powering the jet into the night sky. He piloted the Gulfstream in a southerly direction and continued to climb through the low clouds on his way to an altitude of nearly 40,000 feet.
“How are things going back there? Paulson asked after reaching cruising altitude.
“No problem so far,” Jack said while climbing into the cramped cockpit. “Where do we go from here?”
“We’re going to refuel in Mexico City and then fly direct to Punta Arenas, Chile.”
Leah leaned over Jack’s shoulder. “I thought you needed two pilots to fly a jet like this?”
“Legally, you do,” Paulson said. “This thing is so damn computerized, though, I thought I’d just handle it myself.”
“Is that safe?”
Paulson shook his head. “Are you looking a gift horse in the mouth? Besides, what self-respecting pilot did you think you were gonna get to join this boondoggle?”
Leah tried to suppress as grin, but couldn’t. “Okay,” she said. “We’re short a pilot and I don’t see any flight attendants. You got any food on this plane?”
“We’re fully stocked with all kinds of prepackaged delicacies.” Paulson pointed toward the small galley. “Help yourselves.”
“Mind if I sit up here for a while?” Jack asked.
Paulson nodded. “Best seat in the house.”
Jack laid his head back on the high-backed seat and let the soft roar of the jet engines running at cruise lull him to sleep.
CHAPTER 41
Jack reluctantly opened his eyes and looked out through the window at the Mexican landscape below as Marko pointed toward a steep mountain jutting up from the desert floor.
“Volcano in the distance?” he asked.
Standing nearly 17,800 feet high and located one hundred miles from Mexico City, the glacier-capped volcano stood out like a gleaming jewel.
“Popocatepetl,” Jack replied. “It is the fifth-highest peak in North America.”
“You ever climbed it?”
Jack shaded his eyes. “Popo is a great place to get some high-altitude glacier practice when it’s not erupting. Unfortunately it’s been closed to climbing for years because of eruptions. Orizaba, another volcano, is a great climb though.”
“Ever gonna climb her again? I’d love to get a shot at the summit.”
Jack smiled. “It’s a deal, Marko. Next time I climb Orizaba, you’re on the team.”
Paulson banked the Gulfstream onto final approach and prepared for landing. With a bump, the wheels touched down, and the aircraft turned off the taxiway, toward a private aviation terminal.
“All right, explorers,” he said. “You can get off the plane and enter the General Aviation terminal. Then we’ll cool our heels here for ten hours, maybe a little more, let the Caribou fly further south, and get some needed sleep.” Paulson glanced around like a cautious parent. “Don’t get lost. And don’t get into any trouble.”
Leah stepped down the Gulfstream boarding steps and stood briefly on the tarmac, wrinkling her nose at the brown haze on the horizon. “What should we do now?”
“Probably wouldn’t hurt to brush up on your Russian,” Jack said as shouldered the bag containing his laptop computer and satellite telephone.