As he started to walk out of the room, she touched his back. “I’m…I’m sorry about before.”
“You shouldn’t be.”
“I didn’t mean what I said. I was just—”
“Tired? Frustrated? Angry?” He smiled. “I know. And if you need me to say it, you’re forgiven, but you weren’t saying anything the rest of us hadn’t already thought.”
There were thanks in her eyes.
He pulled her into his arms and gave her a hug. “I’d better go find Josie.”
He located her down the hall in the cafeteria, sitting at a table by herself.
“Is it true?” she asked as he sat down.
“Is what true?”
“I heard Mr. Hayes is dead.”
Matt hesitated, then said, “Yeah. I’m afraid it is.”
“And Brandon’s still out there?”
“Yes.”
“So he’s alone?”
“He’ll be fine.”
“If he’s still out there, why did you come back?”
“It’s dark. We could walk right by him and not see him.”
“But you might also find him.”
“Morning will be easier,” he said. “For him, and for us. He’s a smart boy. I’m sure he’s tucked away somewhere safe.”
“You can’t let him stay out there. That’ll be two nights!”
“I know you’re concerned. I’m just as worried about him as you—”
She pushed herself up. “No, you’re not! You don’t care! You’re leaving him out there by himself while we’re all safe in here. He’s just a kid!”
Matt felt what energy he had left drain away. “I need my team to get a few hours of sleep at least. Then we’ll go back out.”
“Before the sun comes up,” she said. Not asking — telling.
“Yes, before the sun comes up.”
“All right,” she said, still not looking happy. “Maybe I should come with you. If he hears my voice—”
“Absolutely not,” he said. “It’s not safe.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but before she could, Christina’s voice came over the intercom system. “Matt, return to the communications center immediately.”
Josie said, “I could help.”
“You could also get lost, and I’d have to look for two children,” Matt told her.
“Matt,” Christina said over the intercom, “you need to come back now!”
Josie’s brow creased as she narrowed her eyes. “I’m not a child.”
Instead of debating the point, he stood up and said, “You’re staying. If you try to follow us, we will turn around and come back. Is that understood?”
He stared at Josie until she nodded, then he hurried back to the communications center.
“What is it?” he asked as he entered the room.
“The jet,” Christina said. “They’ve just called in.”
“Our jet?”
She nodded.
“Where are they?”
“They’re requesting permission to land.”
The flight south to Montana would have taken Ash and the others about six hours if they’d been able to fly direct, but due to a shortage of fuel at Grise Fiord, they’d been forced to make a stop at Baker Lake, the same place they’d landed on the way north.
Even then, it shouldn’t have taken more than an hour to refuel and get back into the air. But it did, due to Implementation Day.
“Permission denied,” the person manning the control tower had radioed back as they neared Baker Lake. “The airport is closed.”
“We have a fuel emergency,” Harlan explained.
“I’m sorry, you’ll have to go somewhere else.”
“There’s nowhere else close enough for us to land before we run out!”
This time there was no response.
“Baker Lake? Baker Lake, do you read me?”
Harlan glanced over his shoulder at Ash, who was hunched behind him. “What do you want me to do?”
“Do we have a choice?” Ash asked.
“If we’re lucky, we might be able to make it to one of the outposts along Hudson Bay, but it’ll be a close call.”
“That doesn’t sound like a choice to me. Take her down.”
Harlan nodded. As he and Barry set to work getting the jet onto the ground, Ash returned to the passenger cabin, and grabbed one of the guns before retaking his seat.
Chloe eyed him suspiciously. “Trouble?”
“Same problem we had at Grise Fiord.”
With a nod, she unbuckled her belt and retrieved two guns, giving one to Red before sitting back down.
The landing went as smoothly as always, and as soon as the wheels touched down, Ash returned to the cockpit.
“They’ve been yelling all the way in for us to abort,” Harlan said.
“What did you tell them?”
“Nothing.”
Harlan maneuvered the plane onto the taxiway and headed toward the fueling area.
“We’ve got company,” Barry said.
Sitting across their route were a police car and a small fire truck. Standing in front of the vehicles were several men holding what appeared to be rifles.
Harlan flipped a switch on the dash, and the controller’s voice came over the speaker. “…made an unauthorized landing, and are ordered to immediately take off. Do not open your doors or attempt to leave your aircraft.”
“Tell him we’re—” Ash began.
Harlan raised a hand, stopping him. “I got this.” He activated his radio mic. “All right, if that’s what you want. But I should tell you I’ve only got just enough fuel to get us in the air, which means we’ll be coming back down pretty damn quickly. I’ll probably only have time to bank the plane to make sure it takes out the center of your fine little town.”
There was no reply for several seconds, then, “You are ordered to stay where you are. Do not open your doors. If you do, we will shoot.”
“We just need some fuel.”
“Stay where you are. We will contact you with further instructions.”
Harlan pulled off his headset and leaned back. “Okay, I guess we wait.”
It wasn’t long before one of the men at the roadblock climbed into the police car and drove off toward the tower. As soon as he left, the fire truck repositioned itself so that it was more in the center of the taxiway.
Four minutes later, a new voice came over the radio. “This is Officer Thomas Belford, RCMP. You have violated a direct order not to land at Baker Lake. This is both a territorial and federal offense. If you do not get your plane back into the air, you will be placed under arrest.”
“My turn,” Ash said to Harlan.
Harlan nodded at Barry, who handed Ash his headset.
“Officer Belford,” Ash said. “I’m sure your superiors would not be fond of planes falling from the sky because they were denied landing rights.”
“I don’t care.”
“You don’t care?”
“The citizens of Baker Lake have voted unanimously to close the town to avoid any outbreaks here. No one gets in.”
“We’re not trying to get in,” Ash said. “We just want to refuel.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t allow you to leave your plane.”
“Fine. We’ll stay on board. One of you can do it for us.”
“No one is getting anywhere near your aircraft.”
“Then what exactly do you expect us to do?”
“I already told you that. Get yourself back in the air.”
“I believe we explained to your friend in the tower what will happen if we do that.”
There was silence for a moment before Belford said, “You are to remain right where you are.”
“And then?”
“Just stay there.”
Ash frowned.
“So?” Harlan asked.
Ash looked out the cockpit window. About another hundred yards beyond the fire truck was the fueling area. So close. He thought there might be enough room to skirt around the edge of the truck, but that was only if it didn’t move back in the way and the men with the guns didn’t shoot.