Ogreness, Black Lake-book5

Chapter 52
~

“They’re a lot bigger than us,” Frip observed.

“They wouldn’t dare fire on us.” Nuel’s face didn’t mirror the confidence of her words.

Forcin’ us down set a precedent I didn’t like. Shootin’ at us set a precedent they shouldn’t like.

“Ask him under what authority?” I told Hroli.

Frip pointed. “The fifty caliber in his wing, I think.”

We waited. The lieutenant didn’t reply except to repeat his demand. For a moment I was fantasizin’ about the North sendin’ an army into the Range. There isn’t a resident from the Wildes, to the West Slopes that isn’t proud of a rifle that can take down an elephant a mile away. And there are no elephants on this continent. That I'm aware of.

It occurred to me, that we don’t even take a census in the Range. How many citizens might we actually have, to stand up to an army?

For a moment, it struck me that the North is crazy enough to actually invade the Range. Clearly they’re bankrupt of civility. They sort of did it once, before we put our foot down.

If fisticuffs were gonna take place, we didn’t have much to fight with. The orc was screechin’ at me again. Seemed she thought I needed to make a decision.

Ponwr was askin’ if we could outrun the Coast Guard. Hroli snorted. So I guess that was a no.

I asked if Hroli had any suggestions. Frip suggested we ignore them. Maybe they’d go away. Nuel suggested we might be used as political pawns if we landed. That was the least of my worries. I’m not that well liked. There might be folk on the north plains cheerin’, to see headlines of my imprisonment.

“Doesn’t the Wildes have an air force?” Frip asked.

Not that I was aware of. And what were they gonna do with it if they do? They aren’t gonna go to war for the Range. Would they?

“They might be able to intimidate this guy off our back,” Frip said.

Hmm. Interesting idea, if it wouldn’t take five hours to fly up this way.

“Land down there, and wait until he goes away.” Nuel pointed at good ole Earth.

That wasn’t actually a bad idea, but I wasn’t gonna tell her that. But Hroli explained it took a lot of fuel to land and take off, and with a ton of trolls, we’d tank out before we made the mountains.

Frip and Ponwr didn’t appreciate being called fat.

A lot more suggestions were flyin’ around when I noticed the Coast Guard plane was now just a few feet off our left wing. If they were tryin’ to intimidate us, it was workin’ as far as I was concerned. The lieutenant was blabbin’ over the radio still about followin’ him. I was gettin’ a headache.

“Ignore him,” I told Hroli.

“Really?”

I nodded. There was no rearview mirror, so she prolly didn’t notice.

Over the next twenty minutes the Coast Guard plane flew a dozen maneuvers around us, even butted up in front of us and slowed its airspeed. Hroli laughed. So maybe that wasn’t a big deal. Our twin-prop didn’t seem to have a problem, whereas the Coast Guard plane flopped up and down a bit, maybe strugglin’ with the slower airspeed.

When the lieutenant pulled directly behind us, I closed my eyes waitin’ for lead to fling about the cabin. I heard and felt Hroli reduce our airspeed again. I opened my eyes to find the Coast Guard plane had pulled to our starboard. I think that’s left. I’m no sailor. Maybe they talk clock in the air. So it followed us at eight o’clock.

A major city on our eastern horizon dotted the terrain. My limited map sense told me we weren’t that far from home now.

“Uh oh,” Hroli mumbled ten minutes later.

What was worse than havin’ a plane with guns escortin’ us? Ponwr was askin’ if we could fly over it. Oh. The clouds. More like a storm, straight ahead. Lots of black, rolling balls of a late-summer storm. Hroli was shakin’ her head.

“Carryin’ them,” Hroli shifted a thumb over her shoulder, “I don’t have the fuel to go around it, either.”

“We land in the plains, then,” I said.

“That’s Northern territory,” Nuel hissed. Not technically true, but I wasn't gonna argue with her, considerin’ the North does have a lot of influence on this side of the Range.

But any nearby community would rely on Ogre Industry. Would they spite themselves to allow the arrest of one of the Range’s leadin’ citizens? Not well liked, but if I closed one facility it would mean a thousand jobs.

I’ve never even fired an incompetent employee. Like I would close a facility as leverage. Hmm. They could keep me incommunicado so I couldn’t even run my businesses. How could I not have a guy? I have too many jobs. How do I even find time to play hoops once a week?

I need a guy. Gotta find a guy.

Frip was summarizin’ what we couldn’t do. Not over or around the storm. Couldn’t land. Couldn’t turn around. Plains was out. Couldn’t make the Western Slopes.

I had to ask. “What about going through it.”

“We attract lightening. Ya don’t want to go there,” Hroli said.

“Then he wouldn’t either.” I pointed at the lieutenant swishin’ back and forth at two o’clock.

“I’m not ready to die.” Hroli growled.

“If ya skim really, really low to the ground, would he follow ya.”

“This isn’t a crop duster,” Hroli said.

“We can try.”

“Low doesn’t mean we won’t get hit by lightning,” the orc said.

“But most of the lightening at lower altitudes is at the leadin’ edge of the storm, right?” I asked. “Can ya avoid it that much?”

“Ya hate jail that much?” Hroli asked.

“I’m too pretty to go to jail,” I said.

They all laughed. That hurt my feelings. They didn’t think I’m pretty? I’m at least handsome. Quite handsome, my mama has said.

“Council might not care,” Hroli said, “if ya get dead, but they might make me pay them back for crashin’ their plane.”

The cab—do they call it a cab or cockpit—emptied of conversation for a few moments, not to say it was quiet. Planes aren’t quiet. About as noisy as a hospital room. And Hroli had left the radio on, so that stinkin’ lieutenant was still threatenin’ to shoot us down, and blabbin’ on and on.

I jolted a little to realize how close we were to the maelstrom now. “Uh, I thought ya didn’t want to fly through it?”

“He should head high in a moment,” Hroli said. “I’m not sure, but maybe the storm will help hide us from his instruments.”

That said, the Coast Guard plane began to ascend briskly.

My heart might have stopped pumpin’ while I waited for Hroli to turn, land, descend, something. A deadly lightning bolt flipped across our windshield left to right, and my heart exploded. But the boom didn’t hit us for a few seconds, so maybe the nearness to death wasn’t as near as I thought.

The Coast Guard plane rose high enough to disappear in the leading fuzz of the storm, and Hroli did whatever pilots do to turn a plane ninety degrees into a crash. I’m certain I wasn’t the only one screamin’.

“Shut up,” Hroli shouted. “Pretend it’s a downdraft.”

I couldn’t visualize that at all, because the Earth was approachin’ way too fast. Pretty certain my blood had frozen solid by the time the orc did whatever she did to level off the plane. Shrubs flicked by, out the window.

“We’re gonna die. We’re gonna die,” Frip mumbled.

“I’m too young to die. Too young to die,” Ponwr mumbled.

“If I die I’m gonna kill ya, Ike,” Nuel shouted.

“Ya have to wait in line,” Hroli shrieked.

“Ya can take us up a little, can’t ya?” I asked.

And then the inside of the plane, cab, cockpit, whatever it’s called, lit up with the brilliance of heaven.

~ Nuel ~

Dorothy never had such up and down emotions in Wonderland. No, that was Alice. Dorothy only fought witches. I deal with idjit capitalist ogres, moronic troll bodyguards, and an orc too short to see over the dash of her plane.

Then a bolt of electricity blew us up. I waited to explain to whichever god was on duty today exactly how I got involved with such shady characters.

~