Color Me Grey: Book One of the Alexis Stanton Chronicles (17 page)

“
Nope, we’re flying this time,” he
answered.

I grabbed my stuff and we trooped up to Suite
73. Gabriella was at her post. She looked a bit dressed up; I
figured she must have known Mr. Black was going to be in today.

“
Good morning, Mr. Black. Good morning,
Ms. Grey.” she said as we walked in.

“
Good morning, Gabriella.” I replied
and Mr. Black nodded in her direction as we passed. We went
straight to Mr. White’s office to find him alone in the office. I
had expected to see Mr. Brown this morning too. Mr. Black had said
we were flying.

“
Here,” Mr. White said and handed Mr.
Black a satellite phone and a few other electronic devices. “Keep
this at the cabin so you can report your progress.”

Mr. Black handed me one of the small
electronic devices and said, “Put this in your pack.” I did as I
was told and then had to hurry to catch up with the two men before
they entered the elevator.

Mr. White pressed the down button, but I had
expected him to push up to take us to the helipad. We came out at
the lobby and I followed them to the car garage. Mr. White took the
front passenger seat of the SUV, so I was left in the back with the
gear. Mr. Black handed me the rest of the electronic devices along
with the satellite phone, except a small box with a screen of some
kind and said, “Put one in each bag and the phone in my pack.”
There were only three duffle-type bags besides Mr. Black’s backpack
and mine but we were on the road before I finished stowing the
gadgets. I had an idea of what they were, tracking devices of some
kind, but why would we need them was my question.

Mr. Black drove us to an unknown airfield
some distance from the city. We unloaded the backpacks and duffel
bags. Mr. White carried a duffel bag and Mr. Black and I each
carried a bag and our backpacks. To where, I still didn’t know. We
walked across the blacktop toward a small airplane and I assumed we
would be using it instead of the helicopter. I was confused, but I
was just along for the ride so I didn’t say anything or ask any
questions. I had found it better to keep my mouth shut and wait to
see what was going to happen next. Usually I could figure out what
was going on without too much surprise at the last minute,
usually.

We boarded the plane and Mr. White got into
the pilots’ seat. This was new. Hmmm. It had never occurred to me
to think he could fly. Heck, Mr. Black could probably fly too.
Maybe I was going to get a flying lesson today. That would be fun.
That was something I had never done but would have liked to.

We hadn’t been it the air long when Mr. Black
started to attach parachutes to all of our gear. He showed me what
he was doing and how to do it myself. Then he asked how many times
I had skydived.

“
Twice,” I said.

“
Well, you know the principals then,”
he replied. “Did you receive instruction on steering or did you
jump with an instructor?” he asked.

“
An instructor,” I said, a bit
embarrassed. I had listed skydiving as one of my accomplishments,
but in reality I had just been along for the ride.

Mr. Black gave me a nod and began to explain
what was happening. We were going to jump and I was going to have
to go solo. Exciting, but scary. Was I ever going to find my
confidence again?

He continued. Mr. White would fly us over the
area of the cabin and we would drop our supplies, then we would
jump ourselves. He continued by showing me how to put the chute on
and explained about how the little chute I held in my hand would
fly up and pull open the main canopy. Ok, I thought. I’m starting
to remember.

Mr. Black explained how to steer by pulling
on the left or right steering line and what I should do to land
safely. He put special emphasis on the avoidance of trees and other
obstacles. He finished his lesson just a few minutes before we
reached the jumping off point. I helped him pitch out the supplies
and then he jumped. I looked to Mr. White but he was looking
straight ahead not even noticing I was still there, so I
jumped.

The air rushed past me and the sensation was
wonderful. I could see the cabin, a small spec below. The lake was
there too but it was a much larger blue mark. I kept my eyes on the
lake and watched it grow. It looked almost as if it were some sort
of dark blue liquid that had been spilled on a picture. Mr. Black
had said we would have to open our chutes at 2000 feet so I checked
my reading and we were almost there. I watched the meter until it
read 2000 and I dropped the little chute I held in my hand. It
whipped up above me adding to the noise. Then I was yanked up. I
worried I might have to use the backup chute, but the main one
opened. I had been gaining on Mr. Black, but now he was falling
farther away from me.

Had I opened my chute too soon, I wondered.
Just as the thought ran its course through my brain I saw Mr.
Black’s chute open. I had the steering lines in my hands now and
was practicing carefully. Mr. Black had told me if I pulled on
either of the lines too roughly I could put myself into a spin that
I wouldn’t be able to recover from.

The gentle pulling that I was doing seemed to
work just fine. The ground was getting more detailed as we fell
toward it. The lake and the cabin were nowmore than just spots
below me. I aimed for the cabin. It’s where we wanted to be. I
managed to keep myself almost right over the top of it by doing
large circles. But as I got closer to the ground I noticed my
circles had to get smaller to stay right over the cabin area and I
was afraid of putting myself into a spin like Mr. Black warned me
about. I adjusted my strategy and started going from the lake to
the cabin in a crisscross. If I couldn’t land at the cabin, the
shore of the lake would be the next best place, maybe even better.
It was more open than the tree-surrounded cabin.

I decided to make the shore my landing
destination. It was coming up quickly but I managed to land on my
feet. The chute caught some air and started to pull me toward the
lake. I resisted and was hauled off my feet. I landed face first
and was being towed across the gravely beach into the water. I put
my hands down in front of me and I was still being dragged. The
parachute was skimming the top of the water and I was about half
way to the buoy before it stopped.

Mr. Black was at the edge of the water when I
finally came to a stop and he yelled across the water at me, “Bring
the chute back in with you.”

I thought swimming with all my clothes on was
hard. It was nothing compared to hauling in a wet parachute.
Fortunately I was able to stand up and dig my feet into the bottom
of the lake or I might not have been able to bring in the soaked
fabric.

Mr. Black waited for me with a grin on his
face. I was mortified and angry.

“
What!” I said as I came up to him on
the shore.

“
Roll it up to get the water out of it.
Then we’ll take it to the cabin and hang it to dry.” I could see
the glee in his eyes and couldn’t help myself. I started to laugh
and so did he.

“
I don’t know what happened. The wind
just caught it I guess,” I said when we finished laughing. I rolled
the water out of the chute and carried it back to the cabin where
we hung it on some tree limbs to dry.

Mr. Black handed me the little black box with
the screen and said, “This is a tracking unit. I’m going to show
you how to find our stuff.”

He turned it on while it was still in my
hands and showed me how to operate it. Not only did our bags show
up, so did we. Both of us still had on our wristbands we had
received for the last mission. We went in search of the closest bag
and found it in no time. Then Mr. Black left me to retrieve the
rest of them on my own.

I found a signal for another pack and headed
in the appropriate direction. I saw the white chute before I saw
the green pack and if it hadn’t been for the chute I might not have
found the pack. It was my backpack. I grabbed it from the side of a
dried-up creek bed and hauled it back to the cabin. I took it
straight to my room and headed out once more. I still had two
duffel bags and Mr. Black’s backpack to find.

A duffel bag was the next container I
discovered. I hiked it back to the cabin too and found Mr. Black
still unpacking the first bag. I set the bag down by the table and
continued the search.

I had located all the signals before I began
my search and had retrieved the closest first and was working my
way further out. The last two signals were fairly close together
and I planned on retrieving them together. I had to worm my way
through some tight underbrush to get to Mr. Black’s backpack. I had
some trouble pulling it out of the close-knit branches and got a
few scrapes but I managed to get it out. I put it on my back and
continued my search for the last bag. My clothes had almost
completely dried out from the swim I had taken earlier and I was
beginning to warm up from the exercise I was getting.

The last bag was tangled in a tree about
fifteen feet off the ground. It wouldn’t have been so bad, but the
tree was a tall pine tree and the branch that the chute had caught
on was one of the lowest branches available. I didn’t know how in
the world I was going to get the darn thing down.

I unloaded the pack off my back and took a
running jump at it but didn’t even come close to it. I did this
several times before I became winded and gave it a rest. I don’t
know what was going through my head. Yeah, if I keep running and
jumping maybe, just maybe I’ll be able to reach the sky. I looked
around and found a long stick to jab at the bag. It wasn’t long
enough though. I stood under the bag on my tiptoes trying to swing
the stick up to the bag. Then I began to run and jump with the
stick. Again I couldn’t get high enough. One more time I thought
and I hit the bag, but the only thing that happened was that I
broke my stick.

I sat down on the forest floor totally
discouraged. What in the world was I going to do? I didn’t want to
go back without the bag. I had already made one mistake today. Of
course we laughed it off, but this was such a simple task that Mr.
Black had given me I
couldn’t
go ask for help. I had been
gone over an hour and I had to get this done. I was wasting
time.

I got back up and searched around for a
longer, stronger branch. No luck. Plenty of little ones lying
around though. I thought about this for a while and decided I would
try to lash them together somehow. I looked on the ground for some
type of weed, vine or grass that I could use. Nothing that would
hold. Then I got a brainstorm. I started pulling the lines loose
from the chute that had brought Mr. Black’s pack down safely. A
little less than an hour later I had enough sticks tied together to
reach the pack and about fifteen minutes later the bag dropped to
the ground.

Mr. Black came out of the woods and said,
“Finally.” Then he picked up his backpack and started the walk back
to the cabin.

“
How long were you out there?” I
asked.

He sidestepped the question and said, “You
should have come asked me for help. I could have lifted you up
instead of you destroying the chutes.” The other chute had been
left in the tree. I had thought he would have been impressed with
my innovation and was a bit disappointed in his reaction.

When we reached the cabin he took his pack to
his room and told me to unload the last of the duffel bags. I
opened it and found dry goods such as, toilet paper, instant
potatoes, instant milk, dried eggs. It all sounded so good. I could
hardly wait to eat fake food. Mr. Black was still in his room
unpacking when I finished, so I thought now would be a good time to
unpack my bag too. By the time we finished with all the unpacking
it was beginning to get dark.

Mr. Black sat down with a book and said that
I got to cook dinner. I did just that. I found some other canned
goods that had been stored or brought in one of the other packs.
All in all I think I did a good job with what I had. When dinner
was ready we sat at the table and Mr. Black explained to me what he
expected out of me this time at the cabin. He said, “No more
playing around. This time we are going to get to work.”

I thought he had been rough on me last time.
I wondered what was in store for me now.

“
I want you proficient in all general
survival techniques and some other things too,” he
explained.

We finished dinner and he headed for his
room. Just before he shut the door he said, “You should get to bed
as soon as the dishes are done. I’m going to have you up early.”
Then the door to his room closed.

I got right on the dishes and then went
straight to bed. I didn’t go to sleep though. These men changed
attitudes like they were socks. I finally fell asleep hoping Mr.
Black would be in a better mood in the morning.

“
UP!” Mr. Black yelled in my face as he
shook the bed.

I jumped out of bed and was fully dressed. I
had gotten up in the middle of the night and dressed. I wanted to
make sure I was prepared for whatever he had in store for me.

We started out with laps around the lake and
exercises on the shore. I was prepared to go swimming at his
command. But after the morning exercises he marched me back to the
cabin. He had me take my chute off the tree limbs and fold it back
into its pack. He demonstrated the technique first with his chute,
and then he stood over me while I replicated his every move. I
looked up to him and asked if I had done it right.

He said, “We’ll find out soon enough.” He had
me go out and chop some firewood and before long he came out and
told me I could come back in. Mr. Black had fixed us sandwiches for
lunch. We ate at the table and then he hustled me out the door.
Both of us had our packs on our backs and we both carried a pack
away from the cabin.