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Here We Go, Embryo
"Check it out," Cardinal said. "Go through the entire truck. Don't even think about letting anyone go until you check everything thoroughly."
"Don't worry," the Head ELF said. "We've got that covered."
One of the ELFs, a woman Cardinal had already noted looked exceptionally good in black tights, inflated the escape chute on one of the doors of the plane and slid down to the ground. Then she ran the short distance to the truck the FBI had parked and abandoned alongside the plane, throwing open the back door and slipping inside. Through one of the windows on the plane, Cardinal could see seven crates in the trailer, each one with a stainless steel milk-bottle-shaped container inside it. Using a short crowbar she had pulled from her belt, she pried open the tops of the crates and opened the covers of the milk bottles. Cold vapor overflowed. She looked up to the Head ELF,who was standing at the top of the chute, and gave a thumbs up.
"All right. Release the passengers."
One by one the passengers filed out, except for Marsha. "I'm staying here with you," she said to Cardinal.
With a great deal of effort, the ELFs hoisted each of the seven milk bottles into the plane. Once they were all on board, the female ELF started going through them again to get an accurate embryo count. As she worked through the second bottle, she suddenly paused, as if the liquid nitrogen had frozen her also.
"Something is wrong here," she said. Quickly she went over to the overhead bin above the seat she once occupied. She took out a box and from it extracted a microscope. Plugging it into an outlet in the food prep area, she took an embryo out, laid it on a slide, and examined it under magnification.
"Damn!" she said. "They gave us chicken embryos."
Boy, that would have been embarrassing if they had tried to implant them, Cardinal thought.
The Head ELF stood there, wordless. He started to shake, with rage, probably. Then he picked up the two bomb-briefcases and slid down the chute. The other three followed, leaving Marsha and Cardinal in the plane, watching.
"Should we follow them?" Marsha asked.
"I'm pretty crazy, but even I wouldn't chase after an angry fundamentalist with a bomb under each arm."
The four ELFs scrambled into the cab of the truck, Head ELF at the wheel. He fired up the diesel engine and gave it the gas. The truck raced off in the direction of the police, who were advancing on the plane now that the hostages were safe. When the truck was 100 yards away from the police, all four jumped out, one by one. The truck rambled to the police's position, crashed through their line, and exploded. The blast shook the plane.
"Nice move," Cardinal said to Marsha. "They didn't time it very well though. It looks like the cops had enough time to get out of the way."
"So what do we do now?" Marsha said. "The cops will arrest us for sure for assisting the hijackers."
"I have a plan." Cardinal went to the front of the plane and kicked open the door to the cockpit. The plane was idling, and all the instrumentation was still switched on. Cardinal sat down in the pilot seat and gripped the yoke.
"John, you fool," Marsha snarled, "You don't know how to fly a 737." She grabbed him by the collar and yanked him out of the seat. Then she picked up the flight plan notes and studied them. She sat down, opened the throttle, and taxied down the runway. "When we land in Des Moines, you're going to figure out how we get out of the mess that will be waiting for us."
Next Episode: Jet Blues