During the month that Michael was incapacitated, Helen and Sandra found they had a lot in common, Helen had supported her, bringing food and clothes, a shoulder to
cry on. They were both runners, loved
pets, and Helen divulged she always had a crush on Michael. Helen was seven years younger and had borne no children as yet and said she was relieved when the breeding assignments stopped. Theystill had over a hundred miles to travel to the west and Michael hoped they would find Chief Calian so he could warn them of the impending crisis. The moved out, Michael took off in the flyer, wanting to Scout ahead, racing over the trees along the path the wagon would
follow, and out into the grassy planes, he saw nothing that would impede their
progress, but he also saw nothing of Chief Calian or his people. After locating his group, he sat the flyer back down on the wagon and mounted his horse Killer for the rest of the day's journey. It took another three days for
them to reach the aircraft facility's location that GOD had guided him to find, his mission tocalert the other Bunker's would require that he fly thousands of miles, but there was not a plane in sight. Michael tried to contact GOD on the suits processor and was immediately rewarded with and answer. Not in words but with action, giant doors of an underground hanger started creaking open, the two doors
lifting tons of dirt and rocks finally stood straight up revealing a large aircraft, after the dust settled they moved in to investigate, the cockpit door retracted revealing two seats for pilots and additional seats for ten more
passengers. Michael climbed into the
pilot's seat, and was immediately greeted by GOD as the display lit up, Michael
put on the helmet/headset. Hi Michael,
Im so glad you could make it, your six weeks late and remember my calculations
for this storm is not absolute. Michael
did not bother making excuses, he just asked how he was to use this plane, they
had no way to lift it out of the ground, and no fuel to put in it if he did. Michael this plane is unique, it has vertical take off capabilities and is run by a nuclear reactor, once this
reactor is engaged you will have about ten years of use barring any failures
with the electric motors or god forbid a broken prop, I will guide you through
the operation of ths craft while you are in this area, but once you leave you
will only have the airship's computer for guidance, I have programed all twelve
Bunker locations and this location into it's mainframe. It will basically fly itself, but you need to practice the manual controls just in case the autopilot fails, GOD directed. Sandra
now seated in the copilot's chair, listened with intent, Helen and the rest of the Squad happily took seats in the rear of the craft, along with the two dogs and the wolf, leaving only the horses and the wagon on the ground. GOD started the reactor, all the remaining controls came to life, the giant blades started spinning, and turning towards
the sky, fortunately the props made little noise that penetrated the cabin, and
they lifted out of the pit. After they
reached about a thousand feet, GOD directed Michael on how to manually operate
the craft, since he had many times operated the smaller drones manually the biggest challenge was figuring out the plane's capabilities. He flew in ever increasing circles using the base as his center point, increasing their elevation to 5000 feet, when they
were out about a hundred miles, Sandra spoke to Michael, while he had been busy
flying, she was exploring the weapon systems and controls. Helen spotted a group of nomads, and when they got closer they saw it was Calian's tribe far out to the west. Setting the craft down a hundred yards away, they exited the plane and waved the Chief over. Riding with a half a dozen braves Chief
Calian greeted them, since it was about noon they decided to talk over lunch. Sharing their rations, Michael told the chief about the storms predicted and that he and his people were welcome at the Bunker, the chief was not excited by being trapped in a confined
space and said he would consider it. Micheal
chatted with GOD about options for these people, his response was they would
need to a thousand miles south into a mountain range, there they may find caves
protect themselves against the rising water and cold, eventually your people
will need to head in that direction after the storms pass. Saying their goodbyes and leaving the rest of their rations with the tribesmen, they loaded up and flew back to where the plane was found. The giant doors had closed, and the only thing left to see was the wagon and horses.