The reply was quick and sounded relieved, “Good morning to you. And please, call me Lord Mantil. I’ve had enough of that other name: it is time it was laid to rest.”

Jack and Martin looked at each other and shrugged, and Jack replied, “Happy to make your acquaintance, Lord Mantil. Well, it looks like we owe you a debt of gratitude. Thank you. What is your status, my friend? Did you sustain damage?”

“No, my plane is undamaged, though that is little consolation. I am sad to say I have just downed three Pakistani pilots to add to my list of crimes. I had hoped to head off more death, but I’m afraid it seems to follow me wherever I go. Anyway, that is in the past now, and they appear to be withdrawing the rest of their fighters.”

Jack confirmed that his radar showed the same thing, and then Lord Mantil, formerly Agent Shahim Al Khazar, suggested their next move. “Looks to me like you’ll have a clear path across the border, gentlemen. But after that we should assume that the Allied forces will come to check you out. No doubt Peshawar is informing them of the situation even now, at least the part about the explosions, and they will want to come see.”

“That had been our assumption. Once they’re in range, I imagine they’ll figure out what we are pretty quickly and then the shit will hit the fan back home. But that said, they should be very hesitant to shoot down an American bomber, even a rogue one, without express permission from the White House, so that will buy us some time. My bigger worry is what happens when we get close to the border with Iran. There is a large Iranian base near Mashhad in northern Iran and they have heavy strike capabilities. We won’t get far past them.”

“Agreed.” said Lord Mantil in return, “but by then you will have taken out nearly a thousand miles worth of the viral pods. You can’t have expected to do much more than that.”

“True, but there are hundreds of thousands of unprotected people there as well, Lord Mantil,” said Jack, somewhat dejectedly. “We have to try and get as far as we can.”