Martin nodded, unbuckled his restraints, and started to climb out of his chair, Jack suggesting that Martin recheck the ties binding the pilots’ hands before he woke them. Martin agreed and then set about waking the two unwitting combatants. They were about to find out that they were deep in enemy airspace, on the other side of the world from their patrol route, and about to be assaulted by several of the most deadly war machines on earth. Not quite your morning cup of joe, but what can you do?

Chapter 59: To the Heart of the Matter

“Enjoying yourself, Serge?” said Agent Jean-Paul Merard into his mask. Their ‘regular patrol’ had turned into something much more when their Dassault Rafale had been redirected shortly after takeoff to join a small squadron made up of two British Typhoons, and one other French Rafale. They were all breaking the sound barrier in a race to get a bead on the objects apparently exploding above Pakistan, but only one amongst them knew what the pods were, and that the explosions were not a planned part of their deployment. Pilot Jean-Paul Merard, flying the second of the two French Rafales, intended to find out who was blowing his satellite’s viral pods out of the sky. Then he intended to return the favor, even if it meant destroying the squadron around him to do it.

The British fighters were led by Captain Sarah Hutcheson on Lightning One, with Lightning Two flying close on her starboard wing. The Eurofighter was faster than the Dassault, and slightly more heavily armed, but not significantly, and the two more maneuverable Dassaults were keeping up, flying behind and to the left of the Typhoons in a V-formation. Jean-Paul and his unwilling copilot Serge Latral were in the left wingman position, and they could see all three other planes arranged out to their right in an extraordinary display of destructive power.