In fact, there was such a time: Jon Masters put himself in the fuselage of an airliner loaded with several hundred pounds of TNT to prove his electronic armor called BERP, or Ballistic Electro-Reactive Process, would protect the aircraft in case of a terrorist bomb going off in the cargo hold. The demonstration had horrified the airline and government representatives to the point that they refused to fund the program, but that didn’t matter—it worked, and Jon risked his own life to prove it. That BERP material eventually became the Tin Man battle armor system, which would one day revolutionize American infantry fighting.

Kelsey paused, still holding Jon’s hand, like a brother and sister taking a stroll. They found themselves standing in front of Dragon One’s open hangar door. There was a flurry of action around it, with dozens of technicians and crew members rushing to get it ready to fly. Right next door was Dragon Two—virtually ignored except for the four security guards stationed around it.

“Doesn’t it look lonely?” Kelsey asked her new big brother. “It needs some love and attention. We can do it, Jon. We put Dragon’s new plasma generators in, give it some gas, and take it on a trip to help the general find his wife.” She saw Jon’s smile vanish and his shoulders slump. “I know Wendy is still okay, Jon. I know she is. But we need to help Patrick so he can go back and find her.”

Jon smiled at his little partner, then nodded. When he looked at Dragon Two, he had to agree—it was a goodlooking bird, and right now it did look pretty lonely.

He pulled out his secure cell phone: “Doug? How’s it going ... ? Excellent. Listen, pull Ken and Duncan’s crews off Dragon One and have them start installing the plasma generators on Dragon Two ... yep, right now. As soon as Joel’s crew signs off their preflight on One, have them jump over to help, and get the rest of the crews on Two as soon as One launches. We’re going to bring Dragon Two with us ... yes, and I want it operational... yes, operational, not just flyable.. .. We’ve done all the lab testing we’re going to do. Dr. Duffield and I are standing out front right now to help. We have about six hours to do it... yes, I said six, and I’ll be surprised if we don’t get a visit from the feds before then. Let’s hustle!”

SKY MASTERS INC. WORLD HEADQUARTERS,
 ARKANSAS INTERNATIONAL JETPORT,
 RLYTHEVILLE, ARKANSAS
 LATER THAT EVENING

The twin-engine Aerostar aircraft taxied quickly off the two-mile-long runway right up to the doors of Sky Masters Inc.’s main hangar. The pilot wheeled the light twin around so it was pointing back down the taxiway toward the runway, then shut down engines.