The Lady's Courage

 This is the first piece of a story about a man named Glenn and his family running to stars, to save their lives.   In the end, when there is nothing left to lose, would you follow Glenn?

Glenn grabbed his wife Cassie by the hand and pulled, hard.  Cassie yanked back and gave Glenn a scowl.  One that he had learned to avoid.  Today, though was not a day to avoid an angry glance.  Today was a day to run. 

Glenn knew that’s what Cassie, their two teenage daughters and he had to do.  Run as fast and as far as they possibly could. 

              Glenn tugged again and pointed to the back door of their house.  He pressed his finger over his lips and motioned with his head that it was time to leave.  Glenn heard his youngest daughter whimper as Cassie in turn tugged on their eldest daughter’s hand who had tugged on their youngest daughter.

Cassie glared at their youngest mimicking Glenn’s expression.  She pressed her index finger to her lips, her brown eyes widening for emphases.  The look was meant to turn people to stone, Glenn had seen it work many times. 

Glenn glanced at the front door where a heavy-handed knock boomed again.   “San Antonio Police.  Open the door.”  A voice bellowed from behind the door.

The house was dark, but they all knew their way around the heirloom kitchen table and to the door that lead out to the garage.  They tiptoed out the door and Glenn motioned frantically toward the wheeled vehicle, still not brave enough to speak aloud.  The four of them piled into the rusty car.  Glenn cringed as the large garage door rattled open and exposed the family vehicle to the cool dark outside. 

Glenn sat in the driver seat and pressed the ignition button.  Half of the gauges lit up and pleasant chime indicated that it was ready to operate.  Glenn jammed the shift lever into reverse and stood on the gas pedal pegging it to the floor.  The tires screeched as they pulled out of the driveway and onto the street in front of their house.  He shoved the shifter into drive and pushed his foot to the floor.    

“There are four of them at the door.”  Cassie said.  “She’s there too.”

Glenn only nodded as he watched his home disappear in the rearview mirror.  All the memories that they had created as a family.  Their clothes and belongings all still in their drawers and closets.  Even Apples, the family dog, was left behind tucked in his crate upstairs. 

Their youngest daughter whimpered again in the back seat and the eldest daughter began to join in.  

“It’s gonna be ok.  We all have our bags in the trunk.  We’ve been planning for this.  It was only a matter of time until they came after us.”  Glenn said to whoever would listen.

“It was only a matter of time, but I wish that we had a little more time.”  Cassie said.

Glenn grabbed his wife’s hand and gave it two squeezes.  “It’s gonna be ok.”  Glenn said again, this time mostly to himself.

Glenn and his wife Cassie sat in the front, with their two daughters Kimberly and Corinna sitting behind them.  Glenn checked his rearview mirror and breathed a sigh of relief.  He let off the throttle and let the vehicle coast to a more manageable speed.  They weren’t going far, but it wouldn’t take long for the woman that came to their door, to figure out where they were headed.

The Tipton family pulled up to the private entrance to the airport.  Glenn keyed his pin code into the keypad and the chain link gate rolled open letting them drive into the row of private hangers that were congregated on one side of the airport.

Glenn parked outside of the walk-in door to the hanger and sucked in a long breath.  “Ok.”  He said.  “They’ll be here next looking for us, so we need to make this quick.  Grab your bags and go straight in.  Buckle up and wait for me.  I’ll be there as soon as I finish the pre-flight.”  Glenn said.

Cassie gave Glenn a reassuring smile and said to the back seats. “Ok girls, lets hurry.” 

The three women in Glenn’s life grabbed the only belongings they had left and rushed for the lowered ladder protruding from underneath the aircraft like a giant tongue.  Glenn made straight for the wings of the ship.  He ran his hand along the leading edge of the wing and walked the entire circumference of the craft.  He forced himself to slow down and pay attention to the details.  Noting every imperfection.

He ran his hand over every rivet on the underbelly and along the wing.  Like his instructor always told him.  “There is no substitute for feeling her up yourself.”  Glenn shook his head.  His instructor was one crass old man. The name of his spacecraft was stenciled in red cursive on the white painted fuselage.  “The Lady’s Courage.”  The name still made him smile.  Cassie refused to fly with him when he had first made the rather large purchase.  Glenn had chosen the name to tease his wife, but he was now amazed at the courage she had shown.  They were leaving everything that they had ever known behind, probably forever.  This would also be Cassie first flight in the Lady’s Courage.  Coincidently it would also be her first flight out of Earth’s atmosphere.

Glenn pulled the chocks from around the wheels, slapped the opener for the giant hanger doors and bounded up the ship’s stairs.  Glenn plopped into the pilot’s seat and began quickly running through the checklist assuring himself that all the complex systems were functioning as they were supposed to.

“Lady, let's start going through the free flight checklists.”  Glenn said.

       A woman's voice came through the cockpit speakers.

“OK Glenn.  Beginning the preflight checklists.”  The ship’s AI said.

“Glenn.  Put your seatbelt on.”  Cassie said.

Glenn looked up from his pad and smiled at his wife and nodded.  “As soon as I get through this.”

“Daddy look!”  Their youngest daughter said. 

               Glenn followed his daughter’s finger out of the front windshield and saw through the open hanger door. A car was parking directly in the path of the Lady’s Courage.  Three men and a woman step out of the car and headed toward them with weapons raised. 

“Ah damn.  It’s her.”  Glenn mumbled.  “Screw the checklist”

Glenn reached over and flipped the row of switches that powered up the large engines.  A feint whistle then whine sounded in the cockpit as they came to life.   

“All engines green, Glenn.”  The woman's voice said.

“Thanks Lady.”  Glenn said. He gently eased the levers forward making the Lady’s Courage roll toward the freedom of the outdoors. 

Glenn could see the shorter woman standing just below the nose is the spacecraft, her mouth moving. Anything she was trying to say was drowned out by the now deafening whine. He knew who the woman was.  Agent Emilia Santos worked for UNPOL.  He saw her raise her issued weapon and point it at the front windshield.  Cassie jumped at the sound of bullets hitting the reinforced glass.  To Glenn’s relief, the glass didn’t show so much as a scratch.

Cassie grabbed her husband’s arm and said. “Glenn put on your seatbelt.”

Glenn ignored his wife as he maneuvered the large craft around the car and the people jumping out of the way. The Lady’s Courage rolled out to the asphalt taxiway that wound around the hangers and would put them at the end of the runway.  Glenn fit his headset over his ears and asked for clearance from the tower to take off, nothing. 

The Lady’s Courage rolled around the buildings and came to a stop at the end of the runway.  Glenn keyed his comm again.  “Control, this is the Lady’s Courage.  Requesting clearance for takeoff.”

Finally, a voice came over the headset.  It was a female voice, Glenn recognized it all too well. 

“Glenn, this is Agent Santos.  Bring your craft to a stop and let us board.  Do what’s best for your family.  You know that there is no other scenario where this can end well.”

Glenn keyed his comm and said.  “I am doing what is best for my family, agent Santos.”

He pulled the spacecraft to the end of the runway, the sharp nose pointing down the dotted stripe.

“How is putting your family in danger the best thing for them?  Do you know what you are about to put your family through?  Do they know?  Do they know all the ways they can die up there?  Everything up there is trying to kill you.  There is no safety.  There is no rest.  Come with me and I’ll take care of you and your family.  What does Cassie think?”

“Glenn I’m authorized to take whatever steps I need to, to bring you into custody.  Power down your engines and we can all go home safe.”  Agent Santos said.

Glenn chuckled.  “We both know, that is a lie.  I would rather live the life that I would live, than be forced into safety like some child.  Only children and prisoners are taken care of.  I am neither.”

He could hear the frustration in Agent Santos’ voice, even through the radio.  “In the name of Intelligence, power down your engines!”  Agent Santos said.

Glenn looked to his wife beside him and his two daughters that sat behind him.  He sucked in a large breath and said aloud.  “Hold on.”

Glenn jammed the throttle all the way forward.  The whine from the engines morphed to an angry roar.  The Lady’s Courage rolled down the strip of asphalt runway picking up speed and finally lifting off.   The craft continued to accelerate as it gradually climbed.  Glenn let it gain a bit more altitude then eased the controls back and pointed the nose straight up, into the dark blue sky.