The long grass sways gently in the breeze between the long row of hangars and tarmac of the quiet suburban airport. It’s mid morning in late summer and Don has parked in the lengthening shade in front of hangar #14. A faded for sale sign hangs on the small door built into the larger folding door of each hangar down the row.
Don checks his watch and looks up at the cloudless east Texas sky watching a hawk of some sort slowly circling high above.
The hiss of wheels on pavement slowly grows and Don takes a look in the mirror and sees a white van rolling up the taxiway towards where he’s parked.
A quick look in the rear view to straighten his tie and check his hair then he steps out of the car grinning and raising a hand to the approaching vehicle.
“Hi! Looks like you found us okay? Gate code worked for you I see.”
A man steps out of the passenger seat neatly dressed in a sport coat, jeans and a dress shirt and approaches Don, reaching out to shake the offered hand. “Hello. Yes, thank you. You must be Don from Prairie Star Real Estate? I’m Peter Rendell, this is our survey team. There just here to take some pictures.”
“Yes, yes, nice to put a face with the name. Here, let me open her up so you can all look around.” He pulls several sets of keys from his jacket pocket and opens the door, passing the keys for the other hangars over.
Two men and a woman dressed in jeans and polo shirts smile at Don and go about taking measurements and photographs of the buildings with their phones while Peter turns to Don. “Thanks for meeting us. It’s great that you had so much space available for us. But it looks like you have a lot more?”
“Yeah.” says Don sighing. “Since PetroChem cleared out this whole section has been vacant. Two years now. You let me know if you need more space, plenty of room for you to spread out.”
The large folding door of one of the hangars begins to groan and slowly lift into the air, opening the dark cavernous space to the warm summer breeze. Peter looks at it and nods. “These four should do the trick. Thank you again for meeting us. Sebring Aviation looks forward to being a member of this community. We really do appreciate your time Don.”
“No, thank you, feel free to give me a call if anything comes up. Utilities were out yesterday so everything should be hot for you.” They shake hands again and Peter turns, pulling out his phone.
Don walks back to his car, he takes a moment to wipe his forehead after getting in. “Thank god.” he mutters to himself. “This’ll keep us going for a while.” he starts the car and drives off.
Peter watches the real estate agent turn past the end of the hangars and he glances up in the sky. “Are we good?” he calls out. The hawk screeches back in response. It spirals down and lands at the peak of one of the hangar roofs. Peter calls out to the team, “Okay, spread out and secure the perimeter. I want psi scans up and running.”
The team members jog back to the van and pull open the rear door. The hawk leaps from the roof toward the ground and with a screech and a flutter transforms into a slim asian woman wearing a black bodysuit, the last of her feathers transforming into hair as she runs her fingers over them.
The survey team have pulled bags with electronic gear out and have slung them over their shoulders. A pair of goggles attach to the bag along with a hand held wand, like a flashlight. They begin moving through the area carefully scanning around them.
Peter shakes a simple iron band down onto his wrist and raises his hand to his mouth. “Control, 11083. Objective Secure.” and listens briefly to unheard voices. “Understood.”
“FOB team is inbound. Call out anything you see moving without a beacon.” He calls out as he walks back to the van. He pulls out a long staff made of dark wood. It is intricately carved with leaves, waves and flames. “Did you have a nice flight Jinny?” he asks smiling. She nods and finishes drinking a bottle of water.
“Hot, flat as a pancake.” she continues with a second bottle of water. Peter pulls a piece of chalk and string from his pocket and begins drawing large circles interconnected on the gray pavement.
The low throb of beating helicopter blades grows in the distance as Peter steps into the center of the drawn circles. He holds the staff aloft and calls into the sky. “BY THE POWER OF AIR I BIND THIS PLACE! BY THE POWER OF WATER I BIND THIS PLACE! BY THE POWER OF FIRE I BIND THIS PLACE! BY THE POWER OF EARTH I BIND THIS PLACE! MAY NO SOUL OF DARKNESS ENTER THIS PLACE WITHOUT MY NOTICE! I BIND THIS PLACE TO THE POWER OF LIGHT!” A crack of thunder peals across the sky and a hot wind blasts across the tarmac. It diminishes as Peter walks back to the van and casually tosses the staff back inside.
A radio crackles to life on the dash. “East Texas Regional Traffic, Bell 525Romeo is entering the pattern 36 downwind, landing west of 36 midfield, flight of 4”
“Ground team is entering North!” calls out one of the surveyors. A white pickup truck with wide load signs and flags turns around the end of the hangars and the last of the large hangar doors roll open.
4 large semis with over sized structures built onto their beds follow the pilot vehicle up the aisle and begin carefully backing their payloads into the hangars.
Radios are chattering as more and more personnel and vehicles arrive. 4 large helicopters land and disgorge teams of armed soldiers. They quickly spread out securing positions around the airfield digging in trenches and setting up cover positions on rooftops.
Vehicles continue to roll up disgorging technicians that quickly swarm over the truck payloads, the semi cabs rolling off, their loads deposited. The workers begin pulling cables and setting up antenna.
Walls of displays and rows of workstations spring up as communications and surveillance systems are brought online. Two men with shaved heads wearing saffron robes walk together swinging brass censers that ooze wafts of thick sweet smoke chanting quietly as they pass a team setting up a complex radar guided anti aircraft missile system.
The sea of people breaks into groups and work quietly, calling out in practiced steps as they move through a familiar operation of bringing the facility online.
Vehicles continue to come and go in a parade of equipment and personnel. Peter walks around the site talking to the workers, asking and answering questions. He looks up as a sleek private jet taxis into the now bustling forward operating base.
He smooths his shirt and straightens his tie as he approaches and the door swings down from the fuselage.
An older man, with a touch of jowel and paunch steps down from the stairs, clutching a cane. Peter offers him a hand as he steps onto the tarmac, and he nods appreciatively. Curls of short ginger hair twist in the breeze of the older mans head as a helicopter departs and the man reaches up, stroking his ginger goatee as he looks over the operation.
“Good morning Peter. It looks like you have things well underway already this morning.” he smiles warmly and Peter stiffens and bows slightly.
“Good morning Doctor Palmer. I wasn’t expecting you?”
“No, no. The situation itself doesn’t warrant a visit, but that’s not why I’m here. No this doesn’t call for anything more than a regional director, I’m sure you have it well in hand”
“No sir. PsiWatch detected a C7 event, with no other reported associated activity it’s just recon and observation for now.
Doctor Palmer waves Peter to follow him and starts walking toward the operations center. “I understand you’re putting your new team into play for this one. I wanted to get a closer look at them.”
“Yes sir, of course. They are enroute and should be here soon.”
“Wonderful! I look forward to meeting them.”
Welcome to the world of Phantom Incorporated.
As the forces of darkness make intrusions into the mundane world the very special agents of Phantom Incorporated are there to push them back.
This story will revolve around your very mundane character discovering the veiled world of magic and your own hidden powers. You will find yourself caught up in a sinister plot to unleash hell on earth.
If you survive perhaps Phantom Incorporated will recruit you and provide training to harness your new found abilities.
Hosted and narrated by:
Alan S (csaw)
Started 04/04/20.
Scenes played: 1
License: Community License
