"Just yourself?" The young crewman asks me.
"Yes, this is an emergency, no time to arrange a guard for me. You are going close to where I need to go." I shout over the engine noise of the plane as I climb the cargo ramp into the aircraft.
"Ma'am, the spare seat in the cockpit has been set aside for you. The Colonel was quite aggrivated when we told him he had to sit with his men." I nodded at what the airman was telling me. Rank afforded certain privileges, and he was being told he couldn't use his. I noticed the bird on the chest of a man sitting along one of the walls, the look on his face told me that this is the colonel I was just told about.
The grey pencil skirt I am wearing would make this particular flight decidedly uncomfortable if I stayed in the cargo hold with this man's soldiers. Although there were several females present, I would only end up being able to sit in compromising locations. I walked up the narrow stairs to the cockpit, and sat in the extra seat, then placed the headphones on.
"Welcome aboard, Ambassador." The pilot in the right seat turns to look at me. "We were asked to wait for you, I thought it would be a bit longer, we just completed our checks; are we good to close the ramp."
"There should be no one aside from myself, your crew, and the soldiers you were told about before you were asked to wait for me."
He nodded, turned forward, and I heard him give instructions to secure the aircraft. On my way here, I reviewed the flight plan I was given, this leg will be a four hour flight, where everyone would normally have gotten off, and waited a week at the end of this leg, then got onto a commercial airliner for the rest,of the trip. Because of my status, as well as a few things the US government figured out about me in World War II, these guys are jumping the line, and wont be getting off the tarmac.
We landed at the stopover point twenty minutes ahead of schedule, and the pilots were instructed to keep the aircraft secured, and shut down their engines on one of the taxiways.
"Why arent the doors opening, if the engines are off?"
The Colonel had come up to ask.
"It's because I am here. You might want to be careful what other questions you ask, I am getting your men home a week earlier than anticipated, but if you ask too many questions you will spend the next month in confinement, along with all of your men, awaiting investigation outcomes."
"Ma'am, I understand you're an ambassador, but what authority do you have to get my soldiers home faster?"
"The answer to that is both long, and would result in you needing to raise your clearance a few levels. Just take this as a win for yourself." I told him the truth. He nodded, seeming to understand, or rather misunderstand, my intentions.
The airliner was towed alongside our plane, and a covered walkway was made between the two planes. Once that was done, the soldiers were told to leave their gear, and walk through the walkway to the other plane. I put myself in their midst, pointedly between a female Captain, and a female specialist.
"Stewardess, these two are with me." I said pointing at the two of them.
"Understood, ma'am. Would you three follow me." She turned to the Steward, "I'll escort the VIP, and return." The man nodded, and continued to direct people toward different seats.
The two strangers and I were escorted forward, and we're directed to an enclosed room. "This is the Stewardess' cabin, we have already been told to give you access to this room. Don't worry about inconveniencing us, there are four of these total, and this one is for your exclusive use on this flight."
"Thank you. Would you mind bringing us some soft drinks once we are in the air?"
"I will do so personally, Ma'am.".
Once the stewardess left the room, I faced the two women with me. "I must apologize for pulling you with me, but I find long flights like this boring without conversation partners. Due to my position, I can't give you a name to refer to me by, so please just refer to me as 'Ambassador'."
"Ma'am, I am Captain Erica Messing." The light skinned, dark haired woman said to me, she then looked over to the young specialist and elbowed her.
"Ah! I am Specalist Samantha Reed." The green eyed blonde stated nervously, seeming to realize the situation was well over her head.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
"Go ahead and take off the armor, you arent going to need it from here on."
They comply, and set the heavy Kevlar equipment under two of the seats in the small room. Reed goes to open the window, and Captain Messing stops her.
"What?"
"Specalist, you are still inexperienced, so I'll come out and tell you. There is a lot of unusual things about this flight, and you are most likely in the room with the reason why. It's not recomended to open the windows."
"That's correct. You two will be ordered to attend a seperate debriefing when we get to Fort Drum, and both of you will go through a few security investigations because you have met me."
Miss Reed looks at me, "So the covered walkway was because of you?"
"Yes, as was stopping on the tarmac, as well as the immediate takeoff, instead of you staying here for a few days." I sit down in one of the seats. "An emergency came up, and I have to go stateside. I have been in deep-cover for so long that there are only a few people who know my actual purpose." I look the two in the eyes and continue. "You two may be asked to accompany me further on what I am doing, without being allowed leave. It will be stated in a way to make you feel as though you are being ordered; and it will come from a man you are trained to obey. I want you both to seriously think about it, and remember that you can not be ordered to follow me. And if the request is made, and you truly wish to do it: demand both a promotion, and clearance to know what you are getting into."
"Why would we be asked to follow you?" Messing asked.
"When you see who does the asking, you will understand. If I were you, Specalist, I would ask for a Warrant officer rank, to protect yourself in the future." Reed nodded as I finished what I had to say. "So, enough of the serious talk. I havent had a decent conversation in years...." I led the conversation away from the serious topic, and we spent the rest of theflight enjoying ourselves. As we landed in Ft. Drum, the Stewardess came to get us.
"The pilot recieved instructions that you, and those with you are to be let off the plane as soon as the car arrives, you two are to leave your gear here, and go with the Ambassador. Your belongings will be collected by the MPs once we stop." I nod, as I expected this.
We get led to the stairs, and are let off the plane, with the door closing back behind us. I let the two of them into the limousine first, as I already know who is in the car. I sit down, and look at the two of them, both pale-faced. I then turn to face the third person in the car, as Bertha begins to move.
"Mr. President, thanks for your assistance in my return."
"Ambassador, thanks for the Intel you have been sending us. I am guessing you are needing some of your accrued leave time?"
"Yes, this is a bit of a personal issue."
"I am guessing these two know the real you?"
"No, sir. I am unaware of wether or not they have been vetted, so they only know my codename."
"We've already vetted them, they are now yours."
"I told them it was their choice."
"Ma'am," Specalist Reed interrupted. "I accept whatever position I am needed in, but as you also stated, my current rank does't protect me if I am questioned."
"What about your leave time, you've earned it." Captain Messing asks her.
"I feel as though this is more important, also, what am I going to do with a month of redeployment leave? I was a ward of the state, I have nowhere to go to."
"Well, when you put it like that, I'm in too, but I agree, we're getting into something pretty deep if we are getting a personal briefing from the President."
"That settles it. Ambassador, can you wait until nine hundred tomorrow to leave the area? I'd like to have your guards in appropriate uniforms."
"They are going to need three full dress uniforms for daily use."
"Done. As for you two, from this moment on, you are CW5's. Its the most I can do without briefing Congress. Also, as of this moment, your clearences are raised to Alpha one. Anything you hear around Ambassador, including her real name, you may not divulge to anyone, not even me. There is no challenge or password that can ever be used to over ride this. Understood?"
"Yes Sir!" They both spoke quickly.
"Since that is out of the way, our founder has been found." I told the President. "I am going to go meet with them. It's been around three hundred years since the last time they were seen by one of us."
"Can I expect any hostility from this?" He asks obviously concerned.
"No. Think of this as all of us going home for a holiday. This person has some deep regrets, all of us do, but theirs runs very deep. Despite all that has happened, we still love and respect them as a parent."
"Ambassador, I know that you have been around a lot longer than some believe, is this meeting something that is that rare?"
I leaned forward in my seat. "Around two thousand years ago, a figure in history was born, holidays and calanders were rearranged to celebrate this person. Our last meeting was two thousand years before that."
"Ma'am, are you saying you're immortal?" Messing asked me.
"Yes, I am six thousand three hundred fourty-two years young. And I am the youngest in the family of Trammels. A surname that should never leave your mouths."
"Ma'am," Reed started "The Blossoms of Orange Continue."
"Their Nectar becomes the Sweetest Mead." I respond out of habit. "Wait, when did you join the society?"
She pulls he dog tags out of her uniform, and shows me a worn out Elder's emblem. "I am not a member, my grandmother was, she passed away when I was ten. I wasnt taught anything aside from those two phrases, and that name."
"Mr. President, I will need to ask that you never repeat that."
"I know what is at stake, I have also seen the video of you laughing in 1949."
"Why did you have to remind me of that?"
"What happened in 1949?" Messing asked.
"I was an army nurse, at Pearl Harbor. I was found out, and sentanced to death by firing squad. It took them a while to get around to it, but they filmed it, when they ran out of ammunition, I started laughing at them. The film was buried, only being shown to the current president when I needed to breif them on something. Eisenhour was fun." Although the last few didn't believe what they saw. Their loss.