Jasmine stepped into the tear just as Johnny finished cleaning up from the minor repairs he had done to the drive systems. He knew this craft better than anyone but the ones who made it for him.

Looking up from the final task, Johnny smiled at the girl. She seemed less brittle than she had been before. She was back in the pink sweats and canvas shoes. “I trust you had a good mission?”

“Yes.” She was still terse, but that was understandable. “My father will rest easy.” There was even just the merest hint of a smile on her face. That smile was not a warm one.

“I am sure you took care of what he needed done.”

Jasmine narrowed her eyes just a little bit, “Could you turn around? I want to look you in the eyes when I ask you what I want to.”

Johnny didn’t know what to think. Slowly, he swiveled the pilot chair around so He could look into her eyes. The cable at his wrist stretched and strained to keep him connected to the flight computers. “What do you want to know?” he said as he activated the displays that covered all of the surfaces of the cabin. As she watched the ship lift up and pass through the open roof hatch, Jasmine considered the question she was about to ask.

She looked deep into his eyes with her own brilliant blue ones. Neither of them was aware that their pupils dilated slightly. “After I finish the rest of the assignment in WSFZ, would you join me for some bourbon? I want someone who knew him, who isn’t also family, to have a sort of private memorial.”

Johnny gave an easy smile, “I would love to have a drink with you. And I would love to help you honor his memory!

“Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to make sure we get to our destination safely. I will look forward to that drink.” After saying this, Johnny turned back to face the console. Jasmine could feel a warmth in her cheeks that she was unused to.

Johnny could feel that something was ever so slightly odd. He mentally checked all of the readings from the computer and engines through the direct link he had to the computer. The link seemed even faster and clearer than usual. My maintenance work earlier must have fixed a problem that was not showing in the diagnostics. Johnny brought them up to a slightly higher speed. Jasmine, looking back, saw that the treetops were parted by the violence of their passing.

As they neared the Mississippi River, she noticed two specs in the distance that seemed to be getting slowly larger. She was about to ask about them when Johnny spoke. “We have some unwanted company. Make sure your belt is tight. I’m going to have to do some hard maneuvers. You may feel a bit thrown around for a bit.”

The Tear started to weave through the skies, still staying as close to the ground as possible. They scared many sleeping animals on the farms they passed over. A warning came up in the system, alerting Johnny to the targeting lasers that were attempting a target lock.

Jasmine was starting to feel like she knew what clothes went through in the dryer. The world was spinning around her as the craft dove and climbed, swerved and turned. Several times, they went into tight spirals as they gained and lost altitude.

“Our new friends are using jet fighters. I’m getting readings consistent with retrofitted F4 Phantoms. I see four of them, but they may have more waiting for us. They are faster than we, but not as maneuverable. I’m going to try something. I apologize for what this is going to do to your stomach.” As he was saying this, a pair of missiles launched from each fighter as they accelerated towards the Tear. Johnny brought the nose up sharply, and just as they became vertical, he took them into a barrel roll and leveled out. Now, they were now headed straight towards the pursuers. He triggered all countermeasures, and flares and chaff were projected in every direction.

Right after the flares and chaff, Jasmine saw eight missiles being launched from the tear. Each missile broke into multiple smaller projectiles that actively targeted all of the jets. The enemy missiles began hitting the flares. Half of them went up in successive blasts that did no damage to the tower. Two lost their lock and crashed into the trees below. One missile was hit by a series of slugs from a large, loud turreted GAU-8/A Avenger Autocannon that had dropped into place from the bottom of the front of the Tear. It was a very effective weapon, but it missed the last missile except for an indirect hit to the back half. As the remaining weapon wobbled into the airship, Jasmine just managed to see the jets begin to be peppered with the tiny missiles that Johnny had launched as the explosion hit. Half of the display along the left wall went dead, and the wall itself bulged into the cabin in a convex distortion.

Two of the jet pilots managed to bail out, and their parachutes could be seen drifting down.

“Bad news, Jasmine, we lost some important parts in the blast from the missile. We will be limping the rest of the way.”

Turning on the comms system, Johnny made a call to Jeremiah, “Sir, we are in a rough condition. I have the passenger, but we just took damage from a missile. I am shooting for a pitstop at the Mods. Is there any way we can get some form of transport when we get there?”

The reply was curt, “Understood. I’ll contact Rachel and Haans. Good landings.”

“Will we make it to our intended landing by three AM?” asked Jasmine.

“We should, but we may need to stop by and get some help from the Mods.”

“By the way,” Jasmine said with some concern, “Is that cable at your wrist important?”

Looking down, Johnny saw the cable that was his only way to directly link to the computers that they needed to fly the Black Tear. “What the!?” It must have snagged when they were fighting the jets. The cable was unplugged and looked to have developed a kink. He was at a loss for why the data from the flight computer was still streaming into his mind. He had no time to think about this weird situation as he fought to maintain a level flightpath while he got them back on track. He spent the rest of the flight wrestling with his craft. Jasmine did her best not to distract him.

As they were wobbling the last few miles, Johnny spoke up, “If Haans asks you, all four pilots blew up with the planes. Trust me, he will want them dead.”

The landing at the Yadkinville settlement was rough. They ended up skidding to a stop on a gravel area, and half of the landing gear failed to deploy.

By the time the hatch was open, a middle-aged man with thick glasses and a full beard and mustache was walking towards the damaged ship, shaking his head in horror. He was only five feet tall, but had the presence of a much larger man.

“What have you done to my precious baby?!?!” he said with tears in his eyes. 

Stepping out of the tilted hatch, Jasmine and Johnny looked around. Johnny was the first to speak, “Sorry Haans, four F4’s came after us somewhere around the Tennessee border. They got a lucky shot on us, and I had to limp the rest of the way here. I still have to get this lady to WSFZ as soon as I can!”

Haans just continued to shake his head. “She isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. That lucky shot was pretty unlucky for you. She needs a rebuild.”

Rachel stepped up as the pilot, and his passenger was starting to panic. “We have an old hover tank you can use. Haans has been fixing it up. The armor is impressive, as is the main gun. Between you, Sam, and the young lady, you should have enough hands to do what you need to. Jeremiah told me you guys hit some trouble and he needs her there.”

“What do you mean about ‘enough hands’? Don’t tell me it has no flight computer!”

“Why would a tank need a flight computer? I have a targeting computer and a nav computer, as well as a systems computer, but they are not much,” replied Haans.

Sam walked over and inspected the blackened wreck of the left side of the beautiful craft. “I’ll do what I can to help!” he offered.

The old, rusty tank made a low rumble as it slid to a stop a short distance from the abused Tear with a lurch. One of the Mods got out of the driver’s hatch and wiped sweat off his brow. Haans came over and, with a distrustful look and gave Johnny the rundown of how to control the tank. He took a bit of time explaining the targeting systems as much as he could before they all loaded into the behemoth.

When Johnny started thinking about the nav and targeting computers, his mind began to fill with data and images, almost like when he was in the Black Tear just now, even though the cable had been disconnected. On instinct, he tried telling the targeting system to rotate the turret, and the turret rotated exactly as much as he told it to. He reached out to the nav system, and it responded just as the turret had. He suspected he knew what had happened. He had just become a Mod without even knowing it.

Sam cleared his throat in the back. “So, Johnny, why is the targeting console lit up like a Christmas tree even though I am locked out? Also, care to introduce your friend?” he said as he glanced at Jasmine.

“Johnny seems distracted. I am Jasmine. You must be the Sam my father told me of. It is very nice to meet you.” She said as she buckled the safety belt at her station with the systems control console. “I also cannot make any adjustments to my console.”

“Grey was your father? I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you. My father was impressed with your skills. How did you alter the DNA evidence from your ‘jobs’?”

“Simple, this skin on my body is a cancer. I inject some genetic material from a ‘donor’. It replicates the sample in a short time so that DNA evidence tests as the ‘donor’s’ DNA. It’s not foolproof, but law enforcement has no way to identify me by the crime scene DNA.”

She scrunched up her face a little bit in puzzlement, “How is your skin a cancer? Wouldn’t that kill you?”

“I don’t want this to be common knowledge, but this is a synthetic body. My real body is being regrown.”

“I see. This must be why you still work for Thornsbury, even though you know he may be manipulating you. I’ll ask the Oyabun if he would like to help you obtain your body. That way, you would not be at his mercy. That man is not known for his mercy.” 

“Be that as it may, Jeremiah asked me to help during the rest of your mission. Do you have anything that you can have me do to help out?”

Yes. Go to the nearest legal storage lot to the WSFZ and find the shipping container marked 1342-1812-2319. If you see anything odd happen at or around the container or anyone enter or leave the container, investigate the interior and message me about what you find. I’ll give you an earpiece so we can communicate when we get to my stop.”  

Any further efforts to communicate were drowned out by the sound of the blowers that lifted and moved the tank. Soon, it was moving at top speed towards the Old Town suburbs of Winson-Salem. Every once in a while, they could hear something being crushed by the unsubtle behemoth as it made its best speed.

Somebody tried to impede them only once in their trip. Seemingly on its own, the turret rotated toward the spattering of bullets, failing to penetrate the armor on the right side. The main cannon launched four blasts. They did not slow down, but Johnny did have to move them back on course after the cannon’s recoil sent them to the left. Their attackers did not try again. Soon, they reached the city limits. Jasmine gave Sam an earpiece before he left the tank to go find the container.

The rest of the trip to Old Town was uneventful.