Staying low, he ran the short distance from the lifeboat to the helicopter, followed by Lincoln right behind him.
“Do we need an ignition key?” whispered Lincoln.
“Let’s hope not. It’s not military, and it’s turbine-powered, so probably not. It might have a key for the doors but those are probably unlocked right now because they’ve been working on it.”
Correct, they discovered when they tried the door. Rory gave Lincoln a boost up, since he was still limping, then climbed into the pilot’s seat and closed the door.
“Step one, complete,” said Lincoln. “You do know how to fly these, right?”
“Lucky for us, yes, I have training on helicopters. They’re very different from planes, but I’ve kept my rating current. In case you fired me, you know. Always good to have a backup plan.”
“At this rate, I’m never going to be able to fire you, even if I wanted to. I’ll be lucky if you don’t quit.” The sincerity in his usually distant boss’s voice made Rory smile. He actually kind of liked this version of Lincoln. It probably wouldn’t last, but he appreciated it.
Before pressing the ignition button, he quickly refamiliarized himself with the helicopter controls—the throttle, the collective pitch control, the anti-torque control, the cyclic pitch control.
“Can you tell if everything’s functional?” Lincoln asked nervously as he fastened himself into the copilot seat.
“Nope. But we’ll find out soon enough.” He turned a big grin on his boss. “You’re a risk-taker, right? Isn’t that why you’re investing in weird alternative forms of energy?”
Lincoln gave him a sharp look. “You’ve been eavesdropping on my meetings?”
“No. That’s just gossip. You’re not as super-secret as you think you are. I just can’t figure out what that crystal has to do with it.” He hovered his hand over the ignition button, waiting for some answer from Lincoln.
None came.
“Come on, man, we might be about to die. Can’t you answer one simple question?”
“A simple question, sure. That question, no. How about a different one?”
He’d take what he could get. “Why were we really going to Maui?”
“Since you know about my…med kit, I’ll tell you. I was going to the bunker. I wanted to secure the med kit and its contents.”
“But you said the bunker isn’t yours.”
As he watched Rory examine the controls, Lincoln explained. “I have an interest in it. It’s owned by a consortium of high-net-worth individuals and the plan is to build more. The Kerr family was invited to buy in. I was opposed, but my sister Maureen loves the idea. She tried everything to get me in.”
Rory had so many more questions, he didn’t know where to start. “So you gave in and joined the consortium?”
“Not the way my sister wanted. She’s still pissed. Since that’s lawsuit territory, I can’t say any more.”
“But you have access to it? And you were going to put the crystal there?”
“I needed to keep it safe.” He snapped his mouth shut, as if he was done explaining things.
Rory tried another question anyway. “Do you think Tanaka has a spy in your company?”
No answer.
“Is he behind everything that happened, or are there other companies after that crystal? Why is it such a hot property?”
“That’s a whole lot of questions, and we don’t have time right now.” Lincoln gestured at a mechanic emerging onto the deck. The man spotted them in the helicopter and started to run.
“Shit.” Ready or not, it was go time.
Rory pressed the ignition and the engine sparked to life. So far, so good. He opened the throttle, keeping an eye on the RPM gauge. When it reached the proper operating RPM, he gradually, carefully pulled up the collective. Left pedal. Damn, he’d nearly forgotten that part. These were not ideal conditions to reacquaint himself with takeoff procedure, especially when the mechanic was now running toward them and waving his arms.
Pressing the left pedal, he continued pulling up the collective until they felt the skids leave the ground. Time to use the cyclic. That leveled the aircraft out, and he pushed forward.
