“Lear jets for a private company out of Phoenix,” she replied.

“Funny how all pilots seem to know one other,” remarked Preston. “Okay, Captain Mallory. Your escorts, Joe and David, are about three minutes out. They are going to escort you guys back to our airfield. We are loading up supplies here and will be back in about an hour. My hangar is off limits for the moment as we have a couple of guys trying to make some Chinese satellite phones work and they don’t want interference until they have sorted out the communication. The men you saw in that convoy on I-95 are not a threat anymore.”

At that moment, the two armored cars pulled up to the airport gate and stopped. Joe and David got out and came over to meet the newcomers.

“Captain, I’m planning to transfer your civilians to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro after you arrive at my place,” continued Preston. “They can use the empty housing there. There is lots of it due to so many troops being overseas and the Air Force has plenty of rations for them. Anybody who can fly a plane will stay at my airfield. Joe, David, get these interesting vehicles back to base. We sure could have used that fire engine this morning!” he laughed.

Preston and the soldiers stationed at the airport helped load Lady Dandy with over 100 boxes of food supplies. There were still dozens upon dozens of food and booze cases left after Lady Dandy headed out onto the runway with Barbara in the cockpit. They filled the Cargomaster with more boxes, and a dozen were placed in the rear seat of the 172. Then it was time to look at the few remaining aircraft. Preston took a quick look around. Anything worthwhile was too new or too small. They now needed aircraft to carry supplies, and an old 172 was not much good.

He headed for the Cargomaster. Six of the soldiers had gone with Lady Dandy, so he told the remaining six to get in with him and Pam.

His radio squawked into life as he came in for final approach at his airfield. The hangar door was being opened on Carlos’ orders while Carlos was on the radio desperately trying to reach General Allen.

Preston heard the other bases come online, and Jennifer reported that she was an hour out, arriving from Texas, and would land first at Preston’s field. He noticed the convoy pulling onto the dirt road and driving through the attack zone as he came in low from the southeast. He landed and parked close to Barbara and Pam, whom he had followed in. The 172 had landed first. Pam was a pretty good pilot for a flight attendant.

It was quite a sight once all the vehicles were parked in a line. It looked like they were waiting for Noah’s Ark to arrive; two rat patrol jeeps, two armored cars, two old SWAT team vehicles, one ambulance, the fire engine and odd-looking Studebaker police car at the end. On the other side were the three Mustangs and a plethora of working and nonworking aircraft. There were a lot of people getting out and looking around in amazement. It looked like Disney World.

“Welcome, Captain Mallory! Welcome to my Air Force,” Preston exclaimed, shaking the pilot’s hand.

“Preston, we need a meeting right now,” shouted Carlos as several of the aircraft radios started chattering at once. Preston went over to the Cargomaster and picked up the microphone.

“Preston, this is Buck… Preston, this is Buck… do you read?”

“You are very faint, Buck. I can just hear you,” replied Preston, with Carlos coming over to listen.

“I overheard Carlos’ message 20 minutes ago while I was in the air over the White Cliffs of Dover. I went back down and told Pete that Carlos was having a nervous breakdown and I suggested that we head straight back to you since it’s not very often Carlos gets a bee in his bonnet. Ghost Rider needs to be refueled and Baby Huey has a fresh tank, so Pete is on board with me. We are an hour and ten minutes out from your airfield and I have Baby Huey at maximum cruise. By the way, I‘m Alpha Fox-trotting around the world again, so be prepared. I told Alpha Foxtrot One that there could be a spare room in the house. If not, he’s happy staying at his ranch to the south. Over.”

“Roger that,” replied Preston. “Jennifer is also 55 minutes out, so keep a visual for her.”

“Will do,” replied Buck.

“What was that all about?” Captain Mallory asked. “And call me Mike—everybody else does.” Preston and Carlos both laughed. “New in-flight radio procedures, Mike, not approved by the FAA,” replied Carlos, shaking the captain’s hand. “We talk in a kind of code in case we are being listened to, and we know we are closely monitored. It is now against the law to fly with transponders because the enemy satellites pick them up. That goon-squad that passed you was coming here to take us out. Buck McKinnon, who was just on the radio, has an old Huey helicopter that we call Air Force One when the president is on board—yep, that’s right, the president. Ghost Rider is an AC-130 gunship that belongs to a friend of ours, General Pete Allen, who you will meet soon. Jennifer is Air Force Captain Watkins and she is bringing in a C-130 transporter.” “And the ‘White Cliffs of Dover,’ I assume, is Dover Air Force Base in Delaware,” added Preston. “Any aircraft built before 1980 still flies and General Allen is trying to bring all the older military aircraft together that he can. Most of the stuff is from the Vietnam era, but so far we have three F-4s, eight C-130s, and three helicopters. One of the 130s is a gunship and one or two are in-flight tankers, and we are growing by the day. We also have our own private civilian Air Force here. The P-38 is now fully equipped with air-to-ground rockets and/or 1,000 pound bombs, and the three Mustangs’ rocket additions will be finished tomorrow. The only piece of junk here is unfortunately the general’s private aircraft—the King Air 200—the rest are ready for action.”

“John,” laughed Mike. “It looks like our best flying days are still to come and from now on can I assume my call sign is Mike and he is John? What happens if we have more than one Mike or John?”

“Mike One and Mike Two, I guess. Shit, who cares!” laughed Preston. “Let’s help unload the aircraft and wait for our meeting. If I know my good buddy, Carlos, this is going to be a good one. I’ve never seen him so excited!” and he patted Carlos on the back. “I hear I owe you $500, you naughty boy!” Carlos grinned back but said nothing.

An hour later, Baby Huey came in directly from the north, turned in over the hangar, and came in to land from the south. Captain Jennifer Watkins had arrived five minutes earlier and the majority of the passengers from Captain Mallory’s convoy were getting ready to depart for Seymour Johnson.

This time, there was no honor guard as Baby Huey landed, but a lot more civilians were totally shocked to see the president. The general and Secret Service men exited the plane first and then the president. He shook as many hands as he could, especially the children’s hands. Little Beth gave him a kiss on the cheek and shyly introduced him to her new teenaged “big sister” and all her other friends from New York—especially the ones who also had a puppy like she did.

The president was then ushered into the hangar where Carlos and Lee had already set up a meeting room, and the hangar door was closed. All goodbyes and kisses and thanks had been shared with Mike Mallory, John, and Pam, who were staying behind while all the others from New York were about to be transferred to Seymour Johnson. The other remaining flight attendant was going along to look after the passengers. Jennifer started up and taxied out to the runway for take-off, as the growing team sat down for the next meeting. Martie was the last inside after hugging little Beth, who was also leaving for Seymour Johnson with her new sister, new friends and the retired teacher as her chaperones. It looked to Preston as if he had Martie to himself once again, and he smiled.