Track of the Beast: A Brock Stone Adventure

But she knew what it was. She had gathered enough stories to be something of an expert. Dizzy with disbelief, she shrugged off her backpack and dug inside, searching for her camera. She should have had it at the ready, but the skeptic in her had quashed the idea.

And then the foul stench was gone. All was silent.

Trinity stood there, arm buried in her backpack, eyes searching the surrounding. Nothing moved. There was no sound but her ragged breathing. She took a few moments to let her heart rate return to something approaching normal.

“Foolishness,” she scolded herself. “A wild animal passed somewhere close by and your imagination turned it into something else.”

Just then, the foliage in front of her parted.

Trinity screamed.

8- The Dogfight

“What do you call this thing again?” Stone looked down at the strange suit he now wore. It was a set of coveralls made from a thin fabric that Alex assured him was exceptionally strong. Beneath each arm was a winglike membrane of the same fabric.

“I call it a soaring suit,” Alex said from the pilot’s seat. “Moses doesn’t like the name.”

“Neither do I,” Stone said. “How do we know it will support my weight?”

“The suit we’ve tried out,” Alex said. “Moses has flown in it and he weighs almost as much as you.”

“It was almost like really being able to fly,” Moses said. “Better than any parachute, that’s for sure.”

“It’s the boots that haven’t been flight tested,” Alex continued. “But we fired them up in the lab and they didn’t explode.”

“That’s comforting.” Stone cast a nervous glance at the heavy boots he wore. They were high, with thick soles. A tube ran from the back of each up to the canister he wore on his back. In his right hand he held a cylinder with a button on the end that would activate the boots.

“I recommend firing the burners in short bursts to conserve fuel,” Alex said. “You should have enough for about five minutes.”

“What happens when I run out?”

“You sail on down to the ground,” Moses said. “Just make sure you deal with that biplane before you do. Otherwise, it’s gonna be open season.”

“Thanks for that,” Stone said.

“Speaking of the biplane, we’re almost out of the clouds,” Alex said. “If you want the element of surprise, you’d better get a move on.”

“This had better work.”

“Relax,” Alex said. “I designed it, so you know it’ll run smoothly.”

“Like eggs in coffee,” Moses added.

“This is remarkable,” Constance said. “Like something out of Jules Verne.”

“It’s not that advance,” Alex said, his cheeks turning pink. “It’s based on work being done by several European inventors and scientists.”

“Alex figures out the science. I just help him make it run,” Moses said.

“You are both far too humble,” Constance said. “I am amazed at what you have done with the plane, the suit, and whatever you call these things.”

“Rocketboots,” Moses said.

Constance nodded and turned to Stone. “Be careful.”

Stone pulled on his goggles and grinned. “I don’t think that’s possible, considering what I’m about to do. But I’ll give it my best shot.”

Alex opened the hatch again and Stone climbed down the few rungs, holding on with all his might. The icy wind bit through him, and the cold moisture made it difficult to hold on. He was surrounded by impenetrable white mist.

Stone concentrated on his sharp sense of hearing. He mentally separated the rush of the wind from the roar of the Flying Wing’s engines. Then he picked out the higher-pitched drone of the Albatross. He focused on the sound until he was certain of its location. He locked in on the spot and opened his eyes.

The sky was brighter, the air growing warmer. They were leaving cloud cover. Stone tensed to spring. They broke out into open sky. Stone focused on the cloud bank until he saw the fighter plane’s silhouette appear.

And then he jumped.

He fanned his arms out and felt a sudden upward thrust as air filled the wings of the soaring suit. He really disliked that name. The biplane was emerging from the clouds and Stone angled toward it.

The pilot didn’t see him coming until Stone was nearly on top of him. Instinctively he opened fire. Stone gritted his teeth expecting a sharp burst of pain and certain death. But the pilot had no time to change his course and the rounds came nowhere close to the man in the flying suit. Unfortunately, Stone had aimed too high and he shot past the biplane. The pilot looked up as Stone passed him by.

Cursing, Stone adjusted the suit and began a long, slow turn. As he came about, he looked up to see that the biplane had maintained its course and was closing in on the Flying Wing. Alex was taking evasive action, but the transport lacked the speed and agility of the smaller plane. It was all up to Stone.

He completed his turn and locked in on the fighter. His heart skipped a beat as his thumb found the button that would ignite his rocketboots.