The four were standing beside the Skimmer in the parking lot. The open area that Kurt and Elena had cleared off earlier was wet from water running in rivulets from the quickly warming drifts.
Isabelle was holding her GPS unit. She pushed a
series of numbers on the screen. Immediately the cross
hairs picked out Fallingwater. She reached in a pocket on her sleeve and pulled out a thin, silver colored card and depressed the edge with her thumb. Instantly a window appeared exposing a keypad, which she tapped and instantly heard a voice.
“Chief, it’s Magnus. Glad your safe and coming in. I see your location. Can I come down?”
“Yes, come get us. We have them,” Isabelle answered.
“That’s good. We came down early this morning and have been hovering, so my ETA should be just shy of five minutes. Will that work for you?” he asked.
“It will. There are four of us. Is that a problem?”
“No, we’re good.”
“Zoom in on Fallingwater,” she said.
“Done.”
Isabelle watched the creen and said, “About two hundred yards up from the house, you should see an open area where a Skimmer is located.”
“I see it.”
“We cleared space beside the Skimmer so land there. We’re ready as soon as you land,” she said.
“You having any problem with the crew, Captain?” Magnus asked.
“No, they have been neutralized. I’ll fill you in later,” Isabelle responded.
“By the way, the Boss has a question,” Magnus said.
“Do you have the material?”
“I do. Our sources gave it to me last night. It’s secured on my person.”
“Great job, I’ll have that sent back to Paris immediately. Okay, we’ll see you shortly. Glad you’re coming in.
You should be back in Paris in ten hours with a stop in London, as ordered.”
“Roger,” Isabelle said and closed the unit.
They silently awaited their departure. Kurt looked around this familiar location. His life seemed to be replaying as he stood in the brilliant sun in this tranquil setting. So much had changed in his life. Where once he wavered about leaving, he now was sure this was the right move, especially with Elizabeth Morgan at his side. This woman, in such a short time, had become a powerful influence in his life. Why had he stopped at that particular farm on his journey? Never much a believer in fate, he certainly couldn’t rationalize that move. Her mind, persona, attitude, gentle but forceful way, intrigued and then captivated him. They seem to blend in so many ways and he knew for certain he didn’t want it to end. He knew that she was a sudden, but important new factor in his life. Whatever he did, he wanted her to be with him. Kurt knew that this was a critical time in his life.
Above them he heard the craft coming in from the direction of the river.
It came in fast and stopped right over them. It took another minute for it to land in the center of the cleared area.
As soon as it settled, the side door opened and a small, narrow shouldered man in a blue UN uniform stepped down a ladder as it hovered a few feet off the ground.
“Right on time, Captain,” he offered.
“No time to waste, Magnus,” Isabelle said turning to her three companions. “All aboard, our next stop is a mid-flight rendezvous.”
Kurt looked around at the trees, bushes, and fading colors around Fallingwater. He might never be here again.
The pilot walked around the perimeter of the landing area, checking the craft as it remained hovering in place.
Elizabeth and Elena were the first on board and Kurt followed up the three steps into the craft. Isabelle climbed in behind him into the oblong shaped cabin and took her seat behind the pilot’s deck. The pilot looked around the landing spot and came up the steps, slamming shut the door. They all tightened their seat belts and the pilot asked Isabelle if he could leave. She looked over at Kurt and Elizabeth who were across the aisle. They were looking out the port windows to the trail that led to Fallingwater.
“Take it up, Magnus and then hover over Fallingwater,” hold for a minute. let them take a last look. This place is important to them,” she said.
She glanced over at Kurt and Elizabeth who probably had no idea how critical their work had been. They were smiling at the sight below.
“Thanks for circling over. It’s gorgeous, Isabelle,” Kurt shouted as he looked below. “This is the way I will remember Fallingwater, proud and beautiful. Elizabeth took some video, so we’re okay about leaving,” he said.
Then he looked down to the roof top below and said, “It’s all in their hands now to make this great land what they want it to be. For me, it’s a whole new ballgame, as my dad would always say when change was an
absolute.”
“You’re right,” Elizabeth said turning toward Kurt. “For you and for me, the hard part starts. This had been great adventure, but living in a totally new country without the comfort zone of familiarity, that is going to be a test, I think, for both of us,” she added.
Isabelle talked into her mouthpiece and almost immediately they flew away from Fallingwater. Kurt looked back down again and he caught a brief glimpse of the layered home over the stream at a far away angle. He realized that from any spot, it was a classic. He wondered what Martin McDonald was doing and thinking about at that moment. He was a strange man, no question, but Kurt knew he was driven, goal oriented and that this set back would not deter him from his life objectives. What was unbelievable was that recovering his family history had turned into a confrontation between the UN and Atlantica over water rights.
“There’s the Yough down there,” Kurt said. “It curves so much, you don’t realize that when you’re walking along side it.
At that moment, Elizabeth shouted over the hum inside the cabin, for everyone to look down off to the left of the river bank. “Can you have him slow down, Isabelle?” she asked.
As the craft slowed to a hover, Elizabeth leaned over Kurt and looked out of the window. Outlined below, surrounded by a rectangle of trees, was her stone farmhouse. The sun broke for a moment in the fast moving cloud bank. It sparkled off the water. The house sat squat in the middle of a forested area with the outline of a path going down to river. The pilot came to a slow stop over the farm and Elizabeth took in the view with as tears slowly ran over her cheeks. The craft stayed aloft over the farmhouse for a minute and then Elizabeth said to Isabelle, “Thank you. That’s what I needed, a bit of closure.”
Isabelle talked into her mouthpiece and they took off over the mountains. “I asked Magnus to take this short diversion, but we have to head north to meet our master craft, so hang on.”
Kurt and Elizabeth looked at each other as the craft began to accelerate. They didn’t talk for a short time after they left the farm, both in their own thoughts. Then Kurt said, “Your whole life was down there and from up here it look so peaceful.”
“It was peaceful down there,” she replied leaning into the small curved back rest. “That’s what enchanted me, the absolute peacefulness. What have you got me into, Kurt Sloan? But everything looked about the way we left it. I was surprised that McDonald stopped there, but the man was certainly full of surprises, wasn’t he.”
“From the day I met him,” Kurt answered.
“Looking at the farmhouse, I was thinking I hope they don’t tear it down.”
“I doubt it. That could be a very productive farm for the government,” Kurt replied. “They need organic production sites and that is a perfect one.”
They retreated to their thoughts again as the craft soared over the mountains.
Isabelle leaned over from her seat on the narrow aisle separating them and said, “The pilot is on a UN Universal flight pattern. He can deviate a bit before the Atlantica Air Control Service requests he call for a change of course. I realize you are leaving your country, maybe for the last time, so is there anywhere else around here that you would like to see?”
Kurt looked at Elizabeth Then tugged at Isabelle’s sleeve, who was talking with the pilot. She turned to him.
“Is it possible to fly over the Aquifer System?”
Isabelle looked at him and did not immediately respond. She turned away and spoke quietly into her mouth piece. In a few seconds she looked back and said, “Well, you are in luck. Our master craft is coming down from Ontario, Canada and we will meet over Lake Erie. Magnus says he can make a slight deviation but we need to be caution since this is a high security location. This will be a quick flyover.”