Board the plane
Chapter 4
Once the last bodyguard disappeared into the body of the aircraft, Asby took a deep breath and scuttled across the hangar toward the stairway. He scaled the steps swiftly on all fours, pausing at the uppermost tier to flash his head into the plane’s interior. The pilot and co-pilot were in the cockpit to the left, tinkering with numerous knobs in preparation for take-off, while Fitzgerald and his minions stood around a table to the right. Fitzgerald was pointing something out on a blueprint; he slammed a tiny, balled-up fist on the table, causing his poof of orange hair to wobble dangerously.
“I just want to make sure there’s no chance of a trap,” he was reiterating to his cohorts.
Asby looked furtively around for a place to store himself for the time being. There was a cabinet sized door directly opposite him; not expecting much of a hiding place he reached across the aisle and opened it anyway. Lo and behold he had not opened the door of a miniscule food cabinet but a well-sized walk-in armory with a miniscule door, probably designed for a miniscule villain. The walls were loaded with all assortments of weapons ranging from handguns to rifles, mines to frag grenades.
“Are we ready for take-off yet?” Fitzgerald called to the pilots.
Asby jumped in surprise and crawled hastily through the small portal, shutting the door quietly behind him.
“Yes, sir!” he heard one of the pilots reply.
“Good, then let’s get out of here.”
A few minutes later the plane began to move with a jolt, Asby bracing himself in the confines of the armory. The acceleration associated with take-off manifested itself in the forces on Asby’s body, throwing him against a back wall and holding him firm to it. When the wheels finally lifted off the runway the whole aircraft vibrated, jarring loose several items in the room. Asby looked up and too late saw a hefty box of ammunition hurtling for his head; his eyes widened, there was a brief stab of pain, and his world went black.
***
Sometime later he groggily opened his eyes to find himself still sprawled in the armory. His head was throbbing, and when he put his hand to the spot of impact he could feel dry blood encrusted on the wound. Remembering why he was there he anxiously checked his watch. Eight-thirty! They must have landed in New York by now; he cursed himself, hoping Fitzgerald wasn’t already in the meeting.
He crawled around the box of mines and opened the small door of the armory slowly. The nearest window showed clear, blue–
“Ahhhhh!” Asby ducked back into the armory quickly as Fitzgerald exited the bathroom on his right with a satisfied sigh. “Where are we now?”
“Over Kansas, sir,” Asby heard one of his bodyguards say.
Asby couldn’t fathom how it could take seven-and-a-half hours to get from Las Vegas to Kansas but he was fortunate for it all the same; he had come perilously close to failing the mission completely. Could he afford to wait until New York to eliminate Fitzgerald? He was dealing with reasonable odds on the plane and could pick off the bodyguards on their way to the bathroom. Once they landed he might not have time to get Fitzgerald before he met up with all the other criminals. But then again they were a few miles up in the air, something could always go wrong.
What should Thomas Asby do next?
- Try to eliminate Fitzgerald en route, where the odds are in his favor, instead of in New York, where he would be safely on the ground
- Wait until arriving in New York to attack Fitzgerald, having stable ground to fight on but also coming dangerously close to missing Asby’s deadline of eliminating Fitzgerald before the meeting.
Vote for your choice in the poll on the right, and check in next Monday for the next installment of Thomas Asby and the Minimal Mastermind!
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