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Post by Evangeline on Jun 10, 2008 22:33:02 GMT -5
"It was definitely southeast of here, though it's not a place I've been before." Malcolm nodded. "And definitely at least an hour out."
"I've been all over in the past few weeks." Blanche said. "From the direction, distance and description it sounds like the Kettering Hills. There are a few private or officially disused airstrips there, they could be holing up at any one of those." She glanced to Anita. "Does that ring a bell to you?"
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Post by rizahawkeye on Jun 10, 2008 22:38:14 GMT -5
Todd looked around. He still didn't understand, and it made him feel like a total idiot.
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Post by Orca on Jun 10, 2008 22:46:40 GMT -5
Her search patterns had originally ranged up and down the oceanic coasts. As of two months ago, the middle of the continent hadn't been as thoroughly picked over.
"I've heard of it," the Mustang admitted, as a local had rambled off one of those such names to her. "Can't say I've flown that way for myself, though."
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Post by Evangeline on Jun 10, 2008 22:53:19 GMT -5
"That's why they call it "Flyover Country." Blanche smiled tightly. "Everyone sees it as they're heading from one coast to the other, but nobody really gives it a closer look. Lots of places to hide."
Malcolm took a renewed interest in Todd. "Excuse me if I'm being pokey, but where are you from?"
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Post by rizahawkeye on Jun 10, 2008 22:57:49 GMT -5
"I'm from Nome, Alaska." He answered simply.
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Post by Orca on Jun 10, 2008 23:04:23 GMT -5
"You think they are headed there now?" Anita asked. Having done her in-the-field research, she was politely skeptical of the F-111's theory. "Wouldn't they be trying to get as far from here as possible, knowing that this incident could tip their whereabouts off to the authorities?"
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Post by rizahawkeye on Jun 10, 2008 23:23:26 GMT -5
((Going to bed... be on tommorrow! ))
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Post by Evangeline on Jun 10, 2008 23:38:34 GMT -5
Malcolm whistled. "That's a LONG way off from here, kid, and you look pretty young to be out so far."
"They could clear out, and it would be the most intuitive assumption." Blanche replied to Anita, "But then they'd be intruding on another group's territory, and unless they have an understanding with other gestalts, that could be even more trouble for them."
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Post by Orca on Jun 11, 2008 0:13:01 GMT -5
So there's no way of knowing exactly what their next move is, not without another clue.
Anita managed not to sigh at drawing this conclusion. A 50/50, either-or possibility. The odds had to be better than that, even if it was only to 49/51. What more was there to infer from?
Frowned upon as they were, rouge gestalts were complex, variable things. Groups under that heading could range from a trio of harmless pranksters to fully-fledged crime syndicates. Excluding her brother, who's to say what the others' rap sheets consisted of?
"Malcolm, did Ari have anything especially useful to say when you two were exchanging words?"
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Post by Evangeline on Jun 11, 2008 0:34:45 GMT -5
"He did have a sober moment or two when I mentioned you and the family." Malcolm replied. "But here's the thing. That FW-190 woman - "Zelda" - she seems to have a perverse sort of charisma that can take a personality that is in some way vulnerable and redirect it towards her own little ME-cult. I really doubt the gang is held together by much more than the force of Her Amazingness. Was Ari experiencing any rough times, or was he, you know, depressed or frustrated at all? If he was, he was doing a good job of hiding it from everyone on the racing circuit until he dropped out of sight."
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Post by Orca on Jun 11, 2008 11:43:36 GMT -5
"Not that I was aware of."
Anita thought back, back to the earliest days of her brother's career. Ari hadn't let the successes in the east go to his head, a behavior that should have carried over when he immigrated west. Correspondance had become more seldom, but no different in content. If he had hit a true slump, he would have told someone within the family, or Lance Vaughn - his best friend - surely would have pointed it out to them.
His professional agenda aside, how did he come to mixed up with this "Zelda"? What was it about her that he found... appealing?
"If she's the glue, that can't mean this gang is too high in the ranks. Which means they wouldn't be holding onto too large a patch of turf. Ergo, between bunkering down or running, they are more likely to be on the move."
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Post by Evangeline on Jun 11, 2008 14:19:01 GMT -5
"Yeah, it would take a larger gang to hold some territory." Blanche conceded. "And that they're still doing small stuff like hassling travellers - serious gangs go on to bigger things - means they wouldn't have much of a stake here. But, now that we have their profiles down, it wouldn't be difficult to locate them on radar if they're sticking together. Twin Mustangs, for example, are extremely rare."
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Post by Orca on Jun 11, 2008 14:46:05 GMT -5
"One does wonder what those two's story is," Anita remarked thoughtfully, trying to paint a rough picture of the group's behavior profile, through guesstimation. If Ari had gone undetected with a Twin Mustang at his side for so long, perhaps the four weren't that naïve.
Ah, the elegance of inherent differences - where one mind might miss a typo, another was there to point it out.
"If we assume the twins are teenaged and runaways, they must have a trick or two with avoiding detection, or drawing attention to their wingmates. Such a gestalt might part ways at take-off and regroup later."
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Post by Evangeline on Jun 11, 2008 15:01:29 GMT -5
"Logical assumption." Malcolm nodded his nose. "The trick would be to find out where the twins go and keep an eye on them." He glanced over to Todd, hoping that the discussion wasn't getting too much over the Cessna's head.
"If they are teens, there's bound to be someone out there missing them." Blanche pointed out.
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Post by Orca on Jun 11, 2008 16:18:25 GMT -5
Find the twins, find Ari and Zelda.
Anita had always liked simple plans. "Which could entail a mission persons file, that the FAA would have to be cognizant of. Could we petition them to disclose the names to us, as it factors into a third-party investigation?"
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