The Visitor Read Free

taken by the starship showing such smaller aircraft going as fast as 1800 miles per hour. It’s currently approaching at 1225 miles per hour.”
    As Tak considered her options, the F-22 closed the gap, came up within five miles of the shuttle, and continued to close, reducing to subsonic speed.
    Duncan radioed Burkett and Hight, who was also now listening to the transmission from NORAD. “I have it in sight now. It appears to be a black vehicle, somewhat resembling a NASA lifting body. It’s traveling at two hundred eighty eight knots and descending at one thousand six hundred feet per minute. It appears to be gliding without power. Present altitude is fifty eight thousand feet.”
    Burkett asked a question that had already been answered. “Did you say gliding?”
    “Affirmative.”
    Duncan expertly adjusted his control stick to move his F-22 in closer to the shuttle.
    “The pursuit craft’s radio frequency has been located, and the transmissions between it and the surface are now on your screen, translated,” Tak’s computer said.
    “Put future communications in the native language, English,” Tak directed the computer. “If the aircraft fires its weapons, take defensive action without my command.”
    Duncan throttled back, positioned his F-22 right alongside the unidentified vehicle, and then carefully dialed back his speed so he was descending at the exact rate of descent as the other vehicle. He closed the gap, so that his wing tip was only thirty feet away. Duncan took his eyes off his instruments and looked over to see what he could as to how the oddity next to him was flying. To his surprise, through the windshield he saw a very attractive female, with bright red hair, wearing no helmet, and without any oxygen mask, such that her head and face were entirely visible. This was the first actual face-to-face encounter between a human and an alien, but Duncan didn’t know it.
    “A glider at fifty-eight thousand feet that has descended from at least one hundred fifty-seven thousand feet?” Burkett asked. “How in the hell did a glider get to one hundred fifty-seven thousand feet? And,” he added in an unintentional sexist remark, “with a female pilot?”
    “Well, if it’s a glider, it can’t go too awfully far,” Hight said. “We’ll get working on its speed, the winds, its trajectory, and see where it will likely land if it continues its present course. Hawkins,” he ordered. “Get winds aloft data and plot the probable landing of the craft, assuming it is gliding and will continue at its present rate of speed, descent, and direction.”
    “Yes, sir,” Hawkins answered, but he was already working on it as that was the sort of thing he did. “I have your answer,” he announced in less than thirty seconds. “Kansas.”
    “There’s no glider that can go up that high,” Hight protested.
    “See if you can make contact,” Burkett said to Captain Duncan. “I want you to force her to land at one of our bases. She is flying in civilian class ‘A’ airspace with no flight plan. Based on that, you are authorized by me to force her down.”
    Tak looked over at the fighter pilot while listening to their communications. He was wearing an air force helmet, the dark face shield covering his face, an oxygen tube connected to his mask, and a communications wire to the built-in headset.
    He looked like a robot compared to Tak, who had nothing at all on her head, as though taking a boat ride on a lake on a Sunday afternoon.
    Duncan switched to a civilian frequency used by aircraft in air-to-air communications, 122.75 Megahertz. “Glider pilot. This is Captain Duncan, United States Air Force. You are being monitored by an air force station at White Sands, New Mexico, as well as NORAD at Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado. You are flying in class-A airspace without clearance. You are ordered to follow me to an airbase.”
    Tak heard the message. “Computer. What is “NORAD”?
    “No information,” Computer