Chapter 36 - The Aircraft Hidden in Hangar Twelve
Samuel led the group through a sealed maintenance corridor beneath Westbridge Airport.
At the end stood Hangar Twelve, a structure removed from public maps after Project 417 collapsed seven years earlier. Its doors were coated in dust, but the electronic lock still recognized Samuel’s hand.
Inside waited a narrow aircraft unlike anything Ethan had seen.
Its wings could fold against the fuselage. Its surface was covered in matte gray panels without airline markings, registration numbers, or navigation lights.
Martin walked beneath the nose.
“This was built for Project 417?”
“For surveillance,” Samuel replied. “It can fly below most civilian radar and land on less than half a normal runway.”
Victor examined the engines.
“Standard turbines.”
“Modified standard turbines,” Samuel corrected. “No autonomous core, no external network access, and no software Evelyn can reach remotely.”
Ethan opened one engine panel.
Most modern diagnostic modules had been removed and replaced with mechanical gauges, direct pressure lines, and manual fuel controls.
“It flies like an older aircraft,” he said.
“That is why the fleet may overlook it,” Samuel replied.
The artificial Ethan approached the fuselage but stopped before entering.
“I may expose your location.”
Victor looked toward him.
“Because you are still connected to the prototype network?”
“Yes.”
Samuel reached for a control switch hidden beneath the aircraft’s wing.
A metal chamber opened inside the cargo bay.
Its walls were lined with magnetic shielding.
“You ride in there until we reach the island.”
The artificial boy studied the chamber.
“It will disconnect me from the network.”
“That is the purpose.”
“If I cannot hear the fleet, I cannot guide you.”
Ethan looked toward the old navigation console.
“We don’t need the fleet.”
He placed the Core Archive beside the compass.
“We follow the signal hidden in my father’s log.”
Samuel stared at him.
Ethan had discovered that every personal entry contained a tiny timing variation between characters. The delays formed coordinates.
Not one location.
A route.
Samuel had secretly mapped a path through the Pacific, avoiding surveillance zones and leading toward Research Facility Alpha.
Martin prepared the aircraft while Victor loaded evidence drives, mechanical tools, and emergency fuel cells.
Ethan placed his old toolbox beneath the copilot seat.
Before the hangar doors opened, a warning appeared on the aircraft’s isolated control screen.
No wireless equipment was active.
No outside cable was connected.
Yet the message appeared anyway.
HANGAR TWELVE WAS NEVER SECRET.
Samuel reached for the power switch.
A second line appeared.
May you like
WE BUILT IT FOR YOU.
Then the engines started by themselves.
