The Armorer

I blinked my eyes groggily and sat up slowly. I must have been unconscious for awhile; I'd missed the excitement of the landing. And we had landed, although the damage to the airplane that I could see was catastrophic. I ached all over, but especially where I'd been thrown against the seatbelt. I unhooked it and rubbed my abdomen, then staggered across the aisle to check on the dogs. They were laying limply in their crates, but they were still alive. I could see them breathe. I didn't quite what know what to do, so I went for help. The door between the cabin and cockpit was crumpled and when I pushed it open enough to see in, the amount of blood that I could see meant to me that there was no help there. The concussion wasn't the only thing making my stomach sick. I returned to the dogs and opened the crates.

Sigurd was out like a light, but Torburn was stirring. I opened a compartment and found a few dark blue blankets, then looked around. Smoke was filling the cabin; in a movie, this would mean that an explosion was in the offing. I wasn't sure about real life, but there was a lot of jet fuel and apparently a fire somewhere, so I needed to get organized and get gone. A section over the wing was ripped off; we could get out that way but I probably wouldn't be able to get back in. I walked as quickly as I could to the galley and stuffed bottles of water and what packaged food there was into my bag. I looked around for the steward but didn't see him. Returning to the dogs, I pulled Sigurd out of the crate and onto a blanket and coaxed Torburn out as well. I shoved my overnight bag out and slid out onto the wing, pulling the blanket with the dogs after me so that when we hit the ground they landed on me. I pulled the blanket behind me and stumbled off; there was a dip in the ground that rolled away from the wreck, so we went down that. I hoped that it would provide some protection in case the plane blew up. I sat down and took stock of the situation. Torburn crawled into my lap and I cuddled him as I thought.

I realized that I didn't have my phone, and ruled out the hope that I could call for rescue. I didn't know if the pilot got off a mayday, but he probably did; it wasn't like there wasn't any time, and we had--we'd had--a copilot. Help should be on the way, but I was worried about Sigurd. I felt like a total ass, but I yelled "Heimdall!" a couple of times. From what I'd picked up, he sometimes scanned the nine realms for people he knew, and I hoped that maybe he'd pick up on the situation. It was stupid, but it was something to tick off on a list I was assembling. Under my right hand, Sigurd stirred, and I went limp with relief. I went back to my list feeling better, stroking his fur. If rescue was coming, I needed to stay by the plane. They'd search for wreckage and the black boxes. I figured that rescue would come in a day or two, and I looked in my handbag to see what I'd brought. Seven good-sized bottles of water and some bags of peanuts, granola, and cookies. Nothing for the dogs, though, but maybe we could hunt? I felt queasy at the thought. I'd never done it before, but it was for the dogs, and I'd find a way.If I was going to travel, maybe I should start carrying some food for them in my carry-on too. We had blankets, so we would have something to sleep on if it got cold. I could start a fire, which could provide psychological comfort, a beacon, and a deterrent for any predators. Also in my purse was my wallet--no help there--my Kindle, odds and ends. The knife I'd made myself. That was good, although I didn't remember putting it in there. I popped a piece of gum in my mouth and thought about my overnight bag. Personal care items, the dog's harnesses and leashes, nightgown, a dark green cardigan in case the air conditioning was too much, a slightly nicer outfit if I needed it for dinner, but not much that was useful.

I ran my hands over both dogs but didn't find any injuries, which was awesome. Sigurd struggled to sit up and blinked blearily at me. "There you are," the steward said from behind me. I bit down a yelp and turned. Torburn eased off my lap and growled.

"What the hell happened?" I asked. "There wasn't supposed to be any bad weather on the plane route to New York."

"No, the weather was fine," the steward assured me. "But my employers want to have a chat with you. This is the only good opportunity they've had." He scowled. "The plane wasn't supposed to go down, though. We were supposed to have a leak of the hydraulic fluid that moves the flaps on the wings, it was supposed to start when we got in the air and let us get into the target area before the warning light came on. They'd have put down in Butte and you would have been escorted off the plane."

"Were the pilots in on this too?" I gasped. He shook his head.

"No, it was decided that bribing them was suboptimal, and a private jet is much easier to sabotage than a quinjet. But somebody fucked up and we're lucky to be alive. Get up and leave the dogs. We've got a hike now."

"Where are we?" I asked, staying on the ground.

"Somewhere in the Frank Church Wilderness Area," he said, scowling ferociously. "Middle of Fucking Nowhere, Idaho. We've got to walk until I get a signal." He held up my phone and I felt a small flicker that things might be going our way. Nick had given me that phone and it could be tracked by satellite. It just looked like an ordinary iPhone.

"I'm not going anywhere without my dogs," I said flatly.

"That big one drank too much of the water. It'll take too long before it can walk on its own. We have to leave now. I don't know if Craig and Robert got off a distress call, but I can't count on it." I barely heard what he was saying. He'd drugged my dogs? He probably meant to have drugged me too, in the glass of water I'd accidentally spilled. I picked up my purse and got to my feet. In the man's hand was a pistol. Pointed at Sigurd, who was fighting the effect of whatever this shithead had given him.

"Here's the deal," I said coldly. "You leave the dogs alone and I'll come willingly." He grinned and pointed the thing at me. I started to rethink my position on gun control. But surely I was bulletproof? I'd never tested THAT.

"They might track us. No way. Enjoy the daylight; once I've delivered you, you won't be seeing it again." He swung back toward Sigurd and I had to act. I threw my purse at his arm, making his shot go wide. He snarled at me and shot me; I stumbled from the impact which was terrific, and lunged forward to grab his wrist. My work had made me pretty strong and I was able to wrench the gun away. Then I punched him in the nuts a few times, as hard as I could, and he buckled and fell to the ground in pain. I was going to kick him a few times, just to keep him down, but Torburn got there first. Sweet, fluffy, adorable Torburn made short work of tearing out the man's throat.

"Torburn?" I spoke softly as he continued to savage the body, growling deep in his throat. Sigurd got to his feet shakily and nudged Torburn's butt with his nose. Torburn flashed around and started toward his dad, but realized there was no threat there and stopped. I gave him some time to calm down a bit, and when he stopped snarling, I cut a piece of fabric off the man's shirt and wiped down his fur. My little puffball's front was drenched in blood. I was probably going to have nightmares about that, but my respect for the dogs' capabilities got a huge boost. I took a moment and really looked at the bottles of water. They were still sealed, I couldn't find any holes in the plastic, and there was just H2O and some minerals in the water, so I used a little to wipe the worst of the gore off and he let me rinse his mouth. Then I gave Sigurd water to help him shake off the rest of the drug.

I squatted down and looked at them. "Ok, you guys know what I know. There is another group coming after us. The benefit is that I don't think we're anywhere near where we were expected, and Nick will get to work as soon as we're overdue." I looked at my watch. "Which we are. I didn't realize how much time a plane crash ate up. So they're on it." I found my phone and used the compass app. "We're handicapped because I don't know a damned thing about geography here. I don't know where the nearest town is, so if we stumble over a road or a town it will be from the sheerest luck. Normally, the best course of action is to stay with the wreckage of the plane, but with other people coming after us, I just don't know if that's the best idea here. So. Our options are to stay put and wait for rescue, try to hide out in the area so that we can come out when the good guys show up but not if the bad guys get here first, and to strike out and hope for the best. Bark for option one, two, or three." Sigurd voted for number two, and Torburn, who was apparently still upset, I think wanted to go looking for trouble. I clapped my hands. "Majority rules, then. We find a place to hide out around here and wait for either emergency services or the Avengers to show up." I look around. "Ok, Let's split up, go around the plane in half-circles. Sigurd, you take that way, Torburn and I will go this way. Look for any place you think the three of us can hang out safely and out of sight. We'll meet on the other side of the airplane."

Sigurd barked once and trotted off, apparently having shaken off the drug. I hoped he was ok. Maybe I should have insisted we stick together. I picked up the blankets and took my overnight bag too, out of a desire to leave no trace that we were here by the body. A last look around turned up no personal items, and Torburn and I set off too. Behind the wreck was a clump of trees that had been flattened by the crash and provided shelter; the branches also provided good cover. I parked Torburn under them and circled around carefully. I could hear him as moved around under the sheltering trees, but I couldn't see him. I nodded and asked Torburn if he could find his father faster than I could. He charged off and I made a few changes to make our concealment better. All the breaks in the wood were equally fresh, so the addition of more branches looked natural. There was one angle that provided a view of a slice of the plane; I moved some wreckage to make the angle better, and turned as I heard the crack of a branch.