Day 9.
November 9th. The cold is going away slowly but I have a nasty cough lingering. Still, the words keep coming and Sage keeps taking me to places I hadn't anticipated, sooner than I'd planned, and with different people than I had planned.
Sage is in control of her own story and I love it when that happens.
As always, click the "Read the rest…" link here for an excerpt from this year's Nano as it progresses.
The silver Renault cruised through the edges of the sprawling city and found the motorway where Sage relaxed into driving amongst the other traffic, hidden in plain sight as she made her way to the apparently disused airfield. She stopped at the locked gates and waited impatiently, fingers tapping on the steering wheel.
"Come on, come on." She muttered, fidgeting in her seat and scowling at the gates that remained firmly closed. "Come on, you know I'm here, open up."
Beside the car, a metal post rose silently from the ground. "That's slow." Sage observed, turning to face it and lowering her window.
"Sage. Voice Ident. Alpha zero zero zero one white." She spoke clearly but with an undertone of irritation as the post remained silent beside her.
"Access. Welcome to The Hangar. Please observe local protocols." A voice replied and the gates clicked and eased open smoothly for the Renault to drive through. Sage turned the car and stopped to watch the gates close behind her and the post slide back into the ground.
"I am bloody local, stupid thing." She watched for a moment before driving off along the rough, pot holed road across the grass. "Far too slow." She muttered.
Sage pulled up to a battered and elderly looking building that was large enough to have been an aircraft hangar at some point in its past. The huge doors were dented and littered with rusty marks and the windows dim and filthy. As she slowed in front of the doors, part of one slid away to leave a space large enough to drive an articulated lorry through.
Sage drove straight into the gap, which slid closed behind her with a bang.
The space inside was cavernous and echoed every sound it swallowed. Parked along one side were two green vans with roof mounted emergency lights, three landrovers and a bright red Citroën C1, a squat little car that Sage grinned at. That meant Cooper was in the building somewhere and it was Cooper she would need. She parked beside the Citroen and climbed out of the Renault to find a woman standing beside her.
"Will you need anything, Sir?" She snapped a brisk salute, dressed in crisply pressed army uniform and shiny boots, but no visible weapons and no hat.
"No, I think I can find my own way. Thank you." Sage brushed her aside, began to stride towards a door set into the wall beside a set of open metal stairs that wound up the wall and lead to a mezzanine platform that ran to the back of the hangar. With a hand on the door she turned. "It's Wilcox, isn't it?"
"Yes Sir." Wilcox smiled, pleased to have been recognised. She had pale grey blue eyes set under dark brows and long brown hair was neatly contained in a bun at the nape of her neck.
"Did Cooper send you?"
Wilcox nodded. "Yes Sir."
"Walk with me." Sage pulled the door open and stepped through, waiting for the younger woman to catch up. "You're the engineer?"
A nod.
"How far have you got?"
"I'm fully Rift qualified but only theoretically until further experience can be arranged and the authorisation for that is delayed." Wilcox took up a position to Sage's left, straight backed and firmly controlled, the epitome of discipline as they took the few steps needed through the grey concrete room to the white door on the other side.
"Have you been taking lessons from Cooper?" Sage commented drily.
"In Rift engineering? He's not qualified."
"No, too far up his own arse." Sage muttered, opening the second door and leading them into a space so white it hurt and Sage blinked, her eyes watering. "I hate this part."
"Give yourself a minute and you'll get used to it." Wilcox replied automatically.
"Ah, you've been on meet and greet duty." Sage wiped her eyes as they stood and waited and nothing visibly happened. "You're all sharp creases, shiny boots and about as flexible as stone. Find your humanity again Wilcox, find your compassion, or you're useless to us." She tapped her foot on the floor. "Is it just me or is this running slow?"
