The leaders of their army came up the steps to shield them, and
Jess introduced everyone, gave the leaders hugs and told them the
escape plan. The crowd was cheering and moving in closer to the
bottom of the steps, and people were still arriving and filling up the
ramp.
        "JES-SEE!...JES-SEE!" the folks began chanting again. The
guys descended the stairs to the concrete and the people pressed in,
wanting her autograph, shake, hug, kiss, look, touch or words. More
than a few had flowers for her and the other girls. The throng was
taking gobs of pictures of her, flashes going off everywhere. And TV
camera lights flooded her as the reporters came up and wanted
words. Wurdz. Those gossamer things.
        She kept it short and very sweet, praising all the folks and
expressing her happiness at their victory over the Serbs. At one
opportunity - ABC, they think it was - she said, pressing her face in
close to the camera, "it wasn't his fault, Mama!" after saying "hi" to
the family.
        They kept moving and heard the reporter: "...and now she's
being gulped up again by this mass of humanity out on the airport
tarmac celebrating their victory, being adored by all as a heroine of
Sarajevo. And she's concerned about her mother. Back to you,
Ted."
        Jessy gave Kit another hard hug and said, "it's not fair to you, is
it, sweetheart?"
        "What isn't? You deserve all of it. Don't worry about me,
precious," he answered.
        Some US Air Force pilots got to them and had flowers for Jess
and got her kisses in return, then they pinned their wings on her
breast - well, her T-shirt (but bare breast underneath, as usual) - and
then on Flee and Vanna. And the guys moved closer to the 727.
        Walter finally made his way to them and they hugged, kissed,
shook and all, Walter kidding that he would give them a key to the
city if all the doors had not been blown off. But he thanked them
seriously and thoroughly and told them how much they had helped
to turn the tide. Then he gave Jess a "real-by-God" medal that was
the first of a batch made for the latest heroines and heroes of Bosnia.
Yep, pinned it on her breast (oops, shirt).
        "Woo!" Walt appreciated his honor. And there were cheers by
the crowd around them as he kissed Jessy on both cheeks. Then he
did the same with Felecia and Savanna, to more cheers and applause.
Then Walt shook hands with Kit and Buz, smiling, "well, guys, you
know how it is...there were only so many medals." The guys just
laughed with Walt.
        They made it to the steps of the '27 in about another half hour.
And the agents had figured out what our guys were up to about that
half hour before, but did not know what to do about it. Though in
the meantime, O yeah, almost forgot, one special agent had received
an order over his computer to "take out" the old guy, if he could get
a clear shot. The guys had packed Pute up, of course, though he was
on the modem still. So Chip Boy knew from Cyby about that order,
but none of the guys could hear his beeps with the pack cover over
him and the noise of the crowd. And that agent was sitting in the
Herc's cockpit attaching the silencer and scope to his rifle.
        Jessica was asked to make a speech when they reached the
bottom of the 727's steps. She acquiesced, of course, and just
thanked everyone and told them that they were bigger heroines and
heroes than her, compressing Kit's arm between her hands and her
right breast. It made him think back to the first time she did that on
their way out of the music studio at Northern Kentucky. Then she
reminded them all that they had just ended a war, and asked them
to spread that spirit around the world to end all of war forever and
get the WPG in power. All the folks cheered again, and the guys got
ready to go up the stairs.
        Jess and the other women hugged all their security guys and
everyone else close by. Kit and Buz were shaking all the hands and
getting kisses too. From women, of course. A great feeling they were
all feeling, it was. They all "regrouped" before ascending. They had
one last "vaya" with Sara, Walter and Gabrielle. One last wave to the
throng. Then they quickly started up the stairs, the security all over
them, the cheers totally heartening.
        The operative in the Hercules cockpit put the first bullet into
Kit as he reached mid-stairs with Jess. The aim was for his head, but
Code, just a split-second before, had dipped his head to look down
and wave at Jasmine and Sage, there below the steps. The slug hit
near his neck - ripped clear through that muscle that connects the
neck to the shoulder, cracking his collar bone on the way out - and
went on through the left leg of one of the security men higher on the
stairs. Kit fell forward and Jess went with him, feeling his arm that
had been around her pulling her down, and she saw the blood on his
back and cried out a scream.
        The next bullet went through the right arm of a security man
who had immediately pushed Jessy to the steps from behind,
whizzed past Kit's head, then lodged in the stairs as their army
located the rifle barrel and opened up on the Herc's pudpit and sent
that agent into his own little hell, writhing away on that flight deck,
and sighted down the rest of the visible agents, and one of our guys'
ex-hostages yelled out to his fellow agents, "HOLD FIRE!" And
there were no more shots.
        Jess was crying, "noooooo...Kit!...darling!...."
        Kit was moving to try to help shield Jessy along with the one
shot in the arm and others, saying, "owww, FUCK...stay DOWN,
Jess! Are you all right?!"
        She answered him, "YES!" and their men hustled them all up
and into the Boeing, helping Kit and the hit agents. Gabrielle, Sara
and Walt ran up, the security guys knowing them, of course, and
letting them by. And the crowd, screaming and yelling in anger,
running away, taking cover or standing their ground, started
threatening the agents, who were all retreating back behind or into
the Hercules.
        Inside the jet, Buz tore off his shirt - before Jessy tore off her's
- to compress Kit's wounds as they sat him and the others down in
the first class seats.
        "Don't want to get any blood on these nice seats, 'keemo',"
Buz kidded.
        "Why does everybody call me that?!" Kit grimaced with the
pain.
        Security guys already in the plane tore their shirts off for their
compatriots' wounds. And Gabrielle took over, asking for medical
stuff, which they yelled down to the folks and received in minutes as
it got passed through the people from Sara's office and rushed up the
steps by Sage and Jasmine. Val and Julia, herself just flown back in
from Athens, followed those two up and inside.
        Kit was OK. Considering. Gabe told him that the bullet had
just missed his jugular vein.
        "I never could juggle anyway," Code quipped with a lot of
strain, as Gabey stitched up the hole in front. He noticed Jasmine
and Julia and added, "wow...I didn't know getting shot could be so
good," and enjoined the ladies' gentle hugs on his good side and
shook easily with Sage and Val, telling the last, "wow, I like your
work, big guy."
        "I like your's too," the star responded with a smile.
        Jess, sitting next to Kit and helping Gabe, shook with the four,
exchanging pleasant hellos.
        After Gabrielle finished up Kit's back wound and rigged up a
sling she went on to treat the other men, and our guys talked with
Julia, Val, Jas, Sage, Flece, Sara and Walter.
        Buz and Van had gone up to the pit and Buz was asking if the
pilots would monitor their flying and engineer the flight, and that
was a go. He and Savvy started up the panel and the APU, after
asking people below to get folks away from the exhaust port, and
buckled in.
        "We'll make sure you get a good head start on those agents,"
Julia ended the conversation back in first class, and they all touched
once more before she and Val got back to the leaders of the crowd
outside.
        Gabey finished up and she, Sara and Walt gave their fondest
farewells and Godspeeds and departed out the door, knowing they
would be in touch. Jas and Sage wanted to come and, since Kit
and Jess had mentioned "China" as a destination when they had
been talking with the stars about the WPG's next step, convinced
the guys that they could be of help and, with the approval, Sage
closed the plane's door with the help of a security guy.
        "WHERE TO?" Buz yelled back to the cabin.
        Jess yelled back, "BARI," as she looked at Kit to check his
concurrence. Buz and Sav lit the burners as the folks outside kept
clear, and shortly started to taxi, people running alongside and
laying down flowers in front of the plane, everyone inside waving
out the windows.
        Flee and Jasmine tended to the wounded security men, Jess
was with Kit, and Sage was talking with other "army" members,
buffing up on his Italian.
        Gabe's drugs were taking effect on the hurt ones almost as
much as the girls' tender loving care, but Kit still worked as well
as he could with Pute, Jess executing his instructions - as they first
saw the shooting order message - and Jessy called Gena to fill her
in and asked her to get the Lear all set.
        The Herc or Cheyennes were not going anywhere, the people
and "army" that stayed there making dead sure of that. Anyway,
the Hercules had had its cockpit windows and flight deck all shot
up. And the shooter was getting medical attention.
        Kit and Jess got Pute onto cyber disinformation in the black
ops net, besides the flight clearance. But Jessy broke Kit's train of
thought with a whispered, "I love you," into his ear. He kissed her
face. And she kissed up his tears of joy.

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