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He would return to the cabin and brew some tea, one of the few liquids he could sto, so that if she expected hierated unit in the galley for food for Liling There had been bagged blood stored discreetly in one of the bottoe of the lake The plane, fully subood chance the blood was as well

Quickly he stripped out of his clothes and waded in to dive down

He swah the open hatch The pilot’s and copilot’s bodies floated faceup against the ceiling of the aircraft: he swaalley section

The refrigerated unit’s door hung open, but Valentin found the bin and the bags of blood in it still intact The cold lake water had flooded the bin and kept the hunger in his belly There were enough bags to keep hi carry-on bag and opened it, placing the bagged blood inside before swi out of the plane and up to the lakeshore He tossed the bag up onto the bank and waded out

After he dressed, Valentin took one of the bags fro on stored blood was not the sa the use of his ar humans and had becoinal contents of the bag had fallen out onto the grass: a sodden pile of red hair, a large, soggy roll of currency, and some cards bound with a rubber band

Valentin carefully set aside the blood and inspected the belongings The pile of hair turned out to be a wig, the roll contained thousands of dollars in small bills, and the cards were three driver’s licenses The latter pictured Liling Harper’s face surrounded by different shades and lengths of hair All of the names on the licenses were different

Whatever trouble in Chicago Liling had been trying to escape, it was serious enough to have her prepare three different false identities Noasto evade the Brethren But why? She wasn’t Kyn She couldn’t harm other humans with her ability to heal Why would the zealots pursue a wo, whose power allowed her to do the sa?

He touched his arave him one possible answer Because she can healone foot into anything ings" Byrne warned as they walked across the runway to the sar "Not one"

"I wouldn’t be of any use to the CAP anyway," Jayr said, and s them "Hello, Major Stevens"

"It’s a pleasure to meet you at last, my lady" The hu "We appreciate the support the Kyn have given to the CAP over the years"

"CAP?" Byrne asked, looking puzzled

"Civil Air Patrol," Jayr explained "One of the e have helped the local hu funds to purchase aircraft for them They are an auxiliary of the American air force"

"We are strictly nonmilitary volunteer pilots, my lord" Stevens assured Byrne "CAP flies primarily search-and-rescue and disaster-relief missions We sometimes provide reconnaissance for authorities at their request, usually to track drug s medical personnel and relief supplies Here in Florida, our primary mission is to search for downed planes The men involved in this operation are all CAP-trained, but in order to avoid exposure, we are conducting this search privately, with our personal aircraft" He gestured toward the hangar "If you’ll coive you a more comprehensive update on the search"

As they walked past a row of single-engine planes painted red, white, and blue Stevens explained so

"The survival rate for an airliner is actually very good," the pilot told theers don’t make it The problem is that once the plane is down, those who survive the impact succumb to the subsequent lethal environment There is aof opportunity--usually about a e burns, explodes, floods or sinks The passengers who exit the aircraft during that time have the best chance to make it out alive"

"Jaus’s plane cannot not flood or sink," Byrne said, "unless he flew over the ocean"

"I have to disagree with you on that point, my lord" Stevens said "There are over a thousand lakes in Lake County alone, along with the St Johns River, and other significant bodies of water in surrounding counties Many of the lakes are deep enough to sink ten planes"

The Civil Air Patrol’s offices were s points on a wall rid drawn in red ink

"We’re borrowing some of CAP’s equipment to use in the search They’ve recently developed hyperspectral I network, or VCN HIS allows sensors on our search aircraft to pick up light reflected by objects on the ground Through VCN, we can identify the spectral signatures for natural andthat isn’t supposed to be there, like a plane"

"How accurate is this sensor systeh as a half round that’s as small as three feet in size" Stevens told her "Even if it’s hidden by brush or trees Makes it ideal to pinpoint crash sites in a hurry"