Earth Wars

Drones

When we arrived at the Junk Yard, thankfully Kevin was still there. I had tried all forms of contact that I could from the car but didn't get any response.

"Hey! Yo! Kevin!" I yelled, into the open garage.

"Who's there!" He demanded, "I have a blowtorch!"

"Take that helmet off!" I yelled I heard clamoring before I saw the old man. "It's Pilar Vand!" I yelled, he smiled at me and walked closer.

"Hey! How are you!" He yelled, holding the welders mask above his head.

"Did you take out your ear plugs!" I asked, my voice cracking from the strain.

"Oh, sorry." He said, much quieter than before. He was an older man, around sixty years old. He had graying hair, sagging biceps, and his stomach had seemed to be more bloated than it had been in the past. He was a master welder, and loved to tinker with machines and with other metal objects. He created my chancellor chair that was pushed up to my desk at home. "How are you Pilar? Do you have another job for me?" He asked.

"Yeah, I do. Could you fix up and enhance this R.C. Airplane so that it can fly farther with the same remote control?" I asked he shrugged.

"Not really, it depends on what kind of plane you have." He put his hands on his hips and thought for a moment.

"Well, I do happen to have a helicopter. That might do you more good. What do you need it for? If you don't mind my asking."

"We're trying to find something in Cleveland National Park."

"Like what?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"I've seen and heard a lot of things. Try me."

"We're looking for a CR-25 troop carrier from the Galactic Empire."

"From Star Wars?" He asked, his voice dropping.

"Yeah," I said slowly. He nodded, my hopes rose.

"I thought I heard something about that on the radio."

"So, you'll help me?"

"Sure, let's see what I have. You wait here, I'll be back in a minute." He said, I nodded and walked back out to my car, knowing from past experiences that 'a minute' is code for 'a while'. Mark and Felix were outside the car, waiting and eating their McDonald's dinners.

"What's the verdict, Pilar?" Mark asked, popping a fry into his mouth. I approached them and looked at Felix's half eaten happy meal.

"He might have something that would work, you were right. The R.C. probably isn't big enough to be a spy plane for us."

"I was afraid of that. How much do you think he'll want it for?"

"Depends," I said, "it comes down to how much it's worth, but we'll have to pay something for it even if we return it. Kevin's like that."

"Understandable."

"But he doesn't ask many questions, and if he does he wouldn't rat us out."

"I'm glad that he's someone we can trust, we don't want any loose ends," He said he ate another fry. Felix was seated on the trunk of the car, listening intently.

"Are you going to eat the rest of those?" I quizzed, Felix pounced on his Mc Nuggets before I could scarf one down. I chuckled to myself as we waited for Kevin. I looked over at Mark, he was staring off into space. He had premature gray hairs around his hairline, his eyes sagged just a bit down the outside of his face. "How old are you Mark?" I asked, curiosity rising within me.