This is for adding a Search Category to the thread.
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Right, that was the gotcha. The flyover was just the first step.
Firebringer hops in, his low growl drowned out by the ambient noise. Bad enough being stuck in sense-blind Hishu, but now this crude contraption was rendering useless one of the few senses the Herd actually kept. He had half a mind to knock the monstrosity out of the sky, inside or not.
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The whole thing seems ridiculous. Getting a chopper to get a view of the road? What is this, 1983? Couldn't they just use Google Maps or something? A great thing, no noise and no danger of falling.
Perhaps something couldn't be seen quite right from a map. Puzzled, Daniel get into his seat and puts the intercom on. Hopefully, there will be no need for private conversation during the flight.
Somehow, he's viewing Eric less and less as the Herd with every moment.
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The helicopter lifts off smoothly, but still had the slight dip of disorientation as it stabilizes. Unlike an airplane, forward thrust isn't required, and therefore isn't a constant force to help the senses orient themselves. There's a brief moment, as it clears the first building, where more can be seen*. Then, it pulls away to hover over where they had parked.
*
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As it clears the building, a long, dark SUV can be seen through hangar doors. two men are loading something in a long black bag that looks flexible -- a body bag.
The chopper hovers for several minutes, and the same SUV comes around the corner. From this height, little is distinguishable, other than a large matte designation printed on the roof: GEOA07. The shiny black paint makes the lettering stand out, and it's easy to infer it's for exactly this purpose: aerial surveillance. It pulls out onto I-80, and Eric follows it.
The ride is fairly uneventful -- it's a freeway. At one point the flight deviates slightly, taking a pass over a large building at I-80 and Northgate. It's an electronics store, and the size and elevation give it a perfect view of the freeway. This could be one of the reasons they're flying rather than following in a car. The same is done for a Home Depot at Truxel, and then a longer, slower pass is made over the several buildings that make up the Art Institute. The pass is slower because of the multiple buildings, and because the SUV they're following takes I-5 south.
Eric sends the chopper low as they pass a bridge, and then does a slow circle around a train yard before dipping again at the famed Tower Bridge.
The SUV disappears into the Ziggurat.
"Questions? Anything you want to see again?"
His voice comes over the headset, breaking the silence.
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Daniel doesn't see anything: his Hishu senses are undeveloped enough for him to remain perfectly oblivious. Instead he does hs best to commit the route to memory, paying special attention to what he assumes are either rendezvous or just spots to help them memorize the route. The fact that their 'journalist' friend is apparently completely comfortable with flying a helicopter is filed away for future reference.
When they are done and Eric asks for questions, Daniel begins to shake his head only to realize the pilot can't see him. Then something occurs to him: can't hurt to check. He uses the intercom:
"Anything we need to know about the courier, goods or who's interested to protect it better?"
By now the people hiring them are firmly classified as 'special ops or military' in his mind.
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Hmm...a body, it seemed. She wondered if it was the remains of the man that Eric had shot back outside of Tur, perhaps being taken off to be disposed of. It probably wasn't the body of the Uratha that his partner had killed. Big as that man may have been the body-bag looked a bit full to contain only half a person.
Then it's the route that demands her attention. And she pays careful attention to it. At the end, when Eric asks for questions, there's one that springs immediately to mind. "What's the significance of the buildings you took us over for closer looks at, stops along the route sometimes?"
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"No."
The answer to Daniel's question is simple, but not terse. It's simply a statement of fact.
"They overlook the route, are in range of rifles, and have extended views of the vehicle coming and going," he explains to Chantay.
"I don't have enough men to watch them all, but they... worry me."
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