“Reich,” Bishop said. They both put their heads up and stared at with attention. Judian more than Judith. “We have a plane crashed in Alaska. We need you to go retrieve its contents. A black box.”

“What in it?” Judith asked.

He stared at her, but ignored her question. “We’re sending you with a medical team and a couple of techs.”

“Techs?” Judith said. “Is that Bishop speak for, Big guys with big guns?”

“We’re expecting that others will be looking for this plane also. We don’t have a pinpoint location. It went down over a sever snowstorm. But we can get you to within five miles of where we think it is.”

“Great,” Judith said. “And I’m supposing that whatever this is some kind of chemical weapon? That…probably doesn’t belong to us, but we’re taking it anyway?”

“Judith Reich,” Bishop said. “You’re going to lead this excursion.”

“Of course. Because we all know how much I love the cold.”

***

From 500-5-Minute Writing Exercises. Available in print and ebook.