Sincere, Lee: by Bish -- - - - V O X -

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Date Posted: 10:33:36 08/27/99 Fri
Author: Paladin
Subject: Sincere, Lee: by Bish

Although one could accuse Jacob Sincere of many things-The Prosperous oil baron was a cheat, thief, liar, and murderer in his day-None could accuse him of not having a sense of humor. He was rumored to have died after a rambunctious day in the sack with his brand new 21 year old trophy wife-he was 87 at the time-and, during the reading of his will, it was stated that if, for any reason, his wife was pregnant at the time of his passing, then any subsequent children were to be named, if a boy, Lee, and if a girl, Esta. Well, he must have been postively rolling in his grave, for nine months later, in 1944, his wife bore healthy twins, a boy and a girl. His wife duly followed his orders and named the children. As the youngest of the family-Sincere had 8 children from 3 previous marriages, the oldest being 54 at the time of Jacobs death-Lee and Esta were excluded from the running of Sincere Gas, and instead spent their time indulging in the lives of dillitantes. Lee joined the army after college in 1966, a young Lieutenant who was sent to the killing fields of Vietnam. Esta became a well known photojournalist, taking famous photos in Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia. When both turned 25, they were allowed access to their trust fund, which was then close to 6 or 7 hundred million dollars. Lee was honorably discharged, and soon found himself wandering the deserts of the southwest. Esta did an award winning photo essay for National Geographic called �The New West�, taking photos of such well known vigilantes as Stampede, Vixen, Radiator Mother, The Wolf Raiders, and others.

In 1977, Lee settled down on a small 10000 acre ranch near the SangreCristo Mountains in New Mexico to begin work on a personal project of his. He had always been fascinated by the stories of early aviators, and the wonderful machines that had begun multiplying like mad. His favorite images had always been the Zeppelins, and the idea of cruising above the ocean in comfort and style had appealed to him in a way that he had discounted as the folly of youth. So he was more surprised than many who knew him when he found himself planning out the task of restoring a zeppelin to its former glory. He started running into all sorts of problems, but soon found that his fathers name was enough to not only procure the parts he needed, but also get them discounted and sometimes even free. His sister had come to visit him and been so fascinated with the process that she had written an article and taken pictures for National Geographic again, which had resulted in even more support and assistance.
As the project had gone into its second year, early in 1979, a group of fellow aviation enthusiasts had come to him to request permission to work on their vintage aircraft at the ranch as well. Sincere had agreed enthusiastically, and soon there was a little collective of pilots, mechanics, and engineers on the ranch, which became known far and wide as Icarus Air Ranch, for Lee's call sign. As 1979 became 1980, the ranks of aircraft and pilots swelled, until now, in August, there were nearly 100 aircraft of varying types and close to 1000 men and women who had taken up residence on the ranch. To protect their now precious possessions, Sincere had hired close to 40 Vigilantes to protect the land.

'Okay, how are the tanks coming?' Lee was standing by his head engineer, a man named Charlie. Charlie was looking at the readouts, and a few seconds passed before he responded.

'Almost done, Lee, maybe 10 minutes left.' he glanced over his shoulder, at the pilots and crew members who had started coming over when they had begun the task almost 8 hours before. They were hushed, realizing now that what they were witnessing was quite possibly a piece of history. 'You might wanna go say something to the troops, they're getting a little anxious, I think.' Lee looked, then nodded.
'I suppose you're right, Charlie. This is a great day.' He turned and started towards the crowd. The last 5 days they had been working around the clock, realizing just how close they were to finishing the project. He had slept in short stints, and he rubbed his hand along his jaw, feeling the stubble he had left untended these last few days. The crowd grew silent as he walked up.

'Well, folks, here we are. I guess we're not waiting for a baseball game.' The crowd laughed, and after it subsided he continued again. 'Well, we're almost done. A few more minutes and she'll be ready to go. And there she stands. I want all of you to take a look at her, take a good long look.' They did, and a collective gasp went across the crowd. It was as though they were seeing her for the first time, seeing her as the majestic and elegant craft she was, and not just the big project they had all been working on for the past few years. He smiled as he began speaking again. 'Everyone has erroneously refered to her as mine. That's untrue. She's OURS. Everyone here had something to do with rebuilding her. She belongs just as much to you as she does to myself. The effort and sacrifices you have made these past few years have paid off, because now she's about to go on her first flight in almost 50 years. So for everyone who's come up and said thank you to me, who's wanted to tell me about how glad they have been to work on this project. All I have to say to that is, take a look around you. Don't thank me, thank yourselves. You were the people who really made this possible. So thank YOU.' There was a moment of silence, and then near the back, someone started clapping. The applause was picked up, and spread quickly through the crowd, until all were joined in uproarious applause. It lasted for what seemed like forever, and Lee was unashamed of the tears of happiness that streamed down his cheeks. Then, it seemed that the cheering swelled even more, and he turned around to see Charlie and his team disconnecting the tanks, and the zeppelin Holiday, re-named for his favorite singer, was floating free on the mooring tower. He turned back to the crowd, and motioned for their attention. after a few moments they quieted down.
'Okay, folks. I have an idea. Everyone get to your vehicles, and get ready for a little excursion. Folks, lets make these machines SING.' Another cheer went up from the crowd, and they quickly dispersed to their craft.

Soon everything was a flurry of activity again, and Lee was in the pilots cabin of the Holiday going over a final checklist when Charlie came in and tapped him on the shoulder. Lee looked at him, a half smile on his face, which slipped away when he saw the look of concern etched into Charlies forehead.

'Whats up, Charlie? Something wrong?' Charlie nodded.

'Yeah. Somethings happening with the Vigs, they look like they're all cutting out.' Charlie pointed out the window, and Lee turned to look. In the distance, he could see 15 or 20 cars rushing away at high speeds. He turned back to Charlie.

'Okay, find out if Monk has cut out yet. If so, find me one of the other guys-' Charlie held up his hands then jabbed a thumb over his shoulder.

'Monk is outside and wants to talk to you. He wouldn't tell me what's up, said he wanted to talk to you.' Lee nodded, turning back to the panel.

'Send him in then.' Charlie nodded back, then turned and waved to one of the engineers standing by the doorway. The woman turned and waved Monk in. Monk entered quickly, removing the narrow-brimmed fedora he always wore. He walked up to Lee.

'Mr. Sincere, I'm sorry, but my team has to go. There's some kind of emergency going on south of here, and every single Vigilante in the southwest has been requested to assist....we'll be back as soon as it gets resolved, but we need to go.' Lee nodded, not even looking up from the panel. 'So if it's alright with you, we'd like to get going.'

'It seems to me, Monk, you guys are going anyway, whether I say its okay or not. What is it, anyway? Some kind of big barbecue or something?' Monk shook his head, and his next words carried a bit more then he wanted.

'No, Mr. Sincere. It's looking like there might be an invasion of the United States kicking off into New Mexico.' With this statement, every other man and woman working in the cabin stopped, and Lee looked up at him sharply.
'WHAT!?!? Are you serious?' Monk nodded.

'Yes sir. We got the transmission late last night, we've been debating what to do, and we decided that they're going to need all the help they can get.' Lee stared at Monk for a moment, lost in thought. after a few seconds, he nodded.

'Okay, Monk. Here's what I'm going ask you to do. Wait for 1/2 an hour before you leave. Can you do that?' Monk nodded. 'Char-LIE!' The engineer rushed up. 'Get all the crew chiefs, pilots, and 'squadron leaders' in The Holiday and into the boardroom in 10 minutes. Go, now! RUN!' Charlie took off at a sprint, and Lee started out of the cabin. 'Okay, Monk, come with me.' Monk followed after him.

*****

The assembled group was close to 50 people, and they all sat in silence as Monk finished telling them what had happened. As one, they all turned to look at Lee. He gazed back at them, and their eyes told him all he needed to know. He looked over at Monk.

'So, do you think the AVA could use some air support and maybe an airborne command station?' Monk was taken aback, and then a slow smile crawled across his face.

******

Tesla was looking over some maps with other AVA officials when Gus, one of the radio operators, came over and tapped her on the shoulder. She glanced back at him impatiently ready to snap, but his face softened her words somewhat.

'What is it, Gus? I'm kinda busy right now....' He handed her a sheet of paper.

'This just came in from The Underdogs, a vigilante group that's been doing some private security work for Lee Sincere in New Mexico. They apparently want to add some assets to this operation.' Tesla took the paper and glanced at it, ready to tell him off for interrupting her. The words she saw written took a few seconds to sink in. After reading and re-reading the paper, she looked up at Gus slowly.

'Is this for real?' Gus nodded.

'Yes, ma'am, I think it is. They want confirmation that we'll accept their assistance.' Tesla started nodding slowly, then faster.

'Hell, yes! Get on it right away, Gus!' With a nod, he went back to the radio room. Tesla looked at the rest of the group, who were looking back at her. 'You guys aren't going to beleive this...'

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