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four legs touched the spongy earth, he launched into motion like
a Nascar racer, paying no mind to the cries of “Shoot that. . .
THING. It killed the president!”
The dew-damp grass and sod flowed by like a rushing river
under paws designed for the expanses of the African plain. At
seventy miles an hour, it took less than a minute to reach the
south wall, even as he zigzagged through the tree cover. The
Secret Service men, well-trained though they were, still wasted
precious seconds frozen with shock at the sight of hurtling an
elephant turning into a wild cat. Even when they started fir-
ing, his superior agility, night vision, and long experience at
avoiding gunmen protected him from anything more than an
occasional graze. Without dropping momentum, he sprung into a
tree branch by the wall, and then launched himself like a coiled
spring over the barrier of reinforced cement and into the air
above Pennsylvania Avenue.
One final change, enacted before he had a chance to strike
the asphalt below, and Adrian was once again winging his way
over the lamp-lit capital city as a hawk, the cries of alarms and
military orders vanishing as the strong north wind lent lift to his
wings and he reveled once more in the freedom of the sky.
Well, that was easier than I thought. He shrieked a sardonic
laugh at the peeping moon as the lights of police vehicles turned
the main roads into circuses. You know what? After I collect my
fee this is one hunter who’s going to find himself a nice comfort-
able zoo for the next ten odd years. He avoided a helicopter. I’m
a little too much of a celebrity now to be picking up more work,
at this job has paid so well, it’s about time I got some more
“creature comforts.”
Heh, heh.

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