As they approached the ship, Denton couldn't help but look it over. It reminded him of a delivery van with wings. The cockpit was visible at the front of what appeared to be a rectangular body. Based on Leah's gun running comment, he assumed most of it was cargo space. Slanted wings extended from the top of the fuselage towards the floor of the hangar, connected to large engines that rested on individual sets of landing wheels. The tail contained another set of engines. A ramp at the rear was open, mechanics scurried in and out of the craft finishing their preparations.
                          
Denton followed Leah up the ramp, through the cargo compartment and into the cockpit. A man in a blue cap and dark sunglasses greeted them from the pilot's seat.
                          
"I'm Buck, I'll be your pilot today," the pilot said as he shook Denton's hand.
                          
"Buck?" Denton said, his eyebrows raised. He had never known anyone named Buck.
                          
"You must be the mighty Denton," Buck said with a grin. "Have a seat, partner, we're taking off in just a minute."
                          
Denton took a seat behind the pilot's seat while Leah climbed into the co-pilot's seat.
                          
"Strap yourself in, bud, it's going to be a bumpy flight. The weather forecast is calling for clouds and heavy rain."
                          
"Perfect," Leah muttered as she strapped herself in.
                          
"Ugh," Denton said and shook his head with a sigh. Not only was the craft a piece of junk, but they were also heading right into a storm. Fantastic.
                          
"No, I mean it," Leah said as she turned to look at Denton. "The worse the weather is, the easier it will be for us to slip in unnoticed. It'll be a mess, but the messier, the better."
                          
"If you say so."
                          
"You'll see," she said and turned to Buck. "You ready?"
                          
"You kidding? I was born ready," Buck said and laughed. He started flipping switches throughout the cockpit, and moments later, the engines came alive, at first an almost undetectable whistling sound that grew to a whine and then finally a roar. He turned and handed Denton a pair of headphones. "You'll need these," he shouted above the noise. "You strapped in?"
                          
Denton put on the headphones and nodded. He heard Leah's acknowledgment through the intercom built into the headphones.
                          
"Alright, folks here we go," Buck yelled into his mic. Denton heard a loud bang behind him as the cargo ramp closed and locked in place. The craft rocked side to side as the engines lifted the old ship just off of the hangar floor. A vehicle pulled up in front of them and quickly hooked them to a long boom and towed them over to a launch pad. Buck expertly positioned them in the middle of the pad and then waved through the window to an operator in a booth just to the side of the pad.
                          
The ship bounced slightly as the landing pad descended into the floor. They waited a moment while the hangar bay closed above them after which the pad beneath them parted in the middle. Each half of the pad slid aside and allowed their ship continued to descend out of the belly of the hangar and into space. Buck waited until they were safely away from the hull of the hangar before he engaged the engines. Denton felt a slight tug of gravity as they accelerated away.
                          
"Just a heads up back there," Buck said through the intercom. "This thing isn't exactly airtight all the time. If you start feeling dizzy, just grab the oxygen mask on your left. The guys we took this thing from didn't exactly put maintenance high on their priority list."
                          
"What, this thing leaks air? In space?"
                          
Buck turned and grinned as he shrugged. "Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. Just sayin', in case, you know."