At a signal from one of the truckers, the pilot released the lifting rope. Under his command, the Hughes Stallion copter pitched forward and banked right, accelerating across the nearby open desert. Chase knew if he watched for long enough the craft would be many kilometers away before he finally lost sight of the harsh light reflecting off its metal skin. Here, just northeast of the Texas-Aztlan border, the land was bare, open, dry, and breathtakingly beautiful for all those same reasons.