Chance Made Us Sisters (AU,CC,MATURE) END - 8/15/11

[mary mary]

Okay, before any of you start reading this keep in mind it’s fantasy…there isn’t one word of truth to it except for one thing and one thing only. I did verify the weight of a Cessna…it was so scary that I verified it with several other web sites and the thing weighs anywhere from 1300 to 1600 pounds empty of people and fuel. My car weighs more than that!!! So…X AF , just join me in the laughter!

Ginger

Banner by me
Sentiment by Hallmark

Title: Chance Made Us Sisters Love Made Us Friends
Rating: Mature

Genre: A/U ( M/L S/T some M/M T/K)

Summary: Liz and Serena are sisters and both are airline hostesses as are their friends Maria, Tess and Isabelle. Liz and Serena are married to airline pilots, Max and Tony. Maria is married to Michael, the head of security at the airport where their airline is based and Isabelle is married to Alex, the head of air traffic control, Tess’ husband, Kyle, is the lead mechanic for the airline that the girls all work for. What happens when the sky seems to fall in on you?

Disclaimer: I have absolutely nothing to do with the show Roswell nor any of it’s constituents. I have borrowed the name of the characters simply because I like them.

*****

Prologue:

“Come on Lizzie, you can do it.” Four year old Serena Parker was trying desperately to get her little eleven month old sister to walk for her and Lizzie was trying just as hard as any baby could ever have tried because she loved her older sister and even at that age she wanted to be up and running with her. It was always going to be like that…Little Lizzie Parker loved her sister Serena Parker and wanted to be just like her.

The years flew by and all too soon Serena was off to college when Liz started high school, then Liz went off to college Serena joined the air force and continued with her graduate study clear across the country from Liz and then Liz started graduate study and Serena got married to Tony. It seemed as though their lives would be separate forever then Serena and Tony finally got their honorable discharges and Tony went to work for the airline out of O’Hare airport in Chicago, Il.

By that time Liz had her doctorate degree and had married her high school sweetheart, Max Evans, who was also an airline pilot out of O’Hare.

Both girls thought about joining the airlines in order to be with their husbands and to be together so the decisions were made. They both loved to travel, enjoyed seeing the world and it was a great experience. All of Liz’s high school clique also hired on with the airlines as did their spouses and Chicago became their home away from home. And this is where our story begins.


Chapter: 1

Max:

“Dammit Liz, if you don’t come on we’re going to be late…I’m leaving right now, get a cab. I can’t be late checking in and you know it.”

“Max, I’m coming I just need to make room for some underwear in my overnighter.”

“Liz, your underwear would fit in my shaving kit for God’s sake, now come on. You know we have to be on board before the passengers. Why in the hell do you do this every time we have an overnighter.”

“If you would take a shower by yourself and let me alone while I’m taking mine maybe we could be on time once in awhile Max Evans and you know this as well as I do. Now call me a cab from the limo because I’m still getting dressed. Go! I’ll meet you at the airport. Tell Serena I’ll take Siberia for her if she’ll do the demo for me.”

“Oh for God’s sake…you know Tony is going to have a fit if you’re not with me. Get your ass out here now…go without underwear. You look better without it anyway, besides I’ll be the only one who knows.”

“Like hell, you’ll be sporting a boner the size of Florida all the way across the Atlantic and we both know it. Now go Max...I’ll be there on time.”

“Suit yourself Sexy…and this is your fault, you know that.” I say under my breath as I open the door to our apartment which, I might add is right next door to Serena and Tony’s…Liz’s sister and her husband, my co-pilot this trip. We really should share a larger apartment and save money these two are always together anyway.

“I heard that Max Evans and this is not my fault. If you would keep your horny hands off me for one hour I might be able to get to places on time.”

“LOVE YOU!”

“Love you too…bye.”

As I leave our apartment Tony and Serena are both exiting their front door as well and they give me a knowing grin and Tony shakes his head as Serena looks at him out of the corner of her eye and shakes her head ‘no’. I can tell, Tony has been enjoying his morning as well…

“Don’t shut the door Max…” I look at Serena and she winks and sticks her head into our apartment …

“Come on Liz, your underwear got mixed with mine when we did laundry, I packed up the good stuff for you, let’s go.”

“Shit Serena, why in the hell didn’t you tell me this sooner.”

“Because it’s more fun this way,” She yells.

We all wait and I start to count down…ten, nine, eight … all the way to one and here she comes, red faced and frazzled, looking gorgeous as hell and the four of us board the limousine that we have hired to take us to the airport. We are all on the same flight to Paris this morning, if you can call 5:00 a.m. morning…I call it the middle of the night. We load our luggage in the back compartment and Tony grabs Serena and plops her down on his lap, she snuggles in and promptly closes her eyes.

Liz:

“Promise her a nap did you?” I ask with a grin.

“Oh, he promised more than that Liz Evans…you can count on it.” My sister grins against her husbands shirt even though her eyes are closed and she’s all snuggled in.

“Damn Serena, you’re the only woman I know that makes her husband promise favors for favors.” I giggle at her, she’s a sight to behold…even when she’s half awake she’s gorgeous.

“Oh contraire mon ami, we make no promises, it’s a foregone conclusion. You interrupt my sleep I am going to get a nap and then some. No question about it.” And she wiggles her way into a more comfortable spot and Tony wraps her in his arms with the care you would give a new born babe. All I can say right now is, we are two of the luckiest women on the planet and I take Max’s hand in mine and hold on as I smile to myself.

Max and I both laugh at my sister…Max doesn’t wake me up for favors, he makes damn sure I am wide awake before the favors start. His theory… he wants me to totally enjoy the favor as much as he’s enjoying it and then he complains if I’m late getting out of the apartment. It’s his game and he’s got it timed right down to the last possible second and I love him for it. I love him for many reasons and all of them fall into the category of ‘he’s my life’ and I smile as I look out the window of the limousine that will take us to our home away from home, 35,000 feet above sea level.

*~*~*

As we exit the limousine, oh, by the way…a limousine for four is cheaper than a cab, we really aren’t snobs! Anyway, as we exit the limousine Tess and Maria are both getting out of Kyle’s car and then we notice Isabelle giving Alex a kiss as she exits their SUV. Alex probably doesn’t need to be at the airport yet but he would never let Isabelle take a transatlantic without being there for her. Michael and Kyle are most likely there for both reasons, work and wives. We all wave and then Tony and Max take off for the check in area for pilots while the five of us grab our bags and start the long walk to the employee check in station before heading to our boarding area.

The chatter is light and fun as we make our way through security and then the terminal and it isn’t long before we’re walking down the ramp to the plane along with the other stewardesses. They have a tendency to treat us with a little disdain since we seem to be, as they term it, the selected few. We laugh at them and let them have their fun. Sometime I think I would rather do the serving and maintenance rather than being responsible for the safety and the other duties attached to the job that most people are not aware of. We are all certified EMT’s… besides Serena has a doctorate in aeronautical engineering, something she acquired while stationed at Laughlin Air Force Base. Most people don’t realize that you have free time while in the armed forces, if there’s no war, and if you’re fortunate enough to be near a university it’s easy to attend. In some cases the military branch you serve in will also pay for that education if you promise to give them X number of years of service for each year of schooling. In Serena’s case, she used scholarships and, by living on base, her military pay.

I’ve got my masters in micro-biology, Maria and Tess are both graduates of Pace U. in N.Y. with back to back degrees in journalism and business and Isabelle has a masters in design. We are doing this job because we get to be with our husbands and believe it or not the pay is fantastic. Some day, when we decide where we really want to set up permanent residence we will give this up, work in our chosen fields and eventually become stay at home moms. That’s the plan right now, who knows what God has in store for us.

Serena and I have first class this trip, Maria, Tess and Isabelle have business class and the rest of the crew have coach. It’s going to be a long trip and daylight the whole way so we have set up the coffee pots and hot water service to begin with and then ready all of the fresh fruit and pastry trays. We will take breakfast orders shortly after take off and we have the linen closets all stocked with blankets and pillows. Serena is singing as she works and soon Max and Tony board and head into the cockpit and leave the door open. They both take their jackets off and Max points to Tony’s shirt and grins…Serena has left a face imprint on his chest and Tony looks down and pats it affectionately with a great big grin on his face. He is not the least bit embarrassed by this and Max gives him a thumbs up. Serena and I both see this and smile at each other. She loves Tony just as much as I do Max, no doubt about it. Our dad has told us how lucky we are to have them and we know it.

Well, looks like we have a blond section and a brunette section this trip , how nice! I guess I get the back of the plane as usual…That’s Pam, everyone loves Pam, she has such a sweet personality. She’d better be careful with a remark like that, Maria’s in ear shot and just might trip her. The plane is still empty and accidents do happen. Serena looks at me and laughs. I wonder which pilot she’ll put the make on today. None of the other stewards and stewardesses know that we are married to the pilots and we like to keep it that way. Some of them don’t realize that we have been at this a whole lot longer than they have but that’s okay too…they just need to do their job and we’ll all be happy campers as the saying goes. Oh, by the way, Max and I both took flying lessons together and so we both have our pilots license as does Serena. We grew up around planes as children as our grandfather was a crop duster. You know how your father will let you steer the car sometime, when it’s safe, well our grandfather had us flying a plane at a very young age and we loved it, especially Serena, that’s why she chose the air force and aeronautical engineering.

“Liz, do you want to do the instruction pamphlet today while I load the movies into the DVD player. We got a new library in and the techs didn’t get to it. There’s a note here.” My sister asks as she starts to read the choices on the list.

“Sure. How about the wash cloths? Do they have them in the steamer or have you had time to check it out?”

“They’re in there…everything seems to be in order except for the movies. Apparently someone got really sick on the inbound and they had an awful mess to clean up. They actually removed the seat in front of the passenger and bolted down a new one.”

“Well, they did a great job. Has anyone checked out the new seat for anything strange?”

“Oh, I’m sure they have…they wouldn’t just install a new seat without going through security first.”

“Well, I hope not.”

I went over to the memo and read the seat number and proceeded to take a look at the object in question and then got down on my hands and knees and looked underneath to do a visual and everything looked perfectly normal.

My sister stood there with her hands on her hips shaking her head and my husband poked his nose out of the cockpit to see what in the hell I was doing while Serena explained that a new seat had been installed. Max got a concerned look on his face and nodded and the next thing I knew he and Tony were down on their hands and knees along with me and started helping. Serena could not believe what her eyes were telling her and she called the boarding station and told them to hold the passengers until further notice. If Tony and Max were concerned then she would follow procedure and comply. A passenger had gotten sick, that’s all that was wrong, but I didn’t feel right about it.

We looked, we felt and we all jabbed and probed and decided that everything looked perfectly fine and all things were good to go. Pam poked her nose in and Serena just pointed to the back of the plane and the red head turned and started walking through business class when Maria confronted her and told her that under no circumstances was she to come this way again until this plane landed in Paris.

“We have enough to do without worrying about you interfering with our passengers. You get back to your assigned station and do your job Pam. There’s nothing up here you need to be concerned with.” And Maria pointed to the rear of the plane.

Maria turned and looked at me and shook her head in wonderment.

“I thought we would be rid of her after we graduated high school. How did we manage to get stuck with her now?” Maria complained as she continued to check magazines and booze inventory, which was done before and after each trip, making sure the bar was fully stocked and balanced with the inventory sheet left by the inbound crew before we took off.

“I think we can thank my dad for that…” I told her…”he told me that she was in the Crash last year and wanted to know all about us and he told her we all worked for the air-lines and how nice it was that we got paid to travel the world. I guess that’s all it took. Can you believe it, my own father betraying us like that?” And we all laughed.

Serena had already called the check in desk and gave them our go-ahead and soon the passengers started boarding. First class first, then business and then coach. We had a full house today and it looked like it was going to be fun. The people all seemed pleasant and ready for a long grueling trip across the Atlantic Ocean but the weather was looking good and sunshine always meant pleasantness. Max and I have reservations for dinner at Maxims this evening and I think it’s going to be great. I can hardly wait. We’ve been to Paris quite a few times but this evening is something special, it’s our second anniversary and we are looking forward to having a nice relaxing meal before our return tomorrow. Then it’s four days off. That’s another great thing about this job, you can work as many or as few days as you wish. You get paid by the trip, so if I want a couple of days to visit Mom and Dad I can have it. Well, here they come…

*~*~*

[mary mary]

Carolyn: Let's hope so...it's pure fantasy, BIG TIME FANTASY!
Superman86: Here you go, ch. 2 is up and running.
Kris: Thank you and here's some more...
XAF RU208: This, as I said, is pure fantasy...but, it could happen. All things are possible!!!
Dreambeliever: Yep, another little short one but it was fun to write. Hang in there with me, I think you might enjoy it.

cjeb: I think Chapter 3 will answer your question and I'm a huge fan of NCIS and have always thought that there was a tremendous resemblance between Cote and Shiri in so many ways. I don't know why, that's how I came up with this fic.

*~*~*

Chapter: 2

Serena took her place next to the door that opened to the boarding ramp and put on her best smile as she greeted the first class passengers boarding the plane and showed them to the aisle way leading to the first class seats located at the front of the plane where Liz stood and greeted all ten of them, helping them with their outer coats and hanging them in the coat closet designated especially for their pleasure, helping them stow their carryon luggage above their seats and then the business class passengers started boarding next where Isabelle stood with that gorgeous smile of hers plastered on her face like a painting and Liz just looked at her and winked, causing the exquisite looking woman to crack up.

Behind her was the cute bubbly little blond with the bouncy curls helping the passengers just as Liz had done and Maria helped the mothers with the little ones to find their seats and get them comfortable. There were only a few but Maria was right there…when she motioned for Pam to come forward the red head was right there also…whatever else Pam was she was great with these people and Maria appreciated that about her. When she needed an extra hand Pam was always the one she beckoned and Pam felt special because she knew there were four up front who didn’t think a whole lot of her. It took about an hour to get everyone situated and then Isabelle took over with the on board safety instructions. She informed the passengers that their in air time would be a little over seven hours and if anyone should need anything at all to please push their call button.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome aboard flight 1331 non-stop to Paris. This is a non-smoking flight and please remain seated until the seat belt light has been turned off. We hope you all have an enjoyable flight…my name is Isabelle and our other attendants have their names on their shirts for easy identification.”

After she went through the instruction pamphlet situated in front of all seats and everything had been stowed and secured she and the rest of the flight crew buckled up.

Soon they were in the air and all systems were working great. When they finally leveled off Maria and Tess prepared the beverage cart while Isabelle handed breakfast menu’s to the business class passengers. Serena and Liz were busy doing the same in the first class compartment while Pam had her crew were all working the aisles in coach; everything was running smoothly in all compartments and the plane droned on.

“Hey Max, check and see if one of our girls can bring me a bottle of water, my mouth is really dry for some reason, I was up twice during the night getting water, I don’t what’s going on.” Tony said as Max looked on.

“Yeah sure Tony…hang in there buddy. Are you sure you’re feeling alright?”

Max was a little concerned about his co-pilot, it wasn’t like him to ask the girls for anything…they brought their own food on board and didn’t bother the stewardesses for anything while in flight. They all had a job to do and they all respected that…but this was different.

Liz was the first to notice the light over the cockpit and stuck her nose in to see what was up, she was concerned when the light came on this early into the flight, they usually didn’t go into the cockpit for anything unless summoned.

“Hey you two, everything okay?” She asked…

“Yeah, can you bring Tony a bottled water?”

“Sure…be right back.” And she was gone that quick.

She reached the galley and promptly opened the cubby containing the water and pulled one out when Serena popped in for some hot water for a passenger who needed a cup of tea and saw Liz with the water bottle..

“Hey, I didn’t notice anyone ask for that,” she asked as she smiled at her sister.

“Oh, it’s for Tony.”

“Really…is he alright?” Serena was a little surprised that her husband would need something, especially this soon into the flight.

“Max didn’t say…just that he wanted some water.”

“Window seat, 10.” Serena said and Liz nodded and took the hot water, tea bags and the cup sitting on a tray from her sister and Serena took the water for her husband. Liz smiled, she would do the same thing.

Serena headed to the cockpit with the bottled water and was stopped along the way by another passenger who needed a pillow. She gave him her killer smile and said she would be right back with one and kept on going toward the cockpit.

“Hey, you okay there sport?” She asked her husband as she handed him his water. She noticed his eyes didn’t look so hot but she didn’t say anything…nobody else would notice but she knew him too well.

“I’m fine angel…just a dry mouth, nothing to worry about.” And he smiled at his wife as she looked at him with concern…

“if you say so. Call me if you need anything else.” Serena took a look at Max and nodded toward Tony and Max nodded back. They both knew he wasn’t as good as he was letting on and Max got Serena’s message loud and clear. He would watch out for him that’s for sure. And Serena left to go get a pillow. That’s why they were there after all.

And the plane kept on rising and humming out over the Atlantic Ocean. All of the girls laughed and kidded with each other and their passengers and managed to keep everyone happy and comfortable. The coach passengers were the one’s getting up and moving around. The accommodations were a little more cramped in that area and the stewardesses did their best to keep everyone occupied. They had three movies planned throughout the leg of the journey between meals and snacks and it seemed that the majority of the passengers were seasoned travelers as they had their own electronic devices to keep them busy and some even had their own food. All in all things were going along fine when they heard a terrible crunch and the plane suddenly lurched and seemed to drop. All emergency lights went on and 2 stewards and eight stewardesses all grabbed something to steady themselves. Liz ran to the back of first class and drew a curtain as Serena checked all passengers for seat belt hook ups and then the oxygen masks all dropped from the overhead. Serena looked at Liz and pointed to the cockpit and Liz nodded.

Isabelle and her two were just as busy with their twelve passengers, getting everyone buckled and calmed down and Pam stuck her nose into business class and flagged Maria…

“We have a problem back here Maria…one of the passengers looks like he might be in cardiac arrest. I’ve tried getting the oxygen mask on but his wife, or partner, is giving me a hard time…everyone else is flying short of panic here and I could sure…” Maria didn’t allow her to finish…she pointed to the aisle leading to the passenger and smiled at Isabelle as she pointed to the coach. Isabelle nodded and motioned for her to go.

When they got to the passenger the female sitting next to him was close to hysterics and Maria looked at the woman and said two words, very sternly…

“Straighten up!” The woman looked at Maria in shock and then Maria grabbed Pam’s hand and told her to recline the seat while she held the man’s head for him and then placed the oxygen mask on the man’s face. Maria felt for a pulse and held a hand over the man’s heart to feel for a rhythm then she told Pam to find another seat for the man’s companion. Pam nodded and left the area immediately. When she came back Maria had Liz on her cell asking for any further instructions and Liz told her she was doing fine. If she felt they needed a doctor they would use the PA system and ask for one but right now they needed to survey the situation “upstairs”.

“Good enough Liz…any idea what happened?”

“Not yet Ria, but Serey is talking to the pilots right now. I’ll keep you posted and you do the same.”

Then the passenger flying next to the ill man spoke up…

“My husband has a history of passing out when things scare him. He’s going to be fine and I promise I’ll behave, I just got a little concerned too. Do you know what happened?”

“No maam, we don’t but as soon as we know anything at all we will let you know. It is not our intention to keep secrets from our passengers even if the news is bad. In cases like this honesty is the best way to go. Now, if you can behave yourself and listen to what Pam tells you to do we will not move you but the first sign of any trouble you will be moved. Pam knows what she is doing and your care is her primary concern. Do you understand this?”

Pam was standing behind Maria at this time and was shocked that her co-worker would speak that way about her, they had always been enemies so to speak, high school enemies that is and she was really pleased with the compliment Maria had just paid her. It was true though, she did put her passengers comfort and safety above her own.

The passenger nodded her head to Maria and Maria took this opportunity to stand and find Pam… who was behind her.

“Pam, she said this is normal for her husband to react this way but if she gives you any trouble we’ll put her up in business with us. We can’t be worried about her when we have other problems.”

“Okay Maria, and thanks.” And Pam meant what she said, the little red head was getting a lesson in maturity today…there was no room for personality clashes when you were working.

“You’re welcome Pam and call me if you have any problems. Oh, and I’ll let you know what’s going on up front as soon as we know.”

In the meantime the plane seemed to be steady in the air but there was a very strange noise coming from the roof.
*
When Serena entered the cockpit she was struck with a scene that sent her to a place she never dreamed of in a million years, she had been prepared for many case scenario’s while in the Air Force but this was something new.

*~*~*

[mary mary]

Kris: The answer to your question lies within! No, really, here's what Serena saw!
X AF RU 208: Hey, sometime I can get sneaky...I've been reading these things for three years now so I'm learning! Here's the big surprise!!! It's fiction...remember!!! It's fiction!!!
Carolyn: The big surprise is here, today...and probably no posting everyday, but very frequent. It's only about 8 chapters long so the surprises aren't going to be that great, not after this one anyway.
Dreambeliever: The big surprise is here!!!

Thanks guys.
*~*~*

Chapter: 3

When Serena entered the cockpit she was struck with a scene that sent her to a place she never dreamed of in a million years, she had been prepared for many case scenario’s while in the Air Force, had heard some horrendous stories but this was something new altogether.

(Please keep in mind this is fiction and I made this up so any of you professional flight people that are reading please… just enjoy the fairy tale!)

There, on the outside of the plane, stuck right in the nose, was another aircraft. This was not possible…and then she looked at her husband who was frantically adjusting his instruments while Max was trying very hard to explain to the tower what had happened. Serena just stood there and watched and listened. Apparently a smaller plane must have hit an air pocket and plopped itself down on the top of their aircraft and skidded over the front and was now stuck to something. Serena told Tony that it looked like a great big booger. Max snorted, he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and Tony almost yelled at her…”Not now Serena!”

Max was using much more technical terms in his description but basically that’s what happened and Serena didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, it looked like the damn jumbo jet was trying to hump the little Cessna, just like the German Shepherd down the street pushing that little poodle across the park while two owners tried frantically to separate them.

Unlike the passenger who passed out Serena was more of a hysterical laughter type of person…just like her sister. Oh this was going to be a nightmare. They were past the half way mark with no land in sight for at least two hours even if they veered off course. Max was trying very calmly to convince an anxious Alex that Isabelle was in as good of hands as everyone else at the moment and he hoped Alex understood that prayers would be nice.

Serena nodded to Max, patted her husband on the shoulder and exited the cockpit. Liz took one look at her sister’s face and nodded to let her pass, which Serena did. When Liz entered the cockpit she just stood and looked wide eyed out the front window and then at Max. Max never took his eyes from the control panel but he knew she was there and then he said, in a very calm voice…

“Liz, I love you very much and we are going to land these planes and have a wonderful anniversary celebration. It is going to be the best celebration we will ever experience because we will know that we have each other forever. Now you go do your job and we’ll do ours. God bless.” And Liz left, while whispering….

“God’s speed, I love you too Max.”

*


Back in coach Pam was doing her best to calm her fellow employees down because it was imperative that they present a calm persona to their passengers and then Maria got her attention and motioned for her to join them up front.

Pam made her way through the aisles, checking on seat belts and oxygen masks as she approached the front of the plane where Maria took her hand and led her to the galley between first class and business.

Serena and Liz were both standing there waiting for them when Isabelle and Tess joined them.

“Okay ladies, here’s the scoop…” and Serena began to tell the women what their situation was and that they had all of the confidence in the world in their husbands.

“Wait, your husbands!” Pam interjected…as she pointed between the two ladies with sort of a wrinkled up nose.

“Yes Pam, Tony is my husband and Max is Liz’s. There’s no need to keep secrets now…we have confidence in our husbands and they assured us that we would be landing in Paris as scheduled. All of us. We don’t know what the damage is to the top of the plane but we know there has to be something going on up there so, as Max hinted to Alex, let’s pray.” And Isabelle grinned…

“He’s probably a wreck. Too bad he couldn’t have joined us on this one, he would have had a field day.” And Maria and Tess both giggled.

“Well, shall we announce it or just tell them that we hit an air pocket.”

“Oh hell, I like the air pocket, why share our excitement?” Liz said.

“Sounds good to me. Should I tell the others?” Pam asked.

“No, no need to upset them. Just be prepared for something strange just in case. I don’t know what to tell you to be prepared for because I have no idea.” Serena said. And with that all of the women headed back to their stations.

*
Meanwhile, back in the tower, Alex Whitman was about two seconds shy of having a coronary.

“Alright people, listen up. International flight #1331 has just been hit with a small Cessna that apparently hit an air pocket. According to the pilot the damned thing is stuck to the front of our plane some how. We don’t know what it’s hanging on to but at this point in time our plane is plowing over the Atlantic and seems to be tolerating the added weight. Our main concern at this time is fuel. It’s going to take more fuel to fly with this added weight and although we have more than enough fuel on board 1331 we don’t know how much extra they will need until we get an engineer in here.” And then Alex remembered Serena’s expertise in that field and grabbed a mike. “Max”

“Yeah Alex, I’m kinda busy here…what do you need buddy?”

“Get Serena in there with you and give her a head set.”

“Will do.” And Max reached up over his head and found the cockpit light and turned it on.

The next thing he knew Liz stuck her head in…

“What’s up Max?”

“Alex needs to speak to Serena and if I’m any judge of our problem here tell her to bring lots of writing paper and some pencils.”

“Sure thing.” And Liz was out the door.

“What’s up Liz?” Serena wanted to know.

“Alex needs your expertise…Max said to take lots of paper and pencils with you.”

“Gotcha!”

And Serena went to a cubby and got the inventory note book that was loaded with blank sheets of paper and an attached pencil and headed forward to the cockpit.

“Where is she going with that book?” One of the passengers asked.

“Oh, that’s what she uses to write down their food orders.” Liz lied…as she nodded her head and did a quiet ‘mmmm’hmmm’.

“Oh.” The passenger acknowledged the reply.

*

When Serena entered the cockpit Tony motioned to the head phones in the navigators seat and Serena sat down and put them on and said…

“Hi Alex…you need some calculations?”

“Yeah Sere. I need you to approximate just how much extra fuel it’s going to take to land with approximately 1300 pounds extra weight empty, we have no idea how many people on board.”

“Fair enough Alex, oh, and Isabelle is sorry you couldn’t join us this morning. She said you would have a blast. Now I have to get busy here. And Alex. Stay off the line until I contact you I will need input from our pilots and they can’t be concentrating on both of us. Can you do that?”

“Yeah, sure Sere…just, thank God you’re there.” And Alex disconnected his end of the conversation.

“Okay you two. You both know what I need from you and I’m certain between the two of you, you can keep me apprised of wind velocity and directions. Let’s get started so we can land this puppy and get to dinner.”

Max and Tony both looked at each other and grinned and started taking instrument readings while Serena pulled a weight figure for about seven passengers from the little calculator Liz had given her. She was using maximum weights and passenger numbers out of her head and started working on their problems.

The three people in the cockpit worked for what seemed like hours when in fact it was only forty five minutes and Serena had an approximate figure for Alex. When she told him that she felt they would be fine as far as the fuel was concerned Alex breathed a sigh of relief and the next thing he knew he had Michael standing in the tower with him, listening in.

“Alex, are they okay?”

“Yeah Michael. Serena is in the cockpit monitoring fuel to make sure they can get across the Atlantic and everyone is fine. It’s an air collision! It seems that a Cessna….” And Alex trailed off as Kyle showed up in the doorway motioning to Alex. Alex motioned Kyle in and proceeded to fill them both in on the situation with #1331 and both men looked terrified.

“Look you two…my wife is on that flight too, so here’s what we need to do. Go do your jobs and have faith that Max and Tony can do theirs. Serena is the flight engineer right now and I have all the faith in the world in her. She’s not going to let anything happen to her family and you can count on that. So back to work. I’ll call you as soon as I know anything more. And Michael, I don’t need to inform you of security right now…do it because we don’t know what actually caused this.” And Kyle and Michael left the tower to get back to their jobs.

Meanwhile back in the sky Liz had to grab Maria to help her and Maria asked Pam to work close to the curtains separating business and coach just in case they needed an extra hand. She didn’t think they would but you never knew. Pam of course was only too happy to be put in a position to be of some help besides just a coach stewardess. It always was her biggest problem, she never appreciated that, if you were there, you were as important as everyone else. Maybe after this she would understand better.

*~*~*

[mary mary]

Eve: It looks like we have the same taste in TV. I hope you enjoyed your company and glad to have you back.
Kris: Ah, my imagination really went wild on this one but I think it could happen.
XAF RU208: Hey...my imagination really went over the top this time. Although I must say, in real life I've seen things stranger. Wait til you see how I get out of this mess.
Carolyn: Maybe I should have stuck Bruce Willis in that Banner!!!

*~*~*

Chapter: 4

Back on the ground Michael bumped up security in the entire airport. No one left or entered any gates, planes were detained on landing strips and planes landing were re-routed. Everything came to a stop…all law enforcement agencies were requested to send all of their spare people to maintain order and everyone sat and waited. Most passengers were understanding of the entire incident but there were the usual few that were full of threats and acting impressed with themselves. Michael just shook his head and made a silent bet with himself that they were glad they weren’t up there with his wife at this time.

Back in the hanger Kyle had his men all looking for anything strange in the bays…one mechanic brought a strange looking device over to Kyle that one of the mechanics brought over from one of the private hangers. It looked like something that someone would use as a remote control device of some kind and Kyle immediately called Michael and then Alex.

Michael checked the rosters for all take offs in the past 5 hours and found that one cargo transport took off just minutes after 1331 and he got to wondering. He called the FBI and informed them of all of the information they had on the aircraft and the FBI took over from there. They had records of the owner of the plane and what it was used for but it had been idle since the day it was delivered six months ago. It had never been moved from it’s original position until this morning. If there was foul play the only thing Michael could think of on the positive side was 1331 was manned by the best. And having Serena and Liz on board was a God send. Between the four of them that plane should land perfectly safe. All they needed to figure out was how in the hell to get that hitchhiker off their nose.


Back in the hangar that Kyle was in:

Kyle had one of his mechanics take a look at the tool he had in his hand and the guy, whose name was Chuck, took a look and shook his head…

“Kyle, I’ve been around these hangars for years and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything that looked like that. Why don’t we get the new kid in here, his name is Paul. He came to us with a fairly thick resume’ from NASA maybe he'll recognize it.”

“Great idea, have any idea where he is right now?”

And Chuck looked at his watch and motioned to the employees check in.

“If you hurry maybe you can catch him before he leaves.”

Kyle nodded and called security at the employees station…

“Hey, can you guys check and see if Paul,” and Kyle looked at Chuck and turned his hand over indicating he needed a last name…Chuck nodded ‘no’,
“we don’t have a last name, checked out yet?”

Security answered back…

“Nobody checked out…we’re on lock down. Guerin is on a hunt for something and none of us have a clue.”

“Well, to make a long story short #1331 is in trouble…find the mechanic that came over to us from NASA and send him to cargo bay “P 18” (P for private…I made it up.)

“Will do Kyle and is the trouble with 1331 private?”

“Yeah, I think for now it should be. We don’t know what we’re looking for right now so let’s not tip our hand just yet.”

“Right you are Kyle…I’ll see to it that Paul has a cart to get him there faster.”

“Thanks security…I appreciate it.”

*

“Well, what did he say?”

“It seems as though Guerin has the entire airport on lock down and Security will send Paul over, he should be here shortly.”

“Great, he’s a good man.” Kyle nodded to Chuck as he started dialing another number on his cell.

“Michael, Kyle here. Hey, we’ve got a strange looking gadget over here at P-18 and we’ve asked security to send over a mechanic that just got hired on a while back…background NASA. Chuck seems to think that if anyone knows what the hell this thing is this kid might. I hear we’re on lock down so I thought I should inform you of what I’m doing. This hangar was rented out about 6 months ago and nothing ever moved from it until our 1331 moved out. I just thought I should check out the large cargo transports for the hell of it and something is not right out here.”

“Kyle, that sounds great, keep me informed and in the meantime I’ll give Alex a call and see if he can track that plane for us.”

“You got it Michael, let’s pray our girls are safe.”

“You know it man, and everyone else aboard. At least they’re flying with the best of the best.”

“Yeah…prayers to you man.”

“Yeah, keep me posted.”

And they hung up.

“What did you mean by ‘our girls’ Kyle?”

“Oh, Michael’s, Alex’s and my wives are all on board that flight. They’re all flight attendants.”

“Oh shit man, I am sorry to hear that.”

“No sweat. They are in good hands. If anyone can fly that thing out of this it’s those four.”

“Four?”

“Yeah, the two pilots are married to two of the attendants who are also pilots and one is actually an aeronautical engineer. She flies to be with her husband, besides, the girls can pretty much name their own hours and they like that. Tess, my wife, takes three flights a week unless it’s transoceanic then it’s one. It takes about three days for an oceanic flight. They usually have to spend the night, or the day, and do the turnaround. She likes it actually…says she gets to see the world. I prefer terra firma myself.” And Chuck laughed.

About that time Paul showed up in the little ‘golf cart’ type transport with his tool box perched in the seat next to him. Chuck laughed, “the kid brings his own tools to everything.” As Paul explained to Kyle, ‘they’re my best friend’.

“Well guys, what have you got?” He asked as he held his hand out to Kyle. Kyle smiled at the kid, he liked him and “the kid” Chuck was talking about was about his age…made Kyle wonder about what Chuck thought of him.

“Kyle.” Kyle introduced himself and nodded as he took the young man’s hand and Paul returned the nod….”S’nice to meet you, and we don’t know what we have here. It’s something strange looking but yet oddly familiar.” Kyle continued…

Paul went over to the table where Chuck and Kyle had put the instrument they had found near the cargo bay door and took a closer look.

“I think this is a part of a larger item…a very important part. Are there any empty cartons laying around loose…like trash?” Paul started an eye search before moving from the work bench. Kyle and Chuck started to look around as well and Kyle spotted a Dempsey Dumpster over in the corner that looked as though it had never been emptied. There was regular trash pick up around these bays but you had to put the dumpster out in order for it to get dumped.

Kyle pointed and all three men headed over to the trash bin and climbed up the sides for a better look. It didn’t take Paul but three seconds to jump feet first into the thing and start tossing boxes out onto the ground below. The other two men just hopped down and allowed the young man free hand…he looked like a man on a mission with trash flying everywhere.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you…when he’s working just give him room.”

“I can see that. Do you have any idea what he’s looking for?” Kyle wondered…

“Not a clue. Maybe he’s trying to build something in his mind from the parts that were once in these boxes. Boot up that computer over there and start entering descriptions…if we get a hit enter some part numbers. Maybe between the three of us we’ll come up with something.” Chuck urged…

“Great idea…” And about that time Michael, Alex and a couple FBI agents came into the cargo bay.

“Hey Kyle…have you found out anything yet? We have the owners name and it’s a corporation out of ….”

And about this time Paul jumped out of the dumpster and said…

“Southeast Asia.” Michael looked toward the new voice and then at Kyle.

“Michael, this is Paul…the NASA mechanic I was looking for. Paul, this is Michael, head of security and Alex…tower control. I don’t know these two gentlemen Paul…otherwise I would introduce them as well.”

“Hey guys, how are you. The parts that came from these boxes were shipped to a firm with a South/East Asia name forwarded to here. It’s all on those return address labels…the parts in question need to be entered into the computer one by one on the shipping companies home page. They will tell us what was put onto that cargo plane. I have no idea what they built but the parts list will tell us how they are used. I’m surprised that all of this was left here. Must be from another country, sloppy work.” And Paul moved toward the computer while the rest of the men stood there and grinned.

“Chuck, start shouting off numbers as you throw those boxes back into the dumpster…I’ll enter them as you go.” And it looks like Kyle had a new leader on his watch and he just stood there and grinned at the young man who had a tendency to take over. Now he understood what Chuck meant. There was a job to do so get out of his way.

It wasn’t to say that the rest of the men were actually idle…the FBI agents called for a team to come in and do some fingerprinting of the place and then they started to look for anything else that might give them some clue as to who they were dealing with.

Chuck came across a box that looked as though it could have housed the item they found on the floor and took it over to the table where Paul was busily entering data and pulling up various finished products to see how the puzzle pieces all fit. When Paul looked at the box he picked up the item laying on the table and compared part numbers and sure enough the container was the right one. Paul smiled, laid the box next to the object and kept on working. So far nothing made sense

*~*~*

[mary mary]

Dreambeliever: My sentiments exactly...sometimes you'd just rather read a couple chapters than be left hanging.
Carolyn: I'm glad you think it's suspenseful...thank you.
XAF RU208: Yep...it beats the one where my husband was going to write about the trained dolphins that hearded fish like cattle.
Eve: Thank you, and at this point they don't know what they are looking for either!

*~*~*

Chapter: 5

Up in the air the girls were all working to get people fed and entertained while Serena kept on calculating based on changes in wind and temperature. One thing was for certain, it was cold out there.

Max looked off to his left and saw a Navy jet fighter off his starboard wing and wondered what in the hell was going on…back to the tower he went.

“Flight 1331 to tower. Can anyone hear me? This is flight 1331.”

“We hear you 1331.”

“I have a Navy jet on my wing, can you explain?”

“Yes 1331…he’s checking for damages to your topside. Please change your frequency to…” And the control tower gave Max a new radio reading which Max quickly changed to and identified himself.

“Hey 1331. I just did a visual on your topside and there are some deep grooves but you’re looking stable. I’ll be back later for another fly by…if there are any new developments up here I’ll contact your tower. Over and Out.”

“Over and Out Navy.” And Max switched channels again…He looked over at Tony who was now beet red and looked like he was burning up with fever…

“Hey man, are you okay?”

“Yeah, just get me some more water, please.” And Serena took a minute to look at her husband…oh, this was not good.

“I’ll get Liz… Max, hang in there. Tony unbuckle yourself, I’ll be right back.” And Serena was gone in a flash. Max looked over at Tony who looked like he could care less.

Serena exited the cockpit and motioned for Liz…

“Sweetie, listen to me. Tony is very ill and looks like he’s about to pass out. I can’t co-pilot because I need to do calculations. Get things worked out here and come back and help fly this thing.”

“Okay, do we need to prepare a space for Tony?”

“If you have one vacant yes. Otherwise the cockpit floor will have to do.”

“We’ll make room Serey…I’ll be there shortly.” Serey being the pet name for Serena when Liz was very very young, she needed that type of security right now.

Liz motioned for Maria to join her.

“Maria, I need to go into the cockpit and stay there. Tony is sick…can we fix up a sort of private area for him, and keep him away from the other passengers in case he’s contagious?”

“Sure…let me take the two passengers out of 1A and 1B and move them back to 10 C and 10 D. I don’t think they’ll mind and if they do I’ll just tell them to be prepared to catch a contagious disease.”

“Maria, you can’t do that!”

“Watch me!” She said with a really fierce emotional look on her face… Maria had decided she’d had about all the fun she could handle for one day.

So Maria moved her passengers without any difficulty at all, she and Liz removed the partition between the seats and stowed it in the overhead on 1 C, which was vacant, got all of the extra blankets out of the cubby and a couple of pillows then they went to the cockpit and practically drug Tony to the bed they had made up. Maria got a glimpse of what was going on outside and almost went black for a minute…Liz just kept on talking…”Come on Maria, don’t look at it, we’re fine.” And when they got Tony into his seat and buckled up Liz gave some final instructions just in case Maria was starting feel faint again. This wasn’t like Maria, she’s usually tougher than this.

“He’s burning up Maria, give him lots of water, stick some ice on him if he’ll let you and I’ll talk to you later.”

Maria nodded as she went to the refrigerated roll-around and got a bag of ice…wrapped it in a blanket and put it on Tony’s chest, then she went to the business class and motioned for Tess, Isabelle and Pam.

“Okay guys, Tony’s practically delirious with fever, Liz is now co-pilot and if anything else happens to this flight I’m giving up my day job, I swear!”

The other three young women started to giggle…more out of frustration and fear than anything else and Isabelle nominated herself to first class. Maria wanted to tell them that they wouldn’t be giggling if they saw what she had just seen but she let that remark pass.

“You two,” pointing to Tess and Pam, “need to take care of business and I’m going to help Maria in first. Tony is going to need too much monitoring and we can’t be ignoring our passengers so if you need more hands grab a coachman, okay?”

“Okay.” And 1331 kept making it’s way across the sky as a very busy group of young men on the ground tried to come up with a reason for such a terrible occurrence 35,000 feet above the ocean.

*

“Paul, have you figured anything out yet?” Michael asked the young mechanic.

“Not yet, but what I am finding is confusing as hell. Look here.”

And six men all crowded around the little computer screen…

“Look, the only thing that all of these parts go to is this giant magnet. What in the hell were they doing with a giant magnet on a cargo plane? And this little gizmo here, the one we found by the door, it’s some kind of control device. If they had something attached to the transport then they are having one helluva time because, without this they have absolutely no control over it. It controls the mechanism to one part of the magnet.”

“Good God. Do you think they dropped the Cessna from their belly and it landed on our craft and the plane has itself magnetized to the nose of 1331?”

“Well, that’s as good an answer as any other at this point. Can we contact the CEO of this corp. and find out what they were planning for this trip?”

Then one of the gentleman from the FBI suggested that they handle this. Whether it was intentional or accidental it needed to be investigated. If it was intentional then they needed to contact the CIA and have them in Paris when 1331 landed and also have someone available when the cargo plane lands as well.

“Alex, go find out if that cargo plane is still in the air and where it was headed.” The lead FBI agent said and Alex was on his phone in an instant contacting the tower for the itinerary of the outbound cargo plane.

“Paul, print your findings out and make sure there are enough copies to go around.” Michael asked of their new found friend…

“Hey chief, there’s no printer down here…what’s your e-mail and do you have a secretary?” Paul called Michael chief and that tickled the rest of the men and Michael had to grin…

“Yeah, send it to Guerin.net.ohare.com and I’ll call Cindy and tell her to get busy with copies.”

Then the FBI agent in turn gave Paul his e-mail and soon they had the specs of the ‘magnet’ going all over the airport. The FBI agents had their office dispatch more agents to the CEO of Cargo Transport Corp. of S. E. Asia. One thing in their favor, he lived in the U.S. which meant he probably spoke English. At least one thing was going in their favor. And if this company is from So. East Asia what in the hell are they doing over the Atlantic, they belong over the Pacific. Oh hell, Michael didn’t want to think about this shit right now…he wanted his wife in his arms carrying their unborn child safely in her belly.

*

Agent Becker and his partner, agent West pulled into the winding driveway after they identified themselves at the huge iron gate in front and soon found themselves in front of one humongous mansion. Becker looked at West and remarked…

“We’re in the wrong business!”

“Well maybe…but not for this reason. I’m not so sure I could handle living like this.”

“Oh hell, would I ever like the chance to find out!” And both men laughed. They unbuckled themselves and exited the standard gun metal gray Ford and walked up the long cement staircase to the front entry. When they arrived they were met by the butler, they guessed, and showed the man their badges. Agent West identified himself to the man and requested a meeting with Mr. George.

“Yes gentlemen. Mr. George is waiting for you in the study, this way.”

Becker looked at West and whispered…”Of course he is!” and West shook his head and kept on walking.

Soon they were shown into a beautiful room that was lined with beautiful dark wood, mahogany probably, shelves that housed a myriad of articles from books to a wet bar. The two agents were shown to seats sitting on the opposite side of a huge mahogany desk that matched the rest of the furnishings and Mr. George stood to shake their hands.

“Gentlemen, I understand that you have some questions regarding our company?”

“That’s correct Mr. George. Do you have a cargo plane flying out over the Atlantic at this time headed for Europe?”

“Well, I don’t know…but I certainly will find out for you. Can I get you something to drink while you wait?”

“No thank you Mr. George. We’re fine. We just need to find some answers within the next hour or so regarding a large magnet, a large transport and a small Cessna.”

Mr. George set the phone back in it’s cradle and looked at the men….and then he asked…

“Why?”

“Let’s just say it’s a need to know Mr. George. Do you know what we’re talking about…it seems you do.”

“Well, I’ve got a small Cessna that is to be flown over to Paris to be ready for my trip there next week but I don’t know when my crew planned on taking it or how. I assumed they would fly it over and take a commercial back. Are you trying to tell me they are trying to haul that thing over with the transport and a huge magnet. Good God NO! This is impossible. I told Randy not to hire those imbeciles. What happened?”

“Well Mr. George…we think your Cessna has attached itself to a commercial air liner out over the Atlantic with about 300 people aboard it. The Cessna is stuck to the nose of the jumbo jet and we found a very important piece of a giant magnet laying by a cargo bay door. We found a dumpster loaded with empty boxes that contained all the parts to build this giant magnet and there is a good chance that the cargo plane doesn’t even know it lost it’s passenger. Now can you give us any information on this project that can help us land our commercial airliner in France safely. At this time we know there is enough fuel on board the commercial flight to get to Paris but we need to know about this magnet.”

Mr. George was turning whiter by the minute…he called someone and started relaying information and orders left and right and then he told the person on the other end of the phone to call…

“Who should he call when he finds out about the operation of this thing?”

Becker looked at West and they both agreed that they needed to call the tower at O’Hare Airport. If anyone could relay information quickly it would be them since they had all the rest of the particulars on the case.

Then Mr. George gave instructions to the person on the other end of the phone and told him to get really busy because time was of the essence and hung up.

“You do understand Mr. George, that even though you knew nothing about this you are going to be held responsible for anything that might happen.”

“Yes, I understand fully. I can’t believe this. Dear God in heaven what have they done?” The man was distraught.

*

[mary mary]

Carolyn: I think those girls have a handle on those passengers!
Dreambeliever: You are a true dreamer...nothing kinky going on in the cockpit...yet/1
Eve: they're getting closer...oh! AND, FUBAR, in case you don't know is "flubbed up beyond all recognition" I cleaned up the first word for you a little!!!
XAF RU 208: No, unfortunately he didn't write children's books but, trust me, he should have.

*~*~*

Chapter: 6

In the cockpit of the transatlantic jumbo jet Liz was hanging on to the yoke (steering wheel) of the aircraft with white knuckles, her eyes planted on the hitchhiker outside of the plane and Max took a second to look at his wife and his heart started doing flip flops in his chest before he could say anything…

“Liz, listen to my voice. Please!” And Serena looked up from her calculations and checked on her sister…

Max continued,

“Liz, baby, listen to me. You have to relax honey…if you don’t you won’t be able to function if something goes wrong out there…now loosen up on that yoke Liz. Honey, you have to do it now.”

Liz didn’t hear a thing Max was saying…she was in her own world, she was concentrating on that plane and those controls and watching that ‘thing’ stuck to their nose…Serena looked at her sister for just a second and then she started to sing one of the songs that Liz loved when she little that used to listen to from her dad’s old records. Serena started out low and slow…

“Down in Louisiana, where the alligators grow so mean. Lived a girl, I swear to the world, made the alligators look tame.”[/b] Then she picked up on the beat and the decibel and let loose…” Polk salad Annie! (chomp, chomp) Gator’s got your grannie.”

Liz loosened up for just a second and Max turned and looked at Serena like she had just lost her mind and Serena nodded toward Liz…Max looked, grinned and nodded and watched as Serena sang about polk salad Annie losin’ her grandmother to the alligators and Liz started to sing along as she loosened her grip on the stick and took her eyes off of the hitchhiker. Max just shook his head and Liz and Serena sang all about alligators. When they finished “Polk Salad Annie” they started on “Amos Moses”. Amos’ daddy used to use him for alligator bait and Liz laughed. Serena watched her sister carefully and made sure that she stayed calm…she had a few more of dad’s old favorites that she could pull out of her hat if she needed to and Max Evans continued to keep his eyes trained for trouble as Liz kept her eyes on the controls.

In the body of the plane Maria and Isabelle kept the passengers in first class soused on champagne and even took it upon themselves to start soaking fresh strawberries in the stuff and passed it on to the passengers in coach. They didn’t really have enough bottles to get the entire plane happy but they could sure keep the first class and business people happy.

Isabelle called Pam forward and asked her how the hyper guy was doing and Pam told her she would go and check and Isabelle handed her a container of strawberries…

“Here, give him and his wife these. That should make them pretty calm and tell the stewards to make another pass with the beverage cart, on the house.”

“Will do…if we can’t keep them safe keep them soused.”

“Wellll, that wasn’t really what I had in mind, but yeah, if it works do it.”

And Pam grinned and took off with her strawberries.

*
On the ground Alex got a call from the FBI with some news about the plane that once had the Cessna attached. He was told to contact the pilot and inform him that his cargo was no longer attached to his plane and when landing in Paris to go straight to Security with the remote that was to control the plane on landing because they left a major portion of it at O’Hare in Chicago. The pilot wasn’t totally sure that he understood what the tower was talking about but he understood Security and said he would do that. Alex looked at his side kick and shook his head.

When Paul had discovered that the piece of equipment was needed to control releasing the Cessna he immediately got hold of the manufacturer, relayed the information and told them of the urgency regarding the plane landing in Paris. The company couldn’t get the part to Paris in time but they had a customer in Paris that used that particular item and they would see if they could have an entire unit delivered to airport security. They could use a helicopter to clamp on to the Cessna, then release the magnet and just lift the thing out of the way so the jumbo jet could land safely. They were willing to listen to any better solutions at this time but the main objective was to get that Cessna off the front of the jumbo jet.

*

Michael couldn’t thank Paul enough for all of his help and the young mechanic just grinned and said…”it’s all in a days work.” Michael looked at the guy and said, “Maybe at NASA but not around here.” And Paul laughed and said…“Well, this one was pretty dumb I must say.” Boy, we can’t argue with that.

Then Michael excused himself.

“Well guys I have an airport to open up. I’ll see you all later, let’s go somewhere quiet and have a beer.”

Paul looked up at the man as he was retrieving his tool box…

“Can’t do that Mike, have a wife and three kids waiting for me at home. I took this job because it was supposed to be safer than NASA. Let’s hope this doesn’t make the news, she’ll have me out pounding the pavement in the morning for sure.”

“Oh shit man, don’t tell us that. Tell her this was all a stupid mistake…she’ll understand.”

“Oh, she understands stupid really well, that’s what terrifies her.” And Paul grinned. “Well, if I’m lucky I’ll see you all tomorrow. Actually, this has been fun.” And the young mechanic walked off. What they didn’t know was, Paul was actually a mechanical engineer and his wife wanted him to have a safe job. ‘I guess there’s no such thing’ Paul thought as he made his way to the cart that brought him to hangar P-18…Paul loved working with his hands and being in direct contact with the machinery he worked on. He had no desire to design anything, although he would be very good at it he just preferred working on the actual equipment.

*

In Paris, airport security was going nuts. They wanted to reroute those damned planes and send them to an old abandoned air strip but the CEO explained that the mechanism to release the Cessna was being sent to Orly. Security didn’t give a damn where it was being sent as long as they didn’t try to land at Orly.

Paris security got in touch with their tower and wanted to know if they could reroute flight 1331 out of O’Hare to an abandoned air base on the outskirts of the city and the tower said they would try. Security then got in touch with the French company that was delivering the other part of the magnet and they had already left for the airport. Security then called for a limousine for stand by. If they could reroute the plane they would send the part to the air strip out side of Paris. They then contacted a private helicopter service and explained their problem and told them that the plane was empty, it weighed 1300 pounds and was to be extracted from the nose of a jumbo jet. The dispatcher at the helicopter service couldn’t believe his ears but thought the project would be fun…he had Paul’s attitude about what fun was I guess and informed airport security about the need to send the equipment they needed to the air strip with complete instructions and they would meet them there. Security had no idea how the damned thing worked and called the company that sent the piece of equipment over and asked if anyone knew how to use it. They said they’d call back.

About twenty minutes later the donor called the donee and they got together then the owner of the device said he would send his machine operator over to the air strip and operate the device for the helicopter pilot, the machine operator couldn’t wait to see this FUBAR, all these men needed their heads examined. Things started to come together really well and the Security at Orly called Michael and told him what was going on in Paris. Michael still wasn’t relaxed about all of this but he was feeling a little better. He then made a call to the CEO of O’Hare and informed the gentleman what was going on, what was being done to insure the safety of the passengers and then he gave him the name of Mr. George and his company. Michael wanted to press charges for criminal negligence and the CEO agreed. Michael didn’t give two hoots in hell who the man was or how innocent he was, the buck stopped there and he was responsible for the people he hired. Now Michael could only wait and pray that his wife and unborn child lived through this.

*

[mary mary]

Eve: Well, if the flight attendants keep it up the poor passengers wont' even know what time it is.
Carolyn:Yes, I think Serena and Liz are very close. As for the people on the ground, it has to be awful for them because they can't see what is happening. I think it's like that in any crisis...it's a whole lot easier when you're directly involved than it is to wait for results. I don't know, that's how I am...I'm really better off seeing for myself, good or bad.
XAF RU208: I agree whole heartedly!

*~*~*

Chapter: 7


Up in the air flight 1331 continued on it’s quest to reach Paris when Max was informed by the tower that they needed to reroute the plane to the abandoned airstrip outside of Paris. Max understood why they wanted this to take place but he certainly wasn’t too happy with landing in unfamiliar territory with a problem attached to the nose of his jet. Liz just looked at him with her big brown eyes practically bugging out of her head and Max winked.

“Hang in there baby, we can do this and I’m glad you’re here with me. I know you’re safe and I can take care of you. I would hate like hell to be on the ground or on another flight and know that you were in this kind of trouble without me. So just relax, I’m here.”

Liz smiled…and then she had to say it…

“Bullshit Max. Neither one of us needs this, but I do have faith in you and I love you too.”

Max chuckled, at least she was relaxed now and that was what they needed her to be. He looked over at Serena and she smiled. She knew her little sister as well, if not better, than anyone and she could always pull some more songs out of the air if she had to.

The passenger sections of the plane seemed to be going along quite smoothly; everyone was in a very happy mood and Isabelle, Tess, Maria and Pam kept the champagne laced fruit flowing with happy little smiles for everyone. The passengers weren’t drunk by any means but they were a very light hearted bunch to say the least.

*

The helicopter crew arrived at the air strip in record time and the limousine showed up with the equipment needed to release the Cessna from the nose of the jet and lift if off and the operator seemed to think things were going to work out just fine. The helicopter pilot was fascinated with the procedure that was going to take place and all of the men were enthralled with the project. It took a certain type of person to think this was going to be “FUN” that’s for sure.

The Tower at Orly was busy giving instructions to flight 1331 and also to the people sent to put emergency lights and vehicles at the abandoned air strip and they were taking every precaution to insure the safety of everyone. They could only hope that all things went according to plan.

Michael and Kyle were both in the tower at O’Hare in Chicago while Alex stayed in constant contact with everyone to make sure he was aware of the condition of his charges, and that included making sure his wife was safe and being taken care of . It was a harrowing experience for all of them.

And young Paul, the wonder mechanic, insisted that he and his wife take their sons to a movie and then for pizza after. He didn’t want her anywhere near the television and news broadcasts. He really didn’t want to look for another job in the morning and the least she knew about what was going on the better.

The FBI finally left Mr. George to deal with his advisors who informed him that he most likely would be looking at one hell of a law suit before this was all over and the man was livid. He would have someone’s ass over this fiasco. Especially after telling HR not to hire those idiots to look after that cargo plane in the first place, he should have listened to his instincts. HR insisted that they knew what they were doing and the men came with excellent references. HR personnel would be in for a big surprise tomorrow that’s for sure.

(Eve: HR stands for Human Resources…they usually do the hiring for big companies, smaller companies call it ‘personnel.’)

Back in the air one Max Evans and his wife were busy rerouting the plane to the new landing strip while the flight attendants had now instructed all of the passengers to fasten their seat belts and when the signal was given to put their head between their legs (and kiss their asses goodbye) and to prepare for a rough landing. They were trying to prepare the passengers for the worst case scenario and only hoping for the best.

Max was instructed to maintain a steady approach and when he reached 1000 feet a helicopter would start to pace his speed, attach a large clamp to the Cessna, at which time the operator of the magnet release would release the Cessna and for Max to maintain his speed at that altitude until the Cessna was clear of the jumbo jet.

Max understood exactly what they intended to do and when he reached 1000 feet he saw the helicopter hovering in the air above him and maintained a steady course and speed at which time the helicopter positioned his craft above the jumbo jet and started dropping the heavy gauged cable with the large jaws attached. Maintaining the speed would be a little difficult when the Cessna was released because there should be a sudden jolt to move forward when the extra weight was lifted…therefore the helicopter would have to take off in a direction away from the plane as it lifted off. Serena made the calculations and relayed the information to Max and only prayed that she was correct since she was using that little hand held calculator that Liz had retrieved from her check book. This was insane!!!

The helicopter pilot informed the magnet operator to hold his position until he told him to let it go. He wanted to be in a position to take off at the exact second the Cessna came loose…he didn’t want the Cessna to smash into the cockpit of the jumbo jet and kill the pilot after having traveled all those thousands of miles across the Atlantic with the damned thing attached to his nose. The magnet operator understood exactly what the pilot was telling him and maintained his position until he got the word.

Liz’s knuckles started turning white again and Serena saw this immediately and picked up on it. Max was busy with controls, panels and instructions. Serena started up once again…

“Jeremiah was a bull frog…was a good friend of mine. Never understood a single word he said but I helped him drink his wine. He always had some mighty fine wine! Joy to the world! All the boys and girls. Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea, joy to you and me.”

And Liz started singing while Max smiled and flew his plane. The next thing they knew there was a large clamp looking device, bigger than the Cessna, being lowered in front of them and Liz sang louder…The clamp hooked onto that Cessna just as slick as a whistle and Max could see the pilot nod to the operator…when that happened the Cessna started to drop from the jet and Max slowed down a little as the helicopter took off and up and the coast was clear. Max maintained his altitude and speed until the helicopter called an all clear and Max pulled back on the throttle and raised that plane back up into the sky, banked right and headed back to Orly. This plane was going to land in it’s designated area, maybe an hour late but where it was supposed to be and Liz kept on singing.

People in both airport towers were cheering and shouting to the tops of their lungs and the news media had missed all of the excitement because they weren’t told anything about the incident taking place at the other end of the city.

Back in Chicago, Illinois there was a group of young men with smiles as broad as the Atlantic Ocean and they couldn’t wait until their wives were back home and safely in their arms…and one Michael Guerin was ready to get down on his knees for the first time in his life and thank God for being so kind.

The passengers on flight 1331 were still not quite sure of what all of the excitement was about but most of them were in such a state that it wouldn’t have bothered them one way or the other and Pam Troy could only smile at her one time enemies whom she now knew were far more than just airline attendants. These women worked together as a team and she only hoped that someday she would be permitted to be a member of that team.

Tony was still asleep but his fever had broken and Serena made her way to her husband as soon as the passengers were all safely off the plane. Liz simply moved herself from the co-pilots seat to her husbands lap where he held onto her and let her hang onto him until she was ready to leave. ‘Thank God for oldies but goodies’ was all he could think right now because he truly needed her help in getting through this. He needed both women and they were wonderful. They were quite a pair that’s for sure.

[mary mary]

Natalie 36: Thank you...they are a fun group even in a crisis!
Carolyn: How's that "Pilgrim"... Yeah, kinda makes you feel that way doesn't it?
Eve: Hey, I wouldn't want to be in that situation either...believe me!
XAF RU 208: Your wish is my command.

*~*~*

Epilogue:

“Max, can we take a boat home?” Liz asked as she lay in her husbands arms, thankful for the fact that she lived long enough to celebrate her second anniversary.

Max chuckled, pulled her closer to him and smiled…

“If you’re serious sweetheart, then we’ll float home. Are you sure that’s what you want to do?” And he was as serious as he was certain that he loved her more than life itself.

“Yes. No. I don’t know. Right now I’m still getting over my terror Max. And I don’t know if this makes any sense, but I wasn’t afraid of dying. I was afraid of losing you Max…that thought terrified me and I couldn’t do anything about it. I don’t ever want to feel that way again Max. Ever!”

“Oh Liz, that had to be the most bizarre airline episode ever written. Do you know what Serena said to Tony when she came into the cockpit and saw that Cessna sticking to our nose?”

“What? Knowing Serey it had to be ridiculous.”

“She said ‘it looks like a big booger’” And Liz started laughing…

Max thought ‘good, she needs that’ and he smiled while Liz continued to laugh.

“Now, what do you want to do? We still have time to make our dinner at Maxim’s or we can get dressed up and go somewhere nice, or just stay here and have room service.”

“No, I just want to stay right where I am.”

About that time the phone rang and Max reached around Liz and picked it up without even thinking…

“Hello…”

“Max, I know it’s your anniversary but under the circumstances how about we meet in the lobby and have a celebration party of sorts. Celebrate life, celebrate friendship and celebrate your anniversary? What about it?” That was Serena.

“Let me check,”

Max put his hand over the mouthpiece and looked at Liz…

“Did you hear that?”

“Yeah, and tell her yes, I love her too.”

“Liz says yes Serena. We’ll meet you downstairs in what…45 minutes or so?”

“Make it an hour…Tony is feeling pretty good right now.”

Max chuckled and said,

“In that case Serena, let’s go for an hour and a half. We need at least 20 minutes to get dressed.”

“Will do Max…see you soon.”

And Max lifted his little wife up and carried her to their bedroom where he planned on spending the remainder of their free time enjoying her company, he was never going to take anything for granted again and he was sure her sister would be doing the same and the world was good.

And just about nine months to the day another little Evans came into the world and a little Antoinette was born almost at the same hour in another hospital on the outskirts of Chicago. And the two Parker sisters made a couple of grandparents very happy people.

The End of my Fantasy Plane Ride