by Anne Fox
“Your mind assuredly didn’t consider that your teammates could have died, even if there was sufficient time for Spud and Edge to make it to the roof, and that you could have ended up shooting the perpetrator anyway. The problem here is that you’ve become fixated on the death of the perpetrator, and haven’t taken time to consider the other outcomes if things had been different. You could have lost your husband, your shooting partner, and the mayor. Do you see that now?”
Spud was holding out another chunk of chocolate. She let him pop it into her mouth, and sat staring at him. Then she began to cry racking sobs. “You could have died instead,” she gasped out between sobs.
“If he had seen you before you saw him, he could have shot you first,” Spud said, tears forming in his own eyes. “I’d still be alive, but my heart would be empty. Dead.”
He gathered her into his arms. Looking at her and pointing at her mouth, he said, “You’ve got chocolate there,” and kissed her. “Got it,” he whispered.
“I’m not trying to make you feel better about having to kill someone, Hank. You would, frankly, impress me as a cold-hearted bitch, if you’ll pardon my being frank, if you felt better. What I’m trying to impress on you is that it’s a nasty part of the world that you’ve chosen to try to clean up and make better. It’s the kind of job where your hands get dirty and your soul can get crushed. But to survive and make a positive impact, your little voices have to learn how to weigh whether the net result of what you have to do makes the world better or worse. Is it better or worse that the man you shot died rather than the man he would have killed had you not acted? If things had gone differently, would the outcome really have been better? You’ll never know. You just have to look at the net result of what happened, not what could have happened.
“Now I’m going to suggest that the two of you take that bag of chocolate and head to the library to watch some cartoons. Either that, or go back to your quarters and do a little cuddling. Either will likely work better than anything I could fetch from the pharmacy.”
Doc Andy held out his hand. “But, before you go, can I have a few of those?”
Hank stood and grabbed the bag off the coffee table. Dropping it on his desk, she said, “Have at it. I’ll get another bag from Mike tomorrow.”
He took out one of the chocolates, unwrapped it, and popped it in his mouth.
“You’ve got chocolate there,” Hank said, then leaned down and gave him a little kiss. “Got it. Thanks, Doc.”
“Any time.”
Doc Andy watched to see which way they would head as they left his office: right, to the library, or left, to quarters. Left. Good.
Hank walked into the kitchen to find Cloud and Crow there, heating something in the microwave.
“Hey Hank. What’s got you down here so late?” Cloud asked.
“It’s been a kind-of stressful day. I have a day like that, I’ve got to have something to eat. And Spud’s a little hungry, too. Anything left over in here?” she asked, opening the walk-in.
“Yeah, I think there’s probably some fried chicken in there.”
“Perfect.”
“We could share this, if you like,” Crow said, pulling something out of the microwave.
“Smells like Mexican food,” Hank observed.
“Yeah. We brought it back from El Paso. Want some?”
“Where’d you get it?”
“Taco Chick.”
Hank got an amused look. “You wanted Mexican food, so you went to Taco Chick?”
“One of the gals at the FBO told us it was an El Paso thing. She said, ‘If you’ve never been to Taco Chick, then you have to go.’”
You’re gonna have to go alright. “I think I’ll just stick with the fried chicken,” Hank said, pulling some of it out of the walk-in.
“Pretty spicy stuff, huh?”
“Not especially.” She saw them taking forks out to eat with.
“I think you’ll find a spoon will work better at this point.”
They shrugged and swapped the forks for spoons. She was watching them, a wry grin on her lips.
“Enjoy. I think I’ll go see how Frank is doing. I think Doc Wright is ready to send him home tomorrow. He says the bum ticker surgery went really well for Frank.”
She slipped out through the cafeteria and made her way to the infirmary. Page was on duty, and told Hank their new arrival was still awake and would probably appreciate a little visit.
Making her way to Frank’s bed, she sat for a moment.
“How’re ya doing?”
“Not bad. It’s a little sore, but I guess that comes with the thing.”
“You’ll be sore for a while, but once everything heals you’ll hardly know the bum ticker is there. Except that you’ll now have access to any information you might need. I guess that’s a great thing for a mechanic. Instead of flipping through pages of maintenance manuals, Hal will just put the page on your tablet for you when you ask for it.”
“The technology you guys have is amazing.”
“You haven’t seen but the tip of the iceberg, Frank.” She chuckled. “You’re from El Paso?”
“Moved there from Midland to take the job with a shop there, then got the job over with DHS.”
“You’ve been there for a while, though. So you know about Taco Chick?”
“Oh, yeah,” Frank said in that ‘I know well enough to avoid the place’ way.
“Well, Crow and Cloud are in the kitchen getting ready to eat some that they brought back.”
“Oh, God. I hope they don’t decide to go flying tomorrow. I don’t want to have to clean up the seats.”
Hank laughed. “It’s too bad you don’t have your earpiece yet. Theirs will probably pick up their intestines rumbling. They’re willing to share,” she added.
Frank laughed. “No way. I want to be able to get out of here tomorrow. I’m sure Laura is worrying as it is.”
“I’ll let you get some sleep. We’re probably not going to bump into each other for a while. The team is supposed to go back out west for some training soon. We’ll probably get back about the time they’ll let you go back to work. A little word from the wise,” she added, tapping her left breast, “take it easy and you’ll heal faster. Doc Rich and Mike will do up a rehab plan for you. Follow it to the letter and you’ll be back twisting safety wires before you know it.”
She walked back out with the tray of cold fried chicken she’d grabbed from the kitchen. Walking past the cafeteria, she saw Cloud and Crew chowing down. You’ll be sorry!
Back in Spud’s quarters, Hank divided up the fried chicken and they sat munching on it.
“You know that little game of karma ping pong we’re now engaged in with the rest of the team?” she asked.
“Yup. We’ve got to figure out how to get back at Crow and Cloud for sure.”
“No need. They served up the karma to themselves, and are consuming it as we speak.”
Spud looked at her, his eyes questioning.
“They brought back food from Taco Chick. One of the girls at the FBO told them it’s an El Paso tradition and they had to eat some.”
“So?”
“So, that stuff goes through you like a greased tsunami.”
Spud grinned. “I hope you don’t know that from personal experience.”
“I was forewarned by the agents stationed there. It is an El Paso thing, and I understand there are people who swear by it as fast food. Frankly, I always stuck with Quite-a-Burger.” She giggled. “Those guys are going to wish they were doing a CT prep by tomorrow morning.”
5
“That does it for my duty gear,” Hank said, setting rifle cases and ammo cans by the Latitude that would take the team to their Roswell, New Mexico remote base.
“What about your flight plans for taking the Archer to Roswell?” asked Cloud.
“Edge and I have already done flight plans for all four legs of the trip,” Hank replied. “Now we just need to flip a coin to see who gets the
first leg.”
“I’ve got that quarter I had Luigi make with two heads all ready to go,” Edge said.
“Glad you told me that,” Hank said, smiling. “I think I’ll call ‘heads’.”
“And just a ‘head up’ for both of you, we got approval to add a brand new Seneca V to the aircraft fleet,” Cloud said. “The two of you are going to hang tight here until we come to check over your flight plan prior to departure. You have to be signed off for your solo cross-countries. Once one of us does that, we’ll take off with whichever of you will be flying the second leg and will be waiting at your destination airport. We’ll fly ahead of you and leapfrog the two of you to each airport you’ll be stopping at along the route. You’ll be spending about eleven hours in the air for the total trip, so about five-and-a-half for each of you, not counting the stops for fuel at the end of each leg. So maybe thirteen hours total from departure. Given Roswell is in the Mountain Time zone, you’ll pick up two hours on the way out as well, so this shouldn’t involve any night flying unless there’s an ‘oh, shit’ with the plane that needs to be addressed.”
Spud was walking by and whipped his head around. “What do you mean, an ‘oh shit’ with the plane?”
“Oh, here we go,” Hank muttered.
“Some problem that requires a mechanic,” Cloud said.
“Hank, you didn’t say anything to me about ‘oh shits’ with the airplane,” Spud admonished.
“You would have overheard that, wouldn’t you? For fuck’s sake, Spud. Mechanical problems with airplanes are few and far between, and the ones that typically occur are so minor that you just keep flying and get it fixed when you get to where you’re going.” Hank had one hand on her hip and a determined look on her face.
“You’re going to be flying by yourself over areas that you aren’t familiar with.”
“You don’t have any problems when Crow and Cloud are flying us over areas they aren’t familiar with, Spud.”
Had no idea I’d have gotten them into a spat like this, Cloud thought.
“That’s different.”
“Why is that different?”
“Because they’re experienced.”
“And how the fuck do you think they got so much fucking experience? By just flying to places they were fucking familiar with?”
And now she’s cussing up a storm, too.
“It’s still different.”
“The fuck you say! They did the very same damned thing I’ll be doing now, and hey, gee – they’re still alive.”
Spud was regarding her sternly. “I don’t like this. Not at all.”
“Spud, if I don’t do the solo cross-countries, I can’t get my pilot’s license. ¿Comprendes? Are you going to stand between me and my pilot’s license?” She went over and put her hand against his cheek and kissed him. “Seriously, Spud, if you’re that concerned about it, I’ll have Frank look over the plane before I leave. And it’s a matter of routine that I’ll also inspect the plane before I leave.”
“And what happens if you get lost?”
“I swallow my pride and call Flight Watch and tell them I’m lost,” she said. “But with the Garmin G1000 in the Archer, the chance of getting lost is remote. Unless I don’t program it correctly, and either Cloud or Crow will check that before I go. I’ve got my charts, I’ve got visual checkpoints all laid out. And I can even use Flight Following with the Air Traffic Control Centers along the route. I won’t get lost, Spud.”
“I don’t know...”
“Arrr! You’re being impossible! Do you think these two guys are going to send me off to get lost and maybe crash their airplane? Give all of us a break!” She thought a bit, then pouted. “You don’t trust me. You don’t think I’m good enough.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“But you were thinking it.” She let a little tear form in her eye.
“No, no, Hank. I didn’t mean that.”
“Yes, you did!” She let a few more tears drip from her eyes.
“Hank, Love. You know I’d never keep you from being happy. Forgive me. I’m sure Crow and Cloud will make sure everything goes well. I’ll see you when you get to Roswell. Have a safe flight.” He walked off.
Cloud and Crow were looking at Hank to see what was coming next. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve, got a determined look on her face, and muttered, “That solved that fucking shit!”
Crow turned to Cloud and said, “Someone needs to let Spud know she’s got him on a leash.”
“Not me!” Cloud said. “She’d toss me on my ass and hogtie me with zip ties!”
Cloud, Crow, Edge and Hank stood out on the Stafford Regional ramp.
“Call it, Hank” Cloud said, flipping a quarter into the air and catching it.
“Heads.”
Cloud slapped the quarter on the back of his hand. “Heads it is. Let’s see your flight plan.”
She pulled out her flight plan form and VFR aeronautical charts.
Spreading things out on the wing of the Archer, Cloud asked, “Is this GPS direct?”
“Yes.”
I see you’ve marked visual waypoints. Good. What’s this here?” he asked, pointing to a magenta boundary with a hatched border.
“That’s the boundary to the Demo 1 and 3 Military Operations Areas,” she replied.
“It looks like your route is going to come very close to them.”
“The briefing I got says they’re not active today, so I can fly through if need be. But it will only clip a corner, so I can just deviate a little to the south and miss them entirely.”
“Good. What’s this here?” he asked, pointing to a magenta dashed keyhole-shaped marking on the VFR chart.
“That’s the Class E airspace around Shenandoah Valley.”
“Do you need to be concerned about that?”
“No. Just fly right through, although I’d probably make a radio call just in case someone is practicing instrument approaches.”
“Very good, Hank. How high is the highest terrain along your route?”
“Right here,” she said, pointing at the chart. “The sector says 4,800 mean sea level, but where I’ll cross is more like 4,400. Still, I’ll be at 6,500, so far enough up to avoid everything.”
“Good. Where are your documents?”
She handed over her logbook and student pilot certificate, and Cloud put down his endorsements for the flight. “I don’t want to hear you on the comm link,” he said.
“As a matter of fact, I borrowed Voice’s little box so Spud wouldn’t be asking me how things are going every five minutes.”
Cloud laughed. “Probably wise, though he’ll shit himself when he doesn’t get an answer.”
“And he can shit himself. I’ll put the earpiece back in when I get on the ground at Ford.”
“Why did you opt to go to Ford rather than Julian Carroll?”
Hank laughed. “The Archer will need to be refueled, and Julian Carroll doesn’t have fuel.”
“Alright. Have a good flight. Edge, Crow and I will be waiting for you at Ford.”
Hank climbed up onto the wing walk and swung herself into the Archer, grinning ear-to-ear. This is the flight I’ve been waiting for. Organizing all of the things she would need for the flight so they were all within easy reach, she then reached overhead to the switches there and prepared to start the engine. Opening the storm window, she shouted, “Clear!” and, making sure no one was in the vicinity of the prop, hit the starter switch, bringing the aircraft’s engine to life.
Taxiing out, she reflected that she was on the final stretch to getting her pilot’s certificate. She’d started doing flight training while she was still with the FBI in Albuquerque, but her case load then meant that the opportunities for training were few and far between. Her duties in the unit, though, provided ample time when missions weren’t being done to train for the other specialties that unit members held – including the ability to fly the Latitudes so that their full capability could be utilized. It’s
a long way to that, she thought, but I’ll get there.
The run-up of the airplane’s engine done, she made her radio calls and applied throttle, accelerating down the runway and lifting off smoothly into the air. The sky was clear, and as she climbed to her chosen cruise altitude she divided her attention between monitoring the airplane and enjoying the countryside as she passed over it. Just me, the airplane, and a little radio chatter.
Two hours later, she started her descent for landing at Wendell H. Ford Airport in Kentucky. Entering the traffic pattern, she could see Edge and the unit’s two pilots standing next to a twin, watching her. Don’t bolo the landing or you’ll never hear the end of it. Turning final, she lined up on the runway centerline and brought the Archer down to the threshold, landing on the aiming mark and rolling out smoothly. She taxied into the ramp and parked next to the twin.
“How did it go?” Cloud asked her.
“Smooth as silk. The weather was beautiful the entire way.”
“Good.”
Edge stood and watched as the Archer was fueled, equally excited about doing the second leg of the flight, Crow going over his flight plan with him.
“He’s going to have a blast,” Hank said. Then, remembering, she said, “Oh, shit. Spud will be going ballistic right about now.” She took Voice’s little box that can isolate the earpiece from making a connection with her bum ticker out of her pocket and stuck the earpiece back in her ear.
“Spud, I’m safely down in Kentucky.”
“Hank, where the hell have you been?”
Cloud saw her roll her eyes. “Spud, I took my earpiece out. I can’t listen to the radio, listen to the engine for problems, and listen to you all at once.” Overhearing, Cloud was scratching the back of his head, a wry grin on his face. Oh, to be in love with an overly-protective man.