by Unknown
“Sounds like a plan,” said Panor climbing back from the bow of the plane. “But first some food.”
There was a knock on the side of the plane and everyone turned and looked at each other. They then turned and opened the next door to see the Colonel standing in the open blister of the aircraft talking to a senior officer on the pier. It was obvious that the man had not expected a colonel of the Nacerian Royal Marines to be aboard. Mike stepped up and the Colonel turned to him.
“Mister Wilkes, this is Captain Kile, the commanding officer of this facility,” the Colonel said. They all shook hands.
“Wilkes... Are you the representative from the Alliance we have seen on TV?” he asked.
“Afraid so, Captain,” Mike said.
“Then I guess I know what’s going on. You can expect all the help you need from us,” he said. “The King called ahead and told every station along your travel line to be ready for a visitor in a strange boat at some time this evening. Nothing more than that. We have meals and a place for you to get cleaned up, even rooms if you desire,” the Captain said. “I recommend you all come to the dining hall and get a good meal and turn in,” he said. “You look worn out.”
“I won’t argue that,” said Mike. “But let’s do a few things first.” He pulled out a radio and opened it. “Wilkes to Lexington, come in.”
“Lexington here Mike,” came Thompson’s voice. “You all settled?”
Mike smiled at hearing the cheerful voice. “Yes sir, Commander. If you can scan us, we need a fill up,” he said.
“Regular or premium?” came the reply.
“Give us the good stuff, and clean the windshield would ya’,” Mike said with a smile.
“Standby.”
Hadaie heard the exchange and climbed into the engineer’s seat. He watched the needles of the fuel gages suddenly raise to the top peg. “The tanks are full,” Hadaie shouted down. “We need some lubricating oil as well,” he shouted.
“Lexington, check the oil too will ya’,” Mike said into the radio.
Within a moment the oil tanks were full as well.
“We always give super service,” Thompson suddenly said.
“Thanks, Commander. We’ll come back to this station again,” Mike said. “I’ll be back in touch tomorrow morning before we leave. If you need us, we’ll be dead asleep.”
“No problems, Mike. If we see any changes in anything, we’ll let you know. Thompson out.”
Mike put the radio away and looked at the others. “Can we have a guard placed around the plane tonight? Hadaie says he will remain aboard.”
“I’ll arrange it,” the Captain said.
“And the major will stay as well,” the Colonel interjected. “For the time being it might be wise to have one of us with the plane at all times,” he said indicating him and the major. “No offense, Captain, but with all that has gone on, a little inside help might come in handy.” He noticed the captain nodding in agreement.
“You’ll get no arguments from me,” Mike said. “Let’s go for some supper,” he said. The captain turned and said a few words to a young officer and the officer turned and headed toward the head of the pier and a phone.
“The dining hall is this way,” the Captain said pointing. In a ragged group, they all turned and headed down the pier. The colonel was gratified to see a group of marines pull up in a vehicle, shoulder their weapons and take positions near the plane.
Hal McGreggor walked into the rehearsal hall and waved greetings to the rest of the men in the orchestra. He had been one of the first musicians to join Jo’s orchestra just over four years ago, and he had no regrets. A veteran of 15 years of playing the violin, he was now Concertmaster for the orchestra, something he would not have been able to do in many places, especially on Earth. But when the call went out from the Alliance for musicians to come to Thera and be a part of a cultural exchange effort, he had jumped at the chance, even though the young conductor and music director was only 22 years old.
When he had gotten to Thera, he had found that they were all on the ground floor of the effort, but Jo Wilkes had presented such a drive and determination that everyone was caught up in the excitement. Jo had been adamant in some things, but most of the time she listened carefully and made her decisions based on their recommendations. The result was a series of whirlwind concerts throughout the planet which not only demonstrated music from Earth, but other planets in the Alliance as well. In every place, they had been met with enthusiastic crowds who responded warmly to their efforts. As a matter of fact, he had never heard such applause anywhere else. Best of all, Jo made it fun, adding pieces out of the ordinary that thrilled audiences and let the members show off some real talent. Now there was a waiting list of people trying to join the orchestra and the orchestra’s members were eagerly sought in organizations throughout the Alliance.
Hal set his violin case down and pulled out his instrument. He carefully cleaned it, tuned the strings and rosined the bow. Then he waited for the other members to take their seats. After only a few minutes the members got quiet. It was time. He had called them early so he could have this little chat. He stood at his place and spoke.
“Colleagues. I thank you for coming early tonight. I know you are all wondering why this concert is going on, but you also know our conductor has never been one to refuse a challenge,” he said with a smile. The rest of the members laughed and began tapping their instruments or clapping their hands. “Of course you all know that Jo has just given birth to their second child, so she won’t have a lot of her strength back. Let’s make it easier on her and not play a lot of wrong notes.”
Again they all laughed. Jo herself had started that inside joke years before as the orchestra had rehearsed. It had just seemed to stick with them all. Hal them motioned for a man who had just entered the hall to come up. He continued. “You also know that this is an emotional time for Mike and Jo. In case you do not know, Mike has gone to try and get their son back, so Jo will have even more pressure on her,” he said solemnly. “At the same time, Mike has asked our help in a surprise for her. This was planned long before all this happened, but Mike asked me to make sure it went on as he had planned and I for one am determined that everything will go on as he requested, no matter what,” he said, his voice getting more determined. The other members nodded in agreement.
“This is Mister Sam Gardner. He and some of his friends have come all the way from Earth just to help us with this surprise. If you look at the music listing for the concert in your folders, you will see that the second half has but one theme. This man is going to help all our dreams come true.”
The members opened their folders and pulled out the music listings. At the same time Sam put a small hat on his head and pulled off the light jacket he was wearing revealing his company’s name and logo. Suddenly smiles began breaking out around the orchestra. “Excellent!” came a cry from one of the members and applause broke out and gained in intensity. Eventually, all the orchestra members rose to their feet to show their appreciation. Within an hour Sam had explained the effort and had left.
The orchestra members were busy talking and getting ready when Jo walked in the door. She was greeted with the usual cheerfulness with a few congratulations and friendly hugs from the members, but something was different, she determined; something in their eyes. There was an intensity there that was not before. Maybe it was because of what they were going through, she thought. But she could tell by their rolled up sleeves and the way they acted, that this was going to be a special concert indeed.
After the bone-rattling ride all day, the quiet of the plane was eerie. Major Desti had removed his shirt and was enjoying the cool breeze coming in from the open blisters. He had gotten comfortable sitting on one of the ledges when Hadaie came down from the wing of the plane with his scanner. He watched him walk down the back of the fuselage and step into the outer blister.
“What were you doing up there?” Desti asked.
“I wan
ted to check the engines and make sure that all the parts were working like they were designed,” Hadaie said. “In particular I wanted to make sure there was no excess wear inside the pistons or on the piston rings. They still have to get us there and get us back,” he said.
“That would be a good thing,” Desti chuckled. “Everything okay?”
Hadaie nodded. “Everything is well within the tolerances they were made to. As a matter of fact, there is hardly any wear at all,” he said. Then he looked back at Desti and asked, “Did it frighten you to fly today?”
Desti chuckled. “For a few minutes I thought I would wet myself,” he said. “You fellows may be used to things like this, but not me. Even the Colonel was shaking,” he said. “Not that I minded seeing that. What keeps this thing up in the air?”
Hadaie paused a moment. “It is a principal that your planet has not yet grasped, however it may come to you soon. To share it before you are ready would not be productive,” he said.
“I understand. It sure has been fun though.”
“Have you and the Colonel been working together long?” Hadaie asked changing the subject.
“Since last year. I was assigned to his staff after we took care of that other space guy. He very nearly had us in a war.”
“I remember it well,” Hadaie said sitting opposite the man in the other blister. “I was on the Lexington then, too.”
“You are on that ship?” Desti asked. “Man, when I saw that for the first time, I thought she was the prettiest thing I had ever seen. We had gotten back from a mission to secure one of our outposts from some traitors and I saw it on television. You are lucky to get to go all around the galaxy like that.”
“It can get hectic at times, but I have found being aboard the Lexington to be very satisfying,” Hadaie said.
“Some day we will be able to travel to the stars,” Desti sighed. “I’d love to be one of the ones to do it. Travel to distant planets and see things no one has ever seen before. At least not on my world,” he said in a sheepish grin. Then he looked at Hadaie. “By the way, what makes your skin that color?” he asked.
“I am from a planet called Angela,” Hadaie replied. “It has always been like this.”
Desti smiled and nodded. “Never even dreamed that I would meet anyone from another planet. Tell me, do people move around in machines like this all the time where you come from?”
“This aircraft is actually an old military plane from a long time ago. It was used to patrol long distances and rescue other pilots and shipwrecked sailors.”
Desti looked around. “Well, she’s held up really well. And I guessed from the guns she had been used in combat at some point,” Desti said patting the big .50 caliber. “Anything that shoots a bullet that big demand’s respect,” he said. “And those engines! I have never seen any like that.”
“Would you care to get a closer look, I have completed my inspection, but would be glad to let you up there,” Hadaie said.
“I thought you would never ask me,” Leftin smiled back.
They both got up and Hadaie climbed out of the blister and onto the back of the fuselage. Then he walked swiftly up the spine of the plane and onto the wing. Desti took the time to open the inspection ports and get a look at the engine. It was huge. Hadaie explained some of the principals behind it. “It makes it a lot easier to have them air cooled,” he said.
“I believe Mister Rokka helped invent some of that type a number of years ago. It’s no wonder you made him your engineer. I doubt there is anyone on this planet that is more qualified.”
“Possibly so. His engineering accomplishments are impressive for this world.”
“He’s in the history books. I wanted to talk to him, but he was busy the whole time.”
“Rokka is very open. I would suppose he would like to talk at some point, possibly when we get there.”
“Maybe,” Desti said after he closed the maintenance post and looked along the top of the wing. I bet this long thing has something to do with it staying in the air, he thought. “Thanks for letting me come up here. This is pretty nice,” he said.
“You are very welcome,” Hadaie replied. “You are actually the second person I have been able to talk to on this planet. You are like most of the people I know,” he said.
Desti smiled. “I’ll take that as a compliment,” he said as they walked back down and slid into the plane. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I plan on sliding into one of these bunks. How about you?” he asked as they got inside.
“As an Angelan, I do not require a lot of sleep.”
Desti thought a moment and smiled as he lay down on the bunk. “I’ve known a few drill sergeants like you,” he said as he lay back and closed his eyes.
Hadaie stared at him curiously for a moment, and then continued into the cockpit area to make some final checks.
The next morning Mike woke from his sleep feeling more refreshed than he had felt in days. He pulled back the sheets and walked to the window. The sun was just above the horizon and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. A quick shower helped even more and he donned fresh clothes for the remainder of the flight. Looking around the base, he decided to take an early morning walk. There was a gentle breeze from the ocean and the salt air felt good as he walked across the compound. As soon as he walked around the front of the building he saw a group of young teens standing in a group. It was obvious by their satchels and some of their books that they were waiting to go to school.
As Mike walked past them, one of them took a good look. The young girl’s eyes opened wide and she began gesturing to the others. Finally, one of the boys shook his head and in a look of resignation, started walking up to Mike, now stopped and trying to figure out which way to go.
“Excuse me sir,” the young man said.
“What can I do for you?” Mike asked, turning towards him.
“Some of the girls wanted me to ask. Are you the Alliance guy from the television?” he asked sheepishly.
Mike smiled. Even out on an island in the middle of a bay people had seen him. “I’m afraid you caught me,” he said.
The boy’s eyes widened and he shook Mike’s hand. “You’re the one with the car!” he said finally realizing who it was.
“Great isn’t she? I love driving it,” he said.
“I want one just like it,” the boy said still shaking Mike’s hand.
“Let’s go see the others,” Mike said as he led the boy back to the group. “Hi guys,” he said smiling.
One girl almost fainted dead away and the others stood in shock as he shook each of their hands. There were a lot of questions. When did you get here, where are you going, what are you doing - all of which Mike answered with an evasive answer. As it turned out, the television they received was taped and sent to them since a television signal couldn’t reach them. They had not heard the news about the abduction and were horrified that it had happened. Everyone asked, ‘What can we do?’
“Just think about Jo and me,” he said. “And don’t let anyone know I was here. If the guys that did it knew I was on the way, they might hurt my son,” Mike explained.
The same boy that had come up to him had a determined look on his face. “We won’t,” he said, “We all promise, don’t we?” he said looking at the others. They all nodded emphatically.
“Thanks guys. I appreciate it. I will be leaving this morning. Maybe one day I can stop by and we can spend some time together,” he said warmly. “Now, can somebody show me the way to the beach?”
Directions were quickly and happily given, and then they all said their good-byes and Mike continued his walk. The young people watched him silently until he crossed the street and disappeared behind the next building.
One hour later, the same group was in their class when a loud noise came from the harbor. It was different from any other noise they had ever heard. They jumped from their desks and went to the window to see a large craft with two engines speed across the water. Then to their ama
zement, it lifted off the water and into the sky. The teacher stared in disbelief. The students looked at each other with some secret understanding and thought as one, “Yea!”
Captain Dickson made his way to simulator four. After entering, he initiated the Wilkes program and found himself inside the same hanger Wilkes had been in earlier. Dickson felt strangely at home around all the old aircraft. He walked slowly around each one and admired the craftsmanship put into each one. To his amazement, some were actually made of fabric and wood, despite the timeframe. Peering into the cockpits, he couldn’t believe the lack of instrumentation and in some cases the closeness that the pilots had to endure. Yet he longed to climb into the cockpit and start the engine - to feel the vibration of all that power go through him, and then to feel it lift him up into the sky. He was looking at one plane in particular with a large mouth full of teeth painted under the propeller around an intake when he heard a step behind him.
“She’s a good old plane, isn’t she?” came the voice.
Dickson swung around to see Chuck Yeager standing there watching him. He smiled back at him and turned back to the plane. “I always looked at these planes in history books. But to see one up close cannot compare,” he said.
“The P-40 is a nice airplane, outclassed, but rugged as hell,” Yeager said as he stepped beside Dickson and looked over the aircraft. “By the time I came in, she was already being phased out.”
“Still, each of these planes had their own character. Like a personality. You had to get to know them. Just like my ship, the Lexington,” Dickson said.
“You got that right, Captain,” Yeager said. “You get to know ‘em and then you become a part of ‘em. You depend on them and they depend on you,” he said. “Is that why you came here, to look at the planes?”
Dickson chuckled. “I believe you know me better than that. General, you know what it is to command.”
