Chapter Eight is Super Great

Saturday, June Eleventh, Six Fifteen P.M.

Alex and Bruce had landed at Kickapoo Airport in Wichita Falls, Texas, at about five thirty.  Alex had helped Bruce tie down the plane, and asked when they were going to move it into a hangar for the night.

“A hangar?  Why on Earth would we do that?   We get a free tie down for the night since we bought fuel, and the weather looks like it’s going to be completely clear for the next several days,” Bruce said.

“Yeah, but what about the statue?” Alex said.

“We’ll throw a blanket over it, no one will even know it’s there.  Besides, it’s not like we’re leaving it parked in front of a Wal-Mart.  This is a secured area,” Bruce said.  “Also, if they don’t have a courtesy car available for us to borrow, we’re going to have to call a cab to get to the hotel.  Do you really want to load that heavy thing in and out of a cab, twice, and back into the plane?”

“OK, good point.  I’m still not sure I’m comfortable leaving it though,” Alex said.

“Mr. Minor, please believe me when I tell you that it will still be here tomorrow morning,” Bruce said.

It turned out that there was a courtesy car available.  Alex had not been aware that airports had such things for pilots.  The employee in the office Bruce had called “the FBO” told them where they could find the courtesy car.  It was waiting just outside for them.

Alex hadn’t been sure it was a better option than taking a cab.  The courtesy car turned out to be an ancient Ford Crown Victoria that had clearly been a police car in its previous career, and it had seen better days. It did, at least, start without too much coaxing, and it got Alex and Bruce to the Best Western they were staying at a few miles away from the airport. 

Once there, they had checked into the hotel, and each of them had a room to themselves.  Alex invited Bruce out for dinner, but Bruce declined, saying he had a bit of flight planning to take care of, and was planning on ordering a pizza and going straight to bed once he’d finished.

Which is how Alex ended up in a steakhouse across the street from the hotel, sitting at the bar with a huge, frosty cold glass of Lone Star beer, and a massive porterhouse steak and baked potato.  He’d been hoping there might be someone there to keep him company, but the other folks sitting at the bar were couples, and didn’t seem to even realize he was there. 

So, Alex drowned his sorrows in cheap beer, and beef.

By the time Alex had finished his dinner, he figured he’d probably gained twenty pounds or so.  Alex guessed it made up for the cruddy hot dog, potato chips and lemon flavored Kool Aid he’d had to make do with for lunch.  One of the airports they’d stopped at en route was having some kind of event, and since they’d landed and bought fuel there, “lunch” was complimentary.

He’d paid his bill, and was walking back to the hotel when he heard a siren.  There was no mistaking the sound of an air raid siren.  In Minnesota, that generally meant “tornado” in this day and age.  Or else “lunch time.”  Alex wasn’t sure what it meant in Texas, though.  Bruce had mentioned that there was an Air Force base nearby, and it was a bad thing to land there by accident.  An Air Force base seemed like a likely target to him, if there really was a threat of an air raid. He decided it might be best to hustle on his way back to the hotel.  The folks at the front desk would probably be able to let him know what was going on.

Inside the hotel, Alex found the staff guiding guests into one of the inner hallways, and telling them to stay away from windows.

“Hey, what’s going on?  What’s the deal with the sirens?” Alex asked one of the hotel employees.

The employee, for the briefest of moments, looked at Alex as though he wasn’t certain if anyone could actually be that stupid.  It would have been easy to miss.  He recovered almost instantly, however, and answered Alex.

“A tornado touched down at the airport.  The hallway everyone else is going into is the safest part of the building.  Please join the rest of the guests there and keep away from windows until we know the storm has passed,” The employee said.  He then hurried away, leaving Alex on his own.

“At the airport?  Shit,” Alex said to himself.  He hoped there was another, different, airport nearby that had been hit.  He followed the other guests in to the hallway, since he couldn’t think of anything more useful he could do in the mean time.

He was kind of excited, actually.  He’d never been anywhere near a tornado before.

The tornado shelter / hallway was not as packed as Alex had expected it to be.  He wasn’t sure if that meant that the hotel wasn’t full, or if other people were just going to ride out the storm in their rooms.

He saw several families, with worried looking parents and gleeful children, some single businessmen and women, and Bruce. 

With Bruce was a woman Alex hadn’t met.  She had very big, platinum blonde hair, a very short, very tight red and black dress, and pink cowboy (cowgirl?  Alex wasn’t sure how to classify them) boots on.  Bruce happened to make eye contact with Alex then, and it was clear he really would rather not have been seen.  The woman with Bruce hadn’t noticed Alex yet.

Alex suspected that this woman might be the pizza Bruce had said he was going to order.  He debated between going over and introducing himself, just to mess with Bruce a bit, and just minding his own business for now so he could mess with Bruce tomorrow.

The decision was made for him when heard what sounded like a train going past, very close by.  Alex felt his ears pop, and somebody yelled, “get on the floor!”

The building shook, and the roaring noise increased in volume. 

Wow, my first tornado!  Cool!  Alex thought.  I wish I could see it. 

Alex heard glass breaking somewhere, which snapped him out of his thoughts.  He got down on the floor and covered his head like everyone else seemed to be doing.  The noise increased, and Alex was pretty sure the building was shaking. 

Then, as quickly as it had started, it was done.  After thirty seconds or so, someone in the hallway said, “Is that it?”

“Stay put!” Someone else said.

“Jeez, I hope my room didn’t get damaged.  I had all of my sample cases in there,” yet another person said.

“Nuts to your sample cases.  Is everyone OK?”

There was a small chorus of affirmative answers.

After a few more minutes, someone came into the hallway and said, “We just got notice that the storm has passed, and the tornado has dissipated.  Please stay here a little longer while we check the building and make sure there hasn’t been any structural damage before you go back to your rooms.”

Alex got up from the floor, as did most of the other people in the hallway with him.  He saw Bruce and the woman he was with get up.  She tugged at the hem of her dress, making sure it hadn’t ridden up before checking her hair to make sure it was still suitably big.

Alex decided he might as well go over and say hi to Bruce.  He wasn’t sure, but he thought it might be rude to go through a tornado and not check on each other afterwards.

He walked over, and saw Bruce stiffen for a second before relaxing again.

“Hey, are you two OK?” Alex said.

“Yes, Mr. Minor, thanks for asking,” Bruce said.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Alex said.

He turned to the woman with Bruce and held his hand out, “Hi, I’m Alex.  I don’t think we’ve met.”

She shook his hand, briefly, and said, “I’m Tiffany.  It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Minor.”

“Jeez, another formal person.  I’d expect someone wearing pink boots to be OK with using first names,” Alex said.

“Mr. Minor, Tiffany is an associate of Mr. Darcy’s.  In addition to flying you here, I also brought along an item she needs for her current assignment,” Bruce said.

“Oh, cool.  What are you working on, Tiffany,” Alex said.

“I’d prefer not to say, Mr. Minor,” Tiffany said.

Alex sighed and rolled his eyes.  “Right, right.  Secrets.  Everyone who works for Mr. Darcy loves their privacy.”

“I couldn’t have put it better myself,” Tiffany said.

She wants me, Alex thought.

A cell phone started to ring then.  Alex, Tiffany and Bruce all took out their phones, but only Bruce answered his.

Alex watched as Bruce’s face fell.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Bruce said.

A pause.

“Well, of course it’s insured.  Shit.  This complicates things for me.  How bad is the damage?”

Another pause.  Alex saw Bruce start to chew his lip a bit.

“On it’s roof?  Are you going to be able to right it? Shit. Shit.  Damn it.  Shit,” Bruce said.

“That doesn’t sound good,” Alex said to Tiffany.  She said nothing in reply.

Totally wants me, Alex thought.

“Yeah, OK.  Yeah.  OK.  Right.  Yeah, I’ll be there in ten minutes,” Bruce said.  He ended his call, and put his phone back in his pocket.

Bruce looked at Alex and said, “The storm flipped my Mooney.  This is going to make things a little more challenging.”

Alex felt a little sick.

“Holy crap!  Is the…” Alex said, then paused and looked at Tiffany. Secrets.  “You know, the thing in the plane.  Is it OK?”

“I don’t know yet,” Bruce said.  “We’re going to have to head over there and find out.  Let’s roll.”

“Are you coming?” Alex said to Tiffany.

“No, I’ve got everything I need.  Good luck with whatever it is you’re doing.  Sorry about the plane,” Tiffany said.  She turned and walked away.

“I hope the courtesy car hasn’t been damaged,” Bruce said to Alex.

“Do you think they’d even notice if it had been?  Seems like all should be well so long as it still runs and drives OK,” Alex said.

“Well,” Bruce said, “Yeah.”