day’s warmth. The crew van still hadn’t arrived, but it wasn’t all that unusual to wait fifteen to thirty minutes for it to pull up.
I used my A-bags as a seat and sat down for the long wait. Soon the sky overhead was black as coal. Crow and Patrick had already finished up their postflight checks, which included the final powering down and sealing of the plane, and joined us on the tarmac. It’d been a long day and a long flight. We’d had problems with the system the entire time. It’d been up and down so many times I’d lost count. Oddly, when it had mattered most, the Lady’s systems had purred; and we were thankful for that much.
Tennessee Jim glanced at his watch and cussed loudly under his breath. Forty-five minutes had passed.
Patrick was about to break the seals and head back into the plane when a pair of headlights approached along the darkened runway. I stood and stretched, then picked up my bags.
“What the hell took you so long?” screamed Jim as we piled into the back of the van. “Click up the rear heaters; we’re freezing!”
“I was supposed to get off at 18:00,” said Charlotte.
“Boo-hoo!” responded Ice. “We could have been back in the barracks by now ourselves.”
“Who’s your replacement?” asked Captain Sammy.
Charlotte didn’t respond, she just cast her eyes toward the rear of the cabin and then put the van into drive.
We’d already missed most of the post-brief with the other players, so we headed straight for ops. Captain Sammy was nice enough to give us his postflight briefing in the back of the van. “Good job today,” he said, and that was about it.
At ops, we had only to turn in our additional gear, which included our .38s and bullets, then check in with intel. I was headed out the door and back to the van when I heard someone calling my name. I turned about on my heel, and saw trouble: Major James standing next to Tennessee Jim.
I started toward them. Charlotte handed me the crew van keys. “Sorry,” she said in a subdued, yet relieved tone.
“We need you to work MPC this evening,” Major James said, “You have any problems with that?”
I looked Tennessee square in the eye. He knew I was pissed, but I knew better than to complain. “No, not really.”
“Good,” Major James said, “you weren’t supposed to fly today, but it seems there was a mix-up. You were supposed to be on the night crew this evening, and the person you’re replacing is already in crew rest to fly. When you come back from dropping off the crew, see the duty officer. I’ll explain the situation to him. I’m sure after the next line comes back, you’ll be able to go get some rest.”
Major James paused then added, “And thanks.”
“No problem, sir,” I called back, and then, keys in hand, I headed to the van.
I dropped part of the crew off at the new quarters, and then dropped everyone but Charlotte off at their quarters. Charlotte was in the main billeting building; so after she gave me directions, I headed off.
“Sorry,” she said again when I dropped her off.
“Hey, it’s not your fault,” I replied, then sped off.
As directed, I checked in with the duty officer first thing. He gave me a list of names: people I needed to alert for the next Go. In a few minutes, I’d have to head out; but before that, I took a moment to catch my breath. My head was still spinning from the flight, and the adrenaline pump I’d felt during the flight was completely gone.
Almost everyone on the list was in the new quarters, so I stopped there first. On the way, I went by my room to grab something to eat. Cowboy and Chris were already asleep.
The next couple of hours went by quickly. An hour after alerting the crew, I had to go back and pick everyone up. A few hours later I had to drive them out to the
I used my A-bags as a seat and sat down for the long wait. Soon the sky overhead was black as coal. Crow and Patrick had already finished up their postflight checks, which included the final powering down and sealing of the plane, and joined us on the tarmac. It’d been a long day and a long flight. We’d had problems with the system the entire time. It’d been up and down so many times I’d lost count. Oddly, when it had mattered most, the Lady’s systems had purred; and we were thankful for that much.
Tennessee Jim glanced at his watch and cussed loudly under his breath. Forty-five minutes had passed.
Patrick was about to break the seals and head back into the plane when a pair of headlights approached along the darkened runway. I stood and stretched, then picked up my bags.
“What the hell took you so long?” screamed Jim as we piled into the back of the van. “Click up the rear heaters; we’re freezing!”
“I was supposed to get off at 18:00,” said Charlotte.
“Boo-hoo!” responded Ice. “We could have been back in the barracks by now ourselves.”
“Who’s your replacement?” asked Captain Sammy.
Charlotte didn’t respond, she just cast her eyes toward the rear of the cabin and then put the van into drive.
We’d already missed most of the post-brief with the other players, so we headed straight for ops. Captain Sammy was nice enough to give us his postflight briefing in the back of the van. “Good job today,” he said, and that was about it.
At ops, we had only to turn in our additional gear, which included our .38s and bullets, then check in with intel. I was headed out the door and back to the van when I heard someone calling my name. I turned about on my heel, and saw trouble: Major James standing next to Tennessee Jim.
I started toward them. Charlotte handed me the crew van keys. “Sorry,” she said in a subdued, yet relieved tone.
“We need you to work MPC this evening,” Major James said, “You have any problems with that?”
I looked Tennessee square in the eye. He knew I was pissed, but I knew better than to complain. “No, not really.”
“Good,” Major James said, “you weren’t supposed to fly today, but it seems there was a mix-up. You were supposed to be on the night crew this evening, and the person you’re replacing is already in crew rest to fly. When you come back from dropping off the crew, see the duty officer. I’ll explain the situation to him. I’m sure after the next line comes back, you’ll be able to go get some rest.”
Major James paused then added, “And thanks.”
“No problem, sir,” I called back, and then, keys in hand, I headed to the van.
I dropped part of the crew off at the new quarters, and then dropped everyone but Charlotte off at their quarters. Charlotte was in the main billeting building; so after she gave me directions, I headed off.
“Sorry,” she said again when I dropped her off.
“Hey, it’s not your fault,” I replied, then sped off.
As directed, I checked in with the duty officer first thing. He gave me a list of names: people I needed to alert for the next Go. In a few minutes, I’d have to head out; but before that, I took a moment to catch my breath. My head was still spinning from the flight, and the adrenaline pump I’d felt during the flight was completely gone.
Almost everyone on the list was in the new quarters, so I stopped there first. On the way, I went by my room to grab something to eat. Cowboy and Chris were already asleep.
The next couple of hours went by quickly. An hour after alerting the crew, I had to go back and pick everyone up. A few hours later I had to drive them out to the
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