Peggy Sue (The T'aafhal Inheritance) by Doug Hoffman
Authors: Doug Hoffman
Tags: scienc fiction
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back down to the concrete apron. “Just work your way forward and take a seat. Prof. Gunderson, give Dr. Piscopia a hand up. Then you come up front with me.”
Sandy turned to Olaf before closing the cargo door saying, “I’ve got to do a quick pre-flight. You can climb in the front through the door on the other side.” Then she paused as something over the Professor’s shoulder caught her eye. “What have we here?”
Running across the aircraft parking area was a young woman, frantically waiving one arm and clutching a small valise with the other. Behind her, several of the FBO’s personnel were in hot pursuit. “Wait! Please, Professor! Please wait for me!” came the woman’s plaintive cries.
“What? That looks like Kim,” said a stunned Dr. Gunderson.
“And who is Kim, Professor?” Sandy asked, in a what-are-you-trying-to-pull tone of voice.
“Kim, my teaching assistant. But she didn’t come with me on this trip, she should be back in Chicago.”
“Well, it would appear that your little sheila followed you here, Professor,” Sandy commented as Kim practically ran into Olaf with the airport personnel just steps behind.
“Oh please, please, Professor Gunderson!” the out of breath fugitive pleaded. “Please let me come with you. Don’t let them arrest me, Daddy would never understand.”
Seeing that Gunderson was dithering Sandy made a command decision. After all, she reasoned, I’m the ranking officer on this little outing. “It’s all right mates,” she shouted to the airport men who were just pulling up at the plane. “Young lady almost missed her flight is all.”
“She weren’t on the passenger list, Sandy. I ought to give you a gobful,” the lead pursuer said with considerable heat. “Bloody seppo wacker making us run our arses off. I say we call the divvy van.”
“Come on, Jimmy, she’ll be right. Be a cobber.” Sandy looked at the man with a mixture of innocence and pleading.
“Oh, All right,” the man relented. “But just this once, and only because its you. OK, mates, false alarm, back to the terminal.”
As the winded pursuers turned and started back to the FBO at a much slower pace than when they arrived, Sandy turned to her newest charge and in a much less friendly voice said, “Get on board Miss. I’ll let Mr. Parker and the Captain settle you when we get to the Station.”
With that she practically pushed the young woman inside the plane and slammed the cargo door. Turning to the still befuddled Dr. Gunderson she said, “You too, Professor. Climb on board and no more surprises.”
That was more than an hour ago and things went much more smoothly once they were in the air. The big Cessna was a docile beast and the Garmin G1000 glass cockpit was state of the art for aircraft of this class—after takeoff, it quite literally flew itself. A quick exchange with Willawog Station to say she was landing and Sandy turned on approach to the Station’s dirt strip.
* * * * *
Twenty minutes later they were back in the air and headed for Parker’s Station. All but one of the bags of groceries had been off loaded at the last stop. While the other passengers were content to fly in silence, it was not in Elena’s nature to remain quiet for long.
“If you don’t mind me asking, Miss McKennitt, what was that last stop all about?”
“Well, Doctor, in the Outback every thing is a long way away, and when you’re making a trip to the city it’s only neighborly to ask folks on your route if they need anything. In this case Mrs. Reilly asked for some fresh vedgies. In fact, they looked so good I got some avos and rockmelons for us as well.”
“Avos and rockmelons?”
“Avocados and cantaloupes,” the pilot explained. “We try to keep a low profile at the Station, but out here not helping the neighbors would attract more attention than being sociable.”
“I think that is very nice, neighbor helping neighbor,” the Italian astronomer said. “The world could
Sandy turned to Olaf before closing the cargo door saying, “I’ve got to do a quick pre-flight. You can climb in the front through the door on the other side.” Then she paused as something over the Professor’s shoulder caught her eye. “What have we here?”
Running across the aircraft parking area was a young woman, frantically waiving one arm and clutching a small valise with the other. Behind her, several of the FBO’s personnel were in hot pursuit. “Wait! Please, Professor! Please wait for me!” came the woman’s plaintive cries.
“What? That looks like Kim,” said a stunned Dr. Gunderson.
“And who is Kim, Professor?” Sandy asked, in a what-are-you-trying-to-pull tone of voice.
“Kim, my teaching assistant. But she didn’t come with me on this trip, she should be back in Chicago.”
“Well, it would appear that your little sheila followed you here, Professor,” Sandy commented as Kim practically ran into Olaf with the airport personnel just steps behind.
“Oh please, please, Professor Gunderson!” the out of breath fugitive pleaded. “Please let me come with you. Don’t let them arrest me, Daddy would never understand.”
Seeing that Gunderson was dithering Sandy made a command decision. After all, she reasoned, I’m the ranking officer on this little outing. “It’s all right mates,” she shouted to the airport men who were just pulling up at the plane. “Young lady almost missed her flight is all.”
“She weren’t on the passenger list, Sandy. I ought to give you a gobful,” the lead pursuer said with considerable heat. “Bloody seppo wacker making us run our arses off. I say we call the divvy van.”
“Come on, Jimmy, she’ll be right. Be a cobber.” Sandy looked at the man with a mixture of innocence and pleading.
“Oh, All right,” the man relented. “But just this once, and only because its you. OK, mates, false alarm, back to the terminal.”
As the winded pursuers turned and started back to the FBO at a much slower pace than when they arrived, Sandy turned to her newest charge and in a much less friendly voice said, “Get on board Miss. I’ll let Mr. Parker and the Captain settle you when we get to the Station.”
With that she practically pushed the young woman inside the plane and slammed the cargo door. Turning to the still befuddled Dr. Gunderson she said, “You too, Professor. Climb on board and no more surprises.”
That was more than an hour ago and things went much more smoothly once they were in the air. The big Cessna was a docile beast and the Garmin G1000 glass cockpit was state of the art for aircraft of this class—after takeoff, it quite literally flew itself. A quick exchange with Willawog Station to say she was landing and Sandy turned on approach to the Station’s dirt strip.
* * * * *
Twenty minutes later they were back in the air and headed for Parker’s Station. All but one of the bags of groceries had been off loaded at the last stop. While the other passengers were content to fly in silence, it was not in Elena’s nature to remain quiet for long.
“If you don’t mind me asking, Miss McKennitt, what was that last stop all about?”
“Well, Doctor, in the Outback every thing is a long way away, and when you’re making a trip to the city it’s only neighborly to ask folks on your route if they need anything. In this case Mrs. Reilly asked for some fresh vedgies. In fact, they looked so good I got some avos and rockmelons for us as well.”
“Avos and rockmelons?”
“Avocados and cantaloupes,” the pilot explained. “We try to keep a low profile at the Station, but out here not helping the neighbors would attract more attention than being sociable.”
“I think that is very nice, neighbor helping neighbor,” the Italian astronomer said. “The world could