Aurora - Wings of the Goddess Pt. 06

"Not helped by Flea mind you, standing in the foyer poking her tongue out."

"And then," Beck said, talking at a million miles an hour, "and then, they all got arrested and thrown into jail. Then we flew back to Aussie. We were supposed to spend a week in Darwin but-"

"Tell 'em about your first missed approach." Ally prompted.

Beck rolled her head. "Ho-lee fuck!" she exclaimed, clutching the wheel with unfettered ardour. "We were heading into Darwin from Singers, right, when this huge Charlie Bravo turned up over the field. It was night time. There was no one else on board so I was left-seat and there was nothing on the radar but wall-to-wall red. Anyway, there were, deep in the guts of this fuckin' thing, and I asked Ally did she want to take over. So Ally goes, she goes, she just pretends she's fast asleep, so I'm trucking down the ILS on the clocks waiting to hit the minimum. And guess what? We hit the DA and here's no fuckin' runway! Nothing but pissing-down rain in the landing lights, and all this boiling cloud. So I yell at Ally, I go, 'Ally! Ally! I can't see the fuckin' runway!' and Ally goes, she goes, 'Well that's what the missed approach is for you fuckwit!'. So I go, I go, I do the missed approach and we climb back up and I do it again."

Face in his hands, Watson sat slowly shaking his head.

"And it was like being in an out-of-balance tumble dryer," Beck was saying, almost levitating with excitement, her white knuckled hands wringing the wheel, "and there were lights of boltning everywhere, and the poor old Stream's pitch-iiing and roll-iiing, and its pissing down rain and black as fuckin' ink and fuckin' Ally is still letting me fly-"

"We did a million of those fuckin' things in the Sim," Ally calmly explained, "I figured we might as well get our money's worth. And the engine wasn't even on fire, was it Flea?"

"No, it fuckin' wasn't. Most inconsiderate cos' that's what I'm used to. But anyway, around we came and down we went, back down the ILS, and my hand was shaking so bad I could hardly hold onto the throttles. And then we hit the DA and I was just getting ready to do it again, when suddenly... booof!... we busted out of cloud and there it was, the runway, all lit up in front of us. And we land-on, we land-on, and Ally goes, she goes, 'what's that fuckin' stink?', and it was me, it was the fear-smell, because I was sweating so hard it was like I melting and I reckon I just about shat myself."

"Pfft!" Ally blew a raspberry, "you were as cool as a cucumber. You could have threaded a needle when we shut down."

"And that was my first go-around in anger. So anyway, Ally and me did this great big high five and then-"

Ally sat bolt upright in her seat to peer over the dash. "Cyclist twelve o'clock."

Beck nodded, "Tally."

"Make sure you give him plenty of room."

Beck checked over her shoulder, then indicated and briskly switched lanes, giving the cyclist- Ally's kin- the widest possible berth. As soon as she did a black BMW charged past on the left, almost side-swiping the cyclist and forcing him into the gutter.

"Fuck me!" Beck exclaimed, "Did you see that?"

"FUCK-WIIIIT!" Ally roared, then reached across and palmed the horn. "Come on, Flea, catch the cunt!"

"You want me to ram the motherfucker?"

Ally rolled her eyes. "How many times have I told you, Padawan? Go in soft so you still have room to move."

"Gotcha!" Beck said and floored the Porsche, rapidly overhauling the fleeing BMW.

Ally cranked her window down and leant out. "YOU!" she bellowed, stabbing the horn with one hand, jabbing a finger at the BMW, "WIND YOUR FUCKING WINDOW DOWN!"

Watson sat back, looking stunned, while Beck deftly held formation, braking a little as the BMW driver slowed in surprise. Sitting beside him, Tanya had a great big smile on her face, clearly enjoying the show. Unable to pull back with the traffic behind, boxed in by the Porsche, the driver of the BMW cranked-down the black-tinted window, to reveal a well-heeled matron with a stiff bouffant, sporting lots of bling and a look of surprise.

"Are you fuckin' blind?" Ally raged.

"What?"

"Are you fuckin' deaf into the bargain? You nearly hit that cyclist back there!"

A reply, unintelligible.

"You fuckin' did! We fuckin' saw you!"

Beck leaned over her. "Yeahh... fuckhead!"

Tanya leant into Watson. "Should I put the window down? You can join in."

Watson patted her thigh. "Thanks all the same, Tanny, I might sit this one out. Looks like Ally's got it all under control."

The old man caught a snippet of the target's retaliatory reply.

"You fuckin' what?" Ally demanded, almost climbing out the window, "Why? Are those fuckin' eyes painted on?"

A long-winded explanation of sorts, then...

"He had a red fuckin' light on his helmet and another flashing white one on the bike. And you're telling me you didn't see him?"

A reply, something defensive.

"Well you shouldn't be driving then, fuckhead."

Another retort, plainly indignant.

"Oh is that right? So you own this fuckin' road, is that what you're telling me?"

Nothing audible, but still a clearly discernible sense of indignation.

"I'll call you what I fuckin' like you raddled old slapper. You could'a killed a guy back there. You missed him by inches!"

Angry prattle.

"Oh are you?"

More angry prattle.

"Oh does he now?

"Oh is he? What firm does he work for? Who? No problem, I'll get my boss to have him disbarred... What? For being married to a cunt!"

A long tirade, including words like 'police', 'lawyer', 'assault', 'foul-mouthed', and 'jail'.

"Really?" Ally responded, as Beck continued holding position in spite of her quarry's best efforts, "Well go right ahead you shrivelled old skank, cos' I've got three fuckin' witnesses. Come on, let's pull over, right fuckin' now and wait for them."

There was a break in the traffic. The female driver of the black BMW floored the accelerator and Beck put the put the hammer down to follow. Looking up, Ally punched her arm and pointed. "Speed camera!"

"Roger that!" Beck nodded and eased off the power, slipping under the speed limit as the BMW tore through and took the flash.

"You right there Ally?" Watson asked, smearing the tears of laughter from his eyes.

Ally wound her window up and sat back, looking serene. "Why not?" she asked, flipping the sunvisor down and preening her hair in the mirror.

Tanya looked at Watson, smiling from ear to ear. "I can't believe how much she's mellowed. That girl of yours has been such a calming influence."

* * *

The nose dipped as Beck stood on the brakes, then set off down the taxiway at a sedate stroll. Up in the cockpit, in the right-hand seat, she steered the jet towards the runway threshold, while Captain Ally Cat worked her way through the checklist. Reaching the item, 'Passenger Announcement', she flicked a switch on the console and there was a crunch of static over the cabin PA.

"Ladies and gentleman, good afternoon, and welcome to Bragg and Associates Gulfstream Five Fifty. I am your Captain, Alana Blake, and up here on the flight deck with me is First Officer Rebekah Watson... that's Rebekah, with a 'k', and an 'a', and an 'h'. First Officer Watson will be flying this sector to Darwin, with an estimated flight time of around four hours. We will be cruising at forty-four thousand feet on the way, so anyone who has not already done so may wish to take this once in a lifetime opportunity to join the mile-high club."

Ally looked at Beck with a wink and the little blonde replied with a hearty thumbs-up.

"Could the following passengers please make themselves known to the crew." Ally continued. "Mister Watson?"

"Present."

"Miss MacDonald?"

"Here, Dear. Is it time to open the Champagne?"

"You two..." Ally announced, "this once in a lifetime deal is for a limited time only, until we reach Darwin and the other punters get on. Unless you don't mind doing it in front of some seedy old Chinese businessmen, in which case fill your boots."

Pausing, she answered a call over the radio and changed frequencies, and after calling the tower finished her spiel. "So," she said, "sit back, relax, and enjoy our friendly in-flight self-service, and the awesome flying skills of First Officer Flea. Please ensure your seat belts are fastened, and keep your hands to yourselves until the seat belt sign's turned off. Thankyou."

Down in the back, over the wing, the three sole passengers in the big empty cabin, erupted into a round of cheering and applause. Strapped into a forward-facing, cream leather seat, Watson stared out the oval plastic window to his left, as the jet swung onto the runway and nodded to a stop. In front of him, in a doublet of rear-facing armchairs, Vicky and Tanya sat arm in arm, peering out an adjacent window. "This is so exciting!" Vicky said with a shiver. "Imagine! Your own little Beck, flying us to Darwin. Isn't it amazing?"

"I thought you'd flown with her before?" Watson frowned, as the jet sat hissing on the threshold.

"I have," Vicky said breathlessly, "but you haven't. So it's just like my first time all over again. Like losing your virginity for the fifth or sixth time." she winked, "If you know what I mean."

"It just doesn't seem real." Watson said and shook his head, as if trying to dislodge an illusion.

Vicky hugged her boss's arm. "It's like a rebirth. A reincarnation."

"Yup!" Tanya nodded, "Just one of many."

The engines spooled up to a howl. Up in the cockpit, Beck advanced the power levers all the way to the stops, standing on the brakes as the thrust came in. Ally placed a hand at the base of the throttles in preparation for the onset of acceleration. With a final scan of the engine readouts, Beck stepped off the brakes, wiggling her bottom in excitement as the aircraft rolled forward. The roll turned into a rumble, then a run, then a sprint, and then an irresistible surge. Ally watched the numbers unfold. "Takeoff power..."

Watson watched in wonder as the runway tore past in a blur. Up in the cockpit, Ally called "Vee-one." and Beck put both hands on the yoke.

"Rotate."

Beck eased back and the nose came up, the long, slender, swept-back wings bending upwards ever so slightly as they began to feel the lift. An in the blink of an eye they were airborne, climbing out at thirty degrees as the wheels came up and the landing-gear doors slammed shut with a thump. The roar of the slipstream turned to a hush as the aircraft cleaned up, climbing out at two hundred knots, bound for the heavens. Watson tore his eyes away from the window and shook his head. "Did Beck just do that?"

The two women nodded.

"My Beck?"

"The one and only." Vicky beamed.

"If I hadn't just seen it with my own eyes... it just doesn't seem real."

"It's real alright," Vicky beamed, "that licence of hers is no forgery. Unlike some other documents."

"Well," Tanya smiled sweetly, "here we go. You crazy kids. Ready for an adventure?"

Vicky nodded. "I was born ready!" she said with a shiver.

Watson dipped his head in a nod of agreement. "Just took a while to realise, didn't it?"

Vicky looked at him, her green eyes sparkling, a big white smile from ear to ear. "And a bottle of Veuve. And a midnight visit."

"Come on now, don't blame me."

"Do you think I should sue, Tan? I mean fat chance of me ever getting into heaven now."

"Imagine the transcript!" Tanya said and rolled her eyes. "You could publish the bloody thing as a novel."

Vicky snapped her fingers. "That's a brilliant idea."

"Suing Damo?"

"Write our story. What do you reckon, Damon? Why don't you write a book about our adventures one day?"

Watson stared out the window in silence, thinking. "You know," he said, as they punched through a layer of cloud, "I might just do that. How does this sound...

"All alone on an empty sea, the forty five-foot sloop Aurora, carved her way into a brand new day, her bow rising and falling over the long, lazy swell, a ten-knot breeze filling the sails...