Beyond and Within

"I'll rent a car."

Anderson's eyes went wide; after all, he'd seen the prices at the rental kiosks.

"Come on...we're burning daylight..."

And then he saw his father walking across the lobby -- directly for them.

"Oh, God no," he whispered.

"What is it?" Andersen said.

"My father."

"Ah, the prodigal son returns," Bennett King said as he walked up.

"Well, well, there he is, ladies and gentlemen. Mars, Bringer of War."

"You know, you can't blame everything on me."

"Sorry Dad, we're off to Disneyland. Maybe after your next war..."

"There won't be a next war, son. Not for me, anyway."

That brought him up short. "Oh?"

"Look, can we go somewhere and talk?"

"Bring a car?"

"Yes, of course."

"To Anaheim, then. We can talk on the way."

His father's motorcade and security detail were waiting curbside when they all came out of the Marriott, and Andersen's eyes went wide as the senator told his head-of-detail where they were off to. Soon the group of black Chevrolet Suburbans was on the 405 headed south.

"So, are you ill, or just going into hiding. Perhaps in a bunker somewhere?"

"The former, son."

"I see."

"I'd like you to come home with me. We need to settle our differences while there's still..."

"What? Time? You know something, Dad. You always framed things in such Homeric detail, like you were on some kind of..."

"Odyssey?"

"Yeah, maybe. Only guess what? I'm the only Odysseus in this story, pops."

"Is that dog still with you?"

"Right here, Dad," he said, holding the nylon carrier up so he could see. "Why? Want to kill this one, too?"

"Will you never forgive me for that?"

"She was my dog, Dad. She was the only thing in life that truly loved me, and you killed her. You killed her...!"

"She had cancer, son. As do I."

"What?"

"That pup had cancer, Denton. The vet advised we put her down before her suffering grew too severe."

He look at his father, then looked away. "Why didn't you tell me, Dad?" he whispered.

Bennett King shrugged. "I think I wanted you to grow up, son."

"So you told me you killed my dog? You thought that would make me grow up?"

"I..."

"Dad, do you see a pattern here? Always manipulating, never dealing in truths? And now look where we are..."

"And look at you," Bennett shouted. "Off to a goddamn amusement park. Still awash in juvenile fantasies, just like your whole goddamned generation!"

"What did you expect, Father. Did you really think people wanted to embrace one war after another? That one day, maybe, you'd start a war we'd lose? A big one? Not against one of those two-bit Asian dictators you love to set up, but a real war?"

"You have a child's worldview, son."

"Thank God."

Bennett King looked out the car at the passing cityscape, then he simply sighed. "I guess it had to end this way. We tried to make things so easy for you, for your generation, but in the end you had no stomach for the hard work that has to be done from time to time."

"No, I guess not, Father. What did you expect? How can endless war compete against the likes of Disneyland?"

"You're correct, of course. You always were."

"What's wrong with you, Dad?"

"Glioblastoma."

"How far along?"

"Too far, I'm afraid."

"So, what are you going to do?"

"Go home, read a few books, maybe putter in the garden. I'm afraid you'll have to finish your odyssey without me."

"That doesn't sound like you, father."

"I don't feel like me, son. For the first time in my life I feel like I'm on the outside looking in."

"Maybe because you are."

"I know that must fill you with a kind of wild glee, but try not to rub it in."

He ignored his old man, could see the sprawling parking lot just ahead. "Ever been to Tomorrowland, Dad?"

"No, son, I can't say that I have."

"Well, you know what, Dad, I hear it's never too late..."

+++++

For some reason 501 looked like a brand new aircraft. She even smelled new.

The ground crew had the GPU up and running when he walked aboard, and Andersen was already in his seat, programming the FMS for their flight home.

"And how is Miss Jenn this morning?" Andersen asked, turning to look at Jenn in her carrier.

"Still miffed about getting soaked on Splash Mountain."

"I have never seen a pup sulk like that. Your father, too."

"She takes things personally," he said, grinning. Jenn yapped once, scolding him.

"He did not look well."

"He isn't. I read up on glioblastoma last night. He's got eight good months left, and that's with or without treatment."

"I think he enjoyed himself, even so."

"Yeah? I hope so."

"I never pictured you having a father like him. He seems very tough."

"That's my old man. Tough. Tough, to the core."

"Why did he keep calling you Odysseus?"

"It's an old joke. From high school, I think."

"He thinks you are a wanderer, but I think he loves you. Maybe very much."

He looked at Andersen, and the look in his eyes must've been enough because Pers turned back to his FMS and resumed entering waypoints and altitudes.

"I forget to pick up some stuff in the terminal. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Yeah, sure."

He walked through the galley and up the Jetway into the departure lounge, then down the long corridor to the newsstand. He browsed the magazines for a minute or two then picked up a couple of bottles of water, then walked across to a restaurant and ordered two pastrami sandwiches -- to-go -- and when they were ready he walked back to the gate.

Ellen Green was waiting for him there. Smiling.

And when he saw the little girl by her side, holding her hand, he felt that same shimmer inside...

"Hello, Denton."

"Ellen. And who have we here," he asked, not able to take his eyes off the little girl.

"My daughter. Her name is Jennifer."

He knelt, looked into the girls eyes and yes, he knew beyond question the girl was his.

"Jennifer? Are you going from an airplane ride today?"

"You're my father, aren't you?" the girl said.

He looked up at Ellen -- who only nodded now -- and he turned to this little girl and smiled. "Would that make you happy? If I was your father?"

The girl looked into his eyes for the longest time, then she backed away from him, hid behind her mother's legs, so he stood and looked into Ellen's eyes.

"I think she's a little scared," she said, looking into his eyes too.

"Understandable. Where are you two headed?"

She pointed to the gate, to his airplane.

"I see. Going on vacation?"

"My daughter needs her father."

"Don't we all," he whispered, then he looked down at the girl again, and this time he held out his hand. "You'd better come with me," he said. "There's someone I want you to meet."

He picked her up, carried her to the gate agent's desk and explained what was going on, and Ellen handed over their tickets then followed Denton down the Jetway and into the cockpit.

The girl's eyes went wide when she saw the crowded space. "What's this?" she whispered.

"This is where I work, Jennifer, and this is my other Jennifer," he said as he pulled the pup from her carrier.

"I've heard about you," his daughter said.

He knelt again, held the pup out and then watched these two souls collide, come to terms with one another, then his little Jenn leaned forward a little and licked his little girl on the tip of her nose -- then, gently, on her lips.

"I think you two are going to be friends," he said.

"I think so too."

He stood, put the pup in her carrier then picked up this other brave soul and looked her in the eye again. "I think you and I are going to be okay now, don't you?"

She nodded her head and smiled, then she put her arms around her father's neck and held him close, and when he looked up he saw the world through a veil of tears. Ellen stood there, crying a little too as she took it all in, and even as he led them to their seats he felt something he never expected.

Complete. Whole. Where he was supposed to be, at last.

"I wish you could sit up front with me today but it's against the rules. I tell you what, though. I'll see if I can come back and talk to you in a little bit."

"We have a lot to talk about, don't we, Daddy?"

He looked in her eyes again, then held her close. She seemed to wrap herself around his soul in a way that seemed so familiar, so right, and he closed his burning eyes while he cupped the girl's head in his hands, feeling another little girl's head once again -- like an echo.

He put his little girl in the window seat and buckled her in, then hugged Ellen once before turning quickly and walking to the front of the plane.

"Who was that?" Andersen asked.

"An old friend."

"Jenn seems very quiet."

He knelt and lifted his friend from her carrier and she looked into his eyes, licked the tears from his face.

"I know, I know," he whispered, "but nothing will ever change how I feel about you."

He kissed her nose, looked into her eyes, then she kissed his lips before he put her gently into the carrier. He strapped it down, made sure she was comfortable, then slipped into his seat...

+++++

King is sailing now. The storm was colossal, bigger than any he had been in before, yet the shimmer in the air was insistent now, as was the voice coming from the far side of the sky.

Hurry.

His grandfather's voice. He was sure of it now.

Hurry. Hurry -- now.

+++++

There were two active hurricanes south of Baja making their way towards Hawaii, so the flight's course had been adjusted much further west than usual for this time of year. As a result, this added more than a hundred miles to their flight time, and stretched the 757s fuel reserves to the limit. To compensate, King planned to get the aircraft up to flight-level 3-9-0 much sooner than usual, and he could only do this because the Boeing was, as was the norm these days, carrying only a few passengers. By noon he could just make out the tops of the closest storm, still far to the east, and the flight management system predicted they would arrive with fifty minutes of fuel still in the tanks, so with almost half the flight complete he was happy.

"I'm going to go take a walk aft," he said to Andersen, but as per procedure he waited until his FO had donned his mask before leaving the flight deck. He stopped off in the galley for a bottle of water, then walked all the way to the aft galley and checked-in with the flight attendants back there.

Then he made his way forward to Ellen and Jenn's seats.

"How's it going so far?" he asked the little girl as he knelt in the aisle by her mother. "Can you see out the window okay?"

"There sure is a lot of ocean down there," Jenn sighed. "I think it's scary."

"It sure can be."

"How can you tell where you're going?"

"Remember all those screens and buttons up front? All those things help us figure out where we are, and where we're going. They even tell us when we'll get there..."

He felt an unusual vibration just then, and a moment later the cabin turned to cold fog about the same time the explosion registered in his mind. He leaned over his daughter and saw the containment shroud on the number one engine was in tatters, and then he looked aft, saw a gaping hole just ahead of the first over-wing emergency exit door...

Oxygen masks blew down from their overhead compartments and dangled over his daughter's head, so he grabbed one and slipped it over her face and pulled to activate it, then he put one over his own face and took several deep huffs before dashing to the cockpit...

"What happened!" Andersen yelled, trying to make himself heard over all the alarms and the last rushing noises of the explosive decompression.

"Looks like we threw a fan blade, went into the main cabin," he said, struggling to breathe and reaching for his mask. "My airplane!" he said as he tightened his harness.

"Captain's aircraft!"

He scanned the engine instruments, checked hydraulic pressures -- and so far everything was holding steady, then he trimmed the aircraft for a rapid descent while he countered the asymmetric thrust with heavy pressure on the rudder. "Okay," he said as he continued scanning his instruments, "looks like we're losing fuel. Isolate the tank."

"Got it."

"Deploy the RAT...we're going to get a bus one undervolt..."

"Want me to start the APU?"

"Not yet. Lets get our fuel stabilized first, see what the numbers look like." He reached around and pulled Jenn's carrier to his lap, pulled out a small oxygen cannister he kept in one of the pouches and popped the lever, let oxygen flow over her nose for a moment, then he put her carrier down by his feet and worked the rate of descent out in his head. "Five more minutes," he said, thinking out loud. "Atuona has about four thousand feet paved..."

"Fuel's still leaking...and fast," Andersen said.

He thought about what his daughter had just said -- 'There sure is a lot of ocean down there' -- and her words brought a smile to his face.

"See if you can get on to Ocean Rescue. If not, send a mayday through ACARS and an sms by wifi." Andersen dialed 121.5 on COMM 1 and transmitted their position and situation, and Ocean Rescue came back, faint and scratchy, but they weren't alone and that felt good. He cued his mic and spoke next. "Uh, Tahiti, relay to Atuona we're headed their way. I don't think we're going to make it, but it's gonna be close so they might want to get their boats and helos ready. With our current rate of loss we're right on the line."

He checked altitude and threw off his mask, then he reached down and pulled Jenn's carrier up and had a look; she looked perturbed but her tail was whomping the sides of the bag and she woofed once just for good measure.

"Looks like we might have to go for a swim today, girl. You up for that?"

Two yaps.

"Well, don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you."

One yap.

"I love you too, girl."

Andersen shook his head. "She's your soulmate, isn't she?"

"That she is."

"Didn't you tell me once she can't swim?"

"Yup."

"Oh."

"Look, if anything happens to me, get her to King, would you?"

"I will."

"You're a good man, Andersen. How far out are we now?"

"One-fifteen. Thank you, Captain."

"Well Hell, it's gonna be closer than I'd like. You remember what the north coast looks like?"

"Reefs are in close, then a steep wall right after the last ring -- and it gets real deep, real fast."

He looked out his side of the aircraft, saw whitecaps and large, breaking waves on the surface and shook his head. "Must be blowing thirty-plus down there. Put me on the intercom, would you?"

"Yessir."

"Uh, flight attendants, prepare for a rough landing, get ready for a possible water evac if our approach doesn't work out. Everyone listen up, we're trying for one of the Marquesas Islands, a little airport outside the town of Atuona, but we're losing fuel a little too fast so we may end up in the water. Remember, the emergency exit slides convert to large rafts and odds are we'll have boats on the scene even before we get over the island, so keep calm and listen to your flight attendants. Hopefully we'll be on the ground in about ten to fifteen minutes, but lets get your life-preservers situated now."

"How's your leg holding out on the rudder?" Andersen asked.

"Manageable. How many minutes left?"

"Less than fifteen at current rate of burn."

"That's not gonna work. Tell the girls we're going in the water." He looked down at the sea again, saw the wind and waves were not as bad as before and he thought at least that was working in their favor...then he saw the mountains of Hiva Oa in the distance and remembered the airport was almost fifteen hundred feet above sea level. Even with the wind hard out of the north he just didn't see a good approach without their circling the island to land into the wind...and that would take time they just didn't have.

He peered ahead, could now just make out the crenelated coastline, and he saw a village just to the left -- and the pulsing strobes of one rescue helicopter making for the coast.

"Have you ever ditched before, Captain?"

"No. You?"

"Only in nightmares."

He laughed at that, and so did Andersen. "We'll be okay," he added.

"We are officially burning fumes now, Captain."

"Okay, tell Center, then the girls," he said, then he decided to head for the only village visible. "Isn't that Nahoe right there," he asked, taking a hand off the yoke long enough to point.

"Yes, I think so, Captain."

"I wonder...maybe we could almost beach this thing...or get close enough so people could wade ashore..."

"It's possible, but a risk, too."

"Everything's a risk now, Pers," he said -- and then the cockpit fell to silence as their number two engine ran out of fuel. "Glad we didn't try for the airport."

He watched his airspeed now, looking up at the coastline, and the tiny village just ahead -- gauging distances, trading airspeed for altitude when he thought it safe. The village looked to be about two miles ahead and already the rescue helo was circling overhead. Wave height looked perilous but manageable, but with the strong wind on his tail he knew he'd have to carry a lot of airspeed until the last possible moment.

"Look!" Andersen said, pointing. "There are already several boats headed our way."

"Give me some leading edge, would you?"

"One or two?"

"Go direct two, get ready to give me flaps five at about fifty feet."

"Got it."

"Tell the girls...brace now."

The water was incredibly blue down here, the water still thousands of feet deep, and he could see wind-driven spume cresting off the wave-tops...then he thought he saw the yellow helicopter off to his left as he bled off as much speed as possible...

"Flaps now," he said softly.

"Coming down."

"Brace now, Amigo." He took his feet off the pedals and tried to hold Jenn's carrier in place, then he saw the breaking waves -- and the rocks --

The aircraft skimmed off the tops of the waves for a few hundred feet, then the left wingtip hit the rocks and she spun wildly out of control, the fuselage breaking into two segments at first, then a third after the tail caught a breaking wave and broke free. He was aware of some of this as the forward part of the fuselage, now almost free of the wings, began to roll to the right as his ship stopped and settled in the water.

He looked at Andersen, saw he was moving but bleeding from a deep scalp laceration.

"Can you move?" he asked.

"Yes, Captain."

"Okay, let's head aft..."

The motion was violent, the breaking waves pushing the hull towards the surf line a few hundred yards ahead, but all he could think of now was Ellen and his daughter. He fought his way out of his seat and out the cockpit door...

No flight attendants in the galley, he saw, then he spotted one of the girls helping an elderly couple out of their seats. The hull righted for a moment and he went to the main door and forced it open, deploying the slide just as Andersen arrived.

"You stand-by here," he said, "and get ready to detach the raft when she's loaded. And grab that first aid kit!" he added, pointing to the box hanging in the galley, and as he started aft he felt his feet.

His daughter was wide-eyed but unhurt, while Ellen appeared dazed. Yes, he saw a welt under her right eye, and she was squinting but otherwise unhurt as he got to their seat.

"Let's get you two moving," he said, this time more calmly than he felt. The water was up to his knees and rising fast, the hull settling fast now. He grabbed his daughter when Ellen passed her over, then he took Ellen's hand and pulled her up, then forward...

"Captain, you must hurry!" Andersen shouted.

He noted the hull was settling by the cockpit as he passed his daughter to Andersen, then he helped Ellen into the raft...