Hard Landing Ch. 05

"What's going on you guys?" Steve asked.

"Oh, I was just telling Jill here about your mom's hobby," said Henry.

"This is really a delicate tune. It's going to be a hard sight read," Blue said. She cracked her fingers and rested them on the keys, looking over the notes.

"Blue, I—" Jo started but stopped when Henry looked at her, winked and mouthed, "It's okay."

She read through the tricky section a couple more times then started playing.

It was a sprightly melody, with lots of complex depth, the tune swirling around a cheerful theme. Blue was furrowing her brow, the tip of her tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth like it did when she was sketching. Jo saw her working the pedal as her fingers wound their way through the piece. Henry reached up and grasped the corner of the sheet and then turned it for her as she came to the end of the page. As she finished up the coda, she held the last notes until they died away on their own.

"That's a really neat piece!" she said as she looked up from the page.

Henry laughed. "Yeah, it sure is neat Jill! So, kids, why don't I break out the good bottle of whiskey and let's sit on the porch." He got up and headed to the kitchen. Blue started to get up but froze as she looked as Steve and Jo. Steve had tears in his eyes and Jo's face was white.

"What's wrong? Did I do something?"

Steve smiled and pulled her up, gave her a hug then said with a rasp, "I'm gonna go find Sara."

"Jo, what's wrong? What did I do?" Jo reached out and rubbed her hand up and down Blue's arm.

"You didn't do anything wrong Blue. Mom wrote that a few weeks before she died. That's the first time anyone's ever played it besides her. It might be the first time anyone's used this piano since then too, but I'm not sure."

Blue looked stricken. She looked over towards Henry. "Oh my god Jo!" she whispered. "I had no idea! I'm so sorry! Should I apologize to your dad?"

"No, I think you're good. He would have never shown that to you if he weren't cool with it. It was just a little startling to me and Steve, that's all."

"I feel weird now."

"Blue, you've got nothing to apologize for. Let's go sit outside and drink booze like the sophisticated country folk we are." She kissed her then led her out to join everyone on the porch.

Hours later, Jo helped Blue up the stairs into her cabin. She was more than a little tipsy.

"So why did I drink three glasses of that... stuff and you didn't drink any?" Blue complained. "That stuff is lethal! Your dad is a tubblemaker. A troublemaker. That second one."

"Twelve hours, bottle to throttle," said Jo.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Okay," Blue said and put both hands on Jo's shoulders and pushed her stumbling back until her knees hit the couch and she flopped down on it. Blue hiked up her dress and straddled Jo's legs with her knees on either side of her hips.

"Whoa there, Blue. You sure you're okay?"

"'M fine Jo. And I know you're going to say that tomorrow we say goodbye and I'm drunk and we had a fight last night and am I sure I want to do anything or something like that, right?"

Jo smiled up at her. "Yeah, something like that."

Blue pulled her dress up over her head and threw in onto the hearth of the fireplace, then puffed a strand of blue hair out of her face. She didn't have anything on underneath the dress and was now wearing nothing but her sneakers.

"Um. When did this happen?" Jo asked.

"When I went to the bathroom an hour ago," Blue said, and reached back to pull off one shoe, then the other. She deliberately left her socks on.

"You went to the bathroom in my dad's house. Where did you leave your underwear?"

"I hid them under the sink. Don't worry, I set a reminder on my phone to get them tomorrow so I won't forget. I don't want to scandalize your dad." She started kissing Jo's neck.

"Jesus Blue, you're like a walking wet dream tonight, aren't you?"

Blue leaned back and started tugging at Jo's t-shirt. "That's my plan. It's our last night." She pulled the shirt off and threw it after her dress. "No messing around, Jo. Tonight I want you to fuck me like you mean it."

Jo stared at her. Then she smiled and said, "Yes ma'am!"

"Atta girl." Blue grabbed her face with both hands and kissed her hard, her tongue reaching out into her mouth. Jo started running her hands all over Blue's body, then reached down and slid a finger between her legs. She was soaking wet.

"Blue," Jo moaned, "you're so fucking sexy." She grabbed Blue's ass and stood up, lifting her off the couch as she squealed "Eep!"

"There it is," Jo breathed and kissed her as she carried her into the bedroom. She threw Blue bodily onto the bed then stood looking at her as she started taking off the rest of her clothes.

Blue leaned up on her elbows, watching Jo strip. "I'm going to miss your body. I've never been with anyone built like you."

"Not even one of your dudes?" Jo asked. She immediately regretted saying it, but Blue's inhibitions were apparently out the window tonight.

"None of the dudes. To tell you the truth Jo I never really develop feelings for guys, I only fall for women. Sometimes though I just want some dick."

"Really?" Jo asked, amused. "Well, I'm sorry I can't provide that service."

"If we were at my apartment you could."

"Is that so?"

Blue reached out and pulled Jo down on top of her. "Yeah, if we were at my place right now you could fuck me with the biggest one I've ever had. Why? Haven't you done that before?"

She forced Blue down into her back and trailed her tongue down her belly. "Believe it or not, no. I'm not into having that done to me, and I haven't been around anyone long enough to get into the toy buying phase. So, no, no strap-ons for me. Fingers always seemed like enough," she said, as she slid two of them into Blue.

She moaned and grabbed two fistfuls of the quilt. "Some day when you're back in town we'll have to test that theory. With your muscles you could fuck me like no one else."

Jo grabbed Blue's legs under each knee, bent them up towards her chest, lowered her head and began to lick Blue's clit, knowing that was her fastest way to an orgasm.

"Oh my God!" Blue yelled.

"Shhh! Jesus, Blue, you want everyone in the house to hear?"

"Maybe. This is the most privacy we've ever... oh God... had and I like... oh my God... I like being loud! Oh my God Jo! Keep doing that!" She started thrashing around on the bed grabbing Jo's hair. "EEP!"

She finally collapsed back onto her back. Jo crawled up and cradled her. Blue was panting like she'd been running a race.

Jo nuzzled Blue's ear as she started to calm down. She reached over and switched off the light.

"Why'd you do that?" asked Blue.

"I thought you might be ready for some sleep after that and all the whiskey."

Blue switched the light back on. "We're just getting started."

And Blue was right.

JO

Jo heard the side door of the hanger open then slam shut on the automatic springs in the hinges. She was standing on a short stepladder, the upper half of her body inside the engine compartment of her dad's Bell-47. She lifted her head out as Blue walked around the front of the cockpit, carrying two steaming mugs, one of which had a sticky note with "HANGER" written on it in Jo's handwriting. The morning sun streaming through the open main hangar doors lit up the edges of her blue hair like a halo.

"Morning Blue, you sleep ok?

"Up until I woke up and you weren't there." Blue lifted the mug with the note on it and held it out to her. "Thanks for the locator note. We need to work on your communication skills," she said smiling.

You think you're joking, but you don't know how right you are. Jo thought to herself. She climbed down the ladder and stuck the wrench she had been using in the leg pocket of the grey coveralls she was wearing over her clothes, and pulled a rag out of a different pocket to wipe at the grease on her fingers then took the coffee cup from Blue and took a sip.

Jill looked up at the Bell-47. "So, is this the old one you restored with your dad? I've never seen a helicopter like this."

"Yep. Dad keeps her tuned up, but whenever I'm home I like to give her some love."

The Bell-47 was about as primitive as helicopters got. The tail was just welded tubing forming a boom, holding up a two bladed tail rotor at the back. The main propeller was also just two blades, and the cockpit was a giant Plexiglas bubble surrounding three seats across side-by-side. There were no doors.

The whole thing was painted olive drab, Army colors from a bygone time. "M*A*S*H* N4077Z" was stenciled on the fuel tanks on each side in white paint.

"Blue, meet Margaret. Margaret, this is Blue Girl." Jo said, as if she was making a formal introduction.

"Margaret?"

"She's named after Margaret Houlihan, the character from the TV show M*A*S*H*? This is the same type of chopper they used on that show for bringing wounded to the hospital."

"I'm not sure I've ever watched an episode of that. Maybe on TV Land back when I was a kid," Jill said. She was peering into the cockpit.

"Whoo-boy, don't tell my dad that or he'll probably never speak to you again."

"Really?" Blue looked actually worried.

"No, I'm kidding Blue. But he will give you a double ration of shit for not having seen any episodes of his favorite show."

"Oh. Wait! That number N4077Z painted on the side, isn't that tattooed on your back? Next to the helicopter I said looked like a dragonfly?"

"Yeah, dad taught me to fly on his MD-500, but after we finished restoring this one I flew it a lot. I flew left seat in dad's bird first though." She patted the side of the aircraft.

"I guess from the side this one looks just like your tattoo. It's pretty cool."

Jo folded up the stepladder and hung it on a hook next to a workbench along the wall, put the wrench from her pocket in a drawer then stripped off her coveralls and put them into a bank of lockers next to the workbench, leaving her in jeans and the 'Chips and Salsa' t-shirt Blue had bought her on the way to Virginia Beach. She picked up what looked like a garage door opener.

"Well, it's a good morning for this. Step over here Blue." When she was clear Jo pressed a button. There was a quiet mechanical sound and the helicopter started sliding out the main hangar door.

"Eep!" Blue said and skipped back another step. She apparently hadn't noticed the low trolley the helicopter was sitting on. Four small, fat tires on each side of the yellow sled whined as the machine rolled out into the sunlight.

"Do you have a pair of sunglasses handy?" Jo asked her.

"They're in the house. Wait, are we going to go flying in this thing?" Her eyes went wide.

"Sure. Here, don't bother going inside to get them." Jo reached into the lockers again and pulled out two pairs of aviator sunglasses and two navy blue baseball hats that had embroidered patches that said "Collins Aviation" on the front. "Jump up in the right side there.

"Uh, are you sure about this? I mean do we have tell someone or fill out paperwork or something?"

"No, we can fly VFR. No worries."

"What's VFR?" Jill said as Jo reached in and started buckling the shoulder and lap belts around her.

"Visual Flight Rules. Means we can't rely on instruments, we have to be able to see where we're going. But it's a beautiful day, so we're fine." Jo walked around to the left side and jumped in, strapping her harness on with the ease of long practice. "You might want to put your hair back and put on that hat. It's going to get windy in here.

The inside of the helicopter looked very rudimentary. There were just eight gauges on a panel set in the middle of the cockpit, so they could be seen from each set of controls, one set in front of Jo and an identical set for Blue's side. Jo flipped two switches, watched the needles on the gauges run up and down then settle into the normal ranges. She turned a key and the engine behind them roared to life. The main propeller over their heads started to spin, slowly increasing in speed. Jo pointed to a headset hanging from a hook in front of Blue and yelled "Put that on!" over the engine noise as she donned her own.

Blue struggled to get the earpieces in place over her unfamiliar baseball hat and sunglasses, then looked over and yelled into her microphone "Did I do this right?" Jo had already turned down her volume, expecting that. Newbies always yelled.

"Okay, first things first, these are noise cancelling headsets, you don't have to yell. Normal voice." Her voice was close and comfortable in Blue's ear. As soon as she'd put on the headset, the deafening roar of the engine had dropped to a very tolerable level.

"Oh, sorry!" Blue said quieter, looking embarrassed.

"No worries, everyone does it. Ok, engine temp is green, RPMs look good, you ready?"

"Wait! There's no doors?!" Blue was looking over at the empty space next to her where a door might go. Jo smiled at her but inside a little part of her sighed with regret.

She'd done this with a few women she'd hooked up with who had been bordering on getting too close to her. She took them up and they got scared shitless. Either she landed and the girl got royally pissed at Jo for scaring her and fucked off, or when she landed they were panicked and crying which was a turn off and made it easier for Jo to fuck off.

She wasn't sure which way Blue was going to jump, but she needed the help. With Blue leaving with Steve and the gang for DC tonight, and her leaving for Fort Bragg in a few days, she needed the push, one way or the other. She wished she didn't feel like she had to do this with Blue. But if she didn't do something she was afraid she'd say something really dumb that she couldn't back up when it came time to part ways. Like promising "she'd be back" for Blue. Or "wait for me." Or some stupid shit. She looked so goddamn cute sitting there.

"No worries, you've got a four-point harness, you couldn't fall out if you tried. Makes for a better view anyway. Okay, here we go."

Jo twisted the throttle on the collective. The engine roar increased dramatically, then she smoothly pulled up on the lever and the Bell-47 lifted straight up into the air.

"EEP!" Jo couldn't help but smile. She was going to miss that sound so damn much.

"You know you gotta do it Collins," said Little Voice. "You're out of here to train up for three months, then over in the shit for a year. This is how it's gotta be."

Can you leave me alone for this one flight, Little? she thought.

After they'd risen a few hundred feet, Jo pushed forward on the stick and they started accelerating away from her Dad's farm, still climbing.

"Oh my god, this is—" Blue was whipping her head around, looking out the door, over at Jo, out the front windscreen.

"Little scary?" Jo asked, "It's okay, it takes a while to get used to. It's not like an airplane."

"No, this is so cool!" Blue gushed. Jo frowned. "How does it work? Can you tell me how you steer it?"

"Uh, sure." This isn't how it was supposed to go. "Okay, so you've got basically three controls. The pedals, the cyclic, or stick, and the collective."

"Pedals and stick, I see those. Is this the collective?" she pointed down to the lever sticking out by her left hip.

"Exactly right. So, we'll take them one at a time. Put your feet on the pedals, but don't push on them." Blue set her sneakers on the pedals. Her dress was blowing around a bit under the seat belt. That's really distracting, Jo thought.

"Right, so the pedals control the pitch of the blades on the tail rotor. The tail rotor stops us from spinning around like a top because of the centrifugal force of the main rotor. By changing the pitch of the tail blades, you steer the aircraft left or right." They were about three thousand feet above the ground now, headed out towards the Shenandoah Mountains in the distance, flying at a leisurely sixty knots.

"Look out ahead of us. See the tallest mountain off to our left? Push down slowly on the right pedal until the nose turns and points towards it. Slow and smooth."

Blue pressed her right foot down and the helicopter slowly turned to the left. She overshot the heading for the mountain a little, but before Jo could say anything, Blue had pushed down on the left pedal and brought it back to the correct heading.

Damn, Jo thought.

"This is great!" Blue was smiling ear to ear. Fuck, this was not going as she'd thought it would.

"Okay, now the cyclic, but I usually just call it the stick. The stick controls how the big rotor over our head tilts. Tilt it forward and we speed up. Pull back and we slow down or even go backwards. Side to side will slip us in each direction without turning the nose. Want to try?"

"Yes!" She reached out for the stick but Jo stopped her.

"Wait, this is important. You don't ever want two pilots fighting each other for control of the aircraft, right?" Blue nodded. "So, put your hand on the stick." Blue grasped it in her right hand and looked at Jo. "Okay, whenever you take over control, you shake the stick like this," Jo gave her stick a little jiggle. "Did you feel that?"

"It shook mine when you did that."

"Right, so when you're taking control, you shake the stick and you say 'my aircraft' so the other pilot knows you have it, then I'll acknowledge it's your aircraft. Don't steer yet, just take control and let me know."

Blue licked her lips, then she jiggled her control stick and said, "My aircraft."

"You have the aircraft," Jo said and took her hand and feet off the controls.

"Uh, Jo? Am I flying us now?"

"Mostly. I still have the collective, but that's more complicated, so let's worry about this first. We're slowing down because you have the cyclic in a neutral position. So, slowly push it forward." Blue did so and the helicopter tilted down at the nose and sped up. "Now slowly pull it back to you." The nose rose up and they slowed down. "Good job."

"This is really cool, Jo!"

"Alright, so let's combine what you know so far. Push the stick forward to accelerate us and make a slow turn to the right with the pedals, while also slightly tilting the stick the direction we're turning. She could see Blue concentrate as she started a banking turn. "Good, tilt it a little more to the right. Easy. Easy, I'm going to help just a little." Jo grasped the stick and pulled up the nose a bit as they banked to the right. "Good, you're a natural."

"So, what does the collective do?"

"This one's a little more complicated, but I'll walk you through the basics. Let me take over. I've got the aircraft," she said and shook the stick. Blue took her hand off her stick.

"Forgetting something?" Jo asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh! Sorry, you have the aircraft, sir!" Blue was grinning ear to ear.

"Right. Okay, the collective is actually two controls. The first is the throttle, how fast the engine is running. See how you can twist it like a motorcycle handle? Go ahead and grab it and turn it towards you, clockwise." Blue did as instructed, the engine sped up and the helicopter started to gain altitude. "See? You make the engine go faster, we go higher. Got it?"

"Throttle, check."

Jo smiled. She was like an eager recruit. "Alright, now the other thing you can do is you can change how the blades are feathered."

"What does that mean?"

"If you looked at a cross section of the blades above us, they look like an airplane wing. By pulling up on the collective you increase the pitch, or change to angle, which basically blows more wind down through the rotor, which gives us lift, okay? If you want less lift, you push down on the collective, which 'feathers' the blades. Go ahead and push down slowly."