Teresa's Christmas Miracle Ch. 01

A sense of disquiet came over me, as well. And it did not improve when my daughter Carole appeared amongst us, escorted by the Redoubtable Bowser.

"Daddy," she said, "is Aunt Trreesa flying an airplane?"

"Yes, she is." I said. And then I remembered Carole's premonition and admonition about danger to someone flying an aircraft. (Author's note: 'Just A Story', Ch. 06, Epilogue) I added: "You don't think she should be flying the Life Flight mission?"

"It doesn't matter." Carole said. "She has to fly thar one."

Laura said "Why don't you go up and get ready for bed, Carole. Teresa will be fine." Carole looked at her mother more sadly than angrily, and still knowing that her mother didn't believe her premonitions.

I said to Carole: "I'll keep track of her flight, so don't worry. And your mom's right; it is getting to be some people's bedtimes around here."

Todd said "I'll take the boys home. Aunt Clarissa, I hope you and the girls are staying with us."

"You're very gracious, Todd." Clarissa said. "For tonight, I guess we should."

After they'd gone, I took the dogs out. As they scampered around the corner and down the mountainside trail to inspect their territories and do their business, I sat down in the metal mesh loveseat and brought up the aircraft tracker app, an upgrade of the one Cindy had used to track Laura's plane that the Consultant of Crime shot down. (Author's note: 'Along Came A Spider', Ch. 04) I found the transponder for BOW Enterprises Flight 29 quickly. It was flying west, seemingly on course.

"You're not taking her seriously, are you?" I heard a voice behind me say. It was Laura.

"Here, have a seat." I said, sliding right to make sure she had room to sit down next to me. "And yes, I am. My mother and Aunt Clarissa both had uneasy looks on their faces, and whenever Bowser escorts Carole around like he was doing tonight, its usually because he knows she's uneasy about something. And yes, I'm feeling uneasy about this one, too."

Then, to distract her, I said "Did you ever know a Major General Spencer Davenport?"

Laura said "His name sounds vaguely familiar... oh. Yes. I remember a Lieutenant Colonel Spencer Davenport. He was in Military Intelligence at Fort Huachuca, Arizona about ten years ago. I'll bet it's the same guy."

I said "His nine-year-old twin children are the sick kids." I described what little I knew about their rare disease.

Laura said "I heard Dr. Napp talk about that disease a couple of months ago. They've found a treatment that works very well on girls but not as well on boys, and they're not sure why."

I said "We are so blessed to have good, healthy kids. I can only imagine how he and his wife must feel right now."

"Then don't." Laura said. "I know that sounds cold, but you can't beat yourself up about things like that." Then she very pointedly added "And you can't worry about Teresa based upon Carole's overactive imagination, either."

"You really don't believe her when she has premonitions like that, do you?" I asked.

Laura replied "All of my jobs have required me to stay in the present, and they do not allow me to consider dreams... or nightmares... as real. Carole needs to keep her mind on where. she. is. What. she. is. doing. And a volume control on her mouth wouldn't hurt." Then she looked at me and said "Do you really believe all that stuff she says?"

"I have seen enough to know that I have seen enough to know." I said. I made one last check of BOW Two-Niner, then closed down my iPhone and said "Why don't we go back inside and warm up with more... agreeable... conversations, yes?"

"And what shall we drink while we do that?" Laura asked.

"Eagle Rare 10-year." I said. "And only one dram. I'm getting my own premonition that I need to keep a clear head tonight..."

Part 5 - It Begins

10:00pm local time, Tuesday, December 21st. "We should be going over the Rocky Mountains soon." said Teddy Franklin. He was licensed to fly smaller aircraft like the one they were in, so Teresa listed him as co-pilot to get some flying hours in. She was the Pilot Flying, and he was the Pilot Monitoring.

"Roger that." Teresa replied. "We're going to fly right over Ouray, Colorado. For those in the know, after Ayn Rand visited Ouray, it became her inspiration for 'Galt's Gulch', the town where the Producers hid themselves in her epic novel Atlas Shrugged. And I know that because I just finished reading Atlas Shrugged."

"Who is John Galt?" Teddy replied whimsically. Then he asked "What did you think of the book?"

"It was pretty good." Teresa said. "And pretty prescient for a book published in 1957."

Teddy said "Atlas Shrugged and Orwell's 1984 were the two most prescient books I ever read." He then said "I'm going to call in to Denver and get a weather report. Those clouds ahead look spooky."

He called in and got the report, then he asked permission to climb higher, to get over the clouds, and was granted permission to go from FL280 (28,000 ft.) to FL330 (33,000 ft.).

They made it over the cloud cover and the Rockies, and were instructed by Las Vegas control to resume 28,000 feet. They did so, and the rest of the flight was relatively uneventful. Teddy handled the communications into the airfield near Teresa's hometown, as the controllers knew him very well.

After they landed, Teresa taxied to the terminal. She and Teddy climbed out of their seats and disembarked and went to the terminal as the two children on their gurneys were being brought over to the plane.

"Thanks for the lift." Teddy said. "It'll probably be next year before I'll need the plane to go back, or to Washington."

"We'll get it back to you." Teresa said. "Good luck, and I hope she says 'yes'." Seeing the look of surprise on his face, she said "I've worked with the Iron Crowbar long enough to know how to observe and deduce things... especially that little jewelry box in your jacket pocket."

Teddy grinned. They made their goodbyes. Teresa went to the potty, then back to the plane. She saw the refueling truck coming up to the plane. The kids's gurneys had been locked into place, and their IV stands secured next to them. The boy was asleep, but the girl, who was very pretty and with dirty blonde hair, looked up at Teresa.

"Hi, I'm Teresa." said Teresa. "I'm the pilot, and I'm going to be flying you to University Hospital."

"I'm Diane." said the girl. "Thank you for coming so fast. I think my brother needs help a lot more than I do, and really fast."

"We'll do everything we can for both of you." Teresa said. She excused herself and went to the cockpit and strapped herself back into the pilot's seat. She checked in with Air Traffic Control and verified her flight plan.

"Be advised of a possibly severe weather formation over the Rocky Mountains, particularly in Colorado." said the ATC. "Las Vegas or Denver may re-route you if it worsens."

"Roger that." Teresa said. "Be advised that this is a Life Flight, and I'll need the shortest, fastest route possible to get them to TCA (Town & County Airport) safely."

A moment later she looked on the monitor showing the view of the small camera affixed to the wing and looking towards the rear of the aircraft. She saw the fuel delivery workers disconnecting the hose from the aircraft...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Something's wrong here." said one of the maintenance people. "Either this hose is not connecting properly, or the pump isn't getting the fuel to it."

"We'll have to change it out." sad the other maintenance man. "We'll need to advise the Tower, then bring the truck back."

But no one advised the Tower...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

11:30pm local time, Tuesday, December 21st. Seeing the fuel hose being put away, and the the truck pulling away, Teresa checked the fuel gauge and saw that it showed over three-fourths full. Plenty enough to get home, even with a re-route, she thought to herself.

"Okay, let's go!" she heard a voice say. She looked back to see a young woman in a nurse's uniform come onto the plane, followed by the door being secured from the outside. The girl had a mane of curly light brown, almost blondish hair. Teresa sensed she was pretty, though she didn't see the girl's face clearly, and now the cockpit wall next to the door was concealing the girl's face as she checked on the patients.

"On our way." Teresa replied, turning back forward and concentrating on her tasks at hand. She got clearance to taxi to the runway and was granted it; the helicopters that had brought the children and the nurse were sitting idle, and there were no other active aircraft present.

"BOW Two-Niner Life Flight." the Tower instructed. "Proceed to Runway 7. You have clearance to take off when you're ready."

"Roger that. Runway 7, immediate clearance. Thank you. BOW Two-Niner Life Flight." Teresa said. A moment later she reached the west end of the runway and turned onto it. She immediately gunned the engines and rotated the craft up when it reached V-1 speed. The aircraft lifted off the ground.

Teresa felt two sensations. First, the aircraft seemed light, and like it lifted off quickly, as opposed to when it was fully loaded and fully fueled. And second, she saw ahead of her, at her two o'clock position, the cluster of lights that she knew were coming from her childhood hometown.

Seeing the lights, she suddenly felt the presence of her sister Alexis, as if Alexis was watching the plane and its precious cargo from below. She hoped that was a good omen, and the Spirit of Alexis would guide her safely home...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The two Army nurses that had ridden with the children on the plane from Hawaii to Vandenberg AFB and then on the helicopters to this airfield came out of the terminal, only to see the airplane taking off. As they watched it climb into the sky, one of them took out her cellphone and called the Tower.

A moment later came a call on the radio: "BOW Two-Niner Life Flight, do you have the nurses aboard?" the ATC voice said.

"Roger that, the nurse is aboard. BOW Two-Niner Life Flight." Teresa replied, not catching the Tower's use of the plural word.

"Roger BOW Two-Niner. We have the two nurses that came with the helicopters still here. Do you wish to circle around and pick them up?"

"Uh, negative, Tower." Teresa said. "I'm looking at the nurse right here. BOW Two-Niner Life Flight out..."

Part 6 - Rendezvous With Destiny

1:00am local time, Wednesday, December 22nd. I was in the greatroom of The Cabin, being supervised by the redoubtable Bowser. Everyone else was in bed, asleep. I checked the app and saw that BOW29LF (life flight) was in the air and flying east-northeast.

I called the TCA Air Traffic Control tower on my Police iPhone. When they answered, I said "This is Commander Donald Troy of the Town & County Police. The BOW Enterprises Two-Niner Life Flight is airborne and heading here. Please keep track of it, and let me or the Hospital know when the flight in on approach, so I can get the ambulances there to take the patients to the Hospital."

"Roger that, Commander." the ATC person said. "We've got them and we are watching their progress. We'll advise you when they reach local radar..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"How are they doing back there?" Teresa called out as she scanned the sky ahead.

"Good." the nurse said. Teresa thought the woman's voice was eerily familiar, though she didn't know why. She was hoping to get to talk to the nurse, but the weather ahead was commanding more and more of her attention. She realized the cloud cover was going to envelop her if she did not climb.

"GJT (Grand Junction, Colorado) Control, this BOW Two-Niner Life Flight." she called into the radio. "Request permission to climb from FL280 to FL330, BOW 29er Life Flight."

"BOW Two-Niner Life Flight this is GJT Control." said the voice on the radio. "Roger, climb to FL330 and maintain. Contact Denver control when you've cleared the cloud cover, over."

"Roger, climbing to FL330 and will contact Denver Control. Have a good night. BOW Two-Niner Life Flight." Teresa said. She dialed in the settings, and the aircraft climbed to 33,000 feet.

But it wasn't enough. The purplish clouds seemed to reach up to grab the plane. "GJT Control, this is BOW Two-Niner Life Flight."

There was no response.

"Denver Control, this is BOW 29er Life Flight. Come in."

There was no response. She got on the universal emergency frequency and called out: "Any airport, this is BOW Two-Niner Life Flight, come in. Any airport..."

She was not receiving. And it got worse... the VOR and GPS navigation signals were offline and not working. Her heading read the same, but she had no way of knowing if it was accurate. And the clouds were inexorably rising to meet her. She would not be able to see anything out the window soon...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Star of Wonder, Star of Night,
Star with Royal Beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to Thy perfect Light."

--- John Henry Hopkins, Jr., 'We Three Kings'

"Hail Mary, full of Grace..." Teresa whispered as she felt fear welling up inside her... fear that she had not felt in her life, not even when she had rescued Carole at Ward Harvester. (Author's note: 'Teresa's Christmas Finale', Ch. 01-02.)

She felt a hand on her shoulder. "Don't panic." the nurse said, standing behind her and leaning over until they were almost cheek to cheek. "Just follow that star."

Teresa looked to where the nurse was pointing. Dead ahead was a star, twinkling brightly, almost cutting through the cloud cover. It was guiding her eastward, not westward, but it was as welcome to Teresa as the Star of Christmas was to the Wise Men.

Teresa turned her head to look up at the nurse, but the young woman had already retreated to the main cabin to check on the kids. Teresa turned back and looked forward. By the passage of time on her wristwatch, she reckoned that she was over the Rocky Mountains by now. She hoped that if she got past them, she would get her radio signals back, and maybe this purple miasma of clouds would recede, and dissipate.

The clouds were a rolling layer of purple beneath her. Above her were dots of starlight against the black sky of the night. She concentrated on that beacon of light guiding her. She knew she couldn't descend, and she knew she couldn't climb, either. She sensed that the plane was flying straight and level at 33,000 feet, but she simply had no guide to tell her.

She remembered reading about the disorientation that led to the crash of the flight that killed John F. Kennedy, Jr., and she prayed that she would come out of this without making a fatal mistake. There was a peacefulness to this surreal emptiness, but she felt no peace from it. Only that star ahead kept the fear from welling up in her again.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

*BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!*

"ARF! ARF! ARF!" barked a most very displeased Bowser. It was my Police iPhone. I had dozed off. I looked at the time on my ringing Police iPhone, and it said 3:00am.

"Hush, Bowser." I said, rubbing the back of Bowser's neck to comfort him. Into the phone I said "Commander Troy." as I tried to wake up.

"Commander, this is Town & County Air Traffic Control." said TCA ATC. "We have lost BOW Two-Niner Life Flight on all radars. The plane appears to have gone down in heavy clouds over Ouray, Colorado..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The chirp of an alarm jolted her. Teresa looked at the instruments to see that the autopilot had disconnected! She attempted to re-engage it, but it had nothing to guide its navigational systems, and it would not re-engage. Teresa took control of the wheel, and kept the plane pointed at the star ahead, and hoped that the altimeter reading was correct.

And then the wisps of purple began rising. The star ahead fluctuated as ribbons of clouds floated upwards across it. Then the cloudbank enveloped the plane. Purple clouds swirled outside the windows. And it felt like the clouds had a malignancy to them. Teresa began feeling fear again, and just couldn't overcome it.

Flashes of bright purple lightning cut through the clouds for brief seconds, but the clouds regained their grip. Teresa remembered her Aunt Clarissa and Todd's grandmother Phyllis telling about their flight going through purple lightning like this, then ending up in the Town & County instead of Louisiana, where they'd been heading. She wondered if she'd end up where she was supposed to be going... for the sake of the kids she was flying, she could not afford any deviations.

"Come on, Teresa, get it together." she told herself. "It can't get any worse, only better from here." She strained to keep her eyes on the star ahead. And then the clouds swirled up, and it got worse...

...the star disappeared.

It was no longer visible. The plane was fully enveloped in the clouds, with visibility of zero feet. And just as the clouds had taken over the aircraft, fear and hopelessness relentlessly overtook Teresa's soul.

"Oh hell! Who is John Galt?" she cried out in utter despair...

To be continued.