There Must Be a Mistake Ch. 05

Note: All persons used in this novel are fictitious. Although the areas used in this novel are real, the streets, buildings, roadways, recreational areas, and other points of interest used to make this interesting reading for you, are neither at the exact heights, or in the location described. If you are looking for a great deal of explicit sexual activity, this is not the story for you. As I have it notated now, those scenes will be evocative rather than aggressive. They also will be a few and far between. This is going to be a "SHORT STORY, for your reading pleasure," with no more than "FIVE SHORT CHAPTERS." With the exclusion of certain scenes, this story could easily have a fit into the category of "NON-EROTIC" as easily as it will fit into a Novel or Novella. Again, please remember, 'THIS IS A NOVEL.'

Chapter 5

15. DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC

As they picked me up off the floor, and wet my face with a cloth, I was still in another world. What had Rod said to me that confused and surprised me so that it knocked me out cold?

Doctor Livingstone was still on the phone talking with someone and laughing. I heard him say, "He survived whatever you told him, and they have him standing up now. I do not think you should tell him it again. It may kill him this time. Hang on I will give him the phone, although I am not sure he is coherent yet."

Livingstone said to his colleagues, "You better put him in a chair; if he falls again he might break some of our equipment."

"Even are you well enough to talk to your friend Rod?"

I said yes, although I was not sure I could handle what he was about to tell me again.

"Rod, I believe I remember what you said to me before, but it is not possible. I never touched my sister intimately. I swear to you on my life than I have never had intercourse with anyone in my entire life."

"Even do you believe in science?"

"Don't ask me a stupid question when you already know the answer Rod."

"I have DNA proof that you and your sister are Delicious' parents. What do you want me to do with these findings? Do you want me to bury them? Do you want me to burn them? Do you want me to burn your sister's diary?"

"Divine left a diary? Did you read it?"

"Of course I read it Even. I will never divulge a word of it, because of our confidentiality agreement. You and Delicious have to read it to understand why she did what she did to both of you. It is a heartbreaking story of unrequited longing and love. You have got to get home to help heal your daughter, before she cracks under the strain of losing you."

"I will call her from here Rod, and ask her to forgive me for being such an ass. I am coming home to be with her forever. Have you told her she is my daughter?"

"No, I believe this is a story for both of you to hear while you are sitting together, don't you?"

"I believe you are right. Thank you Rod, you are still the best lawyer I have ever known."

"I want a raise."

"Okay, as long as you take Amtrak from now on, I will give you one."

"Why do you always have a better answer to one of my simple requests?"

"I am smarter than you are Rod, get used to it."

"I hate you Even; I hate you almost as much as your daughter."

"Hang up Rod; I have to call her."

"Doctor Livingstone, is it okay if I make an outgoing call?"

"It will cost you $50 Even."

I reached into my pocket, took out $500, and handed it to him. "I may be on the phone for a long time. I think this should cover it."

"Even I was kidding."

"Call Barrow, and order pizza for everyone."

I dialed Rosalynn's number and waited for her to pick up the phone. She didn't answer it; Delicious did. She screamed, "Uncle Even is it you?"

"Yes baby it's me. Can you possibly forgive me for hurting you so terribly when you did not deserve it. It was my pride that was hurt baby, you did not do anything wrong."

"Yes I did, and I should have known better. I am sorry Uncle Even. Why are you in Alaska?"

"Would you believe I wanted to learn how to ice fish?"

"Director Meil said you would not know one end of a fishing pole from the other. When are you coming home?"

"There is an airplane waiting for me to get off the phone with you to take me back to Barrow. I will make arrangements from there to Fairbanks, and then the fastest way home."

"I cannot wait to get my arms around you again."

"I cannot wait either sweetheart. Why don't you go over the program while I am on the way home, and see if you can find anything that's wrong with it. Wait until I get there to put any fixes in, okay?"

"Are you sure Uncle Even, I can wait until you come home to do it."

"What are you going to do with yourself for the next few days, while you are waiting for me to get home; sit on your thumbs?"

"Well, since Rod has been away, Colonel Jeffrey and our staff have been making preparations for his arrival."

"Delicious very soon the worm is going to turn; and you are going to be on the receiving end."

"He isn't that good Uncle Even."

"Remember you said that, because one day you are going to regret it."

"What do you know that I do not know Uncle?"

"I am at the tip of Alaska. Rod is in the eastern portion of Maine. Unless he was in Florida we could not be further apart if we tried. He will be the culprit not me. I have to get on an airplane now, and get back to you. Oh one more thing, I have a girlfriend. Good by now"

I took the phone away from my ear, but I could hear her yelling, "Don't you dare hang up on me. Tell me about her."

I said one more word which I knew would inflame her. "NO," and hung up the phone.

I could only imagine how much money she would have to put into the pretzel jar when she got back to the house.

I thanked the staff at the Point Barrow scientific outpost for their hospitality. I asked them if there was anything they needed the government didn't allow them in their budget. Within minutes I had a list of items, and promised them I would see if I could accommodate them with as many of these instruments as possible, within a short period of time.

I climbed back in to that god-awful single engine aircraft. The pilot laughed at me.

"You liked it so much the first time, you wanted to go for another ride, eh doc?"

"I always wanted to perform open heart surgery on myself too. I decided not to do it just in case my hands slipped. Let's get back to Barrow in one piece if possible."

"Doc, I do this round-trip four times a week, and the only thing that happens is I get hemorrhoids. Fasten your seatbelt; it's going to be rough."

He wasn't lying, because as soon as the wheels lifted off the ground, we were hit by a wind shear that tipped the wings 45 degrees. I was very happy I didn't eat anything, while I was on the ground.

We flew much higher on the way back to Barrow, then when we were on the way to Point Barrow. I asked the pilot why.

He asked me if I had ever seen the movie with Anthony Hopkins, where their aircraft was hit by a flock of geese flying over a ridge, while they were looking for a landing site.

I saw that movie, and remembered the result of the geese impacting the aircraft very well. I was happy we were much higher than the local terrain.

After an hour flying time, Barrow was in sight, and our landing was smooth. I grabbed my bag thanked the pilot, paid him, and went inside to find the next scheduled flight to Fairbanks. I didn't get the answer I wanted.

"Sir, the next scheduled flight is the day after tomorrow."

"Are there any charter flights that can take me there?"

"Yes sir, there are several reputable charter outfits that I can recommend. However there is a strong weather front coming in from the southeast, and I would advise you to stay over at least one night."

"Where is the weather service on the airport so I can check in with them?"

"They are co-located with the tower; you can't miss it when you walk outside."

*****

After speaking with the weather people, I spoke with two pilots who turned me down. I spoke to a third who had a twin-engine aircraft, and said he would take me, as long as I was ready to go immediately.

I showed him my bag and told him I was ready to go.

He hastily filed a flight plan with the tower at an altitude of 14,000 feet, started the engines, and taxied out to the runway. One aircraft landed, and we were on our way. The GPS homed in on Fairbanks at a heading of 165 degrees and 15 minutes later we were at our assigned altitude, bumping along. He had the airplane on automatic pilot, for the 500-mile trip to Fairbanks. I'm not a fan of country music, but Michael was, and I wasn't going to argue with him. We were cruising at 180 knots, and you could see the storm front moving in from the southeast.

Michael told me not to worry about it because we would be on the ground, in Fairbanks, before it arrived.

He was wrong by 55 miles, or about 13 minutes flying time. It felt like we were being hit by mini-tornadoes every other second. According to the GPS we were making very little headway, but Michael insisted on battling the storm head on. Then we started losing altitude. I looked over my shoulder and there was ice on the forward portion of the wing. I told Michael and he looked over his shoulder and saw the same thing on his side. He said the deicing boots were not working properly.

He still insisted on battling the storm head on, but I told him again if he went southwest, the winds would help push the ice off the wing tips, and we would gain some forward speed.

He asked me how I knew this would happen.

I told him I was a scientist.

As we passed through 10,000 feet above the ground, he said 'Fuck it,' turned to a heading of 235 degrees, which put the winds at the aircraft's beam.

Within minutes the ice on his wingtips began breaking off, but it was having no effect on my side. We were losing altitude but not as fast, and there was still ice on the starboard wing.

When shit happens, it always happens in bunches. The port side engine began smoking, and then burst into flames. He went through the procedure to put out the fire, and feathered the engine. He called in a distress signal to Fairbanks, and gave them our GPS location, altitude, heading, and souls on board.

We started losing altitude more quickly, but we received a few blessings in return. We broke out underneath the cloud layer. The winds were calmer, and decisions could be made more rationally now.

The ice came off the wing on my side of the aircraft, as the temperatures rose. The aircraft's wings were now in level flight.

All we were looking at was dense forest below us, and mountainous terrain west of us; we realized there was no level area to try to put the aircraft down safely.

Michael said, "If you believe in God Doc, now would be a good time to start praying."

When you believe you are about to die the stupidest, and most insane things go through your mind. Michael could not understand why I laughed.

I said him, "You agree that we have no chance of surviving this impact, correct?"

"Doc if we do, for your next trick you can walk on water."

"I want you to try something, and you are going to think I am crazy for mentioning it. Just before impact depress the left rudder as hard as you can and turn the plane hard to the left, lifting the right wing. I want to try to hit the trees tail first."

"You are out of your fucking mind."

"You are absolutely correct. A woman told me a very bad joke on our way up to Fairbanks. I want to see exactly how bad that joke was. She said, 'You have never heard of an airplane backing in to a mountain.' I want to see if we can back this aircraft into some trees."

"What the hell, we have absolutely nothing to lose. Shit, fire warning light number one. I'm feathering the engine. We are at 800 feet, 90 knots, and descending. Let's look for a nice flat group of trees Doc. I'll meet you in heaven or in hell."

"I'd like to meet my daughter first. Let's meet on the ground instead."

"There's a nice group of trees Doctor. I'm going to put the flaps out to slow us down some more. 1000 yards, 300 feet, 70 knots, brace for impact."

"Good luck, I'll see you on the ground."

"Good luck Doctor, 200 yards, 50 knots. 100 yards, 50 yards, here we go, turning hard left rudder."

IMPACT!

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

16. IT'S A DREAMY CREAMY DAY

Rod walked in the front door with what appeared to be scuba diving gear on his back. In front of him were his children lined up in military fashion, with Delicious standing and smiling behind them. He put down his briefcase and his jacket and waited.

Delicious said, "Colonel Jeffrey, BEGIN."

Rod smiled. He took a hose attachment from the canisters, pointed it at Delicious, and yelled, "CHARGE!"

His children dispersed as he depressed the trigger on the hose. Whipped cream shot out the front of the hose under high pressure directly at Delicious.

Delicious screamed, turned, and tried to get away. He chased her through the living room, den, and kitchen of his home. He trapped her in the corner of his kitchen and buried her under whipped cream. He continued shooting it at her until the tanks ran out of the compressed air.

Rosalynn laughed and took pictures as quickly as she could, because Rod told her she was in for a treat when he got home.

Rod said, "Are you going to allow Delicious to eat all that whipped cream by herself General Jeffery?"

"No Mister President, we are going to help her all we can."

The six children, including the one-year-old, dove in to the pile of whipped cream, under which Delicious was covered.

As she uncovered her face, blew the whipped cream out of her mouth and nose, she asked, "Who made you president?"

"Didn't you know there was an election? I bribed all the children to vote for me, instead of their mother?"

"What did you bribed them with a swimming pool?"

"What good is a swimming pool in the winter? Kids, where are we going on vacation?"

As one they yelled, "We are going to Disney World."

"Roz, you are going to stay home with me; right."

Rod said, "Delicious, I will start force-feeding you every drop of the whipped cream if you start up again."

"Rod, do you really believe I am going to allow you to get away with this. You know this means war."

Rosalynn said, "No, it ends right here. Delicious you had your fun, and Rod, you got even in a very big way. I congratulate both of you on your successes. However, now it stops. Do you both hear me, because if either one of you doesn't, I will get even with both of you in ways that will hurt you severely.

Rod you know what I will do to you if you don't abide by my rules, especially after you have just been fixed. You don't want that to happen, do you?

Delicious, I love having you around, and my children adore you. I would hate to stop you from coming here, but I will. Are we all on the same page now?"

Delicious said, "Yes, I promise I will stop, no matter how much it hurts me."

Rod agreed. "Yes dear, I refuse to face a fate worse than death."

Roz said, "Good, now you two kiss and makeup."

Delicious slipped as she was trying to get up, and Rod tried to help her. She slipped again and pulled Rod down with her into the whipped cream.

Rod yelled, "Roz, she did that on purpose. I know she did. Look at her she's laughing at me."

"Rod, I'm laughing at you too. It doesn't mean I'm doing it on purpose, does it?"

Rod said, "No." As he attempted to stand up, he put his hand on Delicious' head, and forced her down into the whipped cream.

Delicious yelled, "He did that on purpose, you saw it."

"That is enough children. The next word out of either of you and your punishment begins."

*********

As the adults were cleaning up the mess made by the whipped cream, Jeffrey ran into the living room.

"Daddy, Uncle Even is missing."

"No Jeffrey, Uncle Even is in Alaska."

"Yes dad, but his airplane is missing. They say so on the television."

Rod ran into the den, but missed the part about Even being missing. He called the Denver Post to see if he could get more on the story.

The reporter from the Post told Rod that information was very sketchy. The Fairbanks Tower received a distress call from the aircraft he was on, when it was 55 miles northwest of the airport, with one engine out. It was in rough weather and losing altitude. That was the last call from the aircraft. Search parties will be sent out as soon as the weather clears. That's all the information they received from the newswires.

Rod hung up the phone looking like a ghost. When he turned Delicious said sternly, "He is not dead. I won't let him be dead. It's too important to me for him to be alive. He has a damn girlfriend for the first time in his life. I won't let him die before he has a chance to fall in love with her. I won't let that happen. I just won't let that happen. Rod, I want to go home. I want to work on his program. That's what he told me to do. I want to finish it before he gets back here. I will be fine by myself. I will be working, and I will be fine. He is not dead. He can't be dead. I will not allow him to be dead."

Rosalynn went over to comfort her, but Delicious backed away.

"He's okay Roz. I know he's okay. He can't be dead. It's too soon. I'm going home."

Delicious picked up her purse, walked out the front door, started the car, and went home.

Rosalynn said, "If he's dead she is going to crack like a pane of glass."

Rod could not tell his wife what he knew, but if Even was gone he would be the one to have to explain to Delicious that it was her father that died in that plane crash, not her uncle as she thought. He silently prayed not to have that conversation with her.

***********

Delicious was at sitting at her computer moments later when the telephone rang.

"Hello Director Meil, I know he's missing, but he is alive, I know it."

"Are you sure you don't read minds Delicious? How did you know it was me?"

"Your men were down here installing who knows what into every corner of this basement. Did you think Even and I didn't guess they would be putting microphones and cameras in here watching and listening to what we are doing? We will find them; we will disable them; but not just yet. We have more important things to do right now."

"I have people there who will be looking for him Delicious. They are good people, and they will not rest until they find him. I promise you, one way, or the other they will find him."

"He will find a way to walk out of those mountains and forests. He will find a road, follow a compass, and walk into a restaurant. He will order bacon, eggs, toast, coffee, and a newspaper for breakfast."

"It is very rough country up there Delicious. The chances of surviving a plane crash are not good. Keep your hopes up, but also be prepared for the worst."

"I'll bet you $100 he's alive."

"I have heard about your $100 bets, and you haven't lost one of them yet. I will take it in the hopes that you are right again."

"I did lose one bet, but that was to my uncle, so that doesn't count."

"Did he cheat?"

"Probably, but I didn't catch him doing it. Did you hear he has a girlfriend?"

"When did that happen?"

"I don't know. He hung up on me before I could claw it out of him."

"It's about time he let loose. I'm happy for him."

"So am I Director, so am I."

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

She was about to open the program but she stopped, and looked above her head. She knew it would be a perfect place to put a camera as well as over either of her shoulders. She put up her screensaver and went to find some high intensity lights.

20 minutes later, she walked back into the basement carrying four of them. She put one of them on her chair, and bent it to resemble a person sitting at the desk looking at the computer screen. She focused the remainder of the lights at the ceiling. She tied a piece of string to the lamp on the chair, and went to get the ladder. She placed it behind the chair, and picked up the string. She climbed up until she could reach the ceiling, and moved the string in an arc, in an attempt to see where a camera could be hidden and see over the person's shoulder sitting at the computer station. She found not one or two on the left side she found three. She disconnected the cables from each camera, plus the electrical connections, rendering them useless. She continued her search only at her station, and found a total of 12 cameras; and 4 microphones. The director was not taking chances on missing anything. She removed them, and put them at her uncles' computer workstation. As soon as she sat down and began to work the telephone rang. This time it was Stan.