TIME-TO-SEE-79
The boys had settled down a bit, now that the excitement of take-off had passed. The huge airliner sped through the sky with only a low, constant, whir emanating from the craft's four turbo engines.
Keil rose from his seat near Hans and walked the short distance back to where Kevin and Hugo sat...
"That boy has been in the bathroom a long time... Is he sick?" Keil asked.
Kevin looked at Hugo who replied immediately, "Yes. As a matter of fact he WAS feeling bad. I really need to go look after him..."
And Hugo rose, excused his passing next to Keil, and went to the lavatories.
"What can I say? I'm screwed," Hugo thought to himself as he arrived at the lavatories!
Then he though again: "I haven't the foggiest idea of what I should do. Maybe I should lie?" and at that moment he just let his mind go blank...
After another moment Hugo left the lavatory and hurried back into First Class declaring, "My God! The boy's not there!... But he's GOT to be SOMEWHERE on this plane..."
"WHAT!" Keil screamed and then went berserk... He reached over and slapped Hugo in the face before Hugo even saw the blow coming...
But when he connected with Hugo, Hugo was not shy about a response. He grabbed Keil, picked him up by his suit coat lapels and threw him down to the floor in the main aisle in one motion.
Without attempting to get up, Keil tried to reach into his suit coat for his gun, but Hugo realized what was coming; so he jumped on top of Keil with both feet and the full weight of his body, landing on his stomach and knocking the wind out of him.
Hans some distance away had had time to draw his gun, and he started shouting: "ALL OF YOU SIT DOWN!!... OR I'LL BLOW YOU AND THIS WHOLE AIRPLANE OUT OF THE SKY IF YOU DON'T DO AS I SAY!!!"
The boys started yelling and generally panicked in all four of their separate seats.
A Steward who was riding in a jump seat between the First Class Cabin and the cockpit rushed back into First Class when he heard the fighting and shouting.
Hans was not expecting anyone to come from behind him; so when the Steward arrived, he was able to jump Hans from behind and over-power him before Hans hardly realized what hit him.
Han's gun flew across the cabin between several of the seats, hopelessly lost to anything except a patient and careful search among the boy's seats...
At the same time, Hugo didn't wait for another attack from Keil. He threw himself on Keil again, wrenched the gun from his holster, and tossed it to Kevin....
Kevin rose and screamed: "All right you FUCKERS! I'll blow your asses away before you can even blink an eye."
[Kevin was pretty sure that it would be possible to discharge the weapon, if absolutely necessary, without causing a bulkhead failure, but he didn't want to test it. The aircraft was well below the altitude where pressurization was critical.]
Hugo grabbed Keil's necktie and began strangling him... Clearly, Hugo was a powerful man, young and energized with the strength needed to blot out Keil permanently, if he chose.
The Steward had Hans in a strangle hold, and almost immediately he was joined by two other Stewards, each with clubs and ropes. One clubbed Hans on the head, which knocked Hans unconscious. The other approached Keil with his club raised to inflict similar damage.
But Keil cowered on the floor with his head and neck tucked close to one of the swivel seats. The steward began looping a rope around and around and around Keil's limbs, until Keil was entirely immobilized.
In the next moment, Kevin, looking forward with Keil's gun still trained on the melee, saw the pilot run up to the doorway to the First Class Cabin with his own gun drawn.
The first Steward yelled, "We've got things under control, Sir, but we've got to restrain these two thugs until we arrive at Frankfurt. And we need Airport Security as soon as we touch down..."
The pilot said, "I've already called in 'Incident in Progress.' Has anybody been hurt?"
"I know there's got to be lots of bruises and maybe broken teeth and ribs, and one man is unconscious, but nothing looks life-threatening right now.. I don't think," the Steward answered..
There should be ample security to meet us... Are you SURE you can keep these two men subdued and secure?"
"Yes, Sir. No problem there. Just please get this aircraft down safely, and bring on the security forces..."
The boys were fixed to their seats, too shocked to do anything else.
When Kevin realized that they were in shock, he went over to their side of the plane. He got down on his knees and looked them each in the eye one by one by one, patting a shoulder or an arm...
Then he began speaking very calmly: "How are you guys doing?" Kevin asked each one individually.
"Do you understand that there is no longer any danger from these men? The airline staff has them tied up, and they can't hurt anybody now, and we're all okay," Kevin said.
The boys all looked pale, but Jilder spoke up, "Kevin! Why did those men get mad at you and Hugo?"
"Well, we can only guess that they aren't the good guys that we were told they were. Somehow, "the bad guys" got to us, in spite of Max's efforts and the help of Interpol police."
"But, are there MORE of "the bad guys" who will be in Heidelberg when we get there?" Nicky asked.
"Well, I'm sure there are more "bad guys", Nicky. But we are not leaving this airplane until I speak with Murph's dad and find out what we should do... Don't worry. I will NOT take you to a risky place." Kevin said.
Nicky just looked at Jilder and went silent.
Murph asked, "Does my dad know what has happened here?"
"I don't know, Murph. I don't think so... But I will be telephoning him as soon as we finish talking. Our whereabouts is certainly known to "the bad guys," but the one person that they really wanted is not here."
Murph said, "They wanted Sean, didn't they?"
"Yes, they did, Murph." Kevin answered truthfully.
"And we aren't going to the medical seminar? Are we?"
"Well, yes, we are still going to the seminar in Heidelberg-- all of us except Sean-- and, well, I have no idea where Sean is. Murph, that means that you have to take care of Spirit. Do you think you're up to it?"
Murph spoke up disbelieving what Kevin had just said, "Sean is on the airplane here with us, isn't he? I saw him get on, Kevin."
"Yes. He boarded with us, but we do know that he isn't on the plane now. We just don't know exactly where he is...," Kevin replied.
"My dad is going to be mad!" Murph said...
"Well, let's hope not. It's better that Sean is NOT here, because "the bad guys" think he IS here... As long as we can keep Sean's whereabouts a secret, then Sean will be safe." Kevin said.
"Yeah! I guess you're right..." Murph answered, then he went silent for a moment.
"But I miss him," Murph said.
It was 11:30pm at the Galway International Airport. Sean had been making himself small and unobtrusive waiting there for the last 13 hours. Now he was making trips to the big aircraft arrival and departure status display every few minutes, keeping track of Jet Blue Flight 555.
The display was lit in bright letters with the status of thirty or forty flights on the board. In big letters next to Jet Blue Flight 555 were the words: ON TIME.
Sean was very tired, but realizing that Craig's flight would arrive in less than a half hour revived him somewhat.
He looked at the big display, and his eyes went a little blurry with fatigue; so he decided to walk back down to McDonald's restaurant and buy himself some hot coffee. He'd probably just have time to drink a little bit before the flight arrived.
Twenty minutes later an announcement came over the terminal loud speakers: "Arriving now at gate 27, Jet Blue Flight 555 from Los Angeles. Passengers will be deplaning immediately."
Sean was excited and tense, not knowing what this person, Craig, would be like. He was very tired, however, and he hoped that he would be relieved of his stress too somehow...
There wasn't a large gathering of people in the reception area for the deplaning passengers, but Sean was among them, situating himself rather in the rear of the group, and positioned such that he could see every person who came into the terminal from the boarding ramp.
It seemed as though he'd been waiting quite a long time as the passengers continued to pour off of the aircraft, one by one, but no one arrived that he would guess could be Craig.
And then into the terminal walked a tallish, attractive man, perhaps in his thirties, wearing the strangest crumpled black top hat with red velvet trim.
"That man HAD to be Craig," Sean thought, because he was wearing the dumbest looking hat Sean had ever seen!
Sean kept his distance and watched the man cautiously. The man walked the short distance from the gate to an Information Stand. In a moment someone spoke over the terminal loud speaker system.
"Your attention, Please. Will Mr. Spirit please meet your party, Mr. Craig Hatter, at the Information Kiosk nearest Gate 27. Mr. Spirit, your party Mr. Craig Hatter is waiting for you at the Information Kiosk nearest Gate 27." And the loud speaker system went silent...
Sean took another sip of his coffee and with some trepidation walked over to Craig carrying his little bag. When he approached Craig, he had a serious expression on his face, and when he spoke, the first thing out of his mouth was: "You really do have on the dumbest looking hat I've ever seen!"
"Well, it's good to see that you haven't lost your sense of fashion after your harrowing experience.... Nice to meet you too. I'm Craig. Who are you?"
"My friends call me Sean, but people trying to kill me call me Asshole. Kevin and Hugo and my new dads call me Spirit; so nobody can find me," he said with the same dry, un-modulated voice and his eyes fixed on Craig unblinking, unsure of what to make of him..."
"Mr. Spirit is too formal... Asshole is too familiar... May I call you Sean? What do you think of that?" Craig said locked in their penetrating stares, trying to reach through to the little boy inside.
"Hummmm...Yeah." Sean replied giving no indication of what conclusions he had reached about Craig.
Craig continued speaking..."I am a little tired from sitting on my butt for eleven hours, and I'm hungry too, would you mind joining me for something to eat. We DO have business to discuss, but we can do that over food..."
Sean didn't reply immediately. He just continued to look into Craig's eyes trying to decide whether he could be trusted. Finally Sean spoke: "Sure..."
"Where would you like to go?" Craig asked.
"I don't know. I only went to McDonald's" Sean answered.
"Well, I could do with something a little more up-scale, perhaps that grill and coffee shop down there--" and Craig nodded toward a pleasant restaurant with tables outside and an arbor of bougainvillea cascading over several, white trellises, that secluded the tables from passing travelers."
Sean looked and replied that it met with his approval, "Yeah. That's okay..."
Moments later the two were seated among the colorful, fuchsia bougainvillea. A waiter had taken their orders, and Craig removed his hat.
"I'll put my hat over here, if you'll help me to watch that no one steals it," Craig said in total seriousness.
Sean looked over at him and said, still not inclined to smile even the least bit, "You know what?" he said.
"What?" Craig replied.
"You're nuts!" Sean stated quietly.
"Well, thank you, Sir. It's good to know that you approve of me..." Craig responded.
That was too much for Sean. He broke out laughing as he relaxed into the chair, bending over to contain his belly laugh.
"Oh, I'm sorry that I offended you," Craig said, still in his serious mode.
"I realize by your reaction that you are desirous of a hat like the one I have, for your very own. But I assure you, Mr. Spirit, that is a one-of-a-kind design that I KNOW is not available anywhere on earth-- that is UNLESS you accompany me to San Diego where they are manufactured by a homeless man who lives on the beach. If we give him $10, it might be possible that he will make one for you.... But keep in mind, I can make no guarantees..." And Craig shook out his napkin and reached for a brown muffin that the waiter had just brought to their table.
"Really?!" Sean said with eyes that were very large and inquisitive by now...
"Well, of course, Sir. I never lie. My mother taught me not to lie. It's bad for the liver..." Craig said.
"WHAT!?!" Sean replied, his willing suspension of disbelief pushed to the absolute maximum. "IF YOU LIE, it hurts your LIVER????!" Sean asked, hooked by Craigs devious, disarming, and fantastic, imagination-- the very quality that Jake Vaio fell for not so very long ago.
"My good SIR! You DOUBT ME?" Craig replied taking mock offense.
"Well.... I THINK...." Sean hazarded to say, hoping he wouldn't offend Craig, ".... I THINK your liver would be okay if you told a lie, but it's still not good to lie either," Sean said...
"My good Sir. You are ABSOLUTELY RIGHT-- on both counts! I have been behaving despicably, causing you much annoyance and distrust of me, I'm sure, for which I am most profoundly sorry."
Craig reached for his hat and placed it cocked to one side on his head and said, "PLEASE ACCEPT MY MOST HUMBLE APPOLOGIES..." And Craig offered his hand across the table...
Sean laughed out loud.
"Furthermore, I am offering to buy you anything you wish for this-- shall we call it-- breakfast, and even further I am offering this (and Craig lay an envelope before Sean, the kind which contains airline tickets) in hopes that you will forgive my inconsiderate behavior..."
And Craig again looked into Sean's eyes, in total seriousness, waiting for him to look at the contents of the envelope.
Craig nodded at the envelope that lay on the table before Sean.. "Go ahead. Open it," He encouraged.
In just a few moments Sean had opened the envelope and realized it contained an airline ticket for two seats on yet another Jet Blue Flight, this one FROM Galway, Ireland, TO Los Angeles, California, United States of America.
Also, there was a little reddish book in the envelope. It dropped onto the table where Sean picked it up and leafed through it.
"United States of America Passport" was printed in gold on the cover. Inside was the name, Dillon Vaio Zimmer, age 13, home address, 19373 Nuthatch Street, Fallbrook, California 90070
"What's all this for?" Sean asked, looking from the documents back up at Craig in his crumpled black top hat with the red velvet trim. He looked straight into Craig's eyes and waited.
"Well, Sir. As much as I adore Ireland, I am inclined to believe that it would be in your best interest if you were to accompany me "outta-here" (as the American expression goes) as soon as possible, as on that flight that leaves at 9am tomorrow morning, going direct from Galway to Los Angeles." Craig replied.
"But who is.." and Sean looked inside the passport book again, "... Dillion Vaio Zimmer?" Craig asked.
"He's my son; he's YOU! 'Se comprende?" Craig said.
"I'M YOUR SON!" Sean exclaimed with incredulity... But Sean was not so childish as to be unaware that passports cannot just be passed around from person to person. They are just for one person. "What are we going to do with this?" Sean asked.
"We're going to take my son back home to Los Angeles where he belongs, safe and sound in the good ole U.S. of A, of course," Craig replied.
"But this isn't MY passport," Sean said. "How can I use it?"
Craig reached into his carry-on bag and pulled out a small Polaroid camera. "We're going to do a little alteration of the artwork, removing Dillon's photograph and replacing it with yours. Of course, you'll have to memorize the details of 'your' life..."
Then Craig pulled out a hand-applied embossing tool. He applied it to a paper napkin, and it duplicated the embossing on Dillon's Photograph.
Sean had been watching speechless. He looked up at Craig and said, "You're nuts!"
"Sir. I may be, but your ass needs to get to Los Angeles; so I'm willing to try anything... Nothing ventured nothing gained... 'Se Comprende?'" Craig said.
"Won't the custom's guy realize we're giving him a fake?" Sean asked
"Not if I can give em enough razzle-dazzle strange talk about my hat that they'll only give a very cursory glance at your passport... You'll look 'normal'... I'll look like the Looney Tunes one... It's the only way I could think to do it..."
And after a short wait, Craig asked Sean, "Do you want to try?"
Sean didn't require even a moment. "Yes, Sir." And it was clear that he had placed his complete trust in Craig by now.
"Good. What do you say we finish eating; then we'll take a room nearby; so later we can get back here for our flight tomorrow morning?"
Sean wasn't at all sure that this long shot would work, but he was willing to give anything a try... Besides, Craig seemed like he would be a good travel partner... and... and...
...maybe it WOULD be nice to have one of those cool hats that you can only get from the homeless man on the beach in San Diego?