Dreams Take Flight (6 page)

Now Heather’s focus lingered on Lucas, hardly aware that Mike was even present. Heather realized that her feelings for Lucas were about to soar to new levels. It may have been Lucas’s mystique that originally captured her interest, but now Heather was about to witness this trim, good-looking guy perform magic as he took her into the waiting night sky.

Despite Lucas being unhappy about Heather joining them, he didn’t feel any urge to worry her about the potential rough ride ahead, so he decided to discuss the weather as obscurely as possible while remaining able to navigate through or around the storms.

“So, Mike,” he said. “Based on the latest radar summary, do you feel like we may need to go a little south of our course to Tulsa?”

“Looked like it, but you know those cells are likely to move by the time we reach that area.”

“You can count on it,” responded Lucas. “I saw in the logbook that the radar had been repaired—thank God for that!”

Mike pulled the Convair onto the run-up pad just short of the runway and began the engine run-up phase of the checklist. Lucas, with checklist in hand, began to read and respond to portions of it.

“Fuel, water on, and oil: check; flaps set; generators and inverters: check; radios: check; flight instruments: check; engine instruments—” Lucas glanced at the BMEP instrument and then quickly away.

Oh my god! What now?
Not wanting to call undue attention to his observation, he forced his eyes back to the checklist. Lucas still couldn’t believe his eyes—the jump seat was positioned so that the occupant’s legs straddled the rear component of the center console.
I look at the BMEP instrument and I don’t see an instrument!
he thought.
Instead, I see the reflection of legs—long, smooth legs—and I can’t tell for sure, but I don’t think there are panties at the north end of those beautiful legs. I have to spend the next five hours seeing this. Stay focused, stay focused, stay focused! Back to the checklist.

“Engine instruments: check,” he said. “Carb heat: check and cold. Cowl flaps: mid. Ready to roll on my side, Mike! You?”

“Ready. Let’s do it,” responded Mike.

Lucas changed his radio frequency from ground control to the tower and said, “Tower: Convair three-seven-one-three-papa. The captain says he has his courage up, so we’re ready to go on three-zero left.”

Controller: “Convair three-seven-one-three-papa: turn left to two-four-zero. Cleared for takeoff.”

Lucas: “That’s left to two-four-zero, one-three-papa’s rolling.”

“OK, let’s go,” said Lucas. “Heather, got your belt on?”

“Sure do!”

“Landing light on,” Lucas announced as he reached for one of the many switches on the overhead panel.

Mike told Lucas that the plane was his, and then wiggled the control wheel to avoid any confusion about who was flying the plane.

One-three-papa pulled onto the runway and, with the throttles advanced to takeoff power, all the instruments began to dance in perfect harmony.

During the takeoff roll, Lucas monitored various engine and flight instruments as well as the runway environment. The BMEP instrument was one of those engine instruments that had to be monitored regularly during this phase of flight. Although Lucas’s attention moved between many instruments and tasks during this phase of takeoff, he couldn’t help but hesitate when he noticed his perfect view up Heather’s skirt. The obscure lighting was the only thing preventing him from confirming whether or not she had panties on. Even so, he could feel his dick respond as his imagination toyed with the uncertainty.

As the plane rapidly accelerated, Heather thought to herself that she had never seen anything like this. So much was going on that it took the attention of two people, and yet it appeared effortless to the casual passenger. She wondered how she could ever repay Mike for allowing her to make this trip. The only thing, she thought, that would make it even better would be getting a little attention from Lucas. She decided to try and be content with herself occupying a small piece of his world.

The control tower operator said, “Convair three-seven-one-three-papa: contact departure on one-one-nine-point-nine. Have a nice flight.”

Lucas responded, “Roger, one-three-papa. You have a good one, too. Departure control, this is three-seven-one-three-papa with ya, climbing through two thousand.”

“Three-seven-one-three-papa, this is departure. Proceed on course.”

“One-three-papa. Mike, I’m going to work with the radar and see if I can’t get a better feel for where we’re going to encounter those thunderstorms.”

Lucas knew that if he could focus on one thing—like the radar—he was much less likely to try to figure out whether or not Heather was wearing panties.

This is exactly why I don’t need these kinds of distractions in my life
, Lucas thought.
We have weather to deal with, and I’m sitting here getting a boner just thinking about some gal and what she may not be wearing. Come to think of it, Autumn didn’t have panties on the last time we did the deed; I’m betting Heather doesn’t either. No panties—maybe I don’t understand what customer service reps do. Anyway, there will be plenty of time for the ladies when I get out of school and get on with Global.

Lucas always scanned the engine instruments along with the flight instruments, even if he wasn’t flying the plane. Every time his scan included the BMEP, there Heather was in all her glory, exposed to the world from the waist down. Her dark, obscure reflection stimulated Lucas’s curiosity—as well as other things.
I can’t help but wonder what is being concealed by the darkness,
he thought.

While Lucas tried to get a good fix on the weather, Mike focused on flying the plane, with an occasional lapse into a trancelike state as he reflected on other events in his life. When this happened, Mike was oblivious to anything going on around him. Such behavior was typical for Mike, and Lucas knew about his tendency to allow his mind to wander. Lucas believed that Mike’s short attention span was, at its core, due to the drinking problem that he’d had for years.

The flight continued to go smoothly, and Heather enjoyed her new experience. Flying was not new to her, but she’d never before realized that so much went on at the head of the plane. The busy cockpit almost overstimulated her senses—there were so many instruments, knobs, and switches. It was hard for her to imagine how anyone could keep up with so much at one time.

The instrument panel exuded a warm, red glow, so nothing in the cockpit kept its real color—everything and everyone adopted a very seductive glow.

Lucas busily adjusted the radar to get a good feel for the line of thunderstorms ahead. They would either need to pick their way through them, or fly around them; that decision would in large part be determined by what he saw, he knew. Thunderstorms are very dynamic, and radar summaries obtained prior to departure don’t remain accurate for very long.

Though trying to focus on this single task, Lucas couldn’t help noticing Heather’s presence.
She sure is warm,
he thought to himself.
Her right leg is all but rubbing my left arm. It’s like every hair on my arm has become a nerve linked directly to my dick. Even the hair on my arm is getting stiff. I don’t even know whether I’m brushing her leg, or just think I am. I would never admit this to Mike, but having her on board is sort of nice. It’s a lot nicer having her on board than some of the guys we fly.

I have to focus on the radar, but I can’t help but wonder if she is wearing panties. Get a grip! I’m paying way too much attention to the reflection of Heather and those beautiful, long, gorgeous legs that I’d love to explore. Bet I would find out about her panties then! Panties—what is happening to me? I’m obsessing! Radar, radar, radar.

The radar looked bright and full of color, lit up like a Christmas tree. Anyone with any experience seeing thunderstorm activity—even on TV—would characterize it as being ominous. Lucas decided that he had to give Heather an update.

He turned to look over his left shoulder so he could look Heather in the eyes. As they made eye contact, he saw a beautiful young girl with the face of an angel, her eyes dark and inviting. Shifting in his seat, he could see her more clearly—straddling the console with her miniskirt as high as could be. Conscious of how exposed she was, he had to be very careful not to break eye contact and explore her lovely, soft body, and especially the place where her legs came together.

“Heather,” Lucas said, “we have some weather we’re going have to go through, so it might get a little rough. I want you to pull your belt tight and hang on. We’re going to be busy, so we won’t be able to talk to you. Don’t worry; we do this stuff all the time.”

Having briefed Heather, Lucas swung back around and tightened his own belt. He then turned to Mike to share his thoughts about the approaching weather.

“Mike, we have about twenty-five more miles of good weather, with about fifty miles of thunderstorm activity we’ll have to pick our way through. Mike, did you hear me?
Mike
, goddamn it, are you sleeping? MIKE, wake your ass up! You’re supposed to be flying this plane!”

As Mike jerked his head up, he turned to Lucas and said, “Bullshit! The autopilot is flying it, and I might say it is doing a better job than you would.”

“Mike, we’ve been through this before. Were you drinking before we left?”

“None of your fucking business.”

“Bullshit! It
is
my business. It is going to take both of us to get through this weather, and we can’t do it if you’re drunk! Why do I put up with this shit night after fucking night? Heather, relax. Like the weather, we go through this shit all the time, too.”

“Lucas,” Mike snapped. “Shut the fuck up and tell me what you found on the radar.”

Though still pissed, Lucas knew that the miles were being eaten up quickly and this wasn’t the time to argue.

“The first thing I want to do is to get a release from Center so we can do our own thing. If it’s OK with you, why don’t I fly the plane and you fly the engines? Having studied the radar, I have a good feel for how we can get through this stuff.”

“Fine by me—let me know when you want it,” responded Mike.

Lucas began the process of getting a change in their flight plan: “Kansas City Center, this is Convair three-seven-one-three-papa.”

“One-three-papa, this is Kansas City Center. Go ahead.”

“Kansas City Center, one-three-papa would like to deviate from our flight plan as necessary, to pick our way through this line of thunderstorms.”

“One-three-papa, that’s approved. There are no other planes in the area. Just give us a call when you want to rejoin the airway, and if you would, give us an update on the weather when you have a chance.”

“Roger, one-three-papa.”

Lucas dropped both of his seat’s armrests. With both hands on the wheel and both arms resting on the armrests for stability, Lucas said, “OK, Mike; I have the plane.”

“The plane is yours, Lucas. I have the engines.”

By that time, they began to experience a light chop, signaling a pending change in weather. Having been through this many times before, Lucas and Mike knew what to expect.

“Mike, see this patch of light green?” Lucas pointed to the radar screen. “This is where I’m headed. After about five miles, I’m going to make a twenty-degree left turn to keep us out of the heavy stuff, and I think we will be able to shift back to the right after about twenty miles, but we’ll have to play that by ear.”

The plane began to pick up more turbulence, and light rain beaded on the windshield.

Heather became very much aware that Lucas and Mike had stopped arguing, and that they had both adopted a serious tone and a single focus. She also realized that her romantic mood and environment had suddenly changed to one of at least mild concern. Seeing lightning directly ahead and rain on the windshield was a new experience for her. The rain caused the cabin’s noise level to increase significantly. Heather tried to sort out what was happening, and to also compare each sound and sight with something more familiar.

The rain grew heavier and louder.

The sound of the rain was very much like a million BBs striking the windshield at one time. Seeing lightning from a pilot’s view is another foreign sight hard to describe but it looked to Heather that the whole sky was lighting up.

Shortly after a bright flash, Lucas turned to Heather and shouted above the noise of the rain, “That’s the stuff we need to avoid! It’s about ten miles ahead of us.” To Mike, he announced, “I’m going to make that right turn now.”

The plane shook violently, gaining and losing hundreds of feet in altitude every few seconds.

“Mike, watch those engines!” Lucas yelled above the noise of rain beating against the windshield. “I’m going to try to keep the wings level. I can’t even keep a steady heading. Mike, why don’t you pull the power back? See if slowing down will help.”

“Good idea—don’t want the manifold pressure to jump up on us, and a little less airspeed may give our passenger a better ride,” Mike said, turning to smile at Heather.

Heather felt her anxiety worsening. When she’d asked Mike if she could go along on their trip, a near-death experience hadn’t been what she’d had in mind. Being in the middle of a thunderstorm wasn’t anything like being at home snuggled up on the couch with a special guy, listening to the rain and thunder.
This is the roughest ride I have experienced anywhere
, she thought to herself.
I can’t even think of anything to compare it to. I can’t see the lightning; instead, the whole outside world simply lights up. I don’t hear the thunder and have no idea how close the lightning is. And Lucas said they do this all the time
.
I think I’d find a new job.

“Mike, see the light green on the radar?” Lucas tried pointing to the radar screen, but quickly returned both hands to the control wheel.

Heather wondered whether Lucas held onto the wheel to keep his body from bouncing around, or whether it was instead necessary to fly the plane.

“I think we can squeeze through that opening. What do you think, Mike?”