Echoes of Tomorrow (10 page)

The size of the plane astounded Reed, since he'd only seen them from a distance in the air.  Elise launched into statistics about the weight, length and how many tons of cargo and fuel it could carry.

As he entered the plane he tried to digest this information as well as the running commentary she gave in the cargo hold about cargo igloos and loading pallets.  He couldn't get a word in edgewise so he made mental notes of  questions to ask later.

All of those questions vanished from his mind when he entered the cockpit.

Elise dropped into the left seat and gestured for him to take the right.  He maneuvered his way around the throttle and yoke, then sat back stiffly and stared at the hundreds of dials, buttons, levers and gauges.  Elise picked a few large instruments to point out.  He could tell she made her descriptions of their purpose as simple as possible.

A new and intimidating respect for this remarkable woman surged through him.  Good Lord, the woman was amazing.  He couldn't begin to comprehend the vastness of her knowledge, her abilities, her courage.  Up until now, to him she had been an extremely intelligent woman with a wonderful sense of humor and a generous gift for helping him adjust to his new life.  He had thought of her as a free spirit.  But now...now she was on a level Reed could not relate to with a woman.  He felt so ignorant as he sat there;  worse than a country bumpkin.

The tour of the airplane finally came to an end.  Reed, miserable now and feeling totally inadequate, followed Elise to a hangar and waited while she excitedly filled out the paperwork to rent the plane.

"All set!" she chirped.  He followed her to the plane, but without the self-assured stride he had before.  She opened the cockpit door with a flourish and made a low bow.  "Climb in."

Plastering what he hoped was a smile of anticipation on his face, he settled into his seat.

Elise strapped them each in, ran through the check list and started up the engines.  Then she picked up a thing she called a "mike," had a conversation with someone called "the tower," and started taxiing out to the runway.

So far this was not so different from riding in the Jag, plus there weren't nearly as many controls as in the large plane.  Reed began to relax and feel a little better.

As Elise increased the speed, he noticed she kept a close watch on him from the corner of her eye.  When the plane lifted off the runway and soared upward his stomach did a dangerous flip.  She laughed, obviously delightedly by his reaction.

They climbed for several seconds before leveling off high enough to see the world and low enough to make out houses, backyard swimming pools and boats on Lake Ponchartrain.  Good lord, he could not believe a bridge had been built that spanned the lake!

Reed's knuckles turned white.  This was worse than the first time in a car.  His mind could not accept what he was seeing.  As he gazed about he sat very still and tried hard not to move.  He was sure if he leaned over too far to look below him he'd cause the plane to tip like a rowboat.

Elise seemed to sense what he was thinking and reached her hand out to cover his.

"It's okay," she said with a smile.  "Moving won't effect the plane.  See?"  She swayed to and fro in her seat with exaggerated movements and ended with a couple of bounces for good measure.  Sure enough, the plane remained steady.

Reed moved a little to test the theory, then forgot his fear of tipping over as he watched a huge, thick cloud loom ahead of them.  He flinched as they entered the cloud, expecting to feel an impact.  The next thing he knew they were in the midst of it, and just as he was likening it to no more than a dense fog they burst through into sunlight.  He could not believe his eyes.

As far as the eye could see there were mounds upon mounds of whipped cream clouds below them.  He'd never seen anything so beautiful.  He had an overwhelming urge to fall back into them and see if he would float.  Ridiculous, he knew, but he enjoyed the fantasy.  He could picture himself and Elise wading through them together.

They soared above the clouds for several minutes before Elise picked up the mike and spoke into it again.

"Houston Center, this is November Zero One Echo Gulf.  What are the bases of the clouds in the area?"

"Roger, November Zero One Echo Gulf, cloud base is reported at six thousand feet MSL."

"Roger.  I'd like clearance to descend to five thousand feet."

"Roger, November Zero One Echo Gulf, descend and maintain five thousand."

"Roger.  Departing nine thousand for five thousand."

Reed listened to this exchange between Elise and the disembodied voice with only a little less awe than what he was experiencing over this plane ride.  He wanted to ask Elise who Roger was but knew it would be a stupid question.  Not that he hadn't asked his share of them.

The plane's nose dipped forward when Elise started her descent into the clouds.  The white mist engulfed them again, and for several seconds Reed was disoriented when his vision failed to penetrate the clouds.  Just as the feeling was becoming uncomfortable, the mist started to break up.  Tiny houses and ribbons of roads materialized through the fog.

When the plane had slipped completely out of the cloud bank Elise keyed the mike again.

"Houston Center, this is November Zero One Echo Gulf.  Cancel IFR."

"Roger.  Cancellation approved.  Squawk VFR.  Have a nice day."

Elise replaced the mike and explained that she was setting the transponder to one two zero zero.  He had no idea what a transponder was or why she had to set it, but that was the least of his questions. 

Elise turned to him, gave him an impish grin and wiggled both eyebrows.

"Now we can really have some fun!"

"Ohhhhhhh," was all Reed managed to croak before the left wing dipped low, and he had a bird's eye view of the ground out the left window.  His head floated several inches above his body, and an invisible force pressed him into his seat.  The sensation disappeared when the horizon leveled off before him and he could again see from the windshield.

They dipped low enough to fly over the house, and Reed recognized Oak Vista.  To the north the world looked like a patchwork quilt in shades of light and dark green, and the river snaked along the landscape, a brown ribbon dividing towns and farms.  While Reed's head still spun from the sights, Elise began their descent into Moisant and requested permission to land.

He watched with horror as the runway came up to meet them at an incredible speed, and he was sure his heart stopped when the landing gear bounced onto the runway.  They settled into a smooth roll, slowing as Elise taxied to her parking position.  Only after he realized they were safely on the ground again did he start to breathe and allow some blood to return to his clenched fists.

*******

"It was the most...the most...I can't find words to describe it!  Waking up and finding myself one hundred and fifty years into the future was almost easier to describe than flying."

Elise had to agree with him.  The flight had been absolutely perfect, and so was Reed's reaction.

They were now ensconced in a comfortable, corner booth at the back of the bar.  Elise listened while Reed desperately tried to verbalize his feelings without attracting the attention of any of the other patrons.

His eyes sparkled with animation as he searched for words to describe his adventure.  She watched his hands as he used them to talk, admired the smooth line of his jaw.  She leaned toward him over the table, one leg tucked under her as she moved forward.  His speech faltered and then stopped, as the top half of her body reached his.

"Volant," she whispered against his lips, breathing in his breath and brushing his lips with hers.  When he moved forward to meet her kiss, warmth rippled over her like waves against the shore.  Her hand found its way to outline the jaw she had just been admiring.  His fingers sifted through her hair and cupped the back of her head.  Every nerve tingled, alive with want for him to hold her.

"Hey, anybody got a bucket of water we can throw on these two?"

They jumped apart so quickly Reed banged his head on the back of the seat and Elise knocked her glass over, dumping ice into her lap and sending frigid water across the table into Reed's.  They bumped heads as they jumped up to empty their laps, and after a few futile brushes at their damp clothing Elise looked around for the owner of the voice.

The culprit was draped across the back of a booth, one leg on the seat, his face buried in the crook of his arm.  He emitted strange croaking sounds, and his shoulders and head virtually vibrated.  After a couple of gasps for air he raised his elbow and peered out from under it.  The whole process started again.

Elise cuffed him hard on the back of the head.

"Damn you, Don!"

Don ducked his head and raised a deflecting arm before she could attack again. He danced backward away from her, making a "time out" sign and dragging his sleeve across his watery eyes.  His lower legs made contact with the opposite booth and he fell back into a sitting position.  As Elise bore down on him she saw his female accomplice in much the same position across the table from him.

"Hey, we didn't mean it about the water, but thanks for accomodating."  The feminine version wheezed, then snorted and fell backward onto the seat, holding her sides.

"Oh, ha, ha, ha," Elise said with a forced sneer.  She brushed at her lap again and tried to squelch the smile tugging at her lips.  She looked around for a weapon to bash a couple of skulls.

Reed sat on the edge of the booth, alternately rubbing the back of his head and his temple and looking as if he were trying to decide the protocol for this situation.

Elise gave a huge sigh and said, "Reed, I'd like you to meet a couple of friends, and I use that term loosely.  This is Don and Janice Sevier."  The two people in question began to struggle up and forward from their reclining positions at the table.  Don was the first to reach Reed.

"Don Sevier," he said with a huge smile as he pumped Reed's hand.  "Sorry about that," he nodded toward Reed's other hand that still massaged his head.  "But that was just too priceless to pass u..."

He staggered sideways from the shove Elise gave him.

Jan appeared before Reed, looking somewhat contrite but enjoying herself immensely all the same.

"It's nice to meet you, Reed.  We're usually better behaved than this, but Elise brings out the worst in us."

"She has the same effect on me.  Reed Blackwell, at your service."

Jan's jaw fell open when Reed stood and bent over her hand.  With a raised eyebrow she slid a look at Elise.

Elise just smirked at her and wiggled her eyebrows.  She had to try hard no
t to give in to the urge to grab Reed's collar and pull him away from Jan's hand.

After a waitress mopped up the table and brought their order, Reed slid in beside Elise, and Don and Jan took the other side of the booth.

Reed had come to the conclusion that these people really were friends of Elise's, and that apparently it was perfectly normal for Elise to slap and shove her male friends.  She had even tried once to blatantly kick Don under the table, but because she'd taken too long to locate the correct set of shins,  he'd tiptoed them out of her reach.

Just when I think I have it all figured out,
he thought, then realized he was being stared at.

"I was asking how you two met," Jan repeated, that look of amusement still on her face.

"Oh, well, we met at..."  How could he explain how they met?

"He came to my house during the pilgrimage," Elise said smoothly.

"Oh.  Are you interested in antebellum homes, Reed?"

"Ante..."

"Reed's into architecture as a hobby, so he's interested in all types of homes.  He's especially into pre-revolutionary homes."

Reed knew Elise was concocting this story to avoid questions they couldn't answer, but all the same, he was having a hard time keeping his face straight.  He decided to join in.

"Yes.  Virginia, especially Williamsburg, is my favorite area to explore.  Though I'm not familiar enough with the area to know if there's any antebellum - WHOOF!"

Elise removed her elbow from between his ribs.

"Now, darlin', they'll take you seriously if you keep such a straight face."  She smiled at him with a sugary smile.

Reed picked up his hamburger and took a huge bite to keep from having to answer any more questions.  He managed to maintain a mouth full of food throughout the rest of the meal.  He didn't allow himself to swallow without taking an immediate bite until after Janice and Don rose to leave.

"Well, it was great meeting you, Reed," Don said as he pumped his hand again.  "Sorry again, for the way we met.  Hey, Jan, have you mailed the invitations yet?"

Jan fished around in her purse, producing an envelope and a tube of lipstick.  She handed the envelope to Elise but looked at Reed.

"This has Elise's name on it, but please consider yourself invited.  We're having a party for our tenth anniversary and we'd like you
both
to come."

Her voice trailed off when Reed took her hand again.