FIRE ON HIGH
“Fire On High” is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental. All characters and settings © Tigermark 2003-2018 unless otherwise noted. Request permission before using them, please.
The characters of Anatol Altaisokova and Melinda Altaisokova are my names for characters © Max Blackrabbit. They appear in this story with his permission. The characters of Brandy, Maxwell, Tonya and Zig Zag are also © Max Blackrabbit and appear here with his permission. Events and information relating to Tonya, Anatol, and their family are presented here, but are not to be considered canon to those characters or any other story but this one. ZZ Studios, and all characters associated with ZZ Studios, James Sheppard, and Marvin Badger © James Bruner and appear here with his permission. Although characters from and events referring to Zig Zag the Story appear here, this story is not canon to that one, and the author will disavow any knowledge of this story. Wanda Vixen © Chris Yost and appears here with his permission. Sabrina Mustidalae © Eric W. Schwartz and appears here with his permission. This story is not canon to Sabrina Online the comic, or Sabrina Online the Story, either. Matt Barstock, Angie Rockwell, Intermountain Charter, The Bitch, and her crew, and Jerry Kitt © Silver Coyote. See their story HERE. Gail Rutherford © me and is not canon to any other story involving ZZ Studios. Gabrielle Ryder and Jean LeBrun © Aslaug, from her Transitions stories. See them at her site, The Axe Shed, available from the links page.
Author’s Note:
Chapter 74
Long Ride Home
“Bluegrass Ground, November Three Seven Seven Four Delta is a Cessna Skymaster, requesting clearance to taxi from the General Av hangars to Runway Two Two.”
Alex waited for Ground Control to respond. The controller was on the ball with a courteous answer.
“Cessna Seven Four Delta, Bluegrass Ground, proceed direct to
Alpha Ramp and hold for further clearance.”
“Bluegrass Ground, copy direct to Alpha Ramp and hold, Seven Four Delta.”
As Alex nudged the throttle forward he looked over at Corrie. Her expression was a bit melancholy.
“Love, don’t look so sad. You’ll be coming back.”
Corrie sighed, making a slight hiss over the intercom headphones as she breathed out. Her tail flipped behind the seat once as she replied, “I know. I think that’s why I’m sad. I really like it down heah, but now I have to go tell Ben and the Sheilas of the North and me landlady that I’m leaving. I know I’m doing the right thing, but it still makes me sad.”
Alex maneuvered the Cessna along the taxiways as he responded. “As we said before, we’re pilots. Distance doesn’t mean as much. Your friends are all single. They might even migrate this direction.”
Corrie shrugged. “I won’t ask them to.”
Alex nodded. “I know, but it doesn’t mean they might not on their own.”
They had reached Alpha Ramp, so Alex held short of that area and called for further clearance.
“Bluegrass ground, Seven Four Delta, holding at Alpha Ramp for Runway Two Two.”
An MD-83 regional airliner had landed and was coming up Taxiway Alpha, so the controller had Alex wait.
“Seven Four Delta, hold for traffic coming up Taxiway Alpha. Allegiant Eight Sixty, proceed across Alpha Ramp to Gate B.”
Alex waited until the airliner replied before he did. While they waited, Corrie picked the conversation back up.
“How long will it take for us to get to Maine? I’m sure you told me but I forgot.”
“Allegiant Eight Sixty, proceeding across Alpha for Gate B.”
The response from the airliner kept Alex from replying to Corrie right away.
“Seven Four Delta, holding at Alpha.”
Alex then replied to Corrie. “Around four hours if the weather holds. We have full tanks, so no fuel stops, and we’ll stay west and below the heavy airline traffic.”
“Glad I hit the dunny before we got stahted,” she quipped in return. Alex was glad to see her mood lifting. A pilot’s outlook always improved when in the sky.
They watched the T-tailed MD-83 taxi past, heading for the passenger terminal gates to their right. It was another minute before the tower called them again, to allow plenty of space behind the airliner. Taxiing directly behind one of the bigger jets was a good way to get rolled by the jet blast if they nudged the throttles for any reason.
“Cessna Seven Four Delta, you are cleared across Alpha Ramp. Hold short of Runway Two Two and contact Bluegrass Tower on One One Niner Point One, good day.”
“Seven Four Delta, Bluegrass Ground, cross Alpha Ramp to Runway Two Two, hold short, thank you.”
Alex nudged the throttle and they taxied to the hold marker, where he started the rear engine, did his final checks, and called the tower.
“Bluegrass Tower, Cessna November Three Seven Seven Four Delta holding on Taxiway Alpha for takeoff on Runway Two Two with Information Bravo.”
“Good Morning,” the tower controller replied to Alex’s call. “Seven Four Delta, you are cleared to take the runway, no traffic at this time. Winds two six zero at five, altimeter two niner niner six.”
“Seven Four Delta, taking the runway,” Alex called as he maneuvered the small twin Cessna out onto the runway centerline.
“Bluegrass Tower, Seven Four Delta awaiting takeoff clearance.”
The tower’s reply was immediate. “Seven Four Delta, you are cleared for takeoff. Contact Departure Control on One Two Zero Point Seven Five, good day.”
“Seven Four Delta, rolling,” Alex responded as he pushed the throttles forward. The takeoff roll was smooth, and shortly after lifting off Alex pulled the gear up, set the engines for cruise climb, adjusted the flaps and called Departure Control. After getting his first transponder setting and making the turn to their initial heading, the two felids were able to continue their conversation.
“As to the Sheilas of the North, they have their own lives, and I doubt they’ll come following me like a bunch of kittens. You are right, though. I can always go up and see them, when time and money allows.”
Alex again nodded to her. “That’s true. What are you going to say to Ben?”
“The truth of course. We’re heading into the busy summer tourist season, and then the forest and spray work in the fall. Things slack off in the wintah, so I’ll tell him I’ll stay ‘til fall. Then Billy and I can work on getting things set up and launch the business in early spring.”
Corrie sounded confident, and Alex glanced over to see a smile on her muzzle. It reminded him of the smile Billy got when discussing their business. That gave Alex a lot of reassurance that things would go well with their venture.
The turbocharged engines on the Cessna worked best at around twenty thousand feet, so that was the altitude Alex was filed for. It took nearly twenty minutes to climb that high, so just before reaching their cruise altitude, things got a little busy again. They were preparing to enter the controlled airspace above eighteen thousand feet, so Alex got started with the radio call to Indianapolis Center Air Traffic Control.
“Indianapolis Center, November Three Seven Seven Four Delta is a Cessna Papa Three Three Seven climbing through one seven zero for two zero zero, twenty five Northeast of Lexington on the zero six zero radial.”
The controller responded after a couple of seconds. “Cessna Seven Four Delta, squawk six eight five zero.”
Alex tuned the transponder to the setting and pushed the ident button to identify or “squawk” the signal. This showed up on the center controller’s radar screen.
“Seven Four Delta, radar contact. Continue current heading, you are cleared for two zero zero.”
“Seven Four Delta copies maintain heading cleared for two zero zero,” Alex replied.
As they settled in to the cruise part of the flight, the conversation went to small talk about their time in Kentucky as they flew on.
# # #
Loni was finishing up the last of the paperwork on their new hires, taking advantage of the quiet Saturday morning. Duncan was home watching cartoons with their son Dylan, and she didn’t plan on staying very much longer. Billy had been in, checked on everything, and headed back home. The only other fur around was Rich Farraday, who was over in the corner doing some maintenance on Alex’s business laptop.
The door into the admin area opened and a young, pretty Collie femme walked up to the counter. Loni thought she looked a bit…tentative. From time to time, folks looking for the commercial terminal got turned around and ended up out on their end of the airfield. The Lynx put on a friendly smile and greeted the femme.
“Hello, welcome to Kentiger Executive Air, may I help you?”
The Collie smiled, still tentative, but Loni could hear her tail swish as it began to wag.
“Erm, I hope so,” the femme began. “I’m trying to locate Lt. Col. O’Whitt or Mr. Panelli.”
With all the goings-on from Jefferson Mastifson, Loni was a bit guarded.
“They aren’t here right now. Could I ask who you are so I can tell them you stopped by?”
A look of relief swept over the Collie’s face. “Oh, whew! I’m glad I have the right place. My name is Kathleen Killian. I was a dispatcher in the Air Force at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina. I met the Colonel and Mr. Panelli when they were there for…Captain O’Whitt’s funeral and the accident investigation findings. They both said I should let them know when I was out. I have been out and going to school, but now I’m switching majors and schools. I’m going to the University of Kentucky here in Lexington, and I’m checking on jobs in the area. I thought I’d see if I could find them to let them know I’m here.”
Loni’s professional smile never wavered as she evaluated the young femme’s story and demeanor. Billy was looking for an office administrator for the new business, but the Lynx decided to play it safe for the moment.
“Oh, they’ll be sorry they missed you, Miss Killian. Do you want to leave your contact information, so they can call you?”
Kathleen put a small satchel up on the counter and pulled out a few sheets of paper stapled together.
“Let me leave a copy of my resume’. That has all my contact information on it.”
Loni had to give the femme points for boldness. If knowing Billy and Alex was just a story, it was turning out to be a pretty slick way of getting a resume’ accepted and looked at. She took the offered pages and placed them on her desk face up. As she looked back up, the Collie femme half-turned to leave.
“Thank you, Miss?”
“Jetter, and it’s Misses. I’ll make sure Mr. Panelli and Col. O’Whitt know you came by.” Loni was warming up to the femme, liking her straightforward, but still a little shy manner.
“Okay Mrs. Jetter, thank you.” Kathleen replied as she turned to go. She walked out the door, and Loni returned to her seat. That’s when she caught sight of Rich Farraday, who’d been silent the whole time. He was looking wistfully at about tail level in the direction the Collie had just departed in.
“Rich, either close your mouth or blink. Someone will think you’re a zombie.”
The Black-footed Ferret was startled, and both shut his muzzle and blinked rapidly, a blush growing very visible beneath the fur of his cheeks and ears. Loni gave a low giggle as she sat back down at her desk. She picked up the pawset and dialed Billy’s cell phone to report on their visitor.
# # #
Alex and Corrie were enjoying a relaxed flight. The Skymaster was smooth and steady at twenty thousand feet over Central Pennsylvania, enroute to Portland. Neither had said anything for about five minutes, as both seemed to be just enjoying the view. It was a clear day, except for the typical late spring haze below ten thousand feet. The radio chatter wasn’t too busy, and they’d lapsed into a companionable silence when Corrie spoke.
“Alex, I have a couple of questions.”
Alex, who was doing his normal traffic and instrument scan, looked at her briefly.
“Yes Love? What about?”
“Well,” she began, a bit hesitant as she collected her thoughts. “I’ve been thinking about your faith. I think that what I took as fact about Christianity and Christians is skewed. TV always shows them as rigid, uncompassionate, hateful, self-righteous snobs. You though, you’re nothing like that. I’m trying to figure out if you’re just different, or if the media has it all wrong.”
Alex took a minute to frame his answer. “I may be different, true. Sometimes those who become Christians get so caught up in the fact that they are Christians that they lose sight of what that means. They get stuck in all the rules and forget the most important thing. Love the Lord with all your heart and love your neighbor as you do yourself. The ones stuck in the rules, well, the term is legalistic. God wants your love in return more than you to blindly follow rules. Don’t get me wrong, the rules are there for a reason, but the first rule is love.”
Corrie thought for a several minutes before continuing. “Okay, I can see the difference theah. So, what does it take? Do you recite a pledge, or go through some ritual? How does a Christian become a Christian?”
Alex paused several minutes also, deciding how to best answer. “First thing is, believe in God. Without that, well, the rest is nonsense. Believe that God created you, but that, like us all, you aren’t perfect. That was hard for me. That not only am I not perfect, but I can’t be perfect enough to never break God’s commands. The next is to believe that God loves you, as an individual, so much he sent his Son to die for you. To take your punishment for breaking his commands, so you could be forgiven. The next is to believe that with all your heart, then pray and ask for and receive that forgiveness. You put Jesus in charge of, well, you. I know that sounds a bit corny, but that’s all there is to it. Doing it isn’t hard but living it out is.”
Corrie looked at him thoughtfully. “So, that’s it? Just believe that and bingo, all’s forgiven, Heaven here I come? What about after? Do you have to go through the whole thing again every time you screw up?”
Alex could tell Corrie was coming up with more questions by the second. He smiled. Questions and curiosity were, in his book, good things. The Bible said to count the cost. To know what you were believing in with certainty before you commit to it. He gave a nod in her direction.
“It’s said that Jesus and his sacrifice for us is so simple a child can understand it, but also so complex the best scholars are baffled. God chose this way, and I don’t choose to second guess Him. As far as after, no, we don’t become perfect. We try to do better each day. The Bible says Jesus died once for all. That means He covered the punishment for all we’ve ever done, and all we’ll ever do. Those who’ve accepted Him, will be evaluated by Him. It says everything we do after accepting Him will be judged by Him. The quote goes, ‘Passed through a refining fire, where the gold is purified, and the chaff and dross burned up.’ That means the good we’ve done as Christians will be credited to us, like treasure. The bad, burned away. Forgiven, to be seen no more. After, we only need to acknowledge what we did wrong, and we’re forgiven.”
Corrie’s head was cocked to the side, her eyes distant as she thought, so he didn’t disturb her as he concentrated on flying and let time past.
# # #
Aramis sat in the living room of his apartment. He was physically relaxed, watching TV, but mentally he couldn’t seem to rest. What he’d read in the reports on Jefferson Mastifson had him a bit concerned. Not so much in the here and now. Billy Panelli had neatly end-arounded the harassment the Rottweiler had initiated, as far as he could tell from the last intercepts. What was bothering him was the pattern that was setting up.
Mastifson had gone from legal maneuvers to harassment, and if it followed the pattern of a subject slowly being overcome by an obsession, the next action would be a physical attack of some kind. Usually on property first, then on the fur. Mastifson didn’t seem the type to directly attack Col. O’Whitt. After seeing the tiger’s file, and having met him, the thought almost made Aramis laugh. The Rottweiler wasn’t above paying or coercing someone to do such a thing, though.
The question was, whether to continue with Mastifson on a watch list or upgrade the case to active investigation and close surveillance, with an eye to possible intervention. The worst outcome would be that Mastifson would retrogress and become a real physical danger to O’Whitt and anyone close to or between him and the Rottweiler. The files were full of mass murderers and serial killers who’d gone down that path. So far, Mastifson’s obsession with vengeance on Col. O’Whitt hadn’t gone that far. In most cases, it wouldn’t. It would fade into a bitter, low-key hatred on the Rottweiler’s part. Always harbored, never acted out. It was, fortunately, only one in a thousand such cases that progressed beyond into violence.
For now, it hadn’t, so if everyone played their cards right, it never would. Aramis resolved to look at the list of contacts Mastifson had made, do some research, and make a few contacts of his own.
# # #
Corrie had not brought up any more questions as they began their descent into Portland. They’d gone on to the much livelier and less serious subject of what kind of reception Ben would give her on Monday. Alex was going to drop Corrie off to get her Jeep, and then hop over to Lewiston. He planned to stay Sunday and rest before flying back south on Monday.
“So, you don’t think Ben will pitch a fit?” Alex inquired as he prepared to call Portland Approach Control.
“Nah,” Corrie said with a snort. “We’ve had that talk already. He’ll probably just say it’s about time or something like that.”
Alex nodded as he made the radio call. “Portland Approach, November Three Seven Seven Four Delta is a Cessna Skymaster coming in on a heading of Zero Six Zero at one Eight Zero, thirty out on the DME, requesting approach and landing at Portland.”
“Cessna Seven Four Delta, Portland Approach, squawk five one eight five.”
Alex adjusted the transponder in the center panel and pushed the Ident button. Portland’s response was quick.
“Cessna Seven Four Delta, radar contact twenty nine out on a heading of zero six zero at one eight zero. Maintain heading and descend to one two thousand. Advise when passing through one five thousand.”
Alex called back as he began the descent. “Portland Approach, Seven Four Delta, leaving one eight thousand for one two thousand, will advise passing one five thousand.”
He set the throttles back and let the aircraft descend with just a touch of down elevator, letting the Cessna settle rather than nose down into a rapid descent.
“So, Ben will be okay, and your friends I met will deal with it. How about your very protective landlady?” Alex inquired to pick up the conversation again.
Corrie smiled. “Mrs. Beale? She’s such a dear old ottah. When I explain what my plans are, I’m sure she’ll be happy for me. Sad to see me go, she always says good tenants are hard to find. Oh, and she’ll miss me Jeep. I always make grocery runs for her in the Wintah. Uh, that reminds me, I wonder if I should bring my Jeep south or sell it?”
Alex glanced over, seeing if an answer was expected or if she was asking herself. Seeing her look his way, he answered.
“I’d say bring it. You’ll need transportation, and the winters in Central Kentucky do get a bit of ice and snow from time to time. No need in incurring a car payment if you don’t need to.”
Corrie smirked. “Good thing I’ll be able to save a bit between now and then to pay for moving me things down. Will you come up and keep me company on the drive?”
“Hmmm, a nice road trip? Sure, we can stop and sight see along the way. The fall colors should be really pretty by that time of year.”
Corrie looked over to see a smile on Alex’s muzzle. That made her actually look forward to the trip.
“Portland Approach, Seven Four Delta, passing one five thousand for one two,” Alex called on the radio, interrupting their talk.
Seven Four Delta, Portland Approach, copy you through one five thousand, continue descent and turn to course zero eight zero.”
Alex started the descent, turning right to the new heading. “Copy continue descent, turning right to zero eight zero, Seven Four Delta.”
Corrie decided to stay quiet and let Alex concentrate on his approach. Everything went smoothly and soon he set the light twin down with a chirp of tires kissing the runway. As they rolled out and Alex made the turnoff, Corrie grinned over at him and put a paw on his shoulder.
“Welcome back to Maine, Luv.”
End of Chapter 74