Thin Blood Thick Water (Clueless Resolutions Book 2) by W B Garalt Page B
Authors: W B Garalt
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assigned to work under his command as flight captain. Maggie detected the double entendre-sounding quip in his comment, and was about to release one of her best put-down remarks when she glanced at Max in the co-pilot seat. She could see that he was furious! She put her hand on Max’s shoulder and calmly responded to the Senior Partner’s comment.
“Thanks for the offer Mr. Chaplain, but if I was working for tips I sure wouldn’t be on this flight,” she responded, looking directly at Chip. She did not try to disguise her distaste at the callous, innuendo-laden comment. Chip was aware of the relationship between her and Max and he knew that Maggie knew he knew. Whether intentional or not, it was an affront to Max who was seated 20 inches to his right. Max patted her hand on his shoulder with an understanding glance which silently signaled, “Way-to-go, babe! I’ll deal with him later.” With a faint smile and a nod to Max, Maggie turned back to the cabin area and re-seated herself.
At 10:31 AM, Eastern Standard Time, the Canadian coastal radar flight monitor contacted the Ithaca - Halifax flight. Chip responded and requested clearance for a full-stop landing. Clearance was given along with the radio frequency and instructions to contact CYHZ tower at Halifax International when reaching the outer markers at the 2 mile radius.
Eight minutes later Chip contacted Halifax International Flight Control requesting permission to land. Permission was given to enter the left-traffic landing pattern for a landing on runway 24. Max, sticking to the co-piloting business at hand, listened for Chip’s command for assistance during the landing process. He would be activating, and then deactivating, the air brakes as needed, and then the flaps, landing gear controls and the reverse thrusters if needed. The landing went smoothly and the USAP Lear 45 touched down in Nova Scotia on schedule.
After turning off the runway at the last taxiway ramp Chip looked at Max and gave a thumbs- up sign. “Well done, Co-captain,” he said.
“That was a great ride. Thanks for the flight time,” Max responded in a flat, obligatory manner. “Maybe we can switch seats on the return trip. What do you think?”
“We’ll see,” was Chip’s nearly-dismissive response. He switched to the ground control frequency for taxi instructions to the customs gate. Beyond that no conversing followed except that which was required during the shut-down checklist.
The party went through the customs check and gathered just beyond in the hallway to the main terminal. Chip reviewed the itinerary which included his and Brad’s departure for Montreal after refueling the Lear 45. A service car had been summoned to transport the remaining four in the USAP group to an in-town hotel close to the Bickford Laboratory. It would involve a twenty minute ride to the city of Halifax, some 20 miles south of the airport. The plan was to rendezvous back at the airport, outside the customs area, on Thursday morning at 9:00 AM, for the return flight to Ithaca.
Chip and Brad headed toward the airport arrival/departure restaurant as the research crew of four retrieved their luggage from customs and walked to the terminal exit where the service car sat idling at curbside with its semi-alert driver behind the wheel. After Lamar tapped in the driver side window to get the driver’s attention, the luggage was packed into the large trunk of the Lincoln semi-limo, the USAP group was seated, and the ride to Halifax began.
The harrowing drive on the narrow, twisting Route 102 South was an interesting event and little conversation occurred among the passengers. The driver, by appearance, was a Native North American descendant. He had done a double-take glance at Lamar Brooks tapping on his window at the airport and seemed to regard the group of passengers as some sort of VIPs. Lamar, part African American, also had Canadian Native American heritage in his paternal lineage.
“Thanks for the offer Mr. Chaplain, but if I was working for tips I sure wouldn’t be on this flight,” she responded, looking directly at Chip. She did not try to disguise her distaste at the callous, innuendo-laden comment. Chip was aware of the relationship between her and Max and he knew that Maggie knew he knew. Whether intentional or not, it was an affront to Max who was seated 20 inches to his right. Max patted her hand on his shoulder with an understanding glance which silently signaled, “Way-to-go, babe! I’ll deal with him later.” With a faint smile and a nod to Max, Maggie turned back to the cabin area and re-seated herself.
At 10:31 AM, Eastern Standard Time, the Canadian coastal radar flight monitor contacted the Ithaca - Halifax flight. Chip responded and requested clearance for a full-stop landing. Clearance was given along with the radio frequency and instructions to contact CYHZ tower at Halifax International when reaching the outer markers at the 2 mile radius.
Eight minutes later Chip contacted Halifax International Flight Control requesting permission to land. Permission was given to enter the left-traffic landing pattern for a landing on runway 24. Max, sticking to the co-piloting business at hand, listened for Chip’s command for assistance during the landing process. He would be activating, and then deactivating, the air brakes as needed, and then the flaps, landing gear controls and the reverse thrusters if needed. The landing went smoothly and the USAP Lear 45 touched down in Nova Scotia on schedule.
After turning off the runway at the last taxiway ramp Chip looked at Max and gave a thumbs- up sign. “Well done, Co-captain,” he said.
“That was a great ride. Thanks for the flight time,” Max responded in a flat, obligatory manner. “Maybe we can switch seats on the return trip. What do you think?”
“We’ll see,” was Chip’s nearly-dismissive response. He switched to the ground control frequency for taxi instructions to the customs gate. Beyond that no conversing followed except that which was required during the shut-down checklist.
The party went through the customs check and gathered just beyond in the hallway to the main terminal. Chip reviewed the itinerary which included his and Brad’s departure for Montreal after refueling the Lear 45. A service car had been summoned to transport the remaining four in the USAP group to an in-town hotel close to the Bickford Laboratory. It would involve a twenty minute ride to the city of Halifax, some 20 miles south of the airport. The plan was to rendezvous back at the airport, outside the customs area, on Thursday morning at 9:00 AM, for the return flight to Ithaca.
Chip and Brad headed toward the airport arrival/departure restaurant as the research crew of four retrieved their luggage from customs and walked to the terminal exit where the service car sat idling at curbside with its semi-alert driver behind the wheel. After Lamar tapped in the driver side window to get the driver’s attention, the luggage was packed into the large trunk of the Lincoln semi-limo, the USAP group was seated, and the ride to Halifax began.
The harrowing drive on the narrow, twisting Route 102 South was an interesting event and little conversation occurred among the passengers. The driver, by appearance, was a Native North American descendant. He had done a double-take glance at Lamar Brooks tapping on his window at the airport and seemed to regard the group of passengers as some sort of VIPs. Lamar, part African American, also had Canadian Native American heritage in his paternal lineage.
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