AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When he came out of the toilet, he thought-as he often did-of the fat lady on a transatlantic flight whose rear end had made a perfect seal around the toilet seat, something she found out when she flushed the device, and the vacuum evacuation system kept her glued to it for several hours.
He laughed, then helped himself to a cup of coffee and carried it up the aisle to the cockpit.
"How's it going?" Castillo said to the pilots.
"Our leader is awake," Torine said. "Look busy, Captain!"
Captain Richard M. Sparkman, USAF, glanced over his shoulder and smiled at Castillo, then pointed to a GPS screen in the instrument panel.
"There we are," he said. "About a hundred miles off Cancun. We should make Quito in four-fifteen, give or take."
"There's one of those mounted on the bulkhead in the cabin," Castillo said. "Our benefactor knowing that your revered leader likes to keep an eye on the pilots."
Torine gave him the finger.
Castillo smiled, then did the mental math.
That'll put us in Quito just before eleven. Figure an hour for the fuel, a piss stop, and a sandwich, giving us wheels-up out of there at midnight. And then another five-thirty or six to Buenos Aires, putting us in there about half past five, or six in the morning. Which will be half past three-or four-local time.
Then he had another thought:
Which means there will be almost nothing doing at Jorge Newbery when we land.
People will be curious…
"Jake, how about going into Ezeiza? Jorge Newbery will be deserted at half past three in the morning. Ezeiza starts getting the FedEx and UPS planes and some of the European arrivals very early. Maybe we can sort of not be noticed."
"You're right, but they expect us at Jorge Newbery."
"You are forgetting our new commo equipment."
"I stand corrected," Torine said. "And I will get on the horn just as soon as I'm sure they're all asleep. I don't see why Dick and I should be the only ones in this group awake all night."
"Fly carefully and smoothly, children," Castillo said. "Your leader is going to be sleeping."
Torine gave him the finger again.
Castillo went back to his seat, this time carefully lowering his feet onto Max's chest. Max opened his eyes for a moment, then closed them again.
Castillo sat for a moment, then said, "Oh, shit!"
He then gently tapped on Max with his feet. Max raised his head.
"Sorry, pal," Castillo said. "You have to get up."
Max didn't budge, although he continued to look at Castillo.
"Get up, damn it!"
Max didn't move.
Castillo swung his legs into the aisle, got up, and took a few steps down the cabin aisle.
"Come on, boy!"
No response.
Castillo clapped his hands together. Once. Twice. A third time.
