Crashed & Burned

Nikki hated to fly at the best of times, but as she stood on the tarmac looking at the airplane they had provided for her for this trip, she shook her head in disbelief. "They have got to be kidding."

In front of her was plane not much bigger than her car, actually, her limousine was probably bigger and a damn sight more stable. It would probably fly faster too. Surely they didn't honestly expect her to fly to one of the most important business meetings of her career, in this heap of junk. It just wasn't good enough.

"G'day miss. You must be Nikki Harper. I'm Dave, your pilot."

She turned to see before her the only thing that could have made this trip worse. The man to whom she was to entrust her life was little more than a cowboy, denim jeans with the knee ripped on one leg, flannelette shirt unbuttoned to the waist and loosely tucked into his jeans, leather boots and to top it off, a western hat. She looked him up and down several times, hoping that at some point she was going to wake up from this nightmare and find her self before the company jet and the regular pilot. "You're kidding right? This is all a big joke set up by someone at work, and any time now they are going to call and let me know that this is supposed to be funny."

Dave twisted his mouth in thought for a moment and gave her a very serious look. He had his own ideas about having to be stuck in the cockpit for three hours with an obviously uptight bitch. Still, he needed the money and they had offered him an extra five hundred dollars if he could leave right away. It seemed he was the only one available, and they were desperate. If he had known the cargo he would be carrying was going to be Miss Harper, super bitch, he would have told them to make her swim.

"Laugh all you like lady, I'm flying out of here in five minuets, with or without you." He threw his bag into the back of the plane and started walking back to the hanger; the haughty Miss Harper on his heals.

"That suits me fine. I will simply find another plane with a pilot who has some manners."

Dave stopped dead in his tracks, turning and raising one eyebrow at her. "Suits me too, you go find your self a nice fancy plane, and while your at it, find yourself a nice fancy excuse for your boss, cause my plane is the only one leaving this airfield today that's heading in the direction you wanna go. But hey, if you wanna wait till tomorrow, there will be Lea jet in the hanger right over there and I am sure they would love to fly your upper class ass anywhere you want to go." He turned and continued on to the hanger leaving her standing there with her mouth agape.

"I can't wait till tomorrow, I have to be there this morning. Are you sure there are no other planes?"

Lifting a crate and making his way back to his aircraft, he said quite simply, "If you don't believe me then keep standing right where you are, cause I am leaving right now and I don't need you under me wheels while I'm trying to take off."

Nikki stamped her foot and made a loud, infuriated grunting noise. Obviously she had no choice, but she was going to make damn sure they provided her with descent transportation for the trip back. This was the first and last time she was setting foot in this flying matchbox. Turning up to this meeting in this hunk of junk was going to be humiliating enough with having to be seen getting back into it. She would rather swim home.

Since the only seating in the plane was the pilot seat, and the one next to him in the front, she had no choice but to scramble in through the small access door, and wedge herself into the confined area with as much dignity as she could muster. Even coach on a commercial flight had more space than this. And to make matters worse, she had to sit closer to Dave then should have been humanly tolerable. Oh…If only she didn't want this promotion so badly.

Dave watched as Nikki scrambled into his aircraft. The plane was not only his livelihood, it was his pride and joy, and for someone like her to come along and tell him it wasn't good enough really annoyed him. She had a great body, well worth watching, but he did wonder for a moment just how much of it was real, and how much was plastic. He'd heard all the tales about how these high-class women kept their shape. Still, she did have a nice ass, and when she bent over to climb into the cockpit, he caught a glimpse of her creamy white thighs beneath her short suite skirt, all the way up to her pale pink satin panties. As good as she looked; a man would have to be crazy to even think about getting close to a woman like that. Some ponies just weren't worth the risk of injury to break them in, and this little filly could probably bite harder than she could buck, so he thought it best that he get her to her destination as quickly as possible, and run for cover.

With the last of the cargo loaded, and Miss Harper securely strapped into her seat, Dave climbed in and closed the hatch. Glancing across at his passenger, she sat there with her arms folded across her chest, staring out the window, looking much like a spoiled brat that had been sent to her room without desert. For a moment he was tempted to say something, to try and ease the tension between them, but somehow, he doubted anything he said would help, so he turned his attention to the preflight checks.

Looking out of the window, staring at nothing in particular, Nikki found herself so angry and humiliated at her circumstances that she wanted to cry. Never had her pride been so badly bruised. She was unsure just whom she should thank for finding her this flight, but she was damn sure that when she found out, and she would find out, they would regret this day for a very long time.

As the plane left the tarmac, Nikki's fingers clung tight to the edge of her seat. If she had not been so determined to hang onto her anger, she might have enjoyed it. When she was younger, she had been a great fan of the fastest rides in the amusement parks, but that was before she became successful and had an image to maintain. There was much she's had to sacrifice for her career, but some day, when she had reached the top, it would all be worth it. An air current lifted the aircraft suddenly and snapped Nikki back from her thought. She didn't realize she had squealed in surprise until Dave put his hand tenderly on her arm.

"Nothing to worry about Miss Harper. It's just a thermal. They pop up from time to time, just to make sure you're awake." His voice was smooth, and comforting. The right corner of his mouth curled up a little in a cheeky grin, and his blue eyes sparkled with mischief. He had never failed to charm a woman before, but right at that moment, he would have settled for having her relax a little.

She gave him a harsh stair, trying desperately to maintain her composure, but it was becoming more and more difficult, and quite exhausting. "I think I have flown often enough to know what a thermal is. What concerns me is weather or not this flying tin can will hold together long enough to get us to the Island."

"Can't make any guarantees on that Miss, but you better hope it does. These are some of the most shark-infested waters in the world, and I can't swim." He tried to look as serious as he could, but when her face became noticeably paler, he had to turn and look out the window so she could not see the smirk on his face.

An hour and a half had passed in relative silence when all of a sudden, the engines began to splutter. Dave swung his attention back to the instruments only to find them all going crazy. Needles spun and lights flashed as he found himself struggling to control the plane. A quick glance at Nikki revealed the cause of the problem. She was sitting there, with her laptop open and running.

"What the hell? Turn it off. Turn it off right now!" he was yelling at her, reaching out with one hand trying to find where to shut the computer down, while struggling to bring the plane under control.

Nikki panicked, grabbing her precious laptop and hugging it tight to her chest, not thinking of turning it off before she did so. Her heart was racing, and she found it impossible to think as the view out of the windscreen turned from sky, to ocean. With Dave screaming at her to turn it off, and trying to grab it out of her arms, she had the sudden realization of what had happened. Franticly she opened the case, her trembling fingers reaching for the keys that would shit it down. With a "click" it was done, but it was to late for Dave to recover much control. A small island came into view and Dave swore with a small measure of relief, turning the plane as much as possible to direct it towards the only land they had seen in over an hour. Leveling out as much as he could, the aircraft skimmed across the surface of the water, shallow coal reef ripping into the underside of fuselage before the tip of the left wing dipped into the surf, sending the plane into a spin and up onto the sand. Both wings gave way with a crash, and the fuselage was send hurtling into the trees like an arrow, coming to rest with a thud against a large rotted tree trunk.

It took a few moments for Dave to regain his senses; his head feeling much like his brains had been shaken loose. Nikki was unconscious, a thin stream of blood running down the side of her face and soaking into the collar of her jacket. Dave had always found the cumbersome seatbelt in his plane annoying before, but after this, he would never complain about them again. Releasing the buckles, he leaned over to take a better look at his passenger. Her breathing was soft, and even, the small wound above her temple was already congealing with dried blood, and apart from being unconscious, she seemed other wise unharmed. Under different circumstances, he would have taken pleasure in watching her sleep, but this was neither the time, nor the place for such thoughts.

Taking a moment to assess their situation, he made a mental note to have a word with the makers of this particular type of aircraft. Although it flew great, and was wonderfully economical, it was not designed with this type of crash in mind. Getting the unconscious Nikki out of her seat without doing her any more possible damage was not going to be easy. Taking off his jacket, he slipped it between her head and the window, then unfastened her seatbelt. She slumped a little, and he had to move fast to catch her weight, but lifting her from the seat and easing her into the baggage area proved to be a little easier that he had anticipated. Thankfully she was a rather small and slight woman. If her size had reflected her attitude, he would have been in real trouble.

She moaned a little as he set her down, reaching for his jacket once more and placing it beneath her pretty head. A purple lump was beginning to form beneath the small head wound, but there seemed to be little other damage. He had no doubt though, that the headache and shock she was going to wake up with, was going to make her company all the less pleasant.

Returning to the cockpit, Dave reached for the radio, and became somewhat disillusioned when the microphone came away in his hand, the wires torn from the console. He made sure everything was shut down, so at least if he could repair the radio, there would be battery power left to run it. The fuel tanks were empty, the reef had seen to that, but he did have a well-stocked first aid kit, and emergency flares.

As Nikki slept, Dave began stripping the plane and building a camp. Nightfall would be upon them soon enough, and even if he was lucky enough to be able to get the radio to work, it would be unlikely that they would be rescued before morning, and this island was an unknown quantity to him. He had flown this rout many times, and had never notice the island being there before. So, either it had magically appeared out of no where, or he was way off cause. Just how long had she had that wretched laptop open before he'd seen it? Damn stupid woman! As he looked at the crumpled remains of his life, his own mood became a little less hospitable, so he tried to concentrate on the task at hand. He could always sue Miss Harper or her company for another plane after they were rescued. A thought that brightened him a little. Someone had to pay for the loss of his livelihood, and was going to make damn sure Miss I'm too Damn Good For The World, was going to cough up at least some of it.

After checking Nikki again, Dave took a bucket and set off in search of water. Relief washed over him when, not far away, the sounds of a waterfall reached his ears. Stepping through the undergrowth, he found himself looking upon one of the most beautiful works of nature he had ever seen. Sparkling, clear water poured from a hole in a rock wall, and tumbled six feet into a circular pool that looked as though it could well have been man made. The water then followed a small canal, and traced its way down towards the beach. Along one side of the pool were dozens of water lilies in bloom, in colors and shades that almost took his breath away. Brightly colored parrots landed on the rocks to drink, seemingly oblivious to his presence. He could have stopped and gazed upon this place for hours, but there were more pressing matters to be dealt with. Dipping the bucket in the pool, he turned and made his way back to the plane, and the sleeping Nikki.

The longer she slept, the more he began to worry that her injuries might have been more severe that he had originally thought. Leaning over her, he gazed down upon her face as she slept. She really was quite beautiful, for a bitch, but looking at her in her state of slumber, it was hard to believe that she was really as bad as she made out to be. But then, people are seldom as they appear in the world of high finance. With a sigh, he gently stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers, feeling the softness of her skin and breathing in the sweet floral odor of her perfume. She stirred a little at his touch, moaning softly and fluttering her eyelids.

"Nikki. Nikki, wake up. Miss Harper, do you feel ok?" Tenderly he touched her forehead, checking for a possible temperature, and coaxing her to wake.

Slowly she opened her eyes, gazing up into his with a glazed over look. Suddenly she became completely alert. "You! You maniac! You could have killed me!" Slapping his hand away she backed away from him and up against the side of the plane.

"Nikki, calm down. I'm not going to hurt you. Though God would probably forgive me if I did. It's your fault we're stuck here, you and your damn computer. You destroyed my plane. Now get your ass out here and help me set up camp. We're gonna be here for a while I'd say and I'll be damned if I am going to butler to you while you take a nice vacation." With that he turned away from her before his anger got the better of him.

Nikki climbed from the plane, almost spitting at him. "What the hell do you mean, MY fault? It was your piece of shit plane that got us stuck here. If I had been given half descent transport in the first place this would never have happened. How was I supposed to know my laptop would bug out your flying tin can?" Nikki knew she was in the wrong, but there was only a slim chance in hell that she was ever going to admit it to this moron. "Why don't you just get on the radio and call for help? I have a meeting to get to you know?"

Dave's tolerance was just about at its limit and containing his anger was becoming more and more difficult. Picking up the remnants of the radio, he held it out just a few inches from her nose. "The radio is, to all intensive purposes, fucked, thanks to your little toy, and since your toy also took out the navigation, I have no idea where there hell we are, so until someone discovers we're missing, we're stuck. Like it or lump it." Setting the radio down beside the supplies, he set to looking for a way to make cover for the night.

Nikki was about ready to scream with frustration. It wasn't fair. This was her big brake and this idiot had to go and ruin everything. With her hands curled up in tight little fists, and her face flushed with emotion, she stormed away from Dave and the wrecked plane with no idea of where she was going. She just had to be away from him. Surely there was some kind of civilization around here somewhere.

As much as Dave was pissed off with Nikki, he didn't want to see anything bad happen to her. She was his passenger, and until he delivered her to her destination, she was his responsibility. She was in shock, with her ego more bruised than her body, and she had no idea how to survive outside of the city. No sooner had she vanished into the trees, than Dave decided that he had better follow her and bring her back. It was a wise decision as not more than half a minuet later; Nikki's screams split the night air like a knife. Dave broke into a run, all kinds of images going through his mind as to what could have happened. With his knife in his hand, he found her, frozen in her tracks, a large python dangling from a branch not more than a foot in front of her face. Shaking his head in wonder, he tucked his knife back into his belt. Grabbing her hand, he lead her back to the camp, sitting her on a log and pouring her a mug of the fine English scotch he'd been transporting to the resort where she was to have had her meeting. She drank it straight down and held out the mug for more.

"Best you don't go wandering off like that Miss Harper. Never know what's out there in the wilds. Could be all kinds of dangerous critters just waiting for an easy meal." His tone was serious. He didn't want to terrify the poor girl, but he did want to get his point across. Her eyes wet wide and her face ghostly white as somewhere in the jungle, a creature called out, it's shrieking sound echoing through the trees. Dave had to smother a smirk. The creatures timing was perfect. He doubted she would wander more then a few feet from the aircraft, or him, again.

Dave unloaded most of the plane and covered the cargo with a tarpaulin. If there were creatures out there looking for an easy meal, he was not going to provide it for them. As the sunset, and the night air began to chill, he built up the fire, and spread out his swag in the cargo area of the plane. Dinner was a combination of whatever the resort had ordered as cocktail condiments, washed down with scotch. By this time, Nikki was more then a little tipsy, and badly in need of a bathroom. Dave, being a perfect gentleman, aided Nikki by holding the torch, and waiting by the trees till she was done.

Back at the plane, Nikki climbed up into the swag and went right to sleep, muttering something about her life being over and it all being his fault. Dave waited until she was settled, then climbed in behind her. She would no doubt have words in the morning, but for tonight, he had no intention of sleeping on the cold ground just for the sake of her ego. Pulling a blanket over them both, he laid back and waited for morning, listening to the sounds of the night, and her gentle breathing.

Some time during the night, a chill breeze sprang up and swept in off the ocean. Nikki rolled over and cuddled in close to Dave, her head resting on his shoulder, her arm over his chest and her leg wrapped over his. At first he thought to roll her back over, but when she sighed softly and snuggled in closer, he found he rather enjoyed the feel of her, even if she wasn't aware of what she was doing. Her hair smelled of roses, soft and silky against his arm, and he could still smell the subtle scent of her perfume. She was a beautiful woman to look upon, and Dave wondered that if beneath her bitch persona, she might have been a beautiful person within as well. Watching her sleep, he thought it was highly possible, but then, at this stage in his life, he didn't have the time or the energy to try and break through her walls. He had more then enough to deal with without taking on more trouble, and this woman certainly knew how to get him into trouble.