Note: This is a work of Fiction! Although the areas this story takes place in are real; all of the landscapes depicted, the people described, and everything else this story uses to make it enjoyable reading for you are NOT REAL. As you read this story try to remember:
THIS IS A NOVEL.
107. Strangers in Paradise
When Dycke was told about Harold and Callie's situation, he put his fleet of aircraft into action. Payne's aircraft would have solved their problems, but it had been sent east as part of the plan to allow Payne and him to stay in Arizona for a two-week vacation. He had a smaller jet fly them from Phoenix to San Diego, accompanied by four FBI agents. One of his company's Gulfstream 650's took them from San Diego to Christchurch, New Zealand 7000 miles away.
He ran into a problem getting them from New Zealand, to the American Facility at McMurdo Sound. The Air Forces' C-17's and LC-130 aircraft that flew resupply missions to McMurdo Research Station, Antarctica were logged as full for the next five weeks. He called a friend in the White House, who spoke to the President on his behalf.
Soon thereafter, the President's chief of staff, Richard Axel, called General Brent Russell. He was in charge of the 13
th
Expeditionary Group, which ran "Operation Deep Freeze." He told him the President would be very displeased if these people weren't on the first aircraft that departed for McMurdo. He reiterated to him that the President might even be
'angry'
if these people were not on that aircraft.
General Russell forwarded that message to Colonel Robert Stanton, the commander of the 61
st
Air National Guard Wing, out of McCord Air Force Base, near Seattle, Washington. He was in command of 'Operation Deep Freeze' air assets.
"I mean no disrespect General, but everything going on these flights is considered 'Top Priority' by the National Science Foundation. What does he want me to take off?"
"Bob, your name is one of the top five to go from a Bird to a Star. There are only three slots open. I would suggest you figure something out. You don't want to get on my bad side, because I don't want to be on his bad side."
"Your message is received loud and clear sir. I'll figure something out, even if I have to steal an airplane."
As it turned out, he didn't have to. A C-17/3 Globemaster had flown nonstop, from its home base, Altus Air Force Base, in Oklahoma, in less than 20 hours. It carried spare parts, and a helicopter for the base at Christchurch. On the manifest the crew of the C-17 carried, it gave the final destination of the helicopter as "McMurdo Research Facility. The Telex from Altus showed the helicopters destination as Christchurch, New Zealand.
The C-17's loadmaster approached Colonel Stanton, showed him the manifest, and asked him if he had anything that needed to go to McMurdo, because his aircraft was half-empty. He needed something to balance it, so he didn't have to move the helicopter.
Stanton wanted to kiss the Senior Master Sergeant, but restrained himself. He verified the invoice, and then told him he had six passengers, and as much cargo as he could handle. 9 hours later, the Globemaster was in the air, using satellites to navigate its way towards the South Pole. Magnetic compasses do not work very well south of the 60
th
parallel, and the further south you go, the less accurate they get.
Flying in the Globemaster was a lot different than flying in a private jet. It's nearly 3800 miles from Christchurch to. McMurdo, and takes nearly 8 hours to get there. Instead of sitting on the plush comfortable seats of a private jet, Callie and Harold were sitting in upright canvas webbing seats meant for military personnel wearing parachutes, or combat gear.
Callie was not comfortable and neither was Harold. Callie made it worse for Harold, when she moved to sit on his lap.
"Callie, you should be wearing your seatbelt, it is awful bumpy up here."
"I can't sit on that seat any longer. It is crushing the bones of my ass. At least you have some meat on yours, and it is cushioning the blows. I will make it up to you when we get on the ground."
"Remember my love; you are the one that wanted to come here, not me. I could have taken you to a private desert island, with all the comforts of home. You could have worn all those tiny bikinis you bought in Paris. Better still, you could have worn nothing at all. Now we are going to the bottom of the world, because you wanted to see it. Just because your bottom is hurting doesn't give you the right to crush mine."
"Crush yours; if we were alone I would break your neck. You weigh over 200 pounds and I weigh 122. You pick me up like I am a feather, and throw me wherever you want. Now you say I am crushing you. Wait until we are on the ice, and you want to get warm. You keep your hands and that other thing to yourself Harold. Dream about how warm it could be if it were inside me."
"You certainly are pregnant. Your hormones are all over the place. You used to have a sense of humor. Now you sound like Patty, when she is talking to Stephano. Everything has only one meaning, and there is no possibility of it being anything else. There are no double entendres, no jokes, and no possibility of error. When we get to our destination, I think we should ask for separate rooms. Otherwise when we return home, we will have to file for a divorce on the grounds of mental cruelty."
Callie started to cry. She put her face into Harold's shoulder to hide her face as the tears streamed down.
"You are not allowed to do that to me. You make me feel guilty for telling you the truth about how you are behaving. We are never going to get divorced. I told you that many, many times. I am never letting you go, even if you get fat. If you reach 125 pounds, I will put you on a diet, and get you back down to your fighting weight."
Callie laughed, while she continued to sniffle. "What about you Harold, are you going to continue on your diet?"
"You bet I am. If I don't, Dycke is going to send me a personal trainer to get me into shape. I spoke to her, and she was very nice. She told me what to do to lose the weight. She said I could do it in a year. If I didn't she would come to Cottonwood and tear me apart, day after day, until I was a proper physical specimen."
"I like her Harold; what was her name?"
"I am going to put you back on your seat, and see how much you like sitting on your 'boney ass."
"I didn't know you were pregnant, Harold."
"You are real bitch, as opposed to a fake bitch, Callie."
"You knew that before you asked me to 'Move In With You', before you 'Proposed to Me', and before you said 'I Do.' So that should not be a surprise to you."
"You are correct, and if we were on the alone, I could do something about it. However, we are in the air, with four chaperones. I cannot take you over my knee and spank you. I cannot pull down your draws and fuck you until you scream. I cannot put a gag in your mouth, tie your hands and feet, and torture your pussy until you pass out. I can't do any of those things to get even with you, until we are alone. Then and only then can I get you to return to the woman I love, cherish, and adore."
"Oh my poor Harold, he needs to get laid."
"No Callie, you are the one that needs to get laid. Your body is screwing up your mind and the only thing that will get you back to where it belongs she is a good screwing."
"I will be back, Harold; I have to speak to a man about a bed."
Callie walked up the aisle to where Senior Master Sergeant Reese was sitting, with his crew. She asked, "Sir, may I speak to you for a moment?"
Cliff Reese smiled at her. "Ma'am, I work for a living; I am a Sergeant not a sir."
"Can I call you Cliff instead of Sergeant?"
"Yes ma'am that would be fine."
"Cliff, my name is Callie. I have a problem. I am pregnant and I need to lie down. Is there any place on this aircraft I can do that?"
"They did not tell us that at Christchurch, otherwise we would have made arrangements for you there. Give us 10 minutes and we will make you as comfortable as a bug in a rug. Let's go to work men."
"Thank you Cliff, anything you can do would be appreciated. I just have to lie down, and get some sleep."
Callie sat down by Harold and smiled. "Honey, be prepared to give Cliff and his crew a very large check when we land. They are going to do something very nice for you and me."
"Okay, you little devil, who's Cliff; and what did do this time?"
"I told the truth. I told him I was pregnant, and I had to lie down. I did not tell him why I had to lie down; I left that to his imagination."
"The male population this planet should get down on their knees and thank me for taking you off the market. One devil roaming around doing evil is more than this world can handle. With you on the loose, every other man was in danger of losing his immortal soul."
"That's not true, Harold; I was just horny all the time."
"I rest my case. God gave you the body of an angel, and the devil made you hotter than fire. What if Alan is right and our baby is a little girl that looks like you?"
Callie's bottom lip began to quiver, and before she started to cry, Harold kissed her, and did not let her go.
Sergeant Reese showed up at that moment. "I have a place where you can both lie down and be comfortable. We were able to requisition pillows and blankets also. If you would follow me please, I will take you there."
They walked down the right side of the huge C-17 Globemaster, and Cliffs' men finishing work around the helicopter.
Callie asked, "Cliff, how did you get this helicopter in here?"
"It is really easy, miss. The nose of this bird tilts 90° up. The truck carrying this chopper backs up to the aircraft, and a system of pulleys drags it into place. The hard part is to know where to put all the other cargo, and then securing it properly. We don't want to damage the helicopter, and we want to keep this big bird balanced while it's in flight. That is where my team and I come in."
Harold laughed. "I am glad you said it was easy, because these crates do not look like they are very light to me."
"That is the magic of hydraulics. You see it used in your local supermarket every day. Ours just happened to be a little larger, and capable of carrying heavier loads."
An airman approached and said, "Everything is ready for inspection, Master Sergeant."