Chapter 12: Tina's Trip and Vegas

Up north, in Reno, Tina and her two friends were in the garage. They were loading the luggage into her mother's van. Closing the back door, they stood there chatting as they waited for Tina's mom. Tina looked around the garage, and saw a towel on the dryer. Walking over, she grabbed her beach towel with Jonny Depp on it as Captain Jack.

"Damn, I almost forgot this."

Walking back to the van she opened the door and stuffed the towel into her bag.

Kathleen said, "Yeah, you would have been lost without Jack."

All three girls started giggling at the joke. They looked up when they heard the door open from the house.

Danielle walked out of the house with her keys and purse, she stopped and made sure the inner door was locked, and set the alarm.

Turning to the three girls, she said. "Everyone have their tickets?"

The three girls shrieked, 'Yes!' at the same time, and they all climbed into the Voyager van. Tina climbed into the front seat while Kathleen and Maria sat on the first seat. Maria reached over and slammed the sliding door.

Once everyone was in the van, Danielle said, "Seatbelts."

She watched the three girls, to make sure they fastened their seatbelts, then she hit the garage door button and the door went up. Putting the keys into the ignition lock, she started the van. She put it in gear, and they headed towards Reno Cannon International Airport. Behind them, the door went down and locked itself.

Kathleen Hernandez looked in her bag, pulled her book from the bag and started to read it, and then closed it and looked over at Tina.

"You know, I still can't believe your dad gave us each tickets to Disney World, in Florida, for two weeks. This is going to be so cool."

Tina grinned as she looked over at Kathleen, and said, "Well, Daddy said it's because we all did so good in school this year, and that we need a break from everything. But I think it's because he loves you two as much as he does me. I mean we have grown up together and are always together. Therefore, we are all like sisters. Plus the tickets are very cheap, since Daddy flies for the airline." Tina looked over at her other friend Maria and asked, "Maria, will you hand me a soda please?"

Tina's mom smiled with a joke on her mind that her husband had told them a few weeks ago, about one of the other pilots, "Not too much, Tina. You don't want to get cramps on the plane."

Tina groaned as her mom brought up what happened to a family friend on his last flight.

"Oh, Mom! Dad was kidding about that. James was already sick when he had that happen to him."

"I know, Sweetie. But remember we may have to stand in line at the airport for a long while, due to the new security policies. It could be hours before we get to board the plane."

Popping the can, she said, "Yeah, your right, Mom; but I need my caffeine, and it's too late in the afternoon for Starbucks."

Unknown to any of them, a brown four door Buick was following them. Earlier he had watched the mother take the dog away, and not come back with it. He followed them onto Highway 80, staying about ten car lengths back. The two cars travelled for about five minutes, and he saw their blinker come on and they jumped onto highway 395.

"Where the fuck are they going?"

He moved up closer to keep a better eye on them. That was when he noticed the luggage.

"Damn it, they must be flying somewhere."

He looked around as he drove, and wondered if he could run them off the road. But he realized there was too much traffic, and it would leave too many witnesses.

He followed them as they took the airport road and pulled up to the terminal, where they pulled their bags out. The three girls headed inside with the luggage, while the mother went and parked the van in one of the parking areas. Joshua parked his car in the 'short term' parking lot.

He got out, and headed into the airport. He wanted to find out where they were going, and when they would be back, if he could. Looking around, he did not see them and started moving towards check in. He finally spotted the three girls standing at the check in station at Delta airlines. They were tying luggage IDs to their bags, and he moved closer. He looked at Tina and could smell her clean body from where he was standing, her innocence and beauty was breathtaking. Taking a quick peek at the stub, he saw one of the girls writing Orlando International Airport.

"Maria, hand me your E-ticket so I can check you in."

Startled, Joshua looked over at the mother who had walked up while he was not looking. Quickly he reached around the girl and picked up a few baggage ID tags.

"Pardon me," he said, and walked away.

He headed out of the terminal and returned into his car.

Hitting the steering wheel, he said, "Damn it, I was going to take her tonight. Now I will have to watch their house every day, to see when they get back. Well, I can grab a couple of whores for tonight's shipment. That will make them happy."

Starting the car, he put it into gear and drove away.

Out in Arizona, the five companions were closing on the Arizona/Nevada border. Ken looked over at Ted, and said, "Want to switch?"

Ted adjusted himself in his seat, reached down, and picked up his soda and took a drink. "Nah I am ok. Get some more sleep Captain."

Ken reached over and hit Ted in the shoulder. "Captain my ass. Just drive. Computer! Music, country, Kendal."

Suddenly the music of the Kendal's 'Queen of the Silver Dollar' came over the sound system. As they drove along, the miles counted down towards Las Vegas. Ken looked over at the dash.

"Hey, lead foot, slow it down."

Ted looked down at the dash and in shock; he realized he was doing almost 95-mph.

"Shit, I didn't realize I was going that fast. Must be the improvements for I feel like we are barely moving."

Ted saw a road sign ahead and was surprised to see that it said, "Las Vegas - 20 miles".

"Damn, that sign said we are less then twenty miles from Vegas."

Ted slowed down to sixty-five miles an hour, and set the cruise control. Then he kept his foot off the gas pedal. As they got closer to the city, they saw more signs of life. Ten minutes later, they were on the outskirts of the great city.

"Molly please wake up, I need directions to your home."

Molly was having a pleasant dream. She was dreaming about what it would be like to have someone like Ken or Ted as a boyfriend when she heard Ted's voice.

"Huh? What?"

Molly disentangled herself from Jenny's arms.

"Are we here already?" Molly asked, and sat up straighter.

Running her fingers through her long red hair, she looked around and got her bearings.

"Ok, I know where we are. We want to take the next exit and follow it until you see Windsor Street. Take a right on Windsor and go until you see Grant Street. Take a left on Grant and go down until you see Holly Ave, it will be the third house on the left."

Reaching over she shook Jenny and Tammy.

"Wake up, you two, we're in Vegas."

Jenny and Tammy yawned and woke up. They looked around at the city they had only seen once, when they came through three weeks ago.

Ted followed Molly's directions and pulled through the traffic. Avoiding the cars, he moved into the right lane and kept an eye out for the street he wanted. He drove for about two miles, spotted the street, and made a quick right onto Windsor. He went another mile, saw Grant, and made his second turn. As he headed down Grant, he saw a fire truck sitting in front of a home that was on fire. As they pulled to a stop, the AI did a scan of the burning house.

"Captain, there is a small child and an older female on the second floor, they are trapped in there."

They quickly piled out of the car, and looked at the house and at each other. They could hear the child screaming in fear. None of the firefighters, were moving, because the house was a solid wall of flames. They were spraying water on the flames but they were not going out.

They heard one of the firefighter yell, "Where the hell is that foam truck?"

Another fire fighter stuck his head out of the cab of a truck, and yelled back, "Captain, they are stuck in traffic! They say it will be five minutes until it can get here."

"My god, they don't have five minutes! Get me a tank! I am going in!"

Ken looked at the burning house.

"My god, what can we do?"

From inside the vehicle they heard, "Sir, in your pack is a small black box, attach it to your belt, it's a portable shield. Grab a blanket and soak it down with water, throw the blanket over your head and shoulders. Then activate the box and run inside the house. I will guide you to them."

Ken rushes to the back of the SUV and followed the AI's directions; finding the box; he pulled it out and grabbed the blanket.

"Grab water and pour it on me!"

The rest of the group grabbed the five one-gallon containers of water and started soaking him down. Ken activated the box and ran towards the house. He slipped past the firefighters who started chasing after him. He lined up on the front door and jumped. He passed through the flames and landed inside the house.

"Hey stop! You can't go in there. The whole house is on fire, you'll die!"

They stopped chasing him as Ken jumped through the flames and into the house. Grabbing their hoses, they started spraying the front door down with water, trying to smother the flames with no hope of stopping them. They just knew that the young man who ran inside, was a dead man. Two more trucks pulled up and they started adding more water to the front door.

Ken moved through the flames. He could feel the heat licking at the blanket, as the AI guided him on his internal com.

'Go up the stairs and turn right when you hit the top. Go forward for ten feet and there is a door on the right wall. The room is just starting to catch fire; the child is sitting by her bed, and seems to be tied up. On the floor is another person who is unconscious.'

Ken moved down the hall and found the closed door. Kicking the door open, he moved in and saw the two people on the floor. Moving closer he tried to calm the child.

"Shhh, little one, I will get you both out of here.'

Ken removed the blanket and lifted the woman up onto his shoulder. Grabbing the blanket, he draped it back over their bodies. Reaching down he grabbed the child and lifted her up to his chest.

The child screamed as he picked her up, and held her to his chest.

"It's ok, I've got your mom, and you. Now I am going to get all of us out of here."

Ken turned and used his foot to open the burning door. With the chip guiding him, he moved back out of the door and started back down the hall. Stopping at the stairs he saw they were burning now, taking a breath due to the ability of the force field to clean the air, he started running down the stairs two at a time, the AI guiding him the whole way telling him where to and not to step. Looking through the smoke and burning debris of the house, he took off for the front door and jumped through the burning entryway.

Ken landed outside of the wall of flames and deactivated the shield as he whips the blanket off as it caught fire and he moved towards the firefighters, who stood there in awe as Ken carried the bound females to them. They snap out of it and rush to help him lower the woman to the ground. Ken stood the child on her feet and started untying her small hands as he reassures her, "You are going to be ok, little one."

The little girl was watching the paramedic working on her mother as she was being untied.

Feeling her hands come free, she shouts, "Mommie!"

She dropped beside the young woman on the ground.

Ken stepped back away from them, so the EMT personnel could do their job. Turning he walked toward his friends.

One of the police officers said, "Hey, Kid, stick around."

Ken looked at the police officer, and replied, "I'm just getting out of the way, Officer."

The officer looked at him, and said, "Ok just don't go anywhere..."

Before he could say anything more, another truck pulled up and the firefighters rushed by him, hiding him from the cop's view.

The firefighters attacked the flames again, and the police kept the people back as Ken slipped back to the rest of the group. As a tanker truck pulled up, distracting attention away from them, they climbed back into their car and started backing out of there. Molly directed them to a different street, and they headed towards Molly's home.

Back at the fire, the firefighters started looking for the man who ran into the house. They got ten different stories but only two of them matched. Both related that the man climbed into a black SUV and drove away with his friends.

Molly was looking at Ken in awe as he used a baby wipe to clean his face.

"Ken I couldn't believe you did that. I almost had a heart attack when you ran in there like that. Why did you do that?"

Ken tossed the wipe into the trash bag.

"I don't know. It was like I was being driven by some other power to do that. The cars AI; you know we need a name for it. I know, I think we will call him Carl. Well Carl told me what to do and where to go. He had me grab this box out of my pack and put it on."

Ken examined the box. It looked like a small cell phone.

"He told me it was a portable force field and that it would protect me, he also told me to put the blanket on and have you pour the water on me. Next thing I knew I was in the house and running up the stairs, I grabbed them and carried them out of there."

Molly looked at the other girls, and then leaned forward and kissed Ken on the cheek. "It was a brave thing to do, but you scared us doing it. Just don't go doing something like that again, you're the Captain"

The other two girls leaned over and kissed him on his cheek as well. Ted pulled into Molly's driveway and shut the engine down.

"I agree. You're the Captain! You shouldn't do things like that."

Ken looked at each of them and asked his question of them.

"How can I ask others to do something, that I am not able to or willing to do myself?"

Tammy reached over and gripped Kens hand, and said, "We know what you mean, but for now don't do anything like that for awhile, at least until we talk with Amy."

Molly looked at her new friends and said, "Guys, I should warn you that my mom has the temper of the Irish. If she doesn't believe us it could rise up. I will try and keep it in check for all of you."

Ken nodded his head to Molly, as he answered both Tammy and Molly.