Chapter 17: The Earth Moved

IT LOOKED LIKE a dinner with my cousin would have to wait until after our next trip. Mr. Martin had suggested that I make a South Pacific loop, including New Zealand, Australia, and Indonesia. It didn’t sound too bad, but I knew from experience it was a damned long flight to get there.

“I just don’t want to leave,” I moaned. “Elise is back home now and it’s all the four of us can handle to help Patricia with the baby.”

“She’ll be able to lift the pudgy little thing in another week,” Anna said helpfully. “Jordan said I could have next week off, or more if I need it. It won’t be long before I’m working extra with tax season just around the corner.”

“It was hard on the two of you without the baby,” I said.

“You have to go,” Ronda said. “If you fail to show up, you’re AWOL and could be prosecuted. It’s not like you can just call in and say you need a few days off.”

“I guess that’s the downside of having been drafted,” I sighed.

“On the other hand, I don’t need to go,” she continued. “In fact, I’m not going to accompany you on this trip.”

“What? I’m going solo to three countries?”

“More or less. You’ve already been to Australia once. I’ll bet Dale will want to see you for at least a while. She might even travel with you all over Australia.”

“How many stops do I have in Australia? Do I go somewhere besides to Sydney?”

“Sydney isn’t the capital, honey,” Ronda laughed. “The embassy is in Canberra. There is a consulate in Sydney, one in Melbourne, and one in Perth. You’ll fly into Melbourne and train at the consulate, then to Perth, and then to Canberra. You’ll wrap up in Sydney and fly home. Before you get to Australia, though, you’ll have a few days in New Zealand.”

“Don’t forget how big that area is. Flying across Australia is like flying across the US.”

“I’ll double check everything. I’m sure you’ll have some companionship, too.”

“Okay, love. It does make me feel better that you’ll be here with Anna and Patricia and Alex and Toni. Geez! I live with five women. I must be insane.”

Mr. Martin agreed that the time and distance were a factor and I should only do Australia and New Zealand, not going on to Indonesia. Ronda still managed to schedule me for the weekend in Melbourne.

Of course, I had to leave Sunday evening from Chicago in order to be in New Zealand Tuesday. I spent most of the day Sunday holding Alex and alternately cuddling with Patricia, Anna, Ronda, and Toni.

Ronda took me to the airport to catch my flight. All the equipment for this round had been shipped and was confirmed at the training locations, so all I had was my 35mm camera case and the courier pouch, which had already been packed with items for the ambassadors and four consuls general. I’d be carrying my own film back in the pouch, plus whatever I was given for the home office.

“Now don’t get so involved with other people on the plane that you don’t have any energy left for teaching and taking pictures when you arrive. And give Dale a big kiss from me.”

“I’m sure she’d prefer if you were there to deliver it in person,” I laughed. “I doubt very much that I’ll meet anyone to keep me awake on the plane. I plan on a lot of sleeping.”

“Well, you never can tell,” Ronda said, winking. “This is a long trip. Twenty-five hours from here to New Zealand. You’re flying first class all the way. Your new pay grade entitles you.”

I checked my bags and headed for my gate.

My first pleasant surprise was to find Missy was the stewardess in first class to Los Angeles. That’s where my first plane change and layover would be.

“Nate! I’m so glad I was able to book this flight. Usually, I’d have been on tomorrow morning’s flight,” she said, greeting me with a kiss.

“Missy. It’s been way too long since I’ve seen you. My new job has me flying every which way except LA.”

“Ronda tells me you’ll probably have several trips to Asia this spring.”

“She does? I didn’t realize you were in contact.”

“She called me to see if I could get this flight so you wouldn’t be flying all alone. Something about you being homesick for a baby.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t believe it, Missy. She’s the cutest little thing you’ve ever seen. I can’t believe I have to fly all the way to Australia instead of just staying home to cuddle her.”

“I’ll try to spend some time with you so you can cuddle me. Full dinner on tonight’s flight, though.”

“I understand,” I said.

The stewardesses and crew boarded about half an hour before the rest of us. I guessed they no longer came out to escort first class passengers to the plane. I was in my usual seat on the 727. The last couple of times I’d flown to LA, I’d been on a 747 and hadn’t seen Missy.

I had a guy next to me on this flight, so I figured that limited my interaction with Missy. I also thought I was the first one on, but he was already seated when I got there.

“John Gumbel,” he said, offering his hand.

“Nate Hart,” I responded. I shoved my camera and pouch under the seat ahead of me so I could shake his hand. “You fly this route often?”

“No. Usually Miami. I’m deadheading out to LA to visit family for a few days.”

“Deadheading?”

“Oh. Yeah. I’m a pilot. Deadhead means I’m a non-revenue passenger. If you want to sleep, I won’t bother you. I’ll probably spend most of the trip up in the jumpseat in the cockpit.”

“It’s always nice to have company. I thought you looked familiar. I flew with my family to Miami in December. Back just after the New Year.”

“Missy told me you work for the government. You had a sick little girl with you.”

“Fortunately, it was just the excitement of flying. When we landed in Puerto Rico, she was up and awake and wanting to play.”

“Glad to hear that. What do you do that takes you to remote places?”

“I’m a trainer on some new pieces of equipment being installed at our embassies. This trip, I’ll be working in New Zealand and Australia.”

“I became a pilot to see the world. You’re managing without working for the airline,” he said.

We got off the ground and Missy brought us drinks. I was fine with having some wine with dinner. Most of the rest of the first class cabin—about eight out of ten passengers—was enjoying travel and toasting some company function. It looked like it could be a rowdy trip. I guess they ordered a specially catered meal, though, so we had a really good spread for dinner.

“A condition of them getting a special meal was to provide it for the other four passengers in first class and the crew,” Missy said. “They’ve won some special sales competition for their company and are being treated to a luxury vacation. All I need to do is convince them I’m not part of their prize. I might depend on you, Nate.”

“You know I’m available,” I said.

“So am I, Missy. I can change into a uniform pretty quickly,” John said.

“You’re on vacation, John. Nate’s working. I should get something for my tax dollars,” she laughed. She went to serve the partiers another round of drinks.

“I take it you’ve flown Missy before,” John chuckled. I wasn’t sure of his meaning.

“We met on my first flight ever, a few years ago,” I said. “I used to travel to LA from Chicago frequently.”

“More government work?”

“No. I was a college student and photographer. I was consulting on a movie. The sequel will release this spring. It’s called Double Exposure.”

“Hmm. I saw Over Exposure. That the one you worked on?”

“Yes. Afraid I haven’t been able to help as much on the second one, but it has less to do with photography and more with the murder mystery aspect,” I said.

We chatted through dinner and after it was cleared, John told me to enjoy the flight and went up to the cockpit to sit in what he called the jump seat. After she’d served another round of drinks and reminded the guys that they’d have an even better flight to Hawaii if they weren’t completely soused, she sat down beside me in John’s seat.

“This is crazy,” she moaned. “Four men have asked me to initiate them into the mile-high club. Two offered to pay me a thousand dollars.”

“You could make a lot of money on this flight,” I said.

“Bastard! I don’t do it for money, as you very well know. If I thought you could fight them all off for me, I’d bend over in the aisle and let you do me, just to show them what they’re missing.”

“Please don’t do that. I couldn’t possibly fight them off,” I laughed. Missy leaned over to kiss me and we got lost in that for a while.

That was the extent of our play time. The guys on the prize trip were intent on getting soused and Missy had to keep pouring drinks. Eventually, John returned to his seat and we got into LA at about a quarter till nine. I waited until the drunks were off the airplane before I stood up and Missy came to give me a proper sendoff kiss. We walked off the plane together.

“You have three hours, I think,” Missy said. “But you have to go to a whole different wing of the airport. Maybe I’ll get to see you on the way back. I have your schedule, but this time I’m going to check to see who else is flying before I volunteer to switch places.”

“I’m sorry I don’t have more time to spend with you,” I said. “After that obnoxious bunch, I’d guess you need to go home and shower.”

“No kidding. Have a good flight the rest of the way,” she said, giving me another kiss.

We turned in opposite directions. I headed to the international terminal and found my gate. I settled down in a seat that was remarkably comfortable for an airport. I figured I’d just be snoozing.

“Hey, mister,” a voice whispered in my ear. “I hear you can take pets on this flight.”

I spun in my seat and found Adrienne waiting to kiss me.

“Fifi, my dear! What are you doing here?”

“Miss R arranged for me to be with you as a gift. May I fly with you, Master?”

“Of course you may! I need to call my wives and thank them for the wonderful travel gift.”

“Yes, they’ll certainly want to know you are ... um ... in good hands.”

I went to the nearest payphone and dialed home. Ronda answered.

“Ronda, the most wonderful thing just happened at the airport in Los Angeles,” I said.

“Oh? Let me guess. Someone’s pet escaped. You’d better put her on a leash and keep her close to you.”

“How on earth did you manage to arrange this?”

“Our wonderful boss suggested that if I was going to take some time off and stay home that I should arrange for someone else to accompany you. He hinted broadly that he knew you had a contact in Los Angeles who could possibly attend to your needs. For an assistant, you know.”

“You know you can’t be replaced as my assistant,” I growled.

“I know. But Adrienne can do the basics. They don’t allow girlfriends into the inner parts of the embassies,” Ronda continued. “They do allow government contractors, though. Adrienne has a red passport and will be able to go most places with you. She can carry your camera. Just remember, you can’t give her the courier bag. She doesn’t have a black passport and is not immune to search.”

“Got it. And thank you. The trip is looking to be a lot more pleasant now.”

I spoke to Patricia and Anna. Anna wanted to speak to Adrienne. In spite of stiffening straight up when Anna spoke to her, Adrienne giggled at the conversation.

I expected that a trans Pacific flight would be on something like a 747, but we actually walked across the tarmac to a 707 called the Clipper Yankee Raider. We entered through the door at the front of the plane while most people entered up the stairs at the back. It always amazed me how spacious the 707 felt. Nearly half the plane was first class and it was only half full. At the front of the plane was a lounge with the galley and room for a dozen people in informal groupings. Adrienne and I got ourselves settled and ready for the longest flight of the trip. We’d get to Tahiti around five in the morning. The flight was over eight hours.

We settled in next to each other and enjoyed the premium service on the flight. That included drinks while we caught up on everything. I showed Adrienne the pictures of Alex I had taken and processed. She made appropriately appreciative noises.

After a late-night dinner, we settled back in each other’s arms to sleep, with a great deal of accompanying kissing and caressing. About four hours into the flight, I discovered Adrienne had pulled the blanket over her head, which was lying in my lap, busily sucking on my penis. It was not difficult to give her exactly what she was seeking, and afterward we both settled in for a much more relaxed sleep.

Unlike my experience on my first trip to Australia, there was no date change on this flight. Tahiti was on the eastern side of the International Dateline. When I’d traveled before, we changed planes on Fiji and lost an entire day. This time, after passing a cursory customs inspection and three-hour layover, we would fly from Papeete to Auckland, New Zealand—and lose a day in the five-and-a-half hour flight.

As soon as the plane passed its inspection, we reboarded and were in the air again by 8:30 in the morning. We tried to sleep some more, but were served another breakfast soon after takeoff and lunch before we landed. We arrived in Auckland just before noon on Tuesday. Technically, I could have managed the training at the consulate that afternoon, but everyone benefited from me taking Adrienne to our hotel and crashing for the rest of the day.

I crash-landed on Adrienne several times.

We did the training in Auckland Wednesday morning and immediately flew to Wellington. We finished the training there on Thursday and I got the ambassador’s photo, then rushed to the airport for our flight to Melbourne.

What a treat to see Dale at the airport to greet us when we emerged. I kissed her and introduced her to Adrienne. I could almost see the magnetism when the two started to shake hands and then hugged each other. We managed to cram our gear into Dale’s little car and went directly to dinner.

“When Ronda called to tell me you were coming, I insisted you stay with me,” Dale said. “I’m so happy to see you.”

“I can stay at a hotel if it is inconvenient to have us both with you,” Adrienne said.

“Don’t be silly! As long as you can share a little, I’m good with that. In fact, we did pretty well with Jane when you were here, Nate. Any chance we might have fun with all three of us?”

“I’ll discuss it with Adrienne,” I said.

“I’m told your home is clothing optional,” Adrienne inserted. “I’m so looking forward to relaxing with you.”

I saw Adrienne’s hand snake forward from the back seat to squeeze Dale’s shoulder.

“I thought you might enjoy going to an old haunt of Nate’s for dinner tonight before we head to the house,” Dale said. In a few minutes we pulled up in front of the Wallaby Pub. When we went in, Frankie came rushing out from behind the bar and gave me a hug and a big kiss.

“I’n it gorgie?” she said pointing at her portrait behind the bar. “Boys come in just to look at me and then look at me picture.”

“Frankie, have you met Dale? She hosted me on my last visit. And this is Adrienne, my ... mistress.”

“Oh, Dale! He brought ‘is own again, din’t he?”

“I knew she was coming, Frankie. Adrienne’s a love.”

That was all the recommendation Frankie needed. She turned to Adrienne and gave her a big hug, then led us to a table.

“Artie’s back in the kitchen fixing something special for you. Let me bring you coldies,” Frankie said. She darted behind the bar and filled three mugs with beer.

“If you aren’t used to it, go easy on the beer, Fifi,” I cautioned. “It’s a lot stronger than back home.”

“Thank you, master. I’ll be careful.”

It was only a couple of minutes before Artie came out with a hot plate full of...

“This is our salt and pepper squid,” he declared. “And my own special aioli. Nate, yer a feast for sore eyes.”

I stood and he gave me a hug, then I introduced him to my companions.

“Dale, it’s always good to see you gracin’ our table. And this creature is exquisite. Boyo, how did you land such a beauty? I just want to parade you around the pub on me arm a bit, you know?”

“Easy, Artie,” I laughed. “We’re here on government work this week.”

“You don’t say. Well, let me get you some dinner so you can face them stuffed suits. I know not everyone likes steak—though I don’t know why—so I’ve also got a chicken parmie ready if any of you’d prefer.”

“Oh, I’d like that,” Adrienne said. “I’ve heard such good things about Australian Chicken Parmesan.”

“And mine’s the best,” Artie said. Dale agreed and ordered the same.

“I’ll have the steak,” I said. “Need something good and meaty so I don’t suffer from this beer.”

“Mushroom, peppercorn, or Diane sauce?”

“Peppercorn, please.”

Artie hustled off to the kitchen and Frankie came back to the table with a small glass of beer. She sat and joined us. There were only four or five others in the pub on a Thursday evening. We chatted as we all picked at the squid—amazing!

The chicken and the steak were superb and I had to flag Frankie away from bringing me another beer. I still had to get to the consulate in the morning and make sense all day.

We arrived at the consulate at nine in the morning. It was an old building and when we were met and taken to the training room, our guide told us proudly that the consulate in Melbourne had been active since 1852, even though diplomatic relations with independent Australia had only begun in 1940.

The most important part of the day was actually finishing it. Once Adrienne and I walked out of the consulate at three o’clock, we were free for the weekend. We caught the tram back to Dale’s house, walked into the house, and stripped. Dale came in from her studio in a like manner of undress and we resolved to stay that way for as much of the weekend as we could.

That didn’t mean we were having sex all the time, though the sex was good. Dale wanted Adrienne to pose for her, and since I had camera equipment with me, I enjoyed taking pictures of each of them.

Sunday, Dale took us on an adventure to a nude beach south of Melbourne. Like the beach in LA Adrienne had taken me to, we had to hike a ways from the regular beach through a trail and finally to a beach marked as clothing optional. The weather, being late summer in Australia, was glorious. The sand and water weren’t quite as nice as the regular beach farther south, but just lying around with these two naked beauties made the trip worthwhile.

The rest of the trip was almost a blur of up and down flights. Monday, we were back in the air at a little after six in the morning to Perth. Australia is big and flying to Perth was the equivalent of flying Chicago to LA. We got in at 8:30 and went straight to the consulate for training. First thing Tuesday morning, we flew most of the day to Canberra where I finally got to the embassy. We had a warm welcome there on Wednesday and they actually had an embassy car and driver take us on to Sydney that afternoon. The three-hour drive was still faster than getting to an airport, boarding a flight, and getting from the next airport to our hotel. We had training at the consulate in Sydney on Thursday morning and got a chance that afternoon to see a few of the sights around the city.

Time zones suck. Our trip from Sydney to Los Angeles was twenty-seven hours, including two layovers. We arrived in LA before we took off. Don’t ask me to explain. It has to do with the International Dateline. Adrienne and I made the best of our time together, including both getting an orgasm somewhere over the Pacific. And I just kissed her a lot for accompanying me on this trip.

She was home and I caught my flight back to Chicago. After a four-and-a-half-hour flight, I arrived in Chicago six and a half hours later. Flying east was brutal. Ronda was waiting for me and I was ready to just collapse. I slept from O’Hare to Antioch and then spent the next two hours with Alex and Toni in my arms before I could focus on my wives.

Having the weekend with the family to just decompress was wonderful. I had to make sure that Toni didn’t feel neglected when I was loving on Alex. Fortunately, the baby still slept a lot, so I could hold her in one arm while Toni was in the other and turned the pages of her book while I read. We fell asleep a couple of times with Alex kind of frogged on my chest while Toni was wrapped in my arm.