Chapter 1

Third Time's the Charm: 1

The arrangement for shipping the ex possessions of the ex Austins off the island was much more difficult than shipping them to the island. In the first place, there was a concerted effort to keep the aircraft ON the island by the government ... five Douglas dive bombers ... even if they were trainers ... were a prize worth keeping. The problem with keeping them is that the aircraft were privately owned.

The government could commandeer them for the duration of a national emergency ... but that meant a declaration of war against somebody ... the most likely somebody available was North Vietnam. Even the United States hadn't declared ... and they were heavily involved.

The other part of that problem? Returning the commandeered articles AFTER the emergency was over ... or replacing the articles with the equivalent ... or buying them outright. The cost of a new aircraft ... was over a million and a half ... F.O.B. each. That was a little steep ... and getting steeper by the day ... inflation. And, the Andersons were running out of legitimate time in New Zealand.

They were on summer vacation and summer was coming to an end.

Fred and his went home ... except for Hineahuone ... she stayed. The three of them, and the cats, moved to the K5 as soon as she was in the water. David and Grace checked for asshole moves by assorted agencies ... but the boat was properly painted for saltwater.

What finally happened? The Andersons deeded the airfield and the Beech 18 with the P38 landing gear to the Aero Club ... on the condition that the field be renamed Austin Memorial and the Club signed a binding agreement to keep ALL the acreage from the original Military contract. No selling off bits and pieces to the sheep herders.

They were off. The school had already torn down the mansion, cut down the priceless Agathis trees and caused T.C. Whittier Ph.D. to abandon his desk and take up residence in a casket. His days of looking down at green grass had come to an end. Now he was looking up at roots. Fortunately, for the Austins ... they were already dead and the Andersons, cats and Hineahuone were motoring out of the harbor.

I say fortunately ... T.C. would have murdered them in their sleep for letting those assholes at UOD cut down the trees.

It really doesn't make all that much difference if you live under the Southern Cross or the Big Dipper. The earth only turns one direction ... the sun comes up in the east and sets in the west.

Now ... I do admit ... it would be very interesting if the equator had ball bearings and one half had contra-rotation ... but they don't make planets with that option ... that we know of ... until we've been to ALL the universe and checked ... we're stuck with what we got ... but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen ... but ... I'd make a bet. Wikipedia says:

Wind is caused by differences in atmospheric pressure. When a difference in atmospheric pressure exists, air moves from the higher to the lower pressure area, resulting in winds of various speeds.

Chapter 2 »