Chapter 22

I was too used to waking up early and opened my eyes at six fifteen. Two intense blue eyes surrounded by pure white hair were staring at me. Janet said, "I suppose this means we both need to get up and have coffee with the rest of the world. Let's take a quick shower before we say good morning."

We quickly showered and dressed in shorts, T-shirt, and flip flops. Steve was just sitting down with a mug of coffee when we walked onto the porch. Janet sat at the table while I poured two mugs for us. Steve turned the overhead lights on as soon as we sat, and we heard the banging of one screen door, and then another one behind us.

Glenda came to sit while I rushed to get her personal mug filled. She was just sitting when Ruth and Tiny walked in the door. Tiny was happy to see both of us as that meant we had finished the tasks CS&S had given us. He told me, "Before the rest of the world gets here, I need to ask you to fly nearly the same route you flew before, this morning. You can take Janet with you. She might find it interesting. We can use her to do the same thing in the future if everything keeps checking out. This is going to be a continuing process until relations fully normalize. You'll need to leave the airpark around eight thirty. Take your passport, Janet. You'll get second pilot credit on the hours too."

Steve said, "I want you to use the Embraer Phenom today. You're checked out in it. I'm told that your aircraft is due for a local upgrade. Never pass one of those up. Have Chuck check you out in the aircraft, Janet. It's good to have that on your list of aircraft as you might have to use it for courier duty too."

Janet asked, "What's the uniform of the day?"

Steve said, "Jeans, T-shirt, and boots, or any shoes will be all right for you, Janet."

"I have boots and will mimic Chuck, or at least this Chuck. This is going to get nuts with two 'Chucks' around."

The original Chuck came in the door with a crowd of toddlers, while also carrying two little ones. Chuck said, "Just call that Chuck 'No Gas', and you can call me 'Eyes'.

Janet said, "There must be some good stories here that I want to hear while we're all imbibing a little.

Chuck finished the teasing with, "Just wait until you hear about 'Froggie'."

I stood, stretched, and offered my hand to help Janet up. "Let's get this morning job out of the way so that we can get a nap this afternoon. We've been really punching lately."

We both dressed in jeans, kept the T-shirt we were wearing on, and slipped socks and boots on. I made sure my passport was in my flight bag, and that Janet had hers. I cautioned her, "Put any carry permit and gun you may have in your purse on the shelf in the closet. The gun and carry permit could get us in trouble down there."

Janet didn't ask me until we were in the car on the way to the airpark. "Just where are we going? Cuba?"

"You got it in one. I think the folks we work for want to make sure we're both reliable in doing this, and that we don't have big mouths about what we're asked to do. You'll get checked out in another aircraft, and we'll make some nice change for a quick trip south of the border."

Janet laughed as we parked the Mercedes in the pilots' lot. The Phenom was in front of the hangar, and I didn't see my CJ, so it must be in the back maintenance hangar. We went into the charter office for our logbooks and the aircraft's logbook. The night people were still on and joked that 'didn't they just see us a little while ago?' Another girl said, "I think you're supposed to leave here in twenty-five minutes. Get your bird checked out and get ready."

I needed to find out where the transponder switch was and looked in the obvious areas and it was easy to find and marked 'TPR' when I looked into the flight navigation and safety section of the aircraft manual. Janet was banging on tires with the big bar that was always just inside the doorway. I checked the buckets and ran my hands over all the leading edges of the plane. I told Janet, "Let's see what's in store for us. You hunt for the checklist, and I'll get a copy of our flight plan.

Janet was sitting in the right seat, so I slid into the left seat after locking the door. Janet handed me the book, took it right back, and began reading each item. The APU had to be coaxed into starting, but it came up the way most did by cycling them a little until they begin to catch and then just lay on the start until the APU is running at full speed. I would squawk the slow start for later maintenance, though, since it could indicate an impending problem – though a simple compressor wash might take care of it. We went item for item and then called for taxi clearance. We were soon moving toward the runway and then cleared for takeoff right away. This aircraft had an older style flight management system, but it was easy to use and easy to set up for the flight.

I held at the runway edge and confirmed the clearance, then rolled out on the runway advancing the throttles. The CJ was a little more responsive, but this wasn't bad. I felt better when the gear was all up and locked. We were on our way to Miami and not stopping there but dropping to a thousand feet and shutting off the transponder before we landed in Key West. The landing in Key West was smooth. We parked at one end of the field and watched as a car came to within fifty feet of the aircraft. A man got out carrying a briefcase, and came to the door we opened for him. Janet made sure that he was buckled up while I spooled the left engine up again. I was given takeoff clearance before asking, so I rolled out and took off. I never hit nine hundred feet and was still able to lock on to Havana's VORTAC.

We set down in my usual smooth landing style, and pulled to the area where they wanted us to stop. I didn't shut completely down by keeping the right engine going. There was no extra person this time, but there was a briefcase exchange. I had Janet swap seats with me, and I did the reading for the last part of the spool up after we were given permission to start the left engine again and directed to the runway for immediate takeoff.

We didn't go back to MacDill or to our home base this time. With our transponder working again and following the flight plan we had been given, we went to Pensacola landing at the Naval Air Station. Our passenger got out and climbed into a car. We were directed to go back to the runway and takeoff again. Our directive was to fly toward Brooksville, do a touch and go, and head home this time. Janet said, "Now that was weird. This last part was like a training flight. Maybe that isn't so weird and what they want it to look like."

I told Janet, "Forget what we've done and where we went. We will each make about five bills for that flight. It pays to keep our mouth shut."

Janet said, "No sweat. I know when not to be a motor mouth. I can be very quiet for five hundred bucks."

I had some questions for Janet when we landed at home. "What kind of time frame do you have to go meet your folks, and what kind of clothing should I wear, Janet?"

The platinum blonde said, "Dad's common as grass and Mom doesn't like to make a big deal out of clothes. What we have on would be okay. You look nice in pressed jeans and a T-shirt. You have a good build, so Mom will probably ogle you a little. See if you can get a helicopter, I'll call to see if they're up for a quick visit. We'll be there for lunch and that will make Mom even happier. She loves to feed people."

Janet was grinning while she spoke to her mom, then her dad on her iPhone. She turned to me, and said, "Let's go."

Betty said both trainers were out, but she had both Bell 407s in. I liked that little aircraft so I signed one out and we went to the helicopter hangar and pushed the good looking blue one out. I went over the aircraft as I had been taught and found it to be ready to fly. I had Janet strap in on the left side, and I got in the right. I used a card to go down the list to check things, and then cycled the engine until it spooled up. We watched all the gauges go to green. I called for a vertical takeoff, and was given the okay to cross the runway on the way west. I wanted to fly VFR directly to the coast to avoid the St. Pete/Clearwater landing pattern. I informed the tower there of my altitude and direction of travel as we approached that area. I was given the green light and went to the coast.

I told Janet, "Watch along the coast and see if you can identify where we are and where your parents' house is. You notice that a lot of these houses have pads on top of either the house or the garage."

Janet grabbed my arm and pointed at the top of a huge – mega – house with a pad on top with her other hand. Standing in the middle of the pad was a guy in golf shorts waving. I did a circle around the house to check the tall palms to see what kind of wind there might be, and began descending to the center. I gently lowered to set the skids down when I was right on top of the big 'X'. There wasn't even a slight bump as I settled, even though, as usual, the left skid did make gentle contact before the right one did. I checked all the gauges and shutdown in the proper order. Janet's dad came over to Janet's door and opened it for her and helped her down as if this active person was very delicate. If he only knew how tough she was.

I had to do a post flight inspection and went at it in the sequence I had been taught. It takes longer for the post flight exterior inspection than the preflight. I finished in under five minutes, and wiped my hands on my inspection towel. We shook hands as Janet introduced me to him and him to me. He said, "I like the Bell 407. Good little helicopter and perfect for short commutes. Let's go below and meet Janet's mom."

As Mr. Peterson went down the outside stairs, Janet said softly in my ear. "If you think you're nervous, just think of me coming home after almost four years."

This was a big deal for Janet to come home to visit for the first time since her parents had offered an olive branch.

Janet's mother could be cast as a typical since the forties mother. She wasn't heavy but thick, showing that she was from strong stock and family, and still believed that she should be part of the household. She wiped her hands on her apron, and hugged her daughter with glistening eyes. I could see her softly telling Janet those sweet things a mom will tell her daughter.

The woman looked at me closely when they separated, and swept me with her eyes like one of those metal detectors. She stuck her hand out and said, "Martha Peterson."

I took her hand, and gently squeezed it as I said, "Charles Miller. Call me Chuck, please."

Janet took my other hand and turned me so that I was facing both parents and announced, "He hasn't asked me yet, but I think this might be the guy. We have a lot in common and share interests. We don't know each other that well yet, but we're getting there. Go ahead, give him the third degree to find out who Chuck Miller really is."

Mr. Peterson told me, "Call me 'Ray'. I know you, or I rather knew your father well. That was a real tragedy to lose both of them in that freak storm. I was the one who bought into your dad's company when he needed some major capital to grow the way he did. I was, and still am a twenty-five percent shareholder. That company will forever be profitable the way your dad set it up. I think that's what convinced me to want to be a part of it. I think I only met you and your sister once, but you were a young teen then. I remember when I asked if you were going to take the company over, and you told me that you were going to be a Marine. Did you ever make the Marines?"

"Yes Sir, I did, and I'm now medically retired from the Corps. I had a combat accident that I've recovered from, but there's no going back once they boot you out with a medical for a head injury."

Ray said, "That's too bad, but that's also good in that you won't be in danger overseas any longer. I'm glad to see again the son of a man I respected a great deal. Are you considering trying to run the factory?"

"I'm not cut out to have a static job like that. Just like flying over here today, I fly every chance I get. I have a Citation CJ4 that I use to fly people back and forth to Island Paradise in Costa Rica. I hope to develop a business doing that. I also do other charters for CS&S air charter north of Tampa."

"Oh, yes. Steve and Sue Sharp. They're quite a couple. Sue is a Phillips, and is probably worth most of a billion dollars with her clothing company. Steve has to be worth as much with all his businesses. It seems that he's successful at most everything he gets involved with."

I confirmed with him, "Steve and Sue are two of the most gracious and welcoming people I've ever met. They are surrounded by people who are their friends and co-workers. Steve was the one who helped me get my hours to become an instructor pilot and also an airline pilot. Janet is just about to finish her hours before taking her instructor's exam. I think she might have some classes to take, but the rest is easy since she has a degree."

Mrs. Peterson said, "I have some brisket hoagies with pepper cheese, jalapenos, lettuce, and tomato. Let's eat here in the kitchen. That's what the big counter and tall chairs are for. Can I get you iced tea, coffee, a beer, a drink, milk?"

"Iced tea would be perfect. Thank you, Ma'am."

The meat had some Italian seasoning and was delicious. She had served it with a giant pickle slice. I watched Janet savor her mother's food. We chatted about a lot of things until Mr. Peterson asked, "What other aspirations do you have besides starting up an air taxi service?"

"I'm still looking for whatever that might be right now, Sir. I know that what I'm doing is only temporary until that special thing comes along and smacks me in the face. I want to do more pilot training for CS&S and continue to fly charters for them when they need it right now. I'm rated for IP or command pilot for a 737 and have flown one to Canada a couple of times. Most of the flying for the company is executives and ultra-rich who enjoy flying in the luxury cabins of the business jets. I haven't had much opportunity to do much teaching, but fill in when I can."

Janet said, "It's just like flying over here today, Daddy. Chuck even flies the SH-34T, that big old Sikorsky helicopter with the turbine engine conversion that lifts heavy objects to the top of buildings and pulls buoys from the water to be reset for the Coast Guard. It's an antique, but impressively updated. He doesn't fly those alone because it requires a crew to fly those big ones. Do you know that he was offered a position as a Deputy U.S. Marshal? We have a friend who is an important person with the Marshal Service who checked Chuck out, and they offered to send him to their training center."

Ray asked, "Why didn't you consider that? A Deputy position would be exciting and shouldn't be static."

"That's tough to explain. I was Marine, a dedicated Marine with my life planned in front of me for twenty or thirty years. Now that's an exciting prospect to me. I'm not an active duty Marine any longer and can't have that rigid but flexible lifestyle I had. I'll find it out here in civilian life, and I'm making progress at becoming a civilian and finding people I can live with between now and then. It's like being around Janet; I enjoy being with her when we can be together. We can do just about anything we want as I'm lucky enough to have some money and I don't spend what I make now. Janet will see that. We make good money flying, but we don't have a lot of time to spend it. What would we spend it on? My sister bought me a Mercedes. I actually live for free. I bought some clothes, but you wouldn't believe it to look at me today. My life is set in 'coast' mode right now until my future smacks me around a little."

Mrs. Peterson asked, "Do you have a home other than where you live now?"

"Yes, Ma'am. My folks left my sister and me a home in Pinecrest, south of Miami. She lives out on South Beach right now. The house has our former nanny and a young married housekeeper with her husband, who is a butcher, along with my Aunt Connie all living there. My aunt may be settling down now, so we'll see. I've guaranteed my nanny can live there for the rest of her life. The young housekeeper can too, as her husband keeps up the rather extensive exterior and pool. I try to visit with them fairly often. I have some friends who I enjoy visiting down that way. Janet and I will be visiting there soon."

Ray said to Martha, "Do you remember back almost fifteen years ago when we had dinner at a house in Miami that you thought was such as warm place. The woman was a very active person and enjoyed making a meal with their Cuban housekeeper. I'll bet that housekeeper was your nanny, Chuck."

Martha exclaimed, "I do remember them and the house. They had a back yard with a pool that was completely surrounded by trellises filled with flowering and climbing plants. Those two were such a nice couple. The kids ate earlier and were upstairs doing their homework. They were so quiet that you wouldn't have known they had kids."

I told them, "Mom and Dad didn't ask us to be quiet like that often, so we knew that we needed to be on our best behavior when they did. There was always a reward. Juanita would make some apple pie with sugar cane in it that was so good."