Chapter 25

The morning after the physical love-in with the three girls was almost funny. The three were strutting around like they had competed in some major event and won it all. I was smothered with kisses in front of Steve and Glenda, and then Sal and their mothers before they left for school.

Janet had courier duty, and I thought that I had a charter. My plane wasn’t even out of the hangar when I checked in at the charter desk, so the flight must be later.

Chuck came into the charter office and saw me standing, waiting for whatever it was that they had planned for me. Chuck told me, “You’re going for a ride out toward Amarillo with me today. This is something that could be important. You need to get checked out in the big ten anyway. Come on, let’s get started, the exterior inspection is the same as yours.” I put my logbook into a pocket of my flight bag and wheeled it out to the painted up Citation X.

We thoroughly went over the aircraft. I was impressed that Chuck was as detailed with his aircraft as I was mine. We used the checklist and double checked everything. We stepped into the plane and Chuck pointed to the cockpit and said, “Sit on the left side and start the inside preflight. The books are in the back pocket of the right seat. I’ll lock up and join you.”

The cockpit of the ten was similar to the four, but had everything duplicated on the right where the four didn’t have everything on the right side. I had to skip the flight management system setup as I didn’t know our exact destination. I was ready to spool the right engine up when Chuck slid into the right seat wearing BDUs with no insignia or name tag. It was a little strange to change clothes in the aircraft, but then everything this family did was all a little strange. I thought I fit in just right.

I told Chuck, “I couldn’t set the Honeywell FMS up because I’m not sure of the destination.”

Chuck said, “File for Amarillo, Rick Husband International, and set up for there. We’re probably going to be diverted to somewhere else, so just fly us in that direction.”

The Citation X is a bigger, heavier aircraft that is faster than the CJ4, but flies exactly the same. Our climb to our requested twenty-six thousand feet was unusual for an aircraft that could really scoot if we had the altitude, and we wouldn’t burn as much fuel if we were higher. We had just flown over Beaumont when the collision avoidance system began sounding. I looked ahead and didn’t see anything, then looked to my left and saw an F/A-18 sitting just off my wing. I said to Chuck, who had an amused smile on his face as he reached to shut the collision alarm off, “Holy shit that guy is close.” That’s when I noticed another F/A-18 off the right wing.

“What am I supposed to do, Chuck? I can’t outfly these guys, but I might be able to outslow them. Are they playing with us?”

Chuck said, “Salute the one on the left and listen.”

I saluted, and the pilot saluted back. I heard, “Go to 1xx.xx.”

I switched the receiver of the 2^nd radio to the frequency he gave me and gave a couple of clicks on the microphone button. I heard over the radio; “Drop to nine thousand feet, close your flight plan, and shut your transponder off, No Gas. Make your heading 261 degrees.”

I clicked the mike to let the voice know that I heard him and was decreasing power while using the other radio to close the existing flight plan with Air Traffic Control. I shut the transponder off when I passed through ten thousand feet, and continued flying at the given heading.

“Go to 1XX.XX for instructions, No Gas. We’ll follow you in.”

I looked at Chuck who still had a smirk on his face. I said to Chuck on the intercom, “This is close to the area where I was refueled that time. What’s going on, Chuck?”

“Stay with it and see where it leads. You know how to follow instructions.”

My ILS needles began moving, and a voice said, “No Gas, Proceed to runway 26. Winds are light and variable, altimeter is 29.87. You’re on the slope. Watch for the ‘Follow Me’.”

I could only focus on landing the aircraft at this point. I set it down so softly I think Chuck was still waiting for the bump as I activated the thrust reversers and advanced power to slow us down. I saw a ‘Follow me’ truck at a runway exit just ahead, so I prepared to turn in there. The truck took off heading to nothing as soon as it saw me turning, and then some doors were opening as the truck drove into a huge hangar. I followed the truck until a guy with lit wands waved marshaling me to a location, and for me to turn around and then gave me the shutdown crossed wands. This was really strange.

A couple of carts full of armed troops came out to surround the aircraft the last time I was here. No one came this time. I completely shut down and heard someone plugging us into ground power. Chuck said, “Come on, let’s stretch our legs. We’ll be picked up in a minute or so.”

I looked around, and Chuck said, “You don’t need anything. I imagine they’ll get you something to wear like I have on. You’ll notice there is no rank and there are no names. Your call sign is ‘No Gas’ and mine is ‘Eyes’. This location is known as ‘Mother’. We’re going to confuse them as we’re both named Chuck. One of us is going to have to be Charles or Charlie. Do Charles if you’re the guy who gets to change his name.”

A cart came roaring up to Chuck’s aircraft, and a man got out and shook hands with Chuck. He turned to me, sticking his hand out to shake, and said, “Chuck thinks you should be a part of us, and our investigation of you says that he’s right. Let’s have some coffee and a roll while I describe who we are and what we do.”

We rode through some tunnels and stopped at a door that simply said ‘Supply’. The man said, “Go in there and get fitted for our uniform. Put your clothes in the luggage we’ll give you, and we’ll run them out to the airplane.”

It took the man in Supply about ten seconds to look at me. He left and came back with a set of BDUs a T-shirt, socks, and asked, “Shoe size is twelve?”

I nodded, and he handed me a pair of brogans. He said, “If we send you to the field, I’ll give you some field boots. These brogans are very comfortable, so enjoy them.”

Chuck and everyone just looked at me until I realized that they were waiting for me to put the new clothes on. I was impressed as the BDUs had been washed as were the T-shirt and socks. I stripped and put everything on and was given a belt that needed to be shortened, but it worked. Chuck took a knife from his pocket and flicked out a blade and had me fit the belt for the correct length. His knife must have been razor sharp, because he almost too easily cut the excess off the web belt.

I folded my good clothes and put them into the nice leather bag they gave me, and followed Chuck and the man who greeted us back out to his cart.

Our next stop was the cafeteria where we had some coffee and a roll, while Chuck began telling me about what this organization did. I was smiling by the time Chuck and the other man had told me about most of their activities. When Chuck asked what I thought, I replied, “This may be exactly what I need to become myself again. You saw how I tried racing again, and that isn’t me. I’ve had a couple of incidents since I’ve been home, but they were reactionary and not disciplined. I’m a Marine, and I’m still that same guy who is ready to be in front of his men although I’m retired. I won’t be someone’s butt boy if something crazy happens like last time. I will hurt someone and protect those with me.”

Chuck smiled and said, “You need to go through some training with the Marshals Service and be a real Deputy Marshal. You will also do some training with this group that will include some unique helicopter training. You have the talent and knowledge we need, and you will be taking my place in our field program.”

The man from this base said, “Chuck is still going to guide, but you will be the one on the line. There isn’t a lot happening right now, but you never know when something will come up and we have to use all our men like you. Chuck is going to send you to the Marshal’s Academy for training as a Deputy U. S. Marshal if you’re sure you want to do this. Do you think you can compete?”

I smiled and said, “I’ve been active and working out almost daily, so I should be able to work with men who also work out.”

Chuck said, “I see this guy run by my house almost every morning, so I know that he isn’t afraid to work. I’ll make arrangements with his company to have his charter flights covered while he’s in school. He should be back here for this training in six months.”

I was astounded, “Six months? I have a life, Chuck. I don’t want to leave it for six months. How important is it to become a Deputy? Can’t I do this work here for these people without being a Deputy? I’ve been through all the training for the Corps, including Scout and the special ops training no one gets to do.”

Chuck said, “So you went to the Black Ops training, huh? That is brutal physical training. Do you think you’re back to that level after your injury?”

“I’ve been running and usually run for an hour daily and do a couple of two hour runs each week. Figure I run at an easy six to eight minute mile, I’m running over fifteen miles a couple of times a week. My lifting regime is pretty strong. I do fifty pullups and fifty pushups daily. I think I can pass almost any physical test.”

Chuck said, “The guys who have just completed training said they barely passed all the physical training stuff. They are the same guys who barely pass the scholastic exams, of course. Do this, Chuck. Steve and I will make sure your charter company stays afloat and grows. You can always hire Janet to take over for you.”

“Let’s go home and let me talk to some people this will affect. I’d love to be one of your men, Chuck, but I do have to consider those who are now my family.”

The man we were talking with suggested that we have lunch before leaving for home. I was really upset that I had to be cautious about making this decision. It was more than about me now. This was about five of us, and six, if I included Dora.”

We had a quick lunch and then went to the aircraft. Chuck was going to have me fly back, but I waved him to the left seat after we had completed the exterior inspection. I read the checklist and had to focus as I kept being distracted by thoughts of being away from the whole family for six months. This was almost like a deployment. The difference was that I now had people waiting for me.

I felt Chuck probing me, and I turned to him and smiled. I told him, “I’ll let you wander around in there, but I’ll talk to you about it. I’ve been living with all of you for two years now, and I’ve found a family that I really enjoy. I have more family in Miami, but there are over a hundred people who I consider family in our park. Steve, Sue, Mercy, Juanita, Kathy, and even Mickey, have almost adopted me as a son, brother, or a close friend. You guys even took me to Hawaii with you on that awesome airplane. I’d be on my way if they asked me to do this, but I’d miss all that love. It’s like all your women, Chuck. They all look out for me and share all your babies with me. I get to lie on the floor to play with them, and let them sleep on me. I love that, Chuck. You’re like a brother. I know that we can delve into each other’s head, but we don’t. We respect each other. Just look at your family. I love every one of them, and not in a carnal way. Your women direct my few, but they have given me the courage to agree to be the man for four women, maybe five. I don’t need a bunch of women, but who would I throw back? It’s only been a couple of months, and we’re already acting like an old married couple or should that be an old harem.”

Chuck laughed, and said, “Can you imagine how I feel having fifteen women? I love them all, but I can’t do them all in a night as I’m getting older. I can if they let me go at my pace and they each don’t demand a deposit. I swear they all are swooning by the time we collapse into sleep when I do it my way.”

“I hear my ladies talk about you. They wanted you to be the answer to the big girls at my house, but those girls were never interested in you, or you them, so they didn’t give you much chance to chase them. I heard from Peaches how you were a fascination for Sheena, but she doesn’t know how you feel about mixed couples. Nikki is dark, but not as dark as Sheena. She and her sister are two fine looking girls. I think that they will grow up to be like Peaches. and she isn’t bad looking at all for her age.”

“Don’t even talk about more women, Chuck. You guys out here have this relationship stuff all messed up. Are there that many more women than men? How do so many men happen to have more than one woman?”

“Who knows Chuck, or Charles, or whatever you want to be called. My Freaky Five started it all for me. We were together before I ever met Steve and his group. Shoot, I think I had almost ten women hanging on by the time Steve and I became business partners. I loved them all then, and I love them all now. Just look at the family I have. It’s wonderful. Would I leave them for six months of training? I doubt it. You can still be a part of the other group if you don’t do the Deputy thing, but they will hesitate to use you in some cases. You’ll have to prove yourself.”

“I’ll talk to my family about it. I’ll also talk to Steve and his family about it. They should know how to help me make this decision.”

We entered the home approach path, and were about to touchdown, when Chuck said, “Take it and show me how you land so gently. You sat this thing down out there as if you were putting a baby to bed.”

I showed Chuck exactly how I do it. He was a little hot, so I slowed a little and dropped the gear. We were still too fast, but I didn’t want to completely cut power. I told Chuck that you fly into the runway nose high at this point so that the wheels glide onto the surface and then you gently drop the nose. I pulled the throttles into reverse and applied even more power to slow us down. I used the brakes a little and was able to turn off the runway earlier than I thought I would. Chuck took it back, and said, “I’m going to practice that a lot more. I love the idea that I couldn’t even tell when you touched down. That is uncanny.

We fueled the aircraft and put it away. I took my flight bag and put it into the trunk of my Mercedes. I would have given my personal logbook to the charter desk, but screw it, I should keep it with me all the time. Chuck said that he would see me later. I went home to the patio and was greeted by a lot of women. Mercy saw me and smiled. She waved at me to follow her, and we went back to my room.

Mercy said, “I know what you’ve been offered and what the cost is. You need to know that there is a higher cost. Chuck has been shot so many times that I can’t even remember the number. You’ll often be shot at if you go into that group that Chuck leads. You’ll have that same gift of luck Chuck has, and defy death every time. You’ll cause all your women and us hours and hours of worry whether or not you’ll make it each time. Every time Chuck, and later when Chuck and Lisa came back from one of their clandestine operations, we all wanted to smother them with love so that they wouldn’t leave to do that again. I feel that you are the same inside as Chuck is, and it’s almost as if you are destined to do this. I don’t want you to do it, but you have to be true to yourself. Janet is the same as you to some extent, but she doesn’t have the gift that will keep you and her alive. Don’t let Janet be a part of what you do. She’ll fight you, but don’t give in. My vote is don’t do it, Chuck, but you have to do what a man is supposed to do.”

Mercy walked out of the room leaving me almost in tears. I was staring off in the distance when Missy came in. “Mercy confuses everyone when she lets her emotions come to the front. You have to do what you feel you should. No one can make this decision for you. Talk to your new family and get their impressions. Make sure they talk to Chuck’s family so that they know what could be coming. We all love you, Chuck, but you have to make this decision on your own.”

I didn’t want to be in the room alone, so I walked out to the patio and didn’t see any of the babies. I saw why on the big screen TV. The babies were all in their room and were waking up now. I went to the bar to make myself a big glass of clear stuff over ice, and took a healthy swig. I called my sis knowing that I needed her to help me with this.

Dora immediately answered, and said, “I was wondering if you would call me. I’ve been with you, listening and feeling how you feel. Do you want me to come to you? How about I stay home? You guys up there and I can get together on Skype. Before that though, Chuck, I know that you’re not being fulfilled the way you want as far as what you’re doing with your life, and this might be a way for you to get some of that satisfaction you’re looking for. I’ll worry about you, but I worried about you on every one of your deployments. I love you, and I know you can take care of yourself from seeing you do it, Chuck. I’ll join your Skype meeting, but I’m not going to give any advice unless directly asked for it. Are you okay with that?”

“That’s probably best, Dora. I need to see what Janet thinks and then what the three or four girls think. Six months is a hell of a long time. Can this group handle it? Can Janet wait for me that long? I know that she’ll wait as long as the girls are concerned, but I don’t want to wait. I want our life to begin and be the loving group that I envision.”

With her smiling voice, Dora said, “Well, Champ, you need to go do what you think you should. Every opportunity and reward comes with a cost. Love ya, Bro.” She hung up.

Steve came into the patio and over to me after greeting those of his women who were visible. “So, Chuck is recruiting you for everything he does. I guess he figured that you need to work with him too now that you have a bunch of women. He told me that you’re hesitating because of the time you’ll be in training.”

I nodded while Steve went around the bar to make himself a drink like mine. He put more ice in my glass and filled mine again. He said, “It’s like when you heard that you were going to be in Scout training for almost a full year,” when he came back around the bar to sit next to me. “I’m sure that you were almost dreading how long that would be, but it seemed as if you were graduating almost as soon as you began. This will be the same. I know you were in the new black ops training program, but don’t know how long it was. I’m told that’s a very special group with very special training. You’re used to long training cycles, but you’ll have family here at home who will write e-mails to you this time. You can use Skype to talk with the girls and to all of us if you want.”

“I feel more comfortable about spending the time to go through their training listening to you, Steve. I hope I’ll like the Marshals Service enough to stay if I do this. I do have a lot of outside obligations that I can’t throw away. I’m not going to be their guy if they want me for a forty hour or more week. I’ll do all the crazy stuff they need done, but I still want to be a part of our household.”

“Don’t worry about the girls staying here in the house. This is your home too, and my women want you to stay as much as I do. They want your women to stay because they’re a part of you.”

Kathy brought Steve and me a platter of cheeses and crackers to snack on. Donna came and sat next to me while we were sitting there. She said, “I think everyone has heard that you’ve been offered a great opportunity to do what Chuck does, and that you’re undecided about being away for six months. Remember that all three of us have goals we’re working toward and will continue to do so. We’ll have to put our planned night of experimentation off, but what we’ll be giving you won’t spoil. We’ll still be here when you get back. Besides, you’ll be leaving Janet to be our toy while you’re gone.”

I hugged Donna, and kissed her before asking, “How do your two cohorts feel about this?”

She said, “I really haven’t spoken to Gin, but Nikki said that you being like Chuck would just be another tie to the whole family here. We don’t want you to leave, but going to school is acceptable.”

Janet and Gin were next to come in the patio. Janet fixed herself a drink and Gin indicated that she wanted one too, so Janet made a smaller one. Janet said, “We’ve heard all about Chuck’s offer to you before we took off for Gin’s three hours under the hood. We talked about it a lot, and really think it would be worth the six months to have a fall back occupation like being a Deputy U.S. Marshal. The girls have heard the stories of how many times Chuck has been shot and injured. He was constantly going on high risk assignments. I suppose you did that as a Marine, but you have to remember there are people who depend on you now. I’ll still be here when you get back, and I’m sure our three will still be here.”