Chapter 23

Cindy’s turn:

So here I am. I guess that on this mission, it is my place to be ‘the adult in the room’. Chronologically, that’s incorrect. Jerry Stengall’s got a year on me, but when I see Jerry in the vicinity of the pTerridactyl, I get the feeling that his judgment might be clouded.

She’s two months from turning fourteen.

I got a phone call from my adopted grand-dad, my benefactor, Judge Charlie.

“Good morning, my princess,” he said.

“Good morning, sir,” I replied. “How are you this morning?”

“Well, as you might imagine, the parts of life that I can enjoy without having the legs and lungs of a young man, those parts I am enjoying.”

“Great! You keep doing that.” I paused.

“I have purpose for this call, other than talking with one of the stars in my life, dear.”

“Yessir...”

“Our blonde prodigy...”

“The pTerridactyl...”

He chuckled. “Yes. I love that name. How’s she doing?”

“Other than being one of the youngest millionaires in Alabama?”

“That, too ... But how are she and Jerry Stengall getting along?”

So that’s it. He wants a report. “They’re cute. In the lab, they’re co-workers. Away from the lab, they’re companions.”

“Your assessment, Cindy. Is it a healthy relationship?”

“As healthy as it is possible to be, sir. They act properly in public, do not dodge healthy interaction with others. Very social, you know how we are. They’re right in among that. They fit.”

“He shows no signs of being a typical college-aged male?”

“No, sir. And believe me, we have ample opportunity. He’s a great guy to work with. Works with others all day, male and female both, but when it comes to anything past friendship, there’s Terri, and nothing more.”

“If you were me ... what would you do?”

“Make plans to be here with a stack of papers when she turns fourteen.”

“Just as I did for another precocious fourteen year old girl.”

“It was no mistake the first time, sir.”

“No,” he chuckled. “It wasn’t. My legacy is that I made lives easier for you and Dan...”

“And Dana and Ed.”

“Those, also.”

“Sir, I’d do it. Those two will be together until the sun burns out.” I paused. “Just like me ‘n’ Dan.”

“I suppose that arrangements should be made for the event, then.”

“Let us see how they wish to handle it. It could be a big deal, it could be a private thing where they get with you, sign the documents, then disappear on a honeymoon.”

“She’s a precious little doll,” Judge Charlie said.

“Exactly. Cute package for a brain that I can’t begin to map out.”

He chuckled. “I’ve been around some of those. Middle school student, indeed...”

Well, I just brought that couple to Michigan to pick up Terri’s airplane.

I was actually kind of apprehensive, but they sat in the cabin of Lenya for the whole flight with nothing more between them than a kiss and some hand-holding. The other couple, Rachel and Derek, were equally circumspect.

Of course, THOSE two, I pulled aside for a heart to heart talk.

“You two, I understand what you mean to each other. YOU need to understand that my reputation with YOUR families goes on the line with them allowing you on this trip. You do understand that, don’t you?”

Solemn looks and affirmative nods.

“Now, I don’t know where you two are on the ‘kissy-smoochie-touchie’ spectrum...”

“Cindy!!!” Rachel managed to squeak.

Derek just looked a tiny bit guilty.

“That said, there will be NO such activity on this trip. A kiss, okay. A hug, okay. Hand-holding, okay. In PUBLIC. And you don’t try to sneak off for any private whatevers...”

“We won’t,” Derek promised.

Rachel pulled that ‘big blue eyes’ thing that probably melts Derek down. I snickered. “Nice try, Rache...”

“Well ... Cindy, you should understand...”

“I absolutely DO understand,” I said. “And so do both of you. That’s why I think a warning is in order, and after that, you two will act with maturity and responsibility beyond your years.” I paused. “And better than that. Faultless. Impeccable. Don’t give me grief. Save it up for your families.”

Leave it to Derek to play ALL the cards. “You ARE our family.”

“Cute!” I snorted. “Really cute. All the more reason to toe the line.”

Rachel grabbed his hand, swung it. “We’ll be good. We have YOUR reputation to protect.”

So I didn’t pack the pepper spray and cattle prod.

I did ask Mandy, though... “Rachel and Derek?”

“They’re kinda obvious,” she said. “She’s serious. So’s he.”

“Have they done ... gone past the kissing stage?”

“How would I know?”

“Well, sometimes the new girl gets told things just to bring her up to speed.”

“Not that I know of. Terri and Jerry neither. And she’s got her birthday circled on the calendar.”

“I know that...”

“Your fault, you know...”

“Mine?”

Mandy laughed. “Not just YOU. All y’all. Married young. Act like it’s normal.”

“Never said it was normal, just that it’s right for us...”

“It’s hard to argue with success, Cin. I knew a lot of girls my age, you know, that, well, none of ‘em were married, but when somebody sits by you in the cafeteria and she’s telling you, “He’s my WORLD” and last week she said the same thing, ‘cept it was another guy, and it’s been like that for weeks and I pointed that out to one of ‘em and, “All these worlds you’re collecting ... Are you, like, makin’ a SOLAR system?”

I looked at my little sister. “And...”

She smirked. “And ... nothing. Too stupid to get an outrageously good joke.”

“Sad.”

“What? The girl’s lifestyle? Or her missing the joke?”

“Both.”

“I’m with Vicki on this stuff. I’m sure the right guy’ll show up, and it’ll be like you guys – I’ll know and he’ll know and things will happen to work for the best. Don’t know HOW, but so far, that’s been my life...”

“You and me both,” I said.

So all that’s happened prior to the day’s event, which is on-going. It’s before lunch, we’re in Michigan and I’m looking at a slick little monoplane. EVERYBODY’S looking at it. Belongs to Terri Addison, soon to be Terri Stengall, and Terri’s too young to sign title paperwork but that’s been ‘power of attorney’d’ to Jerry, which is just as well.

I’m looking. Standing next to me are Alec Tedeschi and Dillon Barnes, part of the company who’d taken a Sling 4 kit and turned it into a real airplane. For a nominal fee.

Yeah, we could’ve done it. Too many irons in the fire, though. These guys did. And now they’re just an hour away from flying off the twenty-five hour restriction placed on a ‘homebuilt’ aircraft before it’s ‘turned loose’.

It’s a pretty thing. They’ve done a superb job. I’m looking – maybe not a ‘Swiss factory’ job, but at least a ‘mid-scale Japanese car’ job.

I hear a horn beep. Look up, there’s a full-sized van pulling up next to Lenya with Jerry waving like an idiot out of the driver’s window.

“Y’all go load the luggage in the van. Dana, you ‘n Jerry make sure Lenya‘s locked up, okay?

“Tie-downs,” Dillon said.

“I’ll show you.”

After that, back to the plane.

Jerry shrugged. “No sense in tryin’ to get ‘em in the van until they see Cindy take off.”

“There’s your answer,” I said to Alec. “Let’s get started.”

“Why don’t we all go to the diner up the road and have an early lunch,” Alec said. “That way it’s all clear for the afternoon.”

“I like your thinking,” I said.

“Uh, Jerry,” Alec said, “Can you pull around to the front and follow us? Cindy, you wanna ride with us?”

“Sure,” I said. Because I’m curious about what people do, especially people who run businesses associated with the sportier side of aviation.

The gang loaded into the van. I trooped through the hangar and the office and got into a mid-sized SUV with Alec and Dillon. Dillon got into the back seat.

“Nice operation,” I said. “I’ve been in and out of a few ... This is nice.”

“We try,” Dillon said. “Kinda hard to sell from a dump.”

“Depends on what you’re selling. I’ve flown into some ag operations that were pretty bad...”

“Jerry said you’ve flown an Air Tractor?”

“Yeah, a few times. My aeronautical godfather runs an ag service. We bought the airfield he’s on. He’s been with me, private, commercial, all the way. And I’ve flown a few jobs for ‘im, just to say I did.”

“So you’re a pilot? Pro?”

“Not really. I’ve degrees in engineering and physics. I’m supposed to do THAT, but for some reason I keep ending up in the cockpit.”

“And this Sling?”

“Terri wanted it.”

“She’s fourteen?”

“Thirteen,” I said. “Her money...”

“That’s almost a quarter-million bucks. Trust fund? What?” He paused. “I’m sorry. Bein’ nosey.”

“Nah,” I laughed. “I’m one of the production chiefs for a company called 3Sigma Robotics. You’ve probably never heard of us, but we’re doing things for Boeing and General Dynamics and Google and the Department of Defense, and Terri’s the R&D lead...”

“Thirteen...”

“Yeah, about that,” I said. “Got her baccalaureate last December. Got her masters last week, in electrical engineering. Her ‘n that brown-haired girl with the big ponytail. Derek just missed his. He’ll probably limp along until next December along with my co-pilot.”

“Wow...”

“And they pay us good money, and part of it goes to toys. My Pilatus is ALMOST a toy...”

“That’s five million bucks.”

I giggled. “More, since I named ‘er. We use ‘er for work, though.”

“What kind of work?”

“Other branch, the original 3Sigma Engineering, does industrial and utility power and controls. Those high voltage lines you fly over? We do stuff with ‘em.”

“Wow ... Usually we get doctors and lawyers...”

“That’s what the guy said when I went for my multi,” I chirped.

We pulled into a diner, the parking lot just beginning to see lunch traffic. We were herded into the back of the place, tables pushed together for our party of ten.

“What’s good?” Jerry asked.

“Burgers...” Alec said.

“Safe choice,” I inserted. “But for dinner, if we wanted a place that gives us regional flavor...”