Disclaimer: I don't own MacGyver or Airwolf. They belong to MGM and Belisurio. I'm just borrowing for the purpose of entertainment. All other original characters are of my creation.
**Note: This is the second installment of a story I've been working on for awhile. The first was 'Here It Begins' that sets up the background of a few people and settles our main character into her new life. This story is a bit more active than the last but it's not finished and I'm struggling to figure out how to end it. There's a third installment I started but it's still in the rough draft stage. Can't look at it much till I finish this one. Any ideas or suggestions, critiques, criticisms are welcome. Enjoy
Ch 1
Red wasn't the tallest person in the world by any stretch of the imagination but even she had to unfold herself to get out of the flight simulator. She had been crammed in it for the past five hours. She stretched and heard her back pop in a few places as she managed to get her muscles to relax. She looked around as the technicians came over and disconnected the blood pressure cuff and took off the tabs that monitored brain function and heart rate.
The one lab tech looked at her sympathetically before scurrying off to put the monitors back in the control room. She'd flown long hours in cramped quarters of a cockpit but at least she didn't have someone yelling at her over the intercom or trying to tell her how to fly. For the thousandth time in the past four months, she wished she had taken the dishonorable discharge from the Air Force. Anything would have been better than being crammed into a simulator for hours on end.
Doctor Ichi came hurrying over to her, "What are you doing? We have yet to get the program to handle the cross location of the …." He stopped rambling suddenly at the very cold, hard look that Red was giving him. He swallowed as he looked at her, trying to get his heart rate to calm down and his thoughts to quiet so when he opened his mouth the next time he wouldn't find her fist planted in it.
"Doctor Ichi. I have been in that simulator for almost five hours. I'm cramped, stiff and my patience is running 'very' thin right now," said Red as she glared at him, trying to keep her voice calm and even.
He opened his mouth to say something but she held up a finger, "Aaagghhh! Don't you dare use that 'But you've been in a cockpit of other planes for longer hours' argument. You know my answer to that one. One, I at least have something to look at for the long hours of flying like changing scenery or clouds. Two, I don't have someone yelling at me in Japanese over the headset then calling me 'stupid' under his breath every ten minutes."
She paused, trying not to laugh at the sheer look of horror on his face. "Yes, I have 'very' good hearing and I can hear quite clearly those mumbled insults and I do know what 'baca' means in Japanese. Thanks to you, I've had to start learning Japanese just to figure out what the hell you're yelling at me. And three, I haven't eaten since last night. You didn't give me a chance to grab anything on my way here and you sure as hell haven't bothered to even provide me with a power bar or an MRE," she barked at him.
The Doctors face was now the third color of red she'd seen in turn in sixty seconds. "But we are so close to having it perfected!" he complained at the interruption of work.
Red looked around at all the other lab techs and staff that had been working as hard and as long as she had been today. She couldn't miss the cringed looks and haggard expressions. Her cold blue eyes came back to glare at Doctor Ichi. "I have no authority here…," she said as she raised her voice enough for everyone to hear, "…but I think letting everyone, including me, take an hour or so for a healthy lunch and a break, you'll have better results this afternoon. But I'm not going back into that seat until I've had a chance to get something to eat, a chance to get some exercise, a shower and go pee! And not in that particular order!" she shouted back over her shoulder as she turned to leave.
She turned on her heel and stormed out of the lab, slamming her way through the swinging doors of the lab. She hadn't even looked back to see the look on Doctor Ichi's face at her last statement. But it was true. All she'd been allowed this morning was a cup of tea as she'd been hurried from her bed, into her flight suit and down to the lab that held the simulator to test some big breakthrough. She felt like a lab rat at the blatant disregard by the doctor and half his staff toward her well being. She had lost over ten pounds since she was transferred to this base four months ago. She'd had time to keep up with her business over the computer for the first month. Things had been slow to start with her new 'position' and she'd had some down time while they were prepping the lab for the newest round of testing on an experimental new plane.
But as things started to pick up, she'd had very little time to even get in her daily run, much less check on her email or how the business was going. Half the time when she got done in the lab it was late at night and all she could think of was to get some sleep before they decided they needed her again. She'd fall into bed and it would seem as if only an hour had passed before she'd get a call to come down to the labs again. She was certain she was in one of the seven levels of hell.
After locking herself in the single stall bathroom down the hall from the labs, she took a moment to take care of business. She stood in front of the bathroom mirror for a few minutes as she let the warm water run continuously over her hands. They were numb from holding to the stick for several hours and the seat didn't help with good circulation either. No one seemed willing to listen to her suggestions on fixing it. What did she know? She was just a dumb stick jockey. Yup, definitely in hell.
Four months ago she had a choice to either transfer to the research and development labs in Texas to help test a new fighter jet concept that was being worked on or be given a dishonorable discharge. Those that sat in judgment of her at the hearing had given her no other options. They wouldn't accept her 'retirement' and said she could retire in eight months when her current 'term' in the Air Force had expired. At the end of eight months, she could either retire or they would reevaluate her position if she wished to remain with the Air Force. Until then, she had to be on her best behavior or she faced dishonorable discharge.
She splashed warm water on her face as she bent over the sink to stretch out her back a little more. She was almost positive that those at the hearing had instructed Doctor Ichi to make her life as miserable as possible in these eight months. She pulled out several paper towels and wiped off her face and hands before reemerging from the bathroom to head to the mess hall. She could only hope they still had something edible to eat left from breakfast or at least had started serving something for lunch.
As she pushed open the door to the cafeteria she spotted the lab tech that had looked at her earlier with sympathy. She looked around and saw several others from the lab, each giving her a nod in greeting when their eyes met. Apparently the 'worker bees' had revolted and left the lab to get something for lunch or Doctor Ichi had unbent enough to let them have time off for a meal. A few minutes after she sat down at a small table, she saw several others from the lab join the rest. Simple nods were exchanged with her but nothing else was said.
She never bothered to complain to the techs or get too frustrated with them through this whole ordeal. They were treated just about as badly as she was but at least they had freedom to move about during the hours that she was crammed into the simulator. The good doctor was the root of most problems in the lab. Always pushing, never retreating, hardly even pausing to sleep sometimes. The one and only thing that kept her civil and compliant at this point was remembering that in two days, she would be headed back to California. She would get to spend a week and a half of vacation between her business and her cabin.
She went up to the counter for seconds on the sandwiches as she thought about the last email she'd received from MacGyver, telling her they'd gone up to the cabin last weekend. She had left him with the keys to the cabin and he'd been able to get all the repairs done that were needed. He had a standing invitation to use it any time he wanted to get away and go fishing or escape the city. She basically told him she'd feel better knowing someone was at least spending a few days up there every so often.
Rachelle also had a set of keys to the place. She and her daughter, Erica, had spent several weekends up there hiking and spending quiet time together. She kept Red updated on all the things going on with the business from schedules to contracts. Business had really begun to boom. Two months ago they decided to buy out the other flight service at Van Nyues that Red had seen advertised for sale when she had first arrived there. She had considered buying it when she first saw it advertised, but that was before she found out she was inheriting a business and 30,000 acres of land.
The business provided them with two more choppers, two small private planes and the extra pilot they needed. They were still trying to clean out the hanger that had been rented by the previous owner so they could get out of the contract with Van Nyues Airport for it. They had their eye on a storage hanger next door that was rumored to be coming available in the next few months. The other hanger had become a rat's nest of junk in the past three years. They were having a hard time getting through all of the clutter and junk to sift out what was worth keeping and what was to be tossed.
But Red couldn't complain. Business was good and as soon as they got a little more settled and a bit more established again in the business things would smooth out to a dull roar. Rachelle was the best choice she could have made for running the business and Red tried to make sure she was rewarded for her efforts. She was beginning to feel as though Rachelle was someone she could trust with just about anything.
She wrenched herself out of her reverie as she saw someone standing in front of her table, holding a meal tray. She looked up and saw that it was Doctor Ichi looking down at her. "May I join you?" he asked.
She was silent for a moment then nodded, motioning to the opposite chair. "Please sit," she said as she waited for him to settle. It was a bit of a shock because until this moment Doctor Ichi had never approached her outside of the lab.
She watched him as he settled at the table and then put the napkin in his lap. He was quiet for a few more moments and she didn't feel like rushing him. She could do without hearing his voice again for the rest of her life to be honest. He stilled his movements before looking up at her. "I wish to apologize to you for pushing so hard," he said, bowing his head a little to her. "I forget that none of this would be possible without you to test it as it is being refined. I mean no disrespect to you but my excitement does get the best of me at the worst of times it seems."
This was certainly a change in demeanor. Perhaps the lab techs had revolted and had left him to realize that he was pushing everyone a bit too hard. She remained quiet as he sat watching her. Her cool blue eyes watched every nuance of his behavior and facial expressions to find any lapse in sincerity.
"We are so close to having the program perfected. Once that hurdle has been jumped, the rest will go much more quickly. I wish to produce results for those funding this project to show them that we have been doing our best to …." He paused as she leaned forward, the expression on her face showed her confusion.
"…'those funding the project'? I thought the military was funding this project," she commented. This was something new that she apparently had no knowledge about. Granted, most of this project was none of her concern. She was only here to test the programming and in the end, test the final project if it was completed before she 'retired'.
Doctor Ichi looked at her for a moment as if she'd grown a second head, "Yes. The military is helping provide the facilities for testing the programs in the flight simulators and personnel, but the funding for the design and implementation is from a company called ResRadt. Part of the agreement is that if the program is successful and the military is satisfied with the results, they will enter into a full contract with ResRadt to fund the building of a new fleet of fighter jets," he said excitedly, almost 'bouncing' in his seat.
Red had never heard of ResRadt. Of course, she wasn't up on all of the newest companies coming out on the market that had their fingers in the aviation field. With a nod she looked back at the doctor, relaxing her eyes a little so not to seem so 'hard'. "I accept your apology Doctor Ichi. I just ask that you don't 'yell' at me over the headset or call me stupid. I am a very well educated woman and I've been flying choppers and planes longer than you've had your PhD. I don't know what you were told about me but the reason I'm here is because I wasn't willing to take a dishonorable discharge. I've got four more months before I'm allowed to retire from the Air Force. I was given those two choices at my hearing over my conduct when trying out a new modification to an F-16. I 'apparently' caused some damage to an 'officers' car with my stunt," she said as she pushed her tray to the side a little.
Doctor Ichi nodded a little. "I was told that you are one of the best female pilots, able to make any plane or chopper do the near impossible. But they said you were reckless and didn't deal well with authoritative figures. They told me that if I wasn't careful, you would try to get away with as much as you could."
The look on her face must have been priceless because Doctor Ichi suddenly realized that she was angrier than he'd ever seen her. But she was utterly silent and the hard glare at the wall behind him could have cut glass like a diamond.
She didn't look at him. "I blew the windows out of the man's car because of the degrading way he had been talking to his pilots and crew chief." Her eyes flicked to the doctor again and then back to the wall. "I won't crow that I'm the best female pilot but I have a love of flying and a knack to know what a machine will and won't do. I have no problem with authority figures unless I feel they are abusing those they are responsible for. Just because you're higher ranking than someone does not mean you're better than your subordinates. I have a great respect for those who realize this and act accordingly with respect and in a professional manner."
Doctor Ichi swallowed nervously as those eyes had slipped back to look at him, but he could feel himself relaxing just a little. Her words seemed to ring true with what he had witnessed even today. A superior was nothing without those supporting him from below. He had forgotten that somewhat in his quest and excitement to finish this project.
She 'smiled' a slight bit, the corner of one side of her lips moving up. "But I am the best pilot for the job. I will push your software and plane design beyond the normal limits that most everyone else will push it. Best to see what it truly can and cannot do now before it is put into production. If it can break, I'll break it. But I'm also reliable enough to tell you 'how' I broke it and smart enough to help give suggestions on ways it might be fixed."
The doctor blinked at her for a moment and then smiled at her. "It is good to know that you will push it to its limit once the program is perfected and we move to the actual mechanical flight simulator." He then extended a hand across the table towards her.
She looked at the hand and then stood as if to leave. This seemed to startle the doctor until she took his hand and shook it, bowing deeply to him. "I will be back to the lab in one hour. Give me a little time to exercise and shower before I have to climb back into that simulator in hopes we can perfect the software by this evening," she said with a slight uplift of the corners of her mouth, the most of a smile he'd ever seen from her. She then picked up her tray and emptied it into the nearby garbage before heading to the gym.