Her name was Eve. Douglas was talking to Natalie. And the four of them were now getting up and leaving. Though Martin was fairly new at this - well, completely new like an idea that has yet to be formed - he was almost certain the pretty Eve and Natalie were coming to the hotel with them. Finally he was part of the action... invited to the party... in the game. Finally he would win!

Douglas, who was fairly experienced at this - experienced in a way that had left him banned from several airport bars and one food trolley - was thinking of what kind of breakfast the hotel was serving and whether Carolyn would try to make them pay for it themselves.

As they finally reached the other end of airport security - though be it not so awfully hard to get out as it was to get in, it still took them quite a while - Martin let out a strange noise that startled both the stewardesses and made Douglas simply sigh. "What is it now, Martin?" he asked with the voice of a man who had been going through this for the last two years.

"My bag! My overnight bag! I left it at the bar!"

"Of course you did," Douglas said, "and I suppose you now want me to come with you to retrieve it?"

"Well…"

"Despite the fact that it's going to be a terrible hustle getting back in."

"Yes, but…"

"I'll go with you," Eve said brightly. Somehow this only provoked Martin to make another noise that terrified the stewardesses and made Douglas simply sigh. "Smooth operator," Douglas said under his voice, but making sure Martin heard it.

"It's really very nice of you to come with me," Martin said to a smiling Eve. Eve nodded and walked forward, towards a door, while fumbling with her key chord. Only then did Martin see what was hanging on it. A security card. Exactly the kind his 'airline' did not have.

"Er…," he began, wanting to explain, to stop Eve, to tell her he couldn't use the crew entrance, but then, the door swung open. A neatly dressed middle-aged woman passed them and Martin smiled, because now he could go through without having a security pass. Apparently his winning streak was still going strong!

"Very nice this," he said, "going on the fast…" His voice died away as it became very clear to him that his winning streak had just come to a screeching halt, and he would not be able to go through without a security pass. In front of him were odd looking tubes that would seem foreign to most people, but he knew what they were. Iris scanners. You had to swipe your card, then have your eye scanned before you were let through.

Quickly he turned around, but the door had closed and could only be opened by swiping a security pass. Martin turned back around to look at pretty Eve now getting into one of the cylinder shaped spaces. He felt the heat rushing to his face at immense speed and panic slowly creeping over him. This was not the right way to do things. And how was he supposed to get out of here? Without loosing face? He had been on a winning streak! Minutes ago he'd felt like he had luck on his side, finally, but now…

Martin noticed there was a security guard standing in the corner of the room, actually there were three of them, but this one was slightly further away from all the people going in and coming out of the tubes. In a way he himself considered stealthy, but the rest of the world considered ridiculous, Martin moved towards the security guard.

"Hi, I'm Martin Crieff, captain," Martin said. The guard looked at him, but only made a slight gesture towards the tubes.

"Look," Martin said, "you probably hear this everyday, but I've forgotten my card and could you just let me go through?"

The guard raised an eyebrow. "No," he said.

"You can't let me through?"

"No," the guard corrected him, "I do not hear that everyday." Martin repressed the urge to reprimand the guard for the tone he was taking with an airline captain. "And no, I cannot just let you go through."

"But I…"

"You will have to get your card, sir." Somehow the added 'sir' sounded like an insult.

"Listen, I don't have time to get my card, I have to go through now, there's someone waiting for me on the other side of those tubes and there are several someones waiting for me at McDonald's," Martin's voice took on an unpleasant screeching quality.

"Then I would suggest, sir, that you go meet up with the McDonald's people."

Martin looked at the guard, feeling utterly confused and looking it even more so.

"McDonald's is on this side of the tubes, sir." The guard smirked.

Martin felt his blood boil. "I don't think I've been clear enough. I have to get through, and I…"

"There are rules, sir. For your and our safety." The guard had seized to even try to conceal the fact that he was mocking Martin. "I am perfectly aware of what the rules are," Martin said. "But they were designed to protect us from terrorists and criminals, I hardly think they were meant to annoy the crew of…"

"I understand your predicament," the guard said in a way that made it very clear he did in fact understand, but couldn't give a rat's ass about any of it. "But we at … Airport do not make exceptions for airline pilots."

"I am a captain," Martin hissed at the guard.

"Then you should probably hurry with getting your card," the guard calmly replied. "Otherwise the whole plane will be held up because of…"

"I am not flying today, I've just arrived," Martin retorded irratably.

The guard frowned. "And now you want to get back in?" He clearly found this suspicious.

Martin flushed red again. "I forgot my bag."

"I see," the guard said. His tone made it clear that he found this suspicious as well. "And your card?"

"I don't have a card!" Martin let slip. Seeing the look of suspicion on the guards face become even more defined, he quickly added, "Look, we're only a very small group and we don't…"

"A small group? How do you mean?" Martin could see where this was going and it wasn't good.

"I just meant, the people I work with…"

"Right," the guard said and he got this slightly more suspicious and… eager look in his eyes.

"I just want to get in," Martin pleaded.

"I see," the guard said and Martin was sure he saw him give some kind of sign to the other two guards in the room. And he could swear the one to his left was now approaching him.

"I just want to get in!" Martin pleaded. The two guards were now both approaching him, while the guard in front of him was reaching for something.

"I am a captain!" Martin yelped, realising this was going to end very badly for him - again. "I am captain Crieff! I'm the captain!"

"It's blue!" Arthur's face lit up as he opened the small plastic bag that had come with his happy meal.

Carolyn sighed. She had long ago accepted that her son was… well, very much her child, and would always be her child. While Arthur was manically driving the miniature car around the small table they occupied, Carolyn got distracted by a distant noise. It was a rumbling sound that soon became distinguishable as a human voice.

It didn't take her long to figure out what it was saying and when she did, all she could do was sigh again. Sometimes she wished she lived in a world where she would've considered this next thought of hers insanity, but in this world it was very clearly the truth.

And so she wasn't even surprised in the least when in a flash of uniforms and one very red face, she saw one of her employees being dragged away by three security guards. As the group passed, Carolyn heard it again, "I'm the captain! I am the captain!"

She sighed and resumed eating her French fries. Arthur who only now seemed slightly disturbed by what had been happening around him, looked up. "What was that?" he asked in a mix of enthusiasm and curiosity.

"That," Carolyn said, "was our captain."

Before Arthur could respond - most likely with "Who do you mean?" another group of security guards rushed by. Carolyn could hear one of them saying, "… baggage found left unattended. Overnight bag at the red bar."

She sighed, sometimes she wished she lived in a world where she wasn't completely certain they were talking about Martin's bag. So far for acting as a professional company, she thought to herself.

Carolyn's cell phone went off. Douglas, the little screen said. She put the cell phone away. "Something wrong?" Arthur asked.

"Not at all," Carolyn said.

"But don't you have to pick up?" Arthur asked with the kind of innocence you'd only expect from a 3-year old.

"Not at all," Carolyn said.

"But…," Arthur said, now becoming aware of the fact that he was missing something vital, "it could be important."

"Yes," Carolyn answered, "but not more important than Martin learning the meaning of the words cavity and search."

Arthur stared blankly at his mother.

"That, my heart, is vitally important to the survival of our company," she said, while her cell phone went off again.