Welcome to the 7th chapter. Thanks for reading this! It means a lot. So let's get to the new chapter, shall we?

CHAPTER 7 – Flying

"Alright, how are you supposed to get around airport security?" I asked the group. "We could go in the backpack," Marlene suggested. "Yes, but we would be subject to X-rays from the machine the backpack would go through," Kowalski said. "Maybe we could go through the air ducts in the terminal after we know where to meet you," Anna suggested.

"Good idea Anna, but how are we supposed to get up there? We don't have a grappling gun," Sam said. "Let's get one then," I said. "OK Google Now, find stores that sell grappling guns," I commanded to my phone. It activated again and started giving me directions to the nearest store. We drove there and got a grappling gun and some food for the plane ride. I again paid with my phone.

"Alright, this is where we leave the car behind," I said. "When we turn everything back to normal, it will probably return to your home," Kowalski said. "Good. Because I don't want to have to fly all the way down here and then have to drive this back up," I said. I crouched down and they all jumped into the bag, for the time being.

"So what airline is a good option?" Marlene asked. "Well, we're flying from Los Angeles to New York, so we'll want a direct flight. One of JetBlue's home bases is at the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, so they're bound to have many flights," I answered. * "Do we have enough for a one-way plane ticket purchased on the same day?" Anna asked.

"I sure hope so," I said. We proceeded to an automated machine to buy the ticket. There was actually a pretty big sale going on, even for immediate tickets. I had enough to get a ticket and it printed a moment later. "I've got it," I said to the group.

"Where's a good place for us to get into an air duct?" Private asked. "Hmm… Well, let's find one near a bench or something. That way I can act like I'm sitting down relaxing and you guys can slowly climb out of the backpack and then fire the grappling gun," I said. We did find a bench and after a few minutes when no one was looking, proceeded with our plan.

I acted like I was just playing a game on my phone while they all climbed out of my backpack stealthily. Once we once again made sure no one was looking, they fired the grappling gun and went up into the air ducts. "I sure hope this works," I thought to myself.

I made sure I still had my ID in my pocket and I did. I got up and started walking to airport security. I got there and handed the person my ticket and ID, which they accepted. I went through the scanner while my backpack also did the same, along with my phone and shoes.

I successfully went through airport security and put my stuff back together. I looked up at an air vent and everyone was up there. I gave them a thumbs up sign put pointed that we should continue onwards before they come back down.

They also gave a thumbs up sign, acknowledging me. I continued walking towards the gate and luckily, an air vent from the ducts was in a corner. I looked up again and everyone was there. I signaled silently for them to come down and they came down slowly and silently via the wall. No one managed to see them as they got into the backpack either.

We all breathed a quiet sigh of relief. "I can't believe that worked," I said. "We can't believe it either. None of Blowhole's forces are here, too. We must have been really lucky," Anna said. "I agree. Once we got onto the plane, we may be able to relax for a few hours," I said. "That would be nice. Once we get into the air, nothing can come after us for six hours," Marlene said.

"Unless Blowhole has control over these security cameras, there's no way he would know we're getting on a plane, so he wouldn't be able to call it back either," I said. "That's a relief. So how are we going to get to the zoo from the airport?" Private asked.

"Well, apparently I still can't get a rental car until I'm 25, which is weird. ** I'll call us a cab with my phone," I said. "But it's connected to the real Internet. How are we going to get it to work without destroying that connection?" Kowalski asked.

"I think we'll have to take someone's SIM card. One of you will have to pull off the phone snatching and returning," I said. I pulled out my phone and ejected the SIM card. "This is what we'll need from the phone that we borrow," I said, showing it to them. "We'll return the phone right?" Private asked. "To maintain a clear conscience, we will once we get the SIM card," I said.

After about 20 minutes, the plane we would be taking rolled into the gate. "That's the plane we're going to be on guys," I said as we all looked out through the window. "It looks like a nice plane," Marlene said. "It's an Airbus 320. Those are big planes," Kowalski said.

"Hopefully it's not too crowded," I said. "And hopefully people wouldn't see us," Private said. "That, and when you have to remain in the bag, hopefully no one is in front or to the sides of us. That way no one's feet touches the bag in any way," I said.

After an hour or so, it was time to board the now refueled and restocked plane. First and business class went before anyone else, as usual. There were only a few of them. Then it was our class's turn.

Looking behind me, there were some people in line, but not enough that it looked like a crowded plane. I proceeded forward with my ticket and it was scanned and I started boarding the plane.

I went through the hallway leading to the plane and then onto the plane itself. I found my seat and sat down. "Sorry guys, but I'll have to put you under the seat for the moment," I whispered to them. "That's alright," Marlene responded quietly.

I carefully put the backpack under the seat in front of me and put my phone into airplane mode and then turned it off, since it would be 40,000 feet away from the ground with no connection. ***

Other people were also boarding and miraculously none sat next to or in front of us. Standing up as much as I could to look around, the plane actually wasn't very crowded. Only maybe a third of the seats were filled. I sat back down and buckled myself in, getting ready for the flight. I also turned the TV to the map channel so we could check on our progress every so often. ****

The plane started moving and the usual safety instructions were being shown off in the front of the plane. I watched them since there was nothing else to do. Finally, the plane reached the runway and started speeding up for takeoff. I put one foot near the bag so that I could stop it from possibly moving back or in any other direction.

Throughout the flight, I kept a constant lookout through the windows for Blowhole or any of his henchmen, but didn't see any luckily. Everyone had dozed off on the plane after an hour or two, even the stewards, so everyone came out, while also buckling themselves in for safety.

We began to plan, albeit quietly so as to not wake anyone up. "We're only an hour or so away from the airport," I said to everyone. "That map has been useful, along with the news," Kowalski said. "I agree. I'm seeing lots of people on the news roaming the country looking for us. Little do they know, we're flying over all of their heads," I said. We all softly chuckled.

"I can't wait to see Skipper again, after all this time. I've missed him so much," Marlene said. "We've all missed Skipper as well. But you probably miss him 4,917,620% more than we do, since you were never married, like you should have been," Kowalski said. "Where do you get those numbers from Kowalski?" Sam asked. "My abacus has helped, but it doesn't take a genius like myself to state the obvious," Kowalski said.

"I really hope when we fix this, I don't remember all the misery before today," Marlene said. "We hope you don't either, Mom," Anna said. "Mom. I love having children to call me that," Marlene said happily. "Tomorrow is our 1st birthday," Sam said happily.

"Well, what would you like?" Marlene asked. "After all that's happened today, all we want is to fix this and make you all immune to any future timeline changes," Anna said. "It's good we had all picked to watch that movie last night before time was changed. Otherwise, you two wouldn't exist and we would all still be prisoners," Kowalski said.

The speaker system for the plane came on after a little bit. "Attention passengers. We're about to start descending for landing. Please make sure all carry-on items are stored in below your seats or up above and all tray tables and seats are in their correct and upright positions," the pilot said.

"I'll see you guys below," I said. "See you below," they said and then disappeared into the backpack, which was actually still below the seat in front. For about 10 minutes, we just waited for the plane to start descending. I saw out the windows we were still high up, but could see the city out in the distance. I remembered the airport was on Long Island, so I knew we weren't landing yet.

That's a wrap on this chapter. We're almost to Skipper. Please rate and review this chapter. I've got a few notes today.

* JetBlue's main hubs are in New York, Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Long Beach, Oakland, Orlando, and Washington DC.

** Yeah, that's the law in the US is no rental cars until you're 25. How does that make sense?

*** I know JetBlue has Wi-Fi, but when I wrote this, it was only on a few planes.

**** JetBlue has free TV, including a few channels of their own, including one with a map of your current location.