Something in the Air

mardel

I just borrowed them for the story.

"I just think you could skip this thing." Bobby paced to the other side of
the lab.

Claire was gathering her project reports together so she could fill in an
assistant to take over while she was gone.
"I know what you think Bobby, we discussed it half of last night."
Claire smiled remembering how they had spent the other half.
"But if I want to maintain my surgical expertise I have to keep up
on all the latest methods."

"I understand that, but couldn't you miss this conference just once?"
Bobby paced up the her his hands on his hips, he hated the idea of
her flying.

"I could yes, but I'm not going to. The President asked us to return to
our normal lives as best we could. I'm going to the conference."
She began to write notes in her computer.

Bobby threw up his hands in disgust, he loved her but sometimes she
did things that made him crazy.

Darien entered the Keep then, he always checked in with Claire when
he arrived at work.
"Hey, Bobby. Hi Claire I don't think I need a shot today, but I thought
I'd stop and check in anyway." Darien walked up to where she was
working at her computer.

"Good morning Darien. It's nice to see you, perhaps you could talk
some sense to Bobby about my traveling to the surgical conference.

"Your going to a conference?"

"Yes, a surgical conference in Chicago the arrangements have all been made."
She turned to look at him, and past him to where Bobby was still fuming.

"I don't know is that a good idea. I mean why fly somewhere if it's not
necessary?" Darien didn't like the idea of her flying either.

"Uh! honestly you two stick together no matter what. Never mind I can see
you're just going to take his side." She turned back to her work.

Darien walked over to Bobby. "Take your side I never heard anything about this
until just now?"

"I know Partner, but she thinks it's a conspiracy now since you said almost
word for word what I said." Bobby was standing with his arms crossed over
his chest.

"You've been trying to reason with her, that it might not be safe."

"Bingo my friend. But she thinks she knows best and she'd determined to
go to this conference."

Darien nodded, then he had an idea that might give her second thoughts.
"Claire what about Eberts? He's just gotten back from that hospital in
Arizona. He might need you if he has a relapse or something."

Bobby's eyebrows fly up when he heard Darien's suggestion. He hadn't
thought of that. It might work. He low fived his partner.

"Eberts is fine, he is still under the care of the doctor at the medical center
here and he's not due to return to work until after I get back."

Both Darien and Bobby looked disappointed.

"If you are determined to go to this thing. Can I drive you to the airport and
look things over at least?"

"Yes, Bobby I think that would be very gracious of you. Thank you." Claire
stood and walked over to him, she touched his cheek and smiled at him.

Darien smirked like he always did when they acted all lovey dovey.
He was happy for them, that Hobbes had finally broken down and told Claire
that he loved her. They were good for each other.

"You don't leave until this afternoon right? I'll be back later, I think we have
to see the Fat Man about a case." Bobby smiled when she touched him.
Then looked embarrassed a little by the show of affection.

"Alright I'll see you both later." Claire went back to work.

Once they were out in the hallway Darien asked, " Is there something you know
that you aren't sharing about how safe it is to fly?"

"No, I just don't like the idea. It's a feeling and after seventeen years in this
line of work I've learned to listen to my gut." Bobby emphasized his statement
by smacking his partner in the stomach.

"Hey, I never said your hunches were bad. I could tag along maybe check things
out see through?"

"I'd appreciate it."

"No problem."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Your private limo to the airport is ready Ms. Keeply." Bobby entered the keep
behind Darien.

"I was wondering when you would get back. I'm supposed to be at the airport
two hours before my flight." Claire stood up grabbing her purse from the desk.

"Here let me get that for you." Darien picked up her suitcase and carried
it out with them to the van.

Bobby held the door to the van open for her, and offered her his hand to lean
on as she climbed inside.
"Thank you." she inclined her head to him, glad he was finally going along
with her wishes.

"You're welcome, we'll be at the airport in no time."

Darien was taking the jump seat behind the two main seats. He put his seat belt
on knowing how Bobby drove when he was in a hurry.

As soon as he hit the freeway Bobby sped up, he was dodging in and out of
lanes, trusting Golda's breaks way more than he should. Claire was used to
his eccentric style of driving but she was still holding on with both hands.

"There you see the sign for the airport is just up ahead." Bobby smirked,
he'd gotten her there in record time for the middle of the day.

"I'm flying with Delta it's in the second terminal I believe." Claire had her
ticket ready.

"Fawkes have you got your badge handy?"

"Yeah, why?" Darien held up his agency badge so Hobbes could see it.

"If we are going to go with Claire to the gate we're going to have to show
the security people our badges."

"Oh, right. I forgot."

"You don't have to escort me to the gate. I'll be fine. This isn't the first
time I've flown you know." Claire assured them.

"I know it isn't but it would make me feel better if we see you to the gate."
Bobby pulled the van into the parking lot and took the ticket from the machine.
He parked the van on an end row and they all climbed out of the van.

They had to wait for the shuttle with the three other people who were flying
that afternoon. Darien was still carrying Claire's suitcase, he knew Bobby wanted
to keep his hands free, just in case.

"Shuttle to the terminals, this is the place." Darien set the suitcase down and
looked the parking lot over. He didn't see anything suspicious.

"Shuttle, that word always confused me as a kid I though it meant something
different. Then when they started using it in the news all the time shuttle
diplomacy. What the heck is that?"

"You know the one that use to get me was shuttlecock. It was the only time
I could use that term and not get smacked in the head." Darien laughed.

"Shuttlecock? Oh you mean like in badminton." Bobby smirked.

"Yeah that was a favorite word of mine when I was like eight.
But sometimes if I over did it I'd still get smacked for it."

"Boys, here is the bus to take us to the terminal." Claire rolled her eyes
at them both and stepped forward to the curb.

Bobby was looking at the layout of the airport to remind himself of the
set up. He wanted to have as much information to go on as possible if
his gut feeling was right.

Claire and Darien stood in line for the baggage check in, while Bobby
strolled around the airport. He noticed there were several armed national
guardsmen stationed at key points in the terminal. He approved of that,
the show of force couldn't hurt. Then his paranoia kicked in and h e
thought that it was also an easy way for armed gunmen to gain access
to the terminal without drawing suspicion.

Hobbes checked on Claire's progress in the line then went back past the
three posts he'd noticed the guardsmen at. He didn't see anything
unusual with the first two pairs of soldiers but the last set he got that
bad feeling about. They were standing off to the side of the escalator
watching the people. One was darker than the other, he looked like
he'd shaved a beard off recently. The lower half of his face looked
pale compared to the top half.

Red flag, after serving undercover for all those weeks in the mid-east
Bobby was suspicious of anyone that had recently changed his
appearance. But he couldn't go to airport security with just a gut
feeling and one clue that things might not be right.

"Fawkes." Bobby waved Darien out of the line with Claire for a minute.

"I need you to go invisible and check out that pair of soldiers over there.
See if you can hear what they are saying, I've got a bad feeling about
those two. Tell me if you notice anything strange about either of them."

"OK, want to give me a hint?"

"I think they are Arabs or maybe Syrian. Go check it out I'll stay here with
Claire." Bobby nearly pushed Darien towards the guards.

Darien walked towards the display of art from the local school. It was mounted
on a series of pillars so he ducked behind one and went invisible. Then he
walked over next the two guards and listened in on their whispered
conversation. It was in English at first, but when one of them switched to
a langue he didn't recognize Darien was convinced Bobby was right.

Bobby was still scanning the crowd, he was getting more and more uneasy.
If Darien learned anything while spying on the two, Bobby didn't know
how he would convince anyone to believe him without them knowing how
he'd learned the information.

"I think you're right Partner. They were talking in some langue I don't
recognize."

"You've heard me speak Arabic, it wasn't that?" Bobby asked even more
scared now that they had walked into the middle of something big.

"It was similar but I think it was different. Who do we tell?"
Darien was willing to let Bobby take the lead on this.

"I've been thinking about that. The thing is these are supposed to be our
guys, they might be real members of the guard in deep cover for years.
Two agents pointing a finger at them isn't going to be enough to do
more than to get those two pulled off duty. If they are imposters we
don't want to tip our hand that we know something is going on until
we are in position to take out however many men are in on this."

"Right so what do we do?"

"I think call the Official for one thing get some pull behind us."
Bobby flipped open his cell phone and made the call.

"Yes?"

"Sir it's Hobbes I've got a situation here." Bobby described what he believed was
happening at the airport.

"Normally I'd say it's time for you to visit your physiatrist again. But in light of
the attacks I think it's time for me to make some contact with the police chief,
the head of security at the airport and possibility higher."

"Thank you Sir. But what about the possibility that these guys have been in deep
cover for years? Their officer could be part of it."

"Sit tight for a few minutes Hobbes I'll check into this and get back to you."
The Official called the local head of the police department, he'd know Captain
Murphy for years.

"Mike I think I've got a problem for you."

"Charlie it's been a while. What's up?"

"How well do you know the head of security at Lindberg field? I have two trusted
agents out there now who believe they have uncovered a plot to take over the
airport or at least some of the planes."

"Holy shit! You're not serious?"

"I'm afraid I am, these men know their stuff."

"I know Captain Chen well he use to work for me before he took the job out
there. But he's not in charge of the guardsmen doing security out there, they
are under their own commander. I've never met him, only spoken with him
on the phone."

"You need to contact Chen and find out if the men can be ID'ed quickly.
I'll look into this and get back to you in a few minutes."
The Official hung up and called Eberts.

"Hello?"

"Eberts I know your on leave but I need you to dig up information on the local
national guard fast."

"Yes, Sir you want me to come in?"

"I asked you about this very possibility not long ago do you have access to the
information from your home computer?" It was highly against policy for Eberts
to take home secure information with him. But the Official knew he sometimes
worked on things at home.

"I do have some of the files on my system." Eberts moved to his computer
and looked up the files. "What am I checking on?"

"Are any of the guardsmen of middle east decent? Is the officer in charge
regular army or a weekend warrior?"

" It appears that the commanding officer is regular army. A Major Thomas.
His second in command is Captain Greer. Let me see, there are hundreds
of names here. There is a sergeant with the last name of Amir.
This could take a few minutes." Eberts continued to read the roster.

"I'll call back, keep at it Eberts."

"Charlie, look Chen says he wants to talk to your people that are on site.
Have them report to his office on the second floor. He said he doesn't
like the set up they have for the guardsmen. Anyone in a uniform could
gain access to his buildings now. I'm calling in my rescue team, and
we'll be standing by to assist when he lets me know what he needs."

"Thanks Mike, I hope this isn't what it looks like." The Official hung up,
then called Hobbes back.

"Hobbes the head of airport security wants to talk with you and Fawkes.
He's not cleared to know about the I-Man project. But he's not happy
with the way the guard is handling their personnel."

"Got ya, we'll go see him now." Bobby hung up.

"What's going on with you two?" Claire had finally checked in her suitcase
and was ready to head to her gate now.

"Claire something very bad is about to go down. You can't go to the gate."

"Bobby we already had this discussion. I'm going to the conference."
She dismissed his statement. Not noticing his tone of voice.

"I'm dead serious, you can't board a plane now." Bobby was trying to keep
his temper, and not speak loudly with so many people around.

Darien jumped in before she misunderstood his statement as an order.
"Claire really this isn't like that I over heard two guys planning to do something
like take over a plane or the airport. This is real."

Claire had been about to tell Bobby he couldn't order her around like that.
But Darien was so rarely serious, she was beginning to believe him.
"You're sure?"

"Yeah, pretty sure. Think about it if everyone is used to seeing armed
guardsmen around the airport, how hard would it be to sneak in a few
extra guys?"

"Come on we have to see Capt. Chen." Bobby lead the way to the main offices
for Airport security.

end part one