Chapter XV
Something Unexpected
It didn't improve Lex's mood when he found that he'd have to sit in the tiny backseat of the airplane. Both Andy and Clark were considerably taller than he was. He wished he could back out of this expedition, but he didn't dare. Clark would never tell him for sure, of course, but Lex strongly suspected that the meteoritic fragments that littered the countryside around Smallville were uniquely poisonous to his friend. If Mrs. Hakes had been carrying meteor rocks in her plane, Clark really shouldn't go near the wreckage.
Andy had more sheets of paper with mimeographed checklists on them for starting the plane, taking off, and cruising at altitude. By the time the three boys were well on their way to Colorado, Lex was extremely tired of Andy's continual paper-ruffling and muttering. He was also a little nauseous from the smell of gasoline that, he assumed, was coming from the fuel sampling gage stowed in the plastic bin under his seat. His head was starting to pound as well, from a combination of the bone-shaking noise of the engine and the tightness and scratchiness of the grubby used headphones he'd been given to wear.
At least they had a heck of a view. The Cessna's wings were on top of the fuselage, providing a completely unobstructed field of vision down towards the ground. Lex found that he had to stop looking out the window after a short time, however. At least no one could notice him being cowardly about it.
"This is about the place that Mr. Rankin's search started!" Andy yelled over the little plane's scratchy intercom system.
"Right!" Clark replied. "We should all keep our sharp eyes out!"
Lex could see Clark's jaw work as the dark-haired boy steeled himself to look out over thousands of feet of empty air below them. Clark squinted intently out the window, scanning the mountainous ground.
Lex's search was more diffident. "There are a million places down there that a person could go down and never be found," he complained. "Why don't planes have some sort of an electronic transmitter that goes off if they crash?"
"They do," Andy assured him earnestly. "Every plane has an ELT, or Emergency Locator Transmitter, and I've been monitoring the Emergency Channel since takeoff! You saw me check that our antenna was there and in good shape when I was doing the pre-flight on this plane, remember? Unfortunately they sometimes break."
"Or a saboteur could make sure that it broke," Clark added.
"Mr. Alvin said Mr. Hakes says that sometimes he still hears Mrs. Hakes's voice over the Unicom," Andy volunteered. "He can't make out any words, but he says he still hears her voice. Mr. Alvin says he's probably just hearing some lady coming into or out of Lowell County Exec. We use the same frequency they do."
"Great," Lex muttered. "All this needed was a ghost."
"I think I see something!" Clark yelled. He pointed out his window. "Over there, in that little canyon -- go over there!"
Andy banked the plane.
Then there was a sudden explosion.
Something Unexpected
It didn't improve Lex's mood when he found that he'd have to sit in the tiny backseat of the airplane. Both Andy and Clark were considerably taller than he was. He wished he could back out of this expedition, but he didn't dare. Clark would never tell him for sure, of course, but Lex strongly suspected that the meteoritic fragments that littered the countryside around Smallville were uniquely poisonous to his friend. If Mrs. Hakes had been carrying meteor rocks in her plane, Clark really shouldn't go near the wreckage.
Andy had more sheets of paper with mimeographed checklists on them for starting the plane, taking off, and cruising at altitude. By the time the three boys were well on their way to Colorado, Lex was extremely tired of Andy's continual paper-ruffling and muttering. He was also a little nauseous from the smell of gasoline that, he assumed, was coming from the fuel sampling gage stowed in the plastic bin under his seat. His head was starting to pound as well, from a combination of the bone-shaking noise of the engine and the tightness and scratchiness of the grubby used headphones he'd been given to wear.
At least they had a heck of a view. The Cessna's wings were on top of the fuselage, providing a completely unobstructed field of vision down towards the ground. Lex found that he had to stop looking out the window after a short time, however. At least no one could notice him being cowardly about it.
"This is about the place that Mr. Rankin's search started!" Andy yelled over the little plane's scratchy intercom system.
"Right!" Clark replied. "We should all keep our sharp eyes out!"
Lex could see Clark's jaw work as the dark-haired boy steeled himself to look out over thousands of feet of empty air below them. Clark squinted intently out the window, scanning the mountainous ground.
Lex's search was more diffident. "There are a million places down there that a person could go down and never be found," he complained. "Why don't planes have some sort of an electronic transmitter that goes off if they crash?"
"They do," Andy assured him earnestly. "Every plane has an ELT, or Emergency Locator Transmitter, and I've been monitoring the Emergency Channel since takeoff! You saw me check that our antenna was there and in good shape when I was doing the pre-flight on this plane, remember? Unfortunately they sometimes break."
"Or a saboteur could make sure that it broke," Clark added.
"Mr. Alvin said Mr. Hakes says that sometimes he still hears Mrs. Hakes's voice over the Unicom," Andy volunteered. "He can't make out any words, but he says he still hears her voice. Mr. Alvin says he's probably just hearing some lady coming into or out of Lowell County Exec. We use the same frequency they do."
"Great," Lex muttered. "All this needed was a ghost."
"I think I see something!" Clark yelled. He pointed out his window. "Over there, in that little canyon -- go over there!"
Andy banked the plane.
Then there was a sudden explosion.