All the Characters belong to Thomas Harris. I own nothing
Again thanks to Ducki, Shifter, Guber, DevilsQt, Deoceres, Cristina, RivanKnight, for reviewing chapter 5 and to all the other wonderful folks who reviewed everything else.
I want to remind the readers that the events on this fiction take place before the unfortunate events of 9/11/01, when Airport Security was not as thorough as it is today. Nor was the scrutiny separating, transit, connecting and terminating passengers [specially for passengers holding visas to enter the countries they transited or those who didn't require visas]. At the time, Singapore Airlines operated from Delta Terminal 3 at JFK and the locations are accurate and the handling of the flight cancellation is standard procedure.
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EXCHANGES VI
FLY, FLY
The phone was ringing when Barney walked in the door.
"Good evening, Barney"
"Dr. Lecter" said Barney, a little out of breath "I just got in this very minute"
"How is our common friend, Barney, is she maintaining her schedule as planned" the Dr. managed to sound casual.
"Well, yes Dr." said Barney, a little hesitant "there was a disturbing occurrence but she said she handled it well and adhered to your plan"
"What was that, Barney?" inquired the Dr. evenly "tell me what happened, exactly?
Barney retold about Clarice bumping into Special Agent Erik Pickford at the Airport.
"I'm glad she followed my instructions, I had anticipated something like this, as well as the possibility that she might be followed."
"I'm fully prepared for it. Not to worry."
"She said she will call you as soon as she gets to Frankfurt" volunteered Barney
"What was her frame of mind, Barney, how do you feel she is handling it?" again the Dr. was allowing himself an unusual display of personal interest. "This is a big change for her. She will, eventually switch her frameset from tracker to hunted, but for now she might be a little off balance.".
"She's calm, if a little worried" reported Barney "she seems concerned that inadvertently she might be leading them to you. She also worries about not having the security blanket of her gun".
"She sent her resignation to the FBI a few weeks ago" he added, feeling the Dr. would appreciate to hear this bit of news"
"A few weeks ago" repeated the Dr. Lecter thoughtfully, then added
"Did you know, Barney, that she saved my life at the Verger Estate? "
"She told me you saved her life at the Verger Estate" informed Barney "she said you could have left her to the pigs" Barney was getting a kick out of playing cupid.
"She saved me first", chuckled the good Dr. "then, I just returned the favor".
"Well, I guess now each of you is responsible for the life of the other, as it were" said Barney, and then added in a sobering tone.
"Dr. Lecter, I read somewhere that when Gods fall in love they become weakened" Barney felt he was losing his nerve "have you read anything like that?"
"Yes, so I've read" sighed the Dr. "Barney, of all people, you must know that I'm not a God."
"However, in an attempt to ascend from hell I might be transforming from Pilgrim to Poet." He paused before asking very slowly, enunciating every word
"What do you suppose happens when poets fall in love, Barney?"
"I don't know Dr." tittered Barney, who was himself no stranger to gamesmanship, if still in a minor league. "I suppose they turn into Gods?"
"A nice bonus, don't you think?" the Dr. was laughing heartedly now, a sound Barney suspected might chill everyone except him and Starling.
"Thank you for your help, Barney," he said as the laugh subsided, "Ta, Ta for now"
After an uneventful, if timely flight to JFK, Clarice was bussed ramp-side to the Delta Terminal. She rode the escalator to the departures level and following the signs she turned right towards the Singapore Airlines check-in, across from gate 4.
Unlike most other airlines that offered advanced seat selection, Singapore insisted that their passengers select their seats at check-in time. She stood on line, and after about 15 minutes, her boarding pass securely in her bag, she proceeded to Chili's to meet Erik.
There was no sight of him at the restaurant. Clarice sat at the bar and ordered a Jack Daniels on the rock. She definitely could use the drink.
When Erik failed to appear after one hour of mindlessly watching CNN, Clarice turned around to look at the arrival monitor screens. The DL flight from DCA that Erik was supposed to take, had been cancelled.
She started walking towards gate 4 to board her flight, forcing herself not to elaborate whether she was relieved or worried, now that she didn't know Erik's alternate plans, and imagined him popping up at every turn.
Singapore flight #25 arrived in Frankfurt on time. The transit passengers were directed to the transit area, where they were supposed to wait until time to re-board the plane. However, once they were all gathered there, an Airline representative announced the flight had been canceled due to being the target of a specific bomb threat. The passengers at the transit lounge were escorted to the immigrations/customs area for clearance and then to the check-in to be reaccomodated in other airline flights to their final destinations.
Following Dr. Lecter's instructions, Clarice cleared immigrations, continued to the very crowded check-in area and keep going. Now just another faceless passenger, she headed to the ladies room.
She entered as Clarice Starling and left as the blond Kay Miller, wearing her expensive cashmere outfit, what appeared to be correction glasses, a little padding on her middle section and in her bra, and little but distractedly applied make up. These few alterations gave her the looks of a well to do, pleasant looking but harried mother of three or four. The whole transformation took only a few minutes.
She then bought a calling card and used to call the number for Escofier stored in the cell phone.
She let it ring a number of times and hung up.
A few seconds later, her cell phone rang.
"Hello" she whispered breathlessly anxious.
"Well, Hello Clarice. Welcome to the old world" he sounded relaxed and she found it soothing.
"Thank you Dr. Lecter" hearing his familiar voice seemed to make it all worth while. It seemed to ease her fatigue, which was more mental then physical.
As they talked she headed to the next Concourse to the Swissair departures gates.
"Erik never showed up at JFK" she explained, knowing Barney would have reported the whole incident "his flight was cancelled. I'm a little concerned as to where he might pop up".
"I have taken additional precautions as a result of his appearance, you'll find the car parked as described, and new modified instructions in the glove compartment, along with some other items you might find useful in the event of another surprise encounter".
His tone was soothing, even warm
"Thank you, Dr. Lecter" she felt touched, and tired and wanted to be taken care of and pampered, to stop worrying and relax.
Once again, he seemed to read her mind [what else was new?]
"You are my guest now, Clarice, please allow me to take care of you…hum?
"I'd like that, Dr. Lecter, thank you"
"Do you suppose you might consider calling me by my given name now, Clarice?".
"Let me get used to the thought" she sounded more animated, and put a smile in her voice.
"I've planned a nice light dinner for us tonight, and a long rest for you after that. I trust you'll enjoy it".
Yeap! he read her mind indeed!. She wondered if …"…oh, never mind that now" she grinned
"That will be lovely. I appreciate it. I'll call you when I get to Zurich"
"Please do, Clarice. Have a safe flight".
"Ah, Clarice" he added like an afterthought "you are doing fine, this circumstances are all new for you, I am aware. But you are doing fine."
They both knew what he was doing. But she badly needed the stroking. Coming from Dr. Hannibal Lecter, such a display of approval was rare and it pleased her.
"Thank you, I appreciate that" she said warmly, and added "I'm at the Swissair counter. Talk to you in a little while"
She then hurried the Swissair departure gate and checked-in, claiming her electronic ticket, comfirmation card and boarding pass.
Before boarding the airplane, she called Singapore airlines, explained she was one of the transit passengers from the cancelled flight and didn't want to wait in those long lines to be reaccomodated. She wanted to continue to Singapore two days later. Gave the phone number of a Frankfurt hotel as her local contact, thank the agent and hung up.
Everything was neatly wrapped.
Clarice Starling mentally waved bye bye to her former self and boarded the plane to Zurich.
So far, she had followed Dr. Lecter's instructions to the letter.
"No wonder the man had slipped away every time" she told herself "his plans are flawless".
Clarice was beginning to relax. Which was not altogether a good idea.
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OK folks, I'm tired of typing and my brain needs a break [to eat …..LOL]
Please, please, comment and review.
There will be some action, of the Hannibal Lecter's kind, in the next chapter.
