Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, WA
Monday 27th May, 8.54 a.m.

Jim, Blair and Simon entered the departure hall of Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, Washington. They had needed the entire Saturday for preparations, such as malaria medication, proper clothing and such. They had figured there wouldn't be a good connection to Africa on Sunday, and they had to take their malaria meds a couple of days before entering the risk area, so they had left for Seattle early Monday morning. Simon went to check out what the best option was for getting to Tanzania, while Jim and Blair looked after their luggage.

"You know Jim, this is the best place to test your sense of smell. See if you can focus on that lady's perfume and keep concentrating on it as long as you can. Just filter out everything else."

"Chief, I'm really not up for this right now."

"Aw, come on, we won't get an opportunity like this in a while. A big, crowded airport, many different perfumes, not to speak of the body odors of thousands of people racing to catch their plane, numerous shops with different smells. Please Jim, just give it a try."

Jim closed his eyes and tried to focus on the coconut shampoo of someone who just walked by. He lost his concentration after a few seconds. "Listen Chief, I can't concentrate like this: there are too many odors here, too much noise, and I'm too tired to filter everything out. As soon as we get on a plane, I'm gonna sleep till we get where we're supposed to be."

"And you'll have plenty of time to sleep." Simon had walked back to his friends. "There's a flight to Amsterdam, the Netherlands at 1.15. From there we can go to Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. We'll arrive there at 8.30 tomorrow evening, local time. You'll have 9 and a half hours to sleep on the flight to Amsterdam, and nearly 9 hours on the way to Tanzania. Just make sure you're rested up sleep-wise, because you're gonna get a hell of a jetlag with 10 hours time difference."

Seeing the look on his friends' faces, he laughed. "Look on the bright side. It's the first available flight, it's the cheapest flight to Tanzania, also the one with the least stopovers, plus, we got a discount, because it's last-minute."

The three men walked to the nearest Northwest counter, bought their tickets and checked in their bags. Having practically emptied their bank accounts – Jim and Simon both chipped in for Blair, who always seemed to be out of money – they went straight to the gate, avoiding the shops. They didn't want to spend more money than they needed to.

When they arrived at the gate, they found it wasn't very crowded. It was still early, and the previous flight had just finished boarding, leaving the gate's waiting area nearly empty. Simon and Jim sat down, and the latter immediately closed his eyes and fell asleep. Simon looked like he could use a nap too. Blair, who had slept during the trip from Cascade to Seattle, quietly said: "You go to sleep too, Simon. I'll keep an eye on the bags."

"Be careful you don't fall asleep too, Chief. Don't want our bags to get stolen."

"I thought you were asleep." Blair said, looking at Jim, who still had his eyes closed.

"I was, but I dialed up my hearing, so I'd hear it when someone does try to get close to our bags."

"Good, so it doesn't matter if I do fall asleep."

"Right."

Within seconds, Jim was in dream world again. Simon followed him after a few minutes, but Blair managed to stay awake for an hour. When he did fall asleep, the waiting area was slowly filling up with other passengers.

11.58 a.m.

Ellison slowly crawled out of his slumber. His heightened senses had caught the sound of a fast-beating heart nearby. Slowly he opened his eyes, and he noticed that Sandburg had fallen asleep. Feeling a bit stiff from sleeping on the uncomfortable chair, he turned his head towards their bags and saw a man grab Simon's bag. Jim didn't want to cause a panic in the waiting area, so he decided to leave his gun in its holster. He grabbed his badge and jumped in front of the thief, holding his badge in front of the man's face.

"This must be your lucky day," he said. "You just tried to steal my boss' bag. Not a good idea." Jim grabbed the guy's arm. The man was desperately trying to get away from the taller man, but Jim held on.

Simon and Blair woke up, startled to see Jim stand in front of a man with Simon's bag in his hand.

"Sandburg, go get Airport Security. Well, mister," Banks said, turning to the thief. "It looks like you picked the wrong day, the wrong place and the wrong people to rob. You're under arrest."

Jim threw the man onto one of the seats and kept an eye on him, while Blair ran off to get an airport police officer. A minute later, he returned, with a uniformed man running behind him.

"Thank you for catching this guy. We've had quite a lot of trouble with thieves here. Especially the last week has been bad. Now we got at least one in custody. Get up, sir. You're under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. If you wish to give up that right, anything you say, can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights?" The man nodded.

"Thanks again. We really appreciate it."

"No trouble at all. Glad to have been of help," Ellison reassured the officer.

After the officer led the arrested man off, Jim sat down again and looked at his watch. 12.08, a bit more than 20 minutes until boarding starts. No use going to sleep now. Simon and Blair seemed to have the same idea. They talked for a while until it was finally time to board.

"Welcome to Northwest Airways, flight 34 to Amsterdam. Boarding will start in a few minutes. Please let families with children board first, thank you."

They waited for a couple of minutes, until all the families had boarded, and then they got up and walked towards the gate. They handed their boarding passes to the clerks and walked through the passenger bridge, towards the plane. They went towards the back of the plane. Jim checked his pass. Seat 27B. Great, in the front of the second part of the plane. Enough room to spread my legs. He lifted his bag and put it in the overhead bin.

Blair took the window seat and took his bag with him. Simon sat down across the aisle, on 27C. He settled down quickly and grabbed the in-flight magazine in the pocket in front of him. Blair took his walkman out of his backpack and put it on, immediately oblivious to the rest of the world, just as Jim. He fell asleep again, the moment he sat down on the wide chair of the DC-10. He woke as the TV screen in front of him showed the pre-flight instructions, with the emergency procedures and exits. Next the Captain wished the passengers a pleasant flight. As soon as everything was silent again, Jim was out cold.

The plane quietly moved towards the runway. When it was cleared for take-off, the engines started to roar. Ellison woke again with a start. He winced in pain as he covered his ears with his hands. Sandburg immediately put his hand on his partner and helped him dial his hearing down again. After a while Jim started to relax again. He swallowed hard a couple of times as the pressure in the cabin dropped. A couple of minutes later, the plane leveled out a bit, nearing cruising altitude.

"What happened?" Blair asked.

"I fell asleep again and forgot to dial down. Geez, that was some wake up call." He shook his head to lose the buzz in his ears.

"Go back to sleep, Jim. I'll wake you when we approach Amsterdam."

Jim complied immediately.

Nearing Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Tuesday 28th May, 7.23 a.m.

The flight was uneventful. There had been hardly any turbulence. Sandburg had watched the first movie, Minority Report, and fell asleep afterwards. All three of them slept soundly for the most of the flight. Simon and Blair had woken up when it was time for a meal – they didn't know whether it was breakfast, lunch or dinner, because they hadn't had lunch or dinner yet, but the local time was about 7 a.m. After that they slept once again. The two of them woke as the copilot's voice echoed through the speakers. They found Jim already in the process of waking up. He had sensed the pressure rise a bit, drawing him out of a long sleep.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are approaching Schiphol Airport. We have started our descent and we will touch down in about 20 minutes. The weather in Amsterdam: clouded and an occasional shower. The temperature is about 13 °C or 55 °F. The time is 7.24 a.m. We hope you had a pleasant flight."

Jim yawned. He had slept for more than 9 hours on end. I could use a shower right about now, he thought. He did feel less tired and thanked the front seats, because if there's one thing he hated about planes, was being cramped up with no place to put his long legs. He looked at Simon, who seemed to have felt the same way.

"I could use something to eat. How about we go grab a bite when we get out of this plane?"

Although both Blair and Simon had eaten on the plane, they had become hungry too. "We've both eaten already, but I could use something too. How about you, Simon?"

"Yeah, me too. You were really out of it Jim. I've never seen you sleep so soundly."

"That's probably because I had dialed my hearing down to almost zero. I wouldn't even wake up if the plane was hijacked," Jim answered with a smile.

"Sandburg, what's it like out there?" Simon asked.

"Cold and wet."

Jim and Simon both grinned. Blair and cold didn't mix, neither did Blair and wet.

"You're lucky we're only stopping over. You'll get to a much warmer place in 12 hours."

After a couple of minutes, the plane touched down on the wet concrete. It slowly taxied towards the gate.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Schiphol Airport. Please remain seated until the plane has come to a complete standstill and the 'fasten seatbelt' sign has been turned off. Be careful when opening the overhead storage. Thank you for flying Northwest airlines and we wish you a pleasant stay."

Even before the 'fasten seatbelt' sign was turned off, most of the passengers had risen from their seats and slowly made their way towards the exits. The men from Major Crimes stayed in their seats until the doors opened and the passengers could get out of the plane. After they got out, they walked around the airport, in search for a place to grab a bite to eat. Their bags would be transferred by Schiphol's crew, so they didn't have to worry about that. After a while they found the 'Nautilus Café'. They grabbed a couple of sandwiches and rolls – Sandburg added a salad – paid for it, and searched for a place to sit down. They found a place by the window, where they could see planes landing and taking off every few minutes. After they finished eating, they talked about what they were up against the next few days.

"We're not gonna be in the middle of the rainy season, are we?" Blair asked, while he was looking out of the window at the gray sky and rain falling out of it.

"No, it's dry season now. But don't be too happy about it. It can get really uncomfortable in Africa during the dry season." Jim added when he saw Blair's face brighten up. "I'll bet that you'll start performing some kind of rain dance within two days."

"No way, man, not me. I hate getting wet. There's no way I'm gonna do a rain dance or hope for rain. I'll only wish for rain if I'm burning alive."

The two older men laughed at the thought of Sandburg in flames, doing a rain dance. Then they turned serious.

"What do you think could have happened to Daryl, sir?" Blair asked Simon.

"I wish I had a clue. All I can do is hope he's still alive, not eaten by some wild animal."

"I'm sure he's okay, Simon. Besides, there's a guide out there with him. They'll be fine." Jim said with a reassuring smile. Although he didn't show it, but he was worried that the kid wasn't fine at all. There's no way he could outrun a lion or another predator. He just hoped that wasn't what the kid was up against.

The men fell silent for a couple of minutes. Then they slowly got up and put their trays away. They walked to the shopping area and looked around there. After a while, they got bored and decided to buy a cup of coffee and sit down somewhere.

10.05 a.m.

When it was time to board again, they walked to the gate and entered the plane. With Jim up front, they searched for their seats. 25A, B and C. Not much room for long legs this time. They were right in the middle of the plane, overlooking the huge wings. As before, Blair took the window seat, being the smallest and needing the least space for his legs. Jim sat down next to him and Simon across the aisle.

This time, Jim remembered to dial his hearing down before the plane took off from Schiphol Airport. The three talked for a while, until lunch arrived. After that, Blair put his earphones on and listened to his walkman, while reading a Anthropology book he got out of the library at Rainier University. Jim just closed his eyes and listened to all the sounds and feeling the vibrations of the plane. Simon took to reading the magazine in the front pocket.

About an hour later, the first movie started: The Recruit, with Al Pacino and Colin Farrell. All three watched the action packed movie, and afterwards they discussed the good and the bad things about the movie. Jim finally decided to go back to sleep, while Blair returned to his Anthropology book. Simon stayed awake, curious to know what the second movie was. It turned out to be a Dutch movie, called 'Liever Verliefd'. Simon checked out the in-flight magazine and read the part about the second movie. 'Rather in Love' is a romantic comedy about a girl who got dumped for the umpteenth time and decides never to fall in love again. However, she does manage to fall in love after all, with two men... Whatever. I'll watch it for a bit; see if it's worthwhile. After ten minutes of Dutch gibberish, he gave up and went back to his magazine.

Mt. Kilimanjaro Airport, Tanzania
Tuesday, 28th May, 8.48 p.m.

A couple of hours later, the plane once again started descending. As before, Jim woke because of the slight rise in cabin pressure. Blair looked up from his book. They both looked out the window. It was already getting dark. Just past the wing, they could see a couple of storm clouds with lightning flashing out of them. Apart from those few clouds, the sky – ground in their case – was clear. Here and there, Jim could discern campfires. After a while, they could see Mt. Kilimanjaro rise up. The captain made the usual speech about the weather at their destination.

The landing went smoothly and soon the three friends were out of the plane and felt the still warm and humid air in Tanzania, walking towards the airport building. They retrieved their bags, thankful that for once their bags was among the first load out of the aircraft.

They went straight to Car Rental, rented a Land Rover Defender 4WD, bought a map, and discussed about what to do.

"We probably should go to a hotel and go to Lake Manyara tomorrow." Banks told his companions, disappointed at arriving at 8.45 p.m. and not being able to go straight on to their final destination.

"Or, I could drive to Lake Manyara, you two get some sleep and we'll might even arrive before midnight," Jim said. When he saw the concerned look on his partner's face, he added: "I've had about 16 hours of sleep in the last 24 hours. I'm not tired at all. And besides, with me behind the wheel, you don't have to worry about dropping off the side of the road."

"That's exactly what I'm concerned about," Simon said with a grin. "With you behind the wheel, there's no telling where we'll end up. But you're right. You can get us there before anyone else can, and we'll be able to start searching for Daryl as soon as it's dawn."

The men got in the 4x4, with Blair next to Jim. "Just don't focus too much on the road and zone out on us, okay Jim?"

"That's why you're here, Chief. You have to keep me on the ground. But don't worry. It's not too dark, the moon's out."

With those words, he started the car and drove off. After a while, Blair and Simon dozed off. The first hour went by smoothly. There was an asphalt road, and it was in good shape. When they got in less inhabited areas, it turned into a sandy road. Occasionally the sleeping men awoke, as the car dropped into a pothole as wide as the road itself, so Jim couldn't possibly avoid it.

After another three hours, they entered something of a jungle. Ellison could smell the salty water of Lake Manyara. They had to be close now. When he came across a crossing, he checked the map before turning left. After a couple of miles of turns and potholes, which woke up his friends, Ellison could see a light up ahead, among the trees. They had arrived.

TO BE CONTINUED…