Author's Note: The Prompt for today's story was made by StormblazeP51
C is for Career Choice
Somedays Patch felt like she was trapped in molasses…that her whole life was wasting away while she manned a tower on the end of nowhere…It was days like that which really made her doubt her career choice.
As Patch hung up the phone with one of her high school friends, she knew it was going to be one of those days. She had barely gotten a word in as Bucky had chattered away talking about how he had gotten promoted to a shift supervisor at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta and about how his family was about to get a little bit larger with a pair of little tugs on their way. He rambled on about how two of their other friends had just gotten engaged and how a third had just successfully defended their dissertation for their Ph.D. When Bucky had finally run out of things to say he had finally paused to ask Patch what she had been up to the last couple years.
The thing was Patch was in the exact same place as she had been the last time Bucky had touched base. She was still spending her summers working for the park service and her winters dispatching for a ski resort in Colorado. She hadn't gotten a promotion, she hadn't gotten a boyfriend, she hadn't even gotten a dodging raise. So she had politely given her friend an update about her coworkers and then made an excuse that she really did need to get back to work before hanging up the phone. But instead of going back to work, she had stared blankly out of the window instead.
"Patch." Cabbie's steady voice broke through Patch's misery and brought her back into the moment. "I need you to lockdown the airspace between Canopy Dome and Railway Ridge from the Propeller Canyon turnoff to the edge of the park."
"Understood…" Patch replied on instinct as she reached towards a stack of preprinted forms. "I am preparing the NOTAM now, what notice should I include in the TFR?"
"We have a 10-56 attempt in progress…" Cabbie let the words hang because the old plane knew that he didn't have to spell things the code out for Patch. 10-56 meant that they had an active suicide attempt going on in the park.
"Ah…" Patch finally managed to squeak out.
"Dynamite is on the ground right now trying to diffuse the situation, but we need to make sure that we give her enough space to get the job done."
"Understood." Patch didn't let the concern seep into her voice, she instead focused on putting all of her focus on getting the job done. "NOTAM for Temporary Flight Restrictions region of Canopy Dome and Railway Ridge from Propeller Canyon turnoff to the edge of the park has been transmitted. TFR is for an emergency rescue mission. I say again, the TFR is for an emergency rescue mission."
"Thank you. I will keep you updated as the situation develops. "
With that, the team in the field focused on their work and Patch turned her full attention on hers. She shot off all of the required notifications and pulled up the needed paperwork. She listened to the calls that when over the radio and maintained the team's log. Patch had wrangled the most of the paperwork when most of the Piston Peak Air Attack team returned to base…but she wasn't going to leave her post until they were all back safe and sound.
It was nearly dark before Cabbie and Dynamite finally arrived back to base. Both vehicles looked exhausted, but it was also clear that they were both still feeling too unsettled to sleep. Cabbie ended up having Maru refuel him and then he took off into the starry sky to gain the peace he could only find while solo flying.
Dynamite, on the other tire, went hunting for Patch. The two vehicles had known each other long enough to know exactly what Dynamite needed at the moment. Pulling out the high grade that Patch kept hidden from the rest of base, she poured her friend a stiff drink before pouring herself a mug of high grade. The two vehicles drank silence until Dynamite was ready to pour out the day's pain and frustration. When that was done and the tin of oil was empty, Dynamite finally fell asleep pressed against the tugs side. Only then did Patch allow herself to also drift off to sleep.
…Days like today made Patch wonder about her choice of career, but in the end, it also reminded her exactly why she stayed…
