Author's Note: This prompt was suggested by PenNameArtist


L is for Landline


For Chief Blade Ranger there were a whole lot of benefits for living and working at Piston Peaks National Park. The scenery was some of the most spectacular in the world. His team worked hard and put their hearts into every fire the fought or rescue mission they participated in. Then there was the fact the Air Attack Base was far enough off the beaten path that the paparazzi had long lost interest trying to stalk it. Most of the time, Blade was truly felt blessed to have landed here…but then there were the days that reminded him why Piston Peaks was considered to be the worst firefighting billet in the National Park Service.

"You didn't answer your phone." Cad Spinner wasn't technically loud enough to be yelling at them, but the tone more than made up for it. The car had been sitting on the tarmac with Cabbie when Blade can come in for a landing, and from the plane's posture it was clear that the reason the Superintendent was parked on the tarmac was because the C-119 had stopped the car from getting into the hangers. While this had clearly protected the majority of the Air Attack Team from the Superintendent's ire it did, unfortunately, mean that Cad was right there to Blade a tongue lashing the moment his tires touched the tarmac. "I called your phone at least 30 times and you never picked up and now I have been put in a lurch!"

"If you would have bothered to call over the radio then you wouldn't be in this mess." Cabbie countered before the Chief even had a chance to open his mouth.

"Cabbie you are not helping." Blade shot his cargo plane a dagger-like glare but it was clear that the former warplane was on a roll.

"It seems like our Superintendent needs a lesson about how to use proper communication channels." The C-119 countered sarcastically with the hard edge of maliciousness in his voice.

"Cabbie…" Blade let his words hang in the air as he locked eyes with the plane, staring him down until Cabbie was the first to look away. When it was clear that the plane had gotten the message, Blade made sure to drive it home. "This isn't your fight right now, this isn't professional, and we will be talking about this later."

"Understood." Cabbie rolled back on his tires giving the Chief more space. While it was clear from the angle of his wings and propellers that the plane was still pissed, he had enough discipline not to interfere further… but that didn't stop the plane from remaining and hulking over the conversation.

Blade stifled a sigh, there was nothing that he could do about Cabbie being protective of the team, so it was time to turn his attention to the problem at hand. Taking a deep breath, he held his voice steady and tried to hold his voice steady as he spoke slowly. "Superintendent, the last time you flew did you remember how the flight attendants announced that you were not allowed to make calls with your cellphone while in fight?"

"Yes but…"

"Do you know why you had to put your phone on airplane mode?"

"So that you wouldn't disturb the people around you during the flight." Cad countered hotly, which caused Cabbie to snort and Blade to shot the plane another look of disapproval.

"It is because cellphone towers were never designed to be accessed from the air. The phone will try to access too many of the towers at one time and, depending on the aircraft's speed, it can actually cause the entire cell system to collapse." Blade spoke slowly and carefully in the vain hope that the information might actually sink in. "Radio towers, on the other tire, were specifically designed to handle air to air and air to ground traffic. As a result, radios are the primary way that aircraft communicate while they are on the wing."

Cad just glared at Blade, and had apparently ignored what he had just been told. "But that still doesn't change the fact that you answer your phone. You completely ignored me!"

"Cad." Blade had to physically stop himself from rolling his eyes when he realized why the Superintendent was so upset. "You do realize that that only two vehicles on base have cellphones, and they are Maru and Patch. The rest of the phones up here are landlines."

"That…" Cad Spinner actually spluttered at information Blade had just given. "That is just irresponsible! You must have a cellphone and just chose to ignore it"

Cabbie smirked "Why would an aircraft have a cellphone if they were unable to use them unless we are on the ground? Especially with cell coverage on base as bad as it is."

This of course was met by some incoherent sputtering on Cad Spinners part, which gave Blade the opening to usher Superintendent to his hanger to prove what that he was telling the truth. The helicopter suspected that the SUV was going to give him a tongue lashing for having out of date technology, but hopefully, once Cad ran out of steam he would finally leave Air Attack Team Base alone and let them get back to enjoying their corner of paradise.