Chapter 8: Heading Westward

The next morning, the John F. Kennedy airport was still illuminated artificially only when an airliner was pushed back from its gate to taxi to the runway, its crew being unaware of the five uncaged animals in the baggage compartment. Another animal, a short rat, came running onto the airfield and could only watch the aircraft move away from where it had been standing a few minutes ago.

"Aw shoot!" Allan cursed in between panting. "So much about getting a pigeon being easy in this city. That's what you get when you've got to run all the way."

He suddenly felt a strong wind from behind and heard a female voice from the same direction. "Excuse me, but you tried to catch the flight to Las Vegas?"

Allan turned around and saw a female albatross towering over him. She wore an aviator cap and a pair of goggles and had a sardine can tied to her back. "Sorry, my bad," she apologized, "I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Amelia."

"Yes, indeed, Amelia," Allan replied, "I need to get to Las Vegas as early as possible."

"Oh, that won't be easy from here. The next direct flight to Las Vegas won't depart until in four hours."

"Four hours? That's awfully long."

"But," Amelia offered, "I can take you to Philadelphia where you can catch a much earlier flight with one stop in St. Louis. I'm flying that direction anyway, transfer flight to Key West for the RAS."

For a moment, Allan wished he had the time to spend the rest of the winter and part of the following spring on the Florida Keys instead of New York City. But he directed his mind back upon his duty. "Okay, I'm coming with you."

"Then get on board quickly. The humans don't like having birds as big as me on their airports." Amelia helped Allan into the sardine can. "When you're seated, close the can with the key so that you're secured."

"Alright, Ma'am." Allan did as he was ordered and furthermore stuffed his plaid hat into his jacket before Amelia took off the clumsy albatross way. Not for one single moment did he consider it a misuse that an albatross from Albatross Airlines, a subsidiary of the Rescue Aid Society, helped him accomplish his mission. After all, he was fighting evil. To him, the reason did not matter.

"Say," he wondered, "how come an albatross knows so much about human flight plans?"

Amelia answered, "Have you ever taken a look at the sky on a normal working day? Do you know how crowded it is up here? It was one of the reasons why my granduncle Orville is doing his service in Louisiana and refuses to come to the Northeast today. We simply need to know where and when it's safe to fly so we don't endanger the agents we're carrying. That, and we're often riding human planes on urgent or long-distance missions."

Hours later, while Francis was on his flight from Philadelphia and a jet plane with another three rats aboard left Chicago, the landing strip at the Rescue Rangers Headquarters began to show some activity in the early morning sunshine. The nine Rescue Rangers were hauling their luggage and the equipment needed for Field Headquarters to their two aircraft.

"Hey Chip," Gadget said with a smile, "remember the times when Dale used to take nothing but candy bars and comic books with him when we went on a longer journey?"

"Oh yes," Chip replied, "but he hasn't cut down on comic books as much as he has on candy."

"Hey," Dale protested, heaving his bag into the Rangerplane, "the only reason you're not getting yourself new Sureluck Jones books is that there aren't any new ones written anymore."

Upon hearing this, Chip reconsidered telling the other Rangers what he had heard a few days ago, namely that Roger Baskerville was continuing his father's crafts and about to release the first new Sureluck Jones novel. In fact, it was first-hand information from his dog Macduff who informed the leader of the Rangers as soon as he was sure enough about it. Macduff even promised to send Chip one of the first rodent editions of the novel as soon as it would be released in the United Kingdom.

Chip figured that once his Sureluck Jones collection started growing again, he would have much less to say against Dale's comic collection. Besides, he himself read more than one author's detective novels, too, and even some Sureluck Jones fan fiction written by both humans and animals. Recently, however, he found less time for reading as his relationship with Gadget kept him more occupied. But although he had to lead the Rescue Rangers on yet another mission, one that even led them to Las Vegas, he took another detective novel with him.

"Outta the way, everyone!" Through the hangar door and out onto the platform came Monty. He carried a bag so large that he was unable to see anything ahead of him, but he managed to find the Rangerplane's starboard side. "'ey Dale lad, can yer 'elp me?"

Dale saw the huge bag before he saw Monty behind it. "Chip, how come Monty's allowed to take so much with him, and I'm not?"

For this question, he got another bonk on the head from Chip, mostly out of tradition, though. "That's not Monty's luggage, that's our Field Headquarters equipment! Now go help him."

"Okay, okay, I'm gone." Dale stomped away, climbed onto the Rangerplane, and heaved up the bag to put it onto the seat next to the pilot while Monty pushed from below. Foxglove, who had already taken her seat on the Rangerplane, got up and felt Dale's muscles work in his arms and his body. Dale turned his head around, gave his bat a smile, and tore the heavy bag all the way up alone, lifting it out of Monty's hands.

Chip stood and stared in amazement. Gadget was hardly less amazed, she laid her arm around him and said, "Love can give you super-powers, hm?"

A few motions of his later, Chip held her on his arms as if to carry her over the doorstep after their wedding. "Indeed, Gadget, it does."

"Chip," Gadget expressed her being surprised, "what are you doing there?!"

"Practicing," he replied as he took her to the Rangerwing and carefully placed her onto the pilot seat. She felt tempted to ask him what he practiced for, but a part of her mind knew it quite well, even though he hadn't spoken a single word about it. For a moment, she wished he would.

She went through the pre-flight checklist while he sat down next to her. Seeing that she was busy, he addressed to her sister who sat behind her. "Is everyone ready, LaWahini?"

"Wait." The former Hawaiian mouse got up and shouted, "Last call for the Ranger flight to Las Vegas! Everyone please get aboard!"

The last two to leave the Headquarters were Sparky and Tammy. Both sat down on the Rangerwing's backseat, Sparky in the middle and Tammy behind Chip. "What, we're flying to Las Vegas?" the lab rat asked.

LaWahini rolled her eyes. "Sparky, we've talked about it all morning, not to mention all evening yesterday. Don't tell me you've forgotten it again."

Sparky gently nudged her. "Hey, I was just kidding. I guess I'm as excited to see Las Vegas as everyone else here."

"Don't forget we've got a job to do," Chip reminded him and the others. "I'd like you to concentrate on the case." Something about traveling to Las Vegas actually made him feel uncomfortable, something he couldn't quite put a finger on. Deep inside, he wished the Rangers could bring this case behind themselves and leave Las Vegas as quickly as possible. But no matter how hard he tried, there was no way he could give a reasonable explanation for this desire. It was just simply there.

"Everyone aboard, Chip," LaWahini approved after checking the Rangerplane which stood in front of the Rangerwing.

"Thanks, LaWahini. Monty, are you ready?"

"Fer sure, Chipper!" the Aussie mouse shouted back from the Rangerplane's pilot seat.

"Well, then—Rescue Rangers, away!"

Monty unlocked the Rangerplane's clockwork drive, Gadget started up the Rangerwing's two tilting electric motors, and the two aircraft took off. They flew across the city and approached the airport against the wind to catch their flight. And indeed, when they entered the airfield, an airliner was taxiing onto the runway.

"That's the one! We're right in time!" Gadget motioned Monty to follow her.

"Are you sure, Gadget?" Tammy asked.

"Of course I am. The time is right, the airline is right, even the aircraft model is right."

"You know all this?"

"Sure, the Rangers always have a set of up-to-date flight schedules at hand."

Chip added, "And we have to rely on them, we can't check in like humans who then are automatically directed to the right plane."

LaWahini laid back and sighed. "I take it we're gonna ride in the gear well again, right?"

Gadget turned back to where her sister was sitting. "Right. But at least we're not going all the way to Hawaii this time."

"Gadget, ten wild horses couldn't drag me back to Hawaii. Now would you please look ahead to where we're flying before we hit something? Thank you very much."

The airliner had just stopped at the end of the runway when the two Ranger aircraft reached it and attached themselves to one of the main landing gears, the Rangerplane using the pair of suction cups, the Rangerwing securing itself with the grappling arm which was usually hidden in its belly, but Gadget kept its motors running as long as it was outside. They weren't a second too early, for as soon as they firmly clung to the gear, the human pilots slammed the throttles, and the two jet engines under the wings unleashed a storm in which no animal aircraft would be able to survive.

Monty put his goggles over his eyes. "Foxy," he advised the bat on the Rangerplane's backseat, "ya'd better keep yer wings ta yerself, it's gonna get pretty stormy, an' I don't want ya ta be blown outta the plane. 'ave ya fastened yer seat belt?"

"Yes, Monty," Foxglove confirmed. She had been through a lot of adventures with the Rangers, but none of them required piggybacking on a human airliner. "Uh, won't Zipper have troubles?"

"Nah, he always finds somethin' ta 'old on ta, no need ta worry, lass."

"Oh, he doesn't have to. Hey Zipper, come here."

The plane had already started rolling when Zipper released his grip from one of the balloon straps and flew to Foxglove. She caught him and carefully laid a wing over him, gently pressing him against herself and protecting him against the fierce winds blowing from ahead and growing stronger with the plane accelerating.

Dale smiled. "Y'know, Foxy, I sometimes wish I was as tiny as a fly. Then you could do that with me."

"Aw, Dale, you're too sweet." Foxglove sat and smiled at the chipmunk next to her. And the very moment the gears were retracted and the hatch shut below the Rangers, keeping the wind outside, it was safe enough for her to lean over and give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Are we still complete?" Monty called out. "Gadget luv, yer there?"

The Rangerwing's spotlight lit up the dark well. "Yes, here I am, Monty," Gadget responded, "and we're complete." She directed the Rangerwing down onto a safe spot on the landing gear and shut down the motors, but the grappling arm remained in use.

"Great Scott," Sparky commented and blinked, "I knew I should have taken my lab goggles with me."

"Goggles?" LaWahini wondered. "Why haven't you just closed your eyes, Sparky?"

"Oh yes, now that you mention it, I think I could have done that, too."

LaWahini couldn't help but smile about that answer. Sometimes, Sparky reminded her of her own sister, even if he was harder to deal with at times. He had something about him that she liked, whatever it was. And it was certainly none of the three main things he had in common with her ex-boyfriend Shaka Baka which were that they both were rodents, tall, and blond.

The howling of the engines and the whistling of the wind in the sealed gaps of the hatch below the Rangers was something which LaWahini felt she could get used to. It made sitting in a rodent aircraft in an almost dark gear well somehow calming and comfortable.

She relaxed and leaned against the laboratory rat next to her. "Chip," she spoke, "allow me to ask one question."

"Sure, LaWahini. You're still new, so go ahead."

"Why are we flying to Vegas that early? I mean, according to Allan, this self-proclaimed Greatest Thief in the World is traveling in an RV. So how quickly can he arrive in Vegas?"

"LaWahini, we Rescue Rangers must be prepared for everything. The earlier we're there, the more time we've got to set up our Field Headquarters, and to organize our operation. Besides, you never know in advance what may happen."

"I see. Well, I guess there's really a lot for me to learn."

Indeed, Chip figured, it was a lot. For example, she sometimes forgot that she was part of a team and acted on her own without any coordination with the other Rangers. And when she did so, she didn't even act like a Ranger. She had an alarmingly offensive way of going through cases.

Chip knew that he could hardly tame her, her who had tried to kill him in an artificial butane-burning volcano many years ago. He was the leader of the Rescue Rangers, but LaWahini showed a significant lack of obedience and respect towards her new leader. On the other hand, there seemed to be someone who might be able to achieve that. Chip could impossibly ignore the way LaWahini's head rested against Sparky, and how he unconsciously laid his arm around her.

'Gadget's semi-ferocious twin sister and the team's quirky science nerd. I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it with my own eyes.'