It's bad enough when Murdock flies one of these things, but at least he knows what he's doing!
- BA, "In Plane Sight"
Chapter 2: The Giant Awakes
Howlin' Mad Murdock pulled the lever down for the flaps control one more notch, to flaps 45, as he scanned the instruments. The dome-shaped Adler Planetarium and the hexagonal Shedd Aquarium loomed briefly in the windshield ahead of them before they soared over the two lakefront attractions at close range.
To the right, on the other side of the harbor, was the FieldMuseum . . . and just behind that was the historic Soldier Field. The stadium was built in the same spirit of the Daniel Burnham design, with tall columns that lined the massive structure, and served as the home of the Chicago Bears football team. During the fall and winter, anytime the Team was together on a Sunday and there wasn't a mission, there was often a battle for the remote control, which BA usually won and he made sure that the TV was tuned in so he could watch his hometown team.
The plane passed over the parking lot as they quickly approached the runway. It was only a matter of feet now . . .
At the instant that Murdock thought that the plane was going to touch down, he pulled back on the yoke. A couple of slight bumps confirmed to him that the rear tires had made contact with the runway. He then pushed the yoke forward until he could feel that the nose gear had also touched down. With no time to lose, he began to apply the brakes while cutting back on the engines.
The aircraft slowed and gently came to a stop at the end of the runway with only a few feet to spare. A wild grin appeared upon Murdock's face with how thrilling that landing was for him, which was matched by Hannibal with one of his famous "on the Jazz" grins. The two of them looked at each other for a second, and then looked back toward the cabin. Templeton Peck was still there in the opening that separated the cockpit from the passenger area . . . but he had covered his eyes! Hannibal could only laugh as he told the con artist, "You can look now, Face. We're on the ground in one piece."
Face parted a couple of his fingers on his hands, which he had used to cover his eyes, just to be sure that they weren't trying to pull one over on him. He didn't feel the plane moving anymore, and he could not only see the very tail end of the runway . . . which was closer than he would have liked . . . but also the water that lay beyond it. Letting out a very visible sigh of relief, which almost seemed to emanate throughout his entire body, he lowered his hands. "Next time to we have to fly to Chicago, security or no security, I'd rather take a commercial flight and land safely at O'Hare," he complained. "Anything so I don't have to see another landing like that again."
"You didn't see much of anything with your eyes covered," Hannibal laughed at the obvious discomfort of his Lieutenant. In spite of Face's reaction to the landing, the Colonel was actually enjoying all of this. Of course, Chicago had always been magical to him around Christmas since the time he was a kid.
Murdock returned his focus to the controls of the airplane, increasing power to the engines and began to taxi the craft over to the taxiway and the apron where other planes were parked. It gently rolled where he directed it as he tried to reassure his friend, "Awww, come on, Faceman, that landing was as smooth as silk . . . a laugh a minute . . . a walk in the park."
"Alright, Murdock!" Face quickly spouted, trying to keep the pilot from continuing to rattle off those little sayings. Sometimes, when Murdock got started on something, it was difficult to get him to stop, especially if it seemed to be his current obsession or fixation. Sometimes they could be helpful, especially when giving the hospital staff an excuse when busting him out of the VA, but other times it got on his nerves since he often had to be the one that dealt with them more directly than the other guys. He cast a glance toward the cabin behind him, and then returned his attention to the Colonel and the pilot, "Um, we may want to get this plane parked before sleeping beauty back there comes to."
Almost as if on cue, albeit a bad one, the snoring giant in the back began to wake up. His head, which had lulled to the side during the flight, began to right itself as his eyes fluttered open. As soon as the blurriness cleared from his vision, he began to look around. Based on the seats and the windows of the fuselage, he realized that he was in his worst possible nightmare! "I'm on a plane!" he bellowed.
Hannibal and Face exchanged a look that said a lot without any words being spoken. They knew that someone as going to have to calm down the muscular Sergeant, and they definitely didn't want to leave that task to Murdock. BA would probably end up strangling him, as he often threatened to do, which would put a crimp on his ability to fly them back to Los Angeles when this visit was over. Even if they had to drive back to warm, sunny, southern California at this point, they'd never hear the end of it at this point which would make the trip very unpleasant and miserable.
"Hannibal, I'm on a plane!" BA continued to shout from the back as he struggled against the seatbelts that kept him secured to the seat. Grunts could be heard as he continued to struggle, although if left to his own devices it wouldn't be long before he freed himself and took it out on the others. "I'm on a plane! You guys are gonna pay!"
Easing the plane into an open spot on the apron, Murdock ignored the threats from the mechanic as he started to power down the engines. BA was such a grouch about flying, mainly because of his fear of it. With such an intense fear, it was a wonder that he had even earned his paratrooper badge. Then again, a lot of things that Murdock had to do in the air while in Vietnam, in order to keep them all alive, just played into that fear.
There was one incident in particular that he recalled . . . the evacuation from Kham Duc. It was his first time back with the Team following his first CIA mission while in 'Nam, and he hadn't officially been assigned as their pilot. But, when Boomer got shot and was rendered unconscious, it had been up to ol' Howlin' Mad in order to save the day. He wound up having to climb into the front of the chopper from the back and tried to get them out of there . . . but not before a shoulder rocket was fired at them, causing Hannibal to fly out of the open door. Thankfully, he had managed to grab onto a skid to keep himself from plummeting to the ground, but that incident was more than enough to intensify and justify the Sergeant's fear of flying.
He began to shut down the power as he turned to the Colonel and suggested, "Do you think music would soothe this savage beast?"
Hannibal's eyes practically lit up at the idea from the pilot. Murdock may have been deemed insane by the state, but he was a certifiable genius! Sometimes, the ideas that he had were absolutely brilliant, a true testament to the extraordinary level of intelligence that he often hid behind the mask of his crazy antics. The two of them often related to each other in ways that the others couldn't quite understand, much to BA's dismay, especially when the Colonel often played along with and encouraged the Texan's various personas and obsessions. "Thanks, Murdock! I think a touch of Christmas cheer is just what our resident Grinch needs at the moment."
Climbing out from the co-pilot seat, Hannibal stuck his unlit cigar back in the left breast pocket of his safari jacket. He knew that smoking a cigar at the moment would only serve to make BA that much more irate. The Sergeant had said on more than one occasion how he didn't like those "smelly cigars," but like the others he put up with it because the Colonel was the man with the plans, and they had all seen how he often thought better and came up with ideas when he had a fresh cigar wedged between his teeth. His grin grew bigger than ever as he passed Face, strolling into the cabin of the plane as he merrily hummed, "Deck the Halls." Inwardly, he hoped that his choice of a Christmas tune wouldn't give the muscular mechanic any ideas . . .
Spotting his commander walk into the cabin, BA wiggled against the tightened seatbelts that much more forcefully. He clearly wasn't happy, and his face was scrunched up with anger as he growled, "I warned ya, sucker! I warned ya what I was gonna do if you got me on a plane again!"
Ceasing his humming, Hannibal pointed an accusing finger straight at his Ordinance Officer. "Stow that, Sergeant!" he ordered in an authoritative tone. One thing about Sergeant Bosco Baracus . . . although he didn't necessarily like or agree with certain things, especially when it came to flying, anytime Hannibal issued an order he followed it. Time to use that to his advantage. "You were the one who wanted to come to Chicago and be with your mom this Christmas, and you were the one who insisted that we take the last mission. If we hadn't taken that case, then we could have drove here with plenty of time to spare. Because we did, we wouldn't have made it here to Chicago in time for the holidays if Murdock didn't fly us."
BA glanced down to the floor of the cabin and let out a bit of a sigh. The expression on his face relaxed as he softly apologized, "Sorry, Hannibal." He knew the Colonel was right. A kid from the Watts Challenger's Club had been in trouble, and BA couldn't say no to helping him since he often pitched in around the center whenever he had an opportunity. He had practically threatened the others to join in and take the case. If they hadn't helped him, the kid would have ended up in jail, and they would have had plenty of time to drive to Chicago.
Seeing that the mechanical genius wasn't about to knock his head off, Hannibal undid the straps that securely kept the Sergeant in place. "You know, BA," Hannibal began to mention as he unfastened the top strap, giving the burly man a bit more breathing room, and then started working on the straps securing his arms. "This would be so much easier if you could get over your fear of flying."
Once his arms were free, BA reached up to rub his sore neck. He growled a bit at Hannibal's suggestion, and then noted, "No way, man. If people were meant ta fly, they would've been born with wings." In spite of his intense fear of flying, he certainly had a point. People were not naturally made to fly, but there were some like Murdock who took to it like a fish to water and seemed most in their element when they were behind the controls of a plane or a chopper.
Hannibal nodded to the Sergeant, finding logic within his words, and then turned toward the front of the plane when he heard movement up there. He noticed Murdock and Face, preparing to open the airplane door and lower the steps. He tried hard to suppress a grin as he watched their reactions upon opening the door. A blast of bitter cold air hit the two of them, causing Murdock to jump around so much that he looked like he had swallowed a whole jar of Mexican jumping beans. Face instantly wrapped his arms around his torso for warmth, but to no avail. He shivered so much that his teeth were chattering loud enough for Hannibal and BA to hear!
Once the stairs were fully lowered, both the pilot and the con artist made a mad dash for the warmth of the tan and glass terminal building. Colonel Smith watched the two scurry off like they had bullets flying in their direction and let out a hearty laugh. He proceeded to the back of the plane and pulled out some of the bags they had put on board before taking off from the Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles.
After watching Murdock and Face, even BA managed to crack a small smile and giggled slightly at their hasty retreat from the plane. Unfortunately, that moment of enjoyment in their discomfort faded as he recalled how miserable and unpleasant both Face and Murdock were when they got sick. And then, in typical fashion, they would pass their colds off to the rest of them. Hannibal . . . oh jeez, when he got a cold? He was the definition of extremes when he got nailed with an illness. The normally bright, cheerful, and playful leader was worse than the rest of them combined!
Unzipping the first bag, Colonel Smith reached in and pulled out a warm winter parka! In fact, from the look of it, there had been four of them within the bag. He handed BA one of the parkas, watching as he slipped it on, and then started to put the other one on, making sure to zip it up to block out as much of the cold as possible.
As BA watched Hannibal put on his winter coat, he noticed the other three bags that hadn't been opened. They were bigger than the rucksacks they used to have while in the Army, and seemed to be packed to the gills with how the fabric was jutting out in various different spots and at different angles in at least two of the bags. The third was a complete mystery, causing the Sergeant to ask, "What's in those?"
Hannibal didn't react when BA had asked that question and zipped up the bag that held the remaining two jackets. He gathered that one up, along with the other bag that was packed, but not with objects sticking out from it. "Well, since you asked BA, this one here has some ordinance. Your mom did say that she was watched during the holidays, so it's better that we brought some firepower, just in case," Hannibal began to mention as he gestured to one of the bags that he hadn't picked up. He then pointed to the other one that he didn't grab as he noted, "That one has the presents we picked up for your mom."
There was one bag that Hannibal hadn't mentioned yet . . . one of the two that he had slung over his shoulder. The Colonel had already anticipated the potential of running into the MPs or other authorities, but he didn't think that the strategist would automatically want to get into a firefight with them if he could avoid it. No, for situations like this, Hannibal usually preferred a more subtle approach . . . and that thought made BA shudder slightly since things usually backfired. "What about that last bag you got?" he decided to ask.
"Oh, this one?" Hannibal asked with a mischievous grin on his face, feigning innocence. He knew the exact contents, and wasn't going to let the cat out of the bag with this one just yet. They'd all just have to wait to find out what he had in store . . . but one thing for sure, it was going to be fun, and he couldn't wait to see the expressions on their faces once they realized what was inside. "This one has a surprise that'll help us get past the MPs to see her."
BA recognized the look on his commander's face and shook his head. Hannibal was clearly on the Jazz, and BA had a feeling he wasn't going to like the surprise that the Colonel had lined up. The leader was just as crazy as Murdock was sometimes, and this time probably wasn't going to be an exception. And here he thought that Hannibal sneaking Mike, the skunk, into the van was bad . . .