Disclaimer: I don't own Planes, this was looked over by my wonderful beta Theolaterose99, and any mistakes left are mine alone.
Chapter 9- Under Your Own Power
For the third night in a row, Blade Ranger didn't sleep much. The first night it was because the park was in flames, the second was because it was incredibly difficult to sleep during a gale. Tonight, well tonight it was because the night crew was out and about.
Anyone who tells you that airplanes don't work a fire at night is lying. Yes, tankers required day light to successfully hit their targets, but there were some missions that were best preformed in the dark of night…like thermo imagining. At the moment there was a forest service Cessna Citation Bravo crisscrossing the sky over Piston Peak. If Blade squinted he could pick out the cuneiform tail against the stars and the Chief could hear her humming softly to herself as she worked if he tuned to the right channel.
The road crew below him was a whole lot easier to pick out. They had their big spotlights out to make the work easier. The rumble heavy equipment echoed off the cliffs and the irregular crash of trees being pulled to earth provided a constant sound track to their work. It was clear that the road crew was working hard and making progress, but the forest was dense and even at their current breakneck speed it was going to take at least another 24 hours before the narrow emergency road would reach the crash site.
Cabbie was vaguely aware of the work going around him, but mainly just allowed himself to drift in and out of sleep. Even the sharp discomfort of removing each one of his various pistons barely caused him to take a quick intake of breath. But even when something hurt, Cabbie had enough practice staying still while getting emergency repairs that he never budged.
There were a few voices that drifted in whenever he was on the verge of consciousness. Some were familiar. There was Pinecones gentle drawl, and Dynamite's everything is okay voice. Blackout's dialogue was peppered with quite a bit of Spanish which usually meant that he was either completely sloshed or exhausted. Given the situation Cabbie suspected it was the later. Then there was Avalanche. The plane suspected that he would be able to hear Avalanche even if he was in the valley over. Listening to four of his little ground powders argue was soothing, though the fact that he hadn't heard Drip speak up yet kind of made Cabbie worry. A quiet Drip usually meant that something was truly wrong with the universe.
There were a few unfamiliar voices too. In particular there was a gruff voice that Cabbie assumed was the mechanic working on him. It made the old C-119 desperately wish that Maru was here. After all there were not many tugs that Cabbie truly trusted with his engines under the best of circumstances. After having his inners exposed to the weather by a group of clueless mechanics the plane was feeling particularly cantankerous. Still beggars couldn't be choosers and all Cabbie could do at the moment was try to sleep through the worse of the repairs and pray that he would be capable of flight by morning.
Maru was pacing again. It was an impressive feat given just how little space there was to pace inside of the tower, especially given the fact there was currently two tugs in there.
"Go to bed before you wear a hole in my floor." Patch was currently giving Maru her best, where you raised in a Mine glare…which usually meant that she was more concerned than the dispatcher would ever admit.
"I am not that bad." Maru crossed his tines and stuck out his tongue in return.
"Oh, yes you are." Patch roll her eyes at him then waved at the door before turning her full attention back to her computer. "Go to bed because Chrysler knows how much sleep you are going to get once we get our broken aircraft back to base."
"Hopefully only one of them is going to be actually broken when they get back to base." The mechanic added thoughtfully.
"And that is really going to stop you from doing a complete engine tear down on Blade whenever you get a chance, not even mention what you are going when you get a hold of Cabbie's pistons. I wouldn't be surprised if you keep him ground for a full week while you make sure that every single one of his bolts was tightened correctly."
"True, true. Perhaps…" Maru started, only to find himself bumper to bumper with Patch glaring him down with a look that was all business.
"Go to sleep!"
Occasionally, even Maru could admit when he was out maneuvered and the mechanic finally vacated the tower. He headed back down to his own hanger and figuring that he could go through his tool to make sure that he had everything he needed on hand. He actually got started on the task, but then, Patch had put on the soothing music and the next thing that Maru knew was the inside of his eyelids.
"Come on Cabbie, we know you are in there. Time to wake up for us." It was Dynamite's drawl that finally broke through Cabbie's restless sleep. Even though it felt like he was trying to fly up through molasses he forced his eyes open. He was greeted by the sight of all five of smokejumpers sitting in front of him. The old plane was so relieved; he almost relaxed enough to go back to sleep, but his little gravel munches were persistent little buggers when they put their minds to it.
"There you, Amigo." Blackout spoke trying to provide Cabbie a verbal anchor for him to cling to.
"WE WERE STARTING TO GET WORRIED." Avalanches thunder was loud enough that it proved that Cabbie's headache was still throbbing behind his eyes. The plane winced but it seemed like he managed to keep his smokejumpers from noticing…unfortunately he didn't manage to keep the mechanic who had been working on him from noticing.
"What's hurting?" The gruff apparatus gave him a thoughtful glare. Cabbie opened his mouth to speak, then remembered that his intakes might still be scattered around on the floor and thought better of that. That earned him an eye roll for the apparatus. "You can talk."
"It…" Cabbie's voice squeaked from disuse. "It is just a bit of a headache. Nothing to worry about."
"You will speak up if it gets any worse."
"Yes, Sir." He barked. The apparatus met Cabbie's steady look for a couple a moments and then, when he was apparently satisfied he transferred his glare to the jumpers.
"Clear out you lot. We've got some tests to do."
Two other road crews had joined the heavy equipment that worked for Piston Peak National Park. One of them wore the livery of the county, and Blade suspected if he flew close enough he probably would be able to pick out some familiar faces. The other crew, well, Blade didn't recognize but they seemed to be work seamlessly with both the Piston Peak and the county teams. With the three teams switching off who was taking point on the road they were cutting through the landscape faster than the Air Attack Chief would have ever suspected would be possible.
Test, Cabbie grumbled to himself, was mechanic speak for what types of creative torture can we put unsuspecting planes through. Whether the word was uttered by Maru or, Clive the apparatus who was currently poking at parts under his cowls Tests=a whole world of hurt. Still Cabbie was willing to grin a bare it because it was far better to find a flaw in repair job or a piece that wasn't fitting right on the ground, and then having to deal with a later emergency in the air.
Cabbie spun up his engines for what felt like the 100th time. There was still something wrong with them. There were some parts that were rubbing just a little bit wrong, which caused everything to run rough and his fuel consumption to be atrocious. That said, at this point Cabbie considered all of the aching to be a good type of pain because every time he faced it he was just a little bit closer to heading back into the skies.
"You ready to go home?" Clive asked once Cabbie had cut his engines and the thunder of his props had finally died down.
"Really?" Cabbie couldn't keep himself from blinking in surprise.
"Yep, from where I sit, you are about as put together as you are going to get until we get you back to your mechanic."
It would be amazing to get back home. To settle his tires on familiar tarmac and sleep off the memory of the last couple of days in his own hanger, but there was one thing that caused the big plane to pause. "My smokejumpers?"
"What about them?" The apparatus yawned clearly not taking the situation seriously.
"They are my responsibility I can't just leave them behind."
"Why don't you make your wingman take them?" Clive said with a roll of his eyes.
Pickles chose that moment to poke his nose into the hanger with a grin. "You didn't really think that we would let you head back the Attack Base solo did you?"
Maru hadn't realized that he had fallen asleep until Patch woke him with a good thunk on the hood. Startled into full awareness Maru went into full emergency mode trying to locate what he needed to repair.
"Calm down, you didn't oversleep." Patch sighed with eye roll, while handing Maru a steaming cup of Joe. The mechanic gave the mug a suspicious look, which caused Patch to give him another eye roll. "I didn't poison it you big oaf."
"You add flavored creamers to everything." Maru glared back as he took a sip of the hot bitter liquid and determined that Patch had in fact given it to him black. "That fact alone makes any mug you handle suspect."
"Honestly, you are the strange one. I mean who actually enjoys burnt coffee."
"Cabbie." Maru smirked.
"Can't argue with that one." Patch yawned. It was true for some strange reason Cabbie seemed to prefer coffee that was so over roasted that it was barely drinkable by civilized sort. Luckily none of the personal at the Piston Peak Air Attack Base could be classified as civilized so they were perfectly satisfied to drink gallons of the firehouse brew. "I think we can blame the Air Force for permanently destroying his taste buds."
"Given your lack of military experience I guess that means you never had a sense of taste to begin with." Maru countered, which earned him a sharp wrap on the hood. "Ouch, that hurt."
"Good." Patch stuck her tongue out at him. Then here expression got more serious. "As much as I would like continue this conversation about heathenistic ways, I just wanted to give you a heads up that Cabbie got flight clearance to fly back to base. ETA, 45 minutes."
In the end, it was decided that Cabbie would take one passenger back to base. Drip was still pretty groggy from getting a pair of sheared bolts repaired and the mechanics were nervous about the strain that a jump would cause on his suspension. The rest of the kids, though, were currently packed in Pickles roomy haul.
Take off had been uneventful. Pickles had gone first so that the runway would be clear, just in case Cabbie had needed to make a quick landing. From the start it was clear that the old plane's engines were running pretty rough. Still they were running smooth enough to travel the relatively short distance back to the Piston Peaks Attack Base and the only reason Cabbie was going to turn around now was if he was going to put Drip in danger. That didn't stop Pickles from giving a couple of long concerned glances before the bigger plane took the lead of their little formation, creating turbulents providing Cabbie with gentle lift that helped to cut his abysmal fuel consumption.
"Fife One Papa, Papa, Fox, do you need any vectoring for your approach?" Patch's radio transition interrupted Cabbie's worrying about just how fuel he was chewing through.
"Tower…Patch, how many times have I landed at the base airstrip?" Cabbie sighed.
"A couple of hundred at least."
"And what makes you think I need help this time?" He drawled in reply as the old plane circled the runway and prepared to line himself up to land.
"Point taken." Patch didn't miss a beat. "Would you like me to put out some obstacles out there for you instead? Some trash cans maybe, or perhaps an oil slick or two?"
"An oil slick would be lovely, unfortunately I don't think that you have enough time to deploy it." The old C119 allowed himself a low chuckle. "Cabbie on final."
Cabbie's landing was flawless, which was a good thing because after the past 48 hours the aircraft wasn't sure just how many more 'incidents' he could take. He let himself roll across the tarmac eating up his momentum until he gradually came to a complete stop. The warm asphalt warmed his tires, and Cabbie sighed, thankful to finally be home. It was a perfect little moment, which of course meant someone needed to come along and spoil it.
"Col, I know that you are exhausted but I really need you to get your butt off the tarmac for me." Pickles prodded and Cabbie had to keep himself from groaning.
"Hold your horsepower, and give me a minute."
"One Mississippi, two Mississippi…"
"Okay, Pickles, I get the picture and I am moving my old aft of the runway." Cabbie forced himself to roll of the tarmac and over to the side of the runway. Once he was clear he gave a mock glare up at the large cargo plane circling above him. "Happy now?"
"That is much better." Pickles grinned down, then lined up for the drop. "Bombs away."
A few moments later a series of yellow and orange parachutes blossomed out of Pickles back hatch. Cabbie eyes followed everyone as they drifted down. He usually didn't get to see his ground pounders jumping from this angle. It was kind of fun to watch…not that he was going to ever admit that out loud. Especially in front of any of said ground pounders. Knowing them they would find some something tall to jump off in order to 'entertain' Cabbie sometime in the future.
Aerospace Note: Well, we have gotten Cabbie safely back to base which means that this story is rapidly coming to a close. We only have one more chapter and an epilogue to go! But before we move on to bigger and better things it is time for today's aerospace note. Here are the world's busiest airports base on number of passengers. Take a look and see how many of them you have been too.
#6. London Heathrow Airport-74,989,795 passengers-While we only focused on the top five airports for cargo given the high number of readers in the United Kingdom it made sense to dip down to 6th place to include Europe busiest airport.
#5. Tokyo Haneda Airport- 75,316,718 passengers- Also know as Tokyo International is used as the primary hub for business travel into and out of Asia. I also know from personal experience it is also an excellent place to pick up some sushi when you are transferring flights.
#4. O'Hare International Airport- 76,942,493 passengers- Often challenging Atlanta for the most take off and landings, O'Hare tends to handle smaller planes and thus smaller passenger numbers. But the distinction that causes O'Hare to be a bit notorious is the fact that nearly 20% of the all flight cancellations or delays in the United States occur at that airport. So if you are flying in or out of Chicago make sure to bring a good book.
#3. Dubai International Airport- 78,014,841 passengers- Connecting east and west, north and south, Dubai moves a whole lot of passengers through it's halls. But while it only takes third on passengers it can boast the largest terminal in the world. Calculated by floor area Terminal 3 is the second largest building in the world. Add the fact that Dubai International is able to move all those people using only two runways and it makes this airport pretty remarkable.
#2. Beijing Capital International Airport- 89,938,628 passengers- Even though this airport is a bit smaller than Dubai, after it renovations for the Beijing Olympics it sits solidly as the worlds second largest terminal set up. With the rapid growth this airport might take the number one spot in the near future.
#1. Drum roll please...Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport- 101,491,106 passengers- Handling more than 260,000 passengers per day this airport not only has the highest number of people heading through its terminals but handles the highest number of take offs and landings as well. As Delta's world hub this airport is not only a major US airport but also a major link between continents.