"How long have we been in transit?" Garcia moaned dramatically as they walked out of the Customs and Immigration area of the Tallinn airport.
"We could have landed on the moon by now," Jack added.
"It has only been 11 hours, 55 minutes, and 37 seconds," Reid informed them authoritatively. "And that includes the 1 hour, 33 minutes, and 15 seconds layover in Frankfurt when we changed planes."
"That doesn't include the hour drive to the airport or the time we spent waiting in lines for Security, Passport Control, and Customs," Rossi pointed out.
"It's probably a good thing Tovah decided to stay at home with the little ones," Laurel observed. "I am so thankful she offered to take Sophia for the week. Although I can't imagine how she is going to handle all of them."
"She has her mother helping her," JJ reminded her. "And Will promised to stop by in the evenings to check and see if she needs any help."
"Well, our next challenge is getting to the hotel," Blake commented looking around the airport terminal. "It would appear that the sign over there is pointing towards the taxi stand."
"What language do they speak here, anyway?" Garcia asked.
"I already know I'm going to be shopping in Euros," she added excitedly.
"Poor Morgan!" JJ laughed. "He had better hurry up and get here before you manage to put a second mortgage on the house with all your shopping."
"The official language is Estonia, which belongs to the Finic branch of the Uralic languages," Reid told everyone.
"Although it does seem to share some linguistic characteristics of both German and Finnish," Blake added.
"I assume you are fluent in Estonia?" Garcia asked Reid innocently.
"Actually, yes," he replied blandly. "Although, I am still working on learning some of the common idioms. I assume that by the time we leave here I should be speaking it without any difficulty."
"Great!" Rossi told him. "Now, if you could find us a cab and tell the driver we need to go to the hotel?"
"Several cabs," Laurel amended the request. "With all of us and all of Paige's skating gear we are going to need lots of room."
"When are Dad and Uncle Derek going to get here?" Jack asked as they waited for the cab drivers to load their luggage.
"About two days," Garcia replied. "That is if they can get this case resolved in time."
"Not to mention the paperwork," Blake added. "Now that is one part of the job that I definitely don't miss!"
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
"This is really nice!" Paige exclaimed as she, Laurel, and Ian walked into the lobby of the beautifully designed, modern ice arena.
"It certainly is!" Ian agreed with her. "I assume its main function is as an ice hockey arena."
"It appears that some of the signage for the skaters is in English, as well as in several other languages," Laurel observed as she looked around. "Now, we just have to figure out where to go to sign in and pick up our credentials."
"Paige – Laurel – Ian - How good to see you again!" Joyce Takata was walking across the lobby towards them.
"Hello Joyce!" Laurel replied with a yawn. "Sorry, jet lag," she apologized.
"I know what you mean," Joyce replied. "I've been here for two days and I still have it."
"It's good to see you," Ian told the official. "I assume you are here to help get us signed in?"
"That's right," Joyce confirmed. "However, if you don't mind waiting a minute or two, Hannah Decker, her mother, Michelle, and coach, Don Wong, will be joining us. I can get everyone signed in together and then answer any questions you may have."
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Both Paige and Hannah were soon signed in and had their schedules for the competition.
"Okay, that's all set," Laurel breathed a sigh of relief. "Now we can go back to the hotel room and get some sleep."
"Hannah's first practice ice session is when?" Mrs. Decker was squinting at the schedule she had been handed.
"If I remember right, it is in about three hours," Joyce told her as she consulted her master schedule.
"That is not acceptable!" Mrs. Decker declared. "You have to get that changed!" She looked over at Don Wong. "Hannah needs to get her rest."
"I don't know about that – " Don began.
"It needs to be changed!" Mrs. Decker insisted again. "When is Paige's practice ice?" She looked over at Laurel.
"In about six hours," Laurel read off her page. "And, that means we need to get back to the hotel so she can lie down for a little while."
"That's the practice ice time we want," Mrs. Decker declared, glaring at both Joyce and Don.
"Let me see what I can do," Joyce looked over at the hapless coach. "Why don't you come with me and I'll see who we can talk to."