Chapter 2
"December 21st, 1988 (Day)"
Now it was five months after that conversation did this story truly begin, at least on my end. It was a few days before Christmas and it had been a few months since my son, Tim, decided to stay here in Ryme City with me and my partner, Detective Pikachu, to solve crimes here. Honestly, if it weren't for Mewtwo, this would not have been possible at all. Thankfully, it did happen and now we were preparing for our first Christmas as father and son.
"What do you think, Pik?" I asked as I looked over our Christmas tree. "Just right?"
"Pika!"
"Yeah, I think so, too."
"Yeah, I have to agree with Pikachu here," added Tim. "Feels like we are getting back something we lost long ago, isn't it?"
Of course, the Christmas tree was more than just to mark the holiday, but the start of something new in our family. Nothing but being side by side, solving mysteries and drinking coffee.
"Too bad mom isn't here," Tim remarked, much to our dismay.
"Yeah, I know. Wonder how they celebrate Christmas upstairs?"
I then proceeded towards one of the bookshelves where I saw the picture of my wife when she was pregnant with Tim. Oh, how I missed her greatly. We both missed her.
"Probably no different than down here, I suppose," Tim said. "Being that it is JC's birthday and all. You up for Christmas Eve mass on Saturday night?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" I chuckled as we proceeded into the kitchen. "Loo was nice enough to give us both Christmas and New Year's off so we can spend it as a family."
"Pika."
Of course, this wasn't the only reason as it had also been some time since Tim had been dating that reporter who helped bring down Howard Clifford, the man responsible for my near death experience. There was that Psyduck of hers who would explode when it got stressed, but I've gotten used to it.
It seemed like nothing could keep us from celebrating Christmas together…or was it?
…
Meanwhile, over at London's Heathrow Airport, it was around noon when the Clipper Maid of the Seas, a Boeing 747, touched down after a flight from Los Angeles via San Francisco. Back then, Pan Am was in dire financial straits and the fact that it was a terrorist target didn't seem to help at all. Parking over in Terminal 3, it was to remain at Stand K16 until later that night when it would become Pan Am Flight 103 destined for New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport departing at 6:00pm local time.
Inside Terminal 3, holidaymakers were in the mad dash to make it home for the Christmas holidays and among those were 35 Syracuse University Students who had been studying abroad in England and Italy. They were all young people, roughly around Tim's age with futures ever so bright for them, there was also businesspeople either going home for the holidays or going to New York for some last minute business. What made this sickening was that they would not even be the intended targets for why Flight 103 would be attacked. You see, there were people that were targeted for death by Team Rocket either for personal reasons by some of its agents or because they were a threat to the organization as a whole.
. The first targets on Flight 103 were scheduled to sit in the Clipper Maid of the Seas First Class Cabin: 35-year-old Max Jordan, a corporate business executive and his assistant, 28-year-old Scarlett Antonelli who would be seated in Seats 5A and 5B. They had just been at a business lunch in central London where Max needed a customer to sign papers.
He had asked Scarlett to wear her favorite outfit of hers: a black short sleeved vest with white trimming over a matching black sleeveless minidress, complemented with black pantyhose and the aforementioned slingback high heel stilettos.
Why do I bring these people up? Again, because they were specifically targeted.
"You just had to bring me along for Larry to sign the papers," Scarlett remarked as she tried to keep up with her boss in her high heel slingback stiletto shoes.
"Well, what else could I do, Scarlett?" Max asked. "I always said your beauty melts the hearts of my clients, right?"
"Be sure not to tell Olivia that," Scarlett cautioned. "She'll go bananas."
Finally, they made it into the Pan Am Clipper Lounge along with several other first and clipper class passengers. Some were on Flight 103 to New York, others were going to destinations across the Atlantic or across Europe.
…
The next passenger target on Flight 103 to arrive at London Heathrow was Dr. Heather Evans, a psychologist and the wife of a Greek gangster based in New York. Heather was someone whom you might consider to have had a rough life, abused by her father as a child along with her younger sister, but overcame the obstacles to live the life she wanted to live. But at the time of Flight 103, Heather was once again trapped in a life she wanted no part of.
"Dr. Evans?" asked a Pan Am clipper lounge employee as she approached the blonde haired psychologist. "There's a Dr. Issac Barr on the phone for you."
Rising to her feet and putting down her blue purse and matching blue gloves, Heather removed the long blue trench coat to reveal a light blue business skirt suit underneath with matching blue flats.
"Hey," she said with a smile. "You waiting for me?"
"Of course, I am," she heard the male voice on the other line say. "Have you given it some thought?"
"About Jimmy?" Heather asked. "Issac, I can't be with him anymore, you know that. He's just so unpredictable to me. I mean, he reminds me of my dad."
"Then you need to sign the divorce papers when you get back, it will be good for you to close one chapter and get another fresh start."
Sighing nervously, Heather contemplated the facts.
"Can you be there at the courthouse for support?" she asked.
"Of course, I can," said Issac. "Hey, take some deep breaths and relax. You'll be alright. Have a nice flight."
Hanging the phone up, Heather took a deep breath and exhaled several more times, trying to remember the words her friend told her.
…
Now, contrary to popular belief, London Heathrow was not the starting point for Pan Am Flight 103. The flight actually would begin in Frankfurt, West Germany where many United States Military personnel would begin aboard a Boeing 727 and then transfer to the Boeing 747 in London.
Among those coming to Frankfurt was 57 year old William Randall, a middle aged publishing executive from New York who was accompanied by his 30 year old girlfriend, Laura Alden, the heiress to her father's publishing firm. On the Maid of the Seas, they would be seated in seats 5H and 5F. That morning, Will had a meeting scheduled with the man who was protege, 34-year-old Stewart Swinton, who had been relocated to the publishing firm's European headquarters in Frankfurt over his objections.
In fact, the tensions reached a breaking point in the firm's bathroom earlier that day.
"Will. I was just about to come see you," Stewart said as he entered the bathroom. "To tell you I talked to Alden about the senior consultant position. It's yours if you want it. It's less pay, of course, but so is here in Europe."
"Well, thank you, Stewart, but I've had a better offer," said Will. "The house back in New York."
Naturally, of course, Stewart was shocked, but he wasn't prepared for what was coming next.
"It's fairly simple. I did the same thing you did," explained Will. "I nagged Alden until he gave me your job back in New York. Oh, and by the way, you're demoted to here in Frankfurt."
"What are you talking about?"
"Europe is a rising market as Alden says, you'll like it here," answered Will in a sarcastic tone.
Stewart, of course, was cross that this.
"You vindictive son of a bitch," he snarled. "The best thing that New York has is me. I'm the best thing New York has and you fucking know it. This is fucking…"
But before Stewart could finish, Will turned and urinated on Stewart's shoes.
"What are you crazy?!" he cried.
"No, I'm just marking my territory and you got in the way," Will said, turning back around to finish doing his business. Incensed and insulted, Stewart attempted to clean his shoes.
"Nice, real nice," he said crossly as he walked away from the bathroom. "Suede Shoes."
"Asparagus," replied Will as Stewart slammed the door while leaving.
…
Still feeling insulted, Stewart stormed as fast as he could as 30-year-old Laura was watching from inside an office, presumably belonging to Will wearing a brown coat over a black evening outfit consisting of a short-sleeved zip up sweater, a long-sleeved white blouse, a black knee length skirt, nude pantyhose and black high heel stilettos.
"You know I think I know why you and Will are in a relationship, Miss Alden," he scoffed. "So you could demote me here to West Germany."
"I'm just standing in for my father, Stewart," she said, her legs crossed over one another. "Thats the reason why I came here with Will in the first place. Besides, I would think that it's a fresh start for someone like you."
"You dare spit in my face, you bitch?" he whispered, as Laura was unfazed. "You know, if you weren't a woman and the daughter of this tycoon who runs this publishing firm, I'd…I'd…"
"I'd take that as a threat," Laura sneered, her red lips producing a sly smile. "Say another word and you'd be fired by Will. If my father were here, you'd most likely be dealt worse. After all, you did take his wife."
"Charlotte? She was just old meat to him. Yeah, we're dating while Will dates you, the beautiful daughter of a publishing firm. A daughter who once was a delinquent and a druggie who spent time in and out of jail."
Laura tapped her right high heeled foot to the tune of Stewart's final words to his sentence.
"Yeah?" Laura said as she rose to her feet. "Will loves me more than his wife ever could. When no one came to his side, who did? Me. Who was there when he got hurt? Me. You forget that I almost once became a psychiatric nurse."
Stewart tried to find the words to counter his superior's fiancée, but he couldn't find anything. .
"I don't need this, I don't need you," Stewart declared angrily. "You know Will isn't going to get away with this. I will take back what is rightfully mine and if I have to take you down along with Will, I'm going to! Merry Christmas."
Of course, Laura brushed off the empty threats made by Will's protege. At that moment, Will came into the office and admiring his fiancée in her outfit.
"Don't be upset with me. If I tell you this, okay?" he asked, making Laura blush slightly. "You are beautiful. And the nicest girl."
"You said that once," Laura giggled as she slid her purse on her right shoulder. "We'd better get going."
But as they were leaving, Will had one last thing to say.
"By the way," he said. "When we get back to New York, I have something that I want to tell you. Something important."
"Yes, what is it?"
"After we get back to your cottage."
Getting into the limousine, Laura would remain in utter suspense for a surprise that would sadly never come.
...
Also heading towards Frankfurt Airport aboard a train were two young lawyers specializing in Pokemon related cases. 24-year-old Jessica Koster of San Francisco and 29-year-old Stacey Keane of Los Angeles had just won a case concerning the acquittal of a Pokemon Trainer who murdered a Team Rocket agent in self-defense some months before. Now, they were heading back home just in time for Christmas aboard Flight 103, seated in First Class Seats 3A and 3B.
"Another case closed, Stacey," said Jessica, who had short brown hair and was dressed in a blue skirt suit with a gold blouse and brown high heels. "Just in time for Christmas."
"It's too bad we don't get to work together so often, Jess," remarked Stacey, who had long blonde hair tied in a ponytail and was dressed in an olive-green skirt suit with a green blouse, white pantyhose and black high heels. "Given that we are now high-ranking lawyers in such a short time, we should consider opening our own practice."
"Seems likely, I mean we are essentially a short flight away from each other. Let's plan after Christmas to look at options. Besides, who knows how many Pokémon Trainers will need lawyers like us to defend them if they kill Team Rocket agents in self-defense?"
As the train pulled into the Frankfurt Airport station, the two lawyers proceeded towards the Pan Am terminal, but not before being watched by three men trying to hide themselves amongst the crowds of travelers.
...
Also arriving at the Frankfurt Airport was 32 year old Scarlett Garcia, a Frankfurt based reporter for CMN and a close friend of Lucy Stevens who was going to spend Christmas with her family in the Washington, DC area. Scarlett was someone that would take her job seriously as a reporter and someone that Lucy would always look up to. On this day, Scarlett looked the part of a journalist with her attire being an orange business suit consisting of a blazer with two gold buttons, a red blouse, an orange skirt, yellow earrings, and red low-heeled shoes. That morning, she had been working on a story involving Madame Boss possibly working with Howard Clifford concerning the R gas incident a couple months back and was planning to publish the story after the Christmas holidays. But her focus on December 21st was returning home to her family aboard Pan Am 103 seated in the very first seat of the First Class Cabin in Seat 1J.
...
Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv, Israel, 25 students and one of their teachers from the world famous Pokemon League Training Academy had been getting ready to go home to the United States for the holidays. Their lead teacher scheduled to escort them back to the United States was 25-year-old Machiko Natsukawa, a naturalized Japanese American citizen who had only been teaching at the academy for three years at that time. But in that short time, Machiko had made quite the impression at the academy, becoming popular with students and teachers alike. She took her job seriously and had always reflected that in her appearance.
On December 21st, 1988, Machiko woke up early and went about her morning routine of showering, drying her short brown hair and selecting what suit she would wear for the day. On this day, Machiko had chosen to wear a black suit consisting of a jacket and skirt along with a long-sleeved green blouse. On her legs and feet, she had chosen to wear nude pantyhose and a pair of black high heel stilettos. As she finished her morning cup of coffee, Machiko received a phone call from the school regarding the flight plans of her and her students.
"Are you certain that our Pan Am flight was cancelled?" she asked the El Al ticket agent over the phone.
"Yes, due to operational issues," replied the male agent on the other line. "Your Pan Am Flight 67 from Frankfurt to New York scheduled to depart at 2pm has been cancelled. However, there are plenty of seats available on Pan Am Flight 103 which leaves at 4:50 and arrives in New York at 9:19pm with an equipment change in London. So, we moved you and your group to that flight."
"Some of my students have connections in New York," she protested.
"They will be automatically rebooked on the next available flights out of New York, Miss," replied the agent in a reassuring tone. "Remember, your safety is more important than anything."
Sighing, Machiko hung up the phone and slid on her yellow coat and tied a red scarf around her neck, not wanting to cause any alarm to the students she would be escorting. Leaving her apartment, she made her way to the campus' main entrance where students were already gathering.
"Miss Machiko, good morning," said a student.
"Good morning, everyone," acknowledged Machiko. "How did everyone sleep?"
"Fine," said another student, who took notice of a troubled look on Machiko's face. "Is everything all right, Miss Machiko?"
"Oh, nothing," she chuckled, not wanting to frighten her students. "Nothing at all. Just be sure to have everything with you...especially your Pokemon and your Passports."
Machiko knew that she had to remain strong for her students, but the sudden cancellation of their nonstop Pan Am flight from Frankfurt to New York will play a major impact later on in the story. Nevertheless, they all had Economy Class seats on Flight 103 and considering that the Clipper Maid of the Seas wouldn't be completely full would give them no worry on seating.
At the same time as the El Al flight, Iran Air Flight 150 had also landed from Tehran, Iran and inside the plane's belly was a device that held two explosive Pokemon inside, one of several similar suitcases that had been checked in at Frankfurt and London, ticking down to cause the deadliest terror attack against Americans at that time, all for the glory of Team Rocket.
…
…
