Chapter 58

The next morning Roger awoke in a tangle of long limbs.

Freya had insisted on sleeping with him even though there were two beds in the guest room.

She was still sound asleep as he disentangled himself from her long limbed self and hit the shower.

When he finished toweling himself off, he emerged from the bathroom only to see a naked Freya stretching her hands upward to press them flat against the ceiling of their room.

She smiled at him without a hint of shame, her casual attitude about nudity had been something he'd had to adapt to after her arrival.

"Guid morrow!" she said cheerfully before stepping into the shower to wash up.

Roger dressed for a day in the sun.

He pulled on his khaki cargo shorts, a pair of sport sandals, a white tee shirt and a big straw hat.

He was still slathering himself with sun block lotion when Freya emerged from the shower and toweled off.

She smiled at him and said cheerfully,"Ah dornt aft see ye wearin' shorts an' showin' aff yer legs loch 'at!"

Roger shrugged and replied, "Portland is quite a bit cooler than Phoenix, so I figured I'd air out my legs a bit."

Freya chuckled as she pulled on her undies and fastened her bra.

She had balked at wearing one initially until Roger pointed out to her that her nipples showed rather nicely through her sleeveless tops, and if he could see them, so could other men.

The ladies at the bra counter, once they stopped marveling at her height, cheerfully fitted her with several nice bras.

She blushed the whole time while Roger merely smiled at her discomfiture.

The matronly women behind the counter reassured her by saying every young woman feels embarrassed at first, but it is a part of growing up, much like starting her periods was.

Like Roger, Freya pulled on a pair of snug fitting shorts that scarcely concealed her long, slender legs and her sports sandals emphasized them even more.

Freya, like it or not, had become every leg man's goddess and today, they were going to get a real treat.

A plain white tee shirt and big straw hat completed her ensemble.

Naturally, she slathered herself with sun block.

After a light breakfast, they all piled into two large vans, while Rachel's family and Brad's family piled into their own vehicles.

Roger and Freya were riding with George and Mia's family, with Mia at the wheel.

Phillip and Ayesha took Natalie and Katherine and after much coaxing, a very shy Zenobia climbed into the back of their van.

With Rachel's Chevy Tahoe leading the way and Brad's truck taking up the rear, they formed a little caravan and headed into town.

By a prior arrangement, Sarah Thompson met them at the airshow gates and followed them into the parking lots.

Fortunately, the Arizona sky was slightly overcast which kept the heat down and therefore the temperature of the pavement.

It still got hot though and after unloading everything, getting sorted out and starting for the gates, Roger noted with interest, the sidewinding motion adopted by the adult lamias to minimize contact with the hot pavement.

While, painfully shy Zenobia was not at all bothered by the warm pavement as her spiderlike legs made only minimal contact with the ground.

It was her first time out in public and so far, she was holding up fairly well.

Of course her modest attire helped conceal her true nature from the less observant in the crowd.

The men in the group unconsciously formed a protective ring around the demihuman ladies, while Rachel and Sarah led the way.

Freya ended up getting much of the attention with her towering height and long legged looks, thusly catching most of the eyes before they realized the other ladies were the real exotics.

They met Tom Sanders at the gates and he greeted them cordially.

He grinned at Roger and Freya and remarked, "Welcome back! I see you've brought some friends."

He tipped his white Stetson hat at Ayesha and said,"Welcome to our show ma'am and it's a real pleasure to make your acquaintance."

He glanced at the rest of the ladies and tipped his hat to them, "Mornin' ladies."

Ayesha smiled at him and said, "Four of these girls are my daughters, one is a friend of the family and the little ones are my granddaughters."

Tom smiled at them, then waggled his fingers at little Rosie and she smiled back at him.

He grinned, "She likes me!"

When George and Mia came through the gate, Tom shook hands with George and tipped his hat at Mia before grinning at the twins all coiled up in their dual stroller, they smiled back and he asked Mia, "Will you be needin' a cart to ride in or anything while y'all are here?"

Mia smiled and replied, "No, but thanks, I think I'll be fine."

"Okay, but if you need anything, just holler, okay?"

When Zenobia came through, Tom smiled at her and said cheerfully, "I like your outfit. You look like you just stepped out of a Currier and Ives print from the nineteenth century...Welcome to our show."

Zenobia blushed prettily, she was clad in a white knit top and matching voluminous skirt designed to resemble a hooped skirt that covered her multiple legs.

A straw hat and lacy parasol providing a modicum of shade, completed her attire.

She paused a moment, then followed the rest of the group into the show.

Because they all wanted to see the Martin Mariner they'd heard so much about, they headed for it right away.

Freya led the way, her towering height and summery outfit catching many eyes as she strode through the crowd of attendees.

George muttered to Roger, "Everyone's looking at her, I thought the ladies would've attracted all the attention."

Roger chuckled and relied, "Oh, give it time, someone'll notice them soon enough. I'm just glad Zenobia's outfit hides her legs so well."

Sure enough, a voice cried out, "Hey! Those ladies have tails!"

With that, a murmur could be heard going through the crowd, "Sweet Jesus! Willya lookit that, snake ladies!"

"They're lamias, dummy!"

Another voice,"They live out in the desert near here, I've seen them in the market." "Oh wow!"

"Squeeee!"

"Are they for real?" and numerous variations of the same was heard all around them.

Photos were taken, lots of photos, no one bothered to ask, they just took pictures.

The ladies bore it graciously.

So long as no one actually tried anything, let them gawk and take pictures.

Arriving at where the bulky Martin Mariner was parked on the hardstand.

Roger noted ruefully that somehow, the name "Moby Dick" and a two foot diameter blue roundel with a white whale painted inside it, had materialized on the airplane's fuselage.

George chuckled and remarked, "Well, that didn't take long!"

Roger shrugged and replied, "I did say the name, didn't I? I'm just glad it's discreet."

Tom's voice boomed out behind them, "Well looky here! I thought y'all'd head here first!"

Roger turned to see him stepping off the electric cart he was driving.

"I'm just glad your sign guy kept it low key!" Commented Roger.

Tom grinned, "Yep! She's one of the best around, her granddaddy painted a lot of nose art during the war and he taught her everything he knew. Of course she's actually a better artist than he was, her being trained and all."

Parked next to their plane was a standard Martin Mariner, bristling with gun turrets, radomes and searchlights.

The engine nacelle bomb bays were open, showing off their lethal payload.

Roger smiled, "I'm glad to see the things we took off our plane found a home, it looks good!"

Tom grinned and replied, "Yeah, they came in real handy, this plane was missing a lot of its original hardware when we first got it. The last owner had the same idea as you did, only they didn't relocate the flight deck."

"They weren't anticipating a nine foot tall pilot at the controls either!"

"True that! Anyhoo, the items we took off your plane went straight to our plane.

"Oh, and the machine guns? Traded those for some more engines for our B-36. Can't have too many engines for that beastie!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Roger saw a boy scout and his parents approaching.

The parents stopped and the boy walked up to Ayesha and spoke to her.

Ayesha smiled at the lad as he showed her his merit badge covered sash while he talked.

Moments later, Ayesha called to Little Rosie and the tiny lamia joined her grandmother.

The young scout stood smiling for the camera as his parents took several photos of him together with Ayesha and Little Rosie.

He thanked them for posing with him and he waved good bye as he rejoined his parents.

Roger figured she'd tell him about her encounter with the boy scout later on and he turned his attention back to Tom Sanders.

He and Freya were posing side by side at the nose of Moby Dick while an assistant was snapping away with his camera.

The pictures were destined to be posted on the museum's social media page to showcase their work.

Roger chuckled, Freya, clad in her cargo shorts and plain, white tee shirt made for quite an eyeful as she towered over Tom by nearly a foot and a half.

Tom grinned at him and said cheerfully, "What better way to showcase our work than by having me posing with the pilot. Of course, the fact that she happens to be a pretty girl, has nothing to do with it!"

Roger chuckled, made shoveling motion with his hands and said drily, "Branching out into fertilizers, are we?"

"Whatever it takes my friend, whatever it takes!" Said Tom with a big grin.

He glanced at his watch and said, "Welp, gotta run, the show's about to begin!"

He tipped his trademark hat to the ladies and said, "Ladies, it's been a pleasure but duty calls and I must be off!"

Hopping back onto his cart, he sped off and was soon lost in the crowd.

Roger and company continued their leisurely tour of the long row of historical aircraft on display.

The ladies, taking in the sights of the old warbirds lined up in chronological order, stopped to read the various displays with each aircraft, made appreciative comments to the proud owners and sinuated on.

Leaving behind a trail of slightly confused exhibitors, all thinking to themselves, "Did I just see ladies with snake's tails, and where did that young giantess come from, and is she really a pilot?"

There was a brief pause in their travels when several of Sarah Thompson's friends spotted her and called out to her, "Sar-Rah! Hey! We're over here!"

Sarah began laughing and hollered back, "What're you guys doing here?"

The small group came up to them, then one of the girls exclaimed, "Oh my God! They've got snake tails!"

Sarah frowned briefly and said firmly, "They're my friends and they are lamias that came from Algeria. They are not snakes in any sense of the word."

The girl that had blurted out her comment said hastily, "Woah, chill out dude! I was just surprised that's all!"

Sarah relaxed a bit then said, "Sorry, I get a little protective of my friends..."

One of the boys, a tall, gangly fellow with black hair and pale skin festooned with tattoos remarked, "I don't know if your friends need all that much protecting...Have you seen their arms and hands?"

He glanced at Freya, grinned and said, "And lookit the giantess here, I'll bet she could kick some serious ass if she had to."

Freya blinked at him then said, "Wa woods Ah want tae kick some ass if nae a body has bothered me?"

The boy smirked and replied, "Just a figure of speech sweet cheeks, no need to get riled up."

"Ah'm nae riled up an' Ah dae hae a name, an' it's nae sweit cheeks."

"I'm just sayin'..."

"Jist sayin', what?! Make sense." retorted Freya.

The boy was about to speak when Sarah chimed in, "Stop playin' your little mind games Karl Swensen, they're not appreciated here!"

Karl smiled at Sarah's fierce expression and said, "Did I touch a nerve Sarah? Awww, did it hurt?"

Sarah was glaring at him now, then she said,"Things like this is the reason why no self respecting girl will be around you unless it's with a group. I may have liked you back in middle school but I've outgrown you, I've moved on while you're still stuck in your Goth mode with your petty mind games."

Karl was about to reply when one of the other young men, evidently in the military by his haircut and bearing said, "Better stop while you're ahead Karl, Sarah's right, you do try to start shit and now, is not the time or the place."

Karl looked at the young man incredulously, "Are you on her side now? We've known each other since kindergarten, what gives? The Army's really changed you, I barely know you now."

The young soldier shrugged and replied,"The Army helped me grow up, I've learned a valuable skill fixing helicopters. The Army's a lot more than carrying a rifle, you know."

He patted his chest, "Look at me, I'm in the best shape I've ever been, I lost weight and got in shape. Yeah, basic was a drag, but it broke me of all my old bad habits and taught me how to be disciplined, to keep my shit together."

Karl smirked and the soldier continued, "Yeah, I sound like a damn commercial but damnit! I've done things, seen things and been to places I never would have seen staying here and hanging out with you and everyone else."

He smiled, "Dude, we're still friends, always will be, but people grow and change as they age."

He gestured around, "All of us here have changed since high school, we've seen things, done things. Lookit Bill and Tammy here, shit, they're married now and have a kid on the way. Sarah's been doing some amazing things and she has some really cool friends."

He grinned, "I mean look at them, they're beings out of a fantasy story only they're here and they're real! How cool is that!"

Karl grinned back and remarked, "You might be a soldier now, but you're still a fantasy gamer geek!"

"Guilty as charged, your honor, guilty as charged!"

Katherine at this point sinuated towards the soldier and said brightly, "Hello, my name is Katherine and you are?"

The soldier blinked at her in his surprise and he stammered, "M, my name is Tom Threepersons and I can't believe I'm having this conversation."

He smiled at her and said sheepishly, "That didn't go well, can I have a do-over?"

Katherine smiled and nodded a 'yes'.

Tom extended his hand and said pleasantly, "I'm Tom and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance!"

Katherine shook hands with him and smiled, her amber eyes twinkling merrily.

After their mutually satisfying introductions were made, Tom asked delicately, "I don't mean to pry, but where did you come from?"

Katherine smiled and replied, "We came from southern Algeria, we lived in an oasis far from anywhere."

"Really? How did you get here, if I may ask?"

Katherine smiled again and said,"I'll try to keep it short..."

She gestured over at Roger, George and Mia, her older sister.

"Roger and George came out of the desert one day, several years ago. George and Mia, my older sister fell in love and she left with them.

"About a year later, George came back with Roger and some other people in this huge helicopter with two rotors. They loaded up everything we had and flew us to Mali, where we landed near a big French military operation that was going on. We transferred to a waiting jet and flew here to be reunited with Mia."

Tom grinned at her and said cheerfully, "Sounds like you've had some adventures in your time."

He smiled, "Would you care to join us?" as he extended his muscular arm.

Katherine smiled back and slipped her shapely arm through his proffered arm and they strolled away with the rest of Sarah's friends.

Sarah grinned and said, "I'mma taggin' along just to keep an eye on things."

With that, she trotted after the group to catch up with them.

Roger glanced over at Ayesha who was smiling as she sinuated alongside her husband while squeezing his arm against her impressive bosom, she seemed to be quite pleased with this sudden development in Katherine's life.

Privately, Roger wondered how the Army and a lamia would get along.

Doubtless young Tom Threepersons lived in the billets and ate in the mess hall.

Assuming he and Katherine did become a couple, how would they work it out?

Roger smiled to himself, What would the Army think?

Katherine would certainly be the most unusual dependent wife in the Army's history!

He glanced over at Freya, she was happily chattering with her friends, Natalie and Zenobia oblivious to the looks they were getting and the photos being taken on the sly.

His thoughts were interrupted by the deep rumbling of many engines as a massive Martin Mars sea plane flew low over head.

Roger grinned, it was far larger than a Mariner, no, it was huge!

Tom Sanders had mentioned that the sea planes would flying out of Lake Havasu, along the California- Arizona border for the airshow.

Close behind the huge Martin Mars was a Consolidated PBY Catalina and a Grumman Albatross flying side by side.

Lumbering along by itself was the sole surviving Boeing 314, one of the legendary China Clipper ships that once plied the airways between the U.S. And the many Pacific islands.

They were the height of luxurious air travel in the years before jet airliners and cheap airfares.

Now it was stretching its huge wings for those too young to remember when it was new and wonderful.

Roger chuckled when he saw Freya smiling and waving happily at the pilots, clearly she wanted to be up there flying alongside the aerial giants of old, at the wheel of her own seaplane, aptly named Moby Dick.

Taking up the rear of this formation was a truly large seaplane Roger had only heard rumors of.

Martin aviation had been working on a prototype seaplane for after the war, only the one was ever built and somehow, it had escaped the scrapper's torch.

The Martin M-214 had been rescued from the ash heap of history and refurbished to as new condition.

It was essentially the Mars with a longer fuselage and 260 foot wing span, six Wright Cyclone R 3350 engines powered the giant instead of merely four.

Roger laughed in his astonishment at the size of it and heard Freya whooping it up.

The girl really loved airplanes and Roger resolved to ask Tom if he could arrange a ride for her in one of the big seaplanes.

Watching the huge Martin M-214 flying over head, Roger admired its lines.

It was the culmination of Martin Aviation's long experience with seaplanes and expressed that experience in its every line, every curve and its sheer size.

The six Wright Cyclone engines filled the air with the basso rumble that only a big radial aircraft engine could make and the R-3350's were some of the biggest around with their 18 cylinders and 3350 cubic inches of displacement.

The Martin M-214 had six of these brutes and their sound was glorious.

He grinned at his towering companion and she grinned back while her two friends merely shrugged and rolled their eyes.

Freya was geeking out over an airplane again, just humor her, it'll pass.

After the seaplane flyover they were treated to a aerial stunt show that left Freya starry eyed after the pilot had performed a stunt known as the Lomcovak, after the Czech word for 'headache'.

All she could do was grin.