Follow Focus
17
The Earth Moved
“Dale” by Hank Shiffman, ID1646721907 licensed from Shutterstock.com
IT LOOKED LIKE a dinner with my cousin would have to wait until after our next trip. Mr. Martin had suggested that I make a South Pacific loop, including New Zealand, Australia, and Indonesia. It didn’t sound too bad, but I knew from experience it was a damned long flight to get there.
“I just don’t want to leave,” I moaned. “Elise is back home now and it’s all the four of us can handle to help Patricia with the baby.”
“She’ll be able to lift the pudgy little thing in another week,” Anna said helpfully. “Jordan said I could have next week off, or more if I need it. It won’t be long before I’m working extra with tax season just around the corner.”
“It was hard on the two of you without the baby,” I said.
“You have to go,” Ronda said. “If you fail to show up, you’re AWOL and could be prosecuted. It’s not like you can just call in and say you need a few days off.”
“I guess that’s the downside of having been drafted,” I sighed.
“On the other hand, I don’t need to go,” she continued. “In fact, I’m not going to accompany you on this trip.”
“What? I’m going solo to three countries?”
“More or less. You’ve already been to Australia once. I’ll bet Dale will want to see you for at least a while. She might even travel with you all over Australia.”
“How many stops do I have in Australia? Do I go somewhere besides to Sydney?”
“Sydney isn’t the capital, honey,” Ronda laughed. “The embassy is in Canberra. There is a consulate in Sydney, one in Melbourne, and one in Perth. You’ll fly into Melbourne and train at the consulate, then to Perth, and then to Canberra. You’ll wrap up in Sydney and fly home. Before you get to Australia, though, you’ll have a few days in New Zealand.”
“Don’t forget how big that area is. Flying across Australia is like flying across the US.”
“I’ll double check everything. I’m sure you’ll have some companionship, too.”
“Okay, love. It does make me feel better that you’ll be here with Anna and Patricia and Alex and Toni. Geez! I live with five women. I must be insane.”
Mr. Martin agreed that the time and distance were a factor and I should only do Australia and New Zealand, not going on to Indonesia. Ronda still managed to schedule me for the weekend in Melbourne.
Of course, I had to leave Sunday evening from Chicago in order to be in New Zealand Tuesday. I spent most of the day Sunday holding Alex and alternately cuddling with Patricia, Anna, Ronda, and Toni.
Ronda took me to the airport to catch my flight. All the equipment for this round had been shipped and was confirmed at the training locations, so all I had was my 35mm camera case and the courier pouch, which had already been packed with items for the ambassadors and four consuls general. I’d be carrying my own film back in the pouch, plus whatever I was given for the home office.
“Now don’t get so involved with other people on the plane that you don’t have any energy left for teaching and taking pictures when you arrive. And give Dale a big kiss from me.”
“I’m sure she’d prefer if you were there to deliver it in person,” I laughed. “I doubt very much that I’ll meet anyone to keep me awake on the plane. I plan on a lot of sleeping.”
“Well, you never can tell,” Ronda said, winking. “This is a long trip. Twenty-five hours from here to New Zealand. You’re flying first class all the way. Your new pay grade entitles you.”
I checked my bags and headed for my gate.
My first pleasant surprise was to find Missy was the stewardess in first class to Los Angeles. That’s where my first plane change and layover would be.
“Nate! I’m so glad I was able to book this flight. Usually, I’d have been on tomorrow morning’s flight,” she said, greeting me with a kiss.
“Missy. It’s been way too long since I’ve seen you. My new job has me flying every which way except LA.”
“Ronda tells me you’ll probably have several trips to Asia this spring.”
“She does? I didn’t realize you were in contact.”
“She called me to see if I could get this flight so you wouldn’t be flying all alone. Something about you being homesick for a baby.”
“Oh, you wouldn’t believe it, Missy. She’s the cutest little thing you’ve ever seen. I can’t believe I have to fly all the way to Australia instead of just staying home to cuddle her.”
“I’ll try to spend some time with you so you can cuddle me. Full dinner on tonight’s flight, though.”
“I understand,” I said.
The stewardesses and crew boarded about half an hour before the rest of us. I guessed they no longer came out to escort first class passengers to the plane. I was in my usual seat on the 727. The last couple of times I’d flown to LA, I’d been on a 747 and hadn’t seen Missy.
I had a guy next to me on this flight, so I figured that limited my interaction with Missy. I also thought I was the first one on, but he was already seated when I got there.
“John Gumbel,” he said, offering his hand.
“Nate Hart,” I responded. I shoved my camera and pouch under the seat ahead of me so I could shake his hand. “You fly this route often?”
“No. Usually Miami. I’m deadheading out to LA to visit family for a few days.”
“Deadheading?”
“Oh. Yeah. I’m a pilot. Deadhead means I’m a non-revenue passenger. If you want to sleep, I won’t bother you. I’ll probably spend most of the trip up in the jumpseat in the cockpit.”
“It’s always nice to have company. I thought you looked familiar. I flew with my family to Miami in December. Back just after the New Year.”
“Missy told me you work for the government. You had a sick little girl with you.”
“Fortunately, it was just the excitement of flying. When we landed in Puerto Rico, she was up and awake and wanting to play.”
“Glad to hear that. What do you do that takes you to remote places?”
“I’m a trainer on some new pieces of equipment being installed at our embassies. This trip, I’ll be working in New Zealand and Australia.”
“I became a pilot to see the world. You’re managing without working for the airline,” he said.
We got off the ground and Missy brought us drinks. I was fine with having some wine with dinner. Most of the rest of the first class cabin—about eight out of ten passengers—was enjoying travel and toasting some company function. It looked like it could be a rowdy trip. I guess they ordered a specially catered meal, though, so we had a really good spread for dinner.
“A condition of them getting a special meal was to provide it for the other four passengers in first class and the crew,” Missy said. “They’ve won some special sales competition for their company and are being treated to a luxury vacation. All I need to do is convince them I’m not part of their prize. I might depend on you, Nate.”
“You know I’m available,” I said.
“So am I, Missy. I can change into a uniform pretty quickly,” John said.
“You’re on vacation, John. Nate’s working. I should get something for my tax dollars,” she laughed. She went to serve the partiers another round of drinks.
“I take it you’ve flown Missy before,” John chuckled. I wasn’t sure of his meaning.
“We met on my first flight ever, a few years ago,” I said. “I used to travel to LA from Chicago frequently.”
“More government work?”
“No. I was a college student and photographer. I was consulting on a movie. The sequel will release this spring. It’s called Double Exposure.”
“Hmm. I saw Over Exposure. That the one you worked on?”
“Yes. Afraid I haven’t been able to help as much on the second one, but it has less to do with photography and more with the murder mystery aspect,” I said.
We chatted through dinner and after it was cleared, John told me to enjoy the flight and went up to the cockpit to sit in what he called the jump seat. After she’d served another round of drinks and reminded the guys that they’d have an even better flight to Hawaii if they weren’t completely soused, she sat down beside me in John’s seat.
“This is crazy,” she moaned. “Four men have asked me to initiate them into the mile-high club. Two offered to pay me a thousand dollars.”
“You could make a lot of money on this flight,” I said.
“Bastard! I don’t do it for money, as you very well know. If I thought you could fight them all off for me, I’d bend over in the aisle and let you do me, just to show them what they’re missing.”
“Please don’t do that. I couldn’t possibly fight them off,” I laughed. Missy leaned over to kiss me and we got lost in that for a while.
That was the extent of our play time. The guys on the prize trip were intent on getting soused and Missy had to keep pouring drinks. Eventually, John returned to his seat and we got into LA at about a quarter till nine. I waited until the drunks were off the airplane before I stood up and Missy came to give me a proper sendoff kiss. We walked off the plane together.
“You have three hours, I think,” Missy said. “But you have to go to a whole different wing of the airport. Maybe I’ll get to see you on the way back. I have your schedule, but this time I’m going to check to see who else is flying before I volunteer to switch places.”
“I’m sorry I don’t have more time to spend with you,” I said. “After that obnoxious bunch, I’d guess you need to go home and shower.”
“No kidding. Have a good flight the rest of the way,” she said, giving me another kiss.
We turned in opposite directions. I headed to the international terminal and found my gate. I settled down in a seat that was remarkably comfortable for an airport. I figured I’d just be snoozing.
“Hey, mister,” a voice whispered in my ear. “I hear you can take pets on this flight.”
I spun in my seat and found Adrienne waiting to kiss me.
“Fifi, my dear! What are you doing here?”
“Miss R arranged for me to be with you as a gift. May I fly with you, Master?”
“Of course you may! I need to call my wives and thank them for the wonderful travel gift.”
“Yes, they’ll certainly want to know you are… um… in good hands.”
I went to the nearest payphone and dialed home. Ronda answered.
“Ronda, the most wonderful thing just happened at the airport in Los Angeles,” I said.
“Oh? Let me guess. Someone’s pet escaped. You’d better put her on a leash and keep her close to you.”
“How on earth did you manage to arrange this?”
“Our wonderful boss suggested that if I was going to take some time off and stay home that I should arrange for someone else to accompany you. He hinted broadly that he knew you had a contact in Los Angeles who could possibly attend to your needs. For an assistant, you know.”
“You know you can’t be replaced as my assistant,” I growled.
“I know. But Adrienne can do the basics. They don’t allow girlfriends into the inner parts of the embassies,” Ronda continued. “They do allow government contractors, though. Adrienne has a red passport and will be able to go most places with you. She can carry your camera. Just remember, you can’t give her the courier bag. She doesn’t have a black passport and is not immune to search.”
“Got it. And thank you. The trip is looking to be a lot more pleasant now.”
I spoke to Patricia and Anna. Anna wanted to speak to Adrienne. In spite of stiffening straight up when Anna spoke to her, Adrienne giggled at the conversation.
I expected that a trans Pacific flight would be on something like a 747, but we actually walked across the tarmac to a 707 called the Clipper Yankee Raider. We entered through the door at the front of the plane while most people entered up the stairs at the back. It always amazed me how spacious the 707 felt. Nearly half the plane was first class and it was only half full. At the front of the plane was a lounge with the galley and room for a dozen people in informal groupings. Adrienne and I got ourselves settled and ready for the longest flight of the trip. We’d get to Tahiti around five in the morning. The flight was over eight hours.
We settled in next to each other and enjoyed the premium service on the flight. That included drinks while we caught up on everything. I showed Adrienne the pictures of Alex I had taken and processed. She made appropriately appreciative noises.
After a late-night dinner, we settled back in each other’s arms to sleep, with a great deal of accompanying kissing and caressing. About four hours into the flight, I discovered Adrienne had pulled the blanket over her head, which was lying in my lap, busily sucking on my penis. It was not difficult to give her exactly what she was seeking, and afterward we both settled in for a much more relaxed sleep.
Unlike my experience on my first trip to Australia, there was no date change on this flight. Tahiti was on the eastern side of the International Dateline. When I’d traveled before, we changed planes on Fiji and lost an entire day. This time, after passing a cursory customs inspection and three-hour layover, we would fly from Papeete to Auckland, New Zealand—and lose a day in the five-and-a-half hour flight.
As soon as the plane passed its inspection, we reboarded and were in the air again by 8:30 in the morning. We tried to sleep some more, but were served another breakfast soon after takeoff and lunch before we landed. We arrived in Auckland just before noon on Tuesday. Technically, I could have managed the training at the consulate that afternoon, but everyone benefited from me taking Adrienne to our hotel and crashing for the rest of the day.
I crash-landed on Adrienne several times.
We did the training in Auckland Wednesday morning and immediately flew to Wellington. We finished the training there on Thursday and I got the ambassador’s photo, then rushed to the airport for our flight to Melbourne.
What a treat to see Dale at the airport to greet us when we emerged. I kissed her and introduced her to Adrienne. I could almost see the magnetism when the two started to shake hands and then hugged each other. We managed to cram our gear into Dale’s little car and went directly to dinner.
“When Ronda called to tell me you were coming, I insisted you stay with me,” Dale said. “I’m so happy to see you.”
“I can stay at a hotel if it is inconvenient to have us both with you,” Adrienne said.
“Don’t be silly! As long as you can share a little, I’m good with that. In fact, we did pretty well with Jane when you were here, Nate. Any chance we might have fun with all three of us?”
“I’ll discuss it with Adrienne,” I said.
“I’m told your home is clothing optional,” Adrienne inserted. “I’m so looking forward to relaxing with you.”
I saw Adrienne’s hand snake forward from the back seat to squeeze Dale’s shoulder.
“I thought you might enjoy going to an old haunt of Nate’s for dinner tonight before we head to the house,” Dale said. In a few minutes we pulled up in front of the Wallaby Pub. When we went in, Frankie came rushing out from behind the bar and gave me a hug and a big kiss.
“I’n it gorgie?” she said pointing at her portrait behind the bar. “Boys come in just to look at me and then look at me picture.”
“Frankie, have you met Dale? She hosted me on my last visit. And this is Adrienne, my… mistress.”
“Oh, Dale! He brought ‘is own again, din’t he?”
“I knew she was coming, Frankie. Adrienne’s a love.”
That was all the recommendation Frankie needed. She turned to Adrienne and gave her a big hug, then led us to a table.
“Artie’s back in the kitchen fixing something special for you. Let me bring you coldies,” Frankie said. She darted behind the bar and filled three mugs with beer.
“If you aren’t used to it, go easy on the beer, Fifi,” I cautioned. “It’s a lot stronger than back home.”
“Thank you, master. I’ll be careful.”
It was only a couple of minutes before Artie came out with a hot plate full of…
“This is our salt and pepper squid,” he declared. “And my own special aioli. Nate, yer a feast for sore eyes.”
I stood and he gave me a hug, then I introduced him to my companions.
“Dale, it’s always good to see you gracin’ our table. And this creature is exquisite. Boyo, how did you land such a beauty? I just want to parade you around the pub on me arm a bit, you know?”
“Easy, Artie,” I laughed. “We’re here on government work this week.”
“You don’t say. Well, let me get you some dinner so you can face them stuffed suits. I know not everyone likes steak—though I don’t know why—so I’ve also got a chicken parmie ready if any of you’d prefer.”
“Oh, I’d like that,” Adrienne said. “I’ve heard such good things about Australian Chicken Parmesan.”
“And mine’s the best,” Artie said. Dale agreed and ordered the same.
“I’ll have the steak,” I said. “Need something good and meaty so I don’t suffer from this beer.”
“Mushroom, peppercorn, or Diane sauce?”
“Peppercorn, please.”
Artie hustled off to the kitchen and Frankie came back to the table with a small glass of beer. She sat and joined us. There were only four or five others in the pub on a Thursday evening. We chatted as we all picked at the squid—amazing!
The chicken and the steak were superb and I had to flag Frankie away from bringing me another beer. I still had to get to the consulate in the morning and make sense all day.
We arrived at the consulate at nine in the morning. It was an old building and when we were met and taken to the training room, our guide told us proudly that the consulate in Melbourne had been active since 1852, even though diplomatic relations with independent Australia had only begun in 1940.
The most important part of the day was actually finishing it. Once Adrienne and I walked out of the consulate at three o’clock, we were free for the weekend. We caught the tram back to Dale’s house, walked into the house, and stripped. Dale came in from her studio in a like manner of undress and we resolved to stay that way for as much of the weekend as we could.
That didn’t mean we were having sex all the time, though the sex was good. Dale wanted Adrienne to pose for her, and since I had camera equipment with me, I enjoyed taking pictures of each of them.
Sunday, Dale took us on an adventure to a nude beach south of Melbourne. Like the beach in LA Adrienne had taken me to, we had to hike a ways from the regular beach through a trail and finally to a beach marked as clothing optional. The weather, being late summer in Australia, was glorious. The sand and water weren’t quite as nice as the regular beach farther south, but just lying around with these two naked beauties made the trip worthwhile.
* * *
The rest of the trip was almost a blur of up and down flights. Monday, we were back in the air at a little after six in the morning to Perth. Australia is big and flying to Perth was the equivalent of flying Chicago to LA. We got in at 8:30 and went straight to the consulate for training. First thing Tuesday morning, we flew most of the day to Canberra where I finally got to the embassy. We had a warm welcome there on Wednesday and they actually had an embassy car and driver take us on to Sydney that afternoon. The three-hour drive was still faster than getting to an airport, boarding a flight, and getting from the next airport to our hotel. We had training at the consulate in Sydney on Thursday morning and got a chance that afternoon to see a few of the sights around the city.
Time zones suck. Our trip from Sydney to Los Angeles was twenty-seven hours, including two layovers. We arrived in LA before we took off. Don’t ask me to explain. It has to do with the International Dateline. Adrienne and I made the best of our time together, including both getting an orgasm somewhere over the Pacific. And I just kissed her a lot for accompanying me on this trip.
She was home and I caught my flight back to Chicago. After a four-and-a-half-hour flight, I arrived in Chicago six and a half hours later. Flying east was brutal. Ronda was waiting for me and I was ready to just collapse. I slept from O’Hare to Antioch and then spent the next two hours with Alex and Toni in my arms before I could focus on my wives.
Having the weekend with the family to just decompress was wonderful. I had to make sure that Toni didn’t feel neglected when I was loving on Alex. Fortunately, the baby still slept a lot, so I could hold her in one arm while Toni was in the other and turned the pages of her book while I read. We fell asleep a couple of times with Alex kind of frogged on my chest while Toni was wrapped in my arm.
“You know, it’s been five weeks,” Patricia said as she cuddled up to me. “The doctor has said I can pick up and hold Alex, even though she’s gained more than a pound. I’ve been cleared for all normal activity.” She wiggled her butt against me. “You just have to use a condom so I don’t get knocked up again before I get back on birth control.”
“Mmm. Let me just sample a little of everything,” I said.
I started kissing down her naked body. Her breasts were still a little swollen. They were very sensitive to my tongue. And when I reached her sex, her legs practically flew apart to give me access. I loved her sweet flavor and licked her to an orgasm as Anna made sure I was hard and had a condom on.
Then I gently pressed into Patricia and felt the vagina that had not experienced the trauma of birth this time, open to admit me.
“Oh, yes,” she said. “Pregnancy is a great deterrent to sex. And childbirth is even greater. I love you. I want you in me. I want to feel your love for me.”
“Three months of abstinence has been way too much. I love to make love to you,” I whispered.
We moved together, and while we didn’t exactly finish together, we did both get fully satisfied. Anna and Patricia slept between Ronda and me. It was so wonderful to have my wives all in bed with me. I found, however, that no matter how exhausting the trip had been, I didn’t sleep particularly soundly. So, when Alex stirred, I slipped out of bed and went to her. There was a wet diaper to deal with and I knew how to do that.
Ronda padded into the nursery with me and gave me a kiss.
“I’ll get a bottle ready for her. She’s always hungry about this time of night,” she said.
“Thank you. I’ll have her changed in a minute.”
The bottle of formula was warmed to the right temperature in a pan of hot water. Ronda and I sat together on the sofa as I fed our little girl.
“You know, I wish your mother hadn’t scared me so much with the news of how big you were and then seeing how big Alex was. I have to tell you that being home with Anna and Patricia and the girls the past two weeks has given me some very distinct mommy-wannabe feelings. And I’ll tell you, Anna has been feeling the same.”
“Do you really think you and Anna would want to have babies?” I asked.
“I’m just saying we’re warmer toward the idea than we might have been while Patricia was in labor. I think female bodies have some kind of hormone that causes them to forget the trauma of giving birth. We’re like, ‘Oh, it wasn’t that bad.’ Even Patricia has said that.”
“Well, as long as we can afford them and I can get time off to be with them, I’m okay with having more.”
“You and I each got over $3,000 in back pay this week.”
“What?”
“The whole thing was termed a job misclassification and we were entitled to our new pay rate retroactively from our start date. Six months of back pay.”
“Wow! I didn’t even realize how much we were getting paid. You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen my paycheck,” I mused.
“That’s because it’s automatically deposited in our bank accounts and Anna takes care of everything from there. Let’s just say that you don’t have to worry about what you can afford right now.”
“Where to next?” I asked.
“You have a week off, then I’ll join you for the next trip to Asia.”
“You have no idea how exhausting that trip is,” I said. “Are they sending me back to do Indonesia?”
“No. Japan, Formosa, and South Korea. It’s not quite as far as Australia. The real downside of this trip is that Anna is now putting in full time hours getting taxes prepared for Jordan.”
“Oh, gee! How are we going to get our taxes done? We’ll be in Asia on the fifteenth.”
“You know we don’t have to wait until April fifteenth to file, don’t you? Anna has our taxes and all the business taxes ready for you to sign and file. In fact, we all have taxes to sign and file. She is a miracle worker,” Ronda said.
“What would we do without her? In fact, what would I do without any of you? I would be so lost. I wouldn’t know the sheer joy of holding this precious little creature in my arms. Or of having a three a.m. conversation with my lover. I’d be so…”
There was something about having a baby in my arms and Ronda cuddled up next to me with Anna and Patricia and Toni all asleep that made me suddenly and unexplainably emotional. I just choked up.
“Do you know, every single one of us have had moments just like this in the past two weeks,” Ronda said with tears sparkling in her eyes. “We’re a family, Nate. What would any of us be without the others?”
Unfortunately, our home time lasted only a week. Ronda and I were in the air on Sunday morning, headed for Japan. We arrived late Monday afternoon after eighteen hours of travel. It was going to be a brutal three weeks. I was just thankful all the units had been shipped to our embassies and were ready for installation.
We went to the embassy Tuesday morning and had the formal greetings and photos of the ambassador. Then we trained two teams of passport and visa technicians. The electronics industry was booming in Japan and traffic between Japan and the US was flourishing as new technology kept being introduced. I’d had a transistor radio for years. We saw tape players in a smaller format than the 8-track we’d seen back in the US. All that meant an increase in Visas.
We stayed in Tokyo for the night and on Wednesday, Deborah brought Cameron and Anthony into the city to meet us.
“How far did you have to come?” I asked.
“Oh, it’s only about thirty miles from the army base to the embassy,” Deborah said. “We had to make a couple of trips in when we first got here to get our visas taken care of. It’s a pretty quick train ride.”
“It’s wonderful to see you,” I said, picking up Cameron. “My goodness, you’ve grown up!”
“Uncle Nate, I’m seven years old now. I go to school on the base,” Cameron announced.
“Wow! That really puts things into perspective.”
“Where is cousin Toni?”
“Toni had to stay in Chicago with her mommy and her new little sister,” I said. Ronda was keeping Anthony busy while I reasoned with Cameron.
“What little sister?” Cameron demanded.
“Honey, I told you Uncle Nate had a new baby,” Deborah said.
“Your baby is Toni’s sister?”
“Yes. Aunt Patricia is her mommy.”
“Families are so complicated!” Cameron huffed. I set her down so I could spend a minute with Anthony. He was less sure about me, but knew who Toni was and was fascinated with Ronda.
“How long are you going to be here? I could meet you with John sometime this weekend.”
“We’re actually only staying in Tokyo the extra day today to see you. Tomorrow morning, we take off for Sapporo. We’ll only barely touch down in Tokyo again when we leave in three weeks,” Ronda said.
“Well, I’m glad you could take the time to see us. You were all gone at Christmas when we visited Mom and Dad before we moved,” Deborah said.
“We’re on the road—or in the air, I should say—almost all the time. I hate not being home with my little ones,” I said. “How is John doing?”
“He loves his work and is much more focused now. I know you are opposed to service in the military, but it’s the right thing for John. It might have saved our marriage.”
“Deb, I’ve never looked down on John for being in the military, any more than I have Naomi. I don’t believe the military in general is being used for a just and patriotic purpose. There is too much politics in control of the military. I could not serve in that way. On the other hand, you know I got drafted and I’m serving my time, too.”
“What do you mean?”
“The day after I graduated from college, my draft board notified me that they’d finally granted my request to be classified as a conscientious objector and that I had to serve my two years of alternative service, starting on September 1. The State Department bought my contract for alternative service, so I’m stuck being on the road installing this new passport and visa system for two years,” I explained.
“That is… ridiculous!” Deborah declared. “What about your business in Canada?”
“We worked out a deal with the State Department to have summers off to keep the business in Stratford operating. But that means my contract for alternative service won’t actually be over until spring of 1975 instead of fall 1974. Fortunately, Ronda got hired as my manager,” I laughed.
“Manager? I’m supposed to be your assistant,” she joined in.
“The truth is, you manage this whole operation. They should have just promoted you instead of both of us.”
“You got a promotion already?” Deborah asked.
We finally got to the restaurant we’d been advised to try and Deborah used a few words in Japanese to get us seated.
“That’s cool. I didn’t know you were speaking Japanese,” I said.
“Crash course on the base. It means I can catch a train going the right direction and ask for a table at a restaurant. From here on, we point at things. What about that promotion?”
“They re-evaluated the job based on the actual responsibilities we have and decided we were actually GS12 instead of GS8.”
“GS12?” Deborah asked in amazement. “That’s like… You outrank John!”
“I don’t think it translates that way exactly,” I said. “It’s all because we’re doing more on our diplomatic missions than just installing cameras and training people.”
“Like what?”
“Um… We’re officially diplomatic couriers. I guess we are ambassadorial photographers, though I don’t think they actually defined that as a job position—just something I have to do. Like we’re all going to England for a wedding next month and I’m supposed to take pictures of a Lord and Lady before the wedding.”
“And there’s the airplane,” Ronda said.
“What’s that about?” Deborah asked.
“They said our previous grade level was too low to be assigned an airplane and since we’re often flying from place to place, we have a plane assigned to us. Like tomorrow, we meet our pilot and airplane for all the installations in Japan,” Ronda explained.
“We’ll fly from here to Sapporo and then over the weekend from Sapporo to Osaka. But from Osaka, we’ll take a train to Nagoya and back. I guess we’ll meet our plane back there and they’ll fly us to Fukuoka and on to Okinawa.”
“And this plane is flying you. That’s its assignment?” Deborah asked.
“There may be others flying as well, but its route is determined by where we need to be.”
“You definitely have at least Captain rank. No one below a captain would get private transportation.”
“Like we said, though, we’re civilians,” Ronda said. “We don’t have a rank. We just had to be at a certain pay grade in order to have the plane assigned to us.”
We ordered our meal and I watched as both Cameron and Anthony worked their chopsticks—sometimes two-handed. It was great to see the family and we spent the afternoon seeing some of the local sights. Deborah had to get back on the train with the kids and head out to the army base at Zama. Ronda and I went to our hotel and tried to get our bodies adjusted to the time zone. In the morning, we met our plane and our new crew to fly to Sapporo.
“We should be in Sapporo in about three hours as long as we don’t hit traffic,” our hostess said. “I’m Jenny and I guess I’ll be with you for the next couple of weeks. Rick and Dave are in the cockpit. I have drinks for you and I’ll get bento boxes for you when we’re slated to fly during a mealtime. We’ll probably do that from Fukuoka to Okinawa. I think the longest flight on your schedule is Taipei to Seoul. Any special requests?”
“Thanks, Jenny. We’re light drinkers, but it seems coffee is not all that common here. If we can get coffee on the plane, that would be great,” I said.
“No problem. The guys up front always want coffee, too. Would you like a cup now?”
“Thanks.”
The plane was a twin engine prop. There were two seats right behind the pilot and co-pilot, then four seats arranged like a little meeting room, facing each other. In the back, where we entered, there was a cabinet and one seat where Jenny sat. She could get through the narrow aisle to get to the pilots and front seats, but there was no way to do it without brushing against us as she had to walk bent over.
Ronda and I sat facing each other as we usually did in a plane like this. We went over the briefing on the Sapporo consulate and our work there. Jenny brought us welcome coffee.
Our training in Sapporo wasn’t scheduled until Friday morning, but we were invited to dinner with the consul general on Thursday evening. That was nice and I intended to get his photo that evening as well.
We were met at the airport with a limo. I was thankful I didn’t need to drive on the wrong side of the road. It was just like England and Australia. We got to our hotel and got settled, then went to the consulate to meet the consul general and do the picture thing before being joined by his wife and another couple, introduced as an attaché and his wife, David and Esther Kimura. They were a Japanese American couple, originally from Hawaii.
The consul general and his wife were entertaining and made frequent toasts with hot sake. We learned quickly the etiquette of drinking the warm wine. It was actually pretty good. I was worried that with the frequent toasts we’d get blitzed, and fortunately, David came to our rescue and suggested we switch to green tea. He and his wife joined us with cups about the same size as the sake, so we could join in the toasts, but the consul general and his wife continued to down cup after cup of sake.
“So, with your permission, we’ll join you on the way to Osaka when you fly out tomorrow afternoon,” David said. “The ambassador suggested that it would be good to send a native speaker with you as you navigate the intricacies of travel in Japan. Especially since you will be traveling by train to Nagoya. Esther and I can also act as tour guides for some of the best sites in this beautiful country.”
“Be sure to see Mount Fuji,” the consul said.
“Perhaps we can get your pilots to circle it on our way to Osaka,” David said. “It isn’t exactly on the way.”
I wondered exactly how much the consul general actually did at the consulate. It seemed he didn’t know that much about Japan other than drinking to excess. Nonetheless, we had an excellent meal and were driven back to our hotel. David explained that a car would pick us up at eight-thirty in the morning.
The training went smoothly. We didn’t see the consul general again. We were at the airstrip by two-thirty and Jenny welcomed us aboard. The pilots were happy to give us a tour around Mount Fuji even though it extended the trip to Osaka by close to an hour. We were all thankful for the bento boxes Jenny had packed for us.
Having David and Esther with us for a weekend in Osaka was great. They did know the best places to see and I took a lot of photographs. Then I trained in Osaka Monday morning and we caught the train for the hundred-mile trip to Nagoya. Once again, we were thankful for David and Esther. Ronda and I could probably have figured out the system eventually, but our guides were able to take us straight to the correct train and make sure we were going the right direction.
The next day we trained in Nagoya. I thought the consul general in Nagoya was a little more professional than the one in Sapporo, but he still wanted to take us to dinner. He seemed to know and like David and Esther, and I was impressed with how friendly the people at the embassy and consulates in Japan were. This treatment was unlike any we’d received at any embassy or consulate we’d been to prior to this trip. It was really great to have tour guides assigned to us.
We left Nagoya by train in the morning and then went straight to the airstrip in Osaka. It was a fairly short flight of just over an hour to Fukuoka. We checked into our hotel and went to the consulate first thing Thursday morning. We didn’t meet with the consul general until late afternoon to deliver our courier package and take his photo. By that time, of course, he wanted to take us to dinner.
It wasn’t quite as extreme as the Sapporo dinner, but we did have a bit of sake. We’d be taking off the next morning for Okinawa. When we were back at our hotel and in bed, Ronda and I got a little frisky. We were both just a little tipsy and were giggling a lot, as I managed to get my cock into her pussy and we started moving together.
Then the earth moved.
Literally.
We felt the bed shaking and a dresser moved away from the wall across the room. Things weren’t too bad, but it was the first earthquake Ronda and I had ever been through. Once things seemed to have settled down a bit, we went back to making love and fell asleep until morning.
“I’m sorry to say that last night’s earthquake did some damage in Sapporo. The epicenter was just off the island of Hokkaido. I’ve called the consulate and have discovered the equipment you brought was shaken off the table and hit the floor. The techs have set things up again, but it isn’t working,” David said when he met us for a late breakfast. We hadn’t rushed the morning because we’d be flying a long time to Okinawa, some 850 miles away.
“Ronda, how much leeway do we have regarding where we fly and when?” I asked.
“As I understand it, we can change our flight plan any time, as long as our crew concurs,” she said.
“I think we should go back to Sapporo and inspect the equipment. I know we’re on the weekend, but that just means we have another travel day if we need it.”
“I think you’re right.”
“I hate to make you miss some of the sights in Okinawa by returning to Sapporo. The two places are at opposite ends of the islands,” David said. “But I agree that it sounds like we need your skills to assess the damage.”
“Let’s talk to the flight crew,” I said.
The crew quickly agreed to a change in flight plan and we were off from Fukuoka to Sapporo. It was well over three hours over the ocean to get to the northern island.
Once we arrived, David had a car meet us to go to the consulate and we arrived before the doors were closed. Our newly trained technicians were beside themselves and were afraid they had done something wrong. I tried to assure them that an earthquake was not their fault, but that we might need to put special safeguards in place in areas subject to earthquakes. None of us had thought about that.
I worked on the equipment for nearly two hours before I finally decided it was beyond my ability to repair. I instructed the techs that the camera unit needed to be sent back to the US and we would ship them a new unit. I checked out the bindery and it seemed to be working just fine, so it would only be the camera unit that would be replaced.
“I suppose it is too late to call Josie,” I said. “It’s already Friday evening and we won’t be able to reach her until Monday anyway.”
“That’s not exactly true,” David corrected me. “Chicago is fourteen hours behind Japan. That means it’s too early to make the call to your office as it is only… let’s see… three a.m. there.”
“Oh, that’s great! So, if I call after ten tonight, I should reach Josie this morning,” I said. It actually made sense to me.
I got the call made and the next day we headed for Okinawa, in two legs. We went first to Osaka to refuel and then to Naha, Okinawa. After spending Sunday touring, we trained at the consulate and had dinner with the consul general. Then we left David and Esther to take a commercial flight back to Sapporo as we continued south to Taipei, Formosa. From there we flew directly to Seoul, South Korea. We got back to Tokyo on Saturday morning and caught our flight back to Chicago. We arrived back in the US Saturday afternoon.
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
