Oscar Meyers
Part 2: Academia
By 
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2005

Chapter 9

While many of the people in Turkey are Muslim, the democratic 
government of Turkey was secular. This meant that politicians had 
to run for election periodically and worked hard to preserve their 
reputations. On the world stage, and inside Turkey because of the 
current activities associated with the earthquake, few organizations 
had the news capital of the Fusion Foundation. As head of the 
Fusion Foundation, the doors of the Turkish government opened 
for Ed Biggers. 

Followed by members of the press, Ed walked through the halls of 
the Turkish Government with little resistance. Using his truth 
sense, Ed was able to move through the bureaucracy with ease 
through the expedient method of exposing criminal acts of bribery, 
extortion, and embezzlement. As a result of his passage through 
various departments of state, the government of Turkey was 
suddenly much more honest. By the time he reached the upper 
level of government, individuals were very willing to help him 
with military support in tackling the terrorist organizations.

Oscar and Penny had followed behind Ed and only had to take care 
of one problem, a minor bureaucrat who decided that going to jail 
for murder was no worse than going to jail for extortion. Penny 
had put him down with a single blow to the throat when he had 
charged into the room waving a gun at Ed. The act had pointed out 
that the Druids were not defenseless. It did not point out that Penny 
knew that the man was coming because of a warning by Annette. 

It was a very subdued President, Prime Minister, Chief of General 
Staff, Minister of Defense and Commanders of the Army, Navy, 
and Airforce who met Ed at the Çankaya Presidential Compound. 
All of the men in that room had spent the previous hour getting 
briefed about him and the Druid organization. The information 
they had received about what the Druids were capable of doing 
was very frightening. 

After the appropriate introductions were made, Ed sat in a chair in 
front of the President while Oscar and Jennifer took positions next 
to the security guards along the wall. The two Druids had paused 
to examine the guards and then dismissed them out of hand. Ed 
took the opportunity to study the men in the room.

The President glanced over at the two red robed Druids leaning 
against the wall, recognizing them from his briefing. It was 
rumored that the small man was responsible for the deaths of over 
a thousand terrorists. If the small man wanted, he could probably 
defeat half the men they chose to put in a battlefield. He was 
frightening enough, but the woman was the one who terrified him. 
It was rumored she could walk through walls. She had penetrated 
some of the most secure installations in the middle east with 
devastating effect. The Iranians were still wondering how she 
managed to take out their Nuclear Program in a single night. He 
shuddered at the thought of having her so close to him.

Turning to look at Ed Biggers, the President found himself staring 
at the medallion nestled on the man's chest. The gold medallion 
appeared to glow against the black robe. The briefing had 
described the Druids as a modern version of the Magi of ancient 
times. After meeting the Druid, he could believe it. In English, he 
asked, "Dr. Biggers, what is it that you want the government of 
Turkey to do?"

"I would like the military to take out the terrorist organization 
responsible for kidnapping the employees of the Fusion 
Foundation," answered Ed speaking Turkish and looking the 
President in the eye. Oscar raised an eyebrow when he heard Ed 
speaking Turkish. 

As the men in the room shifted uncomfortably, the President 
replied in Turkish, "It's not that simple."

"It is that simple," countered Ed again in Turkish.

"We are still investigating the abduction," interjected the Prime 
Minister.

"We know all that is necessary to take care of the problem. We 
know who did it, where they are, and how well armed they are. All 
we need is your army to go where we tell them and to do as we tell 
them," countered Ed.

"You can't know all that," declared the Prime Minister with a 
sinking feeling that Ed did know.

Staring at the floor, Ed was silent for a moment and then smiled. 
Looking over at the Prime Minister, he said, "At this moment, 
three men are headed to this room. They will reach us in about a 
minute. One is a security guard with a semi-automatic holstered 
under his coat. One is a pushing a cart loaded with snacks. There 
are ten small chocolate finger cakes, eighteen stuffed dates, a bowl 
of dried figs, and other treats whose names I don't know. The other 
man is pushing a cart with coffee and tea. The cups are very 
elaborately decorated in blue and gold."

Fifteen seconds after Ed had finished talking, there was a knock on 
the door and, after a security man opened the door, three men 
entered the room. It was exactly as Ed had stated. The Prime 
Minister couldn't help but count the number of cakes and stuffed 
dates on the one cart. White faced when the counts agreed with the 
prediction, he asked, "How did you know?"

"I am a Druid," answered Ed as though that was a sufficient 
answer. It appeared that it was sufficient for the men in the room. 
Looking the President, he asked, "So do I have your army?"

Impressed by the demonstration, the President sat back in his chair 
and considered the Druid sitting in front of him. His intelligence 
agents had known that Ed was a human lie detector, but he had not 
been told the man could speak Turkish or that he could see through 
walls. He answered, "Yes, but the army must remain under the 
command of our officers."

Ed stood and handed a slip of paper to the President. Without 
resuming his seat, he said, "Good. Have the person you place in 
charge of this action call the number on that paper. Jennifer will 
coordinate everything."

The man looked at the slip of paper and then up at Ed who was 
moving towards the door. Surprised at the name on the paper, he 
asked, "Jennifer Wilson will coordinate the movements of our 
army?"

"Yes," said Ed with a smile as he paused on his way to the door. 
He reached over to one of the carts and picked up a finger cake and 
popped it into his mouth. He was half tempted to ask for the recipe.

Visibly shaken, the Army General in the room asked, "The 
Jennifer Wilson? The Druid who consults with the American 
Army? The woman who coordinated eighteen simultaneous attacks 
against the terrorist camps inside the West Bank for Israel?"

"The same," replied Ed with a nod of his head.

Not sure that he wanted to hear the answer, the Prime Minister 
asked, "How many Druids are involved in this?"

"Fourteen," answered Ed with a smile. After making a gesture 
towards the door, he added, "I have to leave now. I have two more 
countries to visit today."

'Fourteen?' echoed in the mind of the Prime Minister. He couldn't 
believe his ears. Swallowing heavily, he thought back to his 
briefing about the Druids. They were a powerful organization that 
wasn't one to anger. When a Druid turned his or her attention to a 
problem, it stopped being a problem. Who knew what would 
happen when fourteen of them turned their attention to a problem? 
Looking over at the President, the Prime Minister asked, "If we 
had not agreed to support you with our armies, what would have 
happened?"

"Oh, I imagine your government would have fallen in a week or 
two," answered Ed as he left the room followed by Oscar and 
Penny. Ed didn't like making threats, but knew that there were 
times when it was necessary for others to know the consequences 
of their actions. His parting shot had been intended to make sure 
that the support they received would be the best that was possible.

As they left the complex, Ed said, "That went well. Now we go to 
Iraq. Hopefully, we'll be done with our meetings there before 
sunset."

"You scared the hell out of them," commented Oscar glancing 
back the way they came. He looked at Penny and said, "I thought 
the President was going to die when he was looking over at you."

Shrugging, Penny answered, "I have a reputation in this part of the 
world because of a surveillance camera I didn't notice. It's real 
strange, one little incident with a Nuclear Weapons program that 
failed to get off the ground and people start looking at you funny."

"Imagine that," commented Oscar wryly with the result of 
provoking a laugh from Penny. 

Their plane landed at the Freedom International Airport outside 
Baghdad late in the afternoon. The jolt of the tires hitting the 
runway woke Oscar from his short nap. Looking around, he 
yawned and then asked, "Where are we?"

"Baghdad," answered Penny as she stood and stretched. 

Ed opened the door and stepped back as a wave of hot air rushed 
into the plane. He said, "It feels like it is about a hundred and ten 
outside. That wouldn't be so bad, but it's humid."

"It's the rivers," commented Penny as she stepped out of the plane. 
She paused to look around for anything that might be a threat 
despite reassurances from Annette that all was well. A Hummer 
was parked near the plane and was there to take them to a meeting 
room. 

"So this is the cradle of civilization," said Oscar looking out the 
door. 

"Mesopotamia," said Ed as he stepped out to stand behind Penny. 

Oscar brought up the rear and followed the other two over to the 
Hummer. Penny said, "It's nice to be back here. Things are looking 
a lot better now than the last time I was here."

The three of them entered the Hummer with Penny getting behind 
the wheel. She had pulled the soldier out of the vehicle to take his 
place. Oscar found his hand caressing the pistol in his pocket as if 
seeking reassurance that all was well. Settling in his seat, Ed said, 
"I thought it would be harder to arrange a meeting with the 
government leaders here."

"Jennifer?" asked Oscar wondering if she had something to do with 
their reception.

"Yes. It appears that she provided some help in squashing a 
situation that could have escalated into civil war," answered Ed. 
After the Americans had turned over the majority of security over 
to the Iraq military, former members of the Sadam regime had 
made a bid for power. Swarming into Iraq from Syria, they were 
well armed and organized. Jennifer had laid out a battle plan that 
caught the terrorist without cover from the resurrected Iraqi Air 
Force. It appeared that her contributions were not forgotten.

Penny drove the Hummer over to a building that had once been a 
barracks, but had been turned into a command center. The number 
of guards around the building said more about what was inside of it 
than the plain appearance of the building suggested. She 
commented, "Looks like the big boys are here judging by all the 
soldiers around here."

"That's what we want," said Ed with a smile. Things were going 
much better than he had thought possible. He had expected to have 
to drag the leaders out of their homes, not for them to come to him.

Oscar stared at all of the soldiers and mapped out in his mind how 
he would attack. Looking over at a nearby building that provided 
perfect cover, he said, "This isn't a very secure location. Could you 
have Annette look around?"

Ed spoke into his microphone for a second and then said, "You're 
right. There's someone on the other side of that building with a car. 
She says it is loaded with explosives."

Without saying a word, Oscar opened the door and dropped out of 
the still moving Hummer. Penny was smart enough not to react and 
drove on towards her destination. She looked back in the mirror, 
but it seemed as though he had disappeared. 

Oscar crawled to the building while glancing over at the Hummer 
as it went to the building in which the meeting was being held. 
There wasn't a place where he could hunker down behind some 
cover and wait for the car. Instead, he moved to a point closer to 
the path that he expected the car to take on the way to delivering its 
payload. Once in place, he knew that all he had to do was wait. 

Wishing that he had a rifle, Oscar lay on the ground with his pistol 
in hand. Behind him, Ed and Penny exited the Hummer and went 
into the building. The guards around the building seemed to relax. 
Oscar could feel his alertness growing. A minute passed by with 
nothing happening, then five, and finally ten. The heat burned its 
way into his body as if the environment was purposely trying to 
sap his strength. It was a relief when he heard the sound of a car 
being started. 

Oscar was beginning to wonder if he had made a mistake when the 
car didn't come around the corner of the building immediately. 
Rather than move, he continued to wait. Annette's voice in his 
earphone announced, "He's praying. Give him a minute."

Oscar didn't respond, but kept his eyes on the corner of the 
building where he expected the car to emerge. Annette said, 
"You're amazing. I can't locate you and I know where you dropped 
out of the car."

Her words brought a smile to his eyes, but he kept his face fixed. 
With a sense of excitement, she said, "He's moving."

Although her commentary was intended to help, it threw his 
attention off and seemed to undermine the tension that he counted 
upon to react quickly. The distraction was only momentary. 
Recovering, he waited with his body tensed and posed to move at 
the first sign of the car. The car came around the corner and raced 
towards him. He jumped and ran towards the car before the driver 
had even became aware that he was there. At nearly point blank 
range, Oscar fired three shots into the driver and then dropped to 
the ground. 

The car slowed as the driver lost consciousness and then began to 
move around in a large circle as the driver's body kept the steering 
wheel in a slight right turn. Oscar stood to the side and watched the 
car move an erratic path across the tarmac. He then turned to watch 
the bedlam that exploded around the guarded building as guards 
came running out to take control of the situation.

Walking over to one of the guards still at his post by the building, 
Oscar looked at the pistol in his holster. Pointing to the ammo 
pouch on the man's belt, he said, "Give me a clip."

Shocked, the guard reached in and removed a clip from his ammo 
pouch. Handing it to Oscar, he asked, "Where did you come 
from?"

"School," answered Oscar cryptically as he replaced the partially 
used clip in his pistol with the borrowed clip. He ejected the live 
round in the chamber with a practiced smoothness. The guard 
noticed that the gun had never been completely unloaded through 
the process.

No one stopped him as he made his way into the building. Inside, 
he stopped to look around and was about to ask for directions from 
a guard when Annette said, "They are down the hall in the third 
room on the right."

He followed her directions and entered the room to find Ed and 
Penny standing near the door. Penny commented, "I heard that the 
problem was solved."

"No problem, just a minor irritation," remarked Oscar with a wink.

"Let's go. Our business here is finished," said Ed with a grin. The 
little episode outside had worked to their advantage. It was a minor 
demonstration of power that spoke volumes about the capabilities 
of the Druids. 

Oscar followed Ed out of the building, allowing Penny to lead the 
way. They walked past shocked guards to the Hummer. The one 
that Oscar had asked for a clip saluted when they walked past. 
Oscar nodded in the man's direction.

Inside the Hummer, Penny remarked, "I'm impressed. I never saw 
you once you dropped out of the car. Annette provided a nice 
running commentary on what you were doing."

"Thanks," replied Oscar as he turned to watch the guards chasing 
the still out of control car. It reminded him of a keystone cops 
movie. 

"Looks to me like they have their hands full over there," said Ed 
with a laugh. 

They drove past the plane that had brought them. Oscar noticed 
and asked, "Where are we going?"

"We've got alternative transportation to our next destination," 
answered Ed as he pointed to a hanger. Concrete barriers 
surrounded the hanger with American troops stationed behind 
fixed emplacements. There were two large gaps, one for planes to 
enter and exit the area and the other for vehicles. The complex 
presented a sense of far more security than that surrounding the 
other building. 

A soldier stepped in front of the Hummer with an arm raised when 
they were more than a hundred yards away from the truck 
entrance. Penny stopped the Hummer and said, "We get out here, 
otherwise they'll shoot us."

The three Druids exited the Hummer and faced the soldier. Seeing 
that he was facing Druids he waved them past with a respectful 
gesture. The reputation of the Druids had spread and no one within 
the military would dare inconvenience one. Across the distance, he 
shouted, "You can continue."

Leaving the Hummer parked where it was, Penny called back, 
"The keys are in it."

The soldier was puzzled by her reply, as he had expected them to 
drive the Hummer up to the gate. The trio made their way to the 
hanger. Oscar scanning his surroundings for possible areas of 
threat, Penny moving lightly with her weapon in hand, and Ed 
walking as though he were strolling through a park. 

A soldier opened the door to the hanger as if he were a doorman 
rather than a guard. Seeing the bored expression on the man's face, 
Ed paused and asked, "Hard duty?"

"Not really, sir. Despite that little bit of excitement on the tarmac a 
few minutes ago, things have quieted down here over the past 
year," replied the soldier with a shrug. The American presence in 
Iraq was slowly diminishing and the locals were now the subjects 
of most attacks.  

Noticing a small area of debris a short distance from the 
compound, Oscar said, "You should probably have that trash over 
there moved. It provides excellent cover for a sniper."

The soldier smiled and said, "Last guy that tried that found himself 
flying in the air and in ten pieces."

 Penny laughed and said, "That was my idea. Last time I was here, 
someone took a shot at me. They had dug a shallow ditch out in 
that field and waited there for a chance to take a shot at someone 
important. I figured it was better to provide them with a tempting 
spot to wait."

Wryly, the soldier said, "It worked."

"Remind me not to get in a fight with you," replied Oscar. 
Thinking about it, he realized he would have made the same 
recommendation. It was better to control your environment than 
allow the environment to control you. 

They entered the hanger. Three oddly shaped helicopters were 
parked in the center of the large building. Oscar looked at them, 
puzzled by their construction. They were basically frames, without 
sides, tops, or bottoms. There were two cloth buckets that passed 
for seats, one for a pilot and one for a passenger. He asked, "Is this 
what we are taking?"

"Yes," answered Ed looking over the craft. They were modified 
versions of the one that he had used in Antarctica. 

"I guess they are still putting them together," commented Oscar. 
There wasn't any protection for the crew. He leaned over and 
looked at the carbon-carbon composite strut that connected the tail 
rotor assembly to the body of the plane. 

Laughing, Penny had watched Oscar walk around one of the 
helicopters. She said, "They are nearly perfect stealth copters. The 
lack of metal means that it has almost no radar signature."

"You expect me to go up in one of these?" asked Oscar shocked at 
the idea. He looked at the bizarrely shaped propeller atop the 
helicopter. Rather than straight and flat, it was curved with three 
bends along its length. 

"You bet," answered Ed with a grin. He was actually looking 
forward to piloting one of them. 

"We are using them for Black Ops almost exclusively," said 
Penny. 

Looking at the helicopter, skeptical that it would actually carry 
them, Oscar asked, "So what do we do now?"

"Sleep. We have four hours until dark. We leave at dark thirty," 
answered Ed. 

Oscar turned from the helicopter and noticed a dozen people 
watching them from the side of the hanger. While Ed walked over 
to talk to the men, Penny asked, "How's it feel to be back in 
service?"

"Good," answered Oscar. It actually felt good to be wearing the red 
robe and working. The few minutes on the tarmac had reminded 
him of the time spent in the desert. It was a relief to be moving and 
doing things rather than spending his time in school. The months 
of living a lie had taken a toll on his spirit. 

"I noticed that there was a little more bounce in your step," 
remarked Penny. Her first opinion of the man sitting in the dining 
room had not been all that good. It seemed to her that he looked 
dull and barely there. Now he was active, his eyes flashed with 
life, and he smiled with ease. 

"Yeah, school has been a little rough on me," said Oscar. His hand 
moved over the medallion and he added, "It's felt like there's a 
huge hole in my life without the medallion."

She flinched at the thought of losing the medallion. It was almost 
beyond her ability to imagine life without it. As a shudder ran 
through her body, she said, "I didn't think about that."

They moved over to the room reserved for them. Entering, Oscar 
took in the three cots and smiled. The sleeping arrangements here 
were just as minimal as at the school. Stripping off his cloak and 
robe, Oscar laid down on one of the cots setting his pistol in easy 
reach. He watched as Penny disrobed and saw her artificial leg. 
Surprised, he said, "I didn't realize that you had lost a leg."

"No big deal," said Penny as she settled onto one of the other cots. 
Pulling the cover over her body, she said, "In case you're curious. I 
lost it before my service to the God began."

"In battle?" asked Oscar wondering if she had a battlefield 
experience with the God in the same way that he had.

"No. In a car with high school friends after a party," answered 
Penny with a sigh. She was the only one to survive the crash. She 
had been the only one wearing her seatbelt and credited it with 
saving her life. That had been three years before she had 
encountered the God while hiking in Colorado. 

"Sorry," replied Oscar.

"It was our stupidity. High school kids out for a ride after drinking 
at a party. We thought we were invincible."

Oscar didn't know about that. His high school years were not filled 
with parties or joy rides in cars. He had been a klutz. Everyone in 
school kept his or her distance from him. Being accident-prone 
ruled out feeling invincible. Even the bullies found that his 
accidents could cause as much damage to them as their treatment 
caused him. High school was not a time of friends.

This train of thought led him to consider his time at the college. A 
surprising number of students enjoyed his company. Thinking 
about it, he realized that he had more friends than he ever thought 
possible. His roommates supported him when he was down. 
Gabby, Abby, and Greg were always hanging around at meals, 
laughing and making jokes. Even, moody and quiet Cole 
challenged him. Would he have had those people as friends if they 
had known he was a Druid? He wasn't sure of that. As thoughts 
about his friends back at school rattled through his brain, Oscar fell 
asleep. 

The sound of Ed getting out of his cot woke Oscar. Looking 
around, he noticed Penny waking. As she sat up, he couldn't help 
notice her body. She had the kind of body that a lot of women 
would kill to have and men would die for the chance to make love 
to it. He didn't doubt that her leg would throw off most men, but 
the rest of her was perfect. Shaking his head, he climbed out of the 
bed.

It only took him a minute to slip into his robe and cloak. He slid 
his pistol into his pocket with practiced ease. Fully dressed, he 
waited for Ed and Penny to finish. Ed grumbled, "I could use some 
coffee."

The words were barely out of his mouth when there was a knock 
upon the door. Moving to the door, Oscar opened it making sure 
that his hand was on his pistol. Despite the fact that they were 
surrounded by American troops, he didn't trust their safety to 
anyone else. The soldier held up a thermos and several foam cups. 
He said, "We thought you might want some coffee."

Oscar accepted the thermos and cups with a grin. He said, 
"Thanks."

The three of them poured themselves a cup of coffee and sat 
around not talking. Ed was not talkative when first waking, Penny 
was busy adjusting her artificial leg, and Oscar was wishing that 
Georgia and Debbie were with him. It wasn't quite the quiet before 
a storm, but there was a tension in the air. Once the coffee 
managed to wake Ed, he said, "We had better get ready."

Oscar stood and announced, "I'm ready for battle."

Smiling at the little man, Penny said, "We need to pick out our 
supplies."

"Oh," replied Oscar.

The trio left their room and walked over to the far wall of the 
hanger. Three tables were set up with weapons and ammunition. 
Seeing the Russian-made AK-47, both Penny and Oscar picked 
one up and grabbed a dozen ammunition clips. Noticing their 
choice, Ed asked, "Why that one?"

"It's the same as the enemy uses," answered Oscar as Penny 
nodded. Oscar put the clips in a pocket of his robe.

"So?"

"It makes the same noise as their guns. It makes it harder for them 
to identify where you are based on your shots during a firefight," 
answered Penny. She noticed Oscar nodding his head in 
agreement.

"If you fire a different gun, everyone within a half mile knows 
exactly where you are," added Oscar as he picked up the grenade 
launcher. There was an ammo pouch for carrying grenades. He 
grabbed one of them and filled it with grenades. 

Penny noticed his choice and asked, "Grenade launcher?"

"Sure. I like to create as much confusion as possible," said Oscar. 
He added, "I would have liked to have a couple of RPG launchers, 
but that isn't really an option here."

Penny nodded as she picked up two pair of night-vision goggles. 
She handed one of them to Ed and said, "You'll need these."

Accepting the goggles without comment, Ed stored them in a 
pocket of his robe. Oscar looked over the rest of the table and 
picked up a pair of night-vision goggles and a knife. Shaking his 
head, he didn't see any other weapons that would be useful. When 
he reached the pile of MREs, he stopped and put a few of them 
into his pocket. 

Looking around, he realized that he was missing a canteen for 
water. There was a pile of clear plastic water bottles, but he didn't 
want that. He commented, "No canteens."

"You're right," said Penny. She looked around the hanger and 
noticed two soldiers watching them from a distance. She called 
over to them. "We need three canteens."

Ed asked, "What's wrong with bottles?"

"I don't like them. They're fine for back at camp, but I prefer a 
canteen in the field," answered Oscar. The clear shiny plastic 
tended to reflect light in an unpredictable fashion. The dull 
canteens didn't reflect light and that made them safer.

"Same here," commented Penny surprised at how Oscar agreed 
with her view of fighting. 

Oscar looked at the camouflage paint and shook his head. Picking 
up a container he opened it and smelled it. Shaking his head, he set 
it back on the table. Penny had already put one into a pocket of her 
robe. Surprised, she asked, "Why did you put it back?"

"It smells," answered Oscar with a shrug. He added, "I don’t bathe 
often when I'm in the field and if I do, then I never use soap. I eat 
the same foods as the enemy so I smell like the enemy. Usually 
that means I end up eating spoiled Russian rations."

"Why smell like the enemy?" asked Ed.

"You don't smell yourself, but do you smell things that are 
different from you. I smell like the enemy so that they won't smell 
me," answered Oscar.

Penny had groaned at the mention of Russian rations and said, 
"You spent a lot of time in the field, don't you?"

"Yes," answered Oscar without further explanation. He reached a 
pile of radio activated claymore mines. Going back, he picked up a 
backpack and started filling it with mines and the radio controls. 

"You've got seventy-five pounds of mines in that bag. Isn't that 
enough?" asked Penny surprised at the quantity of mines that he 
was packing away in the backpack. 

"Nope. That's your bag. I'm going to fill another one for me," 
answered Oscar matching his actions to his words. He didn't want 
there to be a safe place to stand within four hundred yards of where 
ever he might hole up.

After the canteens had been provided and filled with water, the trio 
went over to the helicopters. The pilots were already standing 
beside their machines. None of the men wore military gear. 
Instead, they were wearing tight fitting coveralls. Oscar went over 
to one of them and asked, "Is this safe?"

"About as safe as they come," replied the pilot. 

"I'm Oscar Meyers."

"I'm Paul Decker," replied the man.

"Army?"

"CIA," replied Paul, "not Army. Can't have a military incursion 
into a foreign country."

"Oh," answered Oscar. He tended to avoid the politics of his work.  

The man took his grenade launcher and stored it in a plastic net 
attached to the side of the helicopter. He grinned when Oscar 
offered him the rifle for storage and said, "You'll want to carry that 
in case someone starts shooting at us."

"Oh," replied Oscar. He didn't like the idea of being that exposed.

Paul pushed the helicopter out of the hanger and then checked it 
over one last time. Seeing the nervous expression on Oscar's face, 
he said, "Don't worry. This is the Skeeter V3. It's the fastest, 
quietest, and meanest little helicopter in our fleet."

"Fast?"

"We've got over six hundred miles to go and we'll make it in less 
than seven hours," answered Paul. He handed a helmet to Oscar 
and added, "Put this on. We could make it in four hours, but the 
wind would beat you up."

"Oh," replied Oscar as he shoved the helmet over his head. 

"Hop on," said Paul as he climbed into the front seat of the 
helicopter. The voice came from speakers within the helmet. In a 
calming voice, the pilot said, "This is no worse than riding a 
motorcycle at hundred miles an hour. Tie yourself in and then 
cover yourself with the net. It'll keep your clothes from making 
noise."

Oscar struggled to get into the chair. After tying the seat belt, he 
looked over the side at the ground below. His ass was just a few 
inches off the ground. He found the net and covered himself with 
it. It stretched and held him tight while leaving his arms free. He 
had hardly gotten settled when he noticed that his ass was ten feet 
off the ground. He'd never heard the rotor start spinning. With a 
sinking feeling in his stomach, Oscar said, "Oh my goodness."