Bill was different. He was more dispassionate about their trip until last week when a reminder on his iPhone calendar sang out with its announcing horn, reminding him the trip was almost here. At that moment, he realized for the first time in almost year, he would not be working 70 hour weeks, staring at two monitors and occupying his thoughts with all the worries his growing business required. Instead, he would be reading an eBook on his Kindle, drinking Margaritas, lounging by their pool or simply slipping his “toes in the water, ass in the sand,” as the Zach Brown song emoted. Mostly, he would be enjoying his wife and family in a few short days.
That day was today.
They were the second couple to pre-board the Boeing 757, and because they had accumulated over 2 million frequent flyer miles, due to Bill’s frequent use of their rewards credit card for his Internet-based business, they were flying First Class all the way to Tucson. There was the negative of having to take the later flight. However, in a way, it was his preference, as they would be driving through Mexico at night, when there were fewer drivers on the roads and the Mexican agricultural inspectors and local police were at home asleep, meaning almost no chance of their being stopped at the border or in the border town. In other words, smooth traveling all the way to the beach.
“Good afternoon, welcome aboard,” greeted a flight attendant while hanging up the first passenger’s sports coat.
After the doorway and turning left, another Disneyland-happy flight attendant greeted them with, “Good Evening. Can I help you find your seats?” she asked warmly, and just genuinely enough to be believable.
“Those are ours,” Lisa said from behind, thrusting out her arm with two fingers pointing to 3C & 3D, two aisle seats across from each other.
“Yes, ah, Mr. & Mrs. King?” The flight attendant looked up for confirmation in their faces, “What would you like to drink?”
Bill felt a buzzing from his pocket. Dropping his bag onto his seat, but still clutching it with his one hand, he pulled out his ringing iPhone from his jean’s pocket and answered it with his other, “Hi, Dar. Your mom and I just boarded the plane. Did you pick up Danny from camp?” He cradled the phone between his shoulder and head and listened. “Okay…” He plopped onto the arm of his seat, knees in the aisle, deflating as he listened, shoulders slumping, “Not again.”
“What’s wrong — Did he have an asthma attack?” Lisa whispered franticly, mouthing each word.
He shook his head no, briefly facing Lisa, who was already seated, and then looking down, “Good. That damned Johnson kid is going to get his butt handed to him from one of his many victims someday.” His shoulders straightened more. “Thanks. You’re a wonderful daughter.”
The flight attendant now looked more Six Flags than Disneyland, awaiting their drink order, while Lisa awaited details about their son. Another couple, wanting to get by them to the second row, grumbled their displeasure. All of them glared at Bill.
To the flight attendant, Lisa held out two fingers and mouthed, “Two champagnes, please.”
“Do you want to quickly talk to your mom?” Bill asked, now staring at Lisa with an expectant smile. He abruptly looked up, just realizing he was obstructing the lane, “I am so sorry.”
The other couple pushed passed him with murmured sarcasm, trying to get away from the family conference convened in the aisle.
“Okay… please tell Danny we’re proud of him and we’ll call when we arrive in a few hours.” Covering the phone with his right hand, he explained to his wife, “Dar just arrived at her class and can’t talk. They’re waiting for her, so say a quick bye.”
Lisa shook her head yes, and craned towards the phone that Bill held to her ear, “We love you, Dar. Thanks for taking care of everything. Kisses to you and Danny,” she said in a louder voice.
“Okay, we’ll talk some more later, love you.” He pressed the end button on his phone’s screen.
“Danny stood up for two friends who were being bullied by that delinquent Johnson, who didn’t like it and took a slug at him.”
Lisa reacted, “Oh my. He’s alright, isn’t –“
“Yes,” Bill cut her off. “It was just a little bruise on his cheek. One of the counselors saw the whole thing and stopped it immediately. Johnson is permanently banned from camp, although camp is over. Anyway, our little man is home now playing X-Box, while Darla is, of course, at her class. Well, you heard that part. His asthma is fine too. Oh, and Dar wanted to remind us that they’re driving to Mom and Dad’s tonight to take in some of the lake activities. Guess your penchant for the water rubbed off on our daughter.” He thought, how funny that Sally runs down to their beach house in Mexico all the time, they live off Lake Michigan with Danny begging to go to the beach, and Darla, when on breaks from college, visits his parents in Michigan at their lake house every chance she gets.
“I told you we should have all come down together,” she said only half kidding.
After getting settled into their seats and sipping on their champagnes, Bill watched his wife admiringly as she pulled a pair of slippers from her carryon, which she then swapped with her walking shoes. She was a beautiful fifty. Still a natural brunette, who kept her hair short for its utility, which now seemed to give off an extra measure of radiance, maybe reflecting the peace she felt starting their vacation. As always, her eyes drew his gaze, just as they did when they first met thirty years ago. A barometer to her personality, they were often mysterious, always thoughtful and discerning, and yet frequently playful. When her face exploded in a smile, her eyes would sparkle like a July fourth finale. Those same eyes now returned his gaze. First, she acted puzzled, then self-conscious, reflexively straightening her shirt, and then smiling, realizing her husband’s gaze was a compliment. There’s that sparkle, he thought.
She resumed her routine, grabbing a Sudoku book and pen, and two little black bags. Sitting down, she handed one to Bill. “What’s this?” he asked.
“A surprise for later. What are our movie choices?” Lisa asked.
Studying their inflight magazine for a few moments, until he selected the right one, “One Second After, it’s about the American power grid going down due to a terrorist’s exploded nuclear device generating an EMP.”
“How uplifting,” she said deadpan. Now her eyes and smile reflected her playful side.
2.
Steve Parkington
Steve Parkington was up to the twelfth level of Killer Zombie Apocalypse Part XII on the X-Box, when an unfamiliar tone from his computer prompted him to stop. Just before a Nazi zombie was to take a bite out of him, he hit the pause button on his controller and examined the smallest of the five computer screens to the right of his primary screen. His search algorithm had been scanning the net for specific keywords and it scored a hit. He clicked on the link on his screen. This took him to an unfamiliar Internet message board page. The page contained a simple text message of stark white letters against a solid black background and an image at the bottom. It said: