Chapter 11: Rehearsal


    Chapter 11: Rehearsal


    I apanied ze Lane from our hotel to the Suntory Hall where Ste was going to put on her


    show in four days. The Hall had two auditoriums; she was getting therger, one able to hold two


    thousand people. Right then, the seats were empty save for a few Japanese who I guess were


    management of the Hall. Ste and Tara were on the stage, supervising the assembly of what looked


    like arge aquarium. It was a steel framework with four ss walls. It stood on four legs with wheels


    almost a foot off the floor so that you could see there was nothing under it. The main part was around


    eight feet tall. Some guys were working on a hoist directly over the tank.


    ze and I went down the aisle to take seats in the front row. As we watched, I got the impression that


    Ste and Tara had done this many times. They worked like a well-oiled machine, at times seeming to


    communicate without words. They were rising and lowering a steel cable from the hoist, and she was


    telling them that they had to move it over so it was directly over the tank at one end of the short


    distance it could travel sideways.


    The trip to Japan had been rtively uneventful. Wended at Honolulu International but I didn’t have a


    chance to see any of the famous Hawaiian sights. We were driven by shuttle to the Hickham Air Force


    Base, which shares runways with Honolulu International, then loaded onto this humongous airne.


    The crewman who helped us to our seats told us that it was a C5A Gxy. Believe me, that thing was


    huge! He said the wingspan was two hundred and twenty-two feet and it was almost two hundred and


    fifty feet long. The cargo area was filled with boxes that he said were food and medical supplies for


    victims of the massive earthquake they had a couple months ago.


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    I had serious doubts about whether or not this thing could possibly fly. It was impossible to imagine that


    much metal could push itself into the sky. When I expressed doubts, the crewmanughed and told me


    it was one of these nes that put the Space Shuttle on its back and flew it around.


    Where we were sitting, there were no windows. A few minutes after we were seat belted in, there came


    this whine/roar from one side, then the other as they fired up those big engines. For a long time we


    didn’t seem to be moving, and I had to wonder why they were just sitting there and not taking off.


    Eventually, the noise increased and I could feel the ne moving. The crewman who had helped us


    returned, took a seat and grinned. After some moving and turning, we stopped again. Then the whining


    noise really got loud. The whole ne seemed to shudder, like a wild beast eager to run. It seemed like


    minutes were passing and all we were doing was racing down the runway. Then the floor tilted and that


    huge beast was climbing for the clouds.


    The kid in the green flight suit just grinned. I guess this was old hat to him, but I found it a little


    frightening. Onmercial airliners, everything seems to go smoothly. On this thing, there was


    shaking, far too much noise and a feeling that it was really straining to keep in the air. Right then I was


    remembering something my old granddad used to tell me: “If man were meant to fly, God would have


    given him wings.” Maybe granddad had something there.


    Maybe Ste and Tara do a lot of flying, ’cause they settled back and actually took a nap! ze was


    bright-eyed and as eager as a kid going on a roller coaster ride. I leaned back, tilted my hat over my


    eyes and pretended to sleep too, while I waited for the inevitable yelling and screaming and praying


    just before the crash.


    We didn’t crash.


    I muttered a little prayer of thanks when the hatch finally opened and we stepped out into a warm rain.


    The airport was a damned busy ce. Carts and shuttles racing all over the ce,rge trucks backing


    up to the ne, and a lot of people who were either running around or just standing in ce. I watched


    in awe as the whole front of the ne began tilting up. Like a giant mouth, it opened wider and wider. A


    ramp was pulled out and men began unloading those crates. We were deposited in a shuttle and driven


    to our hotel. I was d to see my suitcase being loaded. I wanted to check and make sure that Wilma


    had made the trip okay.


    Wilma was just fine and now restingfortably under my trench coat, a reassuring weight there.


    “Ste is a very good escape artist,” ze told me. “I’ve seen some of her shows and it is impossible to


    believe that she escapes from some of that stuff.” The young woman was bubbling over with


    enthusiasm for this performer. “There was this one time that I saw her all tied up, gagged and then


    stuffed into a sack and hung it up. They pulled a curtain around her and in just a few seconds pulled it


    back. When they opened the sack, there was Tara, tied exactly as Ste had been. Ste came down


    the aisle, waving at the audience and smiling.”


    “The old switcher-roo, huh?”


    “She taught me all I know about escaping,” ze continued. “We had quite a few private lessons. It


    was most informative.”


    “You think you’re good at escaping?” I asked. If this dame thought highly of her skills, then I was willing


    to put them to the test. She did have a very nice body even if her head was only half filled.


    “Oh, I’m good, but not nearly as good as Ste. I really don’t know how she got out of some of those


    ties.”


    “I had a girlfriend once,” I began, “she was pretty good at escaping from ropes.” I paused as the image


    of Linda Goodbody shed before my eyes. Linda was the best thing that ever happened to me. She


    was the housemother for Alpha Alpha Alpha sorority when I was called in to solve the Case of the


    Kidnapped Sorority Sister. And then, not long after that, more coeds began disappearing on the


    campus. When this really crazy doctor grabbed Linda, I just had to do something. She was ever so


    grateful when I rescued her, and spent the better part of a long, long weekend showing me just how


    grateful she was.


    “You did? Gosh, I’ll bet you had some fun times with her. My boyfriend, Mark, Mark Paulson, you met


    him at the briefing, well, he helps me practice escapes.” She actually giggled, then continued, “You


    never can tell when you might get tied up on an assignment. All us spies practice a lot.”


    This was beginning to sound more and more like it would be a fun case.