Date: 9/14/2000
From: SouthernSlider

Good morning, all. Sorry for the skip of yesterday, but I warned you I might not get to post everyday. Anyway, it gave you a reprieve from reading, but now on with the story. Hang on.
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United We Stand, Divided . . . We Disappear

Chapter Six

Brad picked up the picture and stared for a
moment. He recognized the guy in it from the other
night. His assumptions had been correct. They were
connected; must be brothers. But the guy sitting here
now had been lamenting over a woman. The bartender
surmised the man in the picture with him must have
made off with her. No wonder the guy was upset. He
grabbed a clean mug and poured him another beer.

“Hey buddy, have another one -- on the house.”
Quinn looked up as the man handed him a full mug.

“Thanks.” He took a big swallow, then returned
it to the bar, sloshing the liquid over his hand. “Too
bad this won’t really fix things.”

Brad started to say something, hesitated, and then
thought ‘what the hell’. “Your troubles got anything to
do with the man in the picture?”

Quinn picked it up from the bar and stared.
“Yeah. My brother. We had an argument. He left. I
was wrong, and now I can’t find him to tell him that.”

Brad was surprised at his words. Maybe his
assessment had been wrong. “He was here the other
night,” he said nonchalantly.

Quinn jerked his head up in surprise. “Here?
When? How long? Where did he go?” The questions
tumbled out one after the other, leaving no time for Brad
to answer any of them. “Tell me, man! I have to know.”
Quinn leaned forward in a threatening manner.

“Take it easy, buddy. Slow down. He came in
two nights ago, in much the same state as you. He was
not a happy camper. Took drunk and passed out.”

“What happened to him? Did the authorities
take him in?” Quinn asked, almost out of breath. Colin
was drunk? Things were worse than he thought.

“No. Kelly took him home with her. I told her
she was crazy, but she insisted.”

“Kelly? Kelly who? Where is she? Where does
she live?” Quinn’s emotions ranged from relief to panic.

“I got no idea where she lives, man. She’s a
singer. She and her group were doing a gig here the
other night. Between sets, she and your brother had
some conversations. I guess she felt sorry for him and
took him home with her to sleep it off when he got
drunk. But I can tell you she ain’t here no more. The
band had a gig in Hawaii. They were scheduled to leave
this morning.”

“Hawaii!? Did my brother go with her?”

“I don’t know, man. I haven’t seen him since I
put in him Kelly’s car.”

Quinn dragged his fingers through his hair in
disgust, then continued to grill the bartender about
where he might find someone that knew this Kelly.
When Brad was able to come up with the agent’s name
that arranged the gig Quinn flew out of the bar after
finding his address and phone number in the phone
book.

***

“Kelly, I really am glad you arranged for this trip
around the islands,” Colin said as he climbed into the
small ten-seater commercial plane. “Flying is truly a
wonder.”

“Yeah, man, up there in the clouds. We’re on a
real high, man,” Conie chimed in as he boarded behind
Colin.

“I thought it would be a great way to get an
overall view, and relax before the work starts
tomorrow,” Kelly answered.

She and Colin took the two seats behind the
co-pilot as the other guys filed in behind them. All
kinds of switches and gizmos were checked out and
tested. Read-outs on the flight panel were examined and
things were recorded in a flight log, all before take-off
could commence. Colin was more than fascinated.
Kelly smiled at the little-boy wonder on his face.
When they finally lifted in the air from the small
craft airport on Oahu, Colin was squirming so in his
seat, Kelly thought she was going to have to give him a
tranquilizer. He wasn’t happy just looking out the
window by his side; he had to twist and turn, looking
forward and backward and across the aisle at every
possible little thing. He drilled the pilots incessantly
about altitudes, wind resistence, fuel consumption, and
things Kelly couldn’t even understand. He was a
sponge, soaking up every available peace of information.
So much for relaxation and kicking back, she thought.

The flight wore on into the afternoon, and things
had gone as planned. They sat down on Maui to refuel
and take in some local scenery, then headed back out to
visit the two smaller islands of Molokai and Lanai.
Kauai would be their last stop before heading back to
Oahu.

As they were rounding the northern side of
Kauai, Colin noticed a bank of angry looking clouds
ahead of them. He questioned the pilot, but was told not
to worry. Colin frowned. He wasn’t so sure things
would be fine.

When they headed on toward the western side,
winds began to pick up and created a good amount of
turbulence. The plane rocked to and fro as the pilots
fought to keep things under control. Colin checked and
double-checked their seat belts, and made sure life
jackets were with in easy reach. He was beginning to
get a very uncomfortable feeling.

The pilots continued their efforts to keep the
plane running smoothly, but the approaching storm
began to take its toll. The plane was tossed about;
instruments went whacko, and before they knew it, the
land that had been to their left begin to grow small and
disappear behind them as they were sucked right into the
eye of the storm. Colin said something to them about
being off-course, but they snapped at him to remain
calm and quiet, and let them to their job.

He turned to Kelly when he realized she was
suddenly silent, and noticed her face had lost it s color.
She grabbed his hand and squeezed it until he thought
his fingers would fall off from the numbness. He turned
around to see Conie, B.J., Walker, and Cal were also
white as a sheet. Things were not looking too good.

Colin pried Kelly’s fingers loose from his right
hand and put his arm around her shoulders, drawing her
close to him. He took her left hand in his as he spoke.

“It will be all right, Kelly. It is just a little storm.
The pilots are used to it and will handle things.” He
only wished he believed what he was saying, but prayed
his doubts didn’t show through. Kelly needed
reassurance.

“We could die, Colin,” she whispered. “We
could die right here, right now. I really don’t want to die
with things so unsettled in my life.”

Colin knew she was right in her assessment, but
didn’t understand what she meant by that last statement,
but he knew he felt the same way. Something obviously
was unresolved in her life, the same as it was in his. He
had known when the sliding window passed that he
would never see Quinn again, but there had always been
that one little flicker of hope that possibly someday . . .

Now that flicker had just been extinguished as Colin felt
the plane lose power and altitude in rapid fashion. The
wind and rain tossed the plane around like a toy as it
tumbled forward and headed helplessly for the water
below.
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Could things get any worse? If you think not, then you don't know me and my writing. How long will I make you wait before I post again?

Previous post #s: P)2277 1)2280 2)2283 3)2285 4)2292 5)2295

PS: Is there a pattern here on the board? First it was Brit - Southern - Brit - Southern. Now it's SS - DMD - SS - DMD. What's it going to take to get the rest of you going again? Don't make me come to your house.

SS

The weather started getting rough...

Date: 9/14/2000
From: DieselMickeyDolenz

...the tiny plane was tossed.
If not for the courage of the fearless crew,
the airplane would be lost.
The airplane would be lost.
The plane crashed down on shore of this uncharted Hawaiian isle,
with Colin, Kelly Welles, too,
Conrad Benish and the pilot,
BJ, Walker, and Cal...
here on Peckinpah's Isle!

DMD

I know...

Date: 9/14/2000
From: Foxtrottin

your writing -- and I'm looking forward to more of your plot twists and turns!

Hmmmm ... you'll come to my house if I don't start posting? Is THAT what it'll take to get you up north? See ya soon ;o)

Fox

Original URL http://www.scifi.com/bboard/browse.cgi/1/5/1095/2836
Nominated by DieselMickeyDolenz