Chapter Two: Trouble Before Departure. [incomplete]

April 2008

The next morning, Clair awoke a little past nine o’clock to her phone ringing. Clair doesn’t make a lot of habits sleeping late, but seeing that she might not get a lot of it once the trip started, Clair decided to catch a few more winks. The sun was shining through the window as Clair sat up and grabbed her, turning it over to see the caller ID. The number had no name attached to it, but Clair recognized it as being the one Dr. O'Connell had given her. She touched the Talk button and answered. “Hello?” She said.

“Ms. Rain? This Kevin O’connell.”

“Yes, can I help you?”

“That’s why I’m calling. Can you come to the airport? I have a favor I’d like you to do,”

“Yeah, sure. Um, give me about forty minutes.”

“Perfect. I’ll text over the address for airport.” He said as he hung up.

Clair placed her phone back down on the nightstand and stood up from her bed. She stretched long and hard before make her way to the bathroom and then to her closet to get dressed. Clair’s choose of attire happened to be a simple pair of jean and t-shirt with her new leather jacket. Putting on a pair of sneakers before grabbing her bag and heading out.

Clair jogged down the hall and stairs and out onto the sidewalk. She walked over the bike rack where she had a bicycle locked up. It was a nice day for ride and the airport was a bit too far to walk.

The morning air was cool, but unseasonably with hardly any wind. It was definitely a nice day for a ride. As Clair cerused down the street, she thought about what O’connell wanted for him to call her to the airport a day early. Just in case this was an early departure, Clair stopped by Max’s dorm to grab her and send a text message to David.

Once at the airport, Clair and Max stopped at a security booth that lead into the airfield and the hanger O’Connell said to meet up at. Luckily the guard posted was notified of Clair’s arrival so she cleared to enter the airfield. Clair and Max rode their bikes down a side road that ran alongside the runway until they came to Hanger 18 where O’Connell said that he’d be. Clair, of course, made a quick stop that resulted in creating a skid mark across the pavement, while Max came to a slower and gentle stop. “Adrenaline junkie.” Max said shaking her head.

“What? I wanted to beat my record.” Clair sarcastically replied, laying her bike against the wall.

“I say again. Adrenaline junkie.” Max repeated with a slight chuckle.

The two of them jokingly talked as they walked into the hanger and headed over towards an office where three people were gathered. One of the three, of course, was O’Connell who quickly noticed them walk in. He patted one of the other two men on the shoulder before approaching Clair and Max, meeting them halfway.