[pshrynk]

Harv sat in the pilot's seat and glowered at the instruments. "I had a plan!"

"We can still follow the plan, but this time with someone who knows how to fly in the co-pilot seat." Vivaldi was trying to be upbeat.

"Oh, yeah! Doing and inverted loop with Vera in the cargo bay without proper restraints would really do her a lot of good! Now we have to figure out a new way to get out of this. Any ideas?"

Vivaldi had been looking into the distance and moving his mouth, talking his way through something. "You mean other than dropping your best friend out of a fast moving airplane at a great height?"

"Um, yeah, sure."

"Make your own plans, pretty boy. Let's just do the check list."

"Um. We've done this a million times and we should just skip it?"

"Check."

"Right, let's go."

The starboard engine of the Goose turned over and fired. Seconds later, the port engine fired. Harv yelled back to the cargo bay to let loose the mooring lnes. They slowly slid out to the middle of Lake Gatun. The friends sat in embarrassment.

Finally, Vivaldi broke the silence. "Harv?"

"Yeah, Viv?"

"Why was that parachute opened up all over the cargo bay?"

"No idea. There were a couple of socks in the pack when I put it back."

"Weird."

"Yeah."

The plane picked up speed with a roar. It bounced over the waves briefly and was airborne.

"What did you do with them?"

"Huh?"

"The socks. What did you do with them?"

"Oh. I put them in the emergency case."

"With all the emergency flares?"

"Yeah. Myatake saw me do it and wired it shut. No chance to get at the flares, now."

"That would have been a good plan."

"Yeah."