| The Bridge 16-17 |
| 1 | SIXTEEN Waking at seven to fly to Florida is not going to be pleasant, I thought, after she dropped me back at my hotel and drove away in the dark. To stay up past ten P.M. was unusual for me, remnants of the barnstormer who rolled up under the wing an hour past sundown. To go to sleep at five, wake at seven and fly three thousand miles will be a challenge. But there had been so much to hear from her, so much to say! It won't kill me to go without a little sleep, I thought. |
| 2 | With how many people in this world can I listen and talk till four, till long after the last cookie has disappeared, and not feel the least tired? With Leslie, and with whom else? I asked. I fell asleep without an answer. SEVENTEEN "Leslie, forgive me for calling so early. Are you awake?" It was the same day, just past eight A.M. on my watch. "I am now," she said. "How are you this morning, wookie?" "Do you have time today? |
| 3 | We didn't talk long enough last night, and I thought if your schedule allows, we might have lunch. And dinner, maybe?" There was a silence. I knew at once I was imposing on her, and winced. I shouldn't have called. "You said you were flying back to Florida today." "Changed my mind. I'll go tomorrow." "Oh, Richard, I'm sorry. I'm going to have lunch with Ida, then I have a meeting this afternoon. And a dinner-meeting, too. |
| 4 | I'm sorry, I'd love to be with you, but I thought you'd be gone." That'll teach me, I thought, for making assumptions. What made me think she's got nothing to do but sit and talk with me? I felt instantly alone. "No problem," I said. "It's better I take off, anyway. But may I tell you how much I enjoyed our evening last night? I could listen to you, talk with you till the last cookie in the world is crumbs. |
| 5 | Do you know that? If you don't know that, let me tell you!" "Me too. But all those cookies that Hoggie feeds me, I've got to starve for a week till you'll be able to recognize me again, I'm so fat. Why can't you like seeds and celery?" "Next time I'll bring celery seeds." "Don't forget." "You go back to sleep. I'm sorry I woke you. Thanks for last night." "Thank you," she said. "'Bye." I hung up the telephone, began laying clothes into my garment-bag. |
| 6 | Is it already too late to leave Los Angeles and fly so far east before dark? I did not relish night-flying in the T-33. An engine flame-out, any forced landing in a heavy fast airplane is difficult enough in the daytime; black night outside would turn it thoroughly unpleasant. If I'm wheels-up by noon, I thought, I'll be in Austin, Texas, by five, their time, off at six, Florida by nine-thirty, ten o'clock their time. |
| 7 | Any light left at ten o'clock? None. Oh, so what? The T has been a reliable airplane so far . . . one small mystery hydraulic-leak, the only problem I haven't fixed. But I could lose all the hydraulic fluid and it wouldn't be a disaster. Speed-brakes wouldn't work, ailerons would get hard to move, wheel brakes weak. But it'd be controllable. There was the faintest foreboding, as I finished packing and thought my way through the flight. |
| 8 | I couldn't see myself landing in Florida. What could go wrong? Weather? I promised never to fly through thunderstorms again, so I probably wouldn't do that. Electrical system failure? That could be a problem. Lose electrical power in the T and I lose fuel boost pumps from the main-wing and leading-edge tanks, that leaves tiptanks and fuselage fuel only to fly on. Most of the instruments go out. All radio and all navigation equipment fails. |
| 9 | No speed-brakes, no wing-flaps. Electrical failure means a high-speed landing, needs a long runway. All the lights are gone, of course. The generator, the electrical system has never failed, hasn't whispered that it plans to fail. This airplane is not the Mustang. What am I worried about? I sat on the edge of the bed, closed my eyes, relaxed and visualized the aircraft, imagined it floating in front of me. |
| 10 | Scanned it smoothly from nose to tail, watching for something wrong. Just a few minor spots showed up ... the tread on one tire was nearly smooth, a dzus fastener on the plenum chamber door was worn, the tiny hydraulic leak way in the middle of the engine compartment that we hadn't found. Definitely no warning, telepathically, that the electrical system or any system was going to blow up. And yet, when I tried to visualize myself arriving in Florida tonight, I couldn't do it. |
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