Urgent Humanitarian Mission!

[Rick]

Nnnnn.....
mmmmph....
(sniff)
nnnnnn....nnn...NO!!

With that last exclamation, Lyle jerked nearly awake in his seat. I put a hand on his shoulder as I scanned the other passengers in our area, making sure there were no looks of alarm. I had him curled up in the window seat, coach class of a 737 out of Seattle bound for Wrangell. Seeing no reaction from anyone, I settled back with my thoughts and the rather disappointing (S)cotch in front of me, watching the ice cube melt...

"I need someone to fly to Iceland for me and act as courier to a business partner for me."

Mr. Flush, or Gus, was rather casual about the whole thing, I thought. I'm just not the sunglasses and fedora type. Really, the only covert thing I'd ever done was humming the theme from "Mission Implossible". That and trying not to let The Boss find out I had the keys to the beer...ah, fuel truck and a BUNCH of purloined yard gnomes. But a suitcase full of cash is another matter entirely. And Lyle was playing a more subdued role in this endeavour. To say I was upset about the whole herring thing is an understatement of almost biblical proportion. I could still taste it through the whisky. And I'm pretty sure we both smell like it too...

We met Gus back in the dining room over coffee. (Where had I seen this guy before?) More talk of the contact, time and place, and more coffee. From under the table he produced a briefcase and set it on the floor between us. Uh-huh. One of those metal cases; very cloak and dagger.

I nodded approvingly and turned to Lyle. "Nice. Aircraft aluminum, too."

Yeah, very nice...wait! Maybe...titanium?

"Oh, right! Those are great. Not very inconspicuous, though. I mean, we're in Europe after all."

Exactly! One look and it'll be all "Hey look at the Americans taking some money to some secret meeting" or whatever. Now, if it was me, I'd have gone with something else. You like Fendi?

"Now that's a briefcase with panash. I saw this movie, right? There was this guy. And he..."

Gentlemen! Gus was looking at his watch. Your plane should be ready. I suggest you depart?

And depart we did. A car met us outside the lobby and took us to the airport straight away. We were met by Jens. He looked a little pink-eyed from the night before. He was a little confused on why we were leaving again on the same aircraft we'd arrived on, but he wasn't going to question the permissions and clearances he had on a clipboard he held. Outside, just before we started up into the DASH-7, Jens turned and extended a small box he'd had under his arm. At his urging, I opened the lid. Next to a pair of small stemmed glasses was a green bottle that I'd become too familiar with as of late. I promised myself to enjoy it in moderation. In several months. Settling into the cockpit, we went throught the a/c checklist. Lyle, in pointing out to me that we only had one pair of sunglasses (mine) between us, took it upon himself to complete our mysterious milieu with a fedora. He actually found one in a shop somewhere. I said nothing about it being bright red with the words Grønland er for elskere! across the back...

Flight was routine and comfortable into Reykjavik. Wending our way into the terminal, we saw our contact sipping from a small cup in a coffee shop. We slid into the booth seat across from him. He looked up at me, then to the case and then to Lyle. With wide eyes he nervously looked around the terminal. After seeing the fedora, he probably expected a neon sign or a brass band. Without a word, he stood, straightened his suit and tie, picked up the briefcase and exited the shop.

"Hmm. That's it? I...expected more."

You know, I did too.

"Right, then. Lunch?"

Sure. Then we can go home, Joe?

(Sigh) "Yes, Lyle. Then we can go home."

Flight into Torshavn was a little over two hours and was interesting to see. We ended up at EKCH/Copenhagen later than expected. We opted out of the hotel room promised and connected for home that same night. 10 hours later found us at KORD. Another 22 minutes found us in line at Gold Coast Dogs where I introduced Lyle to the loaded Double Dog with extra peppers. We then boarded for Sea-Tac and after that, Wrangell. Lyle was asleep almost immediately. After letting the ice melt just enough, I drained the glass, turned off the overhead light and closed my eyes. Another noise from Lyle and I knew he was awake this time...

"You alright?"

Yeah. I was naked...

"What?!"

Eating...naked. I was eating all this herring, naked.

"I know. I have that dream all the time..."