.”“ ... But,” I answered.“Jim Shepherd’s out with the flu. Me and the other two pilots are tied up...”I feel a squeal coming on.“And we�...��re in a bind.”“Entertain me,” I said.“We have a client who ships oilfield apparatus around a bit. I WANT him on my ‘permanent’ list, but right now we’re in a bind.”“What’s the deal?”“I wrote a check with my mouth, hoping my butt can cash it. There’s a hotshot truck en-route from his shop in Mobile and it will be in Birmingham at our hangar in another hour.. "Hurry! Measure us!I'm so excited!" Stephanie girlishly exclaims."I'm almost four months into my hormones, girls! Isn't it amazing!" Yeah, stop teasing us, you two!" giggles Jackie."Oh my god, listen to them Monica! You would think they were gettingready for the prom or something!" laughs Sophie."Yeah, aren't our girls just SO impatient?!" giggles Monica. "Oh, OK.Ready ladies?"Jackie and Stephanie look at one another, roll their eyes, and giggle."OK now, you know the drill. Arms up,. She smiled. “I like that, but I am the most qualified person for the job, you know?”I nodded. “I do, when you and Tamara and Terry all remind me of it. I’m sorry.”She leaned in and gave me a kiss on the lips. “Apology accepted,” she said before kissing me again.As we surged skyward, she rested her head on my shoulder. As I thought back on the past ninety-six hours and what my instinctive response to putting her in danger was, I realized it was time to make some changes in my life ... soon.“I’m. I need a straight yes-no answer."Basilisk, do you want out?" "NO!" Salamander, do you want out?" "NO!" Tegu, do you want out?" "NO!" Gecko, do you want out?" "Uh ... no, I guess not." Gecko, you have to be more certain than that. This is a crucial life-choice you have to make. Do you want out?" "NO!" OK, that part is settled, then. I propose that we take care of the Yemen connection immediately, that is, in the next few hours before they have time to hear what happened in Saudi Arabia. Does.