[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
history of the planet, without the least concern that at any moment their entire
glittering civilization could be dashed into the sea, also made him constitutionally
unable to be rude to the fat lady in the seat next to him.
Perhaps, he thought, if I'd been born in New York, I could lean over and tell
her to take it outside, or I'd serve her up a knuckle sandwich.
But even the thought of behaving like some misfit from the Big Apple drove
Drummond deeper into a cocoon of courtesy. Instead of shoving his thumb against
her neck and putting her to sleep for a couple of hours, he found himself making
polite noises.
Finally, Julie warbled her last song, the plane landed, and 357 people all
leaped to their feet, anxious to crowd the narrow aisles of the aircraft as they
pushed and shoved their way toward the door, so that they could be first to the
baggage-claim area where their eleven-hour flight could be extended by at least
another hour waiting for their luggage. Drummond decided to wait until the flood
of tourists had ebbed somewhat before diving into the crowd that streamed past his
seat.
He had not reckoned on the edelweiss-fueled desire of Julie Andrews' roving
genealogist to join in the lemming-like race to the land of lost luggage.
"Excuse me, would you please get up so I can get out?"
"I'll be getting up in just a moment," Drummond said, almost apologetically.
"No, I mean could you get up now? We might be missing something." Mrs.
MacDowell sounded like a kid at Disneyland pleading to go on a ride.
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
"Well," Drummond began, "I can't really get up; there's no room in the aisle
just now."
Mrs. MacDowell stood up, stooping to avoid banging her head on the
reading lights and air vents above her seat. "Well, then, if you'll just let me squeeze
past," she said, as she started to half-climb over Drummond's lap, visions of
chrome-plated luggage carousels, complete with the Trapp Family Singers perched
on long-lost suitcases, undoubtedly dancing in her head.
It was the last straw. After eleven hours of Julie Andrews trivia, even an
LAPD cop snaps. "Look, lady. It's been a long flight. I'm tired, my eyeballs feel
like they've been rolled in sand, and my brain is numb from your nonstop recitation
of thrilling facts about Julie Andrews." Drummond took a deep breath. "So why
don't you sit down and wait for the crowd to clear out, before I give you an in-flight
knuckle sandwich?"
The pudgy features beneath the over-inflated hair wrinkled into a scowl.
"New Yorkers," she said contemptuously, "are the rudest people in the world."
Drummond narrowed his eyes. "We're also homicidal maniacs," he said in
flat tone. "Now, sit down!"
Defeated, the fat lady huffed back down in her seat. After a strained minute
or two, there was a momentary break in the shuffling flow of tourists squeezing
past Drummond's seat, so he took the opportunity to get up and step into the aisle.
Standing firmly in place, he held up those passengers from farther back in the
aircraft while the lady seated next to him crawled out clutching a large canvas bag
and, without so much as a thank-you, headed determinedly down the aisle toward
the open hatch.
Inside the terminal building, Drummond shifted his carry-on to the other
shoulder and handed his passport and landing card to one of the green-uniformed
Grenzpolizei, who quickly scanned them, stamped his passport, and then handed it
back to him.
"Herr Drummond," the Grepo said, "I see on your landing card that you are a
police officer, yes?"
"That's right. I'm a captain with the Los Angeles Police Department. Why?"
"Oh, professional courtesy. You are here on police business?" the Grepo
asked, pressing a small button on the counter next to his stamps.
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
"No, just a vacation. I'm headed to Vienna."
"Ah, Vienna. A beautiful city. Enjoy your stay, Kapitän. Auf wiedersehen."
He gave Drummond a nod and a slight smile, and turned to the next passenger in
line.
In the baggage-arrival hall, nearly six hundred people milled around waiting
for their luggage to magically appear on one of the conveyor belts that led from
only-God-knew-where to the stainless-steel carousels that were surrounded six-
deep by people anxious to recover their luggage so that they could stand in line for
half an hour while the customs police conducted a series of random spot checks for
smuggled goods.
Drummond saw his canvas-and-leather Gurka bag snake down the conveyor
and tumble onto one of the carousels. Fighting his way past a family of Iraqis, he
managed to retrieve his bag on its first go-round. Moving back out through the
crowd was more difficult with his bag than it had been going in to get it, but
somehow he managed to get clear of the mob. He was heading for a row of
glistening baggage trolleys when another of the green-uniformed frontier police
came up to him and saluted.
"Kapitän Drummond?"
Surprised by the sudden appearance of the policeman, it took Drummond a
beat to reply. "Yes," he said. "I'm Drummond."
"Come with me, please, Kapitän," the Grepo said, relieving Drummond of
his larger bag.
Not sure what to think, Drummond accompanied the policeman over to the
Red and Green customs channels, packed with several hundred people all being
carefully interviewed by the customs police. To the left of the Red Channel
entrance was a small door marked "Security Personnel Only." The man with
Drummond's bag tapped in his code on the keyboard next to the door, and within
seconds a metallic click announced that the door was unlocked. The Grepo held
open the door for Drummond, then followed him through.
A customs official inside glanced up from his desk at the two men, said
something to Drummond's escort in German, and went back to reading a dog-eared
copy of Stern. Several small, glass-fronted rooms opened off the office, but the
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]