* * * * *
"For the first five or ten minutes, no one said a word. We were just too thankful not have been captured by those mind-controlled troopers. Then, on finally getting my second wind, I looked up at Celia and shouted."
" 'I thought you said you had blocked my frequency from them!' "
" 'I also said I could only do it to a _limited_ extent. Pouring out our troubles to General Bob must have diverted my concentration enough that they were able to zero in without raising pings of alarm in me.' "
" 'So what do we do, now?' asked Gina."
" 'We head for the state line, of course! Once we have, I'll tell you where to go from there. Right now, though, I'm famished! Where's the food we sent you out for?' "
"The take-out orders were in the back seat. So, Celia reached over, grabbed them up, and acted as personal feeder for myself and Gina. By the time we had finished every scrap and morsel, we had entered the Beaver Township region of Newton County, Indiana. Whereupon, Celia told Gina to drive south."
" 'General Bob's friend will meet us at the Kentland Crater in Jefferson Township. It's a old meteor impact site that's now a dolomite mining operation. From there, he'll fly us to Union City, Ohio. That's where the general will be waiting for us, with some more of his Old Boys' Retirement Club.' "
" 'Do you think they'll believe you any better than I initially did?' asked Gina."
" 'They will once I show them our protective escort.' "
" 'What's that supposed to mean?' I (carefully) demanded."
"She merely smiled, picked me up off her lap with her left hand, and pointed out the front windshield with her right. Causing me and Gina to gasp, simultaneously."
"Because there, flying right in front of us, in perfect formation, were the saucer-shaped drones that had been responsible for shrinking the chimney Randy Batchelor had hidden behind!"
" 'YOU can control those things, now?!' I exclaimed."
" 'Better than alpha slaves like that state police captain can,' she replied (with a shamelessly immodest smile)."
"With that pronouncement, the saucer drones flew off to a slightly higher altitude, Jay. Leaving us once more alone on this Midwestern back road (except for the occasional on-coming eighteen wheeler headed for Chicago)."
"It seemed like more than an hour later. But, we reached the rendezvous, on time. Because our ride--a fire-engine red Sikorsky S-76, with white lettering that spelled out CALUMED--was kicking up dust with its landing, even as we pulled to a stop."
"Gina deliberately left the keys in the car, after power-locking all four doors. Then, she and Celia ran for the chopper. They piled in --with me, safely inside the left lapel pocket of Celia's blouse--and introduced themselves to the pilot."
" 'Pleased to meet you, ladies,' he replied: " 'Patrick Reardon's the name. 'Tricky Pat' to my friends.' "
" 'Tricky?' echoed Gina (somewhat nervously)."
" 'Yeah! When I'm not acting as an air ambulance driver, I put on aerobatic exhibitions at places like Peru, Indiana, during their Circus Day festivities.' "
" 'Wonderful!' Gina muttered (in a tone that clearly meant just the opposite). And I had to fight the temptation to chuckle...like Reardon shamelessly did."
" 'Strap in, ladies,' he ordered: 'Next stop? The Buckeye State.' "
tbc
Giantess World
Chapter End Notes:
Specia note: Peru, Indiana, served as Midwestern winter quarters for a lot of American circuses during the 19th century. And, to the best of my knowledge, the local citizenry commemorate that fact, to this day, with an annual amateur circus of their own, every third weekend of July!