* * * * *
Had it merely been a nightmare? Or a precognitive vision? I had no idea. But, either way, I was a long time shaking it off. The whole commuter flight, in fact!
I found out (from an actual information desk, this time) that a two-man operation called Yankee Doodle Airlines might fit my immediate needs. So, I booked passage on a Fairchild/Pilatus Turbo-Porter with a pilot nicknamed "Ace" King.
"You're kidding," I replied when he told me this.
"Beats the moniker I was christened with," he retorted: "Horace Dinwiddie King! And, naturally, whenever I got low grades in school, I was automatically referred to as 'Dimwitty.' "
"So, you shortened it to 'Ace' when you became a pilot?"
"Nope! I got it after I shot down five Czech-made Aero L-39's (sold to the Iraqi air force by the Libyans) during the Persian Gulf War."
The rest of the conversation continued along that same, mutually autobiographical line all the way to RDU. We landed there without incident, and I thanked "Ace" for his kindness and efficiency. After that, I rented a Volkswagen Beetle and headed for Lebaron University.
I have to confess; it felt somewhat odd to be back on campus. It was as if I had never left! Perhaps it was the sound of the college's marching band rehearsing on the nearby football field. The music reminded me of my nightmare and Ken Gambol's manuscript. Although, I tried to console myself with the fact that Lebaron U's marching band had no baton twirlers! Just a flag-twirling color guard, a line of pom-pom waving jazz dancers, and a clownish mascot.
[Imagine a blue, foam rubber version of Disney's "The Reluctant Dragon," wearing a white, short-sleeved jersey--numbered front and back with a double zero--and a gold-banded black top hat. All while riding an Italian motor scooter all around the football field!]
My first stop, after finding a suitable vacancy in the visitors' parking garage, was the Administration Building. There, I showed my identification to the receptionist on duty, and I asked where Professor Gambol's office was.
"It's in the Arts and Sciences Building, doctor. But, I'm afraid the professor is away on sabbatical, at the moment. And, he's not due back until the start of the next fall semester."
"I see," I replied: "Well, thank you, anyway."
"You're quite welcome."
Naturally, as soon as I was out of her sight, I headed for the Arts and Sciences Building! Sure enough; there was still a black iron bulletin board, with magnetized white letters fixed to the surface of it, behind a locked plastic door in the lobby. And some of that lettering indicated that Ken's office was in the Physical Sciences Department on the second floor.
So, that's where I went.
When I arrived there, I started to psychometrize the door knob. Almost instantly, I had a retrocognitive vision of what I was looking for. A spare key, hidden behind the old black-and-white photo portrait of the Arts and Sciences Building to the left of the office door!
Making sure no one was coming down the hallway from either end, I unlocked the door and slipped inside. Once I had re-locked the door from the inside, I began further psychometry. But, this time, the results were not so quick in coming. This time, it took about fifteen or twenty minutes to get the mental picture I was looking for.
That of Ken making notations, on a piece of white paper, with the very pencil I was now holding! Those notations consisting of a name and an address.
"Chet Northfield,
Tarzana, California"
tbc
Giantess World
Author's Chapter Notes:
WAKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA