Chapter 14

Tuesday

As usual, last night’s dream sex ended just before we woke up. This morning, I didn’t wake up until almost 5:00. We showered, ate a breakfast of scrambled eggs and grilled Spam, and headed for the airport.

We each limited ourselves to one carry-on bag for the trip, although I had a few sheets of gold coins in mine.

I must have fallen asleep during the flight because I awoke with a start. “Stay buckled in your seat,” I warned Kiana as I stood up and headed for one of the flight attendants.

“I can’t explain how I know, but we’re going to hit severe turbulence in about ten minutes. You need to let the pilot know and have everyone buckled in their seats,” I warned, and then turned and headed back to my seat.

“What was that about?” Kiana asked as the flight attendant was talking on the phone, hopefully with the pilot.

“We’re going to hit bad turbulence in a few minutes,” I told her quietly.

Just then, the fasten seat belt signs lit up and the pilot announced that all passengers were to return to their seats and buckle their seatbelts, explaining that the weather radar had just indicated the possibility that we would encounter severe turbulence in a minute or two.

The first indication we had of turbulence was when the plane bounced and shook for several seconds. Then, it dropped for a second. After that, it continued with the bumping and shaking like we were on a paint shaker. About fifteen seconds after the big drop that I’d expected, I unbuckled and made my way, unsteadily, back to the coach class section of the plane. I had to hold tightly to the seats as I passed them to keep my balance and probably looked like a drunk staggering down the aisle.

I had no idea who he was, but one of the passengers was sprawled in the aisle, unconscious.

Kneeling next to him, I saw a deep, bloody gash on the side of his head. Like I’d done for the wounded troops in Turkey, I put my hand over the wound and immediately felt power flowing through my hand, even as the turbulence jostled me back and forth between the seats on each side of me.

Noting that the guy sitting to my left and behind the seat right next to me was pale and sweating profusely, I touched his bare arm with my left hand and felt the power flowing through that hand, too. A minute later, one of the flight attendants approached me unsteadily and motioned to the guy on the floor. “Is he okay? Should we divert to the closest airport?”

“He’ll need medical attention when we land, but the longer I can spend with him, the better off he’ll be,” I replied. She staggered back to the rear of the plane and started talking on the phone.

Several minutes later, she returned with a pillow and motioned to where I was kneeling. “Thanks, could I have three more? I need the first one for this guy,” I asked as I slipped it under his head.

Smiling, she brought three more. “Was it safe to move his head?” she asked.

“His spine is fine. The gash on his head is all that’s wrong with him,” I assured her. I knelt on one of the pillows and had the attendant give one to the women sitting in the aisle seat on either side of me. They held the pillows against the side of their seats so there was a little padding as I was pinballed from one side to the other.

For the next half-hour, I shifted knees periodically while keeping one hand on the guy’s head and one on the seated man’s arm. “Am I going to be okay?” the seated guy finally asked.

“You should be fine, but you need to speak to a cardiologist right away,” I tried to reassure him. I also realized that my reassurance probably wasn’t very reassuring.

When we finally cleared the turbulence, Kiana joined me, switching seats with the lady sitting to my right. I’m sure the woman didn’t mind moving up to first-class. “Thirsty?” Kiana asked, moving an open can of Coke towards my mouth. Since my hands were both busy, she poured some into my mouth.

“You can probably use a lift from the sugar and caffeine,” she explained as she gave me a second sip of soda. She also fed me small bites of the nuts and crackers the flight attendant brought to her.

I wasn’t happy that most of the people around me had used their cell phones to take videos. I knew that I was gaining a degree of renown in the archaeology world but preferred to keep a low profile beyond that.

The guy on the floor finally regained consciousness. “Lie still, you hit your head pretty hard,” I told him.

“How bad is it?” he asked.

“You should be fine, but you may have a mild concussion and a headache for a day or two,” I replied.

The flight assistant finally warned me that we’d be landing in a few minutes and passengers were required to be in their seats for the landing.

“If anyone complains, tell them I’m rendering necessary medical assistance to an injured passenger. The landing will be so smooth that you’ll barely feel it,” I assured her. She used the phone in the back again and nodded at me a minute later.

Once we landed and started taxiing, the pilot announced that everyone needed to remain seated while paramedics came aboard to remove the injured passengers. One thing about landing in San Diego is that the post-flight taxi to the gate is fairly quick, unlike some airports where it feels like it takes longer to taxi to the gate than the flight took.

Two paramedics with a backboard approached me after the door opened. “I think this guy should be okay now. He had a small bleed in his brain, but it stopped,” I explained.

“Are you a doctor?” the lead paramedic asked.

I thought about how to answer the question. I didn’t want to lie. Neither did I want them to ignore what I told them. “I’m still an intern,” I replied, which was the truth. Hopefully, they’d think I meant a medical intern and that I’d already had medical training.

“Thanks,” the guy who’d been sitting next to me said emotionally when he stood up to leave with the second set of paramedics who came aboard for him and helped him to a wheelchair waiting just beyond the jet’s open hatch. I was embarrassed when everyone started applauding once they were wheeled away.

They made room for Kiana and me to return to our seats and to retrieve our luggage. One of the flight attendants for the first-class cabin stopped by and asked us to stay seated as everyone left. The captain wanted to thank me.

Several people stopped to shake my hand. Fortunately, a flight attendant had insisted that I wash the blood off my hand in the restroom while the paramedics were dealing with the guy on the floor.

Once everyone else was off the plane, Kiana and I headed for the front where the flight crew was waiting. “Thanks for the warning about the turbulence,” the pilot told me as he shook my hand. “There were some advisories about it, but nothing led me to believe it would be nearly that bad.

“You’re going to be a great doctor,” the co-pilot said. I smiled at her and explained that I was an archaeology intern, and not a medical intern. Then I explained about the Tribunal and what I did for a living.

“Can you tell us what you were doing? I saw your hands glowing,” the flight attendant from the back of the plane who had helped me asked.

“As hard as that is to believe, it would explain why all the passengers complained that the videos they shot with their cell phones had some sort of glare around your neck so your face didn’t show,” she chuckled once I finished my explanation.

“Again, thank you for the warning, and for taking care of our two injured passengers,” the pilot said.

We managed to deplane and reach the baggage pick-up area with no further embarrassment. My family was all waiting near where we would have picked up our luggage if we had any. Mom and my sister immediately mobbed Kiana, hugging her and talking a mile a minute.

Then, nearly a dozen people from our flight who were waiting for their luggage came over and tried to tell my family about what happened on the flight. One person showed their cell phone video. My head and upper chest were lost in a glare that looked like a bright light had been aimed at the camera. “Everyone’s video looked like that,” he complained.

That comment required an explanation for my family while we walked out to my sister’s SUV for the ride to my parents’ house. They were upset that I didn’t have any new pictures of my house, at least until Kiana showed them the ones she had taken with her cell phone. I didn’t remember being apart from her long enough for her to take the pictures, but then remembered her wandering through the house when we first arrived.

My family loved her. That night, instead of inviting Amy to join us, Kiana wanted to wait. Three times, she disappeared for a second. The third time, she returned with Mele, her almost eighteen-year-old sister. Mele’s embarrassment didn’t last long, and she became an enthusiastic partner with both of us. It was quickly evident that the sisters had been together before. Still, watching the gorgeous sisters together made me hornier than usual and we kept at it until it was time for Kiana and me to wake up.

Wednesday

Yesterday, I had called Danny, my old surfing and scuba buddy. I knew that Walt had gone to college in Texas and stayed there. Danny didn’t go to college. Instead, his parents helped him buy a charter boat and he takes people out to fish or scuba dive. He prefers scuba charters, but most are fishing charters. Occasionally, he even gives surfing lessons.

I borrowed Dad’s truck and we met Danny at his boat well before sunrise, where I introduced him to Kiana. We went with him as he piloted his boat with this morning’s fishing charter group aboard. We motored to the Coronado Islands which were a little less than twenty miles south of the mouth of San Diego Harbor. Danny located a large school of yellowtail, and the fun began. The surprised look on Danny’s face when Kiana grabbed a pole and baited it herself was priceless.

While I enjoy fishing, I had much more fun watching how much fun Kiana was having. I’d seen her fish in Hawaii but had been paying more attention to what I was doing than what she’d been doing. Kiana was one of only two women aboard today and was much more enthusiastic about fishing than the other woman was, crying out exuberantly when she hooked her first fish.

It was a good-sized yellowfin tuna, and she shouted, “Guess what we’re having for dinner,” just as it hit the deck. By the end of the day, the sixteen customers had caught seventeen yellowfin, two yellowtail, one skipjack tuna, one Bluefin tuna, and a Dorado.

Most of the fish were sold when we docked, but Kiana cut ours up and shared it with three other people who wanted some to take home. That way, they could sell their catch to defer part of the charter cost. We ended up with about twenty pounds of tuna steaks, and Kiana reeked of tuna on the drive home, even though she washed up at the docks.

Fortunately, I’d remembered about the smell from our fishing trips in Hawaii and had covered the seats of Dad’s pickup with a heavy plastic drop cloth when we first arrived at the docks this morning. The tuna rode home in the bed of the pickup, bagged in sealed gallon-sized plastic bags and surrounded with ice. I had called Mom from the boat when we neared the harbor and were in range of cell towers to warn her that we had tuna steaks to fix for dinner.

Dad had the barbecue going and put the tuna on to grill while Kiana and I went inside to shower. By the time we finished, the tuna smell was gone. We threw our stinky clothes into the washer and rejoined the family, just as the tuna steaks came off the grill.

Kiana had her sister join us again tonight. Evidently, her sister had now started going to sleep earlier than her usual 11 PM so that she could join us for a longer period each night.

Sunday

The last three days, we lazed around the house except for the time we spent at coin dealers in the San Diego area where I sold fifty gold coins. Kiana and I spent lots of time discussing what had happened in our lives since we last saw each other. She seemed intrigued when I told her about the attack in Turkey and the Tribunal’s promise that the wife they had chosen for me would provide a reward for me. She rewarded me that night, once again bringing her sister into our dream sex.

We did visit a jeweler recommended by Dad where Kiana found the modest engagement ring she wanted. I did the honors and slipped it on her finger right in the store.

We said our goodbyes to my family members last night. This morning, Dad drove us to the airport so we were there at 5:00 for our 7:15 eastbound flight.

Just before 3:30, we were walking off the plane. “As much as I enjoyed meeting your family, I’m all flown out right now. Flying here from Hawaii Sunday, to San Diego Tuesday, and back here today is enough for a while,” Kiana sighed.

“I’m in the same boat except I flew in from Istanbul last week,” I agreed. “Fortunately, there shouldn’t be any more flying until Thanksgiving.”

We stopped for a late lunch on the way home. Back at the house, we crashed until suppertime. After supper, I finally looked through the emails Ray forwarded me with the details for the five digs I would consider that had asked for my help. Ray had forwarded the emails to me. Two were in Peru and one in Colombia. One was in Ecuador, and one in Portugal. I decided to see about helping the one in Portugal over Thanksgiving break, and then remembered that I wanted to visit Hawaii over Thanksgiving.

I was going to have to think about this. I needed to be at digs to earn credits towards my PhD. I also wanted to be with Kiana since we were just beginning our relationship.

Monday

This morning, I talked to Ray about my dilemma. He sicced his wife Amanda on me.

“I’ve already talked to Kiana, and she understands that you have to be in the field to learn, and to take the available classes to earn your PhD. Fortunately, you are unique. Just like getting your Master’s after only one year, it won’t take you nearly as long as normal to receive your PhD. Some archaeology students take four or five years.

“Plan to go to the dig in Peru first. They have a class starting the second Monday in September. Attend it as one of the students and you’ll receive credit for the class they have there while also helping to guide the leaders of the dig to where they should really be looking.

“When that class ends, head to the one in Ecuador. Itzel says that you won’t have any trouble there this time. Again, you’ll get credit for the class they give there, and will again be able to guide the leaders of the dig to the area they should be concentrating on.

“Yes, you’ll be separated for a little over two months, but you, Kiana, and Mele can still visit each night and can talk together without running up astronomical satellite phone bills.

“That will let you and Kiana visit Hawaii during Thanksgiving break,” she said with a knowing grin that I’d come to recognize from Ray’s wives. It meant that they knew something they weren’t telling me. It also meant that it wasn’t a bad thing, or Itzel would warn me.

I wasn’t even surprised when Kiana already knew all about it before I told her. She even arranged the flights I’d need while I called the heads of the two digs. Both were excited that I had agreed to help them and had no problem with me taking the classes they offered. Since I’d been requested, I wouldn’t even have to pay the usual fees the student workers paid to take the classes.

I spent the mornings for the next two weeks preparing to leave, and the rest of the day getting to know Kiana better--after she finished her homework. She met the Tribunal, and I made sure that she could open the floor safe in my study. I left five thousand dollars in the safe on top of the gold coins, even though she assured me that she had plenty of money of her own, especially since she’d hardly spent any since arriving here.

As we got to know each other better, Kiana became more playful. One day she’d come home from school, kiss me, and head upstairs to change before she started studying. The next, she stripped as soon as the front door closed and practically attacked me. Another day, she’d push me onto the couch and when she finished with me, change and do her homework. Sometimes, she’d come back downstairs naked and do homework.

After dinner, she always insisted on sex. No matter what I was doing after dinner, she could instantly distract me and get me to chase her to bed where our bedtime festivities began. They continued once we fell asleep. A bit later, Mele joined us until it was time for us to wake up. Waking up energized from a night of dream sex, we usually started our day with a quickie in bed or in the shower.

I put my foot down when she asked me to invite Janice and Sandy from Ecuador to join us occasionally. When I questioned her further, she admitted that she wanted them to physically join us in bed occasionally.

“No,” I replied when she asked.

“But they’ve joined us several times for dream sex and we both enjoyed it,” she protested.

“That was dream sex. Physically, they were a few miles away from here. You’ve never been there when I physically had sex with another woman. If I was 99% sure that it wouldn’t bother you but there was a 1% chance that you’d be upset, I wouldn’t do it. You’ve been chosen to be my wife and I think the Tribunal made an outstanding choice. I won’t do anything to jeopardize that.”

After shedding a few happy tears over my declaration about my feelings for her, she screwed my brains out.

While Kiana was in class, I also spent a couple hours each morning working out in the weight room at school, as well as the pool and track.