ALTOS

Math

The corridors and walkways bubbled with the interwoven connectedness that makes up an airport. Yet the airport was deadly quiet for a Friday morning in late September. The overhead messages came in loud and clear, stating that random flights ware going to be severely delayed or possibly down right cancelled. It seemed like a peaceful fall day with little hint of underlying trouble on the horizon. Or that may be the common sentiment while traveling in the year 2035. Airline travel used to be one of the safer modes of transportation, however this is no longer the case.

Due to merger after merger and the deregulation of almost everything it was like the wild wild west when flying the not so friendly skies. Everything had a price these days. Or maybe theyalways did.

Herr Schiller is a calculated and considérate man. One would consider him a pillar of the community, others an oddity of sorts. By modern day standards, he was not old, yet he felt older by the day. His grandchildren made him feel younger and much older at the same time. Being a grandparent gave his life an entirely new perspective. It was a perspective he never considered before. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He felt there was something so much bigger than himself. It was a new perspective and one he was not yet quite comfortable with. It was similar to a childhood memory of wearing a brand new pairof blue jeans.

Alyosha is much the opposite as Herr Schiller. Alyosha grew up as a laborer who worked for his father back in Russia. His father demanded almost all his wages and at times took credit for his thorough and meticulous work. More importantly, his father would not allow him to marry Ustina. Ustina was a commoner of miraculous understated beauty. She had greenish blue eyes and an impish mischievous smile and a belly showing she was many months pregnant.

Alberta was fed up with her life and has seen enough of where it was headed. Her husband had died many years ago soon after they achieved a mutual life long dream. They had been to allfifty state capitals in The United States. The last one they made thirty years ago, was to Salem, Oregon which they found quite banal and disappointing. Alberta was a woman with beliefs similar to that of her late husband. She couldn’t say it out loud, but she still distrusted new washing machine technology as well as people with skin color different than hers. It made her sad she would not see her grandchildren in the afterlife. They were not a people of god.

Herr Schiller took a long walk that morning venturing through the cobblestones in Central part of Mainz Germany. He walked much farther than anticipated and had to hustle to make his connection in the Frankfurt Airport. This was a spot of bother to him as he had an especially important meeting later that evening. It generally was a collasal pain in the exterior being late to get back home. He had things to do and places to be as part of living a plain and orderly life. Then again, his wife was about to give birth.

Alberta was in Frankfurt for what she considered her very last time. She rolled her way through the airport on an airport provided wheel chair. She insisted her wheel chair have an American flag. She provided the flag, a flexible pole and a roll of duct tape for support. There she was slowly strolling through the hustle and bustle of Frankfurt Intrrnational airport. She proudly saluted the men holding semi automatic weapons as she was wheeled slowly by. They smiled in return as she rolled by with the flag held high.

She thought to herself, “What am I doing here?” She had never been to Europe and didn’t like the idea of being here. She had been wheeled, carted, or carried everywhere on this trip. None of the forward motions were of her own volition. She had no idea as to how to find a state capital in Germany. She was here as a gift from her family so that she could attend her oldestdaughter’s fiftieth birthday. Her daughter had just survived an extreme scare from an aggressive form of pancreatic cancer. She was old and she was not somebody who loved to travel. She was not present for her daughter’s battle with cancer, however she wanted desperately to be there for her now. She wanted to enter the afterlife with a crystal-clear conscience.

Alyosha was never one to complain about anything. He had worked hard and saved with discipline for this trip. There was one flight back home today and he was determined to make the flight. His wife was nine months pregnant and was expected to go into labor in the next few days.

Although, enstranged from his father he was excited to give the news of his wife’s pregnancy to his mother. He had not seen her for years. He moved away from Russia to be away from the overbearing presence of his father. He believed his mother moved away for similar reasons. If he would have kept on the same trajectory his father would have controlled him into an early grave. This trip meant the world to him.

Alberta, Alyosha and Herr Schiller sat quietly on the shuttle across from the elevator. Still the airport was quieter than usual and one could hear the hum of a buggy making the way across the airport. Soon after, their buggy was routed toward a holding area where passengers could meet up with their flights. They were fortunate to be on a cart or maybe it was pure coincidence.They noticed a few lines queuing up in the same direction and then they were in a line so that they could wait in another line. Airline traffic had gotten far more complicated in recent years and today seemed more complicated then most.

Alberta offered black licorice to the other people on the cart and they curtly declined. Then a person who they hadn’t noticed before took her up on her offer.

“I have not had a piece of black licorice in ages. I hope you don’t mind if I do. “

“Hi there, my name is Micheal, it was a quiet night for a swim and I ended up missing my flight back to Rockville. “

“Don’t go back there.” She said with a knowing smile.

They all then took a piece of licorice, as their cart was guided to an area where they where to go into their respective gates. Announcements where going non stop by then. The air in the corridor became more humid and birds flew within the confines of the airport. It was difficult to hear what was being said on the Airport speakers. However, it was rather evident it was a high security day in the Frankfurt Airport. There were now days where one had to seek alternative forms of transportation. The global airline industry had out stripped demand and there were certain “prices” to be paid to get to your destination on time. These days were few and far between but they were now alurking, futuristic part of traveling. It was all about maximizing shareholder wealth, and if somebody had to suffer along the way, so be it.

They were wheeled into a room with freshly painted yellow cinder block, giving it a look of militaristic efficiency . It looked like it was hastily painted to give a sunny impression. An international Polezei walked in slowly with a visible sense of urgency.

The strapping young lad, introduced himself as officer Müller with some unclear international travel jurisdiction. “It is a busy day here and I am going to get right to the point.”

This is not exactly what he did as he took another phone call on an old-fashioned two-way radio. He listened to the talk on the other end for a while and quickly put the radio to his ear so those in the room could not hear.

He explained to the group that they were in a high state of security due to some unspoken threat in the world. The bureaucrats were not free with information. Herr Schiller had heard about things like this happening occasionally and now he was feeling a bit uncomfortable.

The officer explained how they all had the choice to take another airline to their destination which seemed agreeable. However, with complete deregulation there was a chance they would not make it to their destination. Statistics had proven that approximately one in twenty people died on these alternative airplanes. It was either taking a chance with the alternative transportation or arriving at your destination a week into the future. These were not exact statistics; however, it was common knowledge something would happen occasionally on this alternative airline (ALTOS). These ALTOS employed plenty of people worldwide and kept airline traffic flowing throughout the world. These planes did not usually crash to the ground, rather customers would die one way or another. It was a predictable five percent of the people died on these flights. These flights where even marketed that way. Those who were willing to take the chance could get to their destination in a timely manner.

The officer said he would give them about fifteen minutes to think about it. It was an odd existence in the concrete room with yellow walls, as Herr Schiller, Alberta and Aliosha sat and considered their decisions. They sat without saying a word and suddenly started talking amongst themselves. Herr Schiller knew immediately that he would wait out the delay and not take any chances risking his own life. He knew he would miss a week of work and his employer would not be keen on this. Big companies wished their employees would forsake extensive travel, claiming it was a decision based on what is good for the environment. Everybody realized we had gone past that tippingpoint years ago. That is how Frau Schiller is. He leaves very little to chance and is calculated on many things in life. Then again, he wanted to be here for his grandchildren and that was a decision based on love and connection.

Alyosha and Alberta sat and struggled with this conundrum. Alberta put her legs up on the cheap plastic seat, signaling that they could be there for a while. I have lived my life. Every part of my body hurts, and this is not fun anymore. Half my organs are gone, and I keep marching on. I am ready to meet my maker. I have prepared my entire life for what comes next. I certainly want to fly on ALTOS. I want a first-class window seat.

“I have never flown first class in my life,” Alyosha randomly replied not capable of letting Alberta’s words sink in. I so want to be on that flight so I can be there for my wife when she gives birth.

“We have practiced this, and this is one thing I wanted to get right in my life. I wish I could talk to her about this. Unfortunately, I cannot. It is not that we do not communicate well. She would be clear about what she would like me to do. We live in a small village and live a simple life. I simply am not able to reach her right now. “

His words hung heavily in the air for quite a while. The words swirled and tickled the senses. All those in the room realized the absurdity of the situation.

Micheal broke the silence and asked how far away he lived andAlyosha indicated he did not drive a car. If he did his understanding was that it was about a twelve-hour train ride and another couple hour by auto.

Herr Schiller put his head in his lap looking as if he was ready to fall off to sleep. “Make sure you are there for her on her first day of college, her wedding day or the first day she encounters monsters under her bed. “

Micheal patted Alyosha on shoulder, dangled car keys in his hand and said, “Let’s get out of here.”

Soon after Officer Muller reentered the room looking more preoccupied than before.

“The crisis has passed; it looks like we will not be needing any ALTOS fights today. Please be on your way.”

They all sat in silence, more confused than before. Alberta shed a tear.