Page 89 of Pallas & Kawehi

Maile looked up with doe-eyed innocence as she put a hand over her heart. "I won't do that. I was just thinking someone with an iPhone might if he keeps making an issue of it."

A man in front of them in line turned his head to look back over his shoulder. "I was thinking the same thing."

Kawehi listened as the two commiserated over their mutual hate of the man about ten feet ahead of them. Nick had an Android phone. Right about now he'd be complaining and self-congratulating himself to anyone who would listen.

She really was happy to put him and their relationship behind her.

NICK CARTER

Nick was thrilled to know that Kawehi hadn't changed her phone. He saw the blip on the screen flaring off and on. He could hear people nearby complaining about an iPhone outage, but there must have been enough of a signal for him to see where she was. And that was just outside of the hangar.

Being back at KBAY was a trip down memory lane and while he'd never been with her on base, he had a feeling that this was the best way to get in touch with her.

He'd used his ID to get himself on the base as if he was still stationed here so he got a parking space that was easier to access than where she would have been instructed to park.

As soon as she made it through the hangar, he was sure he'd be able to pull her aside and talk to her. They could work this out quickly and he could get things straightened out with Charmaine.

FIFTEEN

PALLAS

While his team had spent most of the day helping to set up the static displays, including an Osprey like the one they used as a transport, a good number of the team stuck around to either enjoy the festival or help out.

Pallas was only too happy to help out while he was waiting for Kawehi to get there.

He was kind of surprised that Axl hadn't run for the hills.

He was watching the open hangar doors almost as much as he was.

"Hey, mister!"

Pallas looked down and saw three little girls looking up at him. They were all wearing Girl Scout uniforms of some kind. While he probably wouldn't get to know their names, one had a pair of braids, another had hair that came down to her chin and the last had a ponytail, probably the most accurate name for a hair style.

"Yes?"

Braids was the one at the front of the trio. She pointed at the Osprey that he was standing next to. "Do you fly this thing?"

He shook his head. "No, but I've traveled in it a lot."

The little girl with a short bob cut folded her arms across her chest. "You guys use planes? I thought planes were Air Force."

He nodded. "They do have planes, but the Marines do, too."

Ponytail reared back. "What? What about the Army?"

He nodded. "Army has pilots and so does the Navy."

"Navy?" Pixie was back in the conversation. "They're in the water, right? Navy. Ocean. Submarines and stuff."

Braids shook her head, one of the bows at the end of her braids whipping around her head started to untie itself. "Remember Top Gun? He's Navy."

Pixie narrowed her eyes. "They flew fighter planes. Remember when Goose-" she cupped one hand around her mouth and whispered, "died."

Ponytail nodded. "Yeah. They have planes, but they're on battleships."

Pallas bent his knees to crouch down and look at the girls almost straight in the eye. "You're all right. Sometimes we also have to cooperate to get ourselves around the world to help people."

Pixie shook her head as her brow furrowed. "If you have to help each other, why not just have one big military?"

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