DIVISIBLE MAN--ENGINE OUT & OTHER SHORT FLIGHTS, page 1
DIVISIBLE MAN - ENGINE OUT & OTHER SHORT FLIGHTS
HOWARD SEABORNE
Copyright © 2022 by Howard Seaborne
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Preface
1. Andy
2. Angel Flight
3. A Snowball’s Chance
4. Engine Out
5. Supervised Solo
6. Naked Guy
7. Payment In Kind
8. Earl Jackson’s Last Mission
9. Pidge
10. Water Landing
11. When It Matters
12. A Way In A Manger
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DIVISIBLE MAN
DIVISIBLE MAN: THE SIXTH PAWN
DIVISIBLE MAN: THE SECOND GHOST
DIVISIBLE MAN: THE SEVENTH STAR
DIVISIBLE MAN: TEN MAN CREW
DIVISIBLE MAN: THE THIRD LIE
DIVISIBLE MAN: THREE NINES FINE
DIVISIBLE MAN: EIGHT BALL
ENGINE OUT AND OTHER SHORT FLIGHTS
DIVISIBLE MAN: NINE LIVES LOST
ALSO BY HOWARD SEABORNE
DIVISIBLE MAN
A Novel – September 2017
DIVISIBLE MAN: THE SIXTH PAWN
A Novel – June 2018
DIVISIBLE MAN: THE SECOND GHOST
A Novel – September 2018
ANGEL FLIGHT
A Story – September 2018
DIVISIBLE MAN: THE SEVENTH STAR
A Novel – June 2019
ENGINE OUT
A Story – September 2019
WHEN IT MATTERS
A Story – October 2019
A SNOWBALL’S CHANCE
A Story – November 2019
DIVISIBLE MAN: TEN MAN CREW
A Novel – November 2019
DIVISIBLE MAN: THE THIRD LIE
A Novel – May 2020
DIVISIBLE MAN: THREE NINES FINE
A Novel – November 2020
DIVISIBLE MAN: EIGHT BALL
A Novel – September 2021
DIVISIBLE MAN: ENGINE OUT
AND OTHER SHORT FLIGHTS
A Story Collection – June 2022
DIVISIBLE MAN: NINE LIVES LOST
A Novel – June 2022
PRAISE FOR HOWARD SEABORNE
“This book is a strong start to a series…Well-written and engaging, with memorable characters and an intriguing hero.”
—Kirkus Reviews
DIVISIBLE MAN [DM1]
“Seaborne’s crisp prose, playful dialogue, and mastery of technical details of flight distinguish the story…this is a striking and original start to a series, buoyed by fresh and vivid depictions of extra-human powers and a clutch of memorably drawn characters…”
—BookLife
DIVISIBLE MAN [DM1]
“Even more than flight, (Will’s relationship with Andy)—and that crack prose—powers this thriller to a satisfying climax that sets up more to come.”
—BookLife
DIVISIBLE MAN [DM1]
“Seaborne, a former flight instructor and charter pilot, once again gives readers a crisply written thriller. Self-powered flight is a potent fantasy, and Seaborne explores its joys and difficulties engagingly. Will’s narrative voice is amusing, intelligent and humane; he draws readers in with his wit, appreciation for his wife, and his flight-drunk joy…Even more entertaining than its predecessor—a great read.”
—Kirkus Reviews
DIVISIBLE MAN: THE SIXTH PAWN [DM2]
“Seaborne, a former flight instructor and pilot, delivers a solid, well-written tale that taps into the near-universal dream of personal flight. Will’s narrative voice is engaging and crisp, clearly explaining technical matters while never losing sight of humane, emotional concerns. The environments he describes…feel absolutely real. Another intelligent and exciting superpowered thriller.”
—Kirkus Reviews
DIVISIBLE MAN: THE SECOND GHOST [DM3]
“As in this series’ three previous books, Seaborne…proves he’s a natural born storyteller, serving up an exciting, well-written thriller. He makes even minor moments in the story memorable with his sharp, evocative prose…Will’s smart, humane and humorous narrative voice is appealing, as is his sincere appreciation for Andy—not just for her considerable beauty, but also for her dedication and intelligence…Seaborne does a fine job making side characters and locales believable. It’s deeply gratifying to see Will deliver righteous justice to some very bad people. An intensely satisfying thriller—another winner from Seaborne.”
—Kirkus Reviews
DIVISIBLE MAN: THE SECOND GHOST [DM4]
“Seaborne…continues his winning streak in this series, offering another page-turner. By having Will’s knowledge of and control over his powers continue to expand while the questions over how he should best deploy his abilities grow, Seaborne keeps the concept fresh and readers guessing…Will’s enemies are becoming aware of him and perhaps developing techniques to detect him, which makes the question of how he can protect himself while doing the most good a thorny one. The conspiracy is highly dramatic yet not implausible given today’s political events, and the action sequences are excitingly cinematic…Another compelling and hugely fun adventure that delivers a thrill ride.”
—Kirkus Reviews
DIVISIBLE MAN: TEN MAN CREW [DM5]
“Seaborne shows himself to be a reliably splendid storyteller in this latest outing. The plot is intricate and could have been confusing in lesser hands, but the author manages it well, keeping readers oriented amid unexpected developments…His crisp writing about complex scenes and concepts is another strong suit…The fantasy of self-powered flight remains absolutely compelling…As a former charter pilot, Seaborne conveys Will’s delight not only in ‘the other thing,’ but also in airplanes and the world of flight—an engaging subculture that he ably brings to life for the reader. Will is heroic and daring, as one would expect, but he’s also funny, compassionate, and affectionate… A gripping, timely, and twisty thriller.”
—Kirkus Reviews
DIVISIBLE MAN: THE THIRD LIE [DM6]
“Seaborne is never less than a spellbinding storyteller, keeping his complicated but clearly explicated plot moving smoothly from one nail-biting scenario to another. As the tale goes along, seemingly disparate plot lines begin to satisfyingly connect in ways that will keep readers guessing until the explosive (in more ways than one) action-movie denouement. The author’s grasp of global politics gives depth to the book’s thriller elements, which are nicely balanced by thoughtful characterizations. Even minor characters come across in three dimensions, and Will himself is an endearing narrator. He’s lovestruck by his gorgeous, intelligent, and strong-willed wife; has his heart and social conscience in the right place; and is boyishly thrilled by the other thing. A solid series entry that is, as usual, exciting, intricately plotted, and thoroughly entertaining.”
—Kirkus Reviews
DIVISIBLE MAN: THREE NINES FINE [DM7]
“Any reader of this series knows that they’re in good hands with Seaborne, who’s a natural storyteller. His descriptions and dialogue are crisp, and his characters deftly sketched…The book keeps readers tied into its complex and exciting thriller plot with lucid and graceful exposition, laying out clues with cleverness and subtlety…Also, although Will’s abilities are powerful, they have reasonable limitations, and the protagonist is always a relatable character with plenty of humanity and humor…Another riveting, taut, and timely adventure with engaging characters and a great premise.”
— Kirkus Reviews
DIVISIBLE MAN: EIGHT BALL [DM8]
“Seaborne’s latest series entry packs a good deal of mystery. Everything Will stumbles on, it seems, dredges up more questions…All this shady stuff in Montana and unrest in Wisconsin make for a tense narrative…Will’s periodic sarcasm is welcome, as it’s good-natured and never overwhelming…A smart, diverting tale of an audacious aviator with an extraordinary ability.”
— Kirkus Reviews
DIVISIBLE MAN: NINE LIVES LOST [DM9]
“This engaging compendium will surely pique new readers’ interest in earlier series installments. A captivating, altruistic hero and appealing cast propel this enjoyable collection of supernatural-flavored tales.”
— Kirkus Reviews
DIVISIBLE MAN: ENGINE OUT & OTHER SHORT FLIGHTS
THE SERIES
While each DIVISIBLE MAN TM novel tells its own tale, many elements carry forward and the novels are best enjoyed in sequence. The short story “Angel Flight” is a bridge between the third and fourth novels and is included with the third.
DIVISIBLE MAN TM is available in print or digital through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books or at HowardSeaborne.com
DIVISIBLE MAN TM can also be enjoyed via audio starting in June 2022.
DIVISIBLE MAN TM large print paperback editions are available at amazon.com
For a Cast of Characters, visit HowardSeaborne.com
For advance notice of new releases and exclusive material available only to Email Members, join the DIVISIBLE MAN TM Email List
at HowardSeaborne.com.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This pilot is blessed with a crew that deserves recognition for their patience, dedication, expertise and collaboration. My wife, for the “read and write” evenings spent in connected silence. My dear friends and family for invaluable help with big events like the EAA Airventure (thank you, Robin, Ariana, Rich and Chryste!) My incomparable editor, Stephen Parolini, for his unflinching assessment of these characters and their motivations. The team at TWD, David, Carol, April, Claire, Kristie, Rebecca and Steve, for operating the machinery that makes this possible. My medical expert, Stacey, for making right what I got wrong. My dear friend, cheerleader, challenger, beta reader and trivia champ, Rich. The indispensable Robin Ann, my incredible beta reader and re-reader and re-re-reader, the Copy Editor who can spot a typo on the manifest of a passing airliner. This collection is the Divisible Man’s tenth mission. Like all before it, and many more to come, it would never have left the ground without such willing and supportive hands. Thank you.
For Ariana and Isabella
because you let me begin with
“Once upon a time…”
PREFACE
THE OTHER THING
It’s like this: I wake up nearly every morning in the bed I share with my wife. After devoting a religious moment to appreciating the stunning, loving woman beside me, I ease off the mattress and pick my way across the minefield of creaks and groans in the old farmhouse’s wooden floor. I slip into the hall and head for the guest bathroom two doors down—the one with the quietest toilet flush. I take care of essential business, then pull up to the mirror. The face offers no surprises. I give it a moment, then picture a set of levers in my head—part of the throttle-prop-mixture quadrant on a twin-engine Piper Navajo. The levers I imagine are to the right, a fourth set not found on any airplane, topped with classic round balls. I see them fully retracted, pulled toward me, the pilot. My eyes are open—it makes no difference—I can see the levers either way. I close my hand on them. I push. They move smoothly and swiftly. Balls to the wall.
For a split second I wonder, as I did the day before, and the day before that, if this trick will work again. Then—
Fwooomp!
—I hear it. A deep and breathy sound—like the air being sucked out of a room. The sound is audible only in my head, if that can be considered audible.
A cool sensation flashes over my skin. The first dip in a farm pond after a hot, dusty day. The shift of an evening breeze after sunset.
I vanish.
Bleary eyes and tossed hair wink out and the shower curtain behind me—the one with the frogs on it—fills in where my head had been. My feet leave the cold tile floor. My body remains solid, but gravity and I are no longer on speaking terms. I begin to float. A stiff breeze will send me on my way if I don’t hang on to something.
The routine never varies. I’ve tested it nearly every morning since I piloted an air charter flight down the RNAV 31 Approach to Essex County Airport but never made the field. I have no memory of the crash. The running theory is that I collided with something in midair. I have dreams of hitting something, but I’m not sure if the dreams come from the event or were suggested afterward. In the dreams, everything is peachy until something—it’s just a hole in the sky—tears the airplane apart under me. Evidence suggests I fell more than five hundred feet and landed in a marsh, sitting in the pilot’s seat. That’s where the Essex Volunteer Fire Department found me.
Since the night of the crash, whenever I picture that set of levers in my mind and I push them fully forward, I vanish. Pull them back, and I reappear.
Now you know as much as I do about the other thing.
1
ANDY
My wife likes to tell people we met when she pulled me over for driving while full of myself. She insists such a law exists on the books in Essex County. That she pulled me over in full uniform while on patrol in a City of Essex squad car is not a lie, but she employs a bit of creative license in our origin story. With good reason.
The first time I saw her, the actual first time, she walked into the fixed base operation offices at Essex County Airport on the arm of a man named Carl Lofton. I was in my second year working as a pilot for Essex County Air Services, wearing the multiple hats of flight instructor, charter pilot, and—when the weather or slow business meant no bookings—would-be mechanic wearing coveralls in the hangar, assisting with annual inspections and such repairs as Doc, our certified Airframe and Powerplant mechanic, would allow. Doc, thankfully, is about as good-natured a wrench-turner as the cold war Air Force ever minted, a fixture at Essex County Air Service since Bush Senior was president. I can follow directions and handle a set of tools, but I also ask a lot of questions, which Doc answers with endless patience. I think it has something to do with the fact that when I put on a set of coveralls, he hands off the dirtiest, most monotonous jobs to me.
The day Andrea Katherine Taylor walked through our tinted glass office doors, I was not, thankfully, wearing greasy coveralls. I stood looking my professional pilot best in a clean white shirt with a black tie and epaulets denoting my Captainly Authority, having just returned from an afternoon charter run to the upper peninsula of Michigan. I leaned on the counter, adding to my aura of great aviation prowess by holding a clipboard in one hand and a pen in the other.
Men are men, and when we see a woman like Andrea Taylor, we stop and look. Married men do it from behind sunglasses and with furtive glances. Single guys do it with tongues hanging out. We all do it. And we all run instant calculations, measuring ourselves against the dumb but lucky schmuck the woman is with. From those calculations, we project a flight path into a happily-ever-after future with such a woman. It’s a fallacy that men don’t want to commit. We do it all the time, all day long, with dozens of women we see on the street and in our minds.
Andrea Taylor could (and still can) stop a clock. Thick waves of auburn hair, taking and shooting back sheens of sunlight. A slender waist my hands instantly imagined gripping, blossoming into hips that signaled procreation to some lizard part of my brain. And legs. Oh, God bless the designer of that summer dress she wore, which shared most of her sculpted legs on one end and hung tastefully yet tantalizingly cut above the bosom at the other end, where she had just slightly more than most women her size and weight carry. Ever so slightly more.
Men stop and look, and some women collect those looks like Spanish gold, but a woman like Andrea will make you meet her at the eyes. They’re too bright, too alert, too alive and they will hunt you down and demand direct contact, and once connected, she’s the one doing the appraising, with little mercy. Her lips partnered with her eyes, pursed slightly, equally appraising. Their deep color seemed all her own and the smile they could conjure flashed like a magic spell. Her skin had just enough creamy caramel color to suggest what she took from the summer sun didn’t burn and needed no enhancement.
She had the magazine looks, but it was immediately apparent she wasn’t a two-dimensional beauty.
My first impression of Andrea Taylor was of a woman who knows when men are looking. When she chooses to look back, she will make you feel like the little boy you are.
My second impression was that she may have been on Carl Lofton’s arm, but she flew in formation; she was nobody’s cargo.
