Nick’s jaw splitting yawn punctured the library like quiet of the airport terminal like a gust of wind rattling a window. Some fellow travelers looked sleepily in his direction; others were too fully engulfed in their own grogginess, they didn’t even bother to look up.
His legs crossed and pushed way out in front of him, slouching so badly in his chair he was almost falling off, Nick realized, he was dead tired. Yesterday, his last day at work, was insane to say the least. Finalizing all the incoming shipments and organizing times for them to arrive as well as getting all the outgoing shipments organized so that he could afford to be away from work for two weeks was agonizing. Every little detail from staffing to supplies required his attention to make sure there was a solution in place. The day didn’t end there though. After putting in twelve hours at work he rushed home, arriving sometime after nine o’clock in the evening, and had to make sure all his packing was finalized. His flight left early the next morning and that meant getting up even earlier so he had time to clear customs and security before boarding his flight. He had managed to finally get in bed shortly before midnight.
With nothing else to do but wait, Nick ran over everything in his mind again. A suitcase packed with clothing for mostly a hot environment, and his hiking gear was in there as well. A trunk with his telescope meticulously packed and his digital camera and camcorder also inside with plenty of SD cards and recordable discs for recording lots of pictures and movies. The one and a half hour hike up Tikaboo peak was the pinnacle of his trip. From there he could use his hi powered telescope to peer into Area 51 itself and hopefully see something from out of this world with his own two eyes. Hence all the recording media and materials; Nick had no idea when or if he would be able to return and didn’t want to forget a single moment. Finally, his carry-on bag, which contained his tickets, iPod, laptop and some books for reading on the plane, although at this point sleeping during the flight seemed much more inviting.
The public address system beeped loudly as it came to life and the small amount of chatter there was ceased immediately as everybody strained to hear what was being said.
“Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Flight number four thirty eight, flying direct to Las Vegas, is now boarding. We ask passengers to please line up to the right of the gate ten and please have your boarding pass and identification ready to help expedite loading of the plane. Thank you”.
Finally, Nick thought to himself. Getting up he stretched and yawned again then picked up his carry-on bag and rummaged inside for his boarding pass. With that in hand, he joined the other passengers now queuing up in line. Glancing around the lineup he stopped at a man in a black suit with his nose buried in a magazine. He looked familiar for some reason but Nick couldn’t quite put a finger on and gave up trying as the line shuffled ahead.
He was finally going, he couldn’t believe it. He was excited like a kid on Christmas Day. He gave his boarding pass and identification to the attendant and flashed her a quick smile. Taking the documents and scanning them through the computer she handed them back to Nick and with a smile of her own said “Thank you sir. Please enjoy your flight” and indicated that he continue down the ramp to the airplane. Turning, he went down the ramp and passed his boarding pass to the stewardess and she directed him to his seat. Squeezing into his window seat he was too busy gawking out the window to see the man in the suit gaze intently at him as he passed and quietly take a seat several rows back.