ETA Home Base in approximately one hour.” Mandy’s voice in his headset: “Acknowledge, Quebec-Victor-Bravo. That storm front reach you yet?” Leveling off at two thousand feet, Tom said, “Still creeping this way, but I think I can get around it. What’s it like there?” “Flurries right now, but it’s pretty dark out your way. Birthday or not, Tom Stokes, you put down and wait it out if you have to. Steve’ll understand.” Tom said he would, but he hated the idea of missing his son’s birthday; and what made it even more special was the fact that they shared a birth date. How often did that happen? Tom saw it as the most important occasion of his life now. And he was already running late, dusk less than an hour away. He’d hoped to meet his son as he got off the school bus. Mandy had been right, of course. If there was work to be done, he couldn’t resist doing it.
