"Can you shut that damn robot off? I can't hear myself think." Taron demanded.

"This is the third time he's done it. I can't reach him. The switch is under his left arm."

"Why are you calling it he?" Taron grumbled.

"Gus0013, is the serial number, and it has a remarkably life like anatomy. I'm just calling it Gus from now on."

"Oh my God, you really are stuck in there aren't you?" Taron reached across the seat back pushing Lorelei's chest down on her thighs. He grabbed Gus and lifted its arm and found a small red button. After pushing it, he sighed. He dropped it back onto the seat, hoping it didn't fall off and roll down the sloping carpet.

"I know, loud right? I remember my sister's little boy. He had a set of lungs just like that when he was Gus's size. Seems impossible."

"Remind me never to have kids," Taron declared. "Now lets see about getting you out of there.

Lorelei lifted her dangling legs and pushed her feet against the metal supports at the bottom of the seat in front of her. "If you can give me even a little wiggle room, I should be able to get out of here."

He worked his way behind the seats and squeezed his hand between the backs. "Ha! Found the recline button. Let's see if it works."

"Well push it, then." Lorelei growled. "It's getting hard to breathe."

"I am, dammit. Fucking thing is stuck. I'm going to grab it by the headrest and pull. I hope you can get out." He wrapped his hands around the soft leather and dug in with his fingers. Bracing the same way Lorelei did, Taron yanked up with everything he had. "It's moving but not much, hurry."

"Shit, I'm going to slide right down to the cockpit," Lorelei yelled between grunts. "There's no way for me to keep my footing on the seat legs."

Taron felt his face getting red with the strain. "Doesn't matter. Just grab for the door frame on the way by. We're not flying out of here."

"Can you get me another fraction of an inch?" Lorelei was panting with her own attempts to inch out of the cramped space.

Taron grunted and put his last iota of effort into yanking the seat back up out of the way. It snapped upright with considerable force and he stumbled backward landing on his butt. Before he could grab anything his slid down and Lorelei fell off her seat into his lap.

Instinctively, he raised his left hand and cradled her head against his chest.

"Shit."

It was her single word as he spread his legs to catch the sides of the cockpit door. As he bent his knees to absorb the shock of stopping their descent, her arms came around his neck, and she buried her face tighter against his pec.

When he pressed his knees flat again, he found himself missing the warm pressure of her taut breasts and wondering if she was wearing a bra.

Where did that come from? She's my boss. She's gorgeous. That hair, mahogany highlights in chestnut brown with a startling white streak swirling through it from her right temple to the nape of her neck. It was the first thing he noticed about her when they met.

His fingers twitched, itching to run through her loose curls. He settled for grabbing her by her waist and helping her to slide off his lap before he embarrassed himself with more evidence of his sudden attraction. She had to be at least twenty years older than him.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"How are we going to get out of here?" Lorelei asked. She dragged herself around until her back rested beside Taron's foot and she pointed at the door. "I doubt the stairs are going to end up any where close to the ground."

She studied his silver grey eyes with the tiny darts of dark blue radiated out from his pupils. They fascinated her from the first interview years ago. She hired him right out of his college flight program. Impressed with his steady insistence safety would always come first she remembered his final comment.

"Remember, an airplane is always trying to kill you. Safety is first and if I say we can't fly because of any reason and you disagree, I'll walk away. I won't compromise." He pushed away from her desk, preparing to stand as he spoke.

"Good. I'm of the same mind." She never regretted her next words. "You're hired. When can you start type training?"

"What are you thinking?" Taron's question interrupted her trip down memory lane.

"That I'm damn lucky it was you I hired. I was remembering the interview when I decided you were the right pilot for my needs."

"I couldn't believe my ears when you knew about type training."

"But what about the door?" She ignored his comment. She knew they had to get out if they were going to survive.

"It should open. We're shut down, and completely out of fuel. I don't understand how that could happen. I should have spotted a leak that size on my walk around during pre-flight."

Lorelei sighed. "That's my fault. I've got some pretty powerful people mad at me. I won't back down on renovation and additions to my property in the city. The head of the planning department is up to his eyeballs in some pretty shady deals."

"What have you done?"

"Took the contracts for several offers to other landowners in the area. He's trading on insider knowledge. Trying to buy cheap and reap huge compensation from the city when the inner city light rail transit line going to the airport begins construction."

"What the effing hell? Why does that have anything to do with this?"

"Mr. Heckleson has some bad habits, and some heavy duty enemies because of them." She crawled over his legs and snagged the faux leather file pouch she pointed at where it ended up against the front bulkhead wall. "There's a ledger in here with all the details. He's about to commit a huge fraud and threatening me with a massive tax bill if I don't sell."

"Christ, Lorelei, what have you done?"

"Escaped with the proof. But I'm not certain he didn't have a back up plan. Dead me, would leave my property to a nephew I need to cut out of my will. The same one Gus sounds like. But that's for after we get ourselves out of this pickle."

As if he heard his name, Gus0013 started to wail again.

"Where is he?" Lorelei's voice strengthened as the robot baby got louder.

Taron groaned and started hauling himself back up the steep incline.

"Just throw him down to me," Lorelei yelled. "I need to figure out why he keeps doing that."