“I do admire the new breed of fictional female PI's. The ones who'll survive a throttling, a kidnapping, a punch in the kidneys from a Mafia goon and then wind up the evening making love to a helicopter pilot. In the helicopter. I think I need more time at the gym.”

“We still name our military helicopter gunships after victims of genocide. Nobody bats an eyelash about that: Blackhawk. Apache. And Comanche. If the Luftwaffe named its military helicopters Jew and Gypsy, I suppose people would notice.”

“Looking down on it from the helicopter, with a bottle of Jack in my left hand, a bag of pills in my right hand, and a blond head bobbing up and doen in my lap, I felt like the king of the world.”

“Jason turned to Leo. “Do you think you can fly this thing?”“Um…” Leo put his hand on the side of the helicopter, concentrating hard, as if listening to the machine.“Bell 412HP utility helicopter,” Leo said. “Composite four-blade main rotor, cruising speed twenty-two knots, service ceiling twenty-thousand feet. The tank is near full. Sure, I can fly it.”Piper smiled at the ranger again. “You din’t have a problem with an under-aged unlicensed kid borrowing your copter, do you? We’ll return it.”“I-“ The pilot nearly choked on the words, but she got them out: “I don’t have a problem with that.”Leo grinned. “Hop in kids, Uncle Leo’s gonna take you for a ride.”

“Two birds, one metal and one feather, one gas and one blood, flew together for a time as the smoke rose and the heat grew. Maybe the bird felt safer knowing the helicopter was there. Maybe those clinging to their seat belts in the helicopter felt safer knowing the bird was. What a beautiful thing this life is, no matter the fire that burns around us.”

“Wouldn't it be wonderful if I won a helicopter in a crossword puzzle competition? There is not much hope though I am afraid, as they never give such practical prizes.”