Flying the Friendly Skies (Part 1)

We were sitting in the bullpen in our new uniforms, which were khaki pants and a t-shirt, waiting for more instructions.  I was experiencing so many different emotions; I thought I might explode!  I was relieved and celebrate that I was out of the catacomb.  Excitement, fear, nervousness and hope were swimming around in my head.  What stood out the most for me was the realization how God brought me through this experience in "Terror Hut" (pet name for Terre Haute)!  He provided everything I needed to make it through this experience.  So I silently thanked Him for what He taught me here.

The guards chained us up and we boarded the bus.  The air outside was chilly despite the bright sun.  My cell-y sat in the seat in front of me and we both looked up at the window to our former cell and he commented that "We made it!!"  As the driver pulled out slowly along the front of the building, we saw  the building with new eyes.  I wondered how long they would keep this prison open?  Because it is a key transportation hub, it is likely that I would be here again on my way home.  Perhaps by then, this building would be imploded into a pile of rubble.

The bus pulled into the double gate.  As we stopped in the middle, the marshals opened the luggage bay just below my window.  They pulled out shotguns and loaded them with shells.  They took out handguns and made sure they were loaded.  They made a show of this for us all to watch through the windows.  If anyone had thoughts of running away with leg shackles, the sight of these weapons may cause them to think twice.  They boarded the bus with their "enforcers" and we left the last gate.  We drove slowly around the backside of this sprawling compound, past the warehouses, prison garden and garages.  We turned toward the Wabash River and passed another set of buildings.  Between the building and the River were rows upon rows of new cars, trucks and buses.  These rows went on seemingly forever.  There were more new cars here than on Dealer's Row on Highway 61 in White Bear Lake.  It appears this must be a distribution center for the government vehicles.

The bus crawled closer to the Super Max Facility.  The guard towers loomed high over the foreboding structure.  I felt more oppressive as we approached the entrance gate.  One of the passengers commented that this was the last home of Timothy McVeigh before he was executed.  I began to feel anxious thinking we were going inside to pick up more passengers.  I did not want to sit next to someone from this facility!  The driver pulled up to the gate and stopped.  They did not open the gate, but they are slow to make the next move.  The driver shifted the bus in reverse and we began to back up.  He turned and pulled along side the road.  I felt relieved for the moment, but I wondered why we were even here.  After a few minutes, we saw a second bus approaching the gate from the inside of the Super Max complex.  They let the bus out of the gate and it pulled close to our bus and parked.

I could see inside that bus and saw several prisoners.  I noticed the inside of that bus had cages around each seat.  They can't let them on our bus because we don't have cages like that.  We had freedom to move about.  I also could not understand why they would transfer them outside of the security fence.  This didn't make sense to me.  The marshals walked toward my window and opened the luggage bay again.  They took out more weapons and loaded them in front of us.  The plan started to become more clear when they gave these weapons to the marshals on the second bus.  We are taking two buses to the airport in a convoy, Rubber Duck!!  (Reference to the movie Convoy...for those not from the 80's)

We headed to the public road and I took my last look around the complex hoping to never come back here again!  The drivers sped off and ran through a red light.  We must be important, huh?  We drove through the town toward the airport.  We were in a retail district when the drivers turned off on a side street.  They stopped behind the Burger King and a few marshals walked in to get some breakfast.  REALLY?... Was the only thing that came to my mind.  Some of the 'cons' made cat calls and rude remarks about women they saw in the parking lot.  Fortunately, they could not hear them and it was even better that people did not know these buses were loaded with convicts!  The marshals brought their food on the bus and we made it to the airport.  They opened a secure gate and we parked on the tarmac while we waited for the plane to arrive.

The airport is small, it is similar to CWA in Mosinee, WI.  We were early, so we had time to watch a pilot in training in a small plane.  They were leaving to do "touchdowns" today and made several passes until out plane arrived.  It was a large plane (perhaps a DC9).  The plane taxied onto the tarmac and parked.  Our buses pulled up and parked at the base of the stairway.  Additional marshals arrived in unmarked SUV's for security.  The airport fire truck pulled in front of the plane with its lights flashing.  A fuel truck pulled up to the wing and began refueling.  The marshals staged themselves on the tarmac with shotguns loaded.  It was quite a display of force.

While we waited for instructions, we could clearly see a person in every window except the first six windows.  This made the plane appear full.  I was hoping for a small crowd.  The plane was painted white with no markings to indicate that we were traveling on "CON AIR".  It was suggested that this could be one of the planes confiscated from Tom Petters, who owned Sun Country Airlines in Minnesota.  There is no way to confirm that, of course.

They finally started to move passengers off the plane and began to pat them down and stand in formation outside the bus.  Once they had everyone off the plane that were headed to Terror Hut, they began to move us outside the bus.  I just realized, "I don't have my photo ID for the TSA's!!"  They patted us down and made us wait outside the plane.  When the marshals saw the ace bandage on my arm, they reacted with suspicion and pulled me out of formation.  So I stood on the tarmac waiting for a doctor (EMT) to inspect my bandage.  The air was brisk, but the marshals wore jackets.  I had a summer T-shirt on and began to shiver to stay warm.  I shivered enough my chains rattled!  The "doc" showed up and verified my bandage was not harboring any contraband.

I was the last prisoner to board the plane and I could see that it was pretty full.  They did keep the first six rows clear, but there were two open seats just behind the mid-wing. exit row.  I sat next to the window and no one sat next to me.  When I walked down the aisle looking at the other passengers, I suddenly realized that this plane was transporting prisoners from all levels of security.  The men I feared would board our bus at Terror Hut, were on this plane!  Oh well, why should I fear?  My God is with me!

The interior of this plane did NOT look anything like the one used in the movie "CON AIR".  This plane looked like any other passenger jet.  There were no special shackles to hold us in our seats, other than our seat belts.  There was no in-flight movie or magazines.  No glossy cards to tell you how to exit the plane in an emergency.  No barf bags, no announcements or updates over the intercom.  This was a No-Frills flight without frequent flyer points.

I struggled to buckle my belt with my handcuffs on, but I managed.  I may have a new career as a contortionist!!!  My seat tray was down because the latch was broken.  This would normally result in a delay until the mechanics repaired it on a "normal passenger flight".  In this case, a marshal used duct tape to hold it together.  Why don't more airlines think to use duct tape????  We taxied to the runway and had immediate clearance to take off.  The small plane with the pilot in training was parked safely by the terminal....

TO BE CONTINUED.....

McFreedom