Neo-Odyssey

Chapter One

"Airports don't use cell towers anymore." Collin replied, unsure if they ever did. "I appreciate the call. I'm fine. And I'm also in a lineup."

"Ah, I see, afraid of missing yer turn eh? You always were one overcautious little scamp. Hey, I know you don't got too many folks to talk to, so don't be afraid to give me a call back ya hear. You know you can count on your dear old uncle if ya need to."

Ah, I see, he wants to do me a 'favor'. Typical.

"Look. Honestly, I'm just happy you answered fer' once. I worry about you, ya hear. You ain't been acting so hot ever since you started doing them big gigs."

"My business isn't your concern."

"Right, right, I know. Just remember, I'm proud of ya, and if he were still here so would-"

Collin hung up.

This is what I get for not checking caller ID.

"Freeze!" He heard the guards yell as somebody crashed to the floor. For once he was glad for being in a foul mood. If he'd still been jumpy rather than mad, he'd probably have had a panic attack at the thought of somebody pulling a gun anywhere remotely near him.

The lineup quieted, their attention captivated by the scene that Collin too turned his attention towards. A young man with long dark hair in what looked like a designer trench coat. He steadily raised his gloved hands as a pair of security personnel approached him with all due caution.

"Mind telling us what that that knife was doing in your bag?" One of the guards asked.

"An honest mistake. I assure you." The young man replied in a calm voice, more chill than Collin could have managed. "Now that I look at it, it seems I brought the wrong carry-on bag with me. That one I use for hunting trips."

"Yeah, sure," the other guard said. "Any reason we should believe you?"

The man let out a sly little laugh. 

"Well, aside from the fact that, if I were planning to do something dastardly with that knife, I'd have hidden it somewhere not immediately obvious during inspection... I also happen to have a fairly exquisite Instagram page."

The two guards looked to each other, before an annoyed woman's voice spoke out from amidst the gathered throngs of onlookers.

"Excuse me! Over here!"

Both guards looked at her as she scrambled to pull out her smartphone, scrolling through it hurriedly, faint whispers of curses barely audible as she tried to pull something up on her device.

"I'm sorry for my idiot fiancée. Look, if you'll just see here..."

It must've taken a good ten minutes before the two guards were satisfied that, just as he'd said, the man had somehow taken the wrong bag with him.

"Alright," one of the pair said. "Next time, be a bit more mindful when rushing to catch a plane. You're lucky just to be put on a watch list for this y'know!"

"I'm sure I am," he said, giving a big wide smile as he saw them confiscate his knife. "Feel free to take it home, I have ten just like that one."

Collin heard a few chuckles around him from that, not that he understood what was so funny about the situation. Without another second spent on further embarrassment the woman grabbed her fiancée's handbag and left in a hurry, the man following behind her, shrugging off the incident with a low yet hearty laugh.

Well, that was far too interesting for my taste. Collin thought as, finally, he made his way to the checking station, throwing his many belongings into the usual plastic tub and walking through the x-ray machine.