Longshot

Chapter One

"Thank you for choosing Kazair, Kasmar's national flag carrier. We hope you'll enjoy your time here in Brairwood." The flight attendant continues the usual spiel as the aircraft, a seemingly ancient Boeing 737-500, pulls into the parking stand. "We kindly ask that you remain seated until the disabled and elderly disembark the aircraft first."

The aircraft jerks to a stop and the engines are shut down, the rumbling fading away as they spool down. After a minute or two, the seatbelt signs are turned off with a chime and the doors are opened. Thankfully, the flight is mostly empty, being a red-eye flight from Oakridge, across the strait. I unbuckle my seatbelt, standing up and stretching with a groan. I look down at Kaiden, who is still asleep, surprisingly. With a sigh, I shake his shoulder.

"Wake up Kaiden."

He groans, shifting a little.

I glance behind me at Erik, who has an amused grin on his face. "Kaiden. We've landed."

His eyes open slowly, gaze glazed over with exhaustion. "Hmm?"

I chuckle. "Yea, wake up. We need to go home."

"Oh." He stands up slowly while I extract my duffel bag from the overhead bin. I hand him his and we make our way down the aisle, offering thanks to the flight attendant next to the door, who returns a tired smile. We carefully make our way down the narrow metal stairs attached to the aircraft. The cold air nips at my exposed arms as we walk across the tarmac to the terminal building, yet the wind blowing across the airport is a nice relief from the stuffy interior of the aircraft. We quickly hurry though the terminal and drop by baggage claim, picking up our remaining luggage - in my case, another duffel bag. My phone rings and I hurry to answer it while we walk towards an exit.

"Hello?"

"I'm outside Matt." Theo's voice brings a small smile to my face. We step into the cold night once more. I look up at the sign above us.

"We're at exit four."

The voice on the phone grunts. "Alright." The call ends and a moment later, a familiar car pulls up. The three of us head over to the car and pop the trunk, throwing our bags into the hold before climbing into the car.

"Hi Dad." The seventeen year old in the driver's seat gives me a cheeky grin. His hair is messy, as if he had just rolled out of bed. I roll my eyes while the other two chuckle.

"How have you been Theo?" Kaiden asks from the back.

Theo shrugs as he navigates the car through the one-way roads. "I've been alright. School is a bit- Fuck!" He slams on the breaks as a car cuts across in front of us, speeding down the on-ramp recklessly. Theo lets out a few more curse words much to our amusement as he resumes driving.

"Calme-toi un peu." Erik laughs. (Relax a little)

"Tais-toi," Theo mutters, much to the man's amusement. (Shut up)

I reach over and fiddle with the radio. After a few minutes of it, Kaiden groans with annoyance.

"Just hand me the aux cord." He complains. I cock an eyebrow at him, but comply. He plugs it into his phone and scrolls for a moment before settling down on a song. The familiar beat of an old classic rock song fills the car as everyone settles down for the ride home.

A gentle shaking awakens me from my slumber. "Dad, wake up."

"Go away." I mutter, turning away from Theo.

"We're home."

That gets me to open my eyes slowly and look around. Erik and Kaiden are already moving their luggage inside the small two story house. The exterior is a mix of brick and white wood, clearly inspired by detached houses in the United Kingdom and contemporary suburban homes in the United States. It did make some sense though, considering the North Island was initially colonized by the British. Only after the Second World War had the South Island fallen under Kasmar's control.