Piper's pov
Air traffic control didn't want to let an unscheduled helicopter land at the Oakland Airport—until I got on the radio. Then it turned out to be no problem.
We unloaded in the tarmac, and everyone looked at me.
"What now?" Jason asked me.
I felt uncomfortable. I didn't want to be in charge, but for my dad's sake, I had to appear confident. I had no plan. I'd just remembered that he'd flown into Oakland, which meant his private plane would still be here. But today was the solstice. We had to save Hera. We had no idea where to go or if we were too late. And how could I leave my dad in this condition?
"First thing," I said. "I—I have to get my dad home. I'm sorry, guys."
Their faces fell.
"Oh," Leo said. "I mean, absolutely. He needs you right now. We can take it from here."
"Pipes, no." My dad had been sitting in the helicopter doorway, a blanket around his shoulders. But he stumbled to his feet. "You have a mission. A quest. I can't—"
"I'll take care of him," said Coach Hedge.
I stared at him. The satyr was the last person I'd expect to offer. "You?" I asked.
"I'm a protector," Gleeson said. "That's my job, not fighting."
He sounded a little crestfallen, and I realized maybe I shouldn't have recounted how he got knocked unconscious in the last battle. In his own way, maybe the satyr was as sensitive as my dad.
Then Hedge straightened, and set his jar. "Of course, I'm good at fighting, too." He glared at us all, daring us to argue.
"Yes," Jason said.
"Terrifying," Leo agreed.
The coach grunted. "But I'm a protector, and I can do this. Your dad's right, Piper. You need to carry on with the quest."
"But..." My eyes stung, as if I were back in the forest fire. "Dad..."
He held out his arms, and I hugged him. He felt frail. He was trembling so much, it scared me.
"Let's give them a minute," Jason said, and they took the pilot a few yards down the tarmac.
"I can't believe it," my dad said. "I failed you."
"No, Dad!"
"The things they did, Piper, the visions they showed me..."
"Dad, listen." I took out the vial from my pocket. "Aphrodite gave me this, for you. It takes away your recent memories. It'll make it like none of this ever happened."
He gazed at me, as if translating my words from a foreign language. "But you're a hero. I would forget that?"
"Yes," I whispered. I forced an assuring tone into my voice. "Yes, yes would. It'll be like—like before."
He closed his eyes and took a shaken breath. "I love you, Piper. I always have. I—I sent you away because I didn't want you exposed to my life. Not the way I grew up—the poverty, the hopelessness. Not the Hollywood insanity either. I thought—I thought I was protecting you." He managed a brittle laugh. "As if your life without me was better, or safer."
I took his hand. I'd heard him talk about protecting me before, but I'd never believed it. I'd always thought he was just rationalizing. My dad seemed so confident and easygoing, like his life was a joyride. How could he claim I needed protecting from that?
Finally I understood he'd been acting for my benefit, trying not to show how scared and insecure he was. He really had been trying to protect me. And now his ability to cope had been destroyed.
I offered him the vial. "Take it. Maybe someday we'll be ready to talk about this again. When you're ready."
"When I'm ready," he murmured. "You make it sound like—like I'm the one growing up. I'm supposed to be the parent." He took the vial. His eyes glimmered with a small desperate hope. "I love you, Pipes."
"Love you, too, Dad."
He drank the pink liquid. His eyes rolled up into his head and he slumped forward. I caught him, and my friends ran up to help.
"Got him," Hedge said. The Saturn stumbled, but he was strong enough to hold Tristan McLean upright. "I already asked our ranger friend to call up his plane. It's on the way now. Home address?"
I was about to tell him. Then a though occurred to me. I checked my dad's pocket, and his BlackBerry was still there. It seemed bizarre that he'd still have something so normal after all he'd been through, but I guessed Enceladus hadn't seen any reason to take it.
"Everything's on here," I said. "Address, his chauffeur's number. Just watch out for Jane."
Hedge's eyes lit up, like he sensed a possible fight. "Who's Jane?"
By the time I explained, my dad's sleek white Gulf-stream had taxied next to the helicopter.
Hedge and the flight attendant got my dad on board. Then Hedge came down one last time to say his good-byes. He gave me a hug and glared at Jason, Leo, and Tori. "You cupcakes take care of this girl, you hear? Or I'm gonna make you do push-ups."
"You got it, Coach," Leo said, a smile tugging at his mouth.
"No push-ups," Tori promised.
I gave the old satyr one more hug. "Thank you, Gleeson. Take care of him, please."
"I got this, McLean," he assured me. "They got root beer and veggie enchiladas on this flight, and one hundred percent linen napkins—yum! I could get used to this."
Trotting up the stairs, he lost one shoe, and his hoof was visible for just a second. The flight attendant's eyes widened, but she looked away and pretended nothing was wrong. I figured she'd probably seen stranger things, working for Tristan McLean.
When the plane was heading down the runaway, I started to cry. I'd been holding it in too long and I just couldn't anymore. Before I knew it, Jason was hugging me, and Leo and Tori stood uncomfortably nearby, pulling Kleenex out of his tool belt.
"Your dad's in good hands," Jason said. "You did amazing."
I sobbed into his shirt. I allowed myself to be held for six deep breaths. Seven. Then I couldn't indulge myself anymore. They needed me. The helicopter pilot was already looking uncomfortable, like she was starting to wonder why she'd flown us here.
"Thank you, guys," I said. "I—"
I wanted to tell then how much they meant to me. They'd sacrificed everything, maybe even our quest, to help me. I could repay them, couldn't even put my gratitude into words. But my friends' expression told me they understood.
Then, right next to Jason, the air began to shimmer. At first I though it was heat off the tarmac, or maybe gas fumes from the helicopter, but I'd seen something like this before in Medea's fountain. It was an Iris message. An image appeared in the air—a dark-haired girl in silver winter camouflage, holding a bow.
Jason stumbled back in surprise. "Thalia!"
"Thank the gods," said the Hunter. The scene behind her was hard to make out, but I heard yelling, metal clashing, and explosions.
"We've found her," Thalia said. "Where are you?"
"Oakland," he said. "Where are you?"
"The Wolf House! Oakland is good; you're not too far. We're holding off the giant's minions, but we can't hold them forever. Get here before sunset, or it's all over."
"Then it's not too late?" I cried. Hope surged through me, but Thalia's expression quickly dampened it.
"Not yet," Thalia said. "But Jason—its worse than I realized. Porphyrion is rising. Hurry."
"But where is the Wolf House?" he pleaded.
"Our last trip," Thalia said, her image started to flicker. "The park. Jack London. Remember?"
This made no sense to me, but Jason looked like he'd been shot. He tottered, his face pale, and the Iris messaged disappeared.
"Bro, you all right?" Leo asked. "You know where she is?"
"Yes," Jason said. "Sonoma Valley. Not far. Not by air."
I turned to the ranger pilot, who'd been watching all this with an increasingly puzzled expression.
"Not again," Tori grumbled.
"Ma'am," I said with my best smile. "You don't mind helping us one more time, do you?"
"I don't mind," the pilot agreed.
"We can't take a mortal into battle," Jason said. "It's too dangerous." Tori got a hopeful look in her eyes, then Jason turned to Leo and Tori frowned. "Do you think you could fly this thing?"
"Um..." Leo's expression didn't exactly reassure me. But then he put his hand in the side of the helicopter, concentrating hard, as if listening to the machine.
"Bell 412HL 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."
I smiled at the ranger again. "You don't have a problem with an under-age unlicensed kid borrowing your copter, do you? Well 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."