Sabrina
Copyright© 2026 by The Outsider
Chapter 24: Out of Nowhere
09 March 2019 – Terrazzo Drive, Monument, Colorado
“March 9th, the day the circus came to town,” Sabrina muttered as official vehicles from the area filled the street behind her plane.
Police, Fire, and EMS vehicles from five different municipalities, the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Fish and Wildlife ... There were vehicles from departments she’d never heard of in her life.
“I’m surprised the Bureau of Land Management isn’t here, too,” she said to Mia.
The pre-teen giggled and sipped at her hot chocolate. Sabrina drank her coffee and recalled the events after their landing. The travel center they overflew had a Dunkin’ Donuts. The pickup driver, Mr. Liebherr, watched the Cessna for Sabrina while she and Mia ambled to the coffee shop. Sabrina offered to buy Mr. Liebherr and the tractor-trailer driver something, but they both declined.
She commented to the girl at the counter that she didn’t think she could have gotten her vehicle through the drive-thru, and that’s why they came inside. Her gallows humor shocked the staff and most of the other customers – except for Mia. The pair returned to the plane to find Kurt Liebherr arguing with an El Paso County deputy sheriff.
“And I don’t care who you are, kid, the plane is the property of the United States Air Force. Also, any aircraft incident usually falls under the authority of the Federal Aviation Administration when the military is not involved. You touch it, and you’re disturbing a federal crime scene.”
Sabrina wasn’t sure about an almost forty-year-old Cessna with a bad engine being considered a crime scene, but maybe it was until the Feds determined it wasn’t? Whatever. Above her pay grade. The deputy tried to start questioning Sabrina.
“Nope. I’m waiting for the Air Force investigators to get here before I answer any questions.”
The deputy frowned at her answer and turned to Mia. Sabrina stopped him before he could open his mouth.
“She’s a minor whose parents are not present. You do not have permission to question her, and I can’t give you that permission, even if I wanted to – which I don’t. Go play in traffic. Keep those rubberneckers from getting any closer.”
The deputy stomped away.
“You sure pissed him off in a hurry,” Kurt Liebherr said.
“It’s a gift,” Sabrina replied in her usual way and with an accompanying shrug. “I get it from my dad.”
Back in the present, the Gallardos’ SUV screeched to a stop at the intersection of Bishop Road and Terrazzo Drive. The El Paso deputy very nearly got punched in the face when he tried to keep Joe Gallardo away from Mia.
“Dad, I can’t breathe!” Mia gasped when Joe hugged her tight.
“Are you two all right?”
“Other than almost being crushed to death just now, we’re fine, Dad.”
“Sabrina, Jose sent this along. He said it might answer some questions.”
Joe handed over a piece of paper. It was her fuel slip. Sabrina read it twice before picking up on why Jose thought it was important. Front Range’s fuel attendant had put Jet-A – kerosene – in the Cessna’s gas tank, not the one hundred low-lead fuel she asked for. The Cessna’s venerable Lycoming O-235 engine cannot burn kerosene with its low compression ratio. There might as well have been water in the fuel tank.
“Hoooo boy ... Did Jose leave the kid alive?”
“Barely. Jose wasn’t happy, though.”
“Joe, even though he put the wrong fuel in the tank, in all honesty, this is my fault.”
“How is it your fault, Sabrina?”
“I am – was, I guess – the pilot in command of this aircraft. I should have made sure he put the right fuel in. Hell, if I had simply read the slip before I paid for the fuel, I probably would have caught it.”
An Air Force pickup pulled through the police security cordon. A man well-known to those who frequented the Academy airfield stepped out. Senior Master Sergeant Elian Fernandez, the enlisted man in charge of all aircraft maintenance at the Academy, stalked up to Sabrina. The massive and ever-present wad of chewing tobacco inside his lower lip added menace to his normal, unhappy visage.
“Whatchu do to my aircraft, Cadet?” he asked in an exaggerated Chicano accent.
He turned his head, and a thick stream of tobacco juice flew through the air. Mia stepped between Sabrina and the senior NCO, her fists on her hips, her defiant scowl against his angry one.
“She put it on the ground in one piece, thank you very much!”
The unthinkable happened next – Elian Fernandez smiled at Sabrina.
“I guess Reinita told me, no?” He smiled down at Sabrina’s passenger next. “You’re right, Pollito. And there are very few at the Academy who can handle a dead-stick landing like that without any warning. What did you ladies notice?”
“Like I told Ops, Sergeant, I stopped at COS to refuel and pick Mia up. A few minutes after takeoff, the engine sputtered for about a minute before cutting out completely. This is probably why.”
Fernandez looked down at the offered fuel slip and grunted. He raised his phone to his ear.
“Jefferson, get something over here we can drain a tankful of mixed Jet-A and one hundred low-lead into ... Yeah, good catch. Bring two or three of those ten-pound extinguishers along, too ... We’ll have to take the wings off before we truck the plane back to the Academy, too ... Right.”
A young Air Force first lieutenant walked up.
“Where are we at, Sergeant?”
The officer was Sergeant Fernandez’s nominal supervisor.
“Fuel problem, Sir. Someone put Jet-A in the tank at COS.”
The lieutenant glared at Sabrina.
“Why was this aircraft at COS, Cadet?”
“As approved by the Flying Club when I signed out the aircraft, Sir, I picked up Miss Gallardo there for a familiarization flight. I’d been out flying for close to three hours before landing at COS, so I needed fuel. My family and I frequently use the FBO services at Front Range Aviation, Sir, so I asked them to refuel one-one-three when I picked up my passenger. The club knew I’d be refueling there.”
The lieutenant opened his mouth to say something, but Fernandez cut him off.
“The plane falls under the club’s control, Sir. If they knew about it beforehand, it’s not really our problem. All we can do now is to get the aircraft back to the Academy, Sir.”
Now it was the lieutenant’s turn to march away, unhappy.
“Him being unhappy didn’t faze you at all, did it?”
“It’s not like he’s the Superintendent or anything, Sarge...”
A woman in her mid-thirties stepped up to the small group next.
“Miss Knox? I’m Jackie Smalls from the Denver fizzdo’s accident investigation team. I understand you were the PIC of this aircraft? Do you have a few minutes to answer questions?”
The ‘Denver fizzdo’ is the FAA’s Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) in Denver. Their accident team would likely be the lead on this minor investigation.
“Yes, Ma’am, as soon as Mia and I get our personal belongings from the aircraft.”
The FAA team borrowed a conference room at the Monument Police Department, which was only ten minutes away. The drive to MPD was longer than the investigation, but the forms had to be observed. Sabrina handed over the fuel slip from Front Range and explained her plan for the day. The fuel slip answered ninety percent of the FSDO team’s questions.
“That’s it from us, Miss Knox,” the lead investigator said. “This seems pretty cut-and-dried.”
“I’d be really surprised if Jose doesn’t fire the kid, but I hope he won’t. Jose should view it as an educational opportunity.”
“He almost killed you, Miss Knox,” another of the team pointed out.
“I’ve had people try to kill me before, Sir,” she answered with a wry grin while brushing a hand over the scars on her face. “This was just an accident.”
Sabrina stepped back into the MPD lobby.
“How’d it go, Sabrina?” Joe asked. She shrugged.
“Not much to investigate, Joe. The Jet-A in the tank caused the engine to cut out. The rest of their questions were about our actions during the emergency.”
“You mean your actions, right, Sabrina?” Mia asked.
“No, Mia, I meant ours, as I said. You’re the one who found the trail where we landed.” Mia beamed at her big sister. Sabrina turned to Joe. “Have you talked to Helen yet?” Joe winced.
“No. I’ve kinda been waiting to see how this would play out.” Sabrina cocked her head and gave him a look. “Shit...” he sighed.
Joe walked outside and raised his phone to his ear. Moments later, a Monument police officer stepped into the lobby.
“Are you all set, Miss Knox? Do you need a ride somewhere?”
“No, I’m good, Sir.” Sabrina waved at Joe, pacing back and forth outside while he spoke to Helen. “My ride is explaining my adventure to his wife. This young lady was my passenger in the plane, and she’s their daughter.”
The officer’s eyebrows rose.
“Eesh.”
“Yeah. You’re not kidding.”
Joe walked back inside.
“Come on, you two. We’re meeting Helen and Felicity for pizza.”
The fuel incident only served to reinforce that Felicity had no interest in flying in a small plane. For her sister, it was the opposite. Any hero-worship Mia may have felt toward Sabrina had doubled or tripled with Sabrina’s handling of today’s mishap. Mia announced to her parents at dinner that she wanted to learn to fly.
“Mia, what I did doesn’t happen overnight,” Sabrina reminded her. “What you saw was the result of hours of lessons with my flight instructor. Hours of emergency procedure review, hours of aircraft-specific emergency procedure review, ATC radio procedure ... What you saw was all second nature. If I had needed to stop and think about my next step at any point...”
She left the last part unsaid.
“Sabrina, what you did was AWESOME!”
“Mia,” Sabrina said, making sure the nine-year-old heard the seriousness in her voice. “What I did could have turned out very badly if we had been just a little further west, a little further from that path where we landed. We had little margin for error with that landing – as in none.
“If I didn’t put the plane on the ground safely the first time, there was no ‘going around for another pass.’ We’d have been on the ground all right, but in lots of little pieces. The plane wouldn’t have made out very well, either.” Mia’s jaw set in a familiar look of defiance. Sabrina sighed and looked at Mia’s parents. “Sorry, guys. It looks like she’s come down with a terminal case of ‘pilot.’”
“Well, we all have our issues...” Helen sighed back. She turned to her youngest. “Mia, if you want to learn to fly, your father and I will look into it. You, however, need to promise us that you’re going to stick with it. No ‘I don’t feel like going to my lesson today.’ You start this, and we’re going to insist you finish it. Especially if we’re going to pay for it.”
“I promise, Mom,” Mia replied, nodding her head vigorously. “I won’t let anyone down.”
The last line was delivered with a quick glance at Sabrina.
“Hey there, Amelia Earhart.”
“Knock it off, Tommy...”
“Hey, I’m just acknowledging your skill as an aviatrix. Do they still use that word? ‘Aviatrix?’”
“Someone’s been reading too many online articles.”
“Maybe one or two...”
“I reacted to a crisis pilots train for, that’s all.”
“I’m glad you paid attention during your training, then. I’m sure Helen and Joe are, also.”
“Mia told them at dinner the other night she wants to be a pilot.”
“And they’re smart enough not to get in that girl’s way, I’m sure.”
“Exactly. They’re going to start checking out the flight schools down here next weekend.”
“Speaking of next weekend, what’s your schedule like?”
“The hockey season’s over, so no practices to worry about. I have a Silver Weekend this week, so next weekend’s free.”
“Good. You’ve got about two weeks to find something kinda dressy for a dinner out with your boyfriend.”
“Ooh, la la! Guess I should ask my boyfriend where we’re gonna go, huh?”
“You could, but he’s not gonna tell you where...”
“Bastard...”
“Nope, my parents were married well before I came along, Sabrina. Anyway, you’ll need something civilian-dressy, but not something as fancy as your prom dress. Though that looked really good on you.”
“You know I still fit into that, right?”
“But it’s back in Lancaster, right? I’ll have to come up with a reason for your parents to ship it to you one of these days.”
Tommy knocked on the Gallardos’ front door two weekends later. The thirty-degree night air pricked at his face and ears as he waited. Being accustomed to cold winters, Tommy wore warm clothes and boots, so the wait wasn’t uncomfortable. He turned when he heard the Gallardos’ deadbolt unlock. The frosty air didn’t steal his breath; it was the sight of his girlfriend.
Sabrina wore her black hair draped over her right shoulder, which shimmered under the porch light. She wore a black leather bomber jacket lined with black faux fur over a gray wool calf-length pencil skirt and low-heeled black riding boots, which gave her an effortless, sophisticated look. A light-blue sweater under the bomber jacket made her blue eyes stand out more than usual. She wore only the barest hint of makeup, which enhanced her natural beauty.
“Oh, wow...” Tommy whispered, his mouth suddenly dry.
He swallowed a few times. Sabrina stepped outside and kissed him on the cheek.
“Thank you, kind Sir.” She hooked his arm before looking back over her shoulder at the Gallardo family. “Don’t wait up!”
Mia’s giggle followed them down the walk.
“So, where are we going, good-looking?” she asked.
“I forget...”
She mock-pouted.
“You promised me a nice dinner, pal, and I aim to collect! So, you better remember quickly!”
Tommy shook his head to clear it after opening Sabrina’s door for her. He punched the restaurant’s address into the GPS app on his phone after starting the car. Her eyes narrowed.
“Just the address, huh? Still keeping secrets?”
“Oh, let me have a little bit of fun, would ya?” he groused.
“You’ve spent way too much time around my father.”
They pulled up to an upscale restaurant nestled at the very base of one of the local mountains fifteen minutes later. A valet opened Sabrina’s door. Another handed Tommy a claim ticket before sliding behind the truck’s wheel.
“Good evening, Miss, Sir. How may I assist you?” the maître d’ asked.
“Jones, party of two for six-thirty.”
“Ah, yes, Mr. Jones. Your table is ready. If you and the young lady would follow me?”
“This place is some kind of chic, Tommy!” Sabrina whispered after the maître d’ had walked away.
“The food and the service are supposed to be spectacular, too.” Tommy raised his water glass. “Not that it compares to how spectacular you look tonight, though.” Sabrina blushed in response.
Tommy was right about the service and food. Their waitress was attentive without being obsequious, and the food was heavenly. Sabrina’s Chateaubriand melted in her mouth, and the asparagus and silky béarnaise sauce were perfect companions to the beef. The restaurant’s handmade chocolate chip cannoli and fresh-brewed coffee finished off the meal.
“I’m gonna need a few extra hours in the gym after that meal,” Sabrina sighed. “That was outstanding!”
“One meal isn’t gonna hurt your figure, Sabrina. Certainly not with the phenomenal shape you’re in.” Tommy sipped at his coffee. “How’s the rest of your year shaping up?”
“Busy, as usual. I’m finishing up that class on instructing the glider instructors, plus I still have the rest of my courses for my major: Space Systems Design, Linear Systems Design, Law for Air Force Officers, Physics of Deformable Bodies, Rocket Propulsion, Statistics ... my schedule is pretty full, and not one of those classes is a cakewalk.”
“Any word on your duty assignment for this summer yet?”
“Not yet. Should be hearing about that within the next month, I would think. Hey, Mom and Dad are visiting in three weeks. Are you free that weekend?”
“I’m pretty sure I am, but I’ll double-check. Are they staying with the Gallardos again?”
“No, they’re getting a hotel room near Denver. They’re visiting Uncle Chris and the Schultheises while they’re out here, so I’ll drive up there that weekend.”
Tommy paid the check, and they walked outside. The restaurant’s back patio and grounds, normally well-groomed and well-ordered during the warmer months, had yet to awaken from their winter slumber. The paths were clear, however, giving the couple a place to wander and spend time alone.
“How are Alex and his lady?” Tommy asked.
“I think I talk to Anna more than Alex at this point. They’re doing well. Alex will wind up graduating summa cum laude, I’m sure. He’ll start his PhD while waiting for Anna to finish her degree.”
“Are they still waiting until Alex finishes school to get married?”
“For now. Anna doesn’t sound one hundred percent certain of that these days. She might break and start advocating for an earlier wedding.”
“However they find their happiness,” Tommy replied. “And you, Sabrina? Will your career plans allow for a wedding?”
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