Having completed our photography session on the parking garage roof, and having fully psyched ourselves up, we piled in the van and headed for the elevators on the concourse level floor. Our friend dropped us off and we set off across the bridge to the main concourse.
Everything started out according to plan. We rode the escalators up to the main level and quietly skated along the end of the check-in counters in route to the aisles behind. I do recall that as we glanced at the agents at the ticket counters (it was 2am, there weren’t many of them) there were looks of surprise, concern, etc. I believe that we saw a few of them reaching for phones to alert the “security guards”. But c’mon, it WAS Halloween!
We made our way to the back aisle, assumed the “V” formation and skated the entire length of the main concourse. I don’t recall seeing anyone in particular, but what I DO recall was that we were in skater’s heaven – it was all we had imagined it would be and more. Wide, smooth terrazzo aisles, we moved in near silence, save the uniformed whooshing of our skates and the “this is AWEsome!” loud whispers now and then.
We reached the other end of the aisle and turned to head back to the escalators to exit the building back to the parking garage and be on our way…mission accomplished. What happened next happened very quickly. As we entered the check-in area, there was a “security guard” kind of jogging towards us from the counter area. He called out something to the effect of “Hold-on there, guys” and we all stopped and froze in our tracks. We didn’t want trouble; we had planned for this; we were just having fun. We’d explain ourselves, have a laugh or two about the whole thing and be on our way.
But as the guy got closer, one of us – I don’t know who – shouted “Let’s go!” and without a moment’s hesitation (I think there was a BIT of adrenalin – and some alcohol for some – involved) we all took off. We burst through the glass doors and out onto the road. As we looked back, we could see him using his radio calling for “back-up”. What? Was he going to rouse the other “guards” from their midnight cat-naps to come help him bawl us out? We weren’t going to stick around to find out… we were making for the van in the garage so we could get out of there!
As we headed down the ramps and doubled back toward the garage, it became obvious to us that we had caused a little more of a ruckus than we had intended. We got in the garage and realized that we had to skate the entire length of it to the elevator banks to make our getaway. All of the sudden, we had a very long ways to go and we were skating as fast as we could, as hard as we could, and realizing that we *may* have underestimated the impact of our actions. And then there were cop cars entering the garage behind us… CHASING us… with LIGHTS and SIRENS! And there were a LOT of them.
While this was extremely scary and we knew that we were in trouble, our only thought was to get to the elevators, then to the van, and then get out of there… as FAST as we could. We got to the elevators, pushed the button and waited. (Insert here a mental image of 7 VERY scared guys waiting *patiently* for an elevator in a lobby area while what seems to be the entire City of Seattle’s police force is very quickly ascending on them. Sirens are screaming, radios are crackling, and tires are screeching… do you hear the muzak in the background?). An elevator finally arrived and we all jumped inside. “Push the button! We made it! We made it!” That’s when one of Seattle’s finest made a great move and…
Wow… this has gotten really long. I PROMISE that I’ll finish it tomorrow.
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