| Chapter Fifteen - New horizons |
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My breath caught in my throat as the sun rose majestically into the sky, seeming to revitalise both the earth and our spirits. Our enforced diversion for combat and the subsequent repairs, coupled with the captain's impromptu salvage mission had left us somewhat behind schedule and the captain was keen to make up some time. Our first engagement had left us a little rattled but had also greatly heartened us as our designs and planning had been sufficient to see off our foe. My first experience of airborne combat did however leave me with the feeling that our ship needed more cannon! It had coped well enough with our single metallic adversary but I felt that had we encountered a more numerous enemy, we may possibly have been in a spot of bother.
This, along with the Captain's tale of his salvage operation, was one of many topics of conversation as we made across the mediterranean and down through the watery passage which seperated Iran from Iraq, traversing this at a higher altitude so as to avoid detection, and thence out into the Indian Ocean, circling that countries' souternmost tip before changing to a north-easterly course towards our destination. This was far from the most direct route but the Captain and I had agreed that it would be beneficial to draw as little attention as possible to our arrival. The Captain, aided by the most comprehensive array of cartography that I had ever laid eyes upon, had guided us expertly to the area we now beheld. In the gradually rising dawn, an unfamiliar but beautiful vista spread out before us. Long, lush grasses stretched out, frequently punctuated by trees which seemed outlandish at the time, the scene framed by the barren rolling hills beyond. Looming in the distance was a sizeable settlement, from which tendrils of smoke and signs of human activity where visible, giving it the appearance of a slumbering giant, about to wake and rise. We circled for a while, looking for a suitable spot to land. We eventually identified a suitable location, shielded on the port and starboard sides by foliage, and with a sizeable hill at its end. I lined up for our approach as before, but this time at a somewhat reduced speed in comparison to my previous attempt, guiding her down cautiously but confidently. As our wheels kissed struck the earth I was immediately struck by the lack of a solid "thud" of connection, such as we experienced during our touchdown in Cornwall. This foreign soil greeted us with a sickening squelch as the weight of our vessel penetrated the thinner crust of top soil and skidded worringly towards the large earthen mound ahead, our craft swaying alarmingly, like a listing clipper in a storm on the high seas. Cursing, I and the Captain raised the emergency flaps to slow our progress, which slowed us significantly but not enough. "Brace for impact old chap, were going in!!" roared the Captain above the noise of the creaking, moaning protests of our shuddering craft. We grasped our solid control panels as we hurtled in the mound, sending a huge fountain of displaced earth and greenery in the air. My grip was insufficent to deal with the forces involved and I realised that I being hurled from my seat, shortly before the world went black. |
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