Flight To Pandemonium Page 11

  Mac turned to the others looking for someone else in need. Two were Sisters of Mercy nuns, dressed in white habits and appeared to be identical twins. A third woman accompanying the nuns was a very slight dark-complexioned native woman who occasionally communicated with the nuns in sign language. No one wore a coat having left the airplane in haste without them. The native woman looked most in need so when Mac raised the blanket in offering, she nodded and smiled as he wrapped her shoulders.

  A couple looking in their twenties stood apart from the others, arms around one another, appearing to be young lovers. Oblivious to everyone, they had listened to music on their MP3 player with a double set of earphones during most of the flight. Mac didn’t understand where they fit.

  Martha joined the group asking who spoke for them. A nun introduced herself as Sister Helena. Judy answered as the hospital administrator for the nurses. As Martha spoke to Judy, Sister Helena flashed annoyance and joined the two scowling men.

  “I’m Martha. Are any of you hurt?”

  “No, we’re all okay,” replied Judy. “But I must tell you we’re rather shocked by that landing. Was there a problem after all?

  “Not at all. This was the best place they could find when we couldn’t land in Talkeetna. We were required to land by dusk but this came as a surprise for all of us. The Captain will explain I’m sure.”

  “Martha, I hope so. None of us was expecting anything like this.”

  “Nor was I.”

  Ted joined them and said, “Our pilots will be with us shortly.”

  “Good,” Martha said, “Are they okay?”

  “Perfectly so, and I’m thankful for that daring landing. We all seem to be okay.” Ted was nervously euphoric.

  “Are you crazy?” interrupted the young man with the ear buds. “Scared the crap outta me.”

  “Are you talking to us?” asked Ted.

  “Just who are you?” asked the man with a confrontational edge in his voice.

  “Wake up to the world, dude! You two weren’t paying attention all afternoon.”

  “Captain Marvel… we’ve heard all we want outta you.”

  “Greg, please!” pleaded Jane, his female companion. The young man glowered.

  “Folks, we have a lot to do.” Ted hailed, “Jack, did we bring that canvas tarp?”

  Jack replied, “Yea, it’s in the tail. Need help?”

  “Sure, let’s bring it down to level ground.” Four of the men spread the sixteen-foot square tarp on the gravel and placed a battery lantern in its center.

  As they did so, spontaneous applause broke out among the crew and some of the passengers as the pilots emerged from the cabin. The nuns and the men among the hospital group stood silently aloof.

  When Pappy stepped down, Martha ran up to him, wrapped an arm around his neck and kissed him fondly. She whispered, “I knew you could do it! Damn, honey, that was the most frightful landing of my life!”

  Pappy gave her an affectionate buss and said, “So it was; all’s well that ends well. How ‘bout you? You okay?”

  “Super! Just wondering where we are. We’re not going anywhere after that landing. So now what?”

  “I don’t imagine we are leaving.” And he gave her a parting pat on her shapely bum. Martha was sad that Pappy ended their intimate moment in the disappointing manner she’d come to know all too well.

  Richard waited for Martha to finish her rounds. Looking glum, he asked, “Is this what Pappy had in mind? We didn’t bring any food. I know, I checked. How are twenty of us going to survive here? And I’m not helping my family this way at all.”

  “When we couldn’t land in Talkeetna, I’m guessing they picked this place to get away from that flu and sure death.”

  “Wish I’d known. What’s the point of starving out here instead?”

  “Richard, if there’s one thing I know about Pappy, he’s a survivor; always has been. Cheer up. Things’ll be better.”

  Tom Churchill gathered everyone around and ceremoniously cleared his throat. “I’m Captain Churchill. That landing was a surprise for us all. We intended to land in Talkeetna, but that turned out to be impossible as I’m sure you could see.

  “Despite appearances, I think the aircraft is secure for the night, so Pappy and I have an arrangement until we can do better in the morning. The ladies will sleep reclined on the cabin seats inside, and the men will sleep out here in a tent. Ladies have first call on the blankets, so guys, if you have warm clothes, we suggest you put ‘em on now. It’ll be chilly by morning.

  “We’ll pass out some food and water from our emergency kit, but that’ll be all there is for tonight. Let’s get comfortable on the canvas and get to know one another while we unload the aircraft.”

  Mac seated himself next to the lantern, pulled out his journal describing the daring landing. When self-introductions were made, Mac missed most of the names. Fortunately, Judy sat next to him. She quickly realized what he was doing.

  “I’m glad you thought of that,” she said. “This is the kind of thing we’ll all be telling our grandchildren one day. Want me to fill you in?”

  “Would you? I missed most of the names.”

  “Sure, if you’ll do the same for me.”

  “Deal.”

  Judy explained that the medical contingent was composed of two teams temporarily joined together in Kotzebue to provide native health care. One was organized to help improve pediatric care for families. The other investigated environmental causes for maladies common among children.

  Judy and Maureen, her assistant, lived in Kotzebue year round. The nurses were called to Anchorage to help flu victims. Everyone else had been traveling to Anchorage at the conclusion of their third season of temporary assignment at the hospital in Kotzebue. Judy led the nurses in pediatric care. Andrew directed the environmental research in association with the nurses. The teams got to know one another quite well. The young couple, Greg and Jane, had only recently joined the staff and Judy didn’t know them.

  Judy explained how easy it was to distinguish the two groups. The medical staff members were all women and men made up the environmental staff, with Jane providing summer laboratory services for both.

  The joint effort brought them together despite dramatic differences in lifestyle and creed. The twin nuns, Sisters Helena and Terry, and their deaf acolyte devoted their lives to their Roman Catholic order of nursing. The men were entirely secular in their beliefs with the possible exception of Andrew who sometimes professed his allegiance to Gaia if there was any god at all. Early on, heated disagreement among them could only be reconciled by suspending any discussion about faith or God. They agreed to conduct themselves according to their convictions. Nonetheless, philosophical contention still thrived because Craig and Andrew were as vigorous in proselytizing their personal ideology, as the nuns were devoted to promoting their faith.

  Andrew, a cultural anthropologist, was chosen to study behavior patterns among families that might put their children at risk. As an environmental toxicologist, Craig sought evidence of chemical contamination which might explain unusual childhood maladies.

  While everyone was occupied performing professional duties, the group functioned well. During personal time, however, lifestyle differences created suspicion and friction.

  Mac was frustrated when the Captain interrupted their conversation just as things were getting interesting. Cap asked his fellow airline employees to help prepare camp. When Tlingit’s name was called to help pitch the tent, he didn’t answer, and no one had seen him since the first few minutes after landing. Tony and Jack volunteered instead.

  The young couple wrapped themselves together in a blanket against the cold and sat grimly staring about without helping.

  Quiet conversation ended when the Captain brought attention to housekeeping,
“There are twenty of us assembled here, so we need to be more than casually organized to be comfortable. There are two matters that need attention tonight.

  “The first is fresh drinking water. We can find only four liters for the lot of us. We’ve provided some small paper cups and I ask that you have only one apiece. We’ll look for a good spring in the morning.”

  “Then, there’s the matter of personal hygiene. I’ve noticed some of you relieving yourselves rather near camp. With our number, that would quickly become unhealthy and unpleasant. For tonight and only until we can construct a privy, there’s a small grove of trees below me where we’ve staked a roll of toilet paper and a shovel. Please use them, but so far we’ve found only the one roll… again, for twenty of us. So if you’re troubled by the dark or the wild, take a friend and the company flashlight… okay?

  “One last thing… please reserve the cabin for those who are retiring for the night. Sleeping in there will be difficult enough. Thank you all and good night.”

  “Question,” said Craig of the medical folks.

  “Sure.”

  “Why separate us? Wouldn’t it be warmer if we slept together in the airplane?”

  “Because it’s not appropriate, even considering what’s happened. Besides, five of the seats in the cabin don’t recline.”

  “Have you put yourself in charge or are decisions going to be more democratic.”

  “Fair question. As captain, I’m in charge under the circumstances, so let’s hold your idea for the morning, shall we? We should be getting prepared for a cold night.”

  “Nonsense! Under the circumstances, we’d be far warmer sleeping together.” Craig’s rigid stance refusing to acknowledge the Captain spoke volumes.

  “Captain, then I have a question,” said Andrew. “Was all that dangerous flying really necessary? You risked all of our lives and scared living hell out of me for one. And that man you killed. You didn’t even stop. Why not?”

  Pappy and the Captain exchanged glances. “That I killed?” asked Pappy, stunned!

  Silence followed the blunt accusation. Since someone had the effrontery to ask in such an offensive manner, Pappy rose fighting for self control.

  “I was the pilot,” said Pappy nearly shouting hoarsely, “and when you were all stranded back there in Nome, I didn’t hear one of you object to coming along with us. We delivered you from certain death! We’ve all arrived safe. That’s all that matters.”

  He cleared his throat, and trying to get control of his rising anger and trembling voice, he continued, “As for that man… he was trying to force his way onto our flight and ran straight into our spinning propeller on his own two feet. Bluntly put, the man was instantly decapitated. And you should remember that I did stop to be sure and that no one else was in jeopardy. But what possible aid could we have rendered to a corpse with that mob descending on us? I would think the impact of today’s broadcast would put such things in perspective. We’re all healthy. The affair was an unfortunate and unavoidable and we should move on... for the sake of our own survival!”

  In the silence that followed, Sister Helena stood up. “Captain, please allow me to offer a prayer of thanks and for families who couldn’t be joined with us tonight…” She looked around for assent and the Captain nodded his approval. “Dear Lord in Heaven, please accept our humble gratitude for our deliverance into Your Hands and most heartily for the graces we have received this day. Deliver our families into Your safekeeping and eternal salvation. May the Almighty and Merciful Lord grant us pardon and absolution for our sins, and may the faithful departed rest in peace; Amen. Each of us may now offer our own silent vespers.”

  Mac was indeed grateful for the interlude to offer a prayer for his wife, but he wasn’t at all willing to advance her fate to…‘eternal salvation.’

  The miners erected the tent and the Captain’s plan for the night executed quickly. Most people remained tense, exhausted and more than ready to retire. Mac settled in a corner of the tent, placed his head on his backpack, wrapped in his heavy Gortex coat. With his mind churning on events of the day, sleep didn’t come easily.

  Reflecting on Sister Helena’s prayer, a cynical thought refused to leave his mind. When the nun used ‘deliverance’ with a spiritual connotation rather than a temporal one, was she cleverly rebuking the Captain? Mac wondered. She certainly wasn’t thanking the pilots for her rescue. He finally dismissed the thought as inconsequential, cynical, and unworthy, and faded to sleep.

  13

  Sovereign Ridge northeast of Talkeetna, October 1st. Mac rose at first light after tossing and turning for an hour on his gravel mattress. His cold legs felt cramped. Finding firewood would cure both discomforts, so he set out in the grey light of morning. He was surprised to encounter the miners already returning to camp hauling towering loads of dead spruce.

  “Any advice you care to offer?”

  “Deadfall is scarce,” said Tony, “but look along the sand bars near curves in the creek. Green spruce ain’t worth much. Gotta find the dry stuff.”

  The airstrip was situated on top of a spruce covered ridge with creek drainage along both sides. Mac scouted to get his bearings, and then chose the opposite direction the miners had taken. He easily gathered deadfall, returning with a modest load, the largest he could carry uphill.

  A warming fire in a newly constructed rock pit greeted him. Mac deposited his firewood with the rest. He joined other passengers wrapped in blankets, all watching a steaming pot not boil. Two empty plastic bottles stood nearby, reminding him of another critical task.

  Mac looked about, marveling at how his surroundings had changed from night. Most striking was the daylight view of the gravel landing strip. An airstrip in name only, the way was rocky, rough, overgrown, and winter ice-heaved. The airstrip hadn’t been used in years. Along the Otter’s path lay torn and twisted spruce trees.

  The airplane, which loomed so large with its landing lights blazing at night, now appeared dramatically diminished against the vastness of its ridge top surroundings.

  The gravel bank where the Otter came to rest wasn’t a talus slope at all, but an old tailings pile from a mine excavation above. A tall wooden head-structure supporting rusting cable flywheels stood high above the excavation.

  Tlingit had slept alone inside the baggage hold of the Otter. He now stood on the service platform near the top of the head frame looking east scanning the countryside with binoculars, a stringed long bow draped around his shoulder.

  The women hadn’t yet emerged from the aircraft cabin with the exception of Jane, Greg’s girlfriend. They had spent the night outdoors rolled together in her blanket and now huddled together in the cold. Greg stared intently at the face of his cell phone. If that works, Mac thought, maybe he’d allow others to share his phone.

  But he snapped it shut, sullenly turning to Jane, “Nothing, Babe”

  She was the picture of a poster babe… face imprinted with sleep, blonde hair disheveled, bright red lipstick smeared on fleshy lips, slender arm hung around her lover’s neck. Greg was so defensive and jealous that even a momentary glance in her direction brought a glowering defiant stare directly into Mac’s eyes.

  Coffee was ready. When Jack politely offered the first cup to Jane, still the only female present, Greg pushed his arm away. “We don’t drink that stuff, dude! Mind your own self.” Greg, still agitated and uncivil, was fast making ‘friends.’ He reached into a deep leg pocket, yanking out a pink bottled drink for Jane. She accepted silently.

  The other passengers relished the strong coffee, a spot of civilization on such an uncivilized morning. Most stared silently letting the hot liquid warm their souls. The smell of coffee must have permeated the aircraft cabin, for one by one, the ladies silently emerged. Apparently they had enjoyed a few moments of private preparation, far better dressed, coifed and made up than tho
se who slept outside.

  Tony procured a sealed pouch of rice from his own huge bag of possibles as Judy approached the fire pit. He handed her the pouch and said, “This should be enough for the lot of us but won’t make much of a meal by its lonesome.”

  Overhearing, Mac added “I’ve got a little smoked salmon for everyone.”

  “Salmon would be perfect mixed with rice,” said Judy, “and will make a more appetizing breakfast. That okay with you?”

  “Sure,” replied Mac, “But we haven’t looked for spring water yet. Would just one liter of bottled water be enough to cook dry rice and smoked salmon together?”

  “It’ll have to do, so let me cook. I’ll make the water stretch.”

  “You better than me for sure. I’m kitchen incompetent.”

  Judy organized the medical folks sending them to scrounge for anything that would serve for plates and utensils, adding to the growing list of immediate tasks. The meal required two hours.

  Meanwhile, the miners were digging a ditch to serve as a backwoods latrine. Without waiting for the work to finish, Craig and Andrew urinated in the ditch without the courtesy of asking while the miners still worked down in the midst. Jack stopped digging and glowered, but Tony ignored the insult.

  Presently, the Captain spoke. “The ladies have a fine idea that will need our cooperation. Ted is the company mechanic who can explain better than I.”

  “Waal,” he began, “the ladies think their cabin is a bit akimbo and want our help. It’ll take pushing the Otter backwards to flatter ground, and together, I think we can do that. If you’ll all join together, we’ll do it like this… Captain on the foot brakes, the ladies pushing wherever they can reach, the rest of us both lifting and pushing the tail. The Otter should balance on her gear, so the gents should be able to lift the tail. How ‘bout we try after breakfast?” The women cheered in response. The nuns stared, apparently unused to exhibiting enthusiasm.