Chapter 7 - Super Heroes and Super Planes

It was hard to be certain, but the waves didn't seem as bad now. The flap that covered the opening to the raft hadn't been very effective in keeping water out of the raft, but Leonard finally seemed to be making some headway in bailing out the raft. With a little more work there'd be no more sloshing of water inside. He was still wet, but the moderation of the storm brought warmer air temperatures, which calmed his fears about hypothermia.

Perhaps fortunately, the struggle to empty the raft of the remaining water had kept Leonard's mind off of other things. With the raft floor now only damp, he started thinking on the larger issues before him - Where was he? Was anyone looking for him? Did anyone else survive the capsize? What about Penny and his friends back home - what were they thinking? Poor Penny - Leonard felt worse for her than he did for himself.

It must be Tuesday, he guessed. It had all kind of mashed together, these last few days. He'd already started rationing the water bottles and energy bars - they weren't going to last much longer. He grabbed the EPIRB device as he looked for any information about how long it would continue to send out its SOS signal. Nothing on the device about the battery and its useful life. How much longer would it work, he wondered, and why hasn't a plane or ship found him yet? Leonard knew enough about the human body to know you can go a good while without food, but not long without water, and the 2 water bottles left weren't going to last long.

Amidst the solitude and discomfort of life in the raft, he let his mind wander. Leonard had always loved comic books and super heroes. He loved to pretend as a child that he was an invincible creature - being picked on for his short stature and his intellect gave him plenty of reasons to fantasize about super strong men who could beat up anybody and conquer any evil. He loved characters like The Green Lantern and Batman but felt a strange kinship to Stan Lee's villain, Magneto (although, as Leonard recalled, Stan Lee didn't see Magneto as a real villain, but rather a fighter against those who'd take advantage of the powerless - as Leonard so often felt).

"I sure could use some of those super powers right about now," Leonard half-laughed to himself. Then he smiled as he recalled the New Year's Eve party from a couple years ago and Penny in her Wonder Woman costume with her blond hair peeking out from under that funny black wig. She thought he was cute in his Green Lantern costume.

Leonard had had his share of bad New Year's Eves, but that New Year's party at the comic book store watching Penny kiss her date, Zack - that was the worst. Before they went to that party Penny had told Leonard that Zack was really just a backup plan so she wouldn't be alone that night. Things were really messed up between Penny and himself then, Leonard thought. But he had always loved her. He'd never believed that stuff about love at first sight...until Penny.

He couldn't have imagined back then that he'd ever get back together with the girl who'd moved to LA from Nebraska, all by herself, when she was really still a kid. Leonard always admired how brave Penny was. And now...he felt sad as he pondered the future - would he ever see her again?

As he tried to scoop up the remaining water on the bottom of the raft, Leonard's thoughts drifted back to his childhood. As a kid Leonard also loved airplanes, especially military aircraft. Of course, compared to the space ships of Star Trek and Star Wars these planes were so antiquated and, well... slow. But he particularly liked propeller driven planes more that jets. The rumble of those engines was distinct and powerful. He thought about the summer holiday weekend air shows near his home years ago - he could always tell when an old prop plane was approaching, like one of those old B-17's from the 1940's. Of course, prop planes weren't obsolete yet - even the military still used them for cargo, troops and such.

Despite a less than idyllic childhood, thinking about super heroes and airplanes made him yearn to be back there in New Jersey. Or, he laughed, anywhere but here...wherever that was. With the now more gentle rocking of the life raft Leonard began to drift off to sleep again.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep when he heard it. Was it from a dream? He had, before he fell asleep, been thinking about planes. The rumble was barely perceptible at first, but after a few minutes it became more distinct. Funny, it was that same rumble that he had always loved in those prop planes, kind of like those 4 engine B-17's. He listened more closely, almost holding his breath as he strained to hear. He carefully pulled back the flap and tried to squint. His eyesight was bad without his eyeglasses that had been lost to the sea when he fell into the water after the capsize, so seeing much in detail outside the raft was impossible. He looked around as best he could, but saw nothing. The wind was still gusting periodically, and when it did he couldn't hear much of anything but the flap on the raft slapping the side of the raft.

A few more minutes and the rumble returned, but this time more clearly. He again looked out of the raft and saw it - as best he could tell with his blurry vision, it was a C-130 Hercules - 4 engine turboprop, an aircraft used often in Search and Rescue missions. Leonard could feel his heart rate jump when he realized what he saw. The C-130 came in low over Leonard's raft. As he desperately waved, Leonard squinted again to glimpse the military markings on the wings - British. RAF. The plane made a steep turn and made a second pass over the raft, this time rocking its wings to signal to Leonard that he had been spotted. The plane made one more very low pass, and this time Leonard knew he had been found.

Leonard realized while he was trying to wave to the plane how much his body hurt. "I guess I'm in worse shape than I thought," he said. He needed medical attention soon, that's for sure. But that C-130 couldn't land on the water - somebody else was going to have to pluck him from this raft. The C-130 was now out of sight and its engines could no longer be heard. It was quiet again. "Man, I sure hope they saw me," he sighed.

It was probably not more than an hour - seemed like longer - when Leonard heard a new sound, not like the turbo-prop. It sounded like a...helicopter! Squinting again to try to see, the brightly colored "helo" approached the raft quickly, and before Leonard could fully comprehend what was happening, a crew member in a wet suit had made the drop from the helo into the now agitated water around the raft. He had been found! Leonard tried to offer a big wave of his hand, but the pain to his rib cage stopped him short.

"Hello! I am Lieutenant Tobias Madsen of the Denmark Joint Rescue Coordination Centre," announced the crew member. "What is your name?"

"I am Dr. Leonard Hofstadter - I was a passenger aboard the R/V Copenhagen," Leonard yelled.

"Well, Dr. Hofstadter, I am very happy to see you - there have been a lot of people out here looking for you!" replied the Lieutenant. "Let's get you out of here."

As the Lieutenant prepared Leonard to be hoisted up into the helo, Leonard thought about the others aboard the Copenhagen. Had anyone else survived? He had so many questions but they'd have to wait for answers. For the moment it was enough to focus on his rescue...and on Penny, to whom he'd given that heart-shaped locket what seemed like an eternity ago. And there was so much he wanted, no, needed to tell her.