Chapter 2 – Landfall

Low now. And slow. Slower than he'd like. He always preferred airspeed, with airspeed he had more options, he could trade it for altitude or bearing and just do more things more safely. Even putting her into a bank now, at this speed would stall them. The proper response to low airspeed was to put the nose down and gain more, but they were at low altitude now as well, and had given up that option soon after they'd crossed the coast. Now they were almost out of options entirely and his choices became more limited with each minute that sweated down his back. The answer of course was to land. The question of course, was where? He'd not been cold up there at all, far too much to worry about and too much nervous energy being burned to get cold. He'd be cold when they landed and the adrenaline stopped flowing, but he'd worry about that when the time came. Providing he still had a head attached to his shoulders that was.

They'd made landfall three minutes ago much to her obvious and very vocal relief. She'd hugged him in nervous happy reaction and that had nearly been the end of them. The glider had pitched over to starboard as her weight shifted and he'd had to swing around hard to get them some speed and correct the bank. That had cost them a couple of hundred feet of altitude, but he hadn't said anything, nor had he minded. He had been just as relieved as she and would have done exactly the same in the circumstances.

But now the sense of danger pervaded them both, the sun had set and the dusk was deepening, the gloaming was thick and dense in the hollows of the land and in places, in the narrower valleys and little re-entrants against the hills, it was wholly dark. In fear, or perhaps for comfort, or perhaps simply for the warmth of contact, she held onto him tightly, arms around his waist, her front pressed against his back, looking around his shoulder. Her warmth and presence comforted him, calmed him. At least, if everything went badly wrong, they'd be together, living or dying, they'd be together at the end.

"Get the rope and tie us together, and secure a line to the rear of the cockpit. If we pitch forward on landing I don't want us thrown forward and out and the thing rolling over us."

She had secured a line to a cleat at the stern of the cockpit and passed it around their waists.

He'd been right about the coastline and the flat ground. It was wet, too wet to land on. They had crossed the coast at about five hundred feet with the seaport about a mile distant on their left hand. The beach had been a steep shingled bank with a dull, wide, dark salt water lagoon behind it. Beyond this had been a mile or two of salt flats, treacherous ground – half mud, half grasses with a myriad of narrow twisting channels that would flood with the tide. A place that he could have landed on given no other choice, but which they'd have had little chance of walking out of, especially once the tide came in. Inland of the salt marsh they had passed over a belt of woodland to find themselves coasting over a rural landscape made up of small fields bisected by narrow lanes and bordered with tall thickly built dry stone walls. The fields were small and those walls looked very solid so Pazu coaxed the glider on.

The ground was rising now which was good news in one way because the last shreds of daylight lay here on the rising slope of the hills, making the identification of a landing site easier, but it was bad news too because it stripped them of altitude much faster. He glanced down, on the higher ground to his left there were no dry stone walls and the slope seemed to be studded with gorse, tussock grasses and sheep.

Whatever it was going to be, it would have to be soon. He was grateful for her presence, her contact, it would help them.

"If I lean into a turn, or forward or back, lean with me. Slowly."
"Alright."
"Your weight will move a little after mine and help give us a slower manoeuvre, I don't want to make any sudden turns at this height."
"Yes."
"So please don't make any sudden moves."
"I understand."
"Hold on tight."
"I will."
"Do you follow?"
"Yes, I'm with you."
"Alright, here we go."

A narrow little valley was to their right, burrowing up into the hogsback of higher ground. A dirt lane led up it and Pazu saw a farmhouse there with lights on. No room down there. Walls, trees, livestock. And too dark. The higher ground to his left it was going to have to be. The sheep chewed and watched the craft stupidly as it flew alongside them, almost at their level now. His choice was made for him, it would have to be that slope, steep it may be but at least there appeared to be a covering of bracken and ferns. He only had to side slip to port a hundred feet and approach up the slope, up the spine of land between this valley and the next. He couldn't see over the ridge to the next valley – he hoped there was no steep drop off on the far side.

"Sorry sheep, I'm going to disturb your dinner."

He leaned a little forward and felt her press against him. The glider's nose pitched down, gathering speed, the last they would get. He called back over his shoulder.

"I'm going to bank left and right quickly – just a side slip so we are facing up that hill, then at the last moment lean back with me and we'll flare hard up into a stall. The plan is we'll almost sit right down with no forward momentum at all."
"Sounds easy. Alright, let's go."

He leaned left and felt her move with him. The nose of the craft swung around, a sheep just below them bolted off into the dusk bleating in panic. They passed close over, almost through, the tops of trees on the slope of the valley. The higher ground was ahead and at their height.

"Lean right!"

The glider swung stiffly about facing up the hill, they had no airspeed to speak of now, the clumsy steel bucket wallowed and began to stall. The ground came up fast, very fast, sheep scattered, the cloth sail of the wing fluttered and chattered, there was no longer any lift, the air bled out from under them and they were falling.

"Back, back. Lean back!"
"Yes!"
"Hey!"

With a thud and a short scrape of crackling undergrowth the steel cockpit clunked down. The craft slid only a few feet before coming to rest upright and cleanly. Pazu turned around, Sheeta grinned at him.

"Oh, yes! What a pilot. Fantastic!"
"Uh.."

Pazu felt odd. Sheeta's face changed from a wide smile to doubt, then uncertainty.

"What?"

They were moving, no, tilting. The heavy steel tail boom of the glider came down behind them, below them. Down the slope of the hill its weight lay well below their cockpit. The craft settled into the centre of gravity which now was behind the cockpit. The cockpit began to tilt. Backwards. The nose came up. Pazu leaned hard forwards onto the control column, Sheeta, understanding what was happening, pressed hard against him, trying to push more weight forward. But it was too little. Inexorably the tail boom sank down and the cockpit nose lifted and began to turn onto its back. The uneven slope of the hill caused it to roll to the right and the two occupants fell sideways with a jarring blow against the steel cockpit wall. The big bucket rolled over onto them upside down covering them. The contents of the cockpit fell out showering them with dirt, loose tools and equipment and the cloth floor mats, filthy with dried mud and dust. Sheeta feared the upturned steel bucket would slide down the slope with them trapped under it but it simply turned over and slid a few feet before coming to rest upside down against a gorse bush.

Sheeta lay still. The rope at her waist cut into her, stinging and hurting. Her eyes and mouth were full of dirt and it was pitch black. Pazu coughed and moved.

"Ow, my arm," she yelped.
"Sorry. Where are you?"
"Right there!"
"Sorry. Can you untie the rope?"
"Not with you on my arm."
"Ah, sorry, wait."
"Ow!"
"Ah.."
"And that was my leg. OW! Oh, that really hurt!"
"Wait, let me get off."
"Ow! Pazu…?"
"What is it?"
"My leg. Oh, it really hurts. I think it's broken."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2 March 2007

For author notes about Chapter Two, please see my forum (click on my pen name)