by Greg Iles
As we rush along above Highway 61, rising through five hundred feet, I silently repeat my days mantra:
Accidents are rare, accidents are rare .
I hope we stay low today. Last year a different pilot and I got caught in an updraft and stuck a mile above Louisiana. Rather than having the romantic ride most people experience, I was stranded in the clouds, with a view much like the one you get from a jetliner: geometric farms and highways, cars the size of ants. But today is different. The landmarks of the city are spread below me
with the stunning clarity of an October morning. To my right lies the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians, a carpet of green meadows and ceremonial mounds beside St. Catherines Creek. I scarcely have time to orient myself to the mounds before we race onward toward the river.
Glad you made it, Necker says, slapping me gently on the back. Were looking good. Its actually lucky you were late.
Glad to help. It really couldn't be avoided.
The CEO nods but doesn't question me. Theyve shortened the race to the first target only. Nobodys going to be able to maneuver well in this wind.
I try to conceal my relief that this will be a short flight. Some balloon races are long and complex, like magisterial wedding processions. Others are brief and chaotic, like car chases through a mountain village, with pilots trying to divine invisible crosscurrents of wind like oracles opening themselves to revelation. Todays event is the latter type, but theres a certain majesty to the seemingly endless train of balloons stretching from the Louisiana Delta ahead of us back to Buck Stadium, which is now merely a fold in the green horizon. Two helicopters fly along the course like cowboys tending a wayward herd, but they have no control over their charges. The balloons go where the wind blows.
Necker has read the winds well. Where Highway 61 veers north toward Vicksburg and the Delta, we continue westward toward Louisiana. Far to my right I see the abandoned Johns Manville plant, to my left, the shuttered International Paper mill, and the scorched scar that is all that remains of the Triton Battery Company. All those plants came between 1939 and 1946, and the last shut its doors only a few months ago. So much for Natchezs smokestack industries. But the beauty of the city remains undiminished. From this altitude its plain that the modern town grew over dozens of old plantations, and theres far more forest than open ground. It makes me long for the days before the lumber industry came, whenthe saying goesa squirrel could run from Mississippi to North Carolina without once setting foot on the ground.
As downtown Natchez drifts past like a ghost from the nineteenth century, I hear bass and drums pounding from the festival field beside Rosalie. A moment later I sight the crowd swelling and mov
ing like a swarm of ants before the stage. Then were over the river, its broad, reddish-brown current dotted with small pleasure craft, the levee on the far side lined with the cars of people watching the balloons pass.
Far ahead, near the horizon, I can see our destination: Lake Concordia, an oxbow lake created by a bend in the river that was cut off long ago. Sometimes Annie and I go water-skiing there with friends who have boats, such as Paul Labry and his family. Thinking of Labry brings a knot of anxiety to my throat. In the rush of boarding the balloon, I asked him to get me the names of the Chinese casino partners for me. So easy to do. But have I needlesslyand selfishlyput him at risk? Probably not, if he follows my orders exactly. But will he, not really knowing whats at stake?
Labry and I are only a year apart in age, but we went to different schools, and that can be an obstacle to close friendship in Natchez. After forced integration in 1968, the number of private schools doubled from two to four. Labry and I attended the two original ones: Immaculate Heart and St. Stephens. The new schools were Christian academies that stressed conservative ideology and athletics over academics. There wasn't much mixing between the four institutions, and I probably spent more time with the public school kids than with the Christians or the Catholics, who stuck together like an extended family. But in the eleventh grade, Paul Labry and I were sent as delegates to the American Legion Boys State in Jackson. I knew Labry only slightly when I arrived, but after spending a week with him among strangers, I knew Id made a friend I should have gotten to know long before.
Labry went to college at Mississippi State and returned home afterward; he was already working in his fathers office-supply business while I was earning my law degree at Rice. When I returned to Natchez for good, I discovered that Labry was one of the few boys from the top quarter of his class who hadn't immigrated to another part of the country to earn his living. As mayor, whenever I looked at the Board of Selectmen with frustration, Labrys constant presence and dogged, conscientious work gave me hope for change. I think he originally harbored dreams of running for mayor, but after I confided to him that I intended to run, he told me that I should go for it, and that I could count on his full support. He has been true to his
word, and I should not repay a loyal friend and family man by dragging him into the mess that has already claimed Tim Jessups life.
Look at that! cries Necker, pointing down to a vast, swampy island enclosed by an old bend in the river. That's Giles Island right there. Were setting up to win this thing, Penn, I can feel it.
I never had a doubt, I tell him, which is true. Necker probably studied maps of this area nonstop during his flight back from Chicago.
As we start to cross the island, a loud crack unlike anything I've yet heard snaps me to full alertness. What frightens me most is Necker. Hes gone from a relaxed posture to total rigidity in less than a second.
What was that? I ask.
Necker doesn't answer. He has leaned back to look up through the throat of the balloon, and he doesn't look happy.
Was that a shot? I ask, almost afraid to voice what my instinct tells me is true.
Yes and no, Necker answers, still staring up into the canopy. Somebody just put some lead through the canopy, but that sound we heard wasn't the gun. It was the bullet itself.
Jesus. The balloons to the west of us seem much farther away than they did ten seconds ago. Whats the difference?
Necker is working fast, checking the digital equipment that rests in a pouch on the inside lip of the basket. Hes as grim as a fireman about to rush into a burning building. It takes a high-powered rifle to make the sound we just heard. That bullet was supersonic.
My fear is scaling up into panic. I want to suppress it, but some reactions are simply beyond control. What does that mean for us?
A stray shotgun pellet is one thing. But you don't hit a balloon this big with a high-powered rifle unless youre aiming at it.
Before the wind carries Necker final word away, another
crack
makes me grab the edge of the basket in terror. This time I hear the bullet rip the nylon above our heads. Necker grabs the wooden handle of a rope that stretches all the way to the top of the balloon. Its fastened inside a carabiner, which Necker carefully opens while gripping the handle tight in his hand. He looks like a man about to pull the rip cord on a parachute.
What are you doing? I ask, trying to keep my voice steady.
His eyes meet mine with an intensity that shakes me to the core. We've got to get down. Somebodys trying to kill us.
I want to help, but my mind is blank. Before I can say anything more, Necker pulls on the rope, and our balloon begins dropping like an elevator in a Tokyo office building. My stomach flies into my throat, and my feet tingle the way they do when I stand on a cliff edge.
Will the canopy hold together? I ask above the rush of the wind.
Necker nods with confidence. We can take quite a few holes and maintain buoyancy. But if they hit a cable or cause a big rip, well be in trouble.
What if they hit the fuel tanks?
Necker gives me a grin of utter fatalism. If the
y hit a tank, were dead.
The sound of the wind is twofold now, the air blowing past us horizontally, and that rushing upward as we plummet toward the earth.
Can we dump the tanks over the side?
Necker is watching the top of the balloon through its mouth. That would take four or five minutes in my balloon, and this isnt my balloon. I'll have us on the ground in fifty seconds.
He pulls harder on the rope, and we drop still faster. I cannot bear to look outside the basket. What are you doing? I ask.
Venting hot air from the top of the balloon. Its the only way to get down fast.
How fast are we going?
A thousand feet a minute.
How fast is that?
Necker purses his lips, figuring on the fly. A forty-yard dash straight into the ground. It probably won't kill you, but itll hurt like hell.
Shit .
He squeezes my upper arm and winks. Well be all right. I'll do a burn right before we hit. Try to cushion it a little.
My heart is pounding so hard that my chest hurts. I feel like we just jumped out of a plane!
Necker actually laughs. A skydiver falls ten times this fast. Just
keep scanning the ground. Watch for a muzzle flash. Somebodys going to jail for this.
Steeling myself, I pan my eyes over the swampy ground bounded by the snaky bend of the old river course. Theres a thousand acres of trees down there that a sniper could hide behind. Theres no way were going to find him without hearing his gun go off.
The ground seems to swoop up toward us with surreal speed. I'm trying to force my gaze away from it when Necker takes out his cell phone and speed-dials a number. Major McDavitt? Were taking ground fire . That's right, rifle fire, Id say. Could be hunters, but I don't think so. I'm hitting the deck right where we are, maximum safe descent. Necker gives me a quick glance. Maybe faster.
A mile to the west, the Athens Point sheriffs department chopper banks toward us and accelerates. Just as my heart lifts, another bullet punches though the canopy with the sound of a bullwhip finding flesh.
God
damn
it! Necker bellows, pointing toward the levee road. I think that came from the south, he shouts into the phone. Skim the levee road on your way here and see if you see anything. Try to get a license plate.
The helicopter makes no move toward the levee, but makes for us at what must be maximum speed. Major McDavitt has decided that survival means more than punishment.
Neckers jaw is set tight, but I see a wry smile on his lips. So thats how it is, he says into the phone. Medevac time. Well, youd better call ahead to the hospital. I'm AB positive. Penn, do you know your blood type?
O negative.
Beneath us I see an orange tractor and a propane tank beside what looks like a bunkhouse. A billy goat stands munching something beside a barbed-wire fence
Stop looking at the ground, Necker advises. Youre turning green. Watch the horizon. I'll tell you when to brace. Fifteen seconds. If we overshoot and land in the water, stay with the basket. Itll float. Unless you want to try to swim right to shore.
Shouldnt we try for the water?
We might not be able to swim after impact.
Good Lord.
The gas jet roars above our heads, heat blasts my
scalp, and the basket presses up against my feet like an express elevator slowing for the ground floor. That old rivers full of alligators anyway! I shout.
Necker tries to laugh, but what comes out is a strangled bark. He grabs the valve of the propane tank and shuts off the fuel line. Five seconds! Brace! Bend your knees!
I bend my knees and grab the upper frame of the basket, bracing against our lateral motion, which is westward toward the water. Were moving a lot faster across the ground than Id realized, but that may actually help us.
The impact is like falling from a galloping horse. My knees collapse and my pelvis slams the side of the basket, jolting me from ankles to crown, and then were sliding over the marshy ground as the wind drags us relentlessly toward the water. Necker hauls mightily on a rope, and suddenly the canopy collapses and we shudder to a stop.
The sudden silence is unnerving, but in seconds I hear the steady beating of McDavitts helicopter descending beside us.
Hans Necker drops to the floor of the basket like a man who died on his feet. Its only now that I remember the gunfire that caused this crash landing.
Are you hit? I ask.
Necker shakes his head. Ankles broken. One for sure, maybe both. Can you help me up?
Hell, yes. Lets get out of this thing.
McDavitt is already out of the chopper and running toward us. Anybody hit? he calls.
No, I shout back. We need help though!
When McDavitt reaches the basket, he helps me lift Necker over the side. The CEO grips the frame for a moment and smiles. This old girl got us down alive.
You got us down, buddy. We need to get to St. Catherines Hospital, Major. Ready?
McDavitt nods as we cradle Necker between us in a sitting position.
Lets do it.
I thought the balloon was moving fast when we crossed the river, but Major McDavitt storms back toward Natchez at 120 knots, aiming
for the helipad atop St. Catherines Hospital. The towns top orthopedist is waiting for Necker in the emergency room, and the Adams County sheriffs department chopper is flying in tandem, following us in. Paul Labry is on his way to the hospital, preparing to deal with what can only be a media crisis for the Balloon Festival.
How you doing? I ask Necker, whos sitting with his back to the wall of the helicopters cabin, his left calf propped on my knee to keep his foot elevated.
Hurts like a son of a bitch, he says. But it could have been a lot worse. You did good, keeping it together. A lot of people would have panicked.
Oh, I panicked.
Necker laughs, then winces. Damn, Id like some morphine.
Two minutes.
Necker nods. Lets talk fast then.
What do you mean?
I don't believe in luck, good or bad. We werent the first balloon in line, or the last. But we were shot at and hit three times with a high-powered rifle. Anybody who could hit us three times could have killed us if he wanted to. All he had to do was shoot the basket. Hed have hit us or the fuel tanks, or both.
I look back noncommittally. So ?
So either we stumbled on a psycho hunter having a really bad day, or somebody was trying to send one of us a message. I don't have any enemies here yet, so far as I know. What about you?
I stare back at the CEO but do not speak. Necker didn't get where he is by being dumb.
He changes tack. A lot of people are about to ask us what happened back there. What are we going to say?
I'm not sure what to say, to Necker or the public. I cant quite believe that Sands or Quinn would pull a stunt like that. Especially after I reaffirmed that I intended to do what theyve asked of me. But who else could it have been?
Are we off-the-record?
Necker points at a headset on the floor to indicate that Major McDavitt cannot hear us. Unless I'm dictating a press release, I'm always off-the-record.
I take a deep breath and look out at the spire of St. Marys,
growing larger in the choppers windshield. I don't think youre going to find out who fired those shots, Hans. But I may know already. Who ordered it, anyway.
I'm listening.
That was a message telling me to keep my nose out of something. Or my mouth shut. I'm not sure which yet. It had nothing to do with you or the race. I cant give you details. I wish I could, but I cant. Its just not an option.
You don't think any other pilots are in da
nger?
No. Not unless we get some nutty copycat or something.
Neckers appraisal of me is cold and swift. This isnt something personal, is it? Like diddling somebody elses wife?
Hell, no. Its criminal activity. That's all I can say. If you could help me, Id tell you more, but you cant. Not with this.
I know a lot of people, Penn.
So do I. This isnt that kind of problem. Money and connections won't help. In fact, money is the problem.
This is why you were late this morning, isnt it?
I nod.
Your familys okay?
They are now. They werent this morning.
Necker winces again, then nods slowly. I see. Okay. Tell me what I can do to help you. There has to be something.
I think for a moment. Honestly?
Yessir.
I need this helicopter for the rest of the weekend, and I need Major McDavitt flying it. From now till Sunday night.
Necker shifts his leg, grimaces in pain. Youve got it.
I'll pay for his time, of course. I
Its already paid for. What else?
I think thats all you can do for now. Other than that, Id just ask that you not let this thing affect your view of the town, if thats possible.
Necker smiles. Hell, I've run into strong-arm stuff in Minneapolis. You get that everywhere. I only wish youd let me help you. I take it personally when somebody shoots at me. Id like a few words with the son of a bitch myself.
If I have my way, youll get your chance.
Necker glances out the window at the hospital as we descend. I won't keep you, then. I'm going to be on crutches for a while anyway. Go do what you have to do. Anybody asks, I'll say I think that shooting was some kids that got out of hand.
I appreciate it, Hans.
Would it help you to know where those shots came from?
It might.
I'll get somebody to truck that balloon over here, and I'll have a look at it. I know our altitude when we were shot. If the shots were through and through, I can figure the angle and probably where the shooter was standing. Approximately, anyway.