AFatBoyisMissing
Page 4
Then something made me do some serious thinking about whether I'd move away from here. My wife had just died after many years of being sick. So I was really ready for a change. When I put the homestead up for sale I couldn't get any buyers. I guess no one wanted to live beside a dying river. That got me thinking and I spent about a year doing research. I found most of the logging records from the sawmills that were all along the shores. At one stage over 4,000 men made a living from logging. Then I discovered something else. I discovered the original records of the logs sent down stream. From the logs received and the logs sent, I soon discovered that thousands or hundreds of thousands of logs disappeared. It didn't take a lot of brainpower to know where they went. They sank. So I started to see if I could retrieve some of those logs. I did and to my surprise some were still good lumber. The mills paid me good money for them so that's how it started. I got the government to give me the permit to clean up the entire river and any salvaged logs would be for my use. After that I knew I needed help. I needed someone who wouldn't cheat me and could take over when I needed to step down. So that's where Jake came in. I don't think he's regretted it although at times he's had a faraway look in his eyes. Maybe he's lonely."
Sarah saw Jake checking over the equipment. He didn't look too lonely to her. He was a good looking man and had recovered from living in the bull-pit of the Stock Exchange. His face was filled with strength and vitality. She would never have thought he had any doubts about his life. But she realized that such a virile man would need companionship. As she watched him she too felt the melancholy that had crept into his father's voice.
Was she like him? All her life she had been driven by the love of archaeology and the desire to discover what life for man was like hundreds or even thousands of years before. She might have used that determination and that single-minded application to pursue a relationship. She had not had much of a childhood. Although her mother did a wonderful job in rearing her, she was still a very sad person. The laugher that every child needs, as well as love and encouragement was not that common in her home. When her father died she had only been 18 months old. She never really had a good father figure. Her uncle stank of beer and once he had tried to touch her where she knew it was not allowed. So she had kept herself chaste. As a teenager she had been a wallflower at the local high school dances. The other girls just seemed to know what to say and how to get the boys interested. Oh, she had dreamed like most girls do about knights in shining armour to sweep her up in his arms and rescue her. She had wanted to live on a satin cushion and be fed strawberries and cream. But that had never materialized. The men she met in university were either too anxious to get ahead and land a big salary or they where just interested on how quickly they could get her laid. She had never met a man she felt she could confide in, let alone fall in love with. So maybe she did have something in common with Jake.
Jake let out the first anchor and The Fat Lady eased to a stop. Then he put out the second anchor and the barge no longer reacted to the current as though it was tethered in place.
"We began to board logs yesterday. The whole river bottom in this area is about 10 feet thick with logs. Now stand back and when the old man calls for your help just follow his guidance. He's pretty sharp for an old geezer."
Jake worked the crane in a series of swift fluid movements. It was not difficult to see that he had acquired a skill in grasping the submerged logs. So the morning passed quickly and the log numbers increased as she helped Arthur Dorchet guide the rescued logs into place.
"Well, I don't know about you but I think we've earned our lunch today," Arthur said.
Sarah was amazed at how quickly the morning had gone. The weather had not warmed up, but the sun was bright and as she worked she hardly felt the cold.
"It's a good thing you primed me with that French toast this morning. But I agree I'd not turn down lunch. I never thought to pack one so I hope there is enough for three."
Arthur laughed and then Jake descended from his seat in the crane.
"That was a damned good morning's work. If I knew you were so talented I'd have asked you before to ship on with The Fat Lady."
"Now who's prattling on? You didn't know me until yesterday," Sarah said with a smile.
"That's true, but I'm a fast learner. Now that you have shown me the skills you acquired at your digs in Mexico I guess we do share a few things in common. We are doing the same thing here, cleaning up the mess our ancestors made."
Arthur put the lunch in the microwave and pushed the button.
"Sarah, unfortunately we only have one selection. I'm responsible for the selection so if your don't like turkey and the trimmings then you'll just have to go fishing to see if you can land yourself a pickerel or something."
"Hey, I'm not complaining. Is this Thanksgiving? Aren't you a month early?"
Jake turned, as he put his tray into the microwave. "Lady, you are in a different country. Here in Canada, Thanksgiving comes in October. Not at the end of November, which is just a bit too close to Christmas. Here you have time to enjoy it."
She hadn't realized that and sat with the other two in the confines of the small galley. The food was delicious.
"If I had know that I was going to be fed like a princess I'd not have demanded such a large salary!"
Jake looked at her with his eyes raised. "Salary! Am I paying you a salary? I thought you were paying me one!"
Arthur coughed and whispered in Sarah's ear. "Now that you have him on the ropes go in for the kill. Ask him if you can stay for dinner. I've got a succulent roast of pork simmering on the barbecue at home."
She looked at Arthur and then saw that Jake must have heard. She turned bright red. Some men enjoyed making a girl blush.
"Well, since I am now part of the crew I guess I should make sure I earn my wages. Come on, don't sit on your rumps all day. We have some logs to salvage!"
It was nearly three o'clock when the first indications of trouble occurred. The crane suddenly started to groan and buckle. Jake immediately shut it down.
"Damn we had some sort of obstruction down there. That last thing I wanted to do was go for a swim, but I've got no choice.
Sarah, can you give me a hand with the suit? I'll go down and see what I can do."
Jake's father climbed into the crane and got ready for the signal.
"Now I'll pull the rope once when I have discovered what the problem is. Give a tug back so I'll know that you have received my message. If you feel two tugs on the rope tell my old man to engage the gear but do it slowly. He knows that, but sometimes the gas on that crane has a mind of its own. If there are some logs twisted or something I'll try to dislodge it or work the cables around so that it can break up the obstruction. If I pull three times stop. If I pull four times I'm in trouble. But I'm not going to take any chances. I'm as interested in getting to feast on Dad's pork roast as you are."
Sarah watched Jake vanish into the cold dark water. In a few minutes she felt his single tug. So he was down and was going to try to dislodge or move the obstruction. She felt two tugs and signaled to Arthur to engage the gear.
A sudden scream of the gear made her look up and as she did she saw Arthur reach for the brake. "God damn it! The gas pedal is jammed!"
As he said that she felt three tugs and then three tugs repeated on Jake's signal rope, but the crane had a mind of its own and the cable went taut and then suddenly released. The teeth of the collecting basket shot up to the surface and broke water.
Four tugs pulled at her hand and then the line went dead.
"Jake's in trouble. He just signaled for help. What happened?"
The cable went taut too quickly and probably lifted some logs and then when the cable released the logs would have crashed back down. I hope Jake was smart enough to swim clear!"
"Help me get the other scuba tank. Forget the wet suit we may not have time," she cried.
She adjusted her mouthpiece and turned on the regulator. Well, at least she
could breath. Then she adjusted her mask while Arthur pulled on her web feet.
"Wish me luck!" were her words as she tipped backward and hit the cold water.
She headed down into the murky depths. What a strange world it was here. It was not like swimming in a tropical sea.
Where was Jake?
She suddenly saw a motionless body. It was held between two logs and for a moment she thought he was dead.
Then she was close enough to see the bubbles race towards the surface. He was alive. She touched his shoulder and felt him start with surprise.
How could she get him loose? She attempted to push at the logs but they ignored her efforts.
She turned to him and saw him give her a signal. He wanted her to go back to the surface and bring down an extra cable. Arthur would know what that meant. She shook her head because she didn't want to leave him. She signaled and asked a question about his air levels. Then she looked at his regulator and saw that he had only a few minutes left. Well, she had no choice and she quickly removed her scuba tank and then took his. He understood and signaled his thanks. She could get to the surface without using any air. Then she might have enough to get back down with the cable.
She felt terror creep into her bones, as she exhaled to the surface. That last thing she wanted was for Jake to die like a trapped rat down there where the submerged logs had been for decades.
Arthur pulled her onto the barge. "Quick, Jake is trapped between two logs. He wants me to take down another cable!"
Arthur ran across the deck of The Fat Lady and quickly pulled the cable after him.
"Take this. I'll string it to the anchor winch. Signal me with your safety rope when you have it tied and ready to pull. You know the signals."
He looked the regulator and air gage. "Sarah, you don't have much air. Don't waste it. Get Jake out of there!"
She jumped in with the cable and swam as quickly as she could, down to where Jake was held prisoner.
He gave her a thumb's up and showed her where to tie the cable. Then he signaled her to back off and signal Arthur above.
She hoped the winch would work. She tugged on her safety rope once and then twice.
The cable started to tighten and then the log that held Jake pinned started to rise. She quickly swam down and helped pull him clear.
Thank God it was working. And at that moment her air supply dried up.
Jake saw the cessation of bubbles and came to her. It wasn't difficult to share a mouthpiece and together they gradually regained the surface with each held in the arms of the other.
Chapter Four - Flight Into Danger
Captain Jorsen checked the flight log and the check-off sheet. His co-pilot called out the procedures and each item was checked out as the B-36 prepared for it's bombing run. It was going to be a long flight - - Anchorage, Alaska to Dallas, Texas. But this plane was designed for long range flight. It was too new for use in the Second World War. It had been in production and would have been used if it weren't for Fat Boy and the beginning of the atomic age.
That was five years ago. Now the military chiefs believed that war would soon break out between Russia and the West. The question was when, not if. So their practice runs using the cities along the West Coast as theoretical targets had a deadly earnest about them now.
The run along the coast of British Columbia would be in the dead of night. There were so few people in that part of B.C. that it felt like they were in a deserted world. But at least he could think of his wife and their upcoming holiday. Two weeks in Hawaii was part of a promise he had made to his wife two years ago. Now he was going to make good on his promise.
"You heard about 2065? They had to make an emergency landing when three engines flamed out and two caught on fire!" his co-pilot said.
He suddenly turned and said. "Are you serious? I was talking to Arnold Becker last week. Was anyone hurt?"
"No, but I guess it was a little nerve-racking. He was doing a bombing run on Baton Rouge. He was flying out of New Mexico and was supposed to land in Dallas. But he had to divert to Lincoln.
"Well, I guess we will have to watch out for our aluminum lady. That's the third report I've heard about."
"Well, we are ready for our flight. A couple of things have come up unexpectedly. We have had to make crew changes. Red Butter came down with food poisoning and he's in the hospital. He's got it really bad. Tom Hancock was in a car accident last night and he's also in hospital with internal damage. So we have a new navigator and bombardier."
"Damn it. You know that old saying about changing crews around. I know it can't be helped. I've got a thing about it because it changes our luck profile. But I guess we'll have to make do. Is there anything else?"
"Yes, I hadn't finished telling you. We are carrying two more staff. One is a radiation technician Ted Redbourne. So the bomb we are carrying has a uranium trigger stored on board. The other man is a complete stranger. His documents say he's from intelligence. So I guess they want to see what the action above the ground is like. We are also heavier than the last flight. We have another package. It's crated but it might be another bomb. Maybe they want us to check out the effects of a full load. So when you take off you'll have to burn more runway."
"You are full of surprises. First I loose two good crew and then I get two replacements who we have never worked with before. On top of that we have some intelligence bastard sniffing around. Then we have a radiation technician just in case our bomb goes critical. As for the other box in the bomb bay, it's probably just sand bags to make up the right weight. So tonight it's going to be a little different.
Can you send up the navigator? I want to look at what the brass handed us. If he isn't up to scratch we may be flying to Russia and not to San Francisco."
A few minutes later the navigator came forward. "You wanted to see me Captain?" he asked.
"Yes, welcome to the Aluminum Lady. Is this your first tactical flight?"
"No, I made one aboard Captain Becker's flight."
"Was that flight the one you had to make an emergency landing? the pilot asked.
"Yes sir. It was! Now that was quite a flight. We lost three engines and two were on fire. I wasn't really sure that we'd make it. It certainly shook me up. That's not supposed to be what a normal flight is like. It was my first taste of tactical missions. It wasn't like that in training."
"No, it wouldn't have been a good way to introduce you to real life, but things do happen. You made it, so you may bring us good luck. The odds of something happening on your next flight is next to impossible according to our local math whiz, our payload specialist. So don't worry. I hope you have been fully brief on our mission and the route we are to take. I like to fly higher on the approach leg along the B.C. coast. Then when we get near we can follow the assigned mission levels. In a real situation he'd follow those to the letter. I just like to be higher around mountains. Sometimes there are some rather impressive updrafts. We had a DC-3 do a complete 360 degree roll last year. I don't want that to happen to me. I don't think our cargo would appreciate that sort of thing. Beside my crew has tender stomachs so I try to reduce any sudden bumps and air pockets."
Flight 2075 groaned along the runway. The co-pilot was correct. The extra weight added to the time they needed to get air borne. They had passed through the two checks and when they passed the point of no return they were committed to flight. Jesus, he had to use all his muscles and with the help of the copilot the plane reluctantly became airborne. It had been a near thing but since the runway was headed out to sea they had a few more feet of elevation. Slowly the 6engine aircraft climbed to its proper elevation.
The captain wiped some swear from his forehead. "That was just a might too close for comfort. I think we are certainly are at our maximum weight. I know our bomb weights 15,000 pound so if the other one weighs the same then our experts on loading may have reached their upper limit. It's a good thing that we are in the fall and the air is denser. We might be in the drink it t
his was in July. If we were flying out of Arizona we wouldn't have been so lucky.
The monotony of their night flight down the coast of British Columbia lulled the crew in the atmosphere of darkness.
For three of the crew this was not a time of inactivity. They had another agenda and that agenda did not include them reaching their destination of Dallas, Texas. On board were two of the latest atomic weapons that would give the Americans an advantage over their new enemy the Soviet Union. Now if either of these two weapons could be borrowed by accident or design then the differences between the two nations would be removed. The arms race would not be necessary. Or if it was it would gave the Soviet Union a better understanding of the technology needed to keep up with the Americans. Then each would have the same amount of military clout. So now three crew had an agenda that entailed either the change of flight direction or somehow getting the bombs parachuted to the ground where a recovery crew was waiting off-shore in a submarine. There were specialists who could retrieve these samples of American technology.
There was only one order and it was if they had to crash the plane then that was what they would have to do. It was now up to them to created the right crisis and then they could go ahead and implement their plan developed by their Russian bosses.
It was the first part of the plan that worried them; somehow they were supposed to take over command and control the crew. Normally the Peacemaker flew had a crew of 15. But there were two extra tonight. The intelligence officer was part of their team but not the radiation technician who was making tests on radiation levels present in the plane during flight. Two crew had been replaced and there were two more added to the flight. Poisoning a restaurant meal and arranging for an unfortunate accident that had sent two men to the hospital was not that difficult. How could they get control of the crew or convince them to bale out was the question they needed to answer.
Mother Nature was not part of their agenda and she took matters into her own hands.