by Don Viecelli
“I don’t see any wings,” Jason said. “It’s coming our way!”
“Holy shit,” Tom yelled. “It’s going to crash!”
The object was falling in three pieces. The two smaller pieces in back were moving in different directions in a fireball that was growing in intensity as the pieces fell. The larger front piece continued on a steep decent crossing the lake in front of them. The two back pieces fell on the far side of the lake making a large noise and setting the trees on fire near the shore. The boys stood dumbfounded as the front piece raced over the far end of the lake just missing the mountain ridge. It fell into the woods on their left with a large crashing sound and explosion. All the while, Ryan kept on filming.
It seemed like hours, but it all happened in the space of a few minutes. The three boys just stared at the spot where they saw the object hit in the woods. There was some smoke, but they couldn’t see any fire. The forest was pretty damp and green this time of year and fires usually didn’t develop until later in the summer. There was a small fire still burning on the other side of the lake where the first two pieces came down, but the fire seemed to be slowly extinguishing.
“What do we do now?” Jason asked excitedly.
“I don’t know,” Ryan said. “We can’t call for help. The phone doesn’t work here. We can’t walk back to the road in the dark. It’s too far. Maybe we should check out the crash site. How far do you think it is from here?”
“It doesn’t look too far. Maybe three or four miles,” Jason answered. “Trouble is, it’s way off the trail in the woods. We could get lost trying to find it.”
“I don’t want to go looking for it in the dark,” Tom said concerned. “It’s too dangerous.”
“Somebody could still be alive and need our help, Tom,” Ryan said. “We need to do something. I’m sure we weren’t the only people to see this thing crash. I bet someone is calling for help now. Besides, I want to see what it was. It didn’t look like a regular plane to me. Maybe it was a military plane. Or, maybe it was a UFO. It didn’t have any wings. Either way, my sister would love to get the scoop on this. What do you say? I think we should go and take a look before anybody else does.”
“I don’t like it, Ry,” Jason said undecidedly. “Tom’s right. It could be dangerous in the dark. What if something happens? We’re in the middle of nowhere.”
“I know that,” Ryan answered. “But we can’t wait till morning. It would be too late. Besides, look at the light around us. You can see the trees. We also have flashlights. We can follow the trail down to the lake and find the crash site easy. I just want to take some pictures for my sister. It could be a big story. Sis would love it.”
“Okay, I’ll go,” Jason volunteered. “What about you, Tom?”
“I think Tom should stay here and watch the campsite,” Ryan interrupted. “We can stay in touch on the radios in case anything happens. If we’re not back in the morning, he can walk back to the road and get help. What do you guys think?
“I agree with that,” Tom answered. He was in no mood to walk down a mountain trail in the dark anyway.
“If it’s okay with Tom, it’s okay with me,” Jason said. “I think it’s a good idea anyway. Tom can get help if we find something.”
“Okay then. Let’s pack some things and start hiking. We should be able to get some pictures and be back before morning, before anyone else arrives,” Ryan said excitedly.
The boys quickly returned to the campsite and starting packing what they needed to carry. Ryan picked up his cell phone and clipped it to his waist. They didn’t need many items, so they packed some snack food and water bottles, extra batteries for the radios and flashlights. They wanted to travel light and fast. Once the backpacks were filled, they put them on their backs and checked their radios to make sure they were working. Ryan checked the time. It was 9:00 p.m.
“I’m ready, Jason. How about you?” Ryan asked.
“Almost. Do we need a map?” Jason asked.
“You better bring one, just in case,” Ryan answered. I’ve got the compass. We should be able to track our way to the site in the dark. Tom, check your radio.
Tom turned on the walk-about. It was about the size of a small cell phone with 22 channels, 30 different codes to enhance privacy and a small flexible antenna. It was digital, secure and could transmit and receive radio signals up to five miles away. “Testing, one, two, three,” Tom said into the mike. Ryan heard the test call on his radio and confirmed.
“Everything’s working. Let’s go,” Ryan said to Jason. “Tom, we’ll call every thirty minutes to keep in touch. Check the radio stations to see if anyone saw the crash and let us know. If it was military, they’ll send somebody to look for the plane. If they see us, they’ll probably kick us out and I won’t get any pictures. We should be back by morning. Pack everything up for us. We need to get to the main road so I can call my sister at the TV station and send the pictures. Man, is she going to be surprised.”
“Okay, just be careful,” Tom replied. “I don’t want to have to come and get you guys. I think you’re both crazy.”
“Relax, Tom,” Ryan answered. “We’ll be careful. It’s my middle name. You know that. This is just too good to pass up. My sister could win a Pulitzer on this.” He was half-joking when he said that, but deep down he hoped it would be true. He wanted to impress his sister with whom he was always competing in his family.
The night air was getting much more damp in the mountains. He and Jason put on long sleeve shirts and pants to keep warm and protect themselves from the branches they would encounter on the trail in the woods. Jason looked at the map of the trail system in the park with his flashlight and said to Ryan. “This trail on the right leads down to the lake and runs near where we saw the plane go down. It looks like three or more miles. We should be able to walk it in an hour if the trail’s not too steep.”
“I hope so,” Ryan said, knowing the difficulties. The trails they took in the park so far haven’t been easy. They all chose the most difficult areas to camp in the park since they wanted to find the best rock-climbing areas. Now, they would have to travel off the trail once they got close to the crash site. It was going to be strenuous.
After saying goodbye to Tom one more time, the two men left the campsite and began walking down the trail to the first juncture in the path. It was very dark once they entered the woods. The leaves overhead blocked out all light, even the Northern lights that were glowing above. They used their flashlights to guide their way on the footpath.
They walked in silence with Ryan leading the way. Their eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness around them. They could hear the tree branches blowing in the wind above. It made a very peaceful sound. Every once in a while, they heard animal noises off in the distance. It was too early for crickets, so mostly they just heard their feet cracking the twigs and leaves on the path in front of them. Soon they broke out of the dense woods and entered a small clearing by the edge of the lake. They could hear the sound of bull- frogs croaking along the edge of the lake. The Northern lights were shimmering in the night sky and they saw their reflection over the whole lake. The effect was unearthly and they felt a chill just looking at it.
“Let’s call Tom,” Ryan said. It’s almost ten. He’s probably worrying.”
“Okay. Let me call,” Jason said. He pulled out his radio and pressed the push-to-talk button and held it down. “Tom, can you hear us? Over.”
“Yeah, I hear you. How’s it going? Over,” Tom asked.
“Everything is fine. It’s pretty dark in the woods. We just came out down by the lake. It’s a little easier to see the trail now. Over.”
“Ask him if he heard anything on the radio,” Ryan said.
“Any news on the radio stations? Over,” Jason asked.
“No, nothing, yet,” Tom replied. “I can’t find many local news stations. The closest stations are Silver City and White Pine, and they aren’t saying anything about a crash. Over.”
�
��Okay. We’re moving on. Talk to you in 30 minutes. Call us if you hear any news. Over.” With that, Jason put the radio back in his pocket.
He and Ryan pointed the flashlights on the trail up ahead and began walking. It was good to be out of the woods with the Northern lights shining overhead illuminating the path in a reddish glow.
“Man, this is unreal,” Ryan said to Jason as they walked. “I didn’t expect anything like this to happen. I wonder how bad it’s going to be?”
“I don’t know,” Jason responded. “You scared?”
“A little,” Ryan replied truthfully. “But I better get used to it if I’m going to be a TV reporter like my sister.”
“What do you think she’ll say when you call her?” Jason asked.
“I don’t know. But I think she’ll be pretty excited if she gets the scoop.” Ryan said. “Maybe she’ll fly up here to tape it for the TV station. That would be cool. We might be on TV.”
The two boys continued to talk amongst themselves as they walked up the trail. So far they hadn’t run into any big animals along the lake. If it were daylight, they might see a moose or some deer drinking from the lake. Hopefully, they wouldn’t run into any bears. The park tried to keep the bears in the woods away from the hiking trails and campsites. But at night, Ryan and Jason weren’t sure what they would encounter on the trail. So they talked softly and kept their ears and eyes open. Both carried a hunting knife for protection and camping purposes and they had a horn device that would scare most animals away. But the best policy was just to avoid any animals they saw.
As they neared the end of the lake, they paused to look at the trail map. Ryan peered over Jason’s shoulder as he held the flashlight on the map. “This is where we are,” Jason said. “I think we have to leave the trail now and head into the woods. What do you think?”
“I think so too,” Ryan answered pulling out his compass. “We should head northwest toward Lake Superior. It can’t be far, I hope.”
They left the trail and started into the woods. Ryan held the compass in his left hand and picked up a stick on the ground to help brush the tree branches out of his way as he walked. It wasn’t as bad inside the woods as they thought once they got past the bushes along the side of the trail because the forest was so dense no ground vegetation could grow without sunlight. It was mostly small willowy trees that could be easily pushed aside in the darkness.
It was very quiet. Any animal sounds quickly became silent as the boys made noise walking through the woods. They started to climb up a very steep slope as they left the lake behind them. It was slow going and they had to stop every few minutes to catch their breath.
“Man, this is steep,” Ryan said. “I hope we don’t have to hike over a mountain to find the crash.”
“Me, too,” Jason added. “This could take hours. How far do you think we’ve walked?”
“Maybe two, three miles,” Ryan answered slightly out of breath. “Hey, I see the sky up ahead. Maybe it’s the top of the ridge.”
They soon reached the spot that Ryan saw at the top of the hill. The trees opened up and they could see the Northern lights that seemed to be glowing more brightly. As they looked down they saw a startling sight. In the valley below there were small fires burning in several locations spread out over a few acres. The light was bright enough to see the forest around them. The trees were flattened at the point of impact and many trees were cut in half where the plane broke apart before crashing and breaking into small pieces. The two boys let out an involuntary gasp at the site of the wreckage.
They were not expecting such large devastation.
“God, this is bad,” Ryan exclaimed. “No one could live through that. I need to take some pictures before we go down.”
“Wow! How far do you think it is, Ryan?” Jason asked sounding alarmed.
“I don’t know,” Ryan answered. “Maybe a mile. It’s all down hill, so it shouldn’t take too long. Call Tom and let him know we found the site. These pictures are going to be great. I can’t believe it.”
Jason reported in to Tom while Ryan continued to take pictures with his camera. He took some video shots and then several pictures with the zoom lens. He could make out several good-size pieces of wreckage near the burning fires. It didn’t look like the woods were going to burn down around the crash site. It was just smoking a lot.
“Let’s go, I’m ready,” Ryan said. “Did Tom hear anything yet?”
“No, I just told him what we found and he’s still listening for news. I told him we would call back once we got to the crash site. He can’t believe what we’re doing,” Jason added.
“Me either. Let’s follow that side of the ridge,” Ryan said pointing below him. “It doesn’t have as many trees and we can use the light to help us to climb down.”
“Okay by me. Lead the way,” Jason said and they began the steep climb down the mountain to the valley below.
It only took about twenty minutes to reach the floor of the valley. They entered the heavily wooded forest and began to make their way to the crash site. It was easy to find since they could smell smoke and see burning pieces of wreckage up ahead. They began to run into broken treetops that were scattered on the ground with some limbs hanging in the trees above them. They proceeded carefully in the dark with the flashlights guiding the way. Soon they reached the first pieces of wreckage.
“Jason, look at this,” Ryan yelled excitedly. He spotted some pieces of metal on the ground in front of him. He picked up one small piece and noticed how light it seemed. It was ripped along the edges like plastic but the edges were not sharp. The metal was smooth with a polished surface, not crumpled up anywhere. He bent in slightly and it returned to its original shape. “This metal is funny. It doesn’t fold up. I wonder what it is?”
“I see some more, Ry,” Jason said. “It’s all over the place. Let’s take some with us for proof.”
“Okay,” Ryan answered and put his piece in his backpack. Up ahead he saw the first big piece of wreckage lying on a funny angle, all ripped apart with ragged edges everywhere. It was obviously a piece of the front section of what they thought was a plane. They could walk right through the middle of it. They moved carefully so as not to trip and cut themselves. Ryan took a picture with his camera using the flash.
“What’s that?” Jason asked, pointing ahead to a burning piece of wreckage on the ground.
“I don’t know,” Ryan said. “It looks like some kind of equipment. Let’s take a look.”
They slowly walked through the wreckage that was scattered on the ground all around them. The pieces were all the same color, a dull gray with various pieces of what looked like glass or plastic panels or screens. They were clearly pieces of computer equipment that meant someone had to have been onboard to fly this thing, but none of it looked familiar to them.
“This doesn’t look right,” Jason commented. “I’ve never seen this type of stuff. Have you?”
“Nope,” Ryan answered and took a picture. “Maybe it was a test plane. Top secret. If it was, the air force is going to be really mad if they find out I’m taking pictures. Let’s hurry and see what else we can find.”
As they continued to walk further into the crash site, there were burning pieces all around them. Some of the fires were slowly burning out as there didn’t seem to be much flammable material to burn. It suddenly occurred to Jason that he didn’t smell any fuel in the air.
“Ry, I don’t smell any fuel. I wonder what they used.”
“It could have exploded in the air with the other pieces. Maybe the engines were in the back,” Ryan said guessing.
“Maybe,” Jason said. “I hope nothing explodes here. Do you think we’ll see any bodies?”
“I guess so,” Ryan answered slowly. “But I don’t think they’ll be in one piece. Look how small the rest of the pieces are.” They began to wonder if they could stomach what they might find.
They paused to look around. The crash site was spread over a much larger a
rea than they expected. This could take hours to check out and they wanted to be gone before daybreak. They kept going.
Back at the campsite, Tom was packing up the tent when he heard a loud rotor noise on the other side of the lake. He quickly put out the rest of the fire and ran back to the edge of the clearing. Overhead he saw lights. It was coming from a helicopter that was circling the first crash site on the other side of the lake. It was using a large spotlight aimed at the ground. It began to hover over one of the burning wreckage sites. It was too far away to see if it was a news helicopter or military. But it didn’t look good. Then Tom heard a second helicopter flying overhead towards the first one. It was close enough to see that it was a military helicopter. He decided to call Ryan and Jason on the radio.
“Jason, Ry, come in,” Tom whispered on the radio. “We’ve got company. Do you hear me? Over.”
Jason heard Tom on the radio, and quickly answered. “Yeah, we hear you. What is it?”
“I see two helicopters over the lake. They look like military helicopters. They’re looking at the wreckage. What should I do? Over,” Tom replied.
Jason looked at Ryan who also heard the message. This was a problem. They needed more time. Ryan said to Jason, “Tell him to keep an eye on them and let us know if they start coming our way. They probably will find this site soon because of the fires and smoke.”
Jason relayed the information to Tom. Then he asked, “What do you want to do, Ry?”
“I need to take some more pictures of this wreckage. Then we need to get the heck out of here. Tell Tom to pack everything up and stay out of site until we get back there.”
Ryan was looking for more evidence. He wanted something to verify that this was a military plane. He spotted something up ahead near a burning piece of wreckage. It looked like a seat. He and Jason quickly began walking over to it.