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Chapter 9:
“So this was the cause of the overheating?” asked Alec pointedly.
“It’s the only thing I could find wrong. At the speed the aircraft was reported traveling the turbine was almost completely bypassed. It would have been turning at not much more than idle speed,” the SHADO tech answered.
Alec had reached the same conclusion earlier; at least this guy wasn’t trying to pull a snow job on him.
“Do you have any idea what might have caused the problem?”
“Colonel, we tore this engine down completely, that was the only thing we could find wrong.” Alec didn’t like unsolved mysteries, especially involving aircraft reliability.
“Okay, when will she be put back together?”
The technician looked at his clipboard and answered. “We should have her ready for flight check by mid-morning, Colonel.”
“Alright, I’m giving Colonel Lake her check ride tomorrow, while we are up we’ll shake her out at little bit. If the thing holds together we should be ok.” Alec looked at his watch as he walked over to the phone. 21:30 Ed should still be awake, he thought as he dialed.
Ed was sitting at the desk catching up on paperwork when the phone rang.
“Straker,” he answered.
“Ed, it’s Alec; I just finished up with the aircraft technician. The only thing they found was a bad bearing. Ginny and I will shake her out tomorrow, I figure if she checks out then we’ll be ok.”
Ed knew that Alec wasn’t happy about it.
“Right, make sure you try a couple of high speed runs.”
“I planned on it. Is Ginny still up?”
“Yes, she’s helping me wade through this paperwork. I finally figured out this is the real reason you’re retiring,” said Ed half jokingly. Only the two of them knew the real reason.
“I’ve been telling you that for almost fifteen years; tell Ginny to get some sleep. Unlike you I’m not a push over when it comes to flight certification.”
Freeman was easy going most of the time but was a real hard-ass when it came to flight training. You’re only allowed one mistake, he had said some years ago.
“Goodnight Alec,” Ed said as he hung up the phone.
“Virginia, you should get to bed early, Alec just reminded me what a hard nose he is when it comes to flying.”
“Yes, give me one minute, this is the last one and I’m almost finished.”
A few minutes later she handed him the report. He put it in the pile and when he reached to grab another she stopped him.
“You need to get some rest as well, you’re supposed to take up an aeroceptor tomorrow and I don’t want you falling asleep in the cockpit,” she said. Ed started to argue but Virginia cut him off. “You’re not going to win this one; Seriously Ed we’ve both been up since five thirty this morning, London time, that’s 22 hours.”
He had somehow forgotten the time difference and held up his hands in surrender.
“You win.”
Ed looked at Virginia through the open door between their two rooms, she was already asleep. He was tired as well, but found he could not sleep right away. He thought of the beautiful woman sleeping in the room next to his and wondered how he could have been so lucky. They had only been together for eight weeks, and even then only been intimate for the past two, but to him it seemed like he had known her forever. Virginia knew things about him that he had not even told Mary.
Vietnam had been hell, he rarely talked about it even to Alec and he had been there. But one night Virginia asked him to tell her what had happened. He didn’t hold anything back, even the torture in the Viet-Cong camp. Ed still didn’t know why he had opened up so willingly to her, for him it was completely out of character. Over the years he had gotten used to being alone, but he now could not imagine a life without her in it.
The Shadair SST made a picture perfect landing. After it rolled out and pulled off the runaway
Alec Freeman turned to the pilot; “That was excellent, do it two more times and you’re done.”
Virginia relaxed for the first time that morning. “I knew you were all business on the check ride, but I thought I had done something wrong, Alec.”
Alec Freeman smiled at her. “It’s a bluff; you see I set up an almost hostile environment. If a pilot can handle that and still not make any mistakes, then I know that they are sure of what they are doing. Now that you know, you’re sworn to secrecy,” he said with a smile.
“Your secret is safe. Alec you’ve known Ed for years?” she asked as she taxied back to the beginning of the runway.
“That’s right, met him in 1966. We were both stationed in Thailand. I was with MI5 as well as an RAF officer. I was there to observe American fighter operations in Vietnam. Because I had experience with the F4, I flew as Ed’s wingman.”
“I know, he told me; that and a whole lot more. Most people who were there won’t talk about it, and Ed has always been a very private man anyway. So I was surprised he confided in me.” Virginia said as she aligned the aircraft for takeoff.
Once they were airborne Alec continued, “Professor Reinhardt has a term for it, he calls the two of you soul mates,” he said.
Virginia considered it for a few minutes. She thought of Ed for a moment and the love she felt for him and she began to sense him feeling the same. The last time they made love, she felt like she was merging with him mentally as well as physically. And right now these feelings were giving her goose bumps.
“How is the temperature on number two, Alec?” she asked trying to distract herself from those thoughts.
Freeman looked down at the indicator. “It’s running normal. Let’s do a, Mach two, speed run.” Alec said. Virginia raised the heat shield and pushed the throttles forward.
“Alright Lew, that’s three in a row. I’m supposed to be the old man up here.” Straker said to Waterman as he formed up on his wing.
“Sorry Commander, I’m afraid you’re too good for us,” Waterman replied.
“Maybe I can talk Gay into joining us, that might even up the playing field a bit,” said Mark Bradley as he formed up on Straker’s other wing.
The new land based interceptors were everything Alec said they would be. Straker hoped to have ninety aircraft, six squadrons of fifteen in service by the end of the year. He noticed an SST flying several thousand feet above them. That had to be Virginia and Alec. He knew by the sensed feelings that she had passed the initial test and the rest was a formality. Time to have some fun, he thought.
“Gentlemen, let’s pay Colonel’s Lake and Freeman a visit, shall we? Form up on me.” Ed pulled the jet into a climb as he flew towards the SST above.
“I think we’re going to have company, Alec,” Virginia said. “Do you want to have some fun with them?”
“Sure, but how do you know?” he asked. Virginia pulled the jet into a climb and pushed the throttles all the way forward.
“Trust me.”
Ed noticed the SST start to gain altitude and speed. She knows, he thought. The next feeling he sensed was one of amusement.
Virginia had the SST up to Mach four now; she was coming to the end of the test range so she started to bank the aircraft for a turn. A few minutes later she was flanked by three SHADO interceptors.
Alec was shaking his head, “How in the blazes did you know?” he asked in astonishment.
“Lately I seem to be able to sense what he is feeling. Just before I climbed I felt a feeling of playfulness from him. He must have seen us pass overhead.”
“Seagull X-ray from Delta Foxtrot 15, fancy meeting you out here Colonel.” Ed’s voice came over the speaker.
“Let me see that,” Alec said as he grabbed the mic. “Delta-Foxtrot 15 from Seagull X-ray, don’t you boys have anything better to do than bothering my student,” Alec said giving Ginny a wink.
“I guess you have to report us to the commander, oh wait, that’s me. I guess I’ll have to put myself on report.”
“You’re a real card Ed, anyway Ginny did fine on her first go around; the rest is for the books.”
“How is number two holding up?”
As the two men were talking Virginia had slowed back to Mach two.
“It looks fine, I’ve never seen a bearing cause that much overheating in this type of engine, Ed. I guess there’s a first time for everything.”
“Okay, we bothered the two of you enough, see you on the ground. Flight, form on me,” said Ed as the trio of aircraft pulled away.
Virginia was heading back to the airfield and had already begun her descent.
“See what I mean, Alec?”
“It’s uncanny, I’ve heard of cases where people who have been together for years have experienced this but never in this short a period of time.”
Virginia had to agree, she needed to talk to Ed about this. She brought her thoughts back to piloting the aircraft, in a few minutes she would be landing and she still had to complete one more flight.
Tuesday evening found the “Tiger Team” as Ed had christened it, in the mess hall. They had taken three tables. Captain Bradley and his crew, Captain Waterman with his, and Virginia, Professor Reinhardt, Alec and Ed seated at the last table. Ed was going over the update plans for SID with Professor Reinhardt.
“I don’t see a problem with the L4 and L5 placements, but you’re going to have a problem keeping the L3 unit where it is supposed to be,” the Professor was saying. “The L3 libration point is inherently unstable; any object in that orbit would require some method of station keeping.”
“You’re absolutely right Professor, that’s why we had to design a new satellite, with larger fuel tanks and better maneuvering thrusters.”
“Have you worked out who is going to do the SID upgrades and alignments?” asked Alec.
“By far the most physically demanding mission is going to be the retrofit on SID 1 at the L5 point. The mission will entail a large amount of heavy EVA. Paul Foster and I will handle that one. The second mission SID 2 at the L4 will be much easier as that satellite will be launched preconfigured and will only need alignment when it reaches orbit. I’m assigning that one to Virginia and Paul. I’m sure that she can be ready by then; the timing of the mission is not critical anyway. The last mission to SID 3 will be the most difficult mission. It’s more involved technically, and since it is going to be parked at the L3 point, piloting the mission will have its own set of challenges. It also will involve final alignment of the entire system. Virginia and I are the only ones qualified for the alignment work and it’s a two person job. It would take Paul six months of uninterrupted study to master the technical end so I’ve decided that Virginia and I will fly that mission.”
“You know Ed, Henderson is not going to like this; what sort of time table are we looking at?”
“The mission to SID 1 will go in thirty days. Paul already has the training necessary to complete the mission. SID 2 has already been shipped to the cape; so all we have to do is add the upgrades while it’s still on the ground. The retrofit and launch should be done by August. So the SID 2 mission will go in September. Virginia already has the basic astro training, it will take her about eight weeks to train for the second and third mission. That will give her plenty of time to finish the computer upgrades before the SID 2 and 3 missions. The third mission will be contingent on the launch of SID 3. Construction and testing should be completed by September. The launch should be set for mid October with the alignment mission scheduled the week of November 9th. This will correspond with the full moon.”
Alec shook his head, “The part that troubles me is the third mission. I don’t like the idea of SHADO’s first and second working the same dangerous mission, the aliens will most likely try to take advantage of that. Why don’t you let Paul handle it, he can be up to speed in time.”
Virginia chimed in, “Ed’s right Alec. Getting Paul up to speed in six months would be an optimistic goal. With the theory involved I would expect it to take more like a year. He has the astronaut experience but is not a scientific specialist.”
Professor Reinhardt was listening with intense interest. “Forgive me gentlemen, Miss Lake; I seem to be missing something. Aren’t we, shall we say, putting the cart before the horse, if we don’t know what we are looking for how can we design sensors for it?”
“I’m sorry Professor,” said Ed. “I should have explained the goals of the project more precisely. The technology we are using is called SDSS, software defined sensor system. It allows us to adjust for detecting any and all emissions in the EM band, as well as particles, radiation, tachyons, temporal disturbances, FTL particles, the works. Once implemented it can be modified to circumvent any countermeasures the aliens attempt to utilize. When Virginia first came to SHADO, she had theorized that the alien craft bypass the light barrier problem by generating their own time continuum.
Eight weeks ago the two of us were brainstorming the problem and she suggested the possibility of a quantum singularity being utilized as a power source. The idea seemed to fit several characteristics we have observed regarding UFO’s. Your role in this Professor will be to discover the type of particles or emissions or temporal disturbances that would be generated by a quantum singularity. Once we know that our SDSS techs will upload a new detection program to the network.”
Professor Reinhardt smiled at Virginia, “I told you she was my star pupil. Virginia my dear, that was absolutely brilliant theoretical reasoning, truly inspiring.”
Ed could feel that Virginia was grateful but also embarrassed
by the Professor’s praise. “Well I don’t know about the rest of you but I have a flight to make tomorrow,” Virginia said getting up from the table. “Good night gentlemen.”
The men all stood up and Ed said quietly to her, “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
She smiled and said quietly, “Don’t be too long.”
Ed watched her walk out. “I’m going to turn in as well,” said Professor Reinhardt, “Good night.”
Straker and Freeman bid him good night. Before Ed could leave Alec said to him, “Before you go Ed I wanted to talk with you, let me grab us some more coffee.”
Alec walked to the line and grabbed two cups as Ed sat back down at the table. Freeman came back with the coffee and handed a cup to Ed. “Thanks, Alec, so what’s on your mind?”
“You’ve changed Ed, for the better I might add.”
Ed was amused, “How so?” he asked.
“You’re much more focused, not nearly as on edge, being in love suits you. I haven’t seen you this content in…well, it’s been a while.”
Ed Straker considered that for a moment before he replied. “Come on Alec, I know you better than that, what’s really on your mind?”
“Today while we were flying, Ginny knew somehow that you were coming up on our wing. She all of a sudden just knew, she said that she could sense your feelings?”
“I’ve had the same experience with her; I have to admit it can be unnerving.”
“I pulled up yours and her psi ratings Ed; I did it myself because I don’t want anyone else to know about this. Anyway both your readings are higher than average, but not high enough to cause this type of phenomenon. My concern is both of you were exposed to an alien energy beam during the Timelash incident. I’m just wondering if there is a connection.”
“Why would the aliens do something to us that would give us an advantage, Alec, it doesn’t make sense,” Ed wondered. The two men regarded each other for a moment.
“Maybe it wasn’t supposed to be an advantage. What if the beam they used was supposed to have another effect but somehow backfired. As Jackson has told us; when they have reprogrammed humans for their purposes they burn out the emotional and creative centers of the brain. They probably don’t have any idea how to deal with emotions and the concept of love is unheard of to them.”
“We might be reaching a bit but I have to agree this connection Virginia and I have does seem quite paranormal. We’ll discuss it with medical when we get back to HQ. In the mean time, I have a lovely lady waiting for me. Good night Alec,” he said as he got up to leave.
“Good night Ed.” Freeman watched him walk out of the room. The last time he saw Ed look so happy is when he met Mary. Ed had asked her to marry him almost immediately after they met. Alec had never believed in love at first sight. At least Ed and Virginia have known each other much longer. To Alec’s knowledge he hadn’t yet popped the question, but judging by the way Ed had changed, he knew it was only a matter of time.
“You’re troubled Ed, talk to me,” Virginia said to him when he came in.
Ed already knew she had sensed his feelings while he was talking to Alec. He took her hand and led her over to the sofa.
“When is the first time that you noticed the connection we seem to share?”
“I sensed it a couple nights ago while we were making love and I’ve been meaning to talk with you about it.”
Ed paused for a moment not sure how to continue. “Alec thinks the alien energy beam we were exposed to during the Timelash incident may have altered us somehow. I don’t know what they could have been trying to do, unless it backfired, like he suggested,” Ed said.
Virginia looked in his eyes searching. “You’re worried that our relationship was manipulated into being, aren’t you,” she said. Ed nodded, uncharacteristically lost for words. “Ed I was attracted to you long before the Timelash incident and I know what I feel for you now, is real. Think about it, and be honest,” she paused for effect. ”When did you first realize that you were attracted to me?” she asked.
“Do you remember the day you stopped in at HQ after coming back from Mrs. Reinhardt’s funeral?”
Virginia was surprised, “That long ago? I never knew.”
“I wanted so much to drop the formality that day but I was afraid you would see right through me.” Ed paused for a moment, “Not that it matters, but I would really like to know. How close were you and Craig?”
“I was being truthful when I told you that we hadn’t slept together. What I didn’t tell you, is had we gone out that Saturday night, we probably would have. I was just starting to fall in love with him. It was hard because I had to push my feelings for you aside. Had I known then that you were interested, I never would have dated Collins.”
“I’m sorry Virginia, I should have told you.”
She grinned as she said, “It would have saved me from my big mistake.”
“You mean Paul?”
She nodded, “When I thought Craig had died, I was heartbroken. I cried, a lot. Paul gave me a shoulder to cry on. You know, he can be sweet when he wants to be. I started seeing him on the rebound and I knew right away it was a mistake. I should have broken it off right then and there but I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. He had helped me through a very difficult time. I knew he would get board and move on especially since I had no intention on sleeping with him.”
She had just bared her soul and Ed had to admire her honesty.
Virginia put her arms around him and looked deep into his eyes. “So as we were saying there was already a mutual attraction brewing. Ed the only thing that kept me from melting in your arms when we had taken the X50 was that I didn’t want to be a liability to you. I would have felt that way even without any possible alien influence. I don’t think the empathic connection had anything to do with it; we didn’t notice it until we were already involved,” she said. Ed gently pulled her to him and they kissed each other deeply.
“Come on, we need to get to bed, I don’t want to be late captaining my first flight.”
“Groom Lake tower, Seagull X-ray, rolling,” Virginia Lake called to the tower as she pushed the throttles forward. As the aircraft picked up speed Alec Freeman called off the airspeed figures.
“80…100…120…140…160, V1…VR, Rotate.”
Lake pulled the yoke back and the SST lifted off the runway. Thirty minutes later they were at cruising altitude and speed. Freeman looked over at Lake,
“Have you looked at the astronaut training guidelines yet?”
“Only briefly, why do you ask?” she looked at him questioningly.
“The program is one third technical, one third mental, and one third physical,” he said. Alec knew that Ginny hated exercise.
“Oh that. Ed has been trying to get me to run with him in the morning, but he does five miles; I’d be lucky to survive one.”
“By the end of the program you will be doing five miles in thirty minutes.”
Ginny was unconvinced, what have I gotten myself in for?
“I thought Ed would be up here with us,” Alec mussed.
“Henderson sent him a pile of finance reports to go through last night. I told him to work on them this morning while we were in the air. He’s back in the cabin buried up to his ears, no doubt.”
Alec nodded, “I wondered why he asked me to fly right seat,” He looked out the side window of the cockpit. The clouds formed a blanket that topped out at thirty thousand; they were flying more than twice as high. So much for the scenery, he thought.
Colonel Foster was working on the daily reports when the phone rang.
“Foster,” he answered.
“Major Myers, sir. The survivor from the Sara Mae is coming out of the coma.”
Foster looked at the flight schedule, a transporter was leaving for the states in two hours.
“Is our security angle covered?”
“Yes sir, we have him in a private room under guard, the hospital is a military facility and they have been most accommodating,” said Myers.
“Alright, I’ll be sending Colonel Blake out to oversee the debriefing; he will be accompanied by Dr. Schroeder and Lieutenant Lake. They’ll be on the next flight out.”
“I’ll have someone meet them at the airfield, Good day Colonel.”
Foster hung the phone up and keyed the intercom. “Have Colonel Blake, Dr. Schroeder, and Lt. Lake report to the commander’s office at once,” he ordered.
“Right away, sir,” said Lt. Ford.
I would rather face an entire fleet of alien spacecraft, than having to deal with paperwork. A cup of coffee appeared on the table next to him. Ed looked up in time to see Alec sitting down. “Oh, thank you Alec,” he said as he took a sip of the coffee, “I needed that.”
Alec nodded, “Ginny said that you were tired, grumpy, grouchy, and you needed a cup of coffee,” he said and continued, “So Henderson dumped a pile of finance paperwork on you?”
Straker nodded, “Yes, he wants to make sure I suffer right along with him for every last penny. I suppose I shouldn’t complain. We’re getting the money we need.”
Alec changed the subject, “Ed, I hope I didn’t speak out of turn last night,” he said quietly. Ed looked at his best friend with amusement.
“Alec, we’ve known each other too long to mince words. You did what you thought was right. Virginia and I discussed it last night; she has an interesting way of looking at things. The only difference the alien interference could have made is it took less time for the inevitable to happen.”
Alec thought for a moment, “So you’re saying the attraction between the two of you was already there.”
Ed nodded. “Do you know why I went to pick her up at the airport the night of the Timelash incident, Alec?”
“Not really, I heard that you wanted to talk to her before she saw Henderson.”
“I missed her Alec; she had been up on Moonbase for a month. Foster was on leave and Nina had a death in the family so she volunteered to go. Do you want to hear something strange?”
“What’s that?”
“I was going to ask Virginia to go to that LSO show on Saturday night, the one that you gave me the tickets for,” Ed confessed.
“You didn’t already have the tickets though did you?” Alec said not really a question.
“No I was going to pick them up when I got back to HQ, but I never had the chance.”
“Miss Ealand had a list of things you wanted her to remind you of, the tickets were on the list,” he grinned as he confessed.
Ed Straker looked at his best friend with gratitude. “Thanks, Alec.”
“So I know it’s none of my business, but when are you going to ask her?”
“Is it that obvious?” Straker was surprised as Alec nodded.
“I bet she would know even without the empathic connection.”
“Well you’re right; I feel that she does know, just as I feel her answer is going to be yes. I’m going to the jewelry store down the road from the studio once we land and I can get away for about an hour,” he said.
Alec offered his hand, “Let me be the first to congratulate you, do you need a best man?”
“Do you really think I would ask anyone else? I’d be honored Alec.”
Mark Bradley was on the flight engineers station of the SST. As he was recording the instrument readings he noticed the turbine temperature of engine two was close to the red line, too close, he thought.
“Colonel Lake?”
Virginia turned to look back, “What is it, Mark?”
“Number two is running extremely hot, isn’t that the one you had trouble with on the way here?”
Virginia looked down at the panel; the indicator was in the red now. A feeling of unease came over her.
Ed was still talking with Alec when he stopped midsentence. Virginia is seriously worried about something. “Virginia’s in trouble. I can sense it. Let’s go,” Ed said as they rushed toward the cockpit.
“Shutdown two!” she said but it was too late. The overheated bearing in the turbine seized and the engine tore itself apart. The aircraft shook violently with the explosion; parts from the shredded engine became projectiles and tore into engine one. The cover above the port and center engines was blown open and sheared off in the slipstream damaging the port side flaps and wing tank. A piece of the turbine blade from engine one ripped into the port landing gear wheel well, destroying the landing gear as well as tearing off the door panels.
“Engine two is out, losing power on one, pitch is out, losing altitude,” Mark called from the panel.
The SST was nose down and rolling to the left. Virginia fought to maintain control of the aircraft as she put out a distress call.
“Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, this is Seagull X-ray, have lost two engines in an explosion, we are going down, repeat, we are going down.”
Alec managed to climb into the copilot’s seat and strapped in. He looked at the hydraulics indicator, it was falling rapidly. He grabbed the yoke and mirrored Virginia’s motions. Between the two of them they were somehow able to right the aircraft. Ed strapped himself into the observation seat which also served as a radio post.
“Mark, engage auxiliary hydraulics!” Virginia exclaimed.
“Cut power, descend,” she ordered.
Freeman complied. Even though he had more time in the aircraft, Virginia was pilot in command. Nobody, regardless of rank could supersede her authority on that aircraft.
“Ed, try to contact SHADO HQ while I try to assess the damage.
“SHADO control from Seagull X-ray, do you read?”
Paul Foster dashed into the control room.
“What’s the situation?”
“Seagull X-ray sent out a Mayday call, I have Commander Straker on the radio now,” said Ford.
Foster flipped up the mic, “Ed it’s Paul. What’s your situation?”
In the cockpit of the SST Alec had quickly filled out a systems status report. He showed it to Virginia who quickly glanced at it and nodded. He then handed it to Straker.
“Paul, we lost engine two in explosion. Engine one is damaged and non operational, possible airframe damage, main hydraulics are out, axillaries are only partially operational, the portside inner wing tank is ruptured, port side landing gear shows red, flight computer and main avionics are out.”
My God, two engines out; they don’t stand a chance, thought Paul.
“Get me Skydiver 5,” he ordered.
“Ed, I’m going to dispatch Sky 5 to rendezvous with you and try to assess your airframe damage. Can you make Keflavik?”
“Virginia can we make Keflavik?” Ed asked.
She nodded and keyed her mic, “Paul, its Ginny, we’ve just dropped to subsonic flight, I think we can make that field. At our present speed we will arrive in just under an hour. Have them foam the runway just before we arrive.”
“The video landing system is out,” Alec said to her as she finished with Foster. This is a worst case scenario; the emergency procedures don’t even cover it, he thought.
“Launch stations,” Captain Ellis ordered.
She donned her helmet and walked to the launch tube.
“Good luck, skipper,” Joan called.
Ellis slid down the tube into the pilot’s seat of her fighter. In a few moments she was in the cockpit of Sky 5. She strapped in and activated the power units of the aircraft.
“Standby for lift off,” she called. The Skydiver tilted up to forty five degrees. Ellis pulled back on the launch lever. The aircraft surged forward through the water and broached the surface of the North Atlantic on two plumes of flame.
Schroeder, Lake and Colonel Blake walked into control, to see Foster, and immediately noticed things were not normal. Blake walked up to him.
“What’s going on Paul?”
“The SST coming back from the US had a catastrophic engine failure; they are going to try to make Keflavik.”
“Isn’t that the flight from Dreamland?”
“Yes, the Commander, Freeman, Lake, Bradley, Waterman, both Skydiver crews, and Professor Reinhardt, are on that aircraft.”
“My God in Heaven help us.”
“If I were religious, I’d start praying,” Foster said.
Lynn walked over to Colonel Blake; she had heard, “What are their chances Colonel?”
“Virginia is pilot in command; I understand she is an accomplished pilot. And Colonel Freeman is most likely flying as her copilot. Freeman knows that aircraft better than anyone else. It depends on how badly damaged the aircraft is. I agree with Colonel Foster.”
Lynn knew that belonging to an organization like SHADO could be a dangerous occupation. She just didn’t think the reality would hit so close to home or so soon. Dear God, protect them, she silently prayed.
Gay Ellis came up on the wing of the crippled SST.
“Seagull X-ray from Sky 5, how do you read?”
Virginia smiled for the first time in an almost an hour.
“Gay its Ginny; am I glad to hear you. I’ve got a hell of a mess up here.”
Ellis had seen some of the damage as she approached the wounded aircraft. She said over the radio, “Okay, I’m going to have a look at your underside.”
Ellis brought her jet around and underneath the SST.
“The port side rear landing gear doors have been blown off. The tires look like they have been shredded. The gear itself is bent up considerably. The port side flaps appear to be damaged as well. I’m going to look up top.”
Gay slid out from under the SST and climbed above it. She then inverted the jet and slid over the top.
“Oh my God,” she said without keying the mic. “The panel covering the portside and center engines has been blown off. The inner engine is completely missing and the outer one looks like it went through a shredder. You can see into the port wheel well from the outer engine compartment. There is a gash on the port side wing that is leaking fuel. The damage is evident on the top of the port side flaps as well. You have minor damage to the port side horizontal stabilizer.”
In the cockpit Alec had marked down the damage on the status diagram.
Gay Ellis came over the radio. “I’m going to stay with you as escort to Keflavik.”
“Understood, thank you Sky 5, Seagull X-ray out,” Virginia said as she turned to Alec.
“I don’t remember any emergency procedures for this scenario. Did I miss something?”
“No, they don’t cover this because it’s next to impossible. I think your best bet is to lower the nose shield and belly in,” Alec was saying.
Virginia considered it, in the simulator that scenario always ended up with the nose and half the cockpit being torn off the aircraft.
“I’m not comfortable with that. What other options do we have? How about ditching near shore?”
“If you ditch with the heat shield down, the fuselage will snap in half. We’ll be under before anyone can get out; with the damage we’ve sustained, that might happen even if we leave the shield up.”
She thought for a moment, “What about precision approach radar?”
“That would get you on the glide slope but you still won’t know when to flare the aircraft.”
“Gay can follow us down and tell me when I’m over the threshold.”
Alec looked at Ed and said, “I don’t like it Ed, she’s flying blind.”
“Let’s look at this a different way,” Ginny said. “We know the backup Horizontal situation indicator is still operational and the nav radios appear to be functioning. So that means the localizer should be operational as well. The only question mark I see here is the glide slope indication and receiver. As I see it, the best course of action is to leave the nose up, get vectors to final, get on the localizer and have Gay follow us in Sky 5. If the glide slope is functional then all I need to know is when to flare the aircraft. If it isn’t then we execute a PAR.”
“Virginia, look you and the rest get to the back of the aircraft, and I’ll fly it in. It’s the…” Virginia cut him off.
“No Alec, I’m in command of this flight. If anyone is going to risk their life it’s going to be me,” she said giving Alec the full force of her icy blue glare.
“Damn it Virginia, I’m…”
This time Straker cut him off, “Colonel Freeman, Colonel Lake is in command of this aircraft, it’s her decision.”
Alec looked at his commanding officer, “Yes, sir,” he said in resignation.
Ed looked back at Virginia. Their eyes met. I can do this Ed, trust me, she thought. Ed knew she was sure of herself. “Colonel Lake, it’s your call.”
Virginia nodded and turned back to the business at hand. She grabbed the mic. “Sky 5 from Seagull X-ray.”
“Go ahead Ginny.”
“Gay, I’m going to need your help. Our camera system is out and I don’t want to try a belly landing with the heat shield down. I’m going to get vectors to final, once I’ve established on the localizer, I need you to get in behind me. You’ll have to tell me when to flare, in this aircraft that is just past the threshold.”
“I can do that, easily.”
“What was it that an astronaut once said, this is like flying a toaster through a car wash,” said Alec.
At Keflavik NAS Lieutenant Commander Patterson had received a flash priority from Washington. A damaged SST, carrying military hardware, was heading in from the North Atlantic. It had suffered a catastrophic engine failure which had disabled most of its systems. His orders were to get the airfield closed to all other traffic, get the runway foamed and render assistance. He walked off the elevator into the control tower.
“Ok Bob, where are they now?” he asked the duty officer.
“There still about sixty miles out, Keflavik approach is going to vector them to final, sir. They are not sure if there glide slope indicator is operational.”
Patterson had seen SST’s land without gear, it was never a pretty site, and you almost always lost the flight crew.
“Let’s power up the precision approach radar, if their ILS is out we can transition without delay,” said Patterson.
“Commander Patterson, the crash crew is getting ready to foam runway 29 now, sir,” said Lt. Bob Masters, the duty officer. “I understand it’s the pilots’ first time in one of these, sir,” said Masters.
“Oh, terrific, get in touch with the outlying EMS units, I want at least three more ALS unit right now,” ordered Patterson.
“Right away, sir,” said Masters.
“Seagull X-ray, Keflavik approach, descend and maintain 3000, come to heading 320, maintain 3000 until established, contact Keflavik tower on 129.85.”
Virginia read the instructions back and set the autopilot which was still working to intercept the ILS.
“Mark, how is engine three?”
“Okay Colonel, temperature and power read normal.”
“Alec after this transmission I need you to keep in touch with the tower, while I communicate with Gay,” she said and then keyed her mic.
“Keflavik tower, Seagull X-ray with you, ILS approach runway 29.”
“Seagull X-ray, Keflavik tower, fly straight in, clear to land runway 29, understand you have a chase plane, over,” the controller said. “Correct Keflavik tower, clear to land runway 29, Seagull X-ray out.”
Virginia looked at the glide slope indicator as it started to move. “Gay it looks like I have a good glide slope indication.”
The crippled SST locked onto the glide slope and started to descend. Straker tried to keep his thoughts neutral; he knew Virginia didn’t need the distraction.
In the tower LCDR Patterson watched the SST on the radar scope. It appeared to be in the center of the glide slope, and localizer beams.
“They have glide slope indication, sir” said Lt. Masters.
“Ginny, you’re right on the numbers,” said Gay.
“Outer marker, airspeed 170,” said Alec.
Coming in hot, Virginia thought, no flaps, can’t be helped.
She prepared to take control of the aircraft as it was tending to yaw to the left.
In the control room at HQ all they could do was watch and wait.
“I’m surprised Freeman isn’t flying her in, Paul,” said Blake.
“You know the rules, Geoff. The pilot in command is the pilot in command, period.”
“Straker could override that.”
“You know as well as I do he won’t do that.”
Virginia took over from the autopilot as the aircraft was yawing noticeably to the left. She kicked the right rudder peddle to line the aircraft back up.
“The yaw dampener is out on the autopilot,” she said.
“Middle maker, airspeed 160, too fast,” said Alec.
“I know, it can’t be helped; get ready to cut power on my mark,” she said. Virginia keyed the intercom, “All hands, brace for impact.”
“Inner maker, airspeed 155…150,” Alec called out.
“Cut power…cut it now.”
“Threshold,” Gay called from Sky 5.
Virginia slowly flared the aircraft, at the speed they were moving she would gain altitude if she pulled up too fast.
In the tower LCDR Patterson watched the crippled SST as it came in. Too fast, he thought. It was on the glide slope but the flare was going to be critical. As it came over the numbers he saw the nose rise very slightly. A few seconds later it contacted the runway.
The aircraft shook violently as it impacted the runway. Virginia reached down and deployed the drag chute to help keep the aircraft centered. She fought to maintain control as the aircraft careened down the runway; it seemed that it would never stop.
In the cabin cups and papers and anything else that was not secured went flying forward as the aircraft slowed. The sound of metal screeching against asphalt could be heard throughout the cabin.
Ed sensed fierce determination from Virginia as she struggled to keep the aircraft centered.
Forty five seconds later the aircraft finally ground to a stop at the end of runway 29.
“Alright, Ginny, you go girl,” said Gay as she overflew the downed SST wagging her wings.
“Thanks for the assist Sky 5; I owe you dinner, Seagull X-ray out.”
“Anytime; Sky 5 to SHADO control, returning to base.”
Virginia looked around the cabin. “Alright, you know the drill, everybody out.”
A cheer went up in the control room that could have been heard in the studio, at least that is what Lynn thought. Thank you, Lord, she thought to herself.
“Damn, she landed that thing blind. Can you believe it Geoff,” Paul said to Blake.
LCDR Patterson was beside himself. As a naval aviator, he had seen his share of emergency landings. This one had to be at the top of the list.
“Bob, I’m going down there, I want to shake that lady’s hand.”
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Soul Mates (Read 3086 times)
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