CHAPTER TEN
The plane jerked involuntarily which brought him to the situation at hand. All the soldiers had become alerted now. He looked out through the window and decided it was bad. He carried his tired frame from his seat and staggered to the cockpit. The pilot, Flight lieutenant Braxton was tired and weary; he looked sideways as his hands clamped to the control column. He eased it forward and took the airplane down, emerging from part of the cloud at three thousand five hundred feet into the impending rainstorm.
Flight lieutenant Braxton was a jet fighter pilot who had survived many wars by sheer grace and professionalism. He had been sent to convey a detachment of the special force home without proper briefing even when he asked his boss why the sudden change in his schedule, the boss had maintained a tighten face and told him, “It’s an order from above.”
“How is it going?” Captain Abeonego asked as saliva dried off in his sore mouth. He had suddenly developed acute headache to the extent he feared he might faint, but he quickly consoled himself as the most senior on board, he had to be strong. Another sense told him, he was human, seniority aside.
“It is very bad,” Flight lieutenant Braxton answered, and as if in confirmation, there was a strike of lightning and grumbling followed by the heavy downpour.
“I think we have been set up.” The co-pilot Paul announced. “The control tower is not responding.”
"How can we be set up?" Captain Abeonego asked worriedly, "Set up by whom? It could be a technical hitch..."
Flight lieutenant Braxton switched on to VHF and called the control tower without getting any response. He turned to Captain Abeonego with a puzzled expression on his weary face. “The tower isn’t responding; I have a strong feeling we are lost, Captain.”
“You should be able to do something?” Captain Abeonego said, not trusting his voice. “When will all these challenges stopped?” he wondered tiredly. When he thought it was all over, new, and harder ones surfaced.
“As you can see, everywhere is dark and we are in the middle of an impending storm. The rain has just started; let us hope it doesn’t get heavier than this with that threatening lightning and what have you.” Flight lieutenant Braxton replied. “Let’s hope for the best.” He turned to the buttons and began to manoeuvre his way through the pitch-dark thick clouds occasioned by lightning. “By the way, if you have any amulet or charms you can use to help us out of here, kindly apply it now.” Flight lieutenant Braxton advised with a smile.
“It is true, Captain, we heard about your exploits on the battlefield; do the magic here.” His co-pilot Paul added with a burst of hoarse laughter.
“Come on, both of you, I didn’t apply any magic down there; it was all normal military tactics.” He smiled, despite himself.
The conditions outside became appalling with heavy downpours and thunderstorms and the kind of turbulence that threatened to divide the plane into two. “What are we going to do now?” Captain Abeonego asked worriedly,
Some soldiers were already poking into the cockpit to inquire what the problem was. “We have to make an emergency landing.” Flight lieutenant Braxton replied, and he had to shout to make himself heard above the noise of the heavy downpour. He hauled back, banked, and boosted speed after which he began to speak into the microphone to the hearing of all on board. “I, Flight lieutenant Braxton, the pilot of this airplane wishes to bring to the notice of the military men on board that owing to the unfavourable weather, we have to make an emergency landing. All onboard should remain calm as we are doing everything possible to connect to the control tower and to ensure a safe landing.”
The torrential rainfall gave a heavy cough followed by heavy thunder and lightning which left the windshield and a side window shattered. The engines coughed angrily and then first the port followed by the starboard engine which cut out rightly.
“Captain, I’m afraid you have to go out and prepare for emergency landing so that you won’t be hauled overboard! I have lost control of the engine!!” Flight lieutenant Braxton shouted frantically, “The plane is going down fast though I will still see what I can do to salvage the situation!”
Captain Abeonego got the message as he ran out of the cockpit and issued an instruction, “Check the parachute compartment and issue parachute to everyone!”
One of the soldiers went to search and discovered it was empty. Another soldier went to check but was a shade too late as there was an explosion. Pieces of metal flew off the port engine, emitting thick black smoke and made the propeller stopped turning. The soldiers began to scream wildly as they made a frantic effort to salvage the situation. The airplane coughed, banked and dived steeply throwing Captain Abeonego who was trying desperately to open the door and some soldiers off their feet. Flight lieutenant Braxton was hurled against the bulkhead with a force that rendered him unconscious and knocked co-pilot Paul senseless. The last thing Captain Abeonego remembered was a loud noise as the airplane crashed into the sea.
●●●
Captain Abeonego woke up to find himself by the seashore. He could not remember what happened or where he was for several seconds as his mind was foggy and he felt pains all over the bruised parts of his body and his joints. He listened to the sea roaring and its floods clapped their hands. The wind blowing in from the sea was warm and saturated with sweetness; this gave him a sort of new vigour as he struggled to his feet. The military uniform on him was torn and he felt dirty through his bruised skin. He saw Corporals Mason, Sanjala, and Banito, they all looked worn out and weary. Except for the corpses of their comrades which littered everywhere, the shore was deserted, and the opposite was a thick forest with hills.
“Where are we and what are we going to do?” Banito asked with a nervous stutter as he struggled to stand upright but it was obvious, he was in pain. The remnant of the airplane could be seen half sunk in the sea.
“I think we are the only survivors, and we are in the middle of nowhere,” Abeonego answered. “We have to survive somehow and anyhow but first we have to examine ourselves and then bury these bodies. He went to wash his face in the water after which he examined Banito’s leg where he had a slight dislocation but no cuts. He helped him messaged and straightened it.
“I can see smoke coming from afar; I think a settlement isn’t far off,” Sanjala observed as he sat on the dune and yawned hungrily.
Sanjala and Mason had their military bags with them. “I have to go back to that plane to get our weapons and bags. We might need them.” Abeonego said as he looked at the half-buried plane in the sea.
“I hope you have enough strength to weather the tides. It looks strong, and that plane can sink at any time.” Mason asked as they gathered the corpse together.
“You can say that again, I strongly feel we should be fast to leave this site. We don’t know where we are yet; the crash might attract enemies.” Abeonego answered as he rushed and dived into the sea and jerked forward in widest strokes. He swam to the plane and came back some minutes later with weapons and bags which contained some canned foods and other necessities. They applied first aid to their injuries, ate, bathed, and changed from their uniforms to casual clothes after which they buried the corpses and later rested before commencing the long trek towards where they saw the smoke.