roads open. He knew the one he had chosen would draw violent
opposition, and he used these last few hours of solitude to gather and
strengthen his resolve.
A conclave of gulls, gathered about the body of a stranded fish, rose in
cloud as he ran towards them, their wings catching the low sun as they
hovered then dropped again when he passed.
He saw the Lear coming before he heard it. It was low against the dawn,
rising and dropping over the towering bulk of the Robberg. Then
swiftly, coming in on a muted shriek, it streaked low along the beach
towards him.
David stopped, breathing lightly even after the long run, and raised
both arms above his head in salute. He saw Barney's head through the
Perspex canopy turned towards him, the flash of his teeth as he grinned
and the hand raised, returning his salute as he went by.
The Lear turned out to sea, one wingtip almost touching the wave crests,
and it came back at him. David stood on the exposed beach and steeled
himself as the long sleek nose dropped lower and lower, aimed like a
javelin at him.
Like some fearsome predatory bird it swooped at him and at the last
possible instant David's nerve broke and he flung himself on to the wet
sand. The jet blast lashed him as the Lear rose and turned inland for
the airfield.
Son of a bitch, muttered David as he stood up brushing damp sand from
his bare chest, and imagined Barney's amused chuckle.
I taught him good, thought Barney, sprawled in the copilot's seat of the
Lear as he watched David ride the delicate line of altitude where skill
gave way to chance.
Barney had put on weight since he had been eating Morgan bread, and his
paunch peeked shyly over his belt. The beginning of jowls bracketed the
wide downturned mouth that gave him the air of a disgruntled toad, and
the cap of hair that covered his skull was sparser and speckled with
salt.
Watching David fly, he felt the small warmth of his affection for him
that his sour expression belied. Three years he had been chief pilot of
the Morgan group and he knew well to whose intervention he owed the
post.
It was security he had now, and prestige. He flew great men in the most
luxuriously fitted machines, and when the time came for him to go out to
pasture he knew the grazing would be lush. The Morgan group looked
after its own.
This knowledge sat comfortably on his stomach as he watched his protege
handle the jet.
Extended low flying like this required enormous concentration, and
Barney watched in vain for any relaxation of it in his pupil.
The long golden beaches of Africa streamed steadily beneath them,
punctuated by rock promontories and tiny resorts and fishing villages.
Delicately the Lear followed the contours of the coastline, for they had
spurned the direct route for the exhilaration of this flight.
Ahead of them stretched another strip of beach but as they howled low
along it they saw that this one was occupied.
