pallet and lifted it, then he drove it out of the hangar and up the ramp
of the Hercules.
In the hold of the enormous aircraft, jannie and Sapper helped Fred to
position each pallet precisely on the rollers and then strap it down
securely. The last part of the cargo to go aboard was the small
front-end-loading tractor.
Sapper had found this in a secondhand yard in York, and after testing it
exhaustively declared it to be a 'steal'. Now he drove this up the ramp
under its own power, and lovingly strapped it down to the rollers.
The -tractor made up almost a third of the total weight of the entire
shipment, but it was the one item that Sapper considered essential if
they were to complete the earthworks for the dam in the time that
Nicholas had stipulated.
He had calculated that it would require a cluster of five cargo
parachutes to get the heavy tractor back to earth without damage. Fuel
for it would of course present a problem, and the bulk of the second
cargo would be made up of dieseline in special nylon tanks that could
withstand the impact of an airdrop.
it was after midnight before the aircraft was loaded with the first
shipment. The remaining pallets were still stacked against the hangar
wall awaiting Big Dolly's return for the second flight. Now they could
turn their full attention to the farewell banquet of island specialities
that Mara had laid out for the ' in the tiny Africair office.
'Yes,' Jannie assured them, I she's also a good cook,' and gave Mara a
loving squeeze as she rested her bosom on his shoulder, leaning over him
to refill his plate with calamari.
'Happy landings!' Nicholas gave them the toast in red Chianti.
'Eight hours between the throttle and the bottle,' jannie apologized, as
he drank the toast in Coca-Cola.
They lay down their clothes to get a few hours' sleep on the bunks
bolted to the bulkhead behind the flight deck, but it seemed to Royan
that she was woken only a few minutes later by the quiet voices of the
two pilots completing their pre-take-off checks, and the whine of the
starters on the huge turbo-prop engines. As Jannie spoke on the radio to
the control tower, and Fred taxied out to the holding point, the three
passengers climbed out of their bunks and strapped themselves into the
folding seats down the side of the main cabin. Big Dolly climbed into
the night sky and the lights of the island dwindled and were swiftly
lost behind them. Then there was only the dark sea below and the bright
pricking of the stars above. Royan turned her head to smile at Nicholas
in the dim overhead lights of the cabin.
'Well, Taita, we are back on court for the final set.' Her voice was
tight with excitement.
'The one good thing about being forced to sneak about like this is that
Pegasus may take a while to find out that we are back in the Abbay
gorge.' Nicholas looked complacent.
'Let's hope that you are right.' Royan held up her right hand and
crossed her fingers. 'We will have enough to worry about with what Taita
has in store for us, without Pegasus muscling in on us again just yet.'
They are on their way back to Ethiopia,' said von Schiller with utter
