Return

Burial at Sea

I awake with a start. With the feeling that I have overslept and am late for something, my muddled dreams fade quickly. The late afternoon, westering sun is casting its glow through the cockpit windows, bathing the side instruments and panels in orange. The panic subsides to an extent but not the sense of urgency. We need to be off the ground soon. There is also the dawning feeling that I left us unguarded. I feel like a fool for not setting an alarm or having set a watch. Exhaustion has driven the basics from my mind. We could easily have slept on into the night and been entirely at the mercy of the night runners emerging. Completely in the open.

Lynn stirs beside me and snaps alert. She likely has the same sense; both the urgency and the fact that we were completely unguarded. I roll off the bunk and stretch my tired and sore muscles. This would be a lot easier if I were younger, I think bending backward to ease a kink from my back.

“This must never happen again. We have to keep a watch at all times,” I say looking down into her beautiful blue eyes.

“Yeah, no kidding! I can’t believe I allowed this to happen,” Lynn says sitting up.

“We allowed it. We can never relax our vigilance. But what’s done is done. Get everyone up and ready. Make sure all of our stuff is stowed and secured. I’ll get us ready up here,” I say looking at the instrument panels that have rested along with us.

I get one of those looks of ‘who the fuck are you’ which quickly fades. Our tiredness is making our tempers and therefore our communication short.

“Sorry, I should have asked ‘would you mind’,” I say as she rises.

“No worries. It’s just hard separating the relationship from the command aspect. You have a perfect right to tell me what to do with regards to the unit. Just don’t let it go to your head or I’ll flatten you,” Lynn says with a tired smile.

“I love you,” I say laughing for the first time in a while and leaning over to give her a kiss.

“I love you too, Jack,” she says after we separate.

I head down the stairs with the thought and wondering if we are just going through the motions. Is it really just a matter of time before we all come to an end? Wow! I sure can be a pessimist at times. No, if we can survive and get our sanctuary built, we’ll have a fighting chance. We just have to maintain our vigilance, be smart, and not make any more mistakes. We were lucky this time.

The metallic sound of boots ringing on steel lets me know that Lynn is coming down the stairs behind me as I head over to wake Robert and Michelle, stepping over soldiers scattered haphazardly on the deck. That is an easy process as they are both lying together on the top bunk by the window, the soft glow of the sun caressing their faces as they sleep peacefully. I am pierced by an intense feeling of love for my kids and feel a protective nature sweep through me. It is mingled with a feeling of sorrow for the situation we are in. They do not deserve to be thrust into this. I must continue to be strong for them. But I also realize there is a tremendous strength that lies within them.

“Robert, wake up,” I say gently nudging his shoulder. His eyes open with that tired sleepy aspect that only teens know. I see Michelle’s eyes open with the same sleepy look.

“We have to get ready. Go wake Bri and Nic and get strapped in. I’m going to do a walk around,” I say when I know he is awake enough to comprehend my words and will not just fall asleep again.

“Okay, Dad,” he says sitting up and jumping to the cargo floor.

Lynn has started waking the soldiers inside. I head outside to do a walk around of the aircraft. The breeze has died down and the shadows from the vehicles parked near stretch long as the day begins to come to a close. Some soldiers are lying on the ramp while others sleep in the seats of the vans. Some begin to sit up, perhaps feeling the energy of others waking. Or perhaps it’s Lynn’s yell of “everyone up” echoing across the pavement.

Her voice startles me and I turn to see her standing part way down the ramp with a look of determination. I certainly wouldn’t have liked to have been one of her troops when she was a drill sergeant, I think seeing her stand there with her hands on her hips. But I also know deep down she really cares for the people under her. Her yell causes a stir among the soldiers and they all begin to do the ‘just got up’ stretches and gather their stuff.

“We’ll need to move the vehicles away,” I call up to her.

She walks over to Drescoll as I begin to walk around the aircraft checking for any obvious damage. I have a touch of worry about the maintenance and our long journey over the water. Aircraft of this nature requires continual maintenance to maintain its ability to stay airborne. Luckily, the 130 is a tough old bird. One of the best around in that regard. I hear the vans start up as I walk around the wing and see the streaks of blood that once dominated the side by the props from our previous excursion to Brunswick have mostly vanished. Some small stains remain that blend in with the olive drab paint.

Walking around the nose, I see Robert’s face in the cockpit window, with his helmet on, sitting in my seat and looking over to his left. I round the rear and start up the other side and see Michelle and Nic by the ground power unit. They have taken their station without asking. We almost have this down to a routine, I think. I see Nic’s mouth move and she starts the cart up. She is obviously in contact with Robert. He has started the pre-start checks on his own. Pride swells up inside. They really seem to have adjusted to this new world. Perhaps it’s me who needs to adjust to their adjustment and that all is well with them. Wow! I’m losing it. I also see the vehicles have been moved off to the side. The sun is lowering to the horizon, turning the sky around it to deeper oranges and yellows. The color will soon change to reds giving the day its last glorious look before disappearing until another time. The next time it sets, we will hopefully have some answers or at least a bigger clue. But for now, it is time we leave.

Lynn is standing at the top of the ramp as I walk back in. The interior is filled with the noise and movement of shuffling soldiers. I quickly glance at the supplies stacked about with red cargo netting over them and lashed to the deck, making sure they will not shift in flight.

“Everything ready to go?” I ask Lynn.

“Yeah, we should be good to go,” she replies.

“Okay, can you make sure everyone gets strapped in and detail a couple to help Michelle and Bri with the cart when they come in?”

“Will do,” she says in return.

I notice her strict military demeanor is relaxing somewhat in the conversation between us as we both strive to find that balance between the necessary military bearing, which I never really had, and our relationship. She grabs the headset by the rear and plugs into the intercom system.

I head up the walkway to the cockpit. Robert’s head turns my way from the pilot’s seat, says something in the mic, and moves over to his seat making way for me. Bri is sitting in her engineer seat setting switches on the electrical panel. I move past her to strap and plug in.

“Where are we on the checklist?” I ask hearing the click of my coming on the intercom.

“We’re ready for startup,” Robert answers.

I do a quick check over the system panels and settings assuring myself we are indeed ready. It’s not that I don’t trust them, I just have to make sure myself. They have done a great job getting ready and all seems to be in order. The electrics, fuel system, and switches are set correctly. I keep thinking how far we have come in the past few days. In one way, it seems like it has been a long time since sitting in this seat, in another, it seems like I never left.

“Clear right?” I ask.

“Clear,” Robert responds.

We go through the startup with no problems, Michelle and Nic joining us in the cockpit after securing the start cart and closing the ramp door, effectively shutting us off from the outside. The aircraft settles into its usual vibration and roar with the large props spinning in synch outside, their blades blending in a circular blur. All of the instruments check out okay giving me a modicum of security for our hop across the rest of the pond.

I set the intercom selector over to the overhead intercom, “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for flying Apocalypse Air. Your Captain today is Captain Crash and we are delighted to have you aboard. We ask that you