The Lynx starts to lift off from the pad, the buffeting increasing massively, and I steady myself against the stair railing. About a meter up, the helicopter comes to an unexpected stop, just hovering. Is there a problem? A minute passes, then suddenly the door slides open again, and Dan jumps out, down onto the pad. I move back in to see what is wrong but as I do, the Lynx's door quickly rolls shut, it ascends, tilts and flies off.
“Sorry, Boss, but I’m coming with you,” he says as he comes over to me. “You’ll have to court martial me later.”
“Dan, you…” then nothing. I just go and man-hug him tightly. My eyes are welling up again. “Sorry, mate, I’m feeling a bit emotional,” I say as we move back off the pad.
We go back to the steps to give the second Lynx plenty of room to land. The first with Emily on board looks like it is heading back towards Heathrow and is already some distance away.
The next Lynx starts to make its approach, hovers in and touches down with ease, and the engines keep going which is good. I thought the pilot may have powered down, as we are supposed to be freeing the safe. Another bonus is that there is only the pilot aboard, which should make hijacking the Lynx easier. They must be short on crew; this was only meant to be a straightforward fetch-and-carry flight.
Dan and I run back onto the pad as the pilot slides open the hold door.
“Alright, mate,” I shout to the pilot as we reach him. He has his pilot’s helmet on but that doesn’t hide how young he is. Fuck, they must be short on pilots as well.
The pilot jumps down from the hold onto the pad to greet us. This is going to be easier than I thought; the Lynx is now empty and with the engine running. I reach out with my hand as if to shake his, but as he reaches out, I grab his wrist and pull his arm around and up his back. Dan moves also and takes the pilot’s sidearm from its holster.
“What are you doing!” the young pilot screams. “What the hell is going on? I’m here to get you?” he shouts over the din of the engine.
“I’m really sorry about this, mate, but we need your helicopter. The other one will come back and pick you up so you will be fine,” I shout back.
“You’re taking it—why? You can’t, they will have my guts for garters,” the poor lad continues to protest.
“I really am sorry, pal, but there is no other option.”
We escort the pilot to the steps and tell him to stay put until we have gone. If he doesn’t, we will tie him up, I tell him. As we move away, he seems to be obeying which is his best option, he really doesn’t want to be tied up in this situation, with Rabids close by.
I climb into the hold of the Lynx and locate the pilot’s rifle, his standard issue SA80. Then jumping back down onto the pad, I hold up his rifle for him to see. I then eject its magazine and place both onto the helipad, Dan does the same with his sidearm.
As I settle into the pilot’s seat, Dan gets in beside me, and we both grab our headphones from above and put them on. The pilot is doing as he was told and staying put. He actually looks frightened to death. I owe him a drink, an explanation and another apology if I ever get to see him again.
“Get the other pilot on the radio and tell him to turn around now. I don’t want that kid there any longer than necessary,” I say to Dan and he reaches for the radio panel.
The Lynx helicopter has been in service since the late seventies. It is an agile and versatile piece of engineering that with constant updating, has stood the test of time. The fact remains, however, that it has been many, many years since I was trained in one and a good six or seven years, if not more, since I last flew any helicopter at all. So, I take a minute to re-familiarise myself with the controls and layout.
Feeling fairly happy, I take the stick, pulling back on it steadily and easing the Lynx up off the pad and into the air. It’s just like riding a bike, sort of. Easing us up farther, I move out from the Orion Building, rising all the time and turning the Lynx so that we’re facing in the direction of the path the first Lynx took.
Dan has contacted the other pilot and after some deep discussions and arguments, the pilot has relented and is turning around to pick up his comrade.
“Dan, use the bins to see if you can confirm they have turned around? We can’t leave him swinging in the wind down there?” I hand over the binoculars.
A few minutes pass with Dan scanning the sky in front of us with the binoculars, but he hasn’t seen them.
“Surely, they aren’t going to leave him down there? Get them back on the radio.” I say.
“Hold on, Boss. I can see something. Let it get a bit closer.”
Letting Dan concentrate, l stay quiet. The pilot below us has retrieved his weapons and to his credit has taken up a defensive position on top of the helipad by the steps. His aim is mainly directed at the steel doors of the roof entrance. The Rabids behind that door must be going crazy, what with the noise of two helicopters landing and taking off. Even from this distance, the doors look like they are rattling in their frames. I'm standing by to land again fast and pick the kid up if the doors give.
“Yep, that’s them, they are heading straight for the
