Standing behind him, Charlie didn’t have to think about it. “Is Riley cool? He’s straight from the fridge.”
Decker was also straight from the fridge, but in his case, from the ice box. Flying planes, especially vintage aircraft, was a serious business and demanded a calm head. “I’m shutting engine number two down.”
“That sounds bad,” Selena said. “Is it bad?”
“It’s not great, but we’re okay. She can fly on one engine. I’m feathering the prop to reduce drag.”
“Feathering the prop?” Riley said. “I’m an open minded guy but please tell me that has nothing to do with a rugby player?”
Decker gave him a look. “I’m from New York state, Riley. I don’t know the first thing about what happens on a rugby pitch. I’m talking about the engines.”
“Phew.”
“This is a variable prop aircraft, which means the propeller blades can be rotated so they’re thin-side on to the wind. It reduces drag. That process is called feathering.”
“Gotcha, big guy. That’s a load off.”
Decker rotated the blades on the dead engine and increased power to the portside one, carefully mitigating the effect with the rudder as he tried to line the aircraft up with the moonlit lake ahead of them.
Now Diana stuck her head in the cockpit door. “Are we going to be all right?”
“Sure,” Decker said. “Well, everyone except Riley. There’s no hope for him.”
“I understand,” she said. “Thanks. I’ll tell the others… especially about Riley.
With the aircraft lined up, Decker pulled back on the throttles and reduced the power to the one good engine. They lost altitude instantly, and rapidly approached the same height as the tropical canopy either side of the enormous lake.
Decker extended the flaps but there was no need for the landing gear on a water landing. “Let’s hope those bastards don’t have anything else in store for us.”
They all heard the sound of crackling in the distance.
“They’re firing again!” Riley called out.
Selena gasped. “You just had to say it, didn’t you Mitch?”
“Huh?”
“If you hadn’t said what you just did, we’d be all right.”
“That’s insane!”
Suddenly the Avalon lurched heavily to the left and began to nosedive.
Selena screamed. “What’s happening?”
“Rudder’s off! They must have hit the tail!” Decker called out, gripping the yoke as it shook and wobbled violently in his hand. “We have serious issues with some of our control surfaces.”
“And this means?”
Decker stared up at her. “See that lake?”
“Yes, of course I bloody do! It’s right in front of us!”
“We might not be landing on it anymore.”
The plane twisted in the sky and she gasped again. “What does that mean?”
“It means the damage to the aircraft is moving us off course and I’m struggling to steer her back toward the lake!”
“But the rest is just… jungle!”
“I had not noticed that – thanks! Brace for impact, we’re going down!”
16
“Can’t you take her back up?”
“Ha! You just called the Avalon her!”
“I did not. I merely asked if you could take it back up into the air again.”
“No can do,” he said. “Only one engine and thanks to the damage to the control surfaces, I’ll struggle just keep her on a straight course, never mind up.”
“Well fuck me with a bag over my head,” Riley said. “This really is bad.”
“Yeah,” Decker said. “This really is bad. Lena, get back and tell the others to strap in and brace for impact. Riley, you’re up front with me. I could use some help with the yoke and rudders. Strap yourself in and enjoy.”
“Got it, Mitch.”
When Selena had disappeared through the cockpit door, Decker turned to the young Australian. “We’re in deep shit, Riley. I didn’t want to say anything with Lena around, but if this thing hits the trees we’re breaking into a thousand pieces. We might not all walk away.”
“Fuck.”
“And even if we do, we know we have hostile forces armed with guns in the area, almost certainly Tarántula and his goons. If we’re wounded in the crash it’s not going to be hard for them to find the site and hunt us down with their weapons.”
“Double fuck.”
“Grab the yoke and help me pull it across to the left. We’re going to do all we can to counterbalance the yaw with full left rudder, got it?”
“Got it.”
The tall Australian followed Decker’s orders and extended his long leg down until his boot was on the rudder pedal. The effect was instant, but did little to correct their trajectory. “You think we’re going to make it?”
The engine on their left hand-side growled and roared and the hot tropical wind buffeted the plane back and forth as they plummeted ever-closer to the ground.
“We’re not hitting the middle of the lake in a million years, which is what I was going for. We might just be able to make the area to the right near the shore. Our goal right now is to miss those trees.”
“I’m with you, mate.”
Decker reduced power again and struggled hard against the powerful yaw pulling the aircraft away from the lake and toward the jungle. They were already below the canopy level of the surrounding rainforest and impact was imminent. Decker called out to the crew and told them brace and seconds later the vintage aircraft touched down on the edge of the lake with a stomach-turning smash. Diana screamed for her life as the plane twisted to the right and ploughed a deep groove in the water.
Decker fought it. Full corrective rudder and pulling the remaining engine’s power back to idle, he gripped the yoke with his full force and just managed to keep the Avalon heading on a straight course. After a few terrifying seconds, the old plane
