Two weeks into the ground mapping survey, Z21 was inbound to base when they were advised to watch for a DHC-4 Caribou in the landing pattern. For the second time since their arrival, they were bumped from their number-one position for field operations.
As they landed, Bill saw the Caribou on the apron, with the pilot and co-pilot conducting a post-flight inspection. A number of other Explorers unloaded equipment from the rear ramp of the plane. They must be the incoming ground survey crews that Cheng had told us would be here shortly, Bill thought. He suspected the plane was their support craft.
Doug maneuvered their bird into the hangar while Mindy completed some paperwork. Bill was about to tell Kim he’d take over the data conversion once they got into the ops shack, despite it being her turn, but then noticed that one of the people inspecting the Caribou looked a lot like Meri.
Once the engines were shut down he was the first out the door, rifle in hand. As he approached the cargo plane he could tell it was most definitely Meri, and she hadn’t even noticed him yet. Bill’s heart skipped a beat. He couldn’t believe it. Apparently, she was serving as the co-pilot. He saw her looking around and waved to her. A huge smile practically split her face and she waved back. She excused herself and began hurrying toward Bill, who had wasted no time heading in her direction. Bill enjoyed seeing the feminine way she walked, even with the rifle over her shoulder.
The next thing Bill knew he was holding Meri and kissing her. Breaking apart, the two laughed, with some embarrassment. “Well, that was unexpected,” Bill said.
“And hello to you, too,” Meri said, grabbing him around the neck and giving him another kiss.
Hooting and hollering had broken out around the assembled groups, with ribald shouts of “get a hammock” interspersed with catcalls and whistles.
This caused the two of them to blush, and Bill noticed that despite her tan, Meri flushed quite well. Must be the red hair thing, he thought. She also smells great!
Still holding onto his neck, Meri asked him “So, you gonna say hello, or what?”
“Hello, or what,” he said laughing lightly.
“I’ve gotta get back, but hang around.” She gave him another quick kiss and then returned to her post-flight inspection.
As Bill was waiting, he heard a familiar voice and turned. It was his former roommate, Jordan Washington. The two greeted each other with hugs, then compared experiences while Bill waited for Meri. Jordan was on one of the ground survey crews as their main biologist. “I think they just want me here to identify what critters might eat them.”
Once the plane was emptied, the air and ground crews were taken to the ops shack for a brief welcoming, and then to their quarters. Jordan left and joined his crew while Bill walked with Meri. He was thrilled to discover that her aircrew quarters were next to his. The ground crew quarters were next in line. Each crew consisted of four Explorers, and since there were four crews, that meant four more cabins.
The Caribou crew returned to their plane where they grabbed their equipment and returned to their quarters. Meri invited Bill in while she stashed her clothing and equipment. Like him, she would mainly be wearing flight suits, but she also needed her regular uniform handy.
After getting unpacked, they returned to the ops shack for supper. It was a crowded affair, with not enough table space for all. Bill and Meri, along with several others, elected to eat outside where picnic tables had been set up under an awning attached to the side of the ops shack. The tables had been made by the engineers the day before in the expectation that more seating would be needed.
Meri told Bill about finishing up survival school and how less than a week later she was assigned to flight Z45, which was the Caribou. The pilot was a three-year veteran, most of it in Caribous, but also some time in Providers. The ground survey crews were a mix of veteran Explorers and Probies on their first survey. She told him that Matt Green was also a Caribou co-pilot, but his craft was operating throughout Africa, currently based near the Atlas Mountains in North Africa.
“Considering how much he likes the heat, I’m sure he’s enjoying himself,” Bill said with a grin. “What about Nicole?” Meri told him that Nicole was a co-pilot on a Provider, operating between the east coast of Ti’icham and both Eurasia and Africa.
“Unlike me, she only gets to see her guy about once a week,” Meri finished with a grin, taking a bite of the freshly steamed lobster that was the catch of the day.
The two of them spent the rest of the evening chatting in the ops shack rec area, both happy just to see and be around the other. But, with early flights planned for all, they had to call it an evening. Bill walked Meri back to her quarters and got the kind of goodnight kiss that does little to settle a man down for sleep.
Indeed, just as he fell asleep, it seemed like it was time to get up.
“Rise and shine, lover boy. Daylight’s burning,” Mindy sang to him, shaking his hammock. Blearily he crawled out of his sack, looked at the dark outside, and said, “What daylight? All I can see are stars.”
Slipping on a flight suit and boots, he grabbed his rifle and joined the exodus to the latrine. Next up was coffee and breakfast. As they got there, the crew of the Caribou came in. Realizing that the tables only sat four, Bill left his crew so he and Meri could sit together. She was obviously a bird of a different feather when it came to mornings, as evidenced by her cheery and energetic disposition, in contrast to Bill’s monosyllabic grunting and all-around not wanting to be awake temperament.
Breakfast was followed by mission planning for the day’s flight. For the first time in weeks, Z21 was tasked with something other than just mapping. They would be dropping off the ground survey crews at various points along the island’s south side. One crew would be heading toward the eastern tip of the island from Carib Base, one crew would head north, and the remaining two crews would be dropped on beaches north of the base. Each would be separated by a distance of one hundred kilometers. Their missions were to explore inland, crossing the island, at which point they’d be picked up on the north shore. Each crew was expected to be out in the boonies for a bit over a week, with overflights and resupply every three days by the Caribou.
This was where Kim and Bill’s work mapping the island would come in handy, as the ground crews would be working off the maps they had produced in the weeks leading up to the crew’s arrival. The ground crews would be given a couple of days back at the base and then proceed onto the next survey once the mapping of those sections was complete.
After dropping off the final crew, Z21 would continue east and begin the day’s aerial survey. They would continue doing surveys until it was time to pick up the ground crews. On the days that the Caribou was not involved in resupply they would be assisting Z21 map the island.
All members of both the air and ground surveys attended the final briefing shortly after breakfast. Radio and backup frequencies were confirmed, land routes identified and confirmed, and resupply matters discussed. Several potential extraction points for each crew were also identified on or near their routes, some appearing to be suitable for a rough airfield. Any possible extraction point for more than one Explorer would require clearing vegetation, ensuring the Caribou could land and take off. The Short Take Off and Landing (STOL) capabilities of the Caribou meant it could get into and out of rough fields of only 280 meters. Of course, it also needed clearance at the end of the runway so it wouldn’t run into any trees. There was a reason some of the supplies brought in by the ‘Bou Crew, as they were known, included detonation cord, plastic explosives, and blasting caps. The flitter would also live in the back of the Caribou in case an Explorer needed extraction and they were unable to land a cargo plane.
Their Caribou, with the tail designation Z56, would use the first day to scout out the possible extraction points to identify how suitable they were for operations. This involved some dangerous low-level flying, so they were to check in often.
At 0800 hours, the first two ground survey crew
s began their journey, while the remaining crews boarded the CL-415 for the trip.
Within minutes, the seaplane was in the air en route to its first drop off west of the base, only 100 kilometers away. The plane was soon there. Mindy circled the prospective water landing site checking for any potential hazards. Finding none, she put the plane down and landed on the water. As opposed to the relatively smooth landing on a developed field, the water landing was bumpy until they slowed sufficiently, and then the plane rocked from the waves while Mindy guided it toward the beach. Not wanting to get stuck, she stopped a short distance from the shore and turned the plane into the wind, which was blowing from the sea. Bill deployed an inflatable raft that could carry four people and their gear. As the raft would be needed again, the aircrew would ferry two Explorers to shore at a time. Mindy and Doug were needed to maintain the plane’s stability in the ocean, so this chore fell to Bill and Kim.
Bill held onto a rope that was tethered to the raft while one of the ground crew boarded it. Once aboard, others handed him four paddles, two packs, four rifles, and four sets of belts laden with survival equipment. The extra rifles and belts belonged to Bill and Kim. Once the equipment was stowed, the second Explorer boarded, followed by Kim and then Bill. All four were wearing inflatable vests over their survival vests. They paddled to shore.
Soon the small waves were pushing them ashore, and the two Explorers, barefoot and with pants rolled up, hopped out of the raft and pulled it further on shore. They grabbed their equipment, put their belts on, slung their rifles, and set the packs down on the sand. Then they pushed the raft back into the waves where Bill and Kim struggled to get it back to the plane.
They repeated the sequence with the second set of Explorers. As they returned, they saw the first pair had rolled down their pants and donned socks, boots, and packs, and were holding their rifles at the ready, facing the landward edge of the beach. Before leaving, Bill and Kim wished the crew a safe journey and shook hands with each of them.
Back at the plane, Bill grabbed a stanchion near the door and held the raft steady while Kim tossed the paddles onto the plane’s floor. She then climbed out and Bill handed her the rope that was tethered to the raft. He opened the valve to deflate the raft, then hopped into the plane. Once the raft was deflated enough, Bill and Kim struggled to get it inside, where Kim closed the valve. They were panting and soaked with seawater when it was finally in. Leaving the partially deflated raft on the floor, Bill secured the door and yelled through the fuselage to Mindy “All secure!” while stripping off his life vest and dumping it in the raft.
As the two aerial survey specialists made their way back to their crash seats they could feel the plane transform from floating to forward motion; the rocking ceased, and the slapping of waves on the hull increased. They were barely buckled in when the plane broke free from the sea and rose into its natural environment.
A short time later they repeated the process with the second ground survey crew. This one also went smoothly, and soon they were back in the air.
The rest of the morning was spent conducting surveys of the island, with lunch consisting of flight rats. Mindy had started letting Bill take over as co-pilot while Doug ate, so Bill made sure to feed Doug first.
“At least wait until I’m outta the damn chair before you try to take over,” Doug teased Bill as he unstrapped from the seat. For the next half hour, Mindy let Bill fly the plane while Doug ate and had a cup of coffee and Kim ran the remote sensing operations. All too soon, at least for Bill, he was kicked out of the right-hand seat and sent back to his workstation to process the data.
After several hours, Mindy made the final turn and flew east, back to Carib Base. As she approached the second insertion point, she attempted to raise the ground survey crew on the radio. Soon she was able to and confirmed all was well. “Stay safe out there.”
She did the same thing with the first crew and reported to Cheng upon their arrival “home” at Carib Base.
20
Once on the ground Doug and Bill carried the partially deflated raft to a spot on the apron where they took buckets of fresh water and rags and washed the salt off it. Leaving it to dry, they went to the Ops Shack to get something cold to drink. Bill thought of taking a shower but decided to hold off until the raft was dry, folded, and put away. No sense getting all sweaty again, he thought.
Stepping into the Ops Shack was almost like stepping into an air-conditioned room after having the sun beat down on them. Between the lack of direct sunlight and the circulation of air from the overhead fans, Bill could feel the evaporation of his sweat cooling his skin. It reminded him of a physical geography lab when they did an experiment on latent heat. And this would be latent heat of evaporation, he could imagine the teaching assistant say in his rather smug tone. He racked his rifle and stripped off his survival vest, putting it on a hook near the rifle rack. Doug did the same with his rifle, but couldn’t be bothered to remove his vest.
As the two sat at one of the dining tables and drank some iced lemonade, they heard on the radio that Zulu 56, the tail number for the base’s new Caribou, was inbound and ten minutes out. Soon the plane was on the ground and taxied to the apron.
“Damn, they’re throwing all sorts of crap on our nice clean raft,” Doug complained jokingly. Bill was just glad the raft didn’t blow away with the prop wash from the powerful twin propellers. The plane’s engines shut down, the props stopped spinning, and the crew was soon exiting. After completing their post-flight inspection Meri and the pilot, Sam Long, made a beeline for the Ops Shack. Upon arrival, Long went directly to Cheng, who was seated at the operations table, to brief him on the flight.
Meri went straight to Bill after racking her rifle, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Then she stepped back and wrinkled her nose. “What on Hayek have you been up to? You stink like a sweaty musk ox!”
“Oops, looks like the honeymoon’s over,” Doug commented sotto voce.
“Well, while you were having fun flying in the sky, I happened to have been paddling around in the ocean, numerous times, and wrestling with big yellow inflatables,” Bill said, mock-indignantly.
“Sounds like fun, but you sit over there and don’t even think of getting close to me until you bathe,” Meri said, pointing to the chair Bill had just vacated on her behalf.
He plopped down while she got a lemonade and sat opposite him.
“There, now I can look at you and I don’t have to smell you,” she said with a smile.
“I guess that’s better than nothing,” Bill said.
“You can say that again,” Doug muttered.
Bill asked Meri about her first day. She explained how the mapping Bill and Kim had done was really helping identify potential extraction points. “At one point I thought we’d need our own extraction, the way Sam took us so low. I figured we’d be pulling branches out of the wheel wells.”
A short while later Doug tapped Bill on the shoulder and told him they should probably roll up and put away the raft now. “That way you can actually clean up a little so your woman friend doesn’t find you so offensive,” he said with a smirk.
Meri smiled up at him, raised her hand and waggled her finger, saying, “Toodle-oo.” Off Bill went, promising to head straight for the shower after that. She agreed to meet him afterward.
Later, showered and changed into a fresh uniform, Bill joined Meri in the Ops Shack for supper. Meri and the other new Explorer were given their Survey Medals in the same manner that Bill and Kim had received theirs.
For Bill, the next several days were spent mapping, with evenings spent with Meri. He would have liked to do more than just talk with her, but conditions weren’t quite suitable for anything else. He had to be satisfied with the evening kiss good night, which sometimes became quite steamy.
While Bill’s craft was engaged in mapping, Meri’s was involved in resupplying the ground crews and keeping track of them with some mapping in between.
Event
ually, two of the crews announced they were ready for pickup, so once again Z21 landed on the water, this time on the north side of the island, and Bill and Kim got to do more paddling. As the ground crews boarded the raft, it was obvious they had been doing some rough traveling. There were stains on their uniforms and their boots were quite scuffed. Bill noticed, though, that they didn’t stink like somebody who had been trekking around in the jungle for a week. He thought at first this was because they were outside, but even when the first group of Explorers was in the plane, he didn’t notice much, other than an earthy undertone. Then it dawned on him; they must be using the hygiene tools he was issued and taught about in survival school. Along with survival shooting, it was one of the things drilled into them, which is why every base had showers installed as soon as possible. Clean Explorers were less likely to be sick Explorers, and clean clothes lasted longer than dirty clothes, as the grains of dirt and sand didn’t remain in the fabric to grind it away like a fine sandpaper.
Once back at base, the new Explorers were awarded their Survey Medals. Fortunately, no Purple Hearts were handed out. Bill appreciated the fact that Cheng always made it a point to hand out the Survey Medals immediately upon earning them. And considering the mortality rate of ground crews, as evidenced by the wall of stars in the Corps’ museum…
Each ground crew that was picked up got to spend two days at base loafing, and then it was back into the jungle for another romp across the narrow island. By the time the island was surveyed on the ground, the crew of Z21 had finished mapping it and had moved on to mapping other islands of the Greater Antilles.
The Corps of Discovery Trilogy Box Set: Books 1-3: A multiverse series of alternate history Page 24
