Prose

“We have escaped!  We are free! We are flying away,” Maria cheers and at that moment the radio crackles in the earphones and the control tower tries to make contact with the helicopter.  For a moment Ryno considers switching off the radio-set but decides against it.
 
Moments later they hear the control tower making contact, with the control tower at Serpa Pinto and how fighter jets are being called for action.  Ryno realizes that their biggest enemy now is radar and that they have got to fly in the ground clutter not to be seen.

They fly without any rotating and aircraft lights and Ryno forces the pilot to fly very low.

“With those Migs that they are trying to vector on us, I want us to get out of Angolan airspace as quickly as is possible.  I do not know if we have got enough fuel to reach South West Africa (Namibia).”

“Is it not very dangerous to fly so low in this weather,” Maria wants to know.  After a while the cloud cover and fog restricts their vision and the pilot also starts to complain.  Ryno’s knife at his throat forces him to fly further without saying another word.  Ryno notices from Maria’s voice that she is strained, tired and worried.

“We cannot take the chance of being picked up by one of the Angolan radar stations or the radar of the Mig fighters.  We either fly low or take the risk of being shot down in flames, when one of the Migs reaches us.  They will not have a lot of mercy for the people who have blown away half of their air force.”

It is very dark as the moon and stars are extinguished by the clouds and fog and after a while Ryno finds the frequency of the Migs.

They are looking for us somewhere in the west,” Maria remarks and he notices that she is relaxing somewhat.  Although the aircraft is swallowing fuel like an alcoholic will do with its last bottle of liquor, Ryno forces the pilot to fly at its highest speed.

The flight becomes bumpy from the turbulence that is getting worse and Ryno reads tension on Maria’s face.  It looks as if we are flying straight into a thunderstorm,” Maria remarks after a while.

“Can’t we do something to escape it,” she wants to know somewhat scared.  “We will just have to fly straight through, as we cannot fly any higher or start to change direction.”

The controls for a while feel stiff in the pilot’s hands, but he is able to get the helicopter under control when it suddenly is jerked downwards.  A moment later his greatest fear is realised, as a tremendous lightning bolt smashes down and barely misses the gunship.

Ryno hears Maria screaming and the afterglow of the thunder bolt is still reflecting on his eyes, when the next one explodes.

After a while Maria gets silent and he notices how she is praying for them with her eyes closed.  After twenty anxious minutes they are through the worst of the thunderstorm and suddenly it is as if they are flying into another world when the clouds disappear and they fly in a moonlit night.

Ryno switches the ADF equipment to audio to find a radio station and the first sounds of Mozart’s symphony 25, plays through the static noise of the microphones.  Ryno notices how the music helps Maria to relax some more and after a while Maria says:  “I haven’t known that classical music can be so soothing and so full of power.”

The golden moon brings something romantic to the landscape beneath them and when they fly over a river the moon is reflected from its surface.

“We are in South West Africa,’ Ryno remarks happily and they still fly on a few moments beneath the radar cover.  Later they come across a railway track that stretches out like a direction indicator beneath them.

For almost an hour they fly along the railway track, when the pilot remarks worried that the fuel of the helicopter is running out and that they are only flying on reserves.

Ryno tells him to land in an opening next to some trees and the helicopter’s engines dies just after they have landed.

Ryno quickly searches the pilot for weapons and takes his pistol, which they should have done previously and the Cuban begs not to be killed.

Ryno laughs at him.  “No, friend.  I am not even going to tie you up.  We are in South West Africa and free.  You can remain here with the helicopter and will probably be taken in custody by the army or you can jump on a train or flee, or do what ever you want to.”

The Cuban does not believe Ryno and is astonished, when both Ryno and Maria dress in civilian clothes.  They walk away from the Cuban, away from war of which they have had enough for a lifetime, to where a goods train stands waiting and freedom and a new future is waiting on them and they are excited and happier than any time before.






--*The End*--