Chapter 5

Chapter 5

   Once the wings had throttled up to speed, all the operator had to do was control their flight by moving their body. I loved flying, and under normal circumstances, this flight would be no exception. However, I had no time to enjoy the flight; I had to get back to the ship, hidden in a valley about 40 miles to the north-west. I would have barely enough steam to make the flight. I twisted the grips to gain altitude.


   I pushed the wings to their limit; The faster I got clear of the city, the less chance there would be of getting pursued. Below were the streets, with the invaders going about their lives. And then, I began to pass over the slums, where my people, the Arcadians, lived. It broke my heart, every time I saw them, the once proud people reduced to slaves for the invading Estovakians. We helped them in any way we could; sneaking in food and clothes. But it was never enough, the conditions kept getting worse.

   I shook my head. Now was not the time. I needed to escape. I looked around to get my bearings. Below and to my left, the river Don surged on, grey and choppy. I put the river to my back and flew west. I had been flying for several minutes when I thought I heard an engine behind me. I immediately pitched forward into a steep dive, just as a burst of automatic-rifle fire cut through the air where I had just been. A diesel powered plane passed by seconds later. It was one of the new biplanes, mounting a pair of automatic rifles in the nose. A quick glance behind me revealed his wingman, in an identical plane, now trying to draw bead on me. I snapped and rolled left to avoid the burst of fire, turning over on my back and letting myself fall a short distance before righting myself. I knew I couldn’t keep avoiding their fire, because eventually they would manage to tag me, no matter how much I manoeuvred. Thinking hard, I began to formulate a plan.

   Seconds later, they were on me again. This time, instead of rolling away from the lead plane, I rolled into it, and caught the landing gear as I passed underneath of it, slamming my body against the underside of the plane. I quickly shut down my wings to keep from getting pulled off. The leader’s wingman caught my sudden movement and fired a burst after me reflexively. Unfortunately for the lead pilot, his wingman’s bullets tore through the right side wings of his plane, causing it to roll out of control. I held on for dear life, knowing I had to stay with the plane as long as possible for this plan to work. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the pilot bail out, his white parachute billowing out behind him.

   I looked at the pressure gauge on my wings. It showed roughly ten percent full. Doing a quick calculation in my head, I realized I had about one minute flight time, after I got the wings started. My heart sank. I wouldn’t even be able to stay aloft long enough to get my bearings. I didn’t even know how far I was from the airship. Seeing how close I was to the ground, I put those thoughts out of my head. Pushing away from the plummeting aircraft with my legs, I pulled the starter cord on the wings, and they immediately roared to life. The wings started to pitch left, and I knew at once something was wrong. The left wing was moving erratically, not at all in the smooth pattern it was supposed to maintain. I looked around to attempt and find out where I was; It was clear I was going to be stuck walking. I looked around frantically and spotted the landmark I was looking for: the tall, lonely peak, in the middle of the White Forest. Near the base of the peak was the abandoned aerodrome where the airship was hidden. Then, with a final cough, the engine died and I was in freefall.