Flying at the edge of a poisoned world.
"We are taking seven hundred to Calgary," Ken informed us as we entered the flight deck.
"Seven hundred?" I repeated.
"Yes," Ken confirmed. "The aircraft can haul 200,000 pounds. If we take no freight, no baggage, we can carry more than a thousand passengers, if we can squeeze them in."
"Seven hundred... A thousand... It's all the same to me," I said to Ken as I climbed into the captain's seat. "If you feel that taking seven hundred is safe, it's all right with me."
Actually the number startled me. In order to get seven hundred people on board they would have to be stacked like sardines. I was startled by the idea that this might be possible. By the same token my pathetic attitude towards this rescue venture startled me even more. I determined to pull myself together. "Let's take a thousand if you think we won't exceed the floor loading limits," I told Ken.
Ken nodded, "OK skipper, a thousand it is!" Ken relayed the change through to the tower and to the boarding gate. After he conferred with Harry, he turned to me once more and added; "This may be the first flight of the largest airlift the world has ever seen."
As I said this, I noticed Harry becoming interested in what Ken and I had to say.
Ken told us that the Government of Canada had received offers of assistance from all over the world. "A thousand planes will be involved. Vancouver must be evacuated within ten hours, before the fallout becomes critical." He began to grin and almost whispered, "I hope you gentlemen don't mind that I volunteered our services."
"That's quite all right, Ken," I said to him.
It didn't seem important to me from this point on what happened to me. Besides, I couldn't get anyway from this plane anyway. With people streaming in, there would be no way open to get out. And if I did, where would I go?
"We'll do this together," I said. I was fully prepared to go on flying until I dropped dead. That's as much as I cared about myself. I could understand Harry now. I told him so.
Harry nodded in agreement about flying together.
The tumult of loading passengers had started at this point. Someone with a loud voice directed the people to squeeze together. While this happened, I noticed that we were also taking on fuel. Ken was in control of everything. I was glad that one of us had a clear head still for the necessary administrative thinking. Harry was slowly coming around. I heard him telling Ken not to skimp on the fuel. "Give us a 20% buffer, even if that put us over the landing weight limit" he demanded.
Wondering about how many people we would eventually take, I felt more and more satisfied that flying an airplane at this time, was the best thing anyone could do to devote the rest of his life to. I reasoned that our life probably wouldn't last long anyway once the nuclear conflict got into full swing.
At this point my thoughts went back to Melanie and the children. I pictured them waiting for us, cheering among themselves as our giant aircraft approached in the distance, but only to see me pull the wheels up and never touch the runway, disappearing in the distance in a trail of black smoke while the broadcast started to tell its gruesome story. I couldn't get this scene out of my mind.
I trained my thoughts onto Jennie. I had directed her to the spare seat behind me. It hurt that now the only person that I had left, which I felt very close to, seemed so far away. That tragedy had created yet one more barrier. I puzzled over this problem until I felt the plane moving again. Harry had the controls. I motioned him to carry on.
