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I stood up in my seat, telephone in hand, looking at the sea of humanity. They were desperate to get out. Some had a chance now. But was there any hope for humanity as a whole? How long would it be before the whole Earth was a burnt out cinder? Would they really be safer where we would take them? Would anyone be safe? Still, taking them out this hell was the only imperative for now that ruled the day, and the only human gesture we could extend to them in this grossly inhuman place that our world had become.
It was clear that they could force their way into the airplane much more easily than we could stop them. The initiative to end the boarding had to come from the people themselves. This seemed unlikely to happen.
"Is the plane full yet?" I asked Harry.
"No, maybe another hundred."
"A hundred is nothing," I called back and increased the speed of the engines, to signal the crowd to back off. Since the doors couldn't be closed with the ladders still in place, and I couldn't see us pushing the ladders over with people still hanging on them, I did the only thing that made any sense at all. I put on power, making a racket. But it was to no avail. So, I increased the speed of the engines again.
I stood up, opened the flight deck hatch, and watched the proceedings. The increased noise still didn't deter them. When Harry's call came to stop the boarding, the only solution I could think of was to increase the speed of the engines still more. This time I remained seated. With the breaks full on, I increased power again.
The noise of the engines, which must have been painful before, should now have become unbearable. The shrill shriek of the blades, the bearings, the thunder of the exhaust, all merged into a thundering scream of frightening intensity.
I called to Jennie.
"They're still on the ladders," Jennie informed me.
I increased the power again to 25% below the red line. The drone became deafening, even in the cockpit it became loud now. I could see from the flight deck window that some people had backed off now. But the ladders were still in place and the people still held on. Struggling to get on board, they pushed and yelled while those inside moved deeper into the plane.
My heart went out to them. The people were fighting for their life, but so were we now.
"We're too full! Do something!" Harry shouted into the phone.
"Try to shut the door, then!" I yelled back into the phone. It was hard to understand anything on the phone anymore.
"I can't!" he shouted back. "I can't get near it!"
Reluctantly I increased power to 90%. All four engine heat gages were already beyond the red line. Even with the brakes fully secured, it became uncertain at this point whether I could keep the plane from creeping forward. Rarely is this power level ever used, not even for takeoffs on short runways. The whole aircraft shook and twisted under the force of its engines, as if flying amidst a thunderstorm. With the ladders not too stable on the ground, boarding, now, became a dangerous affair. The engine intakes were also too close. The suction created turbulence at this power-level that could pull a hat of a person.
Fortunately sanity prevailed. The people responded.
The moment the last person had stepped off, the ladders were taken away. "All secured! Doors are closed! Go!" Harry called.
I throttled down and leaned back into my seat. Sweat poured down my face as I carefully let the brakes go. How good it felt to get rolling again! Minutes later we were over the runway, facing a dark gray sky. We climbed sluggishly with the throttles wide open, leaving the desperation behind that still ruled on the ground and would for a long time to come. Thank God, we had won!
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Stories about
Love
from novels by Rolf A. F. Witzsche
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