|
"Initially, a Navy task force was coming in from the north," he said to me, sipping from a half empty cup of coffee that he carried with him. "The Navy has already evacuated the coastal areas by helicopter from an carrier escort that was on maneuver north of the strait. But you can't evacuate a hundred thousand by helicopter. It just can't be done. So they pulled back to a point south, on the West Coast, to take on traffic out of Port Alberni. Although they say, there isn't much movement through Alberni anymore." He put his coffee on the desk.
"The carrier task-force, itself, will soon anchor at Nootka Sound," he pointed to a map on the wall. "They'll use their supply aircraft to service the nearby towns, landing on highways. But the main task falls on us," he said. "If only there was more time available to do the job. The fallout is moving north. It has effectively trapped most of the people."
"How difficult is it, I mean desperate? Do we have to worry about security?" I asked.
"The pilots say, it's no easy matter getting in," he replied. "They've got no beacons, no radio, no nothing, and the weather is bad. Once you're on the ground, you're on your own. No services! No fuel! Should anything go wrong with your aircraft you're lost to us until we can fly a repair crew in. This won't happen for months. It may not happen until after the radiation has dissipated. That may take years. So be careful."
I promised I would. "When do we leave?"
"Not so fast my friend, not so fast. In order to reach the highway with enough fuel to get back, you'll be working out of Alaska. Fairbanks will be your new base. Portland or Frisco are closer, but out of action because of an earthquake triggered by the blast. And so is LA. The shock waves from the blasts unlatched the San Andreas Fault. The quake along the fault has put the Campbell River airport out of action. The quake has also caused landslides on the Gold River highway," he pointed to the map again. "If it hadn't been for the landslides, the Navy would have dealt with the situation overland, but with the only cross-island highway blocked, they can't get the stranded people across to the other side of the island, to the West Coast. Nor can they sail around the island to get to them. The fallout would get to the people long before the Navy could. As I say, we are their only hope."
I scratched my head. "And what about Vancouver?" I asked. "Can it be used in an emergency?"
The man shook his head. "Never again in your lifetime! Vancouver is off limits for the next fifty thousand years. There is plenty of plutonium dust in the fallout from the nuclear rector that got hit in the South. There is also talk about radioactive cobalt from weapons labs being dispersed in the fallout. The military still uses Vancouver's airport, but only with special protective gear. Without it, anyone landing there is committing suicide."
I shook my head.
"Do you still want to go?" he asked Jennie.
"Yes," Jennie replied firmly.
After issuing us a security pass, he wished us good luck and passed us onto a young woman who checked my ID and got us registered, including Igor. Jennie and Igor were officially classified as flight attendants.
At 2:20 AM, our aircraft was ready, fueled up, stocked with food, medical equipment, and countless rolls of plastic sheet for the waiting masses as a protection against the worst of the fallout that would soon be upon them. I sat down and started the engines. There were two people already in the cockpit. The only thing we said to each other was, HI!
At 2:30 AM we were rolling on the runway. We lifted off from Number Three, leaving behind us our treasured paradise of sunshine, fragrant air, and memories that I was certain I would never forget. The sky above us was clear. The Pacific lay black beneath us. A faint reflection of the moonlight could be seen on the water. We had a fine day ahead of us, leaving the islands. This promise no longer pertained to us. Once we were out of the genial tropics the opposite would be our work-environment.
Next Page
|| - page index -
|| - chapter index -
|| - Exit -
||
|
