Storm at Sunset by Hall Ian

Author:Hall, Ian [Hall, Ian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Endeavour Press
Published: 2017-06-28T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

Now, as Freddie waited for his pick-up, the pictures of their meeting returned to him over and over again, and he replayed the dialogue a thousand times. Remarkable. Truly remarkable, he thought. He couldn’t wait to see the look on Nelli’s face when he brought her the news of her father. His first job tomorrow would be to button-hole the ops officer and arrange for his crew to be put on the Bandoeng run at the earliest opportunity. His continued to mull over the afternoon’s extraordinary meeting.

Eventually he became conscious that the heat was going out of the day, and he could see that the shadows were lengthening. The tropical sun would set quickly, and he knew that there was no flare path for night landings. He had no wish to be stuck in this unfamiliar place; in fact, he realised that he didn’t even have the first idea of the location of the British army camp. His escorts had left him and he was utterly alone. He glanced at his watch and was shocked to see that his Dak should have landed a couple of hours ago. Where the hell were they, the incompetent shower? He cursed them for letting him down.

He paced the landing strip for a few minutes, before thinking better of it. Despite the neigbouring British garrison, he didn’t know whether the area was completely free of guerrilla forces, and he had no desire to become a victim, or even a hostage. He was a sitting duck out on the open airfield and it would be only too easy for a small band to leap out of the jungle and take him. He fingered his service revolver nervously and scuttled back into cover.

He glanced at his watch again.

“Come on, you chaps. Get a move on.”

His own voice startled him. He hadn’t intended to speak aloud, and the sound seemed to have been amplified as sunset approached and the day sounds of the jungle began to subside. For God’s sake, he thought; this could be turning into a real mess.

A couple of times he persuaded himself that he heard the reassuring growl of Wasp engines, only for the phantom sounds to fade in the breeze amongst the treetops. But now … he was sure … there was something. He jumped up and ran to the edge of the landing strip. But there seemed to be nothing. Another false alarm and he retreated to cover, disappointed.

Then the familiar drone came again, rising steadily as the source grew closer. And before a minute was up he’d spotted the comforting bulk of a Dak as it hove into sight above the tree-line, barely visible against the darker, eastern sky. With its wheels down, the plane’s engine noise softened as the power came back for the final approach, and the Dak touched down with a small puff of dust from the tyres. Freddie stepped out from concealment and waved his arms. The aircraft swung round and headed towards him.

“Thank gawd for that.

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