Pirate - Duncan Falconer [115]
The propeller turned over behind him, vibrating the chassis. The bucket-style seats were snug and quite comfortable. Stratton checked his small backpack was secured to the back of Downs’s seat in between his legs and that the mortar shells nestled tightly in their pouches either side of him. The safety pins remained in the heads to prevent them from going off should the glider crash. He looked over at the glider to his side. Matt sat in the back staring ahead. The man had not even looked in his direction since Downs’s threat.
‘Clear for take-off,’ came a voice over the radio from the ship’s operations room.
Stratton looked at the back of Downs’s head and wondered how the man was feeling. He knew Downs to be a tough fighter and although he would be as nervous as everyone else, he was good at hiding it.
Stratton felt a touch of the butterflies in the pit of his own stomach as the seconds to take-off ticked away. The wind had picked up a little but it was being controlled by the captain to a large degree using the ship’s speed and direction. The plan would be to have several knots blowing in their faces to aid the take-off because the first craft only just had enough runway to get airborne. That would improve for each following row of aircraft.
Stratton checked his GPS. The Somali coastline was eight miles away. There was a bit of a headwind but they hoped to be on target before 2200. The ideal time for an attack such as this would be in the early hours of the morning, around 0200 to 0300, when the enemy would be well asleep. But that would not have left them time to complete the other phases of the operation before first light, which was important.
‘Hey, Stratton.’
Stratton looked at Downs who had his head turned to the side enough to talk to him but not to see him. ‘Yeah?’
‘I think we might be too heavy.’
‘You just decided that?’ Stratton asked, suspicious Downs was trying to wind him up, such was the man’s sense of humour.
‘No. Been thinking about it all day.’
‘Why are you telling me now?’
‘I didn’t want to crash into the sea without you knowing I knew about it.’
‘OK. Well, now I know, thanks for sharing that.’ Stratton still wasn’t sure if Downs was being serious or not. The Irishman had a wry sense of humour even during the most desperate of situations. But he wasn’t a mental case either and clearly had some confidence they could get airborne or he wouldn’t risk it, certainly not as commander of his first major operation. Stratton hoped so at least. ‘I’m all fastened in so you might as well get going.’
‘OK. Just what I was thinking.’
Downs eased the throttle forward. The propeller revolutions greatly increased. The framework vibrated much more as everything got a little louder though it remained much quieter than Stratton had expected.
The craft hadn’t moved. Downs had intentionally kept the brake on until the revs reached maximum.
He released the brake and gripped the joystick and the glider lurched forward. The runway wasn’t as smooth as it looked. Even though the wheels had a little suspension built into them, the little glider juddered and jolted along, rattling Stratton’s teeth in his head so much he had to clamp his jaw shut.
As the glider picked up speed, the nylon wing panel above them ballooned into a tight curve as it caught the air. The framework creaked as it strained to hold everything together.
Stratton forgot everything else and stared at the end of the Ocean’s runway. They were quickly closing in on it and the wheels had not yet left the deck. He glanced to his side for the other glider that should have taken off with them but he couldn’t see it. He didn’t turn in his seat to look for it, concerned at that moment for no one else but them.
The engine was purring at full revs.