Chapter 3

November 8, 07:00 Overberg Ex Military Airfield.

The take-off was just after 07:00. First, I taxied onto the runway with the other two jets lined up behind me. Looking back over my shoulder, I saw Nadia giving a thumbs-up sign to the left-back.

“Ready there in the back, Nadia?” I asked.

“Roger, Captain! Let her rip.” she returned over the intercom. Her voice sounded a bit faint, so I upped the volume a notch.

“Good ... rolling!” I said and advanced the throttle to just under maximum power. No need to engage the afterburner; we have 10000 feet of pavement, and the Mirage will lift off long before that. I anticipated that we would use less than half of the runway. We have full internal fuel, and the Mirage was relatively light with no payload, so therefore has a range of just over 2000 kilometres. We’ll only be flying to just before Mosselbay and back; our route today is just over 1000 kilometres.

Slightly to the right front, on my 2 o’clock position, I saw two tiny figures next to the PC-24 on the apron. Don had his headset on but Laura did not. I suppose she wanted to hear the sound of thunder in real-time.

The Mirage crouched down on her nose wheel as the near full power blasted out the back. I released the brakes, and she surged forward. I felt the rudder come alive and kept the stick centred. At one hundred and eighty knots she wanted to fly, but I kept her plastered to the runway. At two hundred knots I gave up and let her fly. She unstuck, and I selected the undercarriage up. No flaps or flaperons on this bird.

The Mirage climbed like a homesick angel. Three hundred knots came up on the airspeed indicator, and I took the throttle back to half power. We were climbing at 280 metres a second (1000 feet per second) and at this rate, we will hit 15000 feet in sixteen seconds. I kept her speed at 300 knots and decreased the angle of climb to a sedate 500 feet per minute.

Banking to the right at 45 degrees and with a little rudder input, I let her slip around to the north. As we came around to the north, I saw Olivia lift off the runway. My radio broke squelch.

“Eagle one, do we follow you?” Leah asked.

“Negative Eagle two. Follow the flight plan,” I confirmed.

“Roger. Following flight plan.” Leah answered. I brought the Mirage level and continued about two kilometres, then swung her back south. Runway 17 stretched away like a pencil stripe in front of us.

“Nadia, are you okay back there?” I asked.

“Wheee! A big fat roger back here!” Nadia said and this time I heard her perfectly.

“You up for some fun?” I asked.

“Bring it on, Captain!”

“Roger, get ready for a low-level high-speed flyby on runway 17.”

“Cool!” Came the somewhat unprofessional reply, but who cares? I dropped the nose of the bird and selected a lower power setting. With this bird, you can break the sound barrier in a dive in no time flat. You need to keep your attention to detail in this cockpit.

Keeping the speed to 500 knots, we came in over the run-off area to the north of runway 17. The big white painted 17 flashed past in a blur under the sharp-pointed nose of the Mirage. I kept to the air display limit of 200 feet vertical along the runway. Near the middle of the 10000-foot strip of the runway, I let the nose up a few degrees and:

“Rolling right ... Go!” I said into the oxygen mask mike, flicking the stick right. The ever-responsive Mirage spun on her axis and I caught the roll just before she wanted to go around a second time, climbing out to catch up with Leah and Olivia, now nearly at 15000 feet and approaching waypoint “ALPHA 1.”

“Now that was fun!” Nadia said.

“Are you okay back there so far?”

“I’ve been flying with both Dave in his Impala and with Don in the Buccaneer, but this, this takes the cake. Whee!”

“Glad you’re happy, Cheeky!” I said using her call sign.

“Now let’s catch the other two before they think we went AWOL.”

“Three minutes,” I said, indicating the time ‘till we would be in formation.

“Did we burn much fuel with that stunt?”

“Nope. We are rigged for a ferry flight. So, we have at least a thousand kilometres more fuel than we need for this hour and twenty-minute sortie.”

“So now it becomes a dull ride?”

“Nope. You know all that stuff around you, start to play with your radar and targeting hardware. See what you can get us as a bogey somewhere!”

“You sure we are not armed?”

“Nope. Nothing, zilch.”

“Good! Because I just shot down Olivia,” she giggled. At that moment my radio broke squelch.

“That’s not funny! Radar painting me for missile lock-on! My RWR (Radar Warning Receiver) is screaming its head off! At least warn me you are locked on to me!” Olivia transmitted. “Are we playing dirty?”

“Nope. You need to be awake up there and Nadia needs the practice,” I replied.

“Well tell her I’m now history, and my ghost will haunt her for the rest of her life!” Olivia chuckled.

“Eagle One, Eagle Two.”

“Go, Eagle Two.”

“Can I break formation and try too?” Leah asked, and I could just imagine Leah fluttering her eyelashes.

“Negative, Eagle two. Try on ground targets. There’s much of them around, and you can see 50 kilometres away,” I transmitted.

“Ah, gee! I can never have some fun,” Came from Leah.

“Eagle one, eagle three, can I switch to the back?” Olivia asked.

“In twenty seconds you’ll BE at the back!” I said as I slid alongside Olivia on my way to the front of the formation. As we slowly passed her, Olivia looked over to the left at me and touched her right hand to her helmet in a salute. I returned the gesture.

“Nice! Two targets!” Olivia transmitted.

“Cheeky to the rest of the squad. I’m initiating countermeasures.” Giggle.

“Oh, brother...” I sighed under my breath. “This will be a long flight!”

November 8, 07:00 Smitswinkels Bay.

With the scouts landed onto the beach, the skipper of the fishing trawler withdrew from the scene and sailed back towards Kalk Bay Harbour, leaving the 6-place rubber duck boat for their use. The going this time through the swells was much easier, as the wind was at their back.

Standing on the half-dry beach sand, Lotti, the 20-year-old gang member who was placed in charge of the group, turned to his four companions.

“Yis my Bra, why come this box is so heavy?”

“Cos the provisions are in there. Wie can’t sit here droe bek, Ik se!”

“Nooit man! The boss-man will kill us for drinking onna da job.”

“Now, you want to sit here for how long without a dop? It can be days on end. That flame-head moitjie may never ever come back here. Besides, look up to the Simon’s Town Road, whadda you check there my Bra? The girls are coming down the footpath. We are organized, Ik se.”

And so the scouts have improvised their stay: girls and liquor. The party was about to begin.

Authors note: Cape Flats slang used:

Yis = Yes.

Bra = Brother.

Droe bek (Pronounced “Droo Back”) = dry mouth.

Dop = (Pronounced “Doope.”) Something to drink in the form of liquor.

Moitjie (Pronounced “moy-chie” ) = young girl or young woman.

Ik se (pronounced eek-schee-ah” = I say.

Onna da job = on the job, or at work.

Nooit = Pronounced “Noo-oi-te.” An Afrikaans word meaning “Never,” but used here as an exclamation of to emphasise the words following.

November 8, 07:00 Overberg Ex Military Airfield, Apron “B”

“Here, Laura, put this on,” Don Lambert instructed his wife, Laura, as he handed her a headset. She just looked at him and shook her head.

“Nope! I want to hear the sound of those birds taking off. Three of them. It’s a chance I might never get again.”

The three Mirages taxied out towards runway 17, and the whining of the three SNECMA M53-P2 afterburning turbofan engines were ear-splitting in the early morning air. Laura did not mind; to her, it was music.

The two-seat Mirage 2000 N turned onto the runway and rolled forward to make space for the two single-seat Mirage 2000 D aircraft behind it. For what seemed to Laura an eternity, the three aircraft just sat there.

Then there was a thunderous roar, and the lead aircraft dipped its nose, and moments later shot forward and down the runway. At about halfway down the runway, it lifted its nose and immediately unstuck from the runway, climbing sharply upwards into the sky.

As Laura and Don watched the aircraft lower its climbing attitude and turn right, another roar ensued, and the second bird began its run down the 10000-foot runway.

The first Mirage turned back towards them and flew past on the west side of the airport, carried on and then turned back towards the runway. By that time the third Mirage was airborne, climbing away towards the south.

“Either Ash has a problem, or you’re in for a surprise,” Don noted.

“Well, I hope he has not got a difficulty. That take-off was awesome!” Laura exclaimed.

“Well, he is too fast to attempt a landing. Don said as he squinted his eyes looking at the fast-approaching aircraft.

The Mirage came lower and lower, crossing the threshold at 200 feet and flashing down the runway; the roaring sound of the turbofan engine blasting down like it wanted to pin Laura to the ground.

Then it lifted its nose slightly, so slightly that it was hardly noticed by onlookers on the ground. The next moment the aircraft spun to the right on its axis, and came level and upright again, this time climbing fast upwards to join the other two receding Mirages.

“Come, Laura. It’s time to go,” Don said, as the sound of the departing Mirages faded away.

“Can we get one for Christmas?” She asked in a little girl voice, looking up at Don, fluttering her eyelashes.

“Maybe, Dear, maybe...” he murmured as he wrapped Laura up in his arms, kissing the top of her blond head. “One might never know, would one?”

November 8, 19:00 Overberg Ex Military Airfield, crew quarters.

We were all gathered in the lounge area of the house I shared with Nadia. Supper at the mess was just done, and we trooped back to the houses; somehow everyone ended up at my place. Mai-Loan strolled past it towards her place, and I thought she was still mad at me for this morning’s brush-off.

“Go ahead, I will join you shortly,” Mai-Loan said as she carried on past to her place.

It was Olivia who found an old abandoned guitar in the garage of her and Leah’s house. She brought it along and handed it to me.

“There, sing for your dessert,” Olivia instructed.

“What’s for dessert? I thought we were done eating for today.”

“Nope, Mai-Loan bought ice cream for us all and will be serving it shortly,” Leah interjected.

“Oh, yummy! Ice cream ... What flavour?” Darya asked.

“I’m not sure, but any ice cream will be good, never mind the flavour,” Leah said.

I looked at the guitar. It was dusty and missing one string. Lucky it was the bottom string and thus only used sometimes. A guitar can be played without the bottom, high “E,” string. If any other string was missing, it could pose a problem.

I’ll just have to do with five strings. Not such a big deal of a train smash. Besides, Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones played his signature sound with the bottom E string removed, and the guitar tuned to an open G tuning.

“So, any requests?” I asked, strumming a chord or two.

“Nah, just take it away and make a noise!” Nadia said.

“Okay, you asked for it,” and I strummed a few more chords, The guitar was a little out of tune, so I had to adjust the strings to get it to sound a little nearer to the real thing than what it was.

Flowing out of the tuning I settled onto a rhythm; Olivia picked up on the tune and started to beat on the coffee table some drum beat, in tune with my meagre attempt at playing the out-of-tune guitar.

Words just popped into my mind and before long I started to sing with the rhythm:

The other day I felt so young.

But now I feel a hundred years.

If you turned around, and look what you’ve done.

You’ll see my eyes, you’ll see my tears.

My friends all say: “Don’t cry too long.

There’s another love to come.”

They may be right, they may be wrong, but still my love for you goes on.

You disappeared without goodbye.

Knowing so well, you’d make me cry.

But troubles, you could never face,

So you just left an empty place.

My friends all say: “Don’t cry too long

There’s another love to come.”

They may be right, they may be wrong, but still my love for you goes on.

The first kiss made a fool of me.

It struck me blind, I couldn’t see.

For you, this love was just the same

I’m asking now, “Am I to blame?”

My friends all say, “Don’t cry too long.

There’s another love to come.”

They may be right, they may be wrong, but still my love for you goes on.

Song: Another Love To Come, by South African Artist: Cornelia.

As I sang, I did not notice the room going quiet. Neither did I notice that Olivia’s drum-beating started to fade away. Also, the look that Mai-Loan gave me as she stopped in the doorway with a bag of goodies and two cartons of ice cream in her hands.

“Ah, here’s the ice cream, so no more singing,” I said and got up to help Mai-Loan with her multiple bags and goodies.

“No, Ash, you sit down and relax. Girls, come help me get the ice cream dished out,” Mai-Loan instructed and disappeared into the kitchen. The girls except Darya streaming behind.

Darya stayed with me. “Are you okay, Captain?” She asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine, no problems,” I said. “Why do you ask?”

“You’re missing and worried about Angie, right?”

“Yeah, well, I have not seen her in five or six months! I don’t know where she is, or if she is safe.”

“She is safe,” Darya stated.

“You all seem to be positive that Angie is okay and fine and safe! But why the fuck does she hide from me? What have I done?”

“Calm down, Captain. I think there will be a good reason.”

“I just hope so! I can’t lose her too ... Like the one I cared for ... a long time ago,” I almost whispered, remembering the youthful laughing face of Annushka Vinogradov, the little Russian girl in the Ukraine. She died when only seventeen. Struck down by a drunk driver on her way home from school. Not a girlfriend, just a friend that I cared for a lot. A friend I helped along with her school fees and some pocket money.

“A cloud just past your eyes, Captain. Mne tak zhal’ tebya...” (I am so sorry for you... ) Darya said, in Russian.

“Ne zhaley, Dar’ya. Eto ne vashe delo.” (Don’t be sorry, Darya. It’s none of your doing.)

“Did you love her much?”

“Yes, and no. I loved her for who she was. Not as a girlfriend. She was a very promising schoolgirl I helped along financially. Then she died. Killed in a car accident ... A long time ago. She was only seventeen...”

Still, I am sorry it happened to you, Ash. You don’t deserve to get hurt. Just be a little patient. You’ll see Angie soon again. Things will work out in the end.”

“Darya, I hope you are right. I pray you are right. I would do anything just to hold her in my arms again.”

“And I believe that before long, you will. Let me go help with the ice cream.” And with that she got up and went out to the kitchen. I caught a movement, like Darya was wiping her eyes, but she did not want me to see her emotion.

In the kitchen, Mai-Loan placed the ice cream and other goodies she had on the island tabletop. She turned to the four girls.

“This has got to stop NOW! I’m calling the boss. It is time that little redhead gets out of hiding. Anyone that thinks I am right say, Aye!”

“Aye!” Came a choir of voices.

“Okay. Pipe down. I don’t want mister you-know-who hearing us and finding out we know things. So Darya, go give him some ice cream while I speak to the boss.”

“Well, that will be difficult, sister. After that hug in the desert, I want to give him more than ice cream...” Darya said and blushed. Leah, Olivia, Nadia, and Mai-Loan just looked at Darya with mouths half-open. (See “Desert Rose.”)

“WHAT? Can’t I have desires too?” Darya vented and started to scoop ice cream into a bowl.

“You got to tell us about the hug in the desert, you lucky bitch!” Mai-Loan said.

“What is there to tell? After I missed the shot on Max, I thought ... well I thought that I ... would be...”

“Darya! No! Don’t go back there.” Mai-Loan said, thinking about the time she had found Darya in the town of Termez on the Amu River along the border with Afghanistan, bleeding and dehydrated. It took her several days to nurse Darya back to life, but she persisted and now has not only a dedicated “Angel,” but also a dear friend.

“Well, I just went to Ash and ... well, Mai, I showed him my back, and told him how I was punished in the Tajikistan Army for missing a target and asked for his punishment. He just hugged me and told me that we are all friends and ... family. He told me to forget about missing Max, to focus on the future, and be the best “Darya” I can be,” Darya said, while a tear trickled down her cheek. “That guy out there, in the lounge, that is a real guy. If I can’t have him as a lover, I’ll forever be his friend...”

The others just looked at Darya. It was the first time she ever expressed the desire to have a lover; the first time she opened her soul to them. Leah was the first to go over to Darya and hug her, followed by the rest of the Angels. A group hug ensued. And that is how Ash found them.

“Are you cooking the ice cream or something?”

“Get back to the lounge!” A choir of voices shouted.

He turned on his heel and went back to the lounge. Darya looked at his retreating back, as he disappeared around the corner.

“You think he heard me?” She whispered.

“Nah, I think you’re safe,” Olivia said. “He only came in after we started to hug.”

“You mean to say you stripped off your top? Just you and him, and he hugged you while you were topless? Nadia asked.