just let me help get Adam stable first.”
“Yes sir,” Bob said and closed Ian’s door.
Ian flipped a few switches and nothing happened.
“I know you can do a lot of things, are you sure about this one?” Mary asked from the back.
Ian flipped two more and then held one up for a few seconds. He was rewarded with the turbine igniting and the blades turning. “Yeah, I think I got this one, too.”
“Smart ass!” she said with a smile and a smack of his shoulder.
Ian smiled as the rotor blades spun up to full speed. He also put the two-way radio earpiece back in his ear. He heard the voice of Bob making the call to Violet, and her shocked response. “Hold on!” he said to his passengers.
The helicopter lifted off smoothly and Ian applied forward movement to gain speed. Bob and the rest of the boys watched from the relative safety of the other side of the street.
Ian could only speak Chinese, he couldn’t read it; all of the gauges were in Chinese. He really didn’t think it mattered, the day was clear and he was flying so low to the ground that he didn’t think he could get into any trouble. The helicopter slowly popped over the ridge and Ian could instantly see the red stables about two miles away. He nosed the bird down, skimming the trees. That was a lot more convenient!
“Ian, what’s that?” Mary yelled from the back. She pointed out the left side towards a ridge with a water tower on it.
Ian slowed his decent briefly to look at what she was pointing at. He could see another black helicopter, like the one he was flying, circling around the water tower. There was also a truck…that was moving…trucks didn’t move anymore.
“I don’t know,” Ian yelled back, “but they have a working truck. Something’s pretty important up there I guess. We’ll stay out of their sight to be safe,” he said, and then nosed the helicopter down rapidly. Since he had not had his earpiece in for a while, he was unaware that what he was looking at was an assault on his family.
Violet and Anna stood at the door of the house. They each had surgical exam gloves on and aprons.
Ian set the helicopter down roughly between the house and the red stable as Bob had instructed; his landing causing Adam to grimace in pain.
“It’s okay, were down,” Mary said, undoing his buckles.
Ian cut the switch to the engines and got out to help with Adam.
“Hey Mr. Burrows,” Anna said, squeezing past him to help with Adam.
“Anna, is that you?”
“I came with Grace, excuse me,” she said, putting her shoulder under Adam’s good shoulder and helping him to walk to the door.
Violet was already accessing the dressing around her son’s wound. She had over twenty years experience as an ER nurse, and things like emotions could wait.
Ian and Mary followed them into the house. Violet and Anna moved Adam quickly to a front room that had a high table, a bright articulating light and several medical supplies neatly arranged in bins on the wall.
“If you two can wait out there,” Violet directed nicely. “Help yourself to whatever you want.”
Ian and Mary looked at each other.
“I’m going to find a real toilet,” Mary said, moving down the hall.
“I’m going to call Leah, I’ll be outside.”
Ian walked to the helicopter. He would need a place to hide the bird, but first he wanted to see what he could hear with the radios. He hopped back in, put on the dead pilot’s headset and turned up the volume on the radio. Ian heard several different people speaking…correction…ordering other people in Chinese. Ian traveled to China several times a year for ‘work,’ he spoke the language well, and could hold conversations, so it didn’t take him long to figure out what all of the fuss was about up on the ridge.
Ian keyed his microphone on the two-way; he had not heard Grace, Joshua or Leah since the earpiece fell out of his ear during his own firefight at the
“Yes sir,” Bob said and closed Ian’s door.
Ian flipped a few switches and nothing happened.
“I know you can do a lot of things, are you sure about this one?” Mary asked from the back.
Ian flipped two more and then held one up for a few seconds. He was rewarded with the turbine igniting and the blades turning. “Yeah, I think I got this one, too.”
“Smart ass!” she said with a smile and a smack of his shoulder.
Ian smiled as the rotor blades spun up to full speed. He also put the two-way radio earpiece back in his ear. He heard the voice of Bob making the call to Violet, and her shocked response. “Hold on!” he said to his passengers.
The helicopter lifted off smoothly and Ian applied forward movement to gain speed. Bob and the rest of the boys watched from the relative safety of the other side of the street.
Ian could only speak Chinese, he couldn’t read it; all of the gauges were in Chinese. He really didn’t think it mattered, the day was clear and he was flying so low to the ground that he didn’t think he could get into any trouble. The helicopter slowly popped over the ridge and Ian could instantly see the red stables about two miles away. He nosed the bird down, skimming the trees. That was a lot more convenient!
“Ian, what’s that?” Mary yelled from the back. She pointed out the left side towards a ridge with a water tower on it.
Ian slowed his decent briefly to look at what she was pointing at. He could see another black helicopter, like the one he was flying, circling around the water tower. There was also a truck…that was moving…trucks didn’t move anymore.
“I don’t know,” Ian yelled back, “but they have a working truck. Something’s pretty important up there I guess. We’ll stay out of their sight to be safe,” he said, and then nosed the helicopter down rapidly. Since he had not had his earpiece in for a while, he was unaware that what he was looking at was an assault on his family.
Violet and Anna stood at the door of the house. They each had surgical exam gloves on and aprons.
Ian set the helicopter down roughly between the house and the red stable as Bob had instructed; his landing causing Adam to grimace in pain.
“It’s okay, were down,” Mary said, undoing his buckles.
Ian cut the switch to the engines and got out to help with Adam.
“Hey Mr. Burrows,” Anna said, squeezing past him to help with Adam.
“Anna, is that you?”
“I came with Grace, excuse me,” she said, putting her shoulder under Adam’s good shoulder and helping him to walk to the door.
Violet was already accessing the dressing around her son’s wound. She had over twenty years experience as an ER nurse, and things like emotions could wait.
Ian and Mary followed them into the house. Violet and Anna moved Adam quickly to a front room that had a high table, a bright articulating light and several medical supplies neatly arranged in bins on the wall.
“If you two can wait out there,” Violet directed nicely. “Help yourself to whatever you want.”
Ian and Mary looked at each other.
“I’m going to find a real toilet,” Mary said, moving down the hall.
“I’m going to call Leah, I’ll be outside.”
Ian walked to the helicopter. He would need a place to hide the bird, but first he wanted to see what he could hear with the radios. He hopped back in, put on the dead pilot’s headset and turned up the volume on the radio. Ian heard several different people speaking…correction…ordering other people in Chinese. Ian traveled to China several times a year for ‘work,’ he spoke the language well, and could hold conversations, so it didn’t take him long to figure out what all of the fuss was about up on the ridge.
Ian keyed his microphone on the two-way; he had not heard Grace, Joshua or Leah since the earpiece fell out of his ear during his own firefight at the
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