Bobby
Lance Star and the Ghost Squadron
Chapter 5.
“We’re hit! Going down!”
The play-by-play wasn’t entirely necessary since Lance Star, Buck Tellonger, and Jacob Cutter were all in the damaged plane as it sputtered and shook in a futile attempt to remain in the air.
The three men were all combat experienced pilots. They had each been shot down before and walked away from the experience more or less unscathed. No crash was easy, but if the pilot kept his wits and remained calm, the odds of making it to the ground in one piece improved.
At the controls, Lance Star was as cool as a cucumber. All around him, sirens and whistles wailed, alerting him to the danger he was already aware of and making efforts to correct.
“Can you see the damage?” he asked his passenger.
Cutter turned in his seat, angling for a better look aft while trying to remain in the seat as the damaged bird tried everything it could to kick him out. It reminded him of riding an angry bull, an experience he only had to try once to realize such sport was far too dangerous for him. Crashing to earth in a burning airplane, on the other hand, didn’t seem to faze him as much.
“We’ve got smoke,” he reported. “We took heavy damage. Wing’s still intact, but there’s considerable frame damage.”
“Landing gear appears intact,” Lance,” Buck reported from the second cockpit, which gave him a better view. “We can land, but it’s going to be rough.”
“Rough I can handle,” Lance said. “Buck, can you find me a good spot?”
“On it.”
“Looks like we have another incoming,” Cutter called, pointing out the cockpit window at the missile streaking straight at them from the canyon floor.
“Talk about overkill,” Lance said, trying to make the Skybolt turn to evade a direct hit. The damage done to his baby was severe, and that was the result of an indirect hit. “Whoever these guys are, they don’t want us telling anybody about them.”
Shuddering wildly, the Skybolt finally relented to her pilot’s commands and rolled, allowing the missile to pass them by, a near miss, but awful close. Too close. The missile exploded without contact, obviously detonated by a spotter on the ground.
The force of the explosion only added to the turbulence forcing the silver plane toward the rocky deck below.
“Can you land?” Cutter asked, still holding on for dear life.
“We’ll know in a minute.” Lance wasn’t the kind of guy who trafficked in false bravado. His well-earned reputation spoke for itself. If he could put the Skybolt on the ground safely, he would.
“Brace yourselves, gentlemen,” the pilot relayed as the ground rushed up to meet them.
To be continued…
