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Page 397
as one to apply opposite aileron so as to lift it, to level out. The wing was finally rising when the red obstruction lights on the grounded Starlifter appeared out of the rain and mist.
Through the interstices of weather and the noise of the electrical generators, Ryerson heard the whisper of an approaching jet airplane. The Starlifter carrying the divers, he thought. And about fucking time. That thing in the water must be ticking away the seconds, minutes, hours. It was damn late for the diving teams to arrive. The approaching aircraft was flying low, probably trying to stay under the cloud cover. Electronic navigational aids were not always to be trusted this far to the north. Ryerson reluctantly crept out of his sheltering crate and looked over in the direction of the airstrip. Three of the lights outlining the runway were not operational and had been replaced by barrels of oil, now set ablaze. The dancing red and gold flames contrasted sharply with the immobile cold white lights on either side of them. Windblown ice crystals swirled in the illuminations. Blinking red obstruction lights had been placed on the mired Starlifter at the end of the strip toward Ryerson.
The Air Command transport now swept over the Trudeau, whose lights reflected on the airplane's undersurfaces. Jesus, Ryerson thought, it's a big son of a bitch. No wonder the other one crashed. And I thought it was just evidence that the U.S. Air Force was incompetent. But a Starlifter actually in the air, this low and this slow in the dark sky over the camp, was a daunting sight.
As he strained to see the onrushing Starlifter almost above him, a severe wind gust sent him staggering back against the crate. Jesus, he thought, the damn wind has changed direction. He had never been the slightest bit interested in becoming a pilot, but he was an experienced air traveler. And that Starlifter was coming in to land east to west, directly over the grounded American transport. I hope the bastard knows just how short that strip is, Ryerson thought.

 
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