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Page 395
flight, he thought. That was reassuring. One could feel damn lonely in the storms above the Northwest Territories.
''Flight Engineer, reduce power twenty percent."
"Twenty percent, sir."
Neither Ahlgren nor Macpherson could take their hands off the control yokes to make the power reduction. Pilot Officer Winthrop, the token female member of Ahlgren's crew, performed the pullback and resetting of the throttles. Mary Winthrop was good at her job, but Ahlgren had never become accustomed to mixed-gender flight crews. Too near retirement to worry about it now, he thought. Six weeks to go and counting to be free of worries like tonight's.
Another voice came through the radio link. "Alpha Bravo, this is Site X approach control. We have you on radar. You are above the glide path. Correct and steer right to a course of 355 degrees true."
"Understand, 355 true," Ahlgren said.
Macpherson set the correction into the directional gyro. The Starlifter literally crashed through another line of high, icy squalls. The pilots could hear the airframe creaking and complaining.
"Call the stewards and see how the passengers are doing," Ahlgren ordered.
"As well as can be expected," Macpherson reported back. "Clancy and Johnson want to know if it's going to get rough."
"Fun-nee," Winthrop said.
"Not with two dozen sailors upchucking all at once back there," Macpherson said.
"Pay attention, Flight," Ahlgren snapped irritably.
"Alpha Bravo, this is Site X approach control. You are on glide path and on course. You are now nineteen miles from touchdown. Advise you will be landing east to west. The head of the strip is obstructed."
"Alpha Bravo." Thanks to our bloody Yank cousins, Wing Commander Ahlgren thought. His back and arms ached. He

 
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