Consequences Unforeseen

Foros June 13th 1991 - Hello Oksana

Foros June 13th 1991 – Hello Oksana

From thirty thousand feet, the sun appeared already high in a cloudless blue sky. It cut into the Lear jet’s cabin making sharp and oblique cuts of light against the dimly lit cabin walls.

Bill Douglas’ eyes were slow to adjust to the onslaught as he roused himself from a cat nap of sleep and peered out and downward to the sea below. The beauty of the view was not lost on him even although his mind was far away in Tokyo.

He had been out of contact with Kris for several days now and although he knew she would be fine with that, used to it as she was, he felt a twinge of stomach butterflies as his subconscious played over her and how much he had missed her on this trip.

Fraser had planted the seeds of concern for her safety in his mind and they niggled at his mind as he dosed, making his rest fitful and disturbed.

He was glad to be awake and seeing light shimmering on very small waves far below. The effect was like a blanket of silver shimmering as far as the eye could see. He could see a few fishing boats slicing their own paths through the water leaving a turquoise wake behind them. The contrast in colors was stunning and he found himself relaxing into the descent towards Simferopol Airport.

The subtle change in engine sound and slight negative ‘g’ force was in reality what had brought him slowly awake and now he felt the descent even more in his gut as the pilot took the military style approach to landing.

At this time of what was pre dawn at ground level, there was no need to follow a gentle glide slope downward and he was enjoying using the Lear like a toy and flying it like the performance aircraft it was meant to be. For his part Douglas relished the change in behavior and allowed his own senses to savor the excellent dynamics that were at play.

Over the short flight his mind had worked on the future events in Foros and he’d decided on a slightly different set of tactics for the August coup attempt. In the short time he had at his disposal he had several goals in mind for his visit to the town.

The aircraft went from sunshine to pink tinged darkness as it dipped beneath four hundred feet and continued down further to skim the sea on final approach. In his mind Douglas prepared himself for the sharp pull back and climb that would come shortly when the pilot took them almost vertical at the edge of the cliffs after they made landfall. He chuckled to himself in anticipation because he knew exactly what the guy was up to and thought to himself,

“Why the hell not?. Fly the thing like it was made for. Enjoy it and know that I am enjoying the ride!” At this time of day there was no air traffic control at play and it was every plane for itself. He wondered if the guy had the balls to roll the thing at the top of the cliffs and he tightened his harness anyway – just in case.

Expectation is a wonderful thing, but even with the anticipation right there up front in his mind the guy in the front still managed to surprise the shit out of him when he inverted right before the cliffs and drove the aircraft straight up with Douglas pressed hard into his seat and enjoyed every minute. He never forgot those unique feelings that only pushing a jet aircraft to its limits can bring.

It was over too quickly for his liking and back on the ground he wasted no time in retrieving the beat up old car from the VIP car park and had a good laugh at how ridiculous it looked amongst the finery of the Russian elite’s numerous Ferrari, BMW and Porsche models.

“Ah well,” he thought, “If only they knew who had graced their haughty space,” and he laughed to himself.

At this time of the morning the road back into Foros was deserted, save for the odd cow or two wandering aimlessly back and forth across the roadway. For the most part the animals were left roaming free and he’d seen many a drunken wreck embedded into a cow carcass over his past weeks and previous visits.