Calypso's Mast

Chapter 31 - Search for SAM

"No!" Amy was adamant. "There's no way I'm going up there again."

Hatfield sat beside her, across the table from Schofield, Pringle and Harrington.

"I guess I can understand that," said Hatfield.

Harrington chimed in.

"Are you feeling unsafe? I mean, are you worried that we will be harassed by the submarine?"

"Of course I am," said Amy. "That last effort scared me half to death. We could have been killed."

There was a long silence. Schofield and Pringle were not looking at faces. They weren't comfortable with the discussion. Harrington spoke up again.

"Honestly, Amy, I don't think it will be an issue. The Navy has been all over them like a measles rash for the last couple of days and there haven't been any sightings. I think I'd be safe in saying that he's long gone. And the money will be good for you. My employer is prepared to pay generously for your services. All you have to do is look out of the window of the plane."

Amy shook her head.

"You can't pay me enough to go up there again – not without having found that guy who was shooting at us. You go. I'll wait here."

Hatfield turned to Pringle and Schofield. "What about you gentlemen? Are you game?"

Schofield looked up and took a long moment to reply.

"Mick and I have to find that big crocodile and we don't have a boat anymore."

"We may be lucky to have a job when we get back," said Pringle. "Our boss is so angry that we lost his boat."

Hatfield considered this and then spoke.

"Is that a 'yes, we need the transport to look for the crocodile and the boat', or is that a 'no we can't because we have to do something else?'"

Schofield looked at Pringle.

"What do you say, Mick?"

Pringle took a long time to reply and then looked up with a big toothy grin. 

"I say...what have we got to lose? We go croc spotting again in the plane. Maybe we can turn this around and still keep our jobs."

"I agree," said Schofield.

Hatfield turned to Harrington. "What about you, Dave? You have to fly us. Are you good with all of this?"

Harrington could hardly conceal his excitement. "Hell yes! I haven't had this much fun since I was in the Air Force. I thought this was going to be a boring job. You boys rock! Let's mount up."

"Ok," said Hatfield. "Do you need to file a flight plan or something before we go?"

"No," said Harrington. "I need a flight plan if we are going to fly in controlled airspace such as around major airports." He gestured to the empty tarmac save their Aerocommander 690B standing quietly on the tarmac. There's none of that up here."

"Good. Let's get to it. Amy, I'll leave you the keys to the truck so you can go into town if you need to," said Hatfield and she nodded.

"You boys travel safe," she said. "I don't want to have to go and identify little bits of you. Be careful, please."

"I'll let my manager know that we are going up again," said Hatfield. "Also, there are some papers that you gentlemen need to sign. They pretty much say that if we get shot down, you won't sue the government."