The Sleeping Army Awakes

Part 77 Saving Sacha

The fog came down thicker than ever. It was nearly impossible for Boris and Simon to make out anything below the helicopter through the miasma that blanketed the water. Simon commented that there was something unnatural about it. They were already flying so low that the altimeter's audible alarm was periodically warning them that they were in danger of ditching in the swirling waters below. Without the instruments they would have been flying totally blind.

Everyone aboard peered down through the steamed up windscreen or the through the side windows of the Sikorsky hoping for just a glimpse of the floating hut.

"Stop!" Vladimir shouted suddenly. "They are down there directly below us!"

"Are you sure?" Spencer asked. "I cannot see anything. I suppose you used telepathy?"

"No! I can't." Vladimir said.

"But you usually can." Spencer asked. "Can't you?"

"To read someone's mind it has to be open and ... active." Eliška explained for Vladimir. "Number one she does not want to be found because she is still having fun, so she has closed her mind, and number two she is too drunk. Her mind isn't working properly Auntie says she drinks to block out all the voices!"

"So how do you know that she's down there?" Boris asked.

"I can smell Sacha's cider!" Vladimir said, as if it were obvious.

"Where?" Everyone else asked.

"Do you know! I think she's right below us!" Vladimir agreed, brightening up considerably and beaming with joy. "I smell it so clearly! I just thought that I was thirsty! I wonder if there is any left?"

"Auntie said that Vladimir is capable of finding any cider left just by the smell... from kilometres away!" Eliška thought to Spencer. "Just like wolf sniffing prey!"

"So why we waiting?" Vladimir shouted exasperatedly. "Sacha I am coming to rescue you my darling!"

So they fastened Vladimir into the harness and lowered to within a metre or so of the place floating building. At first like Boris he could see nothing but gradually he began to perceive the flat pre-built wooden structure's roof. Initially it had only appeared as a vague a grey brown rectangular blob below.

"Go south bit and I need to be down little bit!"

Vladimir was relieved to notice that the little wooden structure wasn't fully buoyant. One corner was grounding on the mud below. he guessed correctly that this was where they had put the cider jars. Because it was dragging the bottom the building was moving more slowly than the small sub had done but even so, they were fast running out of lake, to rescue its passengers, before it could plummet over the log jam and into the flooded and fast flowing river lower down.

Landing on the roof Vladimir made for Sacha first and got her to her feet. She glanced guiltily at the young semi-clad men arranged in a rough circle around a pile of cards. She still retained all her own clothes. Vladimir chose not to ask what they had been doing to pass the time he didn't need to really.

"Oh it's you is it?" Sacha said nonchalantly, as if he had just popped in for a cup of tea and a biscuit.

Suspended from the helicopter Vladimir clasped his arms grabbing his rescue victim firmly though she begun struggling, flapping her hands ineffectually against Vladimir's chest and strapped her firmly into the harness.

"But I don't want to be rescued." Old Sacha protested. "It was just getting to exciting part!"

Vladimir glanced around him at the five unconscious young men in various states of undress with un-played hands of cards and thought that had got quite exciting enough already. They had each consumed a couple of jars of Sacha's finest cider.