Redhead
by
Comrade L
“Descend to five hundred feet,” James ordered his pilot. He watched the scanning apparatus intently as the jet plane decreased its altitude.
“Five hundred feet, okey dokey,” the pilot responded. His levity was poorly received by James who was determined to not only succeed in his mission but also to execute it in military-minded precision.
“Will you please smarten up a bit, Carl? I’m trying to concentrate. We’re on a mission here.”
“On a mission?” Carl tried to restrain himself from laughing and largely succeeded. ”Alrighty…” James glared at him. ”I mean… alright, Mr. Admiral your highness. I never knew a corporate executive who thought he was Captain Kirk until I met you, Jimmy.”
“God damn it. Why did we have to select you for this mission anyway?” James responded in disgust.
“Because I’m the only one to fly over the North Pole and land on the other side of the world in one piece. That’s why. Well…”
“Well what?”
“Well, there was this one Russian guy that did it too but he never came back,” Carl said and turned until he was facing the rear of the spacious cockpit and James as well.
“You’re not looking where you’re… I thought you said you came out in one piece.”
“I’m here. Aren’t I?”
“But you said he did it and he never came back.”
“Well, that was on his second trip,” Carl said, still not looking where the plane was going.
“Will you please drive the plane and keep your eyes on the road,” James corrected himself, “…air.”
“It’s called flying, Admiral,” Carl said with much sarcasm in his voice.
“Flying. Alrighty,” James retorted with even more sarcasm than his pilot. ”But please just focus on where you’re going.”
“Alrighty.”
“Stop saying that.”
James was expecting another obnoxious comment but was surprised to hear none. Carl had suddenly gone silent and seemed to be concentrating intently on the radar display in front of him.
“I told you to stop saying that.”
Still there was no response.
“What’s wrong now?”
“Nothing, Jimmy,” Carl finally answered.
“Then why are you so quiet?”
“I’m looking,” was all that Carl said in reply.
James was puzzled by this. He waited a few seconds before asking his next question.
“Looking at what?”
“Looking for what, you mean.”
“Ok. Looking for what?” James asked with a defined emphasis on the word ‘for’.
“Looking to see if maybe I can find that Russian guy’s downed plane. He must be out here somewhere. If this radar is as strong and long range as P-Corp brags then I should be able to see something.”
“PetroloCorp has the most advanced aircraft in the world,” James hurried to respond.
“Don’t get defensive, Jimmy. I’m just saying… maybe I can find the plane.”
“Just focus please and keep your…”
“There it is!” Carl interrupted. ”Wait. It’s gone now.”
“Focus, Carl! We’re out here to find oil and not…”
“There it is again. What’s wrong with the radar. Most advanced aircraft in the world… my foot.”
James approached the display panel and regarded it.
“I don’t see anything. Don’t talk any more trash about our company,” James said angrily.
“Our company? Your company. I’m not going to associate myself with an evil multi-national corporate entity out to take over the world.”
“I said, don’t…”
The display suddenly lit up in a dozen different places. Little green dots littered the screen.
“What are they, Carl?” James asked with poorly concealed anxiety.
Carl didn’t answer.
“Carl?!”
“I don’t know, damn it! Oh my God. There’s more and more of them. We’re heading right into the middle of it.”
The snow stopped so rapidly that it added distinctly to the confused and apprehensive nature of the situation. James was still watching the radar. Carl was looking out the windshield. Unseen by James, Carl’s face began to lose all its color.
“We’re not picking up any oil anyway. Let’s just get out of here. This is too weird,” he kept his gaze upon the screen. ”Carl… Carl… Carl! What is wrong with you.”
James lifted his eyes and soon he too was memorized by the mysterious apparition in front of him. In the lifeless moonlight which shone down through the inexplicably clear and frigid air and illuminated a sight that made the two men feel like they were wrapped in their own subconscious. They both had instantly convinced themselves that they must be dreaming. James and Carl were sure that nothing like this could be happening in consciousness.
“What’s that beeping noise?” James asked in response to a shrill pulse in the cockpit.
“We’re directly over the North Pole,” Carl explained.
“How can this be? There’s not supposed to be buildings on the North Pole. There’s not supposed to be people on the North Pole. Carl, what is this?”
“It sure ain’t Kris Kringle.”
“Don’t joke. This is really starting to freak me out,” James admonished him.
“I’m not joking. This ain’t Santa’s workshop.”
“Alrighty, wiseguy. Why do you say that?”
“Because of that.” Carl raised his arm and indicated an insignia which James did not recognize. He thought it to be two simple garden tools and a star but he could not definitively place it in his memory.
“I’ve seen enough. We’re getting out of here and I don’t care how much you disagree, Jimmy.”
“Oh, I’m not disagreeing. I agree wholeheartedly and lets do it as quickly as possible,” James said but the plane was already in the process of turning around.
“What’s that sound?” James asked. ”Carl, please God. Tell me what that sound is.” James’ voice wavered and cracked.
“It’s…”
The plane shook and a burning smell was almost instantly evident. James looked out the small side window in the cockpit and saw one of the engines engulfed in flame.
“Come on!” James yelled and hurried to the back of the plane, rushing towards the rack where the parachute backpacks all hung in a row.
“No. We still have three engines left. I think we can make it.”
“Screw that. I’m getting off this plane,” James yelled over the whistling wind as he opened the external door.
“No, Jimmy. You’ll die of cold out there.”
“Better than being incinerated in mid-air,” James yelled.
“But I can…” But James didn’t hear the end of Carl’s sentence. He had jumped out of the plane and pulled the cord on the parachute. As the plane was already flying low, it wasn’t long before he was on the ground and experiencing a sense of smug satisfaction. The rapid bursts of noise, which James had previously thought to be something wrong with the plane, continued despite the fact that the plane was now hundreds of feet away. It was descending more and more rapidly. The sound of a new burst rent came again on the wind. A new flash of light appeared on the now distant silhouette of the aircraft as a new fire broke out. The bursts stopped.
“Come on, Carl. Come on,” James was surprised to find himself muttering to the emptiness of the Arctic. No matter how much he wished or half-wished that the plane would regain altitude, it careened downwards. The flame, which was now the only distinguishable sight, presently disappeared beyond the horizon and then the muffled sound of an explosion could be heard ever so lightly. James looked around frantically. Stranded in the snow and ice, one hundred degrees below zero and thousands of miles from civilization, James had never felt more terrified in his life.
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