Air Men
Air Men
By
C. S. Parker
2014
“Pete, you hodgepodge of wonderment, how you always win at poker?” Said Charlie as he watched Pete rake in all the chips. Pete’s mustache hid a scar that continued to the edge of his cheek. Pete had a tan, as did most of the air men, and his hair, once light brown, was dirty blonde and scraggly. The scar came from a panel, well a screw really, flung around at high speed. Such was the danger of the job and they all knew the stats, twelve jumpers annually expired in the line of duty.
The poker game was small and Charlie and Pete were the only ones left but Paul was watching still having no wife or girlfriend to go home to. They spent their days this way like firefighters passing the hours. The big season was coming up and soon there would be no time for games but for now they played and mostly watched Pete win. They played on one of the round tables in the 24 hour cafeteria. They had to be on call day and night which made for strange meal times.
“I tell you what, I don’t know how but I know you’re a cheater.” Said Paul leaning back in the wooden armless chair. He had his arms crossed and his right hand cradled a half smoked cigar. He didn’t smoke the cheap ones, not that he paid for them, none of them did, that was one good thing about being stationed in the Caribbean plenty of good Cuban cigars. There was always work and the countries took good care of the Air Men after all Air Men saved lives.
“It’s not my fault none of you guys know how to play poker.” Said Pete with a smile his number three buzzed head not doing much to cover his baldness. But he was right and he was good. Some of the guys thought he should try out for the world series of poker. There was even a bet that he would come in top 100 in Vegas. Maybe he would someday, they all had to have a life after jumping, and they were, after all, thrill seekers.
“Ugh I’m tired that sixteen (hour shift) is killing me right now.” Said Charlie rubbing his eyes. He was a jumper but he took shifts as a watcher to pad his wallet.
“For the greater good.” Said Pete as he was a true believer in their cause.
“Fuck the greater good I’m doing this for money plain and simple.” Said Paul exhaling a big puff of cigar smoke. The truth of it was they all had their reasons and there wasn’t just one reason that any of them were here.
There were roughly twenty of them, jumpers and pilots alike. They stayed on a private island with an airstrip home to seven planes but only four of them worked. The rest of them were in for one repair or another. Government funding, once only dreamed of, came in by the boatload. Eight of the jumpers were married and all the pilots. There were houses where the families stayed and even a school for the kids. That left six bachelors and that meant a lot of ferried females from the mainland. All of the Caribbean queens were beauties and the married Air Men wondered how the single guys did it but everyone knew they were like rock stars, parties, drinking, dancing and a lot of sex. They all remained focused on their jobs, though, and when the time came they all performed their duty exceptionally.
The game was over and some stayed but Charlie headed home.
“Hi Hun.” Said his beautiful wife Bridgette. She was average height five foot six and kept in shape. She was younger than him at 23 and blonde he was just starting to get his first greys at 26. Jumping was a young man’s game and he was set to retire after this season. The pay was great and together with her teaching salary they had been able to afford a house in Florida. They would leave in a few months.
“Hey baby.” He said and gave her a big hug and a kiss on the lips.
“I got you dinner if you are still hungry.” She said and turned into the kitchen and got the plate and put it on the counter.
“No I ate with the boys.” She ignored the plate and sat down at the table. There was something heavy on her mind. She worried over him.
“Can’t we just leave now?” He stood still, looking her in the eyes. “We don’t need the money. We can move now.” He shook his head.
“Why not?” She said getting hysterical. She slammed her fist on the table. Tears swelled in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.
He put his hand on hers. Would she ever understand?
WEEERRRRPPPPP WEEEEERRRRPPP the sirens blared.
“Pete what is it?” Questioned Charlie and he ran toward the planes awkwardly trying to fit his arms into his drop suit. They wore the classic button up suits that prisoners wore except theirs didn’t have DOC on the back and were covered in pockets.
The plane was already fired up and they were moving the equipment into the back of it. “Category 3 not a big one but its moving toward the coastline. Insurance companies didn’t back this program for us to let homes be destroyed.” Wasn’t that the truth.
The Captain of the plane got on the intercom as the jumpers strapped in and the last of the freight got packed in between them. Their seats lined the hull of the plane and the equipment was between them. “Alright boys this one’s a little one but as they say in football…”
“Any given Sunday.” Said Paul and nearly all the jumpers mouthed the words. Any of these hurricanes could do damage or become a category four or five, this much they all knew.
This was a small one so there were only six jumpers: Paul, Pete, Charlie, Jonas, Tom and the wild wildebeest that was Wally. Wally was wild, wild long hair and his six foot six inch frame. He was a beast at 350 pounds but he was useful in a pinch he could code with the best of them and he could sauter on the fly. Jonas and Tom weren’t real jumpers they were really techies. They stayed on the plane and made sure the electronics worked properly, they were no more than glorified lab geeks. The cargo plane was not a usual fly around in circles plane as it had hover capabilities.
“Alright boys here we go.” Said the Captain pushing the throttle forward and they rose off of the ground up into the already darkening sky.
Category three hurricanes were nothing to be taken lightly and in fact were major problems, major problems before the time of the air men that was. It all started with an idea. It was something like a theory Julius Travis questioned what would happen if you got inside the eye of a tornado and spun backwards. Well it was tested and what happened was the tornado dissipated. The same effect was seen on hurricanes only hurricanes were much more dangerous than tornados, much, much more dangerous. Hurricanes were for one much larger than tornados and can have winds over 150 mph.
Much of this they were seeing now in this category three the winds were only 120 mph well within the 111 – 129 range of a category three. As they flew there was turbulence.
“You would think the mother fucker would know that you have to go above it not through it.”
“This Captain isn’t one of the better air boys.”
“Why couldn’t we get Khen he always flies above it?”
“I don’t know.”
“I hate turbulence.”
“Almost through it boys.”
The turbulence continued and they shot through the clouds and into the sky. It shone through the porthole windows and they looked as the sun shone inside. The inside glowed like it was covered in glitter. It was a sight for the ages.
“We are over the eye now.” Said the Captain on the intercom.
“Ok Jumpers you ready?” Said Pete to his friends.
The cargo plane hovered over the eye and the jumpers stood on the conveyor belt as it dumped the contents of the cargo plane into the eye of the hurricane.
The jumpers had mere minutes to assemble the parts and over the side they went as well.
A flurry of movement followed and the crates were opened and parachutes deployed. The jumpers had to hook on to the main canister. They worked in unison attaching parts with no conversation. The serenity of the eye would grip them one by one but the cold eyes of the others returned them to work. They had a job to do.
Now the work wasn’t easy for there were a lot of parts to be assembled and they rushed about their tasks. Paul and Pete put on the last of the massive winged assemblies. Wally was on top trying to prep the turbine and get it ready. That’s what the thing was a massive turbine that would spin from the center of the hurricane and cancel it out. It had to spin fast and it produced more wind power than even the fastest jet engine, the main reason being that it was far too big to be fitted to a plane. Just as they were finishing the assemblies they saw…
Charlie was falling.
He had a parachute why didn’t he deploy it. He had fallen far enough that he could safely deploy. They watched as he fell closer and closer to the sea below. “Dammit deploy!” Shouted Paul but only Pete could hear. Their spell was broken by a yell.
“What the hell is going on down there? You guys should be up here by now.”
It was Wally and he was right, Paul and Pete climbed to the top of the machine.
“What’s going on Walls?” Said Pete as he got on top.
“First don’t call me that and second the pre-ignition isn’t firing. There’s something wrong.” The last thing they wanted was to be on top of the ten ton machine when it fell to the ocean and exploded. They had their parachutes but if the deployed they risked being sucked into the hurricane’s 120 mph winds. And if they did land in the ocean they would soon be faced with massive waves which could crash and crush them. They would most likely drown.
“Pass me the sauntering kit.” Said the beast Wally and Paul tossed it to him he caught it, bumbled it and dropped it on the turbine.
It slid toward the edge.
For a big man Wally had quick hands and he was able to save it from falling but he was irate. “What the hell!? I said pass it to me. You fuck you nearly cost us our lives! No more bullcrap, no more screw ups. We got one chance to get this right and time is running out. Open the starter panels and step back.”
Paul and Pete each opened the starter panel on either side of the massive machine. They only had to get one of them working and its power would fire the other but time was running out. Paul didn’t know how much time they had but he was starting to get a bad feeling. He looked down. Was it better to weather the waves or stay put?
He jumped over the side.
“Well it’s you and me now Pete give me a hand getting this board out.” Said Wally without looking up. Pete went over and tried to get a hand on the computer board. Wally’s hands were too big to fit in the small space between the boards and Pete’s weren’t small either. He had to squeeze them in and pinch with all his might.
He gave it a tug.
Nothing.
He gave it another.
There!
It started to give. Then he had it out.
Wally looked over it with a professional eye. “Put it back get me another.” They both knew the ground was coming up soon and they could hear the high winds getting close. The hurricane was moving and they were stationary falling to the ground. They were approaching the outskirts of the eye. Even with a parachute they would be flung around at 120 miles per hour and they knew too that the hurricane was nearing land. Being flung at the ground was only mildly better than landing in the ocean at least they wouldn’t have to drown.
“Fudge.” Said Pete.
This had to work.
Wally said, “Found it. Hold on I gotta sauter it.” He was done within a couple seconds. “Put it back.” Pete did and he closed the starter.
“Here goes nothing.” Said Wally and it started! “Detach the parachute.” He said but Pete knew the drill. They started to fall as the turbines started to spin.
“Parachutes.” Said Pete over the noise. They both pulled their cords and up they went.
The turbine was spinning now and the air pushed up into their parachutes and they flew up, out of the eye and above the storm. The turbine was working. They could see the hurricane dying. It was a thing of beauty. The reaction was like a virus spreading and destroying the hurricane from within. When they landed the sea was calm.
“We did it!” Exclaimed Pete.
Wally was right next to him and he wore a somber look on his face. “We lost a couple good men.”
The chopper came to get them and dropped ropes that they attached to their harnesses and were pulled up. The storm was gone and lives and homes were saved. They did their duty and they felt good. Pete was sad, Charlie had been a great friend.
He was nearly at the deck of the chopper when he heard a voice. He looked down at Wally who looked back not speaking. “Hey mother fucker nice of you to join the party.” It was Paul. “Guess who is here too.” It was Charlie sitting in the chopper under a blanket.
“They pulled us out first. Guess GPS is a good thing after all.” They all laughed at that.
“Honey I’m home.” Said Charlie to his wife. She greeted him with a big hug.
“I was worried sick. They said you went over.” How did she know? Oh the cameras.
“That’s what I wanted to tell you. I’m done. Let’s go to Florida and settle down.” She gave him the biggest hug he had ever gotten. It felt good to be home and on dry land
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