‘Hey, Chedda!’ I called out at the top of my voice. ‘Open the door! I want to speak with you!’
There was silence for a few moments, then his voice rang out over the communication system. ‘Sorry about this, Mr.Scott but I have strict instructions not to communicate with you or open the door of this cabin. Those were Primar’s specific orders. You have everything you need in there. I suggest you wait until we land when we may both learn something to our advantage.’
‘What’s going on, Chedda?’ I pressed urgently. ‘What the hell’s happening?’
‘Don’t ask me. I’m just a hired pilot,’ he replied calmly. ‘I’m just obeying orders. Maybe Primar will contact us on the radio soon and then we’ll find out.’
‘You must have known he wasn’t coming on this trip when we met at the airport.’
‘What difference does it make? I told you, I’m only the pilot.’
‘Let’s not play games!’ I shouted, turning partly to face Penny who stared at me with concern. ‘Open the door! If you don’t I’ll break it down!’
‘Be sensible, Mr. Scott,’ advised Chedda unhelpfully. ‘Just enjoy the trip. Make yourself comfortable until we reach our destination.
The communication system went dead and I hammered on the door with my fists until realising the futility of my actions. I then noticed that the door to the pilot’s cabin had been reinforced by a steel sheet preventing anyone from breaking it down. I returned to my seat angrily. Why should Primar say he wanted me to accompany him to Israel and then fail to turn up? Why should he give the pilot specific instructions not to communicate and refuse to let me into the pilot’s cabin? None of it made any sense! Primar was not the kind of man who issued orders wantonly. He always had a motive in mind. I regretted having insisted that Penny came with me on this trip. On reflection, it had been a rash and foolhardy idea. My lack of foresight, especially as I mistrusted Primar, had brought her to the forefront of danger. I tried to relax telling myself that it was pointless to become agitated in a fight I could not win. We were captive passengers trapped in a cabin until the end of the journey.
It was distinctly to our advantage that the tail-winds favoured us that day. We made exceptional headway, reducing the time of our arrival substantially. I stared at the face of my wristwatch for about the fortieth time when Chedda’s voice rang out over the communication system.
‘I hope you haven’t been too bored back there. Better fasten your seat-belts and refrain from smoking. We’re coming in to land shortly.’
I finished my drink determined not to be hurried but Penny obeyed the request instantly securing herself tightly in her seat. I stood up to look out of the starboard window to look at the terrain in the distance. We were still out to sea but approaching the shore very quickly. The pilot warned us once again of the imminent landing and I say down to secure my safety-belt.
‘Hold on!’ he shouted. ‘We’re coming in to land!’
It was the last sentence he ever uttered because there was a tremendous explosion in the cockpit which caused havoc. If the door to the pilot’s cabin had not been locked, or if it hadn’t been reinforced with a sheet of steel, we would have been blown to pieces at the same time.
As soon as the explosion occurred, the aircraft bucked wildly, tipping me back towards the tail end. Then it rolled forward on to its nose and hurtled downwards at uncontrollable speed. From my position on the floor, I had no idea of the altitude or how long it would be before the plane hit the sea or land. My mind could only focus on the speed of descent which seemed to be occurring at a remarkable rate. It had all happened so quickly I experienced nothing but panic in those few horrific moments, realising that the span of my life was limited to the matter of a few more seconds. It was not a pleasant thought. However, as luck would have it, an air current caused the aircraft to level out just a fraction. It finished its descent at an angle of forty-five degrees hitting the trunks of two tall trees which sheared off both wings simultaneously. This event was sufficient to reduce the impact of the crash, although the fuselage continued its momentum onwards like a rocket to bounce finally into a mound of earth. Fortunately, the fuel tanks had been jettisoned at the time of the explosion, eliminating the danger of fire. Providence caused it to be that way for neither of us was in a fit state to clamber out of the wreckage to run for our lives. I hadn’t worked out the odds for survival on the way down; they would have been extremely slim. Destiny, however, has an effective way of letting you know when your number is up. Clearly, it wasn’t our turn! Nonetheless I was to be punished for my procrastination. The delay in fastening my seat-belt around my girth resulted in some agonising injuries. I had been rocked from one end of the cabin to the other., suffering a painful head and knee injury, a damaged arm, and a very sore shoulder. Penny, on the other hand, was relatively unhurt having been safely secured in her seat. I was more than grateful to be alive as it had been on the cards that we would be killed on impact.
It was some time before Penny managed to clear her mind and extricate herself from the wreckage. She pulled me out with strength that seemed far beyond her slender form and I lay against a tree for a while trying to stem the blood which kept streaming from my nose. When I had taken full stock of my condition, there were bruises all over my body. My knee was very sore, my head sported a large swelling which throbbed angrily while my shoulder felt as though it had been wrenched out of its socket. But there were no dislocations… no broken bones. Eventually, Penny helped me to my feet an I staggered to the pilot’s cabin which had been ravaged and torn by the substantial force of the explosion. The evidence was indisputable. A gaping hole under the dashboard indicated that a bomb had been planted there. On exploding, it had caused serious damage to one of the engines and most of the electrical equipment. . Chedda was a mass of dead flesh mutilated beyond recognition and I turned away quickly trying to resist vomiting at the awful sight.
‘A bomb,’ I explained to Penny once I had pulled myself together. ‘Someone planted a bomb in the cockpit. It was probably timed to go off when we were over the Mediterranean … about an hour before we landed. We were saved by a freak of nature. Those tail-winds allowed us to make fast time, defeating someone’s evil objective. Otherwise we would be feeding fish in the deep blue sea.’
‘But who would want to kill us?’ she asked. ‘Why should Primar make it his business to kill us?’
‘I’ve no idea,’ I replied candidly ‘but I’m definitely going to find out. You can bet your bottom dollar on it. No one’s going to get away with this!’ Penny took a step forward towards the pilot’s cabin but I managed to grasp her arm firmly. ‘No… don’t go there! It’s not something you’d want to see!’
I looked round to determine our location. We appeared to be in a valley which had suffered much from the heat of the sun. I knew from reading one of the travelogues there were many places of this kind in Israel. From the lie of the land, I took a view that there was a main road on the horizon.
‘I have a hunch there’s a highway over there,’ I ventured, pointing in an eastern direction. ‘I’m going to try it. Whatever happens, you’re not to worry. Stay here. Don’t move! I’ll be back shortly.’