Justification For Killing (34 page)

Each person manned a
shovel and began moving the snow from the front of the tires to the
side - it seemed hopeless. The wheel-well was quickly filling up
with loose snow. “Come on guys, I believe I can see the snow
beginning to lighten. I think we are getting close to digging out!
Come on don’t stop now! Dig guys dig!”

The words had barely
escaped Captain Hunter’s nearly frozen lips when one of the shovels
broke through to the outside. Pushing the snow aside, they widen
the hole more and more. In a few minutes, they were able to slide
through and finally the four of them were standing knee deep in the
white fluff. They were outside! This allowed them to get a look and
survey their ‘landing field’.

They cast searching eyes
in every direction - they saw nothing. Well nothing, except snow.
It was everywhere. If one had been talking about a winter
wonderland, this would be the place they had in mind.

Captain Hunter was the
first to speak, “Men, we seem to have landed on a large frozen
lake. Look over there,” he said pointing in one direction. “It
looks to be a couple of miles to those trees. We need to get around
to the rear of the airplane and check if we have sustained any
structural damage.” The plane was blocking their view - actually it
did not look like a plane - it was just an enormous pile of snow!
The plane was wholly covered from nose to tail - they couldn’t even
see the wings.

As they struggled to
trudge around the snow covered airplane, Captain Hunter asked one
of the men to walk up the mound of snow and brush away the snow
from the windshield. “When we get back inside, sitting in the
cockpit, we need to be able to see what is happening
outside.”

The four of them spent a
few minutes checking out their ‘neighborhood’. Their first
impression had not changed - they were sitting on a large frozen
lake with nothing but miles and miles of endless snow in every
direction. The worst thing - they saw was no indication of life -
no buildings, no houses or no animals. They were in the vast Russia
steppe - there probably was not a living person in hundreds if not
thousands of square miles.

Before going back into the
hole to the wheel-well, Sam Lin spoke, “Captain, what do you think
we should do?”

“
Gentlemen, I appreciate
the fact that I am in charge and should have an answer, and I do.
My answer is: I just simply do not have an answer -
sorry.”

Back inside the aircraft,
the passengers scrambled toward the front of the aircraft as the
diggers re-appeared. They wanted to hear what they had to say. The
assembled travelers were enthusiastic and apprehensive, but hearing
the report on the conditions outside, their mood changed to extreme
despair and desperation. The temperature inside the craft was
extremely cold, but after the discouraging news, the temperature
seemed to drop a few more degrees.

Most of the mumbling and
questioning centered on one question, “Captain, what are you going
to do?”

The Captain tried to be
honest with the passengers. He explained that they were in a
terrible predicament. The best he could tell, they were sitting on
a frozen lake, with no recognizable civilization within sight. Even
if a rescue plane flew directly overhead it would not be able to
see them - they were buried in a huge mound of snow. The emergency
beckon may or may not be working – the Captain didn’t even feel
certain if it actually works at fifty below zero. The Mr. Walker
could not get their radio to operate - lightening may have hit the
antenna while they were in that terrible snowstorm. He had no idea
what was wrong with the radio, but he told the passenger they had
two chances that some local populace will stumble upon them - slim
and none. That was the grim news... he did not have any good news.
Actually he did have one piece of news that could be considered
good: the plane appeared to be undamaged when it
‘landed’.

“
If more information
concerning our situation comes to me, I will pass this information
on to you all – whether good or bad. Right now my co-pilot and I
will be in the cockpit working on the radio. We might by chance get
it to work.”

He told them Sam Lin and
Si Lei from Row 11 had gone back out into the snow and were using
clothing from the luggage compartment to form an SOS on top of the
aircraft. Anyone flying over should be able to see the distress
signal.

“
Captain,” a lady in the
crowd of passengers asked, “why not ask for a volunteer to go
outside to go for help?”

“
Ma’am, as you realize we
are in our third day – our situation is dire but we are not
desperate. Allow me to give you all some facts - we can go a long
time without food, probably a week or two. The critical item is
water. Fortunately, we have all we need - outside as snow. With
water, we have the ability to wait until rescued. It is just a
matter of time... the authorities at Hong Kong realize we are
overdue and have, I’m sure, initiated a search and rescue mission,
but I’m sorry, it could be quite a long wait for them to find
us.

As far as sending someone
out – it would be irresponsible of me to allow someone go outside.
Who would go? In which direction would they walk? Walk? That’s a
laugh. The snow is at least two to three feet deep, and we have no
snowshoes. The temperature is minus fifty degrees and we have no
suitable clothing to wear in this bone-chilling, frigid, cold. No,
I’m sorry, but we will just have to stay inside our aircraft and
wait... just wait... days or maybe weeks if need be... just wait,
someone will come - we cannot give up hope.”

Sam Lin and Si Lei
returned to their seats after positioning the SOS distress signal,
bundled up and tried to get warm. Captain Hunter and his assistant
Co-pilot Walker returned to the cockpit and continued their attempt
to reach the Hong Kong airport.

“
Sam Lin? Sam Lin, are you
awake?”

“
Yeah, Si Lei,
what?”

“
Sam Lin, do you think we
will ever get to Bangkok and complete the mission of investigating
Mr. Ryan Rousseau for Captain Scarburg? It’s not looking good, is
it? We’re going to die out here in this frozen wasteland. Die Sam
Lin! They will find our bodies frozen stiff like popsicles! I told
you Brother I don’t like whale blubber.”

“
Hush... Si Lei, don’t be
so morbid, be optimistic, we will get out of here - somehow,
someway. Do not worry, everything is going to be okay.”

“
Whale blubber - yuck!!
Yeap, frozen! Frozen stiff, like popsicles, that’s how they will
find us... frozen solid!”

Most all the passengers,
including the captain and co-pilot, could do now were to stay
wrapped up, and occasionally doze off for a few minutes. For the
most part, they were in the midst of this activity
when...

WHAT IS THAT
NOISE?

“
What is that noise?”
asked the co-pilot to Captain Hunter. “Do you hear
that?”

“
What,” responded the
Captain? “What did you say?” he replied as he sleepily, aroused
from his nap.

The co-pilot again
directed the captain to the sound he heard. The Captain sat up in
his left pilot’s seat and cocked his head to the side to enable
himself to hear better. There... there it was again... he did hear
it this time. It had a high-pitched whine that sounded surprisingly
like a household vacuum cleaner.

“
What is
that Don? It seems to be coming from outside. Listen... it is
getting louder!” Both men were leaning forward faces close to the
front windshield straining to see if they could discern the source
of the hum, which was beginning to increase in volume and
intensity. Now it sounded more like a high-pitched whine of a jet
engine than a household appliance.
Actually one jet engine could not make that
sound
, thought the
Captain.

The door from the cockpit
to the passenger compartment was standing wide open - a small crowd
had gathered. They had heard the sound also. Sam Lin and Si Lei
were standing at the front of the group, practically inside the
cockpit. “What is it?” asked Sam directing his question to Captain
Hunter.

Before the pilot could
respond the snow suddenly began blowing against the windshield. So
much snow was flying their vision outside was totally obliterated.
The noise had become exceedingly loud... it was right outside... it
seemed to be coming from directly in front of them. The blowing
snow slowly subsided enough to allow again the crowd inside to see
the wintery, landscape outside.

The whine was diminishing,
and the snow was settling down. The shine off the dazzling circular
metal craft sitting outside the window was blinding. It appeared as
if the rays of the sun were shining off a gleaming mirror. In spite
of the blinding glare, they could see an emblem formed into a
circle on the front. The disc-like symbol was divided into four
sections. In one, was a face of a man; the second a lion, the third
a bull and the final section contained an eagle. Sam Lin and Si Lei
recognized this emblem immediately - they had seen it before - this
was the symbol of the planet Sunev.

It was sitting – no, not
sitting hovering would be a more apt description – floating, as it
seemed, about ten or fifteen feet above the ground! The craft was
so large and so close to the front of their aircraft the UFO’s
right and left edges could not be seen. Slowing, the machine began
to retreat. At first ten feet, then twenty feet, at approximately
fifty feet it stopped moving.

All those squeezed into
the cockpit now could see its enormous size. It was no less than
twenty feet high, circular and stretched at least one hundred feet
edge to edge. It was still humming, like a tuning fork but softly.
Streaks of, what looked like small bolts of lightning, danced along
the bottom of the UFO and leaped to the snow below.

“
Don! Don! This is the
same object, which passed between the A330 and our plane. Its
turbulence threw us into the spin, which prevented our two planes
from crashing head-on. Isn’t it the same one?”

With eyes almost twice
their normal size Co-pilot Walker swallowed hard and replied,
“Uh-huh.”

Not only did Sam Lin and
Si Lei recognize the round emblem on the front they recognized the
strange craft staring them in the face. They both remember reading
Captain Scarburg’s report of Tinker’s encounter with this same
craft at Pac Toul, Cambodia back in 1967.

They remembered she said
the craft looked like two saucers turned one on the other. The
circular body was divided into four sections. The lower bottom
section would be the upturned saucer. The upper portion, the
overturned saucer was divided into three sections. She said the
bottom ring was spinning, emitting a humming sound. This ring
glowed a bright orange but was not hot, but she could feel air
rushing from it. She said static electricity was jumping from the
craft to the ground. It danced all around the craft. Above this
glowing ring was another ring that did not rotate. There were four
portholes mounted in this section. This ring was of a silver color,
platinum thought Tinker. Above this ring was another ring exactly
the same width with the appearance of being gold or gold plated. It
spun opposite to the bottom ring. Above this ring was the final
ring, also gold. This ring extended to the very top where a
blue-tinted observation dome was located.

Looking out the front
windshield, Sam Lin thought, ‘Well Tinker did a terrific job
describing this sucker, she hit it right on the nose.’

Someone questioned if the
Captain had any weapons aboard. The Captain had barely finished
shaking his head when one of the passengers yelled, “Then how are
you going to defend us from this... this... flying
saucer?”

“
Defend!! Defend you - are
you kidding? That thing probably has weapons of which we never have
dreamed. Trying to use a gun against them would be like throwing
rocks at a battleship.”

Sam Lin turned to the
crowd and proclaimed, “Calm, stay calm I do not think they intend
us any harm.”

Someone yelled, “How do
you know?”

Before Sam could answer,
the lower ring of the ‘saucer’ began to spin faster and faster and
started to glow a bright orange color. The ring above the portholes
dropped down and covered the portholes and this ring began to spin
counter-clockwise to the first. The wind produced by the spinning
rings began to increase, blowing harder and harder. It was
beginning to blow the snow away from the ground underneath the
‘flying saucer’. In a second or two, the ice covering the lake
became visible; the craft moved closer and closer to their downed
plane. The snow was being blown away as if a giant leaf blower were
at work.

The alien vehicle moved
over the entire giant Boeing 777, clearing its cocoon of snow
better than a ground crew could do at any major airport. Once the
saucer had removed the snow it moved back to the front of the
aircraft and stopped. Sam Lin and Si Lei crowded close to the
cockpit window could they saw a tiny ‘person’ with large almond
shaped black eyes peering down at them from the craft’s blue,
observation dome. Seeing Sam Lin and Si Lei this little ‘person’
reached up and tipped the brim of his hat. An old, brown, sweat
stained, tattered cowboy hat.