there is terrible, at least until the sun is overhead. Anything resembling food should be collected too. There was a lot of fruit, cheese, crackers and candy in the gift baskets. Maybe there is something else in the front galley.”
Melanie raised her hand like a child in school and Gray nodded at her. “Won’t we be picked up within hours?” she asked.
“I hope so, especially for Lleyton , Keegan and Malik’s sake. But while the plane was at altitude and on radar, the co-pilot turned to a southerly course and descended like he was trying to reach Australia. When he reached sea level and was below radar, he likely turned off the transponders which would make it look like we crashed. We know he banked and turned north east, and before we crashed we probably flew thirty minutes or more at four to six hundred miles per hour. We are likely hundreds of miles from where anyone will look.”
Paolo said, “What is the term you Americans use so often, bullsheet? All airliners have emergency locator beacons. We will be found by noon.”
That brought a brief silence. Shinobu cleared his throat. “We all hope you are correct, Mister Molenaar, but it will do no harm to prepare for the worst.”
Paolo shrugged , sat down against a tree and closed his eyes.
“What about the locator beacons?” Lex asked Gray. “Don’t they work under water?”
“They don’t work under water but the ELTs are still our one big hope. When an airliner lands in water the ELTs are designed to eject from the aircraft, float to the surface and broadcast a distress signal to satellites. But in talking with Malik, I believe the hijacking was aided by mechanics at the airport. I think it is possible the mechanic or mechanics may have disabled any type of automatic locator transmitters.”
That brought groans and an ancestral curse on the mechanics from Lex. Gray went on. “After we get immediate food and water taken care of we need to find out what is on this island. There might be someone with a satellite phone just on the other side of the island.”
That brought grins and some hopeful cheers. Lex said, “So we gather everything under the big tree. What about shelter if it rains?”
“Good question, Lex. If we find anything like plastic or large sheets of metal, we should salvage that. We may have to build shelter.”
“ We should collect the blankets,” Anna added.
Everyone but Paolo agreed to collect what was available along the beach and close to shore and wait for better light to dive to the aircraft. They found perhaps two days worth of water for everyone and several of the unopened gift baskets and some stray oranges and apples. The fruit had a coating of jet fuel making them inedible unless peeled or washed with soap. The oranges could be peeled easily enough but the apples required a knife. Dozens of blankets, some sealed in plastic, many of the tiny pillows and a half dozen boxes of tissues, mostly soggy, were retrieved and laid out in the sun with the hope that they would be usable when dried out.
Gray had removed his shoes while in the water but Anna had not recovered them like his trousers. He checked the shoes on Sani’s body but they were too small. He kept them thinking they might fit Keegan. He tried on Malik’s but they were too large for any serious walking. Melanie had earlier removed Lleyton’s shoes and they proved a good fit. When they had recovered everything useful, Gray suggested they explore the island. Everyone agreed with that but Paolo who was napping. Shinobu volunteered to stay with the three badly injured men while the others explored.
Anna gazed at the bodies down on the beach. “Should we think about burying them… if we are here very long?”
Gray looked at Shinobu for his reaction. The old man followed Anna’s gaze down to the beach. “My wife no longer inhabits that body. We will bury them if necessary.”
Lex found
Melanie raised her hand like a child in school and Gray nodded at her. “Won’t we be picked up within hours?” she asked.
“I hope so, especially for Lleyton , Keegan and Malik’s sake. But while the plane was at altitude and on radar, the co-pilot turned to a southerly course and descended like he was trying to reach Australia. When he reached sea level and was below radar, he likely turned off the transponders which would make it look like we crashed. We know he banked and turned north east, and before we crashed we probably flew thirty minutes or more at four to six hundred miles per hour. We are likely hundreds of miles from where anyone will look.”
Paolo said, “What is the term you Americans use so often, bullsheet? All airliners have emergency locator beacons. We will be found by noon.”
That brought a brief silence. Shinobu cleared his throat. “We all hope you are correct, Mister Molenaar, but it will do no harm to prepare for the worst.”
Paolo shrugged , sat down against a tree and closed his eyes.
“What about the locator beacons?” Lex asked Gray. “Don’t they work under water?”
“They don’t work under water but the ELTs are still our one big hope. When an airliner lands in water the ELTs are designed to eject from the aircraft, float to the surface and broadcast a distress signal to satellites. But in talking with Malik, I believe the hijacking was aided by mechanics at the airport. I think it is possible the mechanic or mechanics may have disabled any type of automatic locator transmitters.”
That brought groans and an ancestral curse on the mechanics from Lex. Gray went on. “After we get immediate food and water taken care of we need to find out what is on this island. There might be someone with a satellite phone just on the other side of the island.”
That brought grins and some hopeful cheers. Lex said, “So we gather everything under the big tree. What about shelter if it rains?”
“Good question, Lex. If we find anything like plastic or large sheets of metal, we should salvage that. We may have to build shelter.”
“ We should collect the blankets,” Anna added.
Everyone but Paolo agreed to collect what was available along the beach and close to shore and wait for better light to dive to the aircraft. They found perhaps two days worth of water for everyone and several of the unopened gift baskets and some stray oranges and apples. The fruit had a coating of jet fuel making them inedible unless peeled or washed with soap. The oranges could be peeled easily enough but the apples required a knife. Dozens of blankets, some sealed in plastic, many of the tiny pillows and a half dozen boxes of tissues, mostly soggy, were retrieved and laid out in the sun with the hope that they would be usable when dried out.
Gray had removed his shoes while in the water but Anna had not recovered them like his trousers. He checked the shoes on Sani’s body but they were too small. He kept them thinking they might fit Keegan. He tried on Malik’s but they were too large for any serious walking. Melanie had earlier removed Lleyton’s shoes and they proved a good fit. When they had recovered everything useful, Gray suggested they explore the island. Everyone agreed with that but Paolo who was napping. Shinobu volunteered to stay with the three badly injured men while the others explored.
Anna gazed at the bodies down on the beach. “Should we think about burying them… if we are here very long?”
Gray looked at Shinobu for his reaction. The old man followed Anna’s gaze down to the beach. “My wife no longer inhabits that body. We will bury them if necessary.”
Lex found
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