In the Wind
John made some final adjustments to the lines and lit the burner. The noise was overpowering up close and it limited conversation. The envelope slowly filled and the envelope started to lift off the ground. The bus driver, who also doubled as the chase driver and general help started to unhook the tethers to the closest balloon. As it started to lift, Unique and SC waved to their friends in the balloon across the field.
“They’re next” shouted John. “We want to get up and out of their way.” He hit the burner with another blast and the basket started to lift off the ground. The chase helper unhooked the last tether and the big green balloon holding Unique, SC, William, and Neuro lifted into the morning sky.
John shouted to be heard above the sound of the burners, ‘Once we get to about 1,500 feet, I won’t have to hit the burners so often. We’ll be able to talk then. If we can get into one of those convection lifts, we can get into one of those cross currents and ride until it’s time to come down.”
‘It’s so foggy down there. I can’t see a thing.” SC complained. “Where’s the other balloon? “
“You can’t see them because we’re up above the fog now. Once the others rise up past the fog we’ll be able to see them. It’ll burn off the ridges in about an hour. Sometimes the deeper valleys stay fogged in all day.”
“Come over to this side.” Neuro reached out a hand and pulled SC close to him. He pointed over the edge of the basket. “Look down between those ridges. See the house down there? I think there’s someone hanging out laundry.”
“Where? I don’t see anything.” SC leaned over to see what Neuro was pointing at.Something cold and hard dug into SC’s side.
“Do you see this, SC? Keep still and I may let you live.” SC’s eyes went wide. Neuro poked her again. “Act right, SC, act natural. Don’t make me use this on you.”
John was busy pointing out local landmarks to Unique and William.
“And over there is the beginning of the Great Cherokee National Forest. Don’t nobody live there any more. That there valley is over 1,000 feet deep. Some folks still swears there’s dinosaurs roaming round down there. I don’t believe it myself, but it’s wild in there. It’s mighty wild. Bears, wild boar, turkeys, just about any kind of wild game you could think of live down in there.”
John turned around to fire the burner again. He saw Neuro fiddling with the ropes.“Hey, what are you doing? Let go of those ropes. That opens the parachute. You let the heat out now and we’ll crash into the ridge."
“Sorry, chum. It’s time to say goodnight.” Neuro shot John right below the sternum. A small trickle of blood leaked through his flannel shirt. John reached out for the gun. Neuro shot him again and John fell hard to the bottom of the basket. SC covered her eyes and screamed. Neuro yanked hard on the parachute’s cord. The balloon began losing altitude. Unique and William jerked around. “What the hell are you doing, Neuro? Are you crazy? You’ll kill us all” William shouted.
“Oh, no, not all, William - just you and Unique, you fiendish culprits. I plan to get back the research notes that you stole from me and go back to Wilmington.”
“Me?” asked Unique. “What did I do? I didn’t steal anything.” SC cowered at the edge of the basket. Her face was ghastly white against her red hair.
“Research notes? What the hell would I do with your research notes you damn fool?” William’s hands were clenched on the sides of the basket. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”
“Don’t lie to me Haskins. You stole them off my desk when you were down in my lab filming that movie. Do you think I don’t know that you stole them for Unique? She’s the other biologist in this outfit. The two of you would make big profit off my work. I’m not having it. Now where are they?” Neuro pulled the cord to light the burner. A jet of flame shot up into the balloon. The balloon started to lift slowly and continued to rise as Neuro held the cord leaving the flame burning.
“Stop, Neuro. We can only go so high in this thing. Let go of the cord.”
“Nothing doing, Unique. We’re staying up here until I get some answers. Now, Haskins, where are my research notes?”
“I told you I don’t have them, Neuro. I don’t have them and I never did. I didn’t even see the damn things and I wouldn’t know what to do with them if I had them.”
“That’s a bloody lie.” Neuro hit the burner and the balloon started to rise again. We’ll just stay up here until one of you decides to talk.”
“I think I’m going to be sick” SC moaned into the corner of the basket. “Why are we going so fast?” The balloon was racing across the sky, caught in an air current that made the ground below pass by with dizzying speed.
“My, God, Neuro. We’ve hit the upper level cross wind John was talking about. For God’s sake, let us down. We can talk about this on the ground.” William lunged for the parachute cord and gave it a yank. The balloon started to lose altitude. Neuro lashed out at William’s head with the pistol. William staggered back his head bloody.
“You, idiot! You’ve broken the parachute cord. There’s no way to close the chute!” The balloon started to plummet.
“I’m going to be sick’ SC moaned. She leaned over the side of the basket. Suddenly, the balloon dropped into another air current and it violently changed direction. SC was pitched over the side. She fell screaming to the ground below.
In the moment of distraction, William seized the opportunity to attack Neuro. He grabbed his opponent’s collar and tried to keep the gun pointed skyward. William and Neuro were dancing a dangerous pas de deux at 1,500 feet in the air. Unique scooted around on the floor of the basket trying to stay out of their way. Suddenly, the balloon encountered a downdraft and dropped another 500 feet quickly. With the parachute cord broken while the flap at the top of the balloon was open, it now couldn’t be closed. The balloon continued to lose altitude. Unique screamed as she saw the top of a pine tree rise above the rim of the basket.
“William, we’re going to crash!” Will took that moment to give Neuro a mighty heave. His back hit the rim of the basket and his head whipped back just as the first branches were passing by the rim of the basket. Neuro’s head cracked on a passing limb. Staggering he bounced off the side of the basket and was slapped in the head by another branch. The balloon shuddered and shook as it fell through the limbs of the pines. Great streamers of the balloon’s envelope were torn away and lost to the wind. With a final lurch and crash, the balloon came to a shuddering halt.
“They’re next” shouted John. “We want to get up and out of their way.” He hit the burner with another blast and the basket started to lift off the ground. The chase helper unhooked the last tether and the big green balloon holding Unique, SC, William, and Neuro lifted into the morning sky.
John shouted to be heard above the sound of the burners, ‘Once we get to about 1,500 feet, I won’t have to hit the burners so often. We’ll be able to talk then. If we can get into one of those convection lifts, we can get into one of those cross currents and ride until it’s time to come down.”
‘It’s so foggy down there. I can’t see a thing.” SC complained. “Where’s the other balloon? “
“You can’t see them because we’re up above the fog now. Once the others rise up past the fog we’ll be able to see them. It’ll burn off the ridges in about an hour. Sometimes the deeper valleys stay fogged in all day.”
“Come over to this side.” Neuro reached out a hand and pulled SC close to him. He pointed over the edge of the basket. “Look down between those ridges. See the house down there? I think there’s someone hanging out laundry.”
“Where? I don’t see anything.” SC leaned over to see what Neuro was pointing at.Something cold and hard dug into SC’s side.
“Do you see this, SC? Keep still and I may let you live.” SC’s eyes went wide. Neuro poked her again. “Act right, SC, act natural. Don’t make me use this on you.”
John was busy pointing out local landmarks to Unique and William.
“And over there is the beginning of the Great Cherokee National Forest. Don’t nobody live there any more. That there valley is over 1,000 feet deep. Some folks still swears there’s dinosaurs roaming round down there. I don’t believe it myself, but it’s wild in there. It’s mighty wild. Bears, wild boar, turkeys, just about any kind of wild game you could think of live down in there.”
John turned around to fire the burner again. He saw Neuro fiddling with the ropes.“Hey, what are you doing? Let go of those ropes. That opens the parachute. You let the heat out now and we’ll crash into the ridge."
“Sorry, chum. It’s time to say goodnight.” Neuro shot John right below the sternum. A small trickle of blood leaked through his flannel shirt. John reached out for the gun. Neuro shot him again and John fell hard to the bottom of the basket. SC covered her eyes and screamed. Neuro yanked hard on the parachute’s cord. The balloon began losing altitude. Unique and William jerked around. “What the hell are you doing, Neuro? Are you crazy? You’ll kill us all” William shouted.
“Oh, no, not all, William - just you and Unique, you fiendish culprits. I plan to get back the research notes that you stole from me and go back to Wilmington.”
“Me?” asked Unique. “What did I do? I didn’t steal anything.” SC cowered at the edge of the basket. Her face was ghastly white against her red hair.
“Research notes? What the hell would I do with your research notes you damn fool?” William’s hands were clenched on the sides of the basket. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”
“Don’t lie to me Haskins. You stole them off my desk when you were down in my lab filming that movie. Do you think I don’t know that you stole them for Unique? She’s the other biologist in this outfit. The two of you would make big profit off my work. I’m not having it. Now where are they?” Neuro pulled the cord to light the burner. A jet of flame shot up into the balloon. The balloon started to lift slowly and continued to rise as Neuro held the cord leaving the flame burning.
“Stop, Neuro. We can only go so high in this thing. Let go of the cord.”
“Nothing doing, Unique. We’re staying up here until I get some answers. Now, Haskins, where are my research notes?”
“I told you I don’t have them, Neuro. I don’t have them and I never did. I didn’t even see the damn things and I wouldn’t know what to do with them if I had them.”
“That’s a bloody lie.” Neuro hit the burner and the balloon started to rise again. We’ll just stay up here until one of you decides to talk.”
“I think I’m going to be sick” SC moaned into the corner of the basket. “Why are we going so fast?” The balloon was racing across the sky, caught in an air current that made the ground below pass by with dizzying speed.
“My, God, Neuro. We’ve hit the upper level cross wind John was talking about. For God’s sake, let us down. We can talk about this on the ground.” William lunged for the parachute cord and gave it a yank. The balloon started to lose altitude. Neuro lashed out at William’s head with the pistol. William staggered back his head bloody.
“You, idiot! You’ve broken the parachute cord. There’s no way to close the chute!” The balloon started to plummet.
“I’m going to be sick’ SC moaned. She leaned over the side of the basket. Suddenly, the balloon dropped into another air current and it violently changed direction. SC was pitched over the side. She fell screaming to the ground below.
In the moment of distraction, William seized the opportunity to attack Neuro. He grabbed his opponent’s collar and tried to keep the gun pointed skyward. William and Neuro were dancing a dangerous pas de deux at 1,500 feet in the air. Unique scooted around on the floor of the basket trying to stay out of their way. Suddenly, the balloon encountered a downdraft and dropped another 500 feet quickly. With the parachute cord broken while the flap at the top of the balloon was open, it now couldn’t be closed. The balloon continued to lose altitude. Unique screamed as she saw the top of a pine tree rise above the rim of the basket.
“William, we’re going to crash!” Will took that moment to give Neuro a mighty heave. His back hit the rim of the basket and his head whipped back just as the first branches were passing by the rim of the basket. Neuro’s head cracked on a passing limb. Staggering he bounced off the side of the basket and was slapped in the head by another branch. The balloon shuddered and shook as it fell through the limbs of the pines. Great streamers of the balloon’s envelope were torn away and lost to the wind. With a final lurch and crash, the balloon came to a shuddering halt.
posted by uniquematerial | 11:00 AM
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