Flight Emergency Ch. 02

This is for those people who requested a further chapter in this story. It is also by way of closure.

The story so far: I, Captain Mitchell Underwood and CSM Julie Paterson meet on a flight from Sydney to Adelaide. An unscheduled stop-over following an in-flight emergency that forced me to turn back to Adelaide resulted in us spending the night together. On our return to Sydney, we spend our first week-end together with Micha, my 8 year old daughter from my previous marriage.

Melissa, my first wife is found badly bashed when we return Micha home. Julie and I apply for, and gain custody. We both resign from work, get married and, with Micha, settle down to life on my farm near Moss Vale, in the Southern Highlands, a couple of hours drive south of Sydney.

*

It had been an idyllic several months, Julie was now eight months pregnant and, efficient as ever had arranged everything in preparation for the birth. She had chosen to have the baby at home, and had arranged for a mid-wife to be present at the delivery. We knew it was going to be a boy but had told no-one, not even Micha. All of her checks had indicated that it would be an easy delivery but she had taken no chances. Just inside the front door was a case, packed with the essentials, just in case a dash to the hospital was necessary.

Despite her burgeoning belly, Julie and I still maintained an active sex life, the only difficulty was in finding a position that allowed both of us to benefit from the experience. Our favourite was on our side, Julie with her back to me and her legs as far up as she could manage allowing me access to her pussy. While she would have preferred a position where she faced me, the only one that was halfway satisfactory was again on our sides, this time facing with her legs raised as high as possible again, it allowed me access but we were still not in a position where we could cuddle and hug each other. I suggested that she could straddle me but she wouldn't have this, because she thought that she was much too heavy for me. I tried to tell her that this was a load of crap, but she insisted. We did however gain some experience in oral sex.

We lay in our bed, Julie had her arms as far around me as was possible and my 'in utero' son was kicking the crap out of me. "I think he's going to be a footballer."

"A Rugby player don't you mean. We can't have him playing one of those woosy codes can we?"

"We'll see. I just hope that he's like you."

"You mean that he'll be devilishly handsome, talented in many areas, and of course, rich."

"I suppose that you think that you're all of those?"

"Of course." My hand was one of my talented areas, it was caressing her breasts that were already engorged in preparation for the birth. Her nipples larger than normal and harder than normal.

"If you keep that up I can't be held responsible for my actions." I kept it up. Her hand found my erect cock and began to fondle him. "You do realise that this is all that you'll get for a couple of weeks after the birth, don't you?"

"I can wait, after all I did have a couple of years of self imposed celibacy."

"Don't I know it, I was there when you broke your drought, talk about a flood, I was swimming in it."

My other hand had found its way between her legs and my finger had entered her pussy. Julie needed no further encouragement, hoisting her knees as high as she could, she presented her pussy to my waiting cock. I had my hands resting gently on her bloated belly as I slid my cock equally gently into her waiting body. My cock slid as gently as possible into her waiting pussy. She urged me to make a greater effort but I had to think of the child inside her belly, so I resisted the temptation to increase my tempo. Her orgasm, when it came, made these precautions totally superfluous, if they didn't bring on contractions nothing would.

Meanwhile Micha had settled easily into her new school and had made several friends and there was an active junior social network of weekend visits to each other's houses. Poor Fred often found a succession of little girls hoisted onto his back during a long, for him but short for the girls, day of horse riding, giggling and screaming, eating and drinking little kids food, and general good natured mayhem.

I drove her to school each day, and even in the middle of winter with the paddocks frosted white, she insisted we take the Morgan, and unless it was actually bucketing down with rain, the top had to be down. There was a certain unselfconscious prestige about rolling up to school in this car, even if we were so rugged up against the cold that we were hardly recognisable.

I had several projects on the go to help with the running of the farm. I had graded and gravel sealed a runway so that I could fly in and out of the property in my new second-hand plane. This served two purposes, I could keep my hand in with flying and Pete, my neighbour, and I could fly to country sales when we needed to buy stock for our farms.

The only down-side to life thus far occurred six months after we moved down here. My first wife, Melissa, had applied for custody on the basis that I was not Micha's biological father and, failing a successful decision, increased access. After a day where emotions ran high and lawyers profited, hers in particular, the Family Court Judge refused to alter the current arrangements. Melissa was not happy and showed her displeasure with a loud and erratic outburst inside the courtroom.

Julie was quiet on the drive back home. I reached over and placed my hand on her thigh, and she covered it with hers. "I'm sorry that you had to go through all of this, I'm only glad that Micha didn't have to be there to see her mother's behaviour. If there had been a way that we could have handled this without you being there I would have taken it."

"I know Darling, but I needed to be there with you. I don't think that I could have coped with the idea of you being in that court on your own and me being at home wondering what was happening, but that doesn't make it any easier. Melissa has shown herself to be a vindictive person who is capable of anything and that's what scares me."

That was two months ago, and Julie's worst fears had just been realised.

I had just pulled into the parking area in the school grounds to pick up Micha, only to be met by a frantic teacher. "Mister Underwood, I'm so glad you're here, Micha has been abducted! The police are on their way and should be here soon." In the background I could hear sirens fast approaching. Two patrol cars sped into the grounds and screeched to a halt beside us.

"What's happened?" I recognised Sergeant Barry Jackson from one of the many local barbeques, he was a large man, tending to over-weight but looked fit nonetheless. "Mitch, what's happened?"

"It seems as if Micha was abducted. I haven't got the full story but a woman, and the description fits my ex-wife, jumped from a car and grabbed her and they were driven off. It happened about ten minutes ago, so they can't have gotten far. There's a good chance that they are heading for Sydney. I have a description of the car, so, if you can spare a man to act as spotter, I'll go home and get my plane and we can follow the road and see if we can locate them."

"Good idea. Jimmy," He called over one of the Constables, "You go with Mitch here, grab a radio and a pair of binoculars from the car, and you are going to find a car." He looked at me, "There are no speed traps between here and your place, if you know what I mean."

I knew exactly what he meant and Jimmy sat in the passenger's seat white knuckling the 'Oh my Jeeesus' handle as we sped back to the farm. Julie was waiting at the front door as I screeched to a halt. "What's happened?"

"Micha's been abducted. I have to find her! Jan is on her way over to stay with you." I gave her an 'everything will be alright' hug and a huge kiss before racing over to the hangar that I had built to house the plane, cursing myself that I would have to drag it out before I could take off.

The pre-flight checks were essential but quick, and within five minutes we were airborne and heading for the main highway. Jimmy was little more relaxed now that we weren't going sideways around corners on gravel roads. He had his binoculars trained on the cars heading towards Sydney, nothing that resembled the description of the car in sight yet.

The radio crackled into life. "Mitch, this is Barry, we have just had a report from a crop sprayer telling us that he spotted a light plane taking off from a paddock, he said it was about a kilometre West of the Hume Highway and a few kilometres South of Mittagong, and it's heading for Sydney, and that there's a car parked there that matches the one used in the abduction. He's keeping low, well below the minimum ceiling. We have alerted Sydney Air Traffic Control to keep a watch for it on their radar, as well as Bankstown." He gave me the serial number of the plane.

"I know that plane, it belongs to another former pilot, and I think I know where he's heading. He has a small strip in a paddock near Penrith that he uses for joy flights into the Blue Mountains. I'll head in that general direction." I told him where the strip was and he set about alerting the local police.

I turned to a North-West heading and opened her up. A few minutes later Jimmy tapped my arm and pointed ahead and to the port. I saw the plane, still flying low and heading directly for the strip. We stayed back and high so that he wouldn't spot us, there was nothing that we could do from up here other than wait.

"I want my Daddy! I want my Daddy and Julie!" The screams were loud and persistent, and obviously getting under Melissa's skin.

"Will you shut the fuck up you snivelling little bitch! You are my daughter, you are not the daughter of that fucking slag that your so called father married!" She pointed to the pilot of the plane, the former Captain Roger Wellington, "This is Roger, he is your real father, and you'd better get used to it."

"He's not my father! Daddy is my real father and Julie is my new Mummy. I love them, I love Daddy and I love Julie and I'm going to love my new brother or sister. I want to go home! Take me home! Take me home! Take me home to Daddy!" Micha screamed at her mother.

"How much further?" Melissa screamed at Roger. "I don't know how much more of this I can stand."

"Another five minutes, it's just the other side of that ridge ahead." He tried to sound as calm as possible, but running through his mind was 'how did I ever let her talk me into this and how can I get myself out of it?' "I have a car parked there that no-one knows about, once we land we can drive to anywhere you want, okay?"

"Yeah fine, just get us there."

The plane topped the rise. "Oh fuck!"

"What's wrong now?"

"Fucking Mitchell must have remembered this strip. There's a police car there waiting for us, we can't land."

"What can we do? We can't stay up here forever?" Melissa was getting panicky.

"There's another strip about ten minutes away, actually it's not much more than a paddock but I've landed there before, we should be able to make it."

"What do you mean, should be able to make it?"

"Well, we've used a little more fuel than I had intended running low and fast, and I didn't have full tanks to start with. We only have enough fuel for twenty-five minutes flying."

Melissa wasn't totally convinced.

In the back of the plane Micha was curled up in the foetal position on the floor between the seats. She reasoned that if Melissa lashed out at her she wouldn't be hurt as much. She had stopped screaming, in her own mind she knew that somehow her father would save her, she longed to feel his strong but gentle arms about her.

Melissa was beyond lashing out at Micha, her attention was directed towards getting back on the ground and finding some safe refuge. She looked ahead and soon a cleared paddock loomed up ahead of them.

Roger prepared to land.

"Mitchell, can you hear me, over."

There was something about the official tone of the message that placed Mitchell on immediate alert. "What is it Barry?"

"Mitchell, I don't want you to worry, but it's Julie. I just had a call from Jan, she's gone into premature labour. The Midwife's there and has advised that, as a precaution she should go to hospital. It just so happens that we have a PolAir chopper hanging around doing not a lot so we've sent it to pick her up and transport her Wollongong hospital. It should get her there in ten minutes, that will save about forty-five minutes on the trip and the Neo-Natal Retrieval Unit is standing by. We'll keep you up to speed on developments."

"Thanks Barry. In the mean time Roger spotted the police car waiting at his strip so he didn't land there. I'm still following him. I don't think that he's seen me. I'll keep you informed of developments."

Five minutes later he saw the other plane begin to descend. "It looks like he's going to land."

Jimmy got on the radio. "Sergeant, it's Jimmy here, it looks as if the other plane is going to land."

"Okay, tell me where you are and we'll get the chopper over there as soon as it's clear of the hospital." Jimmy read their heading from the compass and how long since they the strip Roger used and their airspeed off the dial on the control panel.

"No Roger, no!" Mitchell yelled out.

"What's wrong?" Jimmy asked.

"He's going to try and put down in that paddock ahead but the ground is much too soft. See those tyre marks on the grass where the local hoons have been doing donuts, it's really soft, and one of them even got bogged. He must be low on fuel if he has to land there."

Roger had lowered the undercarriage and was preparing to land. He had seen the car tyre tracks in the grass and was tossing up whether to try a normal landing or go for a belly landing. He, for economic reasons, opted for a wheels down landing, figuring that if the ground was firm enough he wouldn't have the expense of repairing the damage caused by a belly landing.

"Hold on, we're going to land." Years of training and experience kicked in and Roger swooped down and levelled out just above the ground. Slowing the plane to just above stall speed, he kept the nose up and gently allowed it to settle onto the ground. So far, so good. He let the plane roll along the ground without touching the brakes, slowly the nose wheel touched the ground. So far so good.

Then, the moment he had been dreading arrived with a rush. As soon as the weight was put on the nose wheel it dug into the soft soil. The nose went down and dug in, the plane flipped onto its back and slid to a stop.

"Mayday, mayday, mayday, this is Victor Hotel niner, niner, four, seven a plane has crash landed in a paddock, it's just East of the Nepean and about halfway between Penrith and Richmond. I am circling now, I cannot land because the ground is much too soft. I will circle the site, I have enough fuel to remain here for thirty minutes before I will be forced to return to base, unless I can somehow get clearance to land and refuel at Richmond RAAF base. I have to report that, while the fuselage is badly deformed, there is no sign of fire at present. There is also no sign of life. Over."

"Victor Hotel niner, niner, four, seven this is Sydney tower. I have reported your position. A rescue chopper is on its way from Sydney it should reach you in twenty to twenty-five minutes. Please hold station for its arrival. By the way congratulations, we have a phone message from Wollongong Hospital, you have a son, mother and child both well. Over"

"Roger first, thanks second. Out."

"Victor Hotel, niner, niner, four, seven, this is RAAF Richmond, we have scrambled a chopper to you, ETA five minutes. Permission is granted for you to land at RAAF Richmond for refuelling. Hold station for arrival of chopper. Do you copy?"

"Roger, over and out." There was nothing left but to circle and hope. Hope that somehow Micha has survived the crash. As Mitchell circled the paddock Jimmy stared non-stop through his binoculars, looking, hoping for some sign of life.

"Mitch! Look! I don't believe it." His finger pointed towards the plane.

Micha was conscious. It took a while for her to realise that she was lying on the roof of the plane. She saw that the window beside her had shattered and, apart from a few shards of plastic, she could crawl through it. She had several cuts around her face but there didn't appear to be much blood, and her arm felt sore when she moved it or put any weight on it, but one thing that she remembered from discussions she had listened to between her father and his pilot friends was, the best place to be when your plane crashes, was nowhere near it.

It was a struggle but adrenaline kicked in and she overcame the pain of movement, and she managed to squeeze her tiny body through the window. She looked into the front of the plane and her mother's head was twisted at a strange angle, while the man she knew as Roger had blood all over his head from a gash in his neck.

Micha stood, unsteadily, while she got her bearings, and then staggered as far away from the wreckage as she could before collapsing.

"Good girl!" Mitchell shouted so hard that Jimmy was almost deafened.

"This is Victor Hotel niner, niner, four, seven. We have one confirmed survivor. Can you relay a message to Sergeant Barry Jackson at Moss Vale. Tell him that Micha is alive and ask him to relay that message to my wife in hospital. Over."

"Victor Hotel niner, niner, four, seven, this is Sydney tower, will oblige, will also speak to the hospital. By the way, one of your former workmates heard the radio traffic while he was on a holding pattern and recognised your call sign, the word has spread and they send their regards, and best wishes to you and Julie and your son. The chopper only just made it and mother and child are both well. We have been asked to pass on their congratulations and they want to know when the celebrations are going to be, over."

"Sydney tower, this is Victor Hotel niner, niner, four, seven. That's good news about Julie. Tell that bunch of freeloaders that the invitations will be in the post as soon as, but if they think that we're going to supply booze for that lot of lushes they've got another think coming, strictly BYO. RAAF chopper sighted, over and out."

As Mitchell circled he saw Micha look up to the sky. As soon as she caught sight of his plane she began to wave.

Micha heard a plane circling. Looking to where the sound was coming from she recognised the plane. Daddy had come to save her. She waved her arm over her head and saw the wings of the plane wag in confirmation that she had been seen. Then she heard another sound and soon a helicopter appeared over the treetops. It was in camouflage colours and had the red, white and blue roundels of the RAAF. It settled onto the ground some thirty metres away from her and the door opened in the side and a man in camouflage uniform and flying helmet jumped to the ground and ran to her.

"Are you Micha Underwood?" An easy question to ascertain whether or not she was disoriented.

"Yes, that's my Daddy up there." She pointed to Mitchell's plane still circling the site.

"We know, he's really concerned. We are going to check you out quickly and then take you to our base. He'll be there waiting for you. You'll get to see lot's of planes, would you like that?"

"Ooh yes. I love planes. When I grow up I'm going to be a pilot like my Daddy."

"And I bet that you'll make a very good one, just like your Daddy."

While this was happening he was checking her over. "Ouch! That hurts." The examination had arrived at her broken arm.

"Hmm, seems to be broken. We'll put a splint on that until we can get you to hospital. There doesn't appear to be much more wrong with you." He walked with her to the chopper, and lifted her inside.