Many Kilometers away, Star headed towards the land mass showing on the navigation screen. She was determined to get to land safely and hunt down Carla, if it was the last thing she ever did.
When she took off she had given no thought to where she was heading and just followed the red helicopter until it faded into the distance.
Star had no idea how to increase forward speed and maintain altitude. By moving the cyclic stick forward, very gently, speed picked up, but she started dropping down to the sea. Easing it back brought her up again, but she slowed, almost to a hover. She had forgotten the collective that got her off the ground.
With little else to do but hold the controls steady, she had time to study the console and instruments. The navigation display automatically zoomed out the further she got from Dom Island and the preprogramed course, set by the rescue pilot was showing her the way. All she had to do was keep to the line. After several hours, the destination land mass showed on the screen and grew larger as she closed on it.
The shock wave of the explosion on Dom Island had been registered around the world and Majuro Atoll had heard it. The News reported that there had been an immense explosion, probably the precursor to a volcanic eruption.
Satellites were programmed to look at the area. Images showed nothing except the tsunami. By working back to the origin of the tsunami and comparing map data, it soon became apparent Dom Island had vanished.
The control tower repeatedly transmitted requests for information as Star approached the airfield, but she had not put on the headphones. The helicopter’s identity was being sent automatically, so the control tower knew it belonged to the rescue team, but not who was piloting it. This was of great concern to the control tower personnel. The pilot was obviously not trained to fly, so how was it going to land. Unless they could contact the person piloting it, they could not even try and talk them down.
It was only when the Atoll was close enough to clearly see the shore line detail that Star considered how she was going to land. It seemed logical that down was the reverse to up, and she had done that with no trouble. Having become more familiar with the controls, she decided that the sandy beach was probably the best place to aim for. It was open and soft and help would not be far away. She remembered the collective and knew how to achieve a hover, so in she came.
Her course was parallel to the shoreline at 50 knots. She lowered the collective and pulled back slightly on the cyclic stick, resulting in a hover, 10 meters above the water.
She lowered the collective again and as she dropped near the water’s edge, she was engulfed in flying sand and spray that clung to the windows. In a panic, she pushed the collective hard down, the aircraft spun and veered off sideways. The skids dragged in the water, tipping the machine on its side, which caused the main rotor blades to hit the wet sand and break off.
The water was about one meter deep, it quickly engulfed the turbine and flooded the cabin. Star was flung around and when the water closed over her head, fought to break free from the seat belt. She surfaced and as silence fell around her, she clung to the seat for a moment and climbed up to flip open the door.
As she gathered her wits, she could see cars pulling up on the road and soon people were rushing to help her away from the wreckage. Police and an ambulance quickly appeared and she was taken off to hospital.
With no serious injuries, even from her fall onto the ledge at Dom Island, the police interviewed her as soon as she arrived at the police station.
Star started with her name, Anna Short and told her story from the point where the Islander plane was struck by lightning and how she and Forbes were attacked by the natives.
It crossed her mind to mention the discovery of VRC, but it now seemed so incredible, even she found it hard to believe. What evidence did she have? None at all. Who were the people involved? Again, it was not as though it was a government she could name, just a few individuals, so what value was that? She also had a score to settle and would do that, personally. There would be no sweet revenge if the state meted out justice.
Star fabricated a plausible story, saying that Forbes held off the natives while she ran off and hid, he was probably murdered by them. Later, the rescue party had landed in their helicopter. They were taken by the natives and she never saw what happened to them. As she made her way to the rescue helicopter, the engine was still running, there was an earthquake and the ground where she stood collapsed under her. She fell in and landed on a ledge. Fortunately, she was able to climb out, but the natives were surrounding her, so she used the helicopter to escape.
It was a story that the police would need to have confirmed, but how?
***
Several hours after Star’s police interrogation, the two boats returned, piloted by their respective crews. On-board were the rescue crew, Carla’s pilot, security agents and Yaakov Malenkov with his two men.
They all reported landing on the island and one by one, were picked off by the natives, who were zombie like and had amazing strength. They were all captured and drugged by the natives, then set adrift in their boats.
When they were a long way out to sea, there was a massive explosion. They heard the blast, saw the brilliant flash and the huge plume of smoke. Moments later, a much larger explosion occurred, deep under the sea, followed quickly by a large wave. They did not know what had exploded; they were too far out to sea and not near any land, but it was in the direction of Dom Island.
Carla’s pilot added that he had seen her red helicopter flying overhead, moments before the first blast. There was no way to know who was piloting it, but he thought it could only have been the owner, Carla Day. He had not refilled the fuel tank and doubted that she could have. Without refueling, she could never have reached land.
The fact that she did not land here on the atoll, confirmed to the police that she died when it crashed into the sea. No one had seen the rescue helicopter, close behind, against the brilliance of the blast.
The police concluded the girl was telling the truth and was lucky to be alive. The matter of the crashed helicopter would be considered, but unofficially, it was unlikely charges would be brought.
It was then that Mr. Short and his three remaining men were allowed to see the girl.
“Anna, I am so pleased you are safe. We all thought you were killed when Dom Island exploded and we were not allowed to see you, until now. We have to get you away from here, back home where you will be safe. One of the men, Yaakov Malenkov, came here to murder both you and Forbes.
“Where is Forbes by the way, is he dead?”
“Yes, Dad, he died on the island, the natives got him.”
“I am so sorry to hear that; still, you will quickly get over him, once you are home. I will get the flight sorted as soon as possible.”
Star just smiled and let him get on with his belief. She had £5 million in the bank and a posh flat, she was in a good position to get on with life and track down Carla.
“Tell me, Dad, did you go to the island with the others?”
“No I didn’t, my boat was sunk and one of my men was murdered. It was made to look as though he had died, trapped in the cabin. Malenkov must have killed him to stop me protecting you. He knew I would find you and bring you back safely, so he struck first.
“He can go to hell for all I care, I just want to get you back home where you belong, if he turns up there, we will deal with him on our turf.”
She put her arms around his neck and pecked his cheek. ”I can’t wait to be home, but I have just one little chore to do first. I have to find out about the owner of the red helicopter, so tomorrow I must talk to the pilot at the airfield. Perhaps you and your men can come with me, just in case. Then we can leave as soon as you like.”
***
Yaakov Malenkov was still down £10million and had no satisfaction in knowing Forbes was dead. After all, he had not had the pleasure of making him suffer. Still, the girl was alive and she might know how to recover the money. This was one of those occasions when revenge had to take a back seat - he would plan his strike when she was back home and take his time with her, enjoying her suffering. She would have to suffer for Forbes as well, now.
***
The security agents were far from happy with the outcome. They would return home, empty handed. They decided to report the location of Yaakov Malenkov and let others deal with him. Now all they wanted to do was get home.