Free White Cargo by Stuart Woods Page A
Authors: Stuart Woods
of a hangar and pointed. Cat’s eyes came to rest on a single-engine Cessna, and he came to an abrupt halt. “Jesus, Bluey, youwant to fly us over a thousand miles of open ocean in a single? That thing’s not much bigger than the little trainer I’ve been learning in.”
“Listen, sport,” Bluey said indulgently, “let me give you a fact or two about airplanes. First of all, the fatality rate for singles and twins is identical. Second of all, if you have an engine failure in a twin, you have a very difficult airplane on your hands. It takes a lot of practice to fly a twin on one engine, and where I’ve been, they didn’t offer that sort of leisure-time activity. And there are certain advantages in fuel efficiency with a single. Flying over water, I’ll take a well-maintained single any day.”
“Well . . .”
“This is a Cessna 182 RG, RG for retractable gear. It’s one hell of a lot more airplane than the 152 you’ve been training in. She does a hundred and fifty-six knots—that’s a hundred and eighty miles an hour—on about thirteen gallons of fuel an hour, and I can land her or take off in seven hundred and fifty feet of runway. She’ll lift anything we can put in her with full fuel aboard, and not many airplanes will do that. She’s only got four hundred hours on an engine that’s designed to fly two thousand between overhauls, she’s loaded with good equipment, and she’s got long-range tanks. We’re paying about five thousand over market value, but we’re in a hurry, and airplanes this good aren’t easy to come by. Now, if you want to hang around here for two or three more weeks while I find a decent twin and practice flying it on one engine, that’s okay by me, but this is a damned good airplane. What do you want to do?”
Cat threw up his hands in surrender. “Sold.”
“Good. How quick can you get back here with acashier’s check for seventy-five thousand dollars, made out to Epps Air Service?”
Cat glanced at his watch. “It’ll have to be tomorrow morning.”
“That’s good. I’ll get them started on the annual inspection. If the mechanic doesn’t run into any unusual problems, we should be able to leave in about three days.”
“As long as that?”
“Yep, that’s good time for an annual and installation of the extra gear. We’ll be stopping in Florida for a life raft and another modification or two on our way. I’ll have you in Colombia in under a week’s time, if there’s not a hurricane in our way.”
“Okay, you’ll have your money first thing in the morning.”
“Cat, you’re going to need to take a lot of cash along.”
“How much?”
“Well, the Florida modifications will come to a few grand, we’re going to have to grease a lot of palms south of the border, and they don’t take American Express in the Guajira or the Amazon. We’re going to be buying goods and services from people who are used to dealing with customers who pay for things with fistfuls of hundred-dollar bills. You don’t want to get caught short down there.”
“I can probably arrange for my bank to wire me whatever I need down there.”
Bluey shook his head. “We’re liable to be in places where that won’t be convenient, or even possible.”
“Well, how much then?”
Bluey shrugged. “Well, I think you probably ought to have a hundred grand in walking-around money, just so people will take you seriously. Apart from that, well,we’re talking about the possibility of ransom, aren’t we? If we find your daughter alive, you may have to buy her from whoever has her.”
“I see,” Cat said, because he couldn’t think of anything else to say.
• • •
Cat had a busy three days ahead of him. He paid for the airplane, then he saw his brother-in-law.
Ben listened quietly to what Cat had to say. “Cat, this is a crazy thing to do, but in your shoes, I guess I’d do the same thing. You really don’t have another alternative, do you?”
“Thanks,
“Listen, sport,” Bluey said indulgently, “let me give you a fact or two about airplanes. First of all, the fatality rate for singles and twins is identical. Second of all, if you have an engine failure in a twin, you have a very difficult airplane on your hands. It takes a lot of practice to fly a twin on one engine, and where I’ve been, they didn’t offer that sort of leisure-time activity. And there are certain advantages in fuel efficiency with a single. Flying over water, I’ll take a well-maintained single any day.”
“Well . . .”
“This is a Cessna 182 RG, RG for retractable gear. It’s one hell of a lot more airplane than the 152 you’ve been training in. She does a hundred and fifty-six knots—that’s a hundred and eighty miles an hour—on about thirteen gallons of fuel an hour, and I can land her or take off in seven hundred and fifty feet of runway. She’ll lift anything we can put in her with full fuel aboard, and not many airplanes will do that. She’s only got four hundred hours on an engine that’s designed to fly two thousand between overhauls, she’s loaded with good equipment, and she’s got long-range tanks. We’re paying about five thousand over market value, but we’re in a hurry, and airplanes this good aren’t easy to come by. Now, if you want to hang around here for two or three more weeks while I find a decent twin and practice flying it on one engine, that’s okay by me, but this is a damned good airplane. What do you want to do?”
Cat threw up his hands in surrender. “Sold.”
“Good. How quick can you get back here with acashier’s check for seventy-five thousand dollars, made out to Epps Air Service?”
Cat glanced at his watch. “It’ll have to be tomorrow morning.”
“That’s good. I’ll get them started on the annual inspection. If the mechanic doesn’t run into any unusual problems, we should be able to leave in about three days.”
“As long as that?”
“Yep, that’s good time for an annual and installation of the extra gear. We’ll be stopping in Florida for a life raft and another modification or two on our way. I’ll have you in Colombia in under a week’s time, if there’s not a hurricane in our way.”
“Okay, you’ll have your money first thing in the morning.”
“Cat, you’re going to need to take a lot of cash along.”
“How much?”
“Well, the Florida modifications will come to a few grand, we’re going to have to grease a lot of palms south of the border, and they don’t take American Express in the Guajira or the Amazon. We’re going to be buying goods and services from people who are used to dealing with customers who pay for things with fistfuls of hundred-dollar bills. You don’t want to get caught short down there.”
“I can probably arrange for my bank to wire me whatever I need down there.”
Bluey shook his head. “We’re liable to be in places where that won’t be convenient, or even possible.”
“Well, how much then?”
Bluey shrugged. “Well, I think you probably ought to have a hundred grand in walking-around money, just so people will take you seriously. Apart from that, well,we’re talking about the possibility of ransom, aren’t we? If we find your daughter alive, you may have to buy her from whoever has her.”
“I see,” Cat said, because he couldn’t think of anything else to say.
• • •
Cat had a busy three days ahead of him. He paid for the airplane, then he saw his brother-in-law.
Ben listened quietly to what Cat had to say. “Cat, this is a crazy thing to do, but in your shoes, I guess I’d do the same thing. You really don’t have another alternative, do you?”
“Thanks,