Free Beneath a Winter Moon by Shawson M Hebert Page A

didn’t want to chance it. If he could not land at the lakeshore LZ, he would abort to the northern LZ. He had also mapped out two hasty landing zones that were fairly close to the lakeshore cabin. The closer he could get to the cabin, the better and once down it would just be a matter of sitting tight until the storm passed.
    Jenny smiled at her husband. They’d been though situations like this a dozen times and she was more than confident in him. Steven was among the best, she knew, and she trusted his abilities and instincts completely.
    The three friends could feel the aircraft descending. Although Steven was trying to make the descent as smooth as possible, the buffeting winds and downdrafts over the lake tugged and pulled at the aircraft. Even Delmar was awake and interested, now. The three companions were silent as they began to see glimpses of the lake below them. Thomas could just make out the northern side of the lake and the blinking lights surrounding the landing zone. The LZ was in a clearing between the cabin and the dock; nearly seventy feet wide with six blinking red strobes set up to help Steven and Jenny see the LZ through the heavy snow.
    Steven spoke up, “We’re on approach, Kyle. Copy?”
    “Copy. Winds still gusting in the red,” Kyle’s voice squawked in static over the radio.
    “Roger, Kyle. I’ve got the LZ and am going to make an attempt.”
    The nose of the helicopter tilted upward as Steven brought it over the LZ and much lower to the ground. Thomas looked out the window and saw the red landing lights looming closer and closer. Delmar looked at Daniel and gave him a thumbs-up. Daniel turned to his window and anxiously watched. The helicopter rocked in all directions and then violently plummeted. The nose of the aircraft dove wildly and the tail shifted with a force that tossed the men against their seats. The helicopter was almost thrown into a flat spin. Just as Thomas was about to lose his lunch, Steven regained control and pulled the helicopter back into a hover, far above the LZ.
    Steven tried once more after hovering high above the winds for a few minutes, but the results were even worse. Thomas did get sick the second time.
    “Not going to try that again,” Steven said to Jenny. She nodded.
    “We’re going back up, guys,” he said through the mic . “We’ll regroup and come up with an alternate LZ. We’ve got a couple of options.”
    The men remained silent, letting the pilots do their jobs. Thomas pulled a do-rag from the pocket of his rucksack and wiped his mouth.
    “Thank goodness for yak-sacks,” he said, smiling feebly and holding up the secured paper sack.
    His friends laughed.
    Once they were back above the winds, Steven contacted Kyle. “Winds aren’t going to allow a landing at the cabin LZ. Any change for LZ two at the Northern camp?”
    “I’m still going by the last radar report—same as before. It showed fairly clear for camp two.”
    “Roger. We are going to head there and sit out the storm at that LZ. See if you can get an update while I am on the move. I’ll contact you in five.”
    “Roger.”
    “Keep some coffee on for us…we shouldn’t have to stay up there long.”
    “Roger, Crazy Horse.”
    Steven turned the helicopter north, dipped the nose into the wind, and headed for camp two. “You heard me, guys? We are headed to camp two to land and sit for a while to give the storm some time to move south. There’s nothing up there but some framework and lumber, but I doubt anyone will want to leave the bird in this storm anyway.”
    “How long will we have to sit there,” Delmar asked.
    “Probably not more than an hour or two, hopefully less.”
    Delmar looked at his two friends, shrugged, and then leaned back and closed his eyes. Thomas smirked. He was still reeling from the feeling of helplessness that he’d experienced just moments ago. Sleep was impossible. He looked over to Daniel and saw that he had one hand tightly wrapped into the