African Mission

The men listened attentively, as the instructions were being read to them by the Rear Admiral, who concluded by asking Captain Martins of the Western Marine, if the instructions were clear. A young lieutenant asked the Rear Admiral, how far they were supposed to venture into Africa through the Atlantic and how were they supposed to defend themselves, as theyve been instructed not to load the armory in their XPBB Sea Ranger - very long-range maritime bomber and reconnaissance sea aircraft. A younger lieutenant also asked if the people spoke English and how they would cope if they ran out of supply before the expiration of the time given to them.

The superior further instructed them to explore the Western coast of Africa, precisely the Oily Land and to present the people a peace offering, irrespective of the fact that they anticipated hostility or not, and as for communication with them, each party should take a translator along so as to ensure adequate communication.

Any party short of supply should return to the aircraft carrier for refill, but if that is impossible as a result of unforeseen occurrence, use your AN/SPN-41A electronic landing aid and Long Range Wireless Transmitting systems to transmit your location and respondents will be sent to your signaled location, replied the Rear Admiral.

Departure time is 00.45am and nobody leaves the dock till departure time. I wish you all the best of luck and you better not return if you dont have an accurate information on their standard of living, way-of-life, natural resources and investment opportunities available and make sure you avoid their cites until youve compiled the rural and urban data, after which you would present yourself to Captain Martins, who will go into the cites and see the ruler of the most productive states around the vicinity.

The time was 9:35pm and they had 3hrs 10mins left before takeoff. Harry and Bob, ensure all hands are on deck and inspect the aircrafts, meanwhile the rest of you, inspect the supplies and report to my office by 10:35pm instructed Captain Martins. Yes Sir, they all answered in chorus and dispatched to carry out their various assignments.

Captain Martins, stood for a while and contemplated going to his cabin for a nap, but decided against it and headed to his office, wondering if he was really lonely not having a wife presently and missing his only child and son of his life, which made him decide against marriage. How can a woman be so cruel so as to allow her son die of a vaccine-preventable disease, when all she needed was to make a call and the marines health department will not only send it to her, but would also have instructed a doctor to administer it to the child, but she preferred leaving the child to die, so she could lay the blame on her Marine- husband who was too busy sailing around the world aimlessly, to handle his family affair, he thought and hissed sadly as he went to his office.

Exactly 10:35pm, the crew reported to the Captains office and told him all they had done. I want the twelve of you to split into four man crew beginning with Captain Harry, assisted by Stevens and the following are the members of the crew, Patrick and Anthony, he said, and they formed a single file. The second crew is headed by Malcolm and assisted by Vincent and the crew members are Claudius and Sylvester, he said. The 3rd crew, Captain Gilbert, assisted by Richard and the members of the crew are Henry and bob, he concluded.

I want you to re-examine you supplies and rehearse your take-off and landing drills on the carrier, while the members of the crew inspect the communication equipment, he ordered. That will take about an hour and I want you to utilize the time left in settling down in the Carrier as it sails into the Atlantic.

Few seconds into 00:45am, the aircraft carrier also known as the floating fortress, dangled on the waves with the engines propelling it forward, heading for Africa. The hearts of the crew member were filled with the anticipation of an adventure. Adventure with people of different mode of operation and so close to nature that they can be termed nature personified.

The bomber and reconnaissance sea aircrafts rested on the eastern deck of the aircraft carrier and the Captains wondered how they were going to feel flying through Africa on a sunset, probably taking a flight and viewing the African giraffe lost in deep flight across the savannah, or seeing the crocodiles sun themselves along the bank of the Niger River.

As for Harry the Captain, he imagined scaring the wild animals by trimming the aircraft for a definite angle of attack that will bring him as low and close to the animals as possible, after which he will re-adjust the motion of the yoke and trim wheel so as to maintain the control of the angle of attack and airspeed.

While the aircraft carrier sailed through the Atlantic, various minds on board were filled with different expectations of Africa and they couldnt wait to get there, and consistently viewed the detailed map containing the directions around the Oily Land, that was handed to the head of each crew to pass on to the translator, aviator and technician. A booklet containing the geo-characteristics, river, climate, language, location and state capitals were also given. Each crew had a holster and a few extra clips of ammunition, a hanky with the map of the Oily Lands printed on it, equipment for sending signals by the reflected light from the sun and a fixed sum of hard currency.

The Carrier sailed towards Africa and the crews were living in very close quarters with over 6,000 sailors and pilots on a massive floating pile of steel, integrated circuit technology, weaponries, and humankind. Life aboard a floating fortress was difficult, in spite of the magnitude of this huge warship that has two nuclear reactors, a length of 1,082 feet, 242 feet wide, and weighs 94,000 tons, life is restricted and monotonous. Many deckhands work days without sleep and occasionally more days deprived of seeing the sky.

Recruited workers share a cubicle with about 40 other people, all snoozing in single bunks, which are jammed together in stacks of four. The storage is a small box, an erect closet to keep clothes and any personal belongings. Officers might get a bit more space but not personal rooms. In the napping quarters, a satellite uplink and a small TV is set up, to provide all the major programs you would be getting in your much better and nicer living room off the carrier.

Whenever they have free time, they work out in their gymnasiums, head to one of the carriers several cinemas, or read a good book in the library. If the call is heard, they head over to one of the many chapels, churches, and temples present in the ship and pray their heart out. Most crew members wish to get some sun tanning done on the carrier deck? Unfortunately, unless theyre part of a flight crew or deck crew, odds are they wont be able to get on the flat top. Considering the sheer volume of activity that goes on in daily drills, take-offs, landings, and combat preparation of this relatively small floating airport, this isnt too surprising.

When they are done relaxing and get a little hungry, crew members head over to get a bite to eat at one of several messes for officers or galleys for sailors. Each day, Carrier Food Services Department provides an average 16,000 to 22,000 meals. Thats a lot of cooking and meal planning. Unsurprisingly, the higher they rank, the better the food. Apparently they can get the best food at the Chief Petty Officers Mess, and sometimes even better than the Captain and Commanders mess. Part of this is to do with the classlessness of the food services. Officers all are required to buy into a mess and given the ability to decide how much or how little they want to spend on each meal. If the whole mess votes a particular choice each meal, thats fine, as long as they pay for it.

The sailors, as usual, get a rawer deal. They dont have to buy into a mess. Instead their food is paid for by the government usually to the tune of around few bucks a head. You can imagine the quality of the menu that leaves the cook to prepare. Burgers, hot dogs, and the simple things in life. If crew members show up late to the galley or after the Marines take their share, they might end up with odds and ends. They wont ever starve, but the eating will be somewhere between trailer park and homeless shelter.

Two days before the Oily Lands became visible in the binoculars of the crew on board the carrier, the engineers and technicians concluded the maintenance of the third aircraft that was assigned to Captain Malcolm and he was instructed to take a flight thirty degrees West, accompanied by his crew members who will get a visual and anticipate the distance between the Carrier and the Oily Lands.

Malcolm and his crew boarded the aircraft. He maintained 90 knot and transition from level flight to a 480fpm climb, raising the pitch attitude 3 degrees in order to maintain the same angle of attack. The flight lasted for few minutes, and the vertical flight indicator malfunctioned. The vertical speed indicator is malfunctioning, Claudius the technician said to the translator Vincent.

The ocean was smooth and the wind was promising. A flock of ocean birds headed to the east, and Sylvester the aviator suggested they go in the direction of the birds because the birds are obviously heading to the shore, after which he continued sleeping.

After several minutes, Vincent took a look through his binoculars and shouted with excitement. I see wooden houses on the shore and some children padding wooden boats, he said, and passed the binoculars to Claudius the technician who took a look through the binoculars and screamed for joy saying the sleepy head said it. Just go in the direction of the birds.

The sound of the aircraft was altered a good bit and the engine screamed as if its life was been forced out of it. Brace for an impact guys, because we are forced to make an emergency landing. Meanwhile, Vincent get in contact with the Carrier and give them our location, condition and visuals, ordered Captain Malcolm and pushed the yoke and was slightly tensed as the changes in engine performance slightly affected the angle of attack that was meant to give the best angle of glide. He was relieved to remember that the constant of proportionality is arranged so that at sea level, and in standard conditions like the type he found himself, the calibrated airspeed is identical with the true airspeed.

The distance of the runway on the ocean was almost closing and the aircraft refused to come to a stop. It approached the first wooden house and while Malcolm contemplated another take off, the aircraft came to a halt, a few meters away from the wooden houses. As soon as the aircraft grounded to a half, Sylvester was thrown with a forward jerk that got him awake all of a sudden.

Sylvester tried to smash the glass with his elbow twice but discovered he was hurting his arm and decided to run out through the door of the aircraft into the shore of the Atlantic, when his arm was seized by Captain Malcolm. He took a dive under the seat and released the safety latch of his pistol.

What exactly is wrong with you, asked Malcolm. If you are hallucinating an attack, we are not under any. Sylvester came out of the hide out head first before his body, while his team mates laughed till their sides ached.

I thought we were being attacked by the inhabitants of Oily Land, said Sylvester so I acted in the interest of the crew. If our aviator runs from us, what will be our fate, and you have been sleeping since we took off from the carrier and I doubt if you are aware of the aircraft problem we encountered that motivated us to make a forceful landing, replied Malcolm and asked Vincent if he got in contact with the aircraft carrier and delivered his instructions. The message has been intercepted by the carrier and I have received their confirmation of received message.

They were so lost within themselves that they failed to realize the people gathered around the ocean bank applauding, cheering and pleading with them to come out of the aircraft. They seem happy to see us, said Sylvester and walked towards their knapsacks when the instructions from Captain Martins were transmitted to them. After it was deciphered, it ordered them to stay put in their aircrafts until they were received by Captain Gilbert and his crew and that they were to stay together at all times. The last information was that Captain Harry and his crew landed safely at a region of Oily Land that was closer to the Atlantic.

In less than no time they were applauded by the children of the Oily Lands, who circled around the aircraft with their canoes, gesturing for them to come out of the aircraft, some of them signified by clapping their hands together as if in prayer. These people really want us to come over to them, said Claudius. Yes to the extent of begging us, Sylvester said. I think they are praying for us to come to them and not change our minds, said Vincent.

You have all got points, but they could be happy because they have found something to eat or may be offer to anything else, do you get it, asked Captain Malcolm. I dont think the people of Oily Lands are carnivores, said Claudius. From the reports I have, they are just humble people being deprived of basic necessities of living, said Vincent.

They heard the sound of an engine, they knew very well and were surprised to see how swift the children were with their paddles, and their canoes practically flew on top of the water and the less patient ones dived into the water and tried to swim ahead. The aircraft had become not only visible but also landed and it set the waves on motion and Malcolm the Captain cut his engine and adjusted his aircraft to keep up with the waves. Captain Gilbert pulled up to the jetty and walked out from his aircraft and the crowd cheered.

Malcolm and the others came out and met Captain Gilbert and his crew. They exchanged pleasantries and walked towards the people crowded on the sea shore and decided against it. The two Captains ordered that the engine be attended to first, while they go ahead to identify their ruler.

The others immediately left for the aircraft laughing, with a feeling of the relief washing through their minds. Its better to be attending to the engine of the aircraft than attending to the reaction of a ruler that you cant anticipate, joked Bob and they all went into a fit of laughter.