Fallen on hard times
With a squealing sound the jets wheels touched the runway, the surrounding world shot by at the speed of an arrow then slowed down and came to a halt.
Captain Chiang Yong Han used the remaining forward motion to swing the plane from the runway while behind him the rest of the squadron touched down.
Looking in the rear view mirror he smiled.
Those young enthusiastic pilots he had started out with when he cam to Terrangar had become quite proficient in the last few months. They were intelligent, enthusiastic and disciplined. A general pleasure to work with.
As his plane rolled onto the Tarmac he saw an unusual sight. Jeeps with markings of the military police stood before one of the hangars and his men, the other four instructors that were send with him stood there surrounded by Terrangan trainee pilots and men from the MP.
His aircraft was signaled by a ground crewman to move to the left, and soldiers surrounded it as soon as it had stopped.
A technician brought a ladder as Captain Han opened the cockpit.
The man came up helping him to release the straps and get out of the cramped fighter.
A high-ranking officer of the Terrangan air force stepped up with a man in a suit probably a government official.
“Captain Han” the officer said and saluted “Please step down from the aircraft”
He climbed down after the technician.
As he reached the ground and turned toward the officer the men in the suit addressed him.
“Captain Han?” he asked as if to confirm that he was talking to the right person.“ I am Kobalam, deputy of the ministry of foreign affairs. It is my sad duty to inform you that of today your government was taken over by a military coup from your own forces”
Laughter rose in Han`s throat but was suppressed the second he saw the faces of his fellow Instructors.
The look in their eyes, some of them looking down on the Tarmac others staring at the distance gave it away, as much as their hard faces that were frozen in expressions of confusion, disbelief, fear.
One of the soldiers moved towards Han and grabbed his arm.
“Take it easy Captain” the officer said and suddenly he realized that the soldier who held him had actually prevented him from falling down.
His knees felt weak and his head was spinning. His thoughts raced and like in a dream he saw himself escorted by two soldiers to a jeep and helped into a seat.
“Easy there” said the officer and nodded his head towards one of the soldiers.
The man disappeared behind the jeep and returned with a bottle. Han recognized it as one of those bottles of Terrangan rice wine whose cap could be used as a glass. Very clever idea. But that’s how those Terrangan are. Clever and pragmatic to a fault. “Would have been nice to have them as friends” Han thought, remembering how he had come to respect and like those men he trained.
“Captain” the deputy continued “I am sorry to put this to you but you are under house arrest until you have decided if you want to return to your country or if you want to stay here. It would be good if you could make this decision qickly if only for the sake of our gouvernment”
"But how," Han started. He fought with his throat that was as dry as sand. "What happened?"
"We don`t know that yet" the deputy said."But we will inform you about the news as they become available to us. If you wish to talk to your ambassador you are free to do so"
"You bet I will. Han clenched his teeth.
"If you would please follow me now" A young Sergant from the MP said to him pointing at a bus.
Han rose still shaking on the inside. Then he entered the bus ahead of his man.
They sat down on the seats and stared out the windows.
As the bus moved forward he looked outside the window. There they stood in a line up to the gate.
All the pilot trainees and ground technicians of the fledgling Terrangan air force, and as the bus passed by they raised their hands in salute.
"So that`s how fare we have come" Han tought. "We truly have fallen on hard times"
Please inform me on the decision your pilots will make. They can not return with their aircraft. these have been given to us under the old government and at the moment we do not support the new one