Alive and Alone (9 page)

David, never one to pay much attention in church or Sunday school, raised his head, looked out at the lightly blowing snow and said, “God, you have my father now, so please tell him I'm trying my best to survive.  Let him know God that I'm fine and miss him.  I know I've not been a perfect person, especially in school or when I fight with Marie, but I’ll try to change if I survive this.  I need your help and I need it soon, God, because I'm so alone.  Please, help me God.  Amen.”

CHAPTER 7

T
HE
SNOW
WAS
FALLING
hard in Anchorage and the temperature was five below zero as David’s mother finished shopping and walked out to her car.  As she unlocked the door to her car, she suddenly wondered if her two lost men were safe and warm.  She had little concern about their actual survival, if James and David were unhurt, because she’d see her husband in the woods and he was more at home there than in his own home.  Cathy started the car and then sat for a few minutes as she waited for the fog on the glass of the vehicle to clear so she could see well enough to drive.  As the heater warmed up, she prayed Jim and Dave had a fire and enough protection from the cold to keep them alive.  As she had said many times since she had been notified of the plane missing,
it’s the waiting that’s the most difficult part,
she thought as she pulled from her parking spot,
the not knowing one way or the other.

Pulling into her garage, Cathy took the groceries and walked through the door into the kitchen.  She immediately noticed the house smelled of fresh bread and the smell had always brought a comment from Dave about how good it smelled.  A couple of years before, Jim had bought her a bread machine and at least three times a week Cathy made fresh bread for the family.  She remembered sitting the timer on the machine so the bread would bake while she was out.  
The smell of fresh bread baking always makes a house smell like a home,
she thought with a weak smile as she opened the door to her cupboard and started putting her dried and canned groceries away.

She had just placed the last package of meat in the freezer when the phone rang.  Cathy hurried to kitchen, picked up the phone and answered, “Wade residence, Cathy speaking.”

“Cathy, Frank Wilcox here.  I’m in the command post and we’ve been very busy the last hour or so.”

“Frank, I hate to ask, but anything new?”  As Cathy asked, she was not sure she was ready for the answer.

“Some, but not much. A little over two hours ago a commercial airliner flying near where Jim went down reported hearing a emergency locator beacon for a few minutes on the guard frequency.  The pilot claimed it lasted for only a minute or two, and then it gradually grew weaker until it died.”

Cathy thought for a minute and they asked, “So what does that mean to us Frank?”

“Cathy, only one plane has ever disappeared in the area we suspect Jim went down.  We know where most crashes have occurred in the past and we keep them marked on a map here at the rescue center.  It had to be the E.L.T. from Jim’s plane.”

“Does that mean you have good news then?”

Frank Wilcox hesitated for a few seconds and then spoke, “Cathy, what it means is, we have a better idea where the crash site is, or so I suspect.  It does not mean that either Jim or Dave survived the crash, only that the emergency beacon came on for a short period.  However, the pilot gave us the map coordinates and we know, within a little distance, where the beacon is.”

“What now?”  

Frank hesitated, knowing Cathy wanted to know one way or the other, but the weather was so severe his choppers were grounded.  Finally, he said, “As soon as there is a break in the weather my men will go out.  I actually had to order a few of my pilots not to go out as it is.  Jim is a well-liked man, Cathy, and many of my aircrew members know him very well.  But, I cannot allow them to fly in a storm like this or I’ll end up searching for some of them as well.”

“Any idea when this weather will break?”

Frank cleared his throat and then said, “My weather guys tell me not before three or four more days.  The front is a long one that is moving in from Russia, and they expect as much as forty inches of snow on the ground by the time it quits.”

“T . . . thanks for the call Frank.”  Cathy spoke as she realized this storm could end up killing both Jim and Dave.

“Cathy, I promise you, the first chance my boys get to fly they’ll be out and at the location we have from the airliner.  I suspect they can be there, inspect the crash site and let us know what they find within two hours or so.  Right now, all we can do is hope for a break in the weather.  I’ll call you again as soon as something starts to happen around here.”

“Bye Frank and thanks.”  Cathy quivered with the news as she placed the phone back on the charger.

Forty inches of snow and the plane down in the mountains!
 She thought as she stood in the kitchen unsure what to do next.

Colonel Frank Wilcox was concerned.  The weather had been bad for the last twelve hours and he knew from experience; even if Jim and Dave had survived the crash, a long lasting blizzard of the sorts often seen in Alaska could kill them both.  While the colonel had faith in Jim’s survival skills, even the most qualified individuals could very easily die if the weather got too rough.  Knowledge, without the proper equipment could only keep a person alive for so long.
Of course,
he thought as he picked up the phone,
a lot depends on their physical conditions,
but he spoke into the phone, “Give me weather.”

“Weather, Senior Master Sergeant Wilson speaking.”  The voice from the weather shop answered a second later.

“Sergeant Wilson, this is Colonel Wilcox of SAR, what’s the forecast for the next forty-eight hours or so?”

“Wait one, sir, I’ll check.”

As Wilcox waited, Senior Master Sergeant Donaldson brought him a cup of hot coffee and placed it on his desk.  The sergeant knew the colonel had been up all night locating the beacon location on the map and talking to the commercial pilot on the phone.  It had taken hours because they had to track the pilot down in a hotel in Tokyo, Japan where he was resting over night.

“Sir, Sergeant Wilson speaking, it’s not very good for the next few days I’m afraid.  The next forty-eight to seventy-two hours will be pretty much what we have out there right now.  According to Captain Carter, my OIC, the weather might have a slight break about twenty-four hours from now, but that break will most likely last less than four hours.”

“Thanks Sergeant Wilson, I appreciate the report.”

“Any time colonel and feel free to give us a call.”

As he hung up the phone, Wilcox wondered if the weather break the forecasters were calling for would really happen.  
Four hours would be cutting it close, but I’ve got to do something.  I’ll see if Zlotkowski and Baldwin will fly the mission.  If they’ll risk the flight, I’ll give the go ahead, but the weather will have to be clear,
he thought as he stood from his chair and stretched his sore and tired muscles.

He picked up the phone once more, dialed a number and said, “Give me Zlotkowski.”

A couple of minutes later a voice said, “Captain Zlotkowski speaking.”

“Zee, this is Colonel Wilcox.  I need you and Baldwin on standby starting at midnight tonight.  Contact your crew and put them on alert as well.  The weather guys are projecting a small window of good weather at about this time tomorrow and it happens, you’re going out to find Doctor Wade.”

“Roger that sir, we’ll be ready to go when you give the call.  But, I'll need to send Baldwin over to get what information you have on the crash site, or better yet, could you send your mission planner over with the details?  That way my whole crew can listen in on the briefing.”

“No problem Zee, I’ll get Captain Parker to come over in a couple of hours and brief your crew.  You call back, speak to Parker and let him know when your crew is at the alert shack.  But, Zee, this could be a very dangerous flight and if you don’t want it, when the time comes you tell me, Okay?”

Captain John Zlotkowski laughed and replied, “Colonel, we train for rough missions, so we should be ready for this. And, I promise you, if I think my crew cannot do the job I’ll let you know.  How’s that, sir?”

“Fine John, I’ll leave the acceptance of the mission, or the declining up to you.”

“Well, send your man over after I call back and we’ll see what we can do about getting the good doc out of the woods.”

“Alright, Zee.”  Colonel Wilcox put the phone down and wondered where the Air Force came up with good men like Zlotkowski and his crew.  They were always ready for the dangers and challenges of a rescue mission, regardless of the risks any time.

When Sergeant Donaldson entered the colonel’s office with some routine messages, the old sergeant gave the Wilcox the eye, grinned and said, “With all due respect sir, but you look a complete mess.  Why don’t you go and get some sleep and let me hold the fort down?”

Wilcox yawned, rubbed his tired eyes and replied, “I’ll do that sarge and I’ll be at my home if you need me.  Also, get a weather check every four hours from the weather guys.  Any break in the weather coming, you call me immediately regardless of the time of day.  Oh, and when Captain Zlotkowski calls, let him speak to Parker.  I want Parker to go to the alert shack and give Zee’s crew a mission briefing on the Wade plane.”

“Yes sir, I’ll keep a close eye on the weather for you and I’ll pass on to Captain Parker to expect a call from Captain Zlotkowski.”

Wilcox picked up his fatigue cap and left his office.  He was near the door to the main building when he heard a voice call his name and turning he noticed it was General Moores.

“Frank, I was just returning to my office from a staff meeting, do you have a few minutes?”  The general asked as he gave Colonel Wilcox a very sober look.

“Sure sir.”  Frank Wilcox replied and then thought,
what does he expect me to say when he wears two stars and wants to see me?  I have little choice, I’d say.

As they entered the general’s office the senior officer said, “Close the door and be seated Frank.  This conversation, well, let me say it’s not one I want to have with you.  The search for Doctor Wade and his son will have to be called off by the end of the week.  I got a message in from the Search and Rescue Center at Scott Air Force Base and they have two reasons for calling this to an end.”

Wilcox waited, knowing the senior officer had more to say, but dreading every single word he would hear.

“First, the survival experts don’t think those two could survive in this kind of weather for over ten days, and that’s how long it will be this Friday.  Furthermore, they pointed out to me that as the rescue proceeds we are using up valuable fuel, time, and resources.  I know that you are of friend of the Wade family, but Frank we have to draw a line and the four star general at Headquarters Air Force has drawn it for me.”  The general spoke slowly as he walked to the window with his hands locked behind his back and looked out at the falling snow.

Colonel Frank Wilcox didn’t comment, he simply closed his tired eyes as he wondered how he would be able to tell Cathy Wade.

“Come on, Frank, what’s on your mind?  I’ve known you too long not to know you have something to say.”  The general said as he walked to his desk and sat down in his oversized chair.

“General Moores, has this all been coordinated with the Civil Air Patrol and the civilian volunteers who are involved with the search?”

The older man met Frank’s eyes and replied, “No, of course not.  I wanted to explain it to you before I informed anyone.  You’re the best I’ve ever seen in the rescue business Frank and I mean that.  But, don’t let your personal involvement with this missing man and his family cloud your judgment.  You and I both know that in search and rescue the most important time is the first forty-eight hours and with each hour after that the chances of finding a survivor alive goes down.”

“Sir, you and I are both flyers.  You know as well as I do that there are times when folks have lived much longer than ten days in the bush.”