quick. He scanned the field again. There was no time
for a thorough sweep. The enemy often set traps in known pick-up points. They dug trenches in the middle of fields and camouflaged them so that aircraft crashed into them on landing, or they strung
wires across fields with similar results. He would have to risk it. There was no time for a close fly-by. With gritted teeth, he dipped the nose of the twin-seat FE2b into a descending turn.
‘Let’s get as close as we can, Jack my boy,’ he muttered to himself. ‘No point in making him run any further than he has to.’
The engine spluttered and popped at idle as he glided around the turn. He gave it a little burst of power as he levelled the wings, just to make sure it would respond. The throaty roar it gave
as he momentarily pushed forwards the throttle was heart-warming, but it put him a little above the ideal approach path.
‘A touch of side-slip,’ he muttered, dipping the left wing and increasing his rate of descent by kicking the rudder to the right. ‘Perfect!’ He uncrossed the controls as
he regained the perfect approach angle and eased the aircraft down until he was all but skimming the grass. Gently easing up the nose he allowed the wheels to gradually sink onto the surface with
barely the whisper of a kiss. It was one of the best landings he had done in a while.
The surface was bumpy, but not terribly so. He trundled towards the waiting man, decelerating all the way. The shadowy figure had his hands up, as was the friendly protocol, but as Jack
approached all hell broke loose. The spy took a spectacular dive to the ground even as the shadow of another figure seemed to fly down and hover next to him, hanging in the sky above him like a
dark angel. At that same moment a barrage of rifle fire opened up from the hedgerow beyond.
‘Bloody hell!’ Jack swore. ‘Come on! Get up! Get up! Over here – quickly!’
The man did not move. Either he was dead, injured, or he was too scared to move. It took a moment for Jack to realise that despite the sound and multiple flashes of gunfire, the air was not full
of bullets. Either the enemy are lousy shots, or they’re not shooting at me, he thought. As it turned out, neither assumption was correct. The hovering figure suddenly leaped down to earth
and ran towards him. It took a moment for him to realise that it was a girl.
‘What the . . .’
‘Get ready to go!’ she yelled. ‘The man on the ground is not the person you’re looking for. My friend has found your ally and is bringing him for you now. He was hiding
not far from here. That man back there is your enemy,’ she added, pointing to the man sprawled on the ground behind her.
Her accent was strange, but she spoke in English. Despite understanding her warning, Jack could make little sense of what was going on. A sudden whoosh of air drew his attention upwards. A great
golden dragon swooped out of the dark blue sky and dropped a man onto the grass next to his aircraft. The man rolled over a couple of times and then sprang to his feet. He looked around, wild-eyed
and poised to run. The dragon and rider did not stop. They powered back up into the pre-dawn sky.
It’s the flying creatures! Jack thought, unwilling to label the creature with its proper name, as he was not sure he really believed his eyes. They’re here again. But why? And where
do they come from that they can appear so suddenly?
Whatever the girl had flown down on was completely invisible, yet the one that had dropped the spy showed no sign of disappearing. The horizon to the east was growing pale. Dawn was approaching
fast. There was no time for speculation. He needed to get airborne and back across into friendly territory before the enemy fighters launched in force.
‘Follow me back to my base,’ Jack called out to the girl. ‘I want to talk with you – thank you for your help. Do you understand me?’
‘We can’t,’ she answered, looking anxiously eastwards
for a thorough sweep. The enemy often set traps in known pick-up points. They dug trenches in the middle of fields and camouflaged them so that aircraft crashed into them on landing, or they strung
wires across fields with similar results. He would have to risk it. There was no time for a close fly-by. With gritted teeth, he dipped the nose of the twin-seat FE2b into a descending turn.
‘Let’s get as close as we can, Jack my boy,’ he muttered to himself. ‘No point in making him run any further than he has to.’
The engine spluttered and popped at idle as he glided around the turn. He gave it a little burst of power as he levelled the wings, just to make sure it would respond. The throaty roar it gave
as he momentarily pushed forwards the throttle was heart-warming, but it put him a little above the ideal approach path.
‘A touch of side-slip,’ he muttered, dipping the left wing and increasing his rate of descent by kicking the rudder to the right. ‘Perfect!’ He uncrossed the controls as
he regained the perfect approach angle and eased the aircraft down until he was all but skimming the grass. Gently easing up the nose he allowed the wheels to gradually sink onto the surface with
barely the whisper of a kiss. It was one of the best landings he had done in a while.
The surface was bumpy, but not terribly so. He trundled towards the waiting man, decelerating all the way. The shadowy figure had his hands up, as was the friendly protocol, but as Jack
approached all hell broke loose. The spy took a spectacular dive to the ground even as the shadow of another figure seemed to fly down and hover next to him, hanging in the sky above him like a
dark angel. At that same moment a barrage of rifle fire opened up from the hedgerow beyond.
‘Bloody hell!’ Jack swore. ‘Come on! Get up! Get up! Over here – quickly!’
The man did not move. Either he was dead, injured, or he was too scared to move. It took a moment for Jack to realise that despite the sound and multiple flashes of gunfire, the air was not full
of bullets. Either the enemy are lousy shots, or they’re not shooting at me, he thought. As it turned out, neither assumption was correct. The hovering figure suddenly leaped down to earth
and ran towards him. It took a moment for him to realise that it was a girl.
‘What the . . .’
‘Get ready to go!’ she yelled. ‘The man on the ground is not the person you’re looking for. My friend has found your ally and is bringing him for you now. He was hiding
not far from here. That man back there is your enemy,’ she added, pointing to the man sprawled on the ground behind her.
Her accent was strange, but she spoke in English. Despite understanding her warning, Jack could make little sense of what was going on. A sudden whoosh of air drew his attention upwards. A great
golden dragon swooped out of the dark blue sky and dropped a man onto the grass next to his aircraft. The man rolled over a couple of times and then sprang to his feet. He looked around, wild-eyed
and poised to run. The dragon and rider did not stop. They powered back up into the pre-dawn sky.
It’s the flying creatures! Jack thought, unwilling to label the creature with its proper name, as he was not sure he really believed his eyes. They’re here again. But why? And where
do they come from that they can appear so suddenly?
Whatever the girl had flown down on was completely invisible, yet the one that had dropped the spy showed no sign of disappearing. The horizon to the east was growing pale. Dawn was approaching
fast. There was no time for speculation. He needed to get airborne and back across into friendly territory before the enemy fighters launched in force.
‘Follow me back to my base,’ Jack called out to the girl. ‘I want to talk with you – thank you for your help. Do you understand me?’
‘We can’t,’ she answered, looking anxiously eastwards
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