"I was very careful."
"But it cost two lives." Segador flipped a switch on the panel in front of his seat. "Attention, everyone," he said into his microphone. "Lieutenant, how soon before we reach the national border?"
"If we maintain our air speed, Major, we are due to cross the border in less than forty minutes."
"Good. Come back here, please." Then, while the co-pilot left his seat up front and started back to the seats near the bomb bay, Segador continued talking. "Captain, you know what we must expect. The fliers are all loyal; I don't think they would shoot down one of our own planes without permission of their chief. But there are too many Germans in the A-A arm. We may have trouble from the ground."
"I can fly higher, sir. We are now at seven thousand."
"Take her up to nine." He turned to the navigator. "How much will that put between our belly and the mountain tops at the border?"
"Three thousand, Major."
"Not enough."
"We can climb higher and fly on oxygen," the captain suggested.
"No. We've got to take this chance," Segador said. There was not enough oxygen on board, and only the major knew that this was because the chief of the air arm feared the new officers who handled the oxygen depot.