“Perish the thought!” Freddy Farmer groaned. “Don’t even think of it. But you can start bearing south now. We’re well east of Brownsville, and they can’t hear our engine. Canal Zone! Here we come, and jolly well keen to make the best of things, and win through in pukka style.”
“And you can say that again!” Dave breathed fervently, and banked the Vultee around until it was headed south and slipping out over the night-darkened waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Invisible Fate
The new sun had been up for a couple of hours and its pure golden rays played tag on the wings of the Vultee as the two seater attack craft droned steadily onward. Long ago Dave had tired of watching the deep blue Caribbean roll by beneath him. He had also tired of spotting the little groups of cays that stuck up out of the water here and there. An hour ago they had skirted the most eastern tip of Nicaragua, and now they were thundering straight down the world toward Panama. An hour at the most and they would be sliding down to a landing on the Air Corps Base at Colon, on the Caribbean side of the Canal.
An hour at the most. Dave sighed, pushed up his goggles and dug knuckles into his tired eyes. It had been a pretty monotonous trip. Just drilling along in the dark of night well off shore of the Central American countries, so that they wouldn’t be mistaken for enemy aircraft and get a few anti-aircraft shells tossed up at them. Just drilling along with nothing to break up the flight and make it more interesting. Of course, in his heart that was the last thing Dave wanted. Or Freddy Farmer, either, for that matter. Still, it was nice to imagine that it would help a little if a Messerschmitt or two should come streaking out of nowhere with all guns blazing. Nothing so soul-satisfying as smacking a couple of Nazis before breakfast.
Dave pulled the string on his crazy, rambling thoughts, and shifted his position in the seat.
“You still there, Freddy?” he called out. “Or was that air bump a ways back you jumping out?”
“It wasn’t,” Freddy replied. “But I’ll admit I’ve been toying with the thought. Too bad this isn’t a seaplane. Then we could at least land down there and have a swim.”