Page 75 of Under the Dark Moon

Speech was impossible so Duncan signalled for her to board first. Thankful she was wearing trousers, she climbed in. And stared.

The cargo area was jam packed for the outward journey. She knew eighteen stretchers could be stacked three by three in the modified interior. Nine patients per side of the plane and eighteen in total. Two attendants, her and Duncan, would care for the men along a narrow central aisle. That was how it had been described and how it had looked the day they toured a Dak, the pilot’s name for his plane.

There was no aisle. There were no seats. Only crates held in place by netting.

She looked around the interior then, turning to Duncan, mouthed, ‘Where do we sit?’

He found her a spot on a single crate next to a stack of boxes and barrels covered by a cargo net, leaned close and said, ‘Hang on to the net if it gets bumpy.’

She gave him a thumbs up signal and pressed her back against the wall. The engines throbbed and the plane vibrated like a living being. The rumbling bass note rose as the DC-47 raced east along the runway and leapt towards the rising sun.

Blinded by light streaming through the open cockpit door, Meg narrowed her eyes and clung to the cargo net until they banked over the sea before turning north and levelling out.

The noise of the engines increased when they climbed over mountains whose heads touched the clouds. Peak upon magnificent peak passed them by, with jungle like a green fossil all around. Meg clutched the edge of the cockpit doorway, awed by the landscape.

When they were a little way out from their destination, Flight-Lieutenant Roper invited Meg and Duncan into the cockpit. ‘As this is the first air evacuation flight, Kipling and I thought you’d like to share in the moment, Sister, Corporal. Kipling, do you have the requisite equipment to make a toast?’

Flt-Lt Kipling raised a silver hip flask and produced three tin mugs. Pouring a little into each, he handed them around before raising the flask.

Roper raised his. ‘To “Meet You”’s maiden flight. Let’s bring our boys home.’

What a clever nickname, Meg thought. 1 MAETU was affectionately known as Meet You— appropriate for a unit that was bringing their men home.

‘To Meet You.’ Meg drank. The brandy was smooth—and strong. She coughed once and swallowed hard. It had been a long time since she had imbibed, but this moment was worth celebrating.

Looking through the windows, she saw blue ocean that stretched to the horizon on either side. White puffs of cloud floated beneath them, and ahead lay a greenish-grey smudge of land anchored to the earth by a steep-sided mountain that grew steadily bigger as they approached their destination.

Their first load of patients was lined up at the end of an exposed coral airstrip. As Meg climbed down from the Dak, the heat hit her like a physical assault. She stumbled and grabbed the side of the plane.

Duncan jumped down beside her. ‘Sister, why don’t you wait in the shade under the wing. These blokes won’t take long to unload the cargo then it’ll be our turn to bring the patients on board. Okay.’

‘Okay, and I’m fine. Just a little surprised they have the wounded waiting out in this heat. I’ll start checking off our patient list with the medical staff.’

‘They knew when to expect us, Sister. The pilot radioed ahead, and all the men understand the need for a quick turnaround. We have to get back beyond the PNG ranges by midday, before the afternoon storms hide the mountain peaks.’

‘Of course. I’ll get started right away.’

It isn’t just the enemy we have to keep watch for.

She dug deep for her I’m-totally-relaxed-and-know-what-I’m-doing smile and approached an orderly standing beside the first patient in line, clipboard at the ready.

Be quick. Be efficient.

Towering mountain peaks waited like predators in the clouds. Waited to grab the unwary out of the skies and bury them in steep valleys below.

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By the time they returnedto base, Meg felt both exhausted and ecstatic. Major Allen was on the tarmac to meet the plane and oversee the unloading of the patients. He checked each man as he was lifted from the plane and set inside the shade of waiting ambulances. When the last patient was disembarked, the major posed for a photo with him, Meg and Duncan. ‘For the local rags back in Oz.’

The patient, a cheery chap despite two broken legs and a bandage around his head, gave a grin and a thumbs-up gesture to the photographer before he was sent on his way to the hospital.

Major Allen led Meg and her orderly to a waiting jeep. ‘I think it’s appropriate to raise a glass to the success of our first evacuation flight, don’t you, Sister, Corporal?’

Meg and Duncan made eye contact and quickly looked away. ‘Indeed, Major, that’s kind of you.’

‘We’ll do a full debriefing after you’ve both eaten, but tell me now, off the record, how did you find it?’

Duncan deferred to Meg.

‘Staff on the ground were brilliant, and patients were loaded in a timely manner with all care for their comfort. The turnaround was quick. Oh—’ She reached into her pocket and withdrew a folded envelope. ‘The doctor in charge asked me to give you this letter. He said something about sending them appropriate supplies so they could celebrate too.’

Major Allen tucked the envelope into his trouser pocket and climbed in behind the wheel of the jeep. ‘Indeed. I’ll see to the loading of a crate of special medical supplies to go out on tomorrow’s flight.’

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