such a tiny area, sandwiched in a ring of granite boulders. The passenger compartment suffered the least. Vincent and Dexter got off with light injuries, but the Chinese girl had been badly hurt. Taihang for a long time did not show any signs of life. It was not possible to determine the severity of the injury, which he had received. In any case, we gave him a tranquilizer injection. Dan left the girl and Taihang in the care of Vince and went with the sergeant to inspect the cockpit. Unfortunately, none of the crew had survived.
‘Look around, maybe you will find something useful. Cover the bodies; we still cannot bury them, because of the rocky ground.’
‘I'll do it, Commander.’ Reynolds returned back. The girl was sitting in a chair that Vincent took out from the passenger compartment.
‘What happened to the pilots?’
‘No options. How are you feeling?’The commander moved closer to the girl.
‘I am fine, but here it is very cold.’
Reynolds was wearing an assault jumpsuit, so he almost did not feel the cold. But the girl’s dress uniform could not help her in such conditions. Dan gave her his jacket.
‘Take my jacket, Vince will ignite the fire now, and it will be warmer.’
The girl felt fine, and the head of the group went to Taihang, who was lying on the canvas precipice. Her Chinese eyes looked up at the sky, without noticing Reynolds. Handcuffs! Perhaps, in such a condition of being escorted it wasn’t possible to manage without them. Dan disconnected the fixed bracelets.
‘This is the end, American!’
‘Do not hope.’
‘People don’t have the right to dispose the destinies of people. Everything is under the will of Heaven.’
‘Did you think about the sky, when you poisoned people with drugs?’
‘Your country sells arms, it is an obvious death. My death is sweeter. I am giving people the opportunity to forget the nightmare in which they live. I have little interest in money. I am a warrior, the same as you. But the difference between us is that you risk your life for some unknown reason, and I live in the name of the clan. My death will not change anything, but people will always remember me. When you die, people will forget who is lying under the gravestone in a week.’
‘Indeed, people will forget me. I am happy to recall the company, which is waiting for me in the next world before my death. After all, I have procured a one way ticket to the death for scum like you. I think that you will join them sooner or later.’
‘The will of Heaven is for everyone.’ Taihang closed his eyes.
Well, if he started the philosophical discussions, therefore, he will survive. The Chinaman was right in one thing: the situation was almost hopeless.
Reynolds sat down by the fire, which Vincent fired up.
‘How is our samurai? But he is not a samurai. Samurais come from Japan. And our friend is Chinese. Drag him closer to the fire, God forbid; he will be bent from a lack of fighting spirit and low temperature.’
Reynolds obviously exaggerated about the spirit. The Chinese have enough hardness in the whole group of samurai, but the difficult question was with the weather. You can, of course, burn all furniture from seats and plastic parts of the cabin. What will be then? We'd better use rubber from wheels to signal a fire, when someone, maybe, will notice the smoke.
‘I think that they are aware of the fact that the aircraft was is missing. The search party will find us. It makes no sense to leave the accident place. The fuselage can hide us from the wind. I will inspect the area and look for where it is better to ignite the signal lights.’
The Chinaman seemed to have fallen asleep, while the injection was working that the corporal had made. The girl wrapped herself in a protective jacket, putting a chair closer to the fire. Still we need to take care of her outfit. Reynolds decided to examine the cockpit again, or rather what was left of it. Dan was lucky, among the scattered debris; he found two warm flight suits.
Having solved the problem of companion gear, the second jumpsuit, they put on Taihang together. Now a cold night did not seem to be so terrible. Dexter had just finished equipping the shelter, and Vincent set about cooking dinner from the scarce transport rations.
‘Sir, you seem to be going to look for a place for a fire. I can accompany you, the only problem is with the shoes.’
‘One minute. I think I saw the boots in the cabin’, Vincent reacted instantly. In a second a pair of heavy landing boots flew out of the broken window.
‘The size, however, is too big, but the problem is solved.’ Vincent handed the girl a piece of cloth.
She smiled for the first time. Reynolds drew attention to the facial features of the girl. The figure was usually something to worry about, but in this case, nature had given her a beautiful figure and a pretty face. I wonder what a girl does in the army. Somehow, Dan wanted to kiss her. But Reynolds immediately drove out those silly thoughts. Although he said to himself, it is not so bad if the instincts will come back to him.
‘Will you take me to our companions? I do not mind a little exercise.’
‘It is better to help Vincent; a woman does not have to climb the mountains.’
‘He can handle it without me. I'm a soldier for you like everyone else. Make up your mind, Commander. Sometimes a woman’s opinion is useful in such situations.’
‘Everything is ready for the night.’ Dexter’s black face appeared from the black hole in the fuselage.
‘Okay, you guys bring the Chinaman and if he wakes up, feed him. We will be there soon.’ The searching of the area for the fire did not take a long time. Reynolds decided to rekindle Dan who was silent most of the way, sometimes glancing in the direction of his companion.
‘You are not very talkative. We spent the whole day together, and I have the impression that you do not have a name. Maybe I'm wrong?’
‘My name is Dan Reynolds. You can call me Dan.’
‘That’s very nice. My name is Ellen Parsons. You may call me Helen.’
‘How did you get into the army?’
‘I'm an expert in computer technology. I have only been in the regular units for a couple of months. I was working in the Pentagon. But my father was transferred to Asia, and I had to go with my family.’
‘So your parents were afraid to leave their little girl in the house alone?’
‘Do not laugh, I love my parents.’
‘How old are you, Ellen?’
‘Only such a low-life as you could ask a girl this question. Do not worry, I'm old enough to make my own decisions.’
‘Let's go back to the camp, Helen. It’s quite dark and the guys are probably getting worried.’
Reynolds sent Vincent and Dexter to relax after the dinner, and he took up the signal fire duties. It was necessary to throw wheel tyres into the fire during the night to make the flames stronger. Helen tried to help him, but Dan insisted that she went to bed. The day had been stressful, and who knew what will happen tomorrow. Reynolds was sitting close
