Until Fairer Skies Beckon

by totallynotabrony

Chapter 7

Planning an escape was easier than Rainbow anticipated. The actual execution, however, was even more difficult.

Covertly gathering supplies and surveying the base exits constantly kept Rainbow on the edge of terror. At any moment, she could be discovered. She was no stranger to playing it cooler than she felt, but when the price of failure could very well be death, that was a lot of anxiety to control.

She’d started running for exercise, with what spare energy she could muster. Rainbow was already athletic, but she needed to keep in shape. Also, it gave her an excuse to cover a lot of base and do recon.

She tried to be friendlier with guards, attempting conversation when they could be persuaded to play soccer. This didn’t garner her very much information, but she did at least learn which of them were the slowest runners.

She tried saving some food, though it was difficult without any containers. It didn’t help that a lot of it would spoil quickly, given the climate. Water - especially if she was running - would be another issue.

Aside from planning logistics, figuring out when and where she would leave base, and gathering the courage to do it, Rainbow had to decide where she was going. Ideally, that would be somewhere close that had people that could help her.

North was probably out. That was Freedom Army territory, and even if they weren’t as bad as the UTA made them out to be, Rainbow couldn’t take the chance.

Remembering Lightning Dust’s political studies, Rainbow sought her out. Of anyone, she probably had the best idea of where they were. But of course, she couldn’t just ask, that might betray her intentions.

One night in the Flyers Club about a week later, Rainbow took her chance. She’d come up with a vague plan of conversation that she hoped would net her what she wanted to know without raising suspicion.

Rainbow tried to initiate the conversation as casually as possible. “So, I was wondering about the markings on your jet. Where’s Rhodesia?”

“It doesn’t exist anymore,” said Lightning. “It used to be a British colony, but it’s now Zimbabwe. That was, oh, 1980 or so.”

“Zimbabwe is…” Rainbow held up her hands and gestured as if an invisible map was in front of her “...south of here?”

Lightning nodded. “Yeah, but there’s Zambia in there, too.”

Rainbow held her hands a little wider. “Did any other jets come from other countries around? What else is out there?”

“Angola’s to the west. Congo is way up to the north. Out east you get into Tanzania and the Great Lakes. I think Pug’s MiG is from Tanzania. The company picks up things where ever it can.”

“Wait, Great Lakes?” said Rainbow. “Like in the US?”

“Kind of. There are more of them, and together they actually hold more water. It’s probably the nicest place in Africa.” Lightning shrugged. “Well, if it wasn’t for all the ethnic conflict and multiple civil wars.”

“There are other wars going on right now?” Rainbow asked.

“Well, maybe not as hot as the Talongo war. I’ve been kind of out of the loop here.” Lightning gestured to the walls around them.

Rainbow didn’t think she could push for finer details without raising suspicion. She disengaged and looked around the room.

The group of them had precious little entertainment. There was a checkers set missing a piece or two. Some books and magazines, all of them years old and heavily worn. Sometimes, like Rainbow had just done with Lightning, they just talked. Of course, certain topics were verboten.

Rainbow saw Kiel over by the window. Since it was dark, he was able to use it as a makeshift mirror, trimming his beard with a colorful pair of children’s craft scissors with blunt tips. An idea came to Rainbow and she went over. “Could I borrow those after you? The weather’s getting kind of hot”

Kiel turned. “Certainly. In fact, I’ll cut it for you, if you like.”

Rainbow shrugged. “I’m not looking for anything professional.” She sat down in a chair and let him work.

In truth, while the weather was getting hot, Rainbow also was thinking about her escape. Shorter hair was easier to hide and harder to grab.

She studied her reflection while Kiel worked. It actually didn’t look too bad. “I think you might be going a little above and beyond there.”

Kiel shrugged. “It reminds me of when I used to do this for my daughters.”

Rainbow wasn’t the only one who had to escape. But she knew she couldn’t trust anyone right now. She resolved to run as fast as she could, to get help, and to come back. She would get them all out of here.

---

Rainbow waited two more days. She was back to flying now. Soarin’ had patched her plane up, and while it was obvious that it had been damaged, a coat of paint would have made it look almost new.

She had considered breaking away while airborne. Maybe coming back to base and waiting until the others had landed before quickly flying away. But the missile systems around base had convinced her that was suicide. Two vehicles with launchers and radars built in stood on raised mounds of dirt to give them a better purvey of the area. Rainbow had learned from Soarin’ that they were Soviet-built SA-6 systems, and had a range of fifteen miles. No way could the Tucano escape before they began shooting.

Instead, Rainbow used her time flying to keep working on her plan. She didn’t miss an opportunity to look down at the base and try to see where security was weakest. The tall fences with barbed wire were an obstacle, but the gates were heavily patrolled.

But, she decided, it was now or never. That night, she made her break.

She went to bed in the bunkhouse with the others, but didn’t go to sleep. Quietly counting in her head, she ticked off three hours. Lying there with only her thoughts, doubt had started to creep in, but Rainbow forced herself to quietly get up. She moved as slowly as possible, knowing the rusty bed was prone to squeaking.

The room full of people, the squeaky bed - here too Rainbow saw evidence of how well the UTA had plotted against her. She picked up her shoes, meager supplies already hidden with them, but didn’t put them on. Leaving her flight suit behind and instead wearing the clothes she’d been abducted in, she stole out of the building. Pausing for just a moment to slip her shoes on, she headed for the food.

She’d managed to stockpile two handfuls of ogbono nuts and stuffed her pockets. They should be good for protein, but wouldn’t be enough to live off. Rainbow knew that if she was desperate enough, she could go days without food, but water was the priority now.

She headed for the building where they ate. Moving carefully and trying to stay to shadows, she saw and avoided two foot patrols on the way there. The moon was halfway full but occasionally concealed behind scattered clouds. Rainbow’s vision had had time to adjust to the darkness.

The building was locked, of course. Rainbow took a piece of stiff wire she’d borrowed from the hangar out of her pocket and unfolded it. The lock on the back door was simple enough to slip the bolt. If it had been more sophisticated, she didn’t know what she would have done. Probably have gone without.

Slipping inside, Rainbow crept through the kitchen without turning on the lights. She drank her fill of water and hunted for something to carry more, not to mention something to eat. Nothing was immediately visible, and Rainbow knew that the longer she delayed the greater her odds of being caught.

Sacrifices were necessary. She could go a few days without food. If she hadn’t found help, or at least more food, by then she would probably be recaptured anyway.

She did take a small watermelon, though. That at least solved the problem about transporting water, though as she hefted it, it wasn’t going to be easy to carry.

Rainbow slipped back out of the building and locked the door. She headed for the fence.

She had made up her mind to go east. The Great Lakes were there, and Rainbow figured where there was water, there were people. Africa was still a big place, but she was in good shape and could cover a lot of miles. She would have to.

Making her way through the base, Rainbow stealthily approached her exit point. She’d preselected a place behind the hangars where it was dark. Arriving at the fence, she wrapped the watermelon in her jacket and tossed it over. It landed with a muffled thump, and she was sure it had broken, but at least her jacket should keep dirt off it. And hey, this solved the problem of how to eat it.

She grabbed the chain links and started to climb. Eight feet up, there was a roof-like structure of barbed wire. Placing her hands carefully, Rainbow grabbed the wires between the barbs and picked her way across it.

She was at the top and trying to work her way over the other side when she heard a shout. Heart leaping towards her throat, she jumped, but her foot and the leg of her jeans got tangled in the barbed wire.

Rainbow’s body swung off the top of the fence, legs tangled, and she slapped into the chain link, face first and upside down. The fence rattled, but that was nothing compared to the sound of running feet coming closer. Desperately, she tried to free herself, but facing towards the fence she couldn’t curl her body up towards her feet.

A hand grabbed her by the collar. Rainbow twisted her body, but there was a crackling blue flash, pain, and then nothing.

Comments

[VampDash]

SHIT! SO CLOSE DASH!

[Condray]

Well.... drat.

Unrelated to the story, but every time I see the title I read it as "Until Fairer Skies Bacon" for some reason

[totallynotabrony]

8273617
The other day I mused that "Bacon and Egghead" would probably be a good title for a Sunset/Twilight ship

[Condray]

8273655
Or just Bacon and Pancakes. Not sure if that joke really lived long enough to bother though

[Neece]

This one got me hanging by a thread the entire chapter. Bravo.

I wonder, was it magic they saved her right now?

[Profesionalac]

8274173
hopefully not a 23mm or that would spell SPGAA is bold letter on its side.