Not long after we held the Spontaneous Combustion Round in November of 2008, we started on Round 29 for our writing group. It was January of 2009 and I decided to continue the short story I had begun previously: Amelia's New Plan. This story starts shortly after the end of the previous one, and continues the adventures of Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred. However, in this one I speculate as to what may have happened to them on their trip around the world. Warning: this story does NOT have a happy ending!
Enemies of The Empire
by Rusty Keele
"Hold on Amelia - we have to put her down!"
"Where? Not on the beach?"
"Where else? Our only other options are the ocean or the jungle! Now strap in and hold on tight!"
She buckled her seat belt and pulled the strap as tight as it would go. Bracing herself as best she could she glanced around the cabin to see if there was anything she could do to help the situation. There wasn't. The panic welling up in her was so intense she wanted to scream, and the smoky smell filling the cockpit didn't help at all.
She was startled to hear more bullets ripping through the plane and instinctively ducked. "That idiot is still shooting at us!" The engine just outside her window started to cough and sputter and was now emitting a thick black smoke.
"Fred! This engine is out! We have to land now!"
Fred was gripping the controls with all his might and was cussing at the blaring alarm and wildly spinning instruments. Amelia could see the beach - they were coming to it now. The plane plummeted but somehow Fred kept it relatively level. The moment the front wheel touched the sand, however, things got much worse. The plane flipped head-over-heels on the soft beach, and as the sand and dust came crashing through the broken windshield Amelia heard a sickening crunch - and then passed out.
***
"Walk with me, Ms. Earhart."
Amelia turned with the President and walked slowly as he rolled away from Fred and the rest of the men. "It sounds like it will be a wonderful and exciting trip," he said.
"Yes, Mr. President, I'm quite excited about the prospects of it."
He nodded then looked up at her, his eyes blazing through his glasses. "I was hoping," he continued, "that you could do a little bit of reconnaissance work for your country."
She paused, perplexed. "I'm not sure I understand."
"We know that the Japanese are quietly expanding their force in the Pacific. If you should see anything... unusual, I'm trusting that you'll let us know." His intense gaze never wavered from her eyes. She glanced at the wheels of his chair.
"Our intentions on this trip are not to be spies for the government, but to prove that a woman can fly around the world. I'm sure we won't have any encounters with the Japanese."
President Roosevelt softly grabbed her hand, then squeezed it hard. "Yes, of course, but don't ever forget who encouraged Oakland Avionics to sponsor your little jaunt around the world. I would hate for there to be any problems once you got back home." He smiled softly, then swiveled around and began rolling back towards the group of men.
Amelia stood staring at the ground, then glanced at Fred. He had been watching the conversation and quickly caught her eye. She shook her head slowly and watched the President's group stroll towards the White House.
***
"That's gotta be it!" she said pointing to the barely visible speck of land up ahead. She glanced down at the map, tracing her finger along the lines until she came to a group of small islands. "Or maybe it's not Tinian. The map shows a smaller island first... so the one we can see must be Aguiguan." She squinted out the windshield for a moment, then grabbed the binoculars. "Yeah, I don't see any settlements or anything... it looks uninhabited." She glanced at Fred, "Once we fly over it I'm sure we'll see Tinian and Saipan."
She kept the binoculars to her eyes, and when the first island began to drop below the horizon she squealed excitedly, "There it is! I can see some buildings, and vehicles moving around, and... oh no."
"What is it?" Fred prodded.
"There appear to be some ships in the harbor. Several, actually, and they look like warships." After a few minutes she lowered the binoculars and looked at Fred again, the worry was written all over her face. "Fred, they are Japanese ships, and there are a lot of them - maybe we'd better give this island a wide berth."
He squinted out the windshield, "I think you're right." He begin banking the plane to the left.
Amelia resumed scouting the ships with her binoculars, giving Fred an overview of what she saw. "Wow. There is one really, really big ship - it looks like a battleship or something. There are a few other ones... a little bit smaller... but that big one is something else!" She gave a sharp whistle to accentuate her awe. "I'm sure this is the kind of stuff that President Roosevelt will be most interested in hearing about... Uh-oh," she continued, "it looks like we're going to have some company!"
"What is it? What's happened?"
"A couple of Japanese planes have taken off... I'm pretty sure we've been spotted. It's time to show us what kind of pilot you are Fred - can't you make this thing go any faster?"
Fred put out his cigarette and focused singularly on his flying. Amelia was using the binoculars to try and track the progress of the Japanese planes. "Were they war planes?" he asked
"I'm not sure..." she swung the binoculars around and tried to follow the path of one of the planes. "They are dark green... with a red circle on the side... I just don't know - but I think we'd better assume they are hostile... I've lost them." she lowered the binoculars and began looking wildly around for the planes.
"Sit down," Fred said, "I'm going to try and lose them." He banked the planed down and to the left, then turned sharply to the right. They were flying over the northern end of Tinian now, and could see Saipan in the distance across the channel.
"Oh no! Fred look," said Amelia. Her hands were over her face as she peered out the window. Below them were several newly constructed air strips, and hundreds of Japanese planes. There were people scrambling in every direction as Amelia's plane flew directly over them.
"Well, " said Fred, "there is no doubt we've been spotted now, eh?"
As soon as they cleared the island and were over the channel there were several loud popping sounds. "Fred! They're shooting at us!"
"I know! Hold on!" He pulled back on the throttle and Amelia was pinned to her seat as the airplane rose straight into the sky. When it leveled out they both listened intently, but could only hear the sound of their own engine. They were close enough to Saipan now that she could make out details of the island - cliffs, trees, beaches. "That may have..." Fred's sentence was cut short by more popping sounds - this time accompanied by the sickening sound of bullets ripping through the body of the plane.
Amelia ducked as low as she could. An alarm began blaring, and the plane made a short drop before Fred could recover. She could smell smoke. She looked at Fred, he was perspiring badly and looked like he could use a cigarette.
"Hold on Amelia - we have to put her down!"
***
The first thing she noticed was the sizzling sound, then the smoke. Amelia opened her eyes and began to cough. She was upside down, still strapped into her seat. Waving the wisps of smoke away she looked around and saw Fred - who was not in his seat. He was now lying on the cabin ceiling, unconscious. His right leg was at an odd angle - one that it shouldn't be able to make.
She unbuckled her seat belt and promptly fell onto the ceiling, banging her head. After a moment grimacing and rubbing her skull furiously, she crawled over to him. The smoke filling the cabin was getting more intense, as was the sizzling sound. She wasn't sure how she could get him out of the plane, but she had to try.
She kicked out the window next to Fred's seat - at least the pieces of it that were still there. She was able to crawl head first through it onto the sandy beach, and then rested for just a moment, re-gaining some strength and filling her lungs with fresh air. Finally, she put her upper body back through the window and grabbed Fred. She pulled with all her strength, but was only able to move him a few inches. Undaunted she tried again... and then again - she couldn't budge him.
She felt hands on her boots and legs, and was surprised to find herself being pulled out of the plane. On the beach she flipped over and looked into the faces of three native islander men. Two of them rushed back to the plane and begin pulling Fred through the window. Another one began speaking to her very urgently, although she had no idea what he was saying. She got the idea, however, when he began to pick her up by the arm and pull her towards the top of the beach and the dense jungle beyond it. She staggered wearily up the sand, and turned to view her plane. The L-10 Electra had been her home-away-from-home for the past month, and now she gasped as she saw it upside down, broken and in flames. She wanted to sit down and cry, but the man was pulling her to her feet again - this time pointing to the large plumes of black smoke emanating from the plane and the two Japanese fighters circling in the distance. The reality of her situation hit her quite hard, but she quickly sobered up to what was happening and followed her rescuers into the jungle.
***
"The Japanese soldiers won't stop looking for you nay?"
Amelia rubbed her chin, and looked into the old man's eyes. "I know. I'm really sorry we've put your village in danger... I've just got to figure a way to get us out of here."
He smiled at her with his red teeth, and held out a nut for her to chew.
"No, thank you."
He just kept on smiling and holding the nut for her. Finally she relented and took in with a nod. "Thank you."
She looked over at Fred, who was sleeping on a woven mat on the floor of the hut, and put her nut down. "I'm going to look around again," she said, rising from the floor and making her way to the exit.
She walked through the village and into the dense jungle beyond. The ground was sloped up slightly as she followed the trail to the edge of the sugar cane fields. She watched the islanders working in the fields, keeping a wary eye on the lone Japanese soldier who was lazily walking up and down the rows. He stopped at the rail tracks in the middle of the field and sat down to smoke.
Amelia looked for a safe way to get past the fields and into the interior of the island. She didn't see anything obvious, which was just as well since she wasn't sure what she would do if she made it to the mountain. She figured that perhaps Fred would know more about living in the jungle – and on a mountain side – than she would. It was time to get his input. She began walking back towards the village.
As she neared the village she heard shouting and a gunshot. She ran very carefully to the edge of the jungle and peered at what was happening. Two Japanese soldiers had Fred on the ground in the center of the village, and a couple more were ransacking the huts looking for something - probably her. One of the soldiers near Fred was yelling at the group of frightened islanders that had gathered. The old chief was speaking to the soldier, hopefully trying to reason with him. Amelia lost hope however, when the chief finally pointed into the jungle, very near the spot where she was hiding! As the soldier directed others in her direction she turned and fled towards the sugar cane fields.
At the edge of the fields she stopped briefly and scanned for the guard. He was still smoking a cigarette and was now talking to one of the native men. Amelia stooped and started running into the field. It reminded her of when she was a child, and she and her sister Grace would play hide-and-seek in the cornfields of Kansas - good training for this day she thought. She was only halfway to the rail tracks when the soldiers behind her emerged from the jungle. It wasn't too difficult for them to see the movement of the sugar canes as she plowed her way through them. One of them began yelling to the field guard as the other two began pursuing her through the field.
It was no use, she was too dehydrated, tired and hot in this balmy weather to outrun the Japanese soldiers. She was tackled by the field guard as she tried to go over the tracks. It didn't take them long to bind her arms and feet. She was forced to kneel before one of the Japanese soldiers - the one in command back at the village. He took off his hat, wiped his forehead as he looked at the blazing sun, then looked directly at Amelia. "Ms. Earhart, welcome to the Japanese island of Saipan." His backhand to the tender right side of her face was the last thing she remembered.
***
She awoke to a clanging sound. Lying on her side on the bed in her small cell she watched the soldier open the gate. He immediately began yelling at her and grabbed her arm - pulling her to her feet. Staring blankly she stumbled after him out of the cell and building and into the blinding sun. He led her to the middle of the opening between the buildings. She was only mildly surprised to see Fred there, already on his knees. Neither one of them had changed clothing, but both were a bit more bloody and bruised than before. Fred looked at her as she was led in by the soldier. His eyes full of sorrow and regret he watched helplessly as she was forced to her knees beside him. The right side of her face was badly bruised and was obviously causing her pain.
She glanced at him, "I'm sorry Fred. I didn't mean for this to..." a rifle butt quickly shut her up. She struggled to regain composure as the tears flowed down her cheeks.
He swallowed hard, then nodded. "I know Amelia. I know."
Around them were a handful of Japanese soldiers, and several islander women. The women - looking very grave - were holding empty baskets woven from palm fronds. After a few moments the door of the building directly in front of them opened and the Japanese soldier Amelia had seen in the village - and at the tracks - came walking through. He stopped at the edge of the porch as a little girl followed, looking up at him. She was probably only about six or seven years old, and her perfect black hair flowed to her shoulders. The commander was wearing some sort of police uniform, and Amelia realized that he must be in charge here. He glanced back, then took the girl's hand as he walked down the steps and proceeded until standing directly in front of Amelia and Fred.
He spoke in very loud, curt sentences for several minutes, then he looked at the two of them and switched to English. "You are pitiful! This is what happens to spies who dare oppose the Japanese empire!" He stepped back and looked at the air above Amelia - then said something in Japanese and raised his right arm to shoulder height - hand rigid and palm open. Amelia saw one of the soldiers give his rifle to another soldier, and then remove a long, skinny sword from his scabbard. He stepped up next to her, held the sword to the back of her neck, muttered something in Japanese, then raised it and brought it down with full force.
Fred yelled and struggled with all his might, but it was no use. He was restrained by the other guards, then he too was executed. The islander women gathered up their heads and put them in the baskets, then carefully carried the bodies away. The commander waited until the bodies were gone, then turned to the little girl. "That is how we deal with our enemies, my daughter. Always remember that." He walked back into the police office as she scurried after him.
The End
This story copyright © 2009 by Rusty Keele. All rights reserved.
