The Call of the Thunder Dragon Read Online Free

and leaking oil and
radiator fixed. ccxci
    Falstaff started
carrying out the bedding, coats, the stove and all the covers; then
all the tea and other goods Zam had previously bought. He returned
to the shack for the smaller bags, his tools and map case. Beside
which he found two small sacks, tied up with rope. He lifted them
and was surprised at the weight. In his head, he went through the
things he’d packed or seen previously, the rice wine, the tea,
nothing heavy and solid came to mind. ccxcii
    The winters were
generally mild in Burma; except in the mountains. The final cans of
scrounged gasoline arrived late that afternoon, so they slept the
night in the Caproni. They had left Myitkyina the next morning. At
sun up the airstrip was covered with a layer of frost from the
strong icy winds blowing down from the north from the mighty
Himalayas. Ahead lay four hundred miles in the icy chill wind over
the mountains bearing north west all the way. ccxcv

Chapter
Eight - The Gods of the Monkey men ccxcix
    The Caproni’s engines
had continued running smooth without a hitch or sign of a leak
since take off. As they crested another ridge, Falstaff throttled
down. Dropping down to cruising speed on the far side. The wind had
been coming from South or South east for most of the journey.
However, around the ridges wind tended to cause unexpected squalls,
temperamental gusts that could take inexperienced pilots by
surprise. ccxcix
    Thanks for the Memory
- Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm Orchestra 1936. 559
    Less than an hour
later, the engine was fixed. Falstaff had stripped down and pulled
off his boots and walked out tentatively onto the fabric and wood
wing. The engine was easily accessible after removing the few
pieces of doped canvas stretched around the frame. He’d inspected
the engine and found the ignition lead to the plug with damaged
socket was missing. Checking the plug itself, he found it to be
loose. It was the work of a few moments to tighten it again and
reattach the loose wire. Falstaff fussed over the errant plug
checking it over and over. Firing the engine up, it started
perfectly. After checking it three times over and coming up with no
way to secure the plug or lock it in place, he shrugged and
accepted that the fix was good enough. cccix
    Falstaff lay warm in
the furs under the tight canopy over the nacelle. He checked his
watch it was two thirty. cccxvi

Chapter Nine
– Flight into the Unknown cccxviii
    Ten minutes later they
left the water, roaring once more westward. cccxviii
    Since leaving China,
they had now past the great high mountain ranges coming down from
the Himalayas. They had crossed the four great rivers: Chindwin,
Sittang, Salween and Irrawaddy. These rivers, like four long
fingers, extended down from the eastern tip of the Himalayas,
spreading out dividing the land. Now Falstaff had flown across them
all. Few people would know what that meant, even fewer could claim
to have seen them or flown over them. cccxix
    Captain Akira had
flown the Dolphin as instructed; he took orders from whichever
intelligence task force he was working for, in this case, the that
meant Colonel Haga-Jin. They were moored on the wide Bhogdoi River
as they had been for several days, Jorhat was a short walk away.
They were refuelled and ready to go. cccxxiv
    Colonel Suzuki better
known among the Burmese by his nom de guerre Bo Mogyo (Commander
Thunderbolt) trainer of the ‘Thirty Comrades’ who fought the
British, individuals also led independent Burma after the war.
559
    Abe watched the
Dolphin watched it fly away, lifting off the smooth surface of the
slow running river. With him remained, the paratrooper from
Hokkaido, Goemon and Ono Itchi the silent dragon. cccxxvii
    Abe and Ono entered
the Clubhouse, now smartly dressed in western clothes, posing as
Chinese Horse merchants come to see the racing and play golf.
Initially, the Club itself was out of bounds for Indians and other
non-Europeans, but eventually in 1929,