It was Boris, thank goodness, in full kit. He cut short my gabbled thanks for his kindness in hiding us here and said... "You've got half an hour to get packed. It's time to go." We did so, and then stole through the forest, branches cracking, breath steaming in the early morning air. No one was about as we piled into a rather battered Li-2 standing near the perimeter, and Boris disappeared into the cockpit, started the engines and headed for the runway.
"We're delivering supplies to Klychi" he shouted from the cockpit as we pulled away from Tigil. "Then I expect I can drop you off where you want to go, Vassily."
After about 45 mins of the Lisunov's typical agonising and prolongued battle with gravity, we were shuddering and droning over central Kamchatka approaching the Sredinnyj Hrebet range. "We'll be in volcano country soon," said Vassily. "I love flying here in my La-7." We stood in the cockpit, looking out towards the rugged terrain.
"That's a plane from the Great Patriotic War, isn't it?" I asked innocently. I'd been finding it hard to speak to him over the last few weeks after he'd found out I was an escaped prisoner, labelled me an enemy of the people and threatened to kill me. This seemed like a good opportunity to bond.
"Yes it is... I collect old fighters like that... or I used to. Being a close personal friend of Stalin's had it's advantages.... Hey, look, below, a volcano!"
"You know, when I told you by the beach that if you give me another reason to dislike you that's the end of you...I wasn't joking. My career in Russia may have taken a downturn but I'm still me, and if you can't remain true to yourself then you may as well just pack it in."
"And I've just decided that should you give me cause to erase your smelly hide from this planet, this is how you'll go... out the cabin door, and down into one of those volcanoes..."
A nervous tic ran across his left cheek as he glowered at me...
.....an Excalibur X700 pro and 1 GB ram....an Excalibur X700 pro and 1 GB ram....an Excalibur X700 pro and 1 GB ram....
