Chapter 5
Brace, Brace!
You could hardly call Darwin a town. It was a collection of small motels, a hotel called Fannie Bay, and sprawling houses on stilts which were highly necessary because although the heat in Darwin is horrific so is the Wet. I've never experienced such rain in the whole of my life as in Darwin during the Wet. Darwin is situated on the Timor Sea, which is a magnificent stretch of water, and the buildings on Fannie Bay were dotted around it. Our motel was like something out of the ark, a long cowshed with thin partitions dividing off the rooms. Each had a front and a back door, and I discovered on a subsequent journey to Darwin that the path leading to the front doors was used in the morning by room service delivering breakfast, and the path leading to the back door doors was used by the guests scrambling to get back to their own rooms before the arrival of breakfast, having spent the night elsewhere!
Each room had a large circular fan suspended from the ceiling which battled in vain to keep the fierce heat outside at bay. The furnishings consisted of the barest minimum, but there were gecko lizards in the thousands everywhere. Once you got used to these little creatures, it was advisable to let them stay in your room because they ate every other creepy-crawly in sight, including the mosquitoes. Hilary and I managed to get rooms next door to each other and could literally carry on a conversation through the thin partition. The captain was allocated the room on the other side of me.
We went to bed to rest during the afternoon because the Saturday night shindig that evening was to be attended by all the big brawny Aussies in town. I awoke to the sound of Hawaiian music and thought, "Where the hell am I?" I opened the door a crack and saw that the dance floor, which consisted of a small bare patch between the rooms and the main building, was seething with dancers. The men were wearing the strangest attire: formal dress at such a function consisted of a shirt, Bermuda shorts, and long socks, the latter being compulsory in the same way as black ties in England, and guests were turned away if they weren't wearing them! They looked a very weird sight to me coming fresh pussyfooted from the UK. I must say that it really isn't my favorite turn-on gear for a fella to wear, especially if his legs aren't all that hot. Hilary and I quickly went out to join the festivities.
One Aussie sauntered across to me and said, "D'ya want dance, sport?"
I replied, mimicking his Australian accent, "Too flamin' true," so I jumped up and tried my best to follow him in what was more of a kangaroo hop then any kind of dance I knew. It turned out to be a fun evening, but feeling completely wiped out and not imagining a man in sight, I went to bed.
The next morning, I was awakening by a voice with an Aussie twang shouting, "One egg or two?"
I replied, "Two," and got up to find it was seven a.m., and a huge breakfast of steak and eggs had been pushed into my room on a tray. (If you didn't have breakfast at that hour, you got nothing at all. Consequently we used to get up, have breakfast, and then go back to sleep feeling positively ill!)
Later that morning I was sent a message to go and see the captain in his room. I found that Frozen Knackers had not only melted, but had completely disintegrated. The poor man had become very ill with a severe dose of influenza. Hilary and I were pressed into service and took turns nursing him. This was the most time either of us had ever spent with him (not counting the hours passed in the air). We found that he was originally from Australia, but little else. Aside from that one lucid statement there was nothing more to be learned from the delirious ramblings caused by the high fever. Eventually the captain recovered and regained his icy composure.
One night I was lying fast asleep in my bed when I awoke with a start. I had a spine-chilling feeling someone was in my room. I looked up to see an enormous man hovering over my bed. Pulling the sheet around my naked form I asked coldly, "What the hell are you doing here?"
He replied that he was looking for a handbag one of the other girls on the crew had lost and thought might be in my room.
"You don't say, blue?" I replied imitating an Australian accent.
He moved menacingly toward me unzipping himself as he did so "Is this what you want, you Sheila?" he asked, exposing himself to me.
I winced at the horrid expression and glared at his exposed tool as if I could make it disappear. "I wouldn't want that even if you put it on a gold platter. Get out of my room this instant. The captain's room is next door, and one yell from me and he'll come running."
But my attacking Aussie, cock in hand, kept advancing toward me. "Lie back and relax. You're really going to enjoy this," he said.
As he pounced I dived to one side, opened my lungs, and screamed for all I was worth. The captain was in the room in a second, and he heaved the guy off me and kicked him in the ass and straight outside with his dick dangling in the breeze.
I was quite incoherent, babbling away about rape and forced attentions. I lay back on the bed, and gradually the captain calmed me down. He began to massage my temples softly with his fingertips. I must have dozed off because the next thing I felt was a naked body lying close to mine in bed and something very firm pressing against my outer thigh. Could it be a boomerang, I wondered? I looked through heavy-lidded eyes and saw the captain's dark head on the pillow next to me. His big almost black eyes were looking at me with great concern.
"Sweetie," he said, "are you all right? I only wanted to comfort you. I'll go now if you're okay," but I replied, "Don't you dare! What's happened to the ice, Frank?" I asked. "I can see it's all melted! Why do you disguise the fact that you're a warm-hearted man behind that insupportable superior facade? After all, you're a man and surely love the feel of warm, willing flesh next to yours."
The captain smiled. "I've wanted you since the first moment I clamped eyes on you, Fiona," he replied.
"Well, you certainly didn't give me the slightest indication," I answered.
"I love the way you stick up for yourself. You always come up with an answer and a cheerful smile when things are getting you down," he responded. "I love the way you seem to enjoy life to the full. You see, I've always been very reserved and correct in my approach to women."
Then he flipped completely. He clawed at my body, bit my boobs, and raked his nails down my back. His mouth and tongue pulverized mine. I was amazed at all the pent-up passion in this seemingly cold, reserved man. He went wild, forcing my legs apart. It flashed through my mind that I'd got rid of one rapist only to be saddled with another. (I had fancied him all the way from London, and what you can't have becomes infinitely more exciting!) He pulled my arms above my head so that I was stretched out as though on a torture rack. But oh! What torture! He bit and licked his way down the inside of my arms and gnawed ferociously into my armpits. His body pinioned me to the bed. I was completely immobile. It felt as though I was being mowed down by a Brit on the runway. Frank had taxied to the end of the runway and turned to commence takeoff. I wanted to shout, "You've forgotten the check list, and the cabin isn't secure," but it was too late. We were passed VI! No chance to abort! V2 and he was at full throttle!
The force of his entry nearly lifted me off the bed. As it was, my head was banging against the wall. He shouted obscenities at me about my cunt and his prick and how he was going to fuck me as I'd never been fucked before. His sheer brute force broke loose the wildest passion in me. I freed my arms and clawed and bit him in return. "Go on then, you big cold-hearted bastard! Fuck me rigid! Stick your frozen icicle in my cunt, and my warm love juices will melt it to marshmallow softness!"
He screamed at me, "You fucking bitch! I'll fuck you and fuck you till you beg for mercy."
(I smiled knowingly because I knew that I would last longer than he!) We tore and scratched at each other. He bit my body until it was a mutilated mess of teeth marks and bruises. I fought back like a tigress. Frank's body was looking red and raw as my nails did their worst. The more I hurt him, the more he retaliated. We went at each other like two fierce cocks at a cockfight. Big red welts covered his buttocks as he continued to fuck me like a boar. He bit my bottom lip, and I felt the taste of blood against my tongue. I embedded my long red fingernail straight between his buttock, which only excited him more. He tore at my hair, forcing my head back and ripping my legs apart until I thought he would tear me limb from limb. Then came the crash landing.
"Brace, brace!" he cried as he spurted into me. ("Brace, brace," is an airline term used to alert passengers on the aircraft when, about to crash land, you want them to get into the correct position. Frank was so highly trained to act in an emergency-and for him, losing his cool was an extreme emergency-that he automatically gave the warning.) I stifled a laugh and let my battered body succumb to every drop of jism that came my way. As he finished, I started. He stayed with me until my violent spasms had subsided. We fell apart like a couple of souls who had spent days shipwrecked and had finally been washed up on a desert island. My mouth was cracked and dry longing for some form of liquid. Frank lying beside me like a stiff. Neither of us spoke a word. I didn't think either of us came out with more marks than the other: each passion engendered was met by equal passion.
"Please forgive me. I must leave now," Frank said. And slipping back into his terry cloth robe he left without another word.
The next day, when I was trying to dress for lunch, I discovered that all my bras and pants were missing. My first midnight caller had turned out to be a panty-snatcher. Over lunch, all the crew roared with laughter at the thought of me going home all the way back to London pantyless.
"Quite appropriate," remarked Jock with a twinkle in his eye. Even Captain Frozen Knackers' face broke into what could almost be described as a grin. Apart from that, he treated me exactly as though nothing had happened between us, but I did notice that, like me, he had tied a scarf around his neck to cover up the scars of the previous night's battle.
Hilary and I went off to sit on the edge of the rocks to get some sun. It was very hot and windy, but not a bit sunny. When I took off my beach robe, she gasped at the state of my body.
"Who the hell did that to you?" she asked "I heard a dreadful commotion in your room last night, but presumed you were having your usual ball," she said.
"It was the captain, actually," I replied. Her mouth fell open in disbelief. "It was more of a no-holds-barred wrestling match than a ball," I continued. We sat on under the leadened sky and eventually made our way back to the motel for a light dinner and an early bed; our call was at six the following morning.
About four in the morning, I could hear Hilary rapping on the thin partition and calling my name urgently. Flinging on a robe, I ran into her room. At first I wanted to burst out laughing at her condition, but then realized how serious it would be for her if she were found like that.
Her eyes were swollen like two puffballs, and the top and bottom lids were irrevocably joined together. This was the result of her sitting so long in the hot wind the previous afternoon. The dangerous rays of the sun had filtered deceptively through the clouds. I'd been wearing sunglasses, and although my skin felt a little flushed and still very bruised I had no other symptoms. But Hilary's pale milky skin, especially the delicate areas around the eyes, had really suffered. I got some cotton wool and poured some ice water from the Thermos jug on it and placed the two cold compresses over the eyes. Although it eased the pain, the swelling remained, and she was completely blind.
I stayed with her until just before call time, told her not to worry, quickly packed, and put on my uniform. Then I dressed her and finished off her packing, put a pair of sunglasses on the end of her nose and put my arm through hers. We stuck together like two Siamese twins. The crew of course made snide comments about our blossoming friendship. I managed to get her on the transport, through customs, and onto the aircraft without anyone noticing anything was drastically wrong. (After all, we weren't behaving any more strangely than we normally did!)
By the time we were ready for takeoff, Hilary had regained partial vision in both eyes, but she kept her dark glasses on throughout the flight. At one point, as she was responsible for feeding and watering the flight deck crew, I took the teas in so the captain wouldn't comment on her dark glasses. As I reached across to place his tea in the socket in front of him he quickly looked around-the engineer had his back turned and was chatting to the nav, and the first officer was busy with his headset on giving our position-and as I made to withdraw my scratched arm Frank gently brushed it with the tips of his fingers.
Our destination out of Darwin had been changed from Sydney to Perth. I was very excited about this, as I have a brother who has been living near there for five years. I say "near there," but it hadn't dawned on me what a big country Australia is. Actually he was living in Albany, and as I was only in Perth for two days, I didn't get to see him because Albany is such a distance from Perth. I asked the captain if I could catch a plane or hire a car to visit my brother, but the answer was in the negative-he couldn't risk it in case I didn't get back in time, and one of the locals in the bar told me that, if I tried to drive, my first 'roo would be my last 'roo, as they hop across the road at terrific speeds. If you were unaccustomed to this, a collision with one of these animals could mean almost certain death. However, I was able to have a long conversation with my brother on the phone. He confirmed the story about the kangaroos because he had had one land on the back seat of his car! I must add that it didn't sound like my brother over the phone, for he had inevitably picked up an Aussie twang.
We lost our flight deck crew in Perth and were to pick up another. Captain Frozen Knackers, Jock, and the other two got a new set of girls and flew out while our cabin staff had to wait another day for our new flight deck crew who were arriving on an aircraft from Sydney.