Gordon was glad that he wasn’t the only one who quoted from bad firefighting movies when he was stressed. Of course she’d quoted Richard Dreyfuss, who had far more macho in Always than Gordon’s John Goodman.
The next tree came close enough that it might have passed between the rear wheels as Ripley slewed sideways.
“Not exactly agile here.” The big Aircrane could be precise, but for agile they needed his MD hel—
“Bank right!” Gordon called out.
Ripley followed his call without hesitation. The smoke had a current here and it curved abruptly upward—he’d take any updraft they could find, even in a cloud of superheated smoke. They punched through the wall of it and arrived in clear air. In the calmer air she was able to stabilize their flight and ease them into a hover.
Gordon’s heart rat
