“DID YOU LOSE ANYTHING?” “NO, WHY? “YOU JUST RAN AROUND THE INTAKE!” The impact of what I had just done hit me a couple minutes later, bringing me to my knees.

The sun was just setting and we were getting ready for the 1830 launch. The flight deck was a buzz with activity. Pilots were doing there preflight checks and ground crews were buttoning up the aircraft and getting them ready for the launch.

Petty Officer Williams was up by the cockpit with his back to me, giving me hand signals that were supposed to indicate what he wanted me to do. With the aircraft turning, it was really the only way to communicate. The only way to be herd was to be standing next to the person and yelling.

We were running a self test on a radar altimeter. When you push the test button it indicates zero altitude. When you cover one of the antennas it indicates above 5,000 feet.

Petty Officer Williams gave me an unusal signal, which I interpreted as “go to the other side of the aircraft and cover the other antenna.” I thought to myself, this does not make any since,but he is the boss.

I stood up and ran around the aircraft and covered the other antenna. Apparently when I did so I failed to give the ten foot clearance that was required with a turning aircraft. In fact when I went around the front, I had my hand on the lip of the intake.

I had heard about people who have been sucked into the engine and the moment really made me pause and consider just how very close that was.

Being on the waterfront there is always the smell of fish in varying stages of decay. However, it seemed like the further I walked the stronger the smell became. I most be getting close to the market.

It was a warm early summer day, temperature in the high 80’s and the humidity was high enough to sweat the balls off a pool table. My dad always said that I had a poor grade of skin because it leaks. Normally, I would avoid being out when it was like this, but I figured I only had one day left in Hong Kong and I wanted to take in as much as I could.

I rounded the corner and just about knocked over this elderly Chinese woman. One of the hazards of not paying attention to where I was going. I made my apologies after helping her pick up her things.

In front of me was a huge outdoor market, loaded with vendors. Fresh vegetables, fruit, spices, fish, dowel and meats. Nothing was under palstic or in a refrigerated display case. It was a bit of a culture shock for me, traveling outside my home country for the first time.

“Dave, check this out.” I turned and saw that he was watching one of the vendors clean and filet a rather large fish. Not sure what it was by the time I saw it, but the guy was very good with a knife.

“That is amazing, then he just wraps it in some newspaper, hands it to the customer and gets his money.”

The market covered several city blocks and was all contained under tarps. I really wanted to get further in, but the smell was more than I could take. It was a cross between bad fish and over cooked tripe. It was really not something you could see, but you could actually walk in and out of it like a really thick fog bank.

I tapped Dave on the shoulder and told him that I wanted an apple. He looked at me with wonder, “really?” I walked up to this vendor that was selling freash fruit. I indicated that I wanted an apple, she pointed at them and nodded her head. I had no idea how much I needed to pay. I did not speack Chinese, she did not speak English, so I selected my apple reached in my pocket and grabbed a handful of change and held it out. She picked around in what was in my hand, grabbed a couple of coins, waved at me and smiled.

John asked, “Are you going to wash that before you eat it?” I pulled my shirt tail out, wiped it off and took a big bite. “One of the best I have ever eaten.”

We walked around for another 20 minutes or so before I threw in the towel. The walking surface wasn’t so much cobblestone as it was cobbled together, very chunky and uneven. My ankles were killing me.

“Let’s go get a beer.”

Dave looked at me and said, “I thought you would never set me free.”

I felt my way along the wall until I reached the door. I carefully opened it, turned right and slowly headed up the stairs. I needed to get to the back of the closet in the room down the hall. I knew they would be starting their search soon.

I finally reached my destination, located the laundry shoot and climbed in. It was a bit of a tight squeeze. I guess I filled out a little since I used to play here as a kid. There must have been some water damage down below me as the stench of mildew permeated my sinuses and it was everything I could do to keep from sneezing. At least I could rest a little here in the shaft. The foot holds we had made years ago while playing hide and seek, had not been repaired. Mark caught hell for that when his dad discovered it. To his credit, Mark never did tell his dad that I was the one who made the holes.

These guys had been after me for several days and it felt like I was being corralled into this location, but for the life of me, I had no idea why. I knew I wouldn’t be able to stay there too much longer. The calf muscle on my right leg was already starting to burn and I knew that I would not be able to support myself much longer.

“Mr. Swenson, we need you to come out quietly. We mean you no harm.”

In the back of my head I’m thinking, “Yeah, right.” They had gone to an awful lot of effort to get me here, but why?

They were still outside the house, it would not be long before they made their way in. It sounded like there were three of them. Too many for me to take on in a direct attack, but maybe I could pick them off one at a time. I could hear them checking all the doors and windows for an easy entry, but this old house had been sealed up pretty tight for about ten years.

I thought it interesting that they were also wishing to not make a lot of noise, I am assuming to keep from drawing attention to themselves. Somebody was trying to pry open the back door. At least that would get them in at the basement level. Eventually they would head up stairs after clearing the basement. Once they were on the third floor I would be able to drop down and make my escape. But escape to where?

“Do you do this often?” I ask. “Shut up, I dont’t have time for this. “I mean, You have already said that you are going to kill me. I just want to know a little bit about you.” “I said shut up. By the way, seem awfully calm for somebody who is about to die.” “Death is nothing to be afraid of. I know many people are, but I am not one of them.” “And why is that?” “Why should I fear something that I have not experienced? For that matter, nobody has experienced. Are you afraid of dying?” “Shut up” “ I mean there a number of people who have come close and have been brought back from the edge. But they did not complete the act.”