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Ambassadors of Beirut: Part Two
The Ship — Awkward and Out of Place
The helicopter descended in a slow, lazy circle. The change in our speed or pitch of the engine roused the others, and sitting across from me, Jim mouthed something to me, pointing out the round window. From the side I was sitting I had not realized another Sea Knight flying alongside. Jim’s hands zoomed around dogfighting, reenacting the “Ride of the Valkyries” attack scene from Apocalypse Now. In my mind’s eye, the helicopters would swoop in for a graceful landing on the flight deck. But it was all in slow motion — crawling to the big ship, then hovering, for what seemed like forever…waiting.
While we were in the air, the helmet’s earmuffs had mashed the roar of the engine and rotors into a kind of subtonic dance track, pulsing just on the edge of resolution. Just above that, I could hear my heart beating in my throat and the swish of coursing blood. The pace and volume intensified as we landed, and with a soft thud, the aircraft’s 24,000 pounds met the deck. The ramp door fully opened and my crazy dance track became louder with my heart rate. I could hear my startled eyes blink with a clicking counter rhythm, reacting to new movement everywhere.
