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‘The engine’s purring sweetly. I can’t hear any irregularities at all,’ Scotty said, satisfied. He leapt down from the cockpit having moments earlier landed the Aotearoa back at base. ‘We’ll look to leave tomorrow, if we can. The sooner we get to Sydney, the sooner we can prepare for the hop-off.’
‘Righto, but what about the veto?’ asked George.
Ivan rubbed at his chin. ‘There’s nothing in it about us flying between bases in Australia, only for crossing the Tasman. I’ll contact Arch again when we reach Sydney and see what sort of luck he’s had with persuading Coates to honour his original stand. We’ll have to be patient and we’ll make the decision to fly regardless of what the Australian government says when we know the plane is completely ready.’
‘Ah, why do you have to talk so muc
