Sure enough, the craft began to veer toward him almost as soon as he activated the pen-size device. Though it was unlikely to improve any chances of detection, instinct took over and he began waving the device along with his arms.
“That’s right, yes! Over here, I’m down here!”
No question now but that they’d detected him. It was a small skimmer, he saw, squinting up through the rain. Now it was descending rapidly in his direction. He could finally relax and save his curses for whoever had set him up. Soon he would be back in Taulau, sipping something cool and sweet while giving his story to the authorities. For once, he would be glad to cooperate with them.
The skimmer continued to head for him. By now they ought to have spotted his own downed and useless craft, if not the gesticulating, waving figure standing atop part of the broken canopy. They were still heading rapidly in his direction. Rather too rapidly. He frowned. Behind him, unexpectedly and inexplicably, a couple of telltales on his skimmer’s own main emergency beacon had sprung to life, after being dark ever since his abortive touchdown.
His rescuers should be slowing down by now. But there was no indication they were reducing velocity preparatory to making a soft landing alongside his vehicle. It was close enough now for him to notice an occasional shudder, as if the skimmer was proceeding under competing forces. Fascinated by the sight, he was as rooted to the spot as the trees that emerged from the slow-moving water around him. Only when it became clear that the oncoming craft was not only not slowing down but also showing no indications of stopping did he make a frantic last-second dive for the safety of those same trees.