Chase bowed his head for a moment, shielding his eyes from the wave of dirt swept up by the helicopter. The craft descended carefully, a ton of high-performance jet engine dangling precariously beneath it. Below them stood two men on the flat-back bed of a half-rusted Gaz-Willys Nomad truck. As the engine dropped to their level, they grabbed it and tossed two hanging guide ropes to two more men standing on the ground nearby. Those two pulled the ropes taut and stopped the slight twisting of the engine. As the expensive cargo stabilized, the pilot lowered the helicopter slightly and worked with the two men on the truck bed to guide the engine safely into its homemade cradle. The truck sagged slightly as the cargo settled into the wood-and-metal braces.