CARRIER 10: ARSENAL By: Keith Douglass

five thousand feet,” Bird Dog continued, maneuvering his hands to

indicate the relative positions of the aircraft. “He was on my six,

see? I was trying to shake him, but ” “Bird Dog, give it a rest,”

Gator said wearily. He glanced at the young lady standing between

them. “I think she’s heard enough about your air battles.”

The young woman shook her blond head vigorously. “Oh, no, I think it’s

fascinating! In fact, it reminds me a lot of my dad’s stories. He was

in Vietnam, and he was a pilot.” She paused doubtfully, and studied

Bird Dog carefully. “You look like him, too. How old did you say you

were?”

Gator almost choked. He took a sip of his beer to disguise his

amusement, then started laughing again as he saw Bird Dog’s

expression.

“Face it. Bird Dog you’re getting older, buddy.”

“I’m just thirty,” Bird Dog protested. “Hardly an old man.

Not like you.”

Gator studied him for a moment. “Come on, let me introduce you to

someone,” he said abruptly. He set his beer down on the bar and led

Bird Dog off toward a table at the back of the room. Three women were

sitting there, sharing nachos and mixed drinks. “Mind if we join

you?”

Gator asked politely.

“Hey, Gator,” a striking brunette said. “What you been up to?”

“Not much,” he said, taking the proper chair and gesturing Bird Dog

into the other vacant seat. “Like you to meet a friend of mine Bird

Dog, a pilot.”

The brunette shot him an appraising look. “Tomcat?”

Bird Dog was slightly taken aback by her knowing smile.

He nodded, at a loss for words.

She stuck out a hand. “Me too. Name’s Chris Hansen.”

“Lobo.” Bird Dog stared at her, awe dampening the first tricklings of

lust tickling him in the normal places. “Weren’t you the one who was”

Lieutenant Chris “Lobo” Hansen Lieutenant Commander Hansen by now, he

figured. On a previous cruise, Jefferson had confronted the Russians

on the Kola Peninsula. Lobo had been shot down during a mission over

the Polyamyy submarine base and been taken prisoner by the militia in

control. She’d been tortured, gang-raped, and finally rescued by the

Marines. Rumor had it she’d finally made a successful recovery from

the mental and physical havoc the experience had wreaked on her and

been declared fit for duty.

She cut him off. “Yeah, that was me.” She grimaced.

“Being a POW isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I’d advise against it as

a career path. But that was then. I’m back in the cockpit now.”

Gator studied the two of them with amusement. During the last two

tours, he’d watched Bird Dog chase more women across the landscape than

any other pilot he’d ever seen. Following Bird Dog’s engagement to

Callie, Gator had seen the first traces of maturity begin to show in

the young pilot’s character. Now, he figured, it was time Bird Dog met

a real woman, one who could probably out fly him.

Lobo and Bird Dog. Gator sat back to watch the fireworks.

So what do we do about Cuba? And how are newer, smarter, and more

deadly weapons going to influence our choices?

Will we repeat our mistakes of the last century or make new ones?

Regular Carrier readers may notice a difference between this book and

earlier ones. Arsenal is longer, going into more depth on the battles

and conflicts we’ll be righting in the next decades. Let me know if

you like the longer style.

My thanks, as always, to the following: Jake Elwell and George Wieser,

the finest agents in the world. John Talbot, the next-finest agent and

superb new writing mentor. Tom Colgan, my editor, who’d make a great

fighter pilot. Captain Bud Weeks, USN, my first CO on USS Jouett (CG

29). Cyndy Mobley and Ron Morton, technical advisors and war

consultants. Lynette Spratley, who types faster than I can talk and

reads my first drafts. Bobby, the guy that cuts my hair and knows

about Cubans.

And finally: to the men and women who go to sea in the service of our

country BRAVO ZULU.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135

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