argument about their careers. The last time they’d met, they’d decided it
would never be resolved, and they’d broken their engagement. While seeing
Pamela this time had awakened all of his old feelings, he now recognized that
it had been mostly reflexive nostalgia.
“Maybe sour grapes,” Tombstone suggested.
“How so?”
“Being on the ship and all. As much as I’d like to, you know there’s no
way that–I mean, how can I expect the crew to–it just wouldn’t-”
“You mean making love?” she said softly.
“Yeah.”
“Tombstone, if that’s all we had, it wouldn’t be much, would it?”
“It’d be a real good start, right now,” he said reflectively. He let his
eyes run over her body hungrily.
“And a real dramatic end, if you got caught.”
“There’s that. But maybe an end is in order.”
“After all these years, you’re ready to give up? Leave the Navy?”
“People do. I’ve got over twenty years in. A rear admiral’s retirement
pay’s not bad. We could get married. Try living a normal life, maybe.”
“Oh, Tombstone.” Pamela studied him for a moment. “If you’d made that
offer ten years ago–hell, even two years ago–I’d have taken you up on it.”
“And now?”
“And now I know better. You’d have hated me for it, in the end.”
“Now’s different. Pamela, I haven’t been in a cockpit on a regular basis
for three years–longer if you count that tour of duty at the Naval War
College. It’s not fun anymore.”
“Maybe that’s the payback for all those years of flying. In those years
of what you call fun, you learned something. You proved that today.”
He was silent for a moment. “I’m grounded, you mean?”
“You know you are. At least, you won’t be flying as much as you used to.
You can’t, Tombstone. It’s not fair to your air wing and to the crew.”
“I can’t fly, and you won’t marry me. Somehow, that doesn’t sound like a
happy ending.”
“Did they ever promise you one? I thought that’s what duty was all
about.”
“Duty means a lot of things. Right now, the only thing I can think about
is whether I’ll ever see you again.”
“I’d count on it if I were you, Admiral,” she said lightly. “When you
least expect it, perhaps.”
She touched her fingers to her mouth and then brushed them gently against
his lips. “That’s permitted on board your ship, isn’t it?”
His lips tingled where her fingers had touched him. “Yes–but this
isn’t.” He stood, drawing her to her feet with him, and drew her close. They
paused for a split second, and then their mouths locked together, hungry,
demanding release from the pressure of the last weeks. His hand caressed her
neck, and started downward. He felt the jutting prominence of her
collarbones, the soft upper slope of her breasts. Even as he felt his body
responding, he knew it was the last time.
“Enough!” she finally gasped, and pulled away. “Any more and I’ll miss
my flight. Any second now, COS will be banging on the door, shooing me out.”
“Any more and I’d be joining you on the COD. And if he thought your
visit was too long, imagine how he’d feel about that,” he said raggedly.
Good-bye, Stoney,” she said softly. “See you next war.” The door
clicked shut behind her.
CHAPTER 29
Saturday, 6 July
1000 local (Zulu -7)
USS Jefferson
“Admiral?” Lab Rat asked. “I think I may have what you asked for.”
“Shoot, La–uh, Commander Busby,” Tombstone said.
Lab Rat groaned inwardly. The nickname appeared to be permanent, if even
the admiral had trouble remembering his real name!
“It’s a matter of saving face, Admiral. That’s one of the most critical
parts to dealing with an Asian nation. It’s something I don’t think we’ve
ever understood, not completely. But I think I might have a cover story that
would work.”
“I’m listening.”
“Here’s the idea.
Fifteen minutes later, Tombstone was nodding. “Get this on the wire to
your spook buddies, Commander. They may not take your suggestion, but it
sounds like a fine operational deception to me. If anyone in the State
Department’s got a hair on their ass, they’ll pull this one off. Helluva good