carrier will get it to us ASAP.”
“I don’t think they’re going to wait for that,” the RIO said, listening
to the tactical circuit chattering in his right ear. “They’re getting ready
to launch the other bird right now.”
“Let me guess,” Mouse said. “Batman’s driving.”
“You got it. I never thought that flight rotation schedule would last
for much longer than it took to get here. It surprised the hell out of me
when he let us launch.”
“The launch, you mean! It’s not like he’d steal your hop, Bouncer. He
likes to sit up front with the adults.”
“No accounting for taste,” Bouncer mused. “Me, I’m kinda happy back
here. My ejection seat fires three-tenths of a second before yours does,
don’t forget. And I’ve got a handle for it!”
1415 local (Zulu -7)
Pri-Fly
USS Jefferson
“Launching four more Tomcats,” the Air Boss said over the flight deck
circuit. With the alert five Tomcats already launched, as well as one JAST
bird and Thor’s Hornet, that put seven American fighters up to intercept four
Flankers. The JAST air contacts, fed to all the ships’ radar displays through
the LINK had initiated a flurry of action. Even though the SPY-1 radar on the
Aegis had not detected the contacts, the carrier TAO was making the safety
play–get help and gas in the air before it was needed. The Air Boss thought
that Batman had probably had some input into that decision, said input
resulting in said Captain grinning like a possum in the front seat of the
other JAST bird.
The Air Boss picked up the mike for the flight deck circuit. “Shoot that
queer Turkey now,” he ordered. The Yellow Shirt on the deck whirled around,
stared up at the tower, and flashed a big smile and a thumbs-up. With Batman
airborne, there’d be less chance that he’d be able to kibitz anything else
that happened on the flight deck.
1416 local (Zulu -7)
Spook Two (JAST Tomcat)
“Damn!” Tomboy gasped, as the acceleration off the catapult slammed her
back hard. “Sir, you sure about those settings?” she asked, referring to the
weight figures the Cat Officer had displayed on the grease pencil board. The
weight was used to determine the pressure settings on the piston that drove
the catapult shuttle forward.
There was no answer for a few moments as Batman concentrated on getting
the JAST bird airborne and gaining altitude. “It’s Batman up here, Tomboy,”
he said finally. “And yeah, I’m sure the weight was right. You’re just used
to flying with that old lady, Tombstone. Got to get you used to a tactical
launch again!”
“There’s tactical and then there’s tactical, sir. Batman, I mean. You
talking about the latter tactical?”
“You betcha. Speaking of tactical, how’s your gear?”
“Up and sweet. Need to screw with it for a while to figure out the finer
points. Bouncer gave me a real solid rundown on it, but it’s one thing to
talk about it, another altogether to get tactical.”
“That’s what we’re up here for. Play with it until you’re comfortable,
but learn it fast. And don’t worry–we’ve got plenty of company up here. If
things get hot and you don’t feel one hundred percent yet, we’ll buster out.
Not that we’re expecting any trouble. Most likely this is just a routine
fly-over.”
“Routine-right,” she said, letting her hands wander over the dials,
feeling the familiar shapes and watching the display change in response to her
tweaking. “Nothing’s ever routine when you’re tactical, sir!”
“Who’d you learn that from, Tomboy? Tombstone? And it’s Batman, damn
it!”
“Not Tombstone,” she said. Batman glanced in his small rearview mirror
as the low chuckle in her voice caught his attention, but her head was still
buried in the scope. “Better teacher than that.”
“And just who might that have been?” he said, his curiosity piqued by
both her tone of voice and her answer.
“Best teacher of all, for a Tomcat RIO. A MiG driver was kind enough to
continue my education, back when we were over Norway,” she said, referring to
the combat she’d seen on her first cruise. “And when a MiG teaches you a
lesson, you don’t forget it. Not for a long, long time.”