asked.
“Over there.” The Marine pointed toward the far end of the airstrip.
A Harrier was making its gently eerie approach, coasting through the air at
a speed too low to believe. If it had not been for the turbofans on her
undercarriage angled downward, she would have crashed–her forward speed
was insufficient to maintain stable flight.
Tombstone paused and watched the aircraft settle gently on the ground.
He could see from the movement of the grass surrounding the tarmac the
force of the downdraft. It had to be, to keep that much metal airborne, he
thought, but somehow, reading about downdraft in manuals never compared to
seeing the actual thing. Anyone underneath the fighter would have been
seriously injured or killed by the hurricane-force winds it generated
downward.
“She’s a real beauty, isn’t she, sir?” the Major asked appreciatively.
“Just look at her. The finest fighting aircraft ever built for a Marine.”
He glanced at Tombstone’s insignia. “Not that the Navy doesn’t have some
real fine aircraft itself,” he continued generously. However, it was
obvious from the expression on his face that the Tomcat or Hornet ran a
distant second to his treasured Harrier.
“I thought you said this bird was ready,” Tombstone commented.
“Doesn’t look too ready to me, since it’s not even on the ground.”
“Oh, that’s not the one we’re flying. Ours is parked next to Flight
Ops.” The Marine grinned broadly.
“Ours?” Tombstone asked.
“Yes, Admiral.” The Marine saluted sharply again. “Major Joe
Killington, at your service, Admiral. Always glad to help out a fellow
aviator when we can. Especially in getting onto a boat your aircraft can’t
reach.”
Tombstone groaned. Surely, he thought, there must be some right
granted to an admiral by Congress not to be harassed by the Marine Corps.
The prospect of spending hours airborne fielding such comments by the major
irked him.
A trace of his thoughts evidently showed in his face. The Marine
major snapped to attention. “Whenever the Admiral is ready, sir,” he said
politely. “And we are happy to be of service, Admiral. All one fighting
force–that’s the way we see it.”
Tombstone nodded abruptly. “Get me to my gear, Major,” he said. “I
imagine we’ll have plenty of time to discuss the relative merits of your
service and the Navy.” He looked pointedly at the insignia on the Marine
major’s collar. “Not that it will be much of a contest.”
The Marine major braced, eyes pointed directly forward and locked on
the horizon. “I’m certain the admiral can enlighten me if my views are out
of order.”
Finally, Tombstone relented. After all, this was one argument the
major could never win. And it had nothing to do with Tomcats, Hornets, or
Harriers–it had to do with the quick collar count that had just occurred.
Stars won out over gold oak leaves, no matter what the service.
Tombstone turned toward Flight Operations and slapped the Marine Corps
major on the shoulder. “Come on, son,” he said mildly. “I think you’ve
got some flying to do. I’ve never been up in one of your birds–it’ll be a
pleasure to get a look at it.”
“Yes, sir.” The major took off at a trot toward his aircraft.
“How far can this thing go?” Pamela Drake asked. She pointed to the
battered commercial helicopter sitting out on the tarmac.
The pilot shrugged. “Far enough, if I put on the additional fuel
tanks. We could get you to Juneau, no problem, ma’am.”
“Juneau, huh?” She looked him over carefully. “Were you in the
Navy?”
A look of disgust crossed the pilot’s face. “No, ma’am, not hardly.
The Marines.” He pointed at the battered helicopter. “Taught me my trade,
they did, flying helicopters off of amphibious assault ships. After a
couple of tours, I got out, joined the Reserves, and bought this puppy with
the money I’d saved up. Slap a couple of missiles on her and she’d be just
as good as anything they’re flying in the Corps today.”
“Amphibious assault ships, huh?” Pamela looked thoughtful. “You’re
not in the Reserves or anything right now, are you?”
“No, ma’am.” The pilot grinned. “Not many Reserve units drilling out
this far. I do mostly scouting for commercial fishing vessels, some