“I believe you already know these two,” Admiral Carmichael boomed.
Tombstone stared at the lead figure, and a smile finally did cross his
face. “Batman! How the hell are you?” He put down his coffee cup again
and crossed the room quickly. His old wingman grinned back at him and held
out a hand. The warm, strong, two-handed handshake, held a moment longer
than politeness absolutely required, was evidence of the strong friendship
between the two men.
He’s aged some, Tombstone thought, studying his old friend. But
commanding a battle group does that. Dark circles ringed Batman’s eyes,
and the laugh lines at the corners of them were deeper than Tombstone
remembered. Since relieving Tombstone nine months earlier, Batman appeared
to have lost weight. Tombstone noted new hollows carved out of the
cheekbones, a bagginess in the flight suit around Batman’s waist that had
not been there before. “How’s the tour going?” Tombstone asked, certain he
already knew the answer.
“It’s super,” Batman responded immediately. “More work than I ever
thought possible, but you left me a sharp team. The stuff that makes it
past COS isn’t easy, though.”
“It never was.” Tombstone shook his head from side to side. “He’s
pulled that line on you before, I bet–that if it was easy, you wouldn’t be
seeing it?”
Batman laughed. “You bet.”
“And you’ve brought-” Tombstone’s throat suddenly went dry. The
smaller figure that had been hidden behind Batman now stepped forward, a
polite expression of interest on her face.
Her face. Tombstone stared, trying not to let his excitement show.
“Lieutenant Commander Flynn,” he said formally, holding out his hand.
“Good to see you again.”
“And you, Admiral,” she said, shaking his hand briefly. The smooth,
warm feel of her fingers seemed to linger on his palm. Tombstone turned
back to Batman, praying his friend had not noticed the color he could feel
creeping up his neck. “And how did you manage that?”
Batman grinned. “Pax River was pretty eager to get some more
operational time on those JAST birds,” he said. “You remember, the one I
flew out to Jefferson in the Spratlys?”
“How could I forget?”
“I thought you’d remember. Anyway, Tomboy did such a good job as my
RIO against the Chinese that Pax River picked her up as a test pilot for
the next version of JAST. They’re at that same point again–too much data,
not enough information. The program manager asked me if I would take two
birds on board for a couple of months, see how they worked under field
conditions. When I found out Tomboy was one of the aircrew, I couldn’t
resist.”
“And what brings you out to Coronado, Lieutenant Commander Flynn?”
Tombstone said, turning his attention to the diminutive RIO.
“Sounded like there might be some action here, sir,” she said
immediately. “Pax River is something else, but nothing beats the real
thing. If we’re going to buy these birds, we need to see how they perform
in an operational environment. Just like the Spratlys.” She smiled
happily.
“When Batman–Admiral Wayne, I mean-” she amended hastily, seeing
clouds gather in Tombstone’s face, “-offered me the opportunity to come
over to Coronado with him, I jumped at the chance. Sound operational
experience. Besides, if the JAST birds were going to be flying any
missions, I thought it best if I got the inside scoop. Sir.” Her voice
trailed off as she saw the expression on Tombstone’s face.
Tombstone turned back to Admiral Carmichael. “I should have warned
you about Admiral Wayne,” Tombstone said neutrally.
“No harm done, Admiral,” Carmichael said heartily, deliberately
misunderstanding. He’d heard the rumors, as had all the flag community,
about the youngest admiral, Magruder, and his attractive RIO. Gossip
Central held that both were stand-up officers, and that nothing improper
had occurred on board USS Jefferson. It also noted with some malicious
glee that both officers had disappeared for several weeks shortly after
Tombstone’s arrival in D.C. While there were no hard data points, it was a
foregone conclusion that the two had taken the opportunity of their
overlapping transfers to escape from Navy life for a while. Looking at the
two of them, Carmichael hoped they’d made it worthwhile. “There’s always