by Linn Schwab
Kathy had encountered Tiger Sharks before, and she had long been aware of their reputation. They were squadrons made up of enemy aces, and they were more than a match for any of her pilots.
Peter analyzed the situation and decided how to best structure the attack. There were two enemy squadrons of eight, versus his own single squadron of four. Clearly, he needed to split his force in two.
“Markey and Alex, you take the second squadron. Jay and I will take care of the first.”
The formation split up and raced toward the enemy fighters. Peter didn’t feel the slightest bit of hesitation. His pilots were all seasoned veterans. They should have little trouble chasing off a couple of squadrons.
Streams of tracers seemed to be flying everywhere. Explosions were going off all around Virginia. She had no idea what was happening, but she followed Kathy’s orders and turned back toward the fleet. Her own squadron had been scattered far and wide. The only friendly planes she saw were part of Leslie’s squadron. Remembering Samantha’s warning not to get singled out, she slammed her throttle forward in an attempt to catch up with them.
Virginia found three of Leslie’s pilots flying in a tight formation together. Amber, Terry, and Heather were only a short distance in front of her. If her engines held out, she would be with them in seconds. A stream of tracers suddenly shot across their path, forcing the girls to give way and split up. Heather and Terry dodged to the left while Amber was forced to turn out to the right. Virginia elected to follow Terry and Heather; their course was more in line with her own. But Amber’s plane was still well within sight, and Virginia watched with great concern as two enemy fighters descended upon her.
Amber panicked and started to cry. She glanced over one shoulder and then over the other. Two enemy fighters were right on her tail, steadily bringing their guns to bear on her. She pushed her flight controls to their limits in a desperate attempt to break away from them. But she already sensed it was too late for her. There was little she could do but delay the inevitable.
Markey concentrated on the plane in his sights. Its erratic movements were a sign of desperation. “Don’t struggle, sweetheart,” he whispered in sympathy. “You’re only going to make it worse.”
Amber whimpered as her fate became clear. The enemy pilots were so close now she imagined she could even see the rivets on their planes. “Someone hel–lp me, ple–ease!” she sobbed. Any second now, tracers would begin to flash toward her. Armor–piercing bullets would easily penetrate her cockpit and meet with little resistance as they passed through her body. She would be left all alone there forever, floating in the vast cold darkness of space, strapped limp and lifeless to the seat of her fighter.
Heather closed her eyes in grief as Amber cried out in vain for assistance. It was heartbreaking to hear her friend suffer, but there was nothing she could do to prevent it. No one would dare try to help the doomed girl. Even the best of them were helpless against Tiger Sharks. And Heather knew Amber was well aware of that fact. Her desperate pleas for help were nothing more than uncontrollable impulses caused by mortal terror. All she could hope for was a quick and painless death.
As the enemy fighters closed in on Amber’s plane, Virginia looked on and shook her head in dismay. Heather and Terry were both close enough to intercede, but instead of trying to help her they simply continued on their way. The scene before her filled her with shock and disbelief. She couldn’t believe Amber’s friends were just abandoning her like that. Why don’t they try to help her? she puzzled. Why are they just leaving Amber to die?
Confident and relaxed, Alex kept his fighter’s nose in line with Markey’s wing tip. His eyes scanned the area around them for threats as his partner attempted to line up the shot. “Come on, Markey, reel her in quick. The other seven of them are getting away.”
“Just a second, Alex, I’ve almost got her pegged.” Markey started to whisper again, as though he were actually speaking to Amber. “It’s almost over now. Just close your eyes and let me rock you to sleep.”
Amber could sense the enemy’s guns bearing down on her. Exhausted and despondent, she reluctantly surrendered. Her muscles twitched with nervous tension as she relinquished her control over them. Accepting the inevitability of death, she appealed to her friends for emotional support. “Hea–ther?” she whimpered imploringly.
Markey tightened his finger on the trigger. Just a hair more pressure and his guns would engage. For an instant, he wrestled with feelings of guilt. Even after years of bitter fighting and the deaths of many of his comrades, the thought of killing women still weighed on his conscience.
Suddenly, Alex’s voice broke his concentration. “Someone’s on us, Markey! We’ve gotta break off!”
Virginia fought hard to isolate the two planes in her sights, reluctant to pull the trigger for fear of hitting Amber. The targeting display was useless in this situation. She would have to line the shot up by eye. “Hang in there, Amber,” she whispered nervously.
Without warning, the enemy fighters banked hard to the right. Virginia was mortified by the abruptness and precision of their maneuver. She was closing too fast to match their rate of turn, and if she overshot them they would get position on her. There was no time for her to think. In an act of sheer desperation, she pulled to the right as hard as she could and tried to set herself up to intersect their path. She would only get a single pass at them. She had to get them both or else she was dead.
Her hands trembled. She held her breath. Her heart pounded violently in her chest. She focused all her concentration on the enemy planes as they steadily approached her effective field of fire.
Amber struggled to get control of her senses, bewildered and confused by what had just happened. The enemy fighters had been right on her tail — but for some reason they had both turned away!
She knew she wasn’t out of danger yet. Those enemy planes were still somewhere close by. She took a quick glance back over her shoulder and spotted the two Tiger Sharks circling around.
Markey and Alex looked around themselves in panic. They’d somehow lost track of the plane closing in on them. She wasn’t where they had expected her to be.
Alex saw movement through the roof of his canopy. He looked up and tried to scream something, but it was too late.
Virginia squeezed the trigger and held it in place. Her guns flared to life, flinging a deadly curtain of fire out in front of her. The enemy planes flew into her stream of bullets. Both of them were torn to pieces in an instant.
Still trembling as she flew through the wake of the planes, she heard fragments of their wreckage impacting on her canopy, threatening to shatter its airtight seal. It was terrifying, but it subsided quickly, and without causing any significant damage. She took a deep breath and stared straight out in front of her, shaken and traumatized by what had just happened. She’d just made a nearly fatal mistake and knew she was fortunate to still be alive. It was a strident and vivid example to her of just how deadly fighter combat could be. Nothing could have ever prepared her for this. It was a lesson she was certain she would never forget. A few seconds passed before her senses returned and she realized she was all alone again. She pulled her fighter back around toward the fleet and immediately started searching for the Mistral.
Amber saw it happen in the blink of an eye. Her mind was still struggling to piece things together. As the realization began to sink in, her jaw fell open in awe and fascination. The girl who almost no one had expected to survive had just obliterated two enemy aces!
Heather was stunned by what she’d just witnessed. It seemed like something right out of a dream. Virginia had not only killed the two pilots, but she’d done so in a very convincing manner, as if there’d never been any doubt in her mind of the outcome.
“Did you see that!” Terry exclaimed. She stared at Heather in astonishment. Heather shook her head and started laughing — a reaction sparked by shock, and relief, and surprise.
Virginia dropped her speed as she approached
the Mistral and flew around to the stern to reenter the flight deck. Though her entire body was shaking, she managed to touch down on the transit platform and guide her plane back in through the airlocks without incident. Once inside the flight deck, she taxied down the traffic lane as far as she could, making way for the pilots who were still coming in behind her. Finally, when she could pull forward no further, she parked her fighter close to the wall, popped her canopy open, then shut her engines down and buried her face in her hands.
After the intensity and trauma of combat, the noises on the flight deck seemed somehow soothing. She took a few moments to collect her thoughts, then reached forward and removed her key from the console and climbed down the rungs on the side of her plane. Before she had both of her feet on the floor, one of the Mistral’s deck officers approached her.
“Welcome back, Virginia,” the woman greeted her. “Commander Sarens wants all returning pilots to line up in the ready room immediately.”
Virginia nodded and started moving toward the exit. Her senses still seemed to be shrouded in a fog. She saw other pilots walking toward the ready room ahead of her and fighter planes still trickling back in through the airlocks. Recalling how the others had worried about her, she suddenly couldn’t wait to be reunited with them — to reassure them that she was alright, and take comfort in their companionship and the strength of their presence. I MADE IT! her emotions cried out in relief, and she forced herself to quicken her pace through the tunnel.
Commander Sarens stepped out of the Mistral’s control room and headed for the nearest elevator. She was anxious to rejoin her pilots in the ready room and debrief them on the events of the battle. This was always the most difficult moment for her — performing the head count after a mission. But since this had been a relatively brief confrontation, she felt confident her losses would likely be nil. The more pressing concern on her mind at the moment was to find out if the enemy had attempted anything unexpected — new tactics or strategies that might give them an advantage, and tip the balance of power in their favor.
“Commander,” a familiar voice called out from behind her. “We have some visitors.” She stopped and turned around. One of her senior lieutenants approached her, followed by two girls whose faces she didn’t recognize. Both of the girls were dressed in black flight suits with three bright yellow bands encircling the left elbow. Hornets! she thought, recognizing the uniforms. Where did they come from?
Stopping at Commander Sarens’ side, the lieutenant introduced her to one of the visitors. “Commander, this is Captain Jenny McNeil,” she said.
Commander Sarens exchanged a handshake with the girl. “Captain McNeil,” she acknowledged, marveling at Jenny’s dazzling blond hair.
“Commander,” Jenny responded in kind. “This is Nancy, one of my pilots,” she said, introducing her slightly younger companion.
Nancy stepped forward and shook the commander’s hand. There was a friendliness in the way she presented herself that made her instantly likable. The commander found herself wondering if Captain McNeil had been hoping to make a good first impression. If that had indeed been a concern of hers, it was easy to see why she’d brought Nancy along with her.
“Sorry we missed the battle,” Jenny said. Her voice conveyed a hint of sincere regret. “We’re just arriving from the Ninth Fleet. We came aboard to refuel as soon as we got here, but you chased them off too quickly for us.”
“We were fortunate,” the commander insisted. “It normally isn’t quite so easy for us.”
Jenny nodded and glanced downward, avoiding eye contact with her for a moment.
She wants something, the commander realized, interpreting the pilot’s body language. She either has something unpleasant to tell me, or she wants something but is reluctant to ask.
“Commander Sarens,” Jenny began, making every effort to sound respectful, “my squadron is down a pilot right now. We lost someone in a previous engagement.” There was a perceptible hint of sadness in her voice, as was only to be expected. “Would it be alright with you if we have a quick talk with some of yours?”
The commander perked up a little. So that’s it! she realized. As members of an elite unit, the Hornets were free to draft replacements from any squadron in the fleet. “I’d be honored,” she replied. “I’m on my way to debrief them right now. Why don’t you come along with me. I’ll introduce you to all of my captains, and then you can talk with whoever you like.”
Captain McNeil nodded her acceptance. Commander Sarens gestured toward the elevator.
Virginia reached her station in the ready room and stepped onto her position marker again. She was the first member of her squadron to return. Herr body was trembled with anticipation as she waited for the others to rejoin her. She desperately needed an embrace from one of them to help steady her nerves and calm her jitters.
The other squadrons were all beginning to fill out as pilots continued to file in from the flight deck. Virginia felt a little self–conscious, standing all by herself at her squadron’s station. She made every effort to avoid the gazes of the girls who were standing across the aisle from her. Uncertain of the customary post–combat protocol, she decided it was best just to remain quiet and still, and wait to see how things played out. The stream of pilots entering the ready room dwindled, and still Virginia stood all alone. A feeling of concern now began to overtake her as she worried that her squadron might not all return.
She kept her eyes focused on the bottom of the tunnel, hoping and praying that all of her friends would make it back. They were more precious than anything to her at the moment. If just one of them failed to return from this battle, she knew she would feel a tremendous sense of loss — a wound that would never fully heal. Several of her acquaintances had perished in the past, but never anyone this close to her. A loud grinding noise echoed down from the flight deck. The hangar door was closing; no more planes would be returning.
Moisture now began to form in her eyes. She could still hear footsteps coming down from the flight deck — maybe three or four more pilots. But it definitely sounded like fewer than seven. She was having trouble making out the bottom of the tunnel; could barely even see through her own tears now. The last few pilots ran into the room, and she watched their movements in abject dismay as all of them stepped into line with other squadrons. A heavy thud sounded at the top of the tunnel. The hangar door was closed now … and silence filled the air.
Virginia snapped. Her sobs began to faintly echo through the room. The other pilots stared at her with looks of sympathy, unable to turn their eyes away from her. A rash of whispering broke out among the girls, and it was obvious that they were all talking about her.
“Poor Virginia,” said one of the girls across the aisle. “Her whole squadron was wiped out!”
“And it was her first combat, too,” another girl empathized. “Can you imagine?”
The captain of their squadron slowly shook her head and said, “No one should ever have to start out that way.”
Standing in her spot at the back of Leslie’s squadron, Amber stared in silence at the girl who had saved her life. No one in the room could feel more grateful to Virginia, and no one felt more sympathy for her than Amber did right now.
Suddenly, the focus of attention shifted. Commander Sarens stepped into the room, followed by two pilots dressed in black flight suits. Gasps of excitement filled the air. There was a chance the two girls were looking for recruits.
“Amber, look!” Heather whispered excitedly. “Hornets!”
Amber briefly glanced at the two girls in black, then turned her attention back to Virginia. While everyone else was bristling with excitement, Virginia was still crying, and Amber still ached for her.
“Oooh, I hope they take us!” Heather murmured. “Just think, Amber. We could both become Hornets!”
Amber’s thoughts remained conflicted. She longed to be a Hornet just like all the other pilots, but that wasn’t quite enough to take her mind off Virg
inia.
Commander Sarens started at the end of the column, introducing the two pilots as she walked along the aisle. It wasn’t until she approached the second squadron in line that she became aware of the sobbing from somewhere up ahead. As soon as she heard it, she was instantly concerned, and ran forward along the aisle to see what was wrong.
“Oh no!” she gasped when she saw the dreadful sight. There was a gaping hole in one of her columns! In all her years as a flight commander, she’d never seen a squadron so devastated before. Her heart sank when she saw Virginia’s face. She stepped closer to her to see if she could calm her. “Virginia, what happened?” she asked with compassion.
Virginia was still too distraught to answer. She could see the commander was speaking to her, but her mind was held hostage by the sights and sounds of battle — gunfire, explosions, the roar of powerful engines … and the voices of those who had so caringly cautioned her:
“Be careful, Virginia.”
“Don’t build up too much speed.”
“Always try to stay close to someone.”
From her position in the next squadron over, Leslie waited patiently for Virginia to answer. When it became obvious that she wasn’t going to respond, Leslie took a deep breath and answered the question for her. “Tiger Sharks got ‘em, Commander,” she explained.
Commander Sarens stared at Leslie, her silent expression demanding further explanation.
Leslie sighed and reluctantly continued. “They came out of nowhere. Took us by surprise. Kathy ordered everyone to cut and run. We got away. They weren’t so lucky.”
The commander stared at Leslie for a moment, then sighed and turned back to face Virginia. “Well,” she said, managing a somber smile, “at least one of you made it back alive.” She placed her hands on Virginia’s shoulders and looked sincerely into her eyes. “We’re all glad you’re still with us, Virginia,” she said, offering what little comfort she could. Virginia gazed back at her in silence, but she still didn’t seem to have a grasp on reality.
