Blue Skies

by Ali Vali

  “Has the Chinese government been briefed on this?”

  “Those talks have taken place, I just wasn’t privy to them.” She turned the projector off and went to sit next to Berkley. “Now that you’ve seen all this, what do you think?”

  “I’m coming with you, Captain, no need to hard sell me.”

  Since they were both aware of the guard Aidan had posted on the door and instructed not to let anyone in, she threaded her fingers with Berkley’s. “I’m going to hard sell you on getting you to admit that you still love me, but not this. I need you to be as sure of this as you’ll need to be when it comes to giving me an answer about our future.”

  “I’m sure about this job, Aidan. As for us, these past few days reminded me a lot of when we first met and how. It also reminded me of the things I think are important. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you pull this off without a problem, and the rest will come in due time or not at all, but like this mission, it can’t be forced. I’m coming with you, though, and while you’re sailing us around we’ll have time for all those talks you keep going on about. But trust is a fragile thing, and once it’s broken it has a way of showing cracks no matter how well you think you put it back together.”

  “Uh-huh.” Aidan squeezed her fingers and leaned over and appeared ready to kiss her but stopped at the very last moment before their lips touched. “If the other night proved anything to you it’s how good we are together, so we’ll see who cracks first.”

  “It’s not going to be me, so behave.”

  Aidan did give her a quick peck before pointing to the northern site again. “In my opinion, and after watching you again this past week, this one plays to your strengths in the air. But I’ll trust you to choose who you want with you on this and who hits what.”

  “That’s it?”

  “I’m giving you total control of the team, so yes, that’s it.”

  Berkley leaned back in her chair and smiled. “There’s nothing you want to add to that?”

  “I came here for two things,” Aidan said as she gripped the remote for the monitor if only to have something to do with her hands other than put them down Berkley’s pants. “I wanted you with me on this.”

  “What else do you want?”

  “The most important thing is to have you with me even after all this is over.” She finally let go a little and slid her hand down Berkley’s collar to press her palm to the back of her neck. “I just wanted you to realize that I understand what you’ve been through and I know what kind of position I’m putting you in by asking you to come with me, and it’s not something I take lightly.”

  “Don’t feel guilty for something I want to do.” Berkley pulled her hand free and kissed Aidan’s fingers. “The rest we’ll see as this plays out.”

  “I’ll accept that.”

  “If you’re so easily willing to accept that, then perhaps you have changed.” Berkley offered her a casual salute. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned in our time apart, it’s that the best expectation in life is to have none. My mother was right about the fact that you’re more pleasantly surprised that way.”

  “Happy flying, then, and I see a lot of good surprises for you once you land.” Aidan put her hand in Berkley’s and smiled in a way that made it clear how she felt about her. “We’ll start with dinner tonight with your parents. That is, if you’ll lend me your kitchen.”

  “You learned how to cook?” Berkley asked incredulously.

  The laugh Aidan let out did earn her a brief kiss when Berkley acted as if she couldn’t hold out any longer. “You learned and you’re going to ask me that? Let’s just say that eventually I want to be as good a partner as I’ve been a sailor.” Wanting more contact with Berkley but remembering where she was, Aidan stepped closer and put her arms around her waist.

  “My kitchen is yours if you tell me what you’re making.”

  “The first thing I learned to make was Southern fried chicken. You fall for those tall Southern types, and it’s a must-have in your culinary scorecard. Still your favorite?”

  “Still my favorite.”

  “Get going, then. I need you to be perfect so I get you back in one piece once we’re done.”

  *

  When Berkley changed and stepped out to the tarmac there were twice the usual number of planes. The pilots Will had put out a call for had started to arrive, and they were lined up and ready for whatever test Berkley threw at them. She wasn’t surprised that her father was one of those wearing a flight suit and standing with Will.

  “Have you decided to give up the desk job?” Berkley asked her dad.

  “Rattler tells me it’s been a while since someone knocked you on your ass,” he said with a laugh. “So I thought the two old men would give it a try.”

  “Emphasis on the word try, old man,” she teased back. “Isn’t that right, Whittle?”

  Harvey had joined them and nodded at Berkley’s question. “No way are we going down, Cletus.”

  Behind them the planes started to take off. The training had changed to a constant dogfight mentality. Their goal was to bring Berkley down, along with the other two pilots she had picked out that morning.

  Commander Lake “Killer” Goram and Commander Sonny “Vader” Forche had gone through the Academy with Berkley, and she trusted them both at her wing or leading her into combat. Sonny had actually inherited her backseat when Berkley was on a carrier. She now had a couple of days to pick the final pair.

  After introductions she and Harvey were the only ones left. He looked like a man who was waiting for bad news.

  “How’s the nickname coming, Whittle?”

  “I wouldn’t think it’d be important now.” He had to yell his answer as her father and Will hit the sky.

  “I’m leading this mission and I need a good pair of eyes behind me, so I figured that’d be you. You telling me you’re not interested?”

  “I just thought you’d want to bring someone with more experience.”

  “My dad trusted your father with his life, and he came through.” She slapped him on the shoulder and pushed him in the direction of the plane. “I figured you Whittles are good luck.”

  “Cletus, your targets have been painted and you’re given a go,” the tower operator said once they were lined up for takeoff.

  “Roger that.” She punched it down the short track they used to simulate carrier takeoffs. “Killer, Vader, are we locked and loaded?”

  “We got your ass, Cletus,” Killer said from her right wing. Following her lead, they shut off communication after that.

  A hundred miles to the north in the mountains the computers had simulated a target in terrain similar to what they would find in the field. The rules of elevation wouldn’t be in play. Their job now was to disappear from the radar by any means possible, whenever possible.

  In less than twenty minutes, Vader had taken the shot to eliminate their first target with no mishap. Their second target was farther south in a heavily wooded area.

  “Cletus, five o’clock,” Harvey yelled as Will’s plane came closer with an impressive set of rolls. Without moving too far away from her, Killer took him out in a move that made it look easy.

  “His buddy’s at ten o’clock,” Harvey informed her.

  “And he brought friends,” she said as six other flyers joined the fun. “Vader, keep heading for the target.”

  “Want me to help even the score?” Vader asked.

  “Killer has my wing, so get going.” She banked left, her finger on her guns the whole time, taking out two planes. No matter what moves she made, Killer stayed on her wing taking shots of his own.

  Soon there was only one plane left to face down.

  “Cletus, I could use some help here,” Vader radioed over. “There’s a mess of hornets defending their nest around the second target.”

  “Killer, you’re on backup at T-2.” She dropped her altitude abruptly when the plane chasing them locked on them briefly. “Eyes open ba
ck there, Harvey.”

  “He’s still on our ass. He dropped his elevation and so did two of the others.”

  The three remaining planes were heading directly toward them, the sixth dropping off to follow Killer. “How about you keep your eyes on the guys behind us, Whittle?”

  “They’re still there.” Berkley could tell he was trying to keep his voice calm, but the elevation of tone gave away just how nervous he was.

  “Good, because the three ahead of us are still there too,” she said and laughed. “Let’s see how good everyone is at the game of chicken.”

  She kept her eye on their surroundings but also on her instruments, which showed that one of the planes behind them and one in front had them locked in. Now it was a matter of waiting for them to pull the trigger.

  “Cletus?” Whittle asked.

  “Hang on, Harvey.” According to the computer, both planes that had targeted them had released their missiles. They were now locked on to their target—her and Whittle—but Berkley had other ideas. In modern dogfights like this, it was all about making someone else the target.

  Waiting until the very last moment, Berkley sent them shooting up like a cork released from a bottle of agitated champagne. Her quick reflexes gave the missiles no chance to follow. Missiles were made for one reason, and that was to destroy. With their plane now above their pursuers, the missiles had to find something else to bring down.

  One of the young guns was the first plane to go down and Berkley laughed as she imagined the emphatic “fuck” over how he’d been taken out. “Vader, give me an update,” she said as she came around. With all the planes in front of her, she quickly got off some of her own missiles.

  “We’ve taken out the second target and are heading back with company. You need us to come back?”

  “Keep going for the green zone, and I’ll try and shake my admirers.” Now it was just a good old-fashioned game of chase. As much as she loved the fight aspect of her daily flying, the mission training had more to do with an in-and-out mentality. Once the targets were eliminated, it wasn’t their job to engage the enemy any further.

  “Two hundred miles, Cletus, time to put the moves on these guys.”

  As they closed in on what was considered the green zone, Berkley actually kept on the straightest course she could find. In a realistic setting the ship would be their final backup if the need came.

  When she got to the target zone, Vader and Killer joined her at her wings. The show of force made the enemy planes break off.

  “Good job, people. All we need to do now is recreate this in the field,” Berkley said as she broke off from her team. Just as quickly, her father and Will took their place and followed her toward her usual southern sightseeing route.

  “Let’s get back, Whittle.”

  After Berkley landed she headed to her Jeep wanting to enjoy the time she had left with her family.

  Chapter Nine

  “Do you know where Berk keeps her flour?” Aidan asked as she opened cabinets, not having any luck finding the ingredients she was looking for.

  Maggie Levine sat at the counter shelling the beans she and Aidan had shopped for that afternoon in the open market in town. The chicken Aidan had cut up was marinating in the spices that would be locked in when it was dipped in buttermilk and coated with flour to deep-fry. Chicken, beans, and corn—Berkley’s favorite Sunday meal growing up.

  “In the refrigerator, since she doesn’t use it much. I’ve taught her how to barbeque because, like her father, the thought of cooking anything over an open flame is too good to pass up, but I think the stove and hot oil still intimidates her a bit.”

  “She would die if she heard you saying that.” Aidan got the flour out and poured some in one bowl and buttermilk in another. The chicken went into the buttermilk first, then she dredged it through the flour. “Great warriors of our day are seldom intimidated by anything.”

  “One of my best days was the morning they finally pulled Cletus out of my womb after what felt like thirty-six days of labor. She screamed so loud from the minute the air hit her that I really thought the doctor was going to drop her.”

  “Maybe it was because she was comfortable where she was,” Aidan said.

  “I don’t think that’s why. From that first moment of her life I think that she wanted what came next. That screaming convinced me that she’d inherited Corbin’s wandering soul as well as those good looks, and the patience God gave a two-year-old.”

  Finished with the chicken, Aidan cleaned her hands and leaned against the counter. “But I thought the reason the commander accepted this final assignment was to be with you and his family since there’d be no more transfers? It’s nice to know that love can tame the wanderer in him.”

  “Before we met, his time in the Navy was his own and he enjoyed making the decisions that shaped the man he became, but he eventually came to see that he needed something more if he was going to lead a complete life. When we found each other, I was lucky that he was ready for whatever came next. He loves me and our girls, and he’s never strayed from the day he walked me down the aisle, but I know that I’ll never tame his soul. That part of him that takes chances most people wouldn’t dream of is what makes him the man who keeps my interest, and because of that, I would’ve followed him to hell and back.”

  Aidan nodded and turned her eyes to the refrigerator covered with pictures of Berkley and her family. “You sound like a very lucky woman who found what she wanted and wasn’t stupid enough to let it go.”

  “I wasn’t telling you that story to make you feel bad, sweetheart. You were right in that there isn’t much that intimidates our modern-day warriors.”

  “You may have a warrior, but I can’t make that claim.”

  “Cletus may have come out with her hair on fire like her father when it comes to chasing down adventure, but there’s only one thing that can cut them so deep it makes them careless in the face of battle.” She slid off her stool and came to stand in front of Aidan. “Why are you here?”

  “I’m cooking dinner.”

  “Don’t bullshit me. I’ve lived with sailors too long to not know what it sounds like when it’s being shoveled my way. Why are you here?”

  “I’m back for another chance.”

  “If it were up to me, there wouldn’t be another chance.” Maggie grabbed Aidan’s hand and squeezed her fingers to the point of pain. “You take that chance and then walk away again and I’ll hunt you down and kill you if something happens to her out there. You make promises you have no intention of keeping and it clouds her mind, and Corbin will beat me to it.” With one more squeeze, she let go and smiled.

  “She told you about us?”

  “If you’re asking me that, then you don’t know Cletus as well as you’d like to think. She didn’t have to tell me, I saw it on her face when she came home after you left.” Maggie laughed and went back to her beans. “You made her skittish for the first time in her life and she wasn’t the same. Not that you killed her spirit, but she wasn’t the same and now she holds back a big part of herself no matter how hard I’ve tried to bring back the kid I raised.”

  “Would you prefer someone else for her?”

  “I wouldn’t imagine picking something so personal for her. Only Berkley can decide who to give her heart to, and if it’s you then we’ll welcome you into our family. I only told you what I did because while Corbin or Berkley will never tell me exactly what she’s signed up to help you do, I’m not an idiot. I’m sure she’s not leaving to fly in some parade over the capital. It’s going to be dangerous and if something happens to her because someone else is better, then that’s the life we signed on for, isn’t it?” Maggie’s eyes filled with tears. “But I won’t have her shot down because she’s licking her wounds because you broke her heart again. If you’re here, then it better be for good, or leave now.”

  “I’m here for good, Mrs. Levine, of that I can assure you.”

  “Then start frying chicken. They�
�ll be home soon and I’m guessing this is a good night for comfort food.”

  *

  After dinner that night Berkley drove Aidan back to the base and walked her to her room. Aidan was leaving in the morning and they wouldn’t see each other until just before the Jefferson pulled out of Virginia.

  “That was a great meal.” Berkley stood in the doorway with her hands behind her back. She came close to losing her balance when Aidan pulled her inside by the belt and closed the door.

  “This is your last chance, Commander.”

  “Last chance for what?”

  Aidan laughed when Berkley stood before her at parade rest. “Your last chance to stay here and wait until this is done. I’m not going to think any less of you if that’s what you want, and I’m still going to come back here when I’m finished.”

  “My mom talked to you, didn’t she?”

  “Your mother loves you, but she’s not why I told you that.”

  “It’s not, huh?” Berkley grabbed the wandering hand that had started at her stomach and was heading upward. “Then why’d you say it?”

  “Because I need you to know that you don’t have anything to prove to me in the air or on the ground. I just want you to be happy and believe in the possibilities of dreaming again.” She kissed the part of Berkley’s chest she could reach through the khaki shirt of her uniform. “And I want you at my table for years to come telling me how much you love my chicken and how it reminds you of your mother’s.”

  “Go to your meetings, Captain, and when you stand on the bridge to sail off for this mission, I’ll be standing on the deck below you ready to carry off my part.”

  With a slight tug she freed her hands and put them behind Berkley’s neck so she could pull her down for a kiss. “And when we come back?” she asked when they pulled apart.

  “I’m sure we could get court-martialed for this behavior, but I’m willing to think about it.” Berkley started the next kiss and pulled Aidan so close her feet came off the ground. “If you did talk to my mom, I’m sure she told you that the future has a way of taking care of itself. When we get back we’ll see where the possibilities we talked about on those beautiful Hawaiian beaches can take us.”