FIRE ON HIGH
“Fire On High” is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental. All characters and settings © Tigermark 2003-2005 unless otherwise noted. Request permission before using them, please.
The characters of Anatol Altaisokova and Melinda Altaisokova are my names for characters © Max Blackrabbit. They appear in this story with his permission. The characters of Brandy, Maxwell, and Tonya are also © Max Blackrabbit and appear here with his permission. Events and information relating to Tonya, Anatol, and their family are presented here, but are not to be considered canon to those characters or any other story but this one. ZZ Studios © James Bruner. Matt Barstock and Intermountain Charter © Silver Coyote. See their story HERE. Capt. Jonathan “Jedi” Foertsch is © his player. SSgt. Helen Oceloton © Jonathan Foertsch.
CHAPTER 22
The End of the Beginning
Alex sat at his desk, checking off the last of the paperwork for the day. Tomorrow, he would fly his last mission before his retirement. His months at Langely had seemed to pass quicker than any he could remember. His replacement, Lt. Col. Richard Leonard, had arrived yesterday and begun his inprocessing today. The lion was sharp, Alex would give him that, and he seemed to already be up to speed on the paperwork the job required. Scatcat had volunteered to do the familiarization flight with the new Tigerkaht CO, so tomorrow’s mission for Alex was to be pure fun. He and Jedi were going to go do some ACM work, which for Alex meant go turn the world upside down for an hour or so.
Thursday would be the hail and farewell at the officer’s club, and Friday would be his retirement ceremony. Alex planned on clearing his quarters Thursday morning and staying at the VOQ that night. Billy and Penny, Jenna, Tia, Andrew, Talia, and his father were supposed to be there for the ceremony Friday. Jenna had been reluctant to take the cubs out of school so they could come, but Tia had been insisitent about being there.
Alex sighed. There seemed a million things to do, and yet he could feel everything winding down. Would he really miss this as much as he thought? He looked at the stack of papers he’d just completed. No, he decided, not the paperwork. Not the tail-chase of dealing with the service bureaucracy. He would miss the furs. And the flying.
Just then the phone rang. Alex grabbed the pawset and punched the button for the line that was ringing.
“Lt. Col. O’Whitt.”
“Hey Alex!” Alex recognized Billy Panelli’s voice and excited style of speaking instantly.
“Hello Billy. How’s it going?”
“They’re ready.”
Alex blinked. There was only one thing Billy could be talking about, but if that was so, they were ready a good three weeks early.
“You’re sure?”
“Just got the fax and the final invoice a couple of hours ago. I went ahead and made arrangements for delivery. Mine will come here, but yours will be waiting for you to sign for it there at Norfolk Friday afternoon.”
Alex now grinned broadly. That would be right after the retirement ceremony. “Billy, your timing is impeccable.”
“Of course! Hey, are you still going to your Dad’s right after the ceremony?”
“Yup, why?” Alex eased back in his chair. This sounded like the setup for a longer conversation.
“Was wondering whether to plan the party welcoming you to Kentiger for Saturday or later.”
“Don’t you mean whether to have Penny plan the party for then or later?” Alex teased. “Better make it later, probably the next weekend will be okay. I’m going to spend at least the weekend with Dad.”
“Good. Y’know, I’m looking forward to your help. I have so many contacts and leads that it’s gotten beyond where I can cover them all.” Billy smiled to himself. Business was going very well, and Kentiger’s reputation was spreading. Alex coming on full time would mean even more business.
“Great! I sure don’t want to sit. We’ll get together my first day there and work out a schedule for some sales calls, do some projections, and talk about adding aircraft and crews.” Alex thought that they had covered this before, and wondered why Billy was stalling.
“That’ll work out fine,” Billy replied, and then began to sound nervous. “Uh, Alex, I know you don’t like us playing matchmaker, but Penny met this pretty Siamese who works for one of their customers.”
“Billy, I told you I don’t want y’all finding dates for me.”
“I know, I know, but Penny said this lady is intelligent, and pretty, and probably in her thirties. She’s a divorcee’, and Penny thought she might interest you. Now that you’re retiring, it’s time you found a mate and settled down, don’cha think?” Billy held his breath. Alex could be quite adamant that no one intervene in his love life. Billy sometimes wondered if the other tiger even allowed himself to have a love life, since his standards were so high.
Alex sighed. If Penny was behind this, he’d just as well surrender. She had a way of getting her way, once she’d set her mind on something. Refusing her was only delaying the inevitable. Besides, Penny knew him almost as well as Billy did. If she thought the lady and Alex might click, then the least he could do was meet the femme.
“All right, Billy. For Penny, I’ll do it, but not until after I’ve settled in, okay?”
“Sure! Great! Penny will be very pleased to hear it. Don’t worry, she guaranteed me this gal is nothing like the one she tried to set you up with shortly after you and I met.” Billy gave a rueful chuckle at the memory.
Alex snorted. “That was a fiasco. Trying to match me, a fairly conservative tiger from West Virginia, with an Afghan hound femme trying for a doctorate in political science from Berkley. That had to be the shortest date on record, and all I did was open the door to the car for her.”
“I remember, pal. Between Penny and I, we got both ends of it. Believe me, you were nicer. You simply said you didn’t feel the two of you were compatible. She screeched into the phone to Penny for a solid half-hour, calling you a fascist, war-mongering military-industrial complex puppet.”
“Well, Dad always taught me not to speak ill of a femme. I’m glad she was only visiting
“Penny, ah, didn’t fit into her circle of ambition, so they didn’t stay in close contact long. She got her doctorate, and then got married to a politician. Last I heard the guy was a state senator out in California.” Alex could almost see his friend’s face scrunched up in concentration, trying to dredge up what he’d last heard about the femme.
“Well, I hope Penny’s judgment on this lady is better,” Alex stated flatly, his ears half down.
“Oh, she’s got a lot more experience now. I doubt she’ll try to match you up with anyone like that again.”
“She certainly did well with your son, I’ll give her that,” Alex said, as much to shift the attention away from himself as to compliment Penny.
“That she did. Hey we heard from Rusty. He and Callie are expecting again.”
“Wow! Great! I know you said they’d been trying. How is, ah, Felicity taking it?”
“Pretty good, I’d say. She asked us to bring something out for the baby,” Billy replied, the proud smile evident in his voice.
“How’s Frank?” Alex asked about the Panelli’s junior son.
“Really great. They just made him a junior partner. Penny’s had no luck marrying him off, though.”
“Heh, give her time. Well, he’s kinda young to be a partner, isn’t he?”
“Yep,” Billy stated. “But I guess they just recognized the ol’ Panelli talent when they saw it.”
Alex chuckled. “Yeah. I suppose that’s it. Hey, I’ve got to fly tomorrow, so I’d better get going.” He eased forward, preparing to stand as soon as the phone call was over.
“Sure thing. We’ll see you Friday. Have fun tomorrow.” Billy then closed the connection.
Alex gave a good stretch as he hung up the pawset. Everything was ready for the flight, and he’d made sure everyone he could think of who might want to come to his retirement had been invited.
“Save one,” he mused to himself. He’d tried everyway he could think of to contact Natasha Shannon, but her cell phone had been deactivated. When he’d contacted the Ag ministry in
Shaking off that thought, Alex stood, grabbed his briefcase, jacket, and hat, and left the office.
“Leaving on time Colonel?” TSgt. Gangrey asked as Alex walked past the admin section.
“Yep, getting lazy already,” Alex replied with a grin as his tail waved gently behind him.
“See you tomorrow then, sir.”
“Have a good evening, Sergeant.”
Alex walked out and got in his truck, deciding to stop by the base gym and work out before going to his quarters. He left the squadron HQ parking lot and drove to the base gym. He grabbed his gym bag from the back seat and went inside. There he changed into a T-shirt and shorts and locked his uniform and bag in a locker.
Heading to the weight room, Alex stretched out. It was still early enough so that he had the place to himself. He began his usual routine of free-weights, going around a circuit of different lifts three times. He tried to do weights at least twice a week to keep his muscles toned up. After a good forty minutes of work, he left the weight room and went into a room set up for floor and bag work, with a heavy bag in one corner, and a speed bag in the other. These were normally for boxing practice, but Alex found using them in a kata gave him a good focal point. He spent another thirty minutes doing katas on the bags,
Feeling well-worked, Alex finished up with a fifteen minute soak in the Jacuzzi. He then showered and dressed and headed for his quarters. He stopped and got a sandwich and soda at the mini-BX on the way, planning on making an early night of it in anticipation of the flight the next day.
“Might as well make this last one a fun one, for both Jedi and me,” he thought as he opened his door and went in.
# # #
Anton sat in the waiting room of Dr. Gailton’s office. He’d finished his course of chemotherapy at the oncology clinic three weeks ago, and last week the basset hound had put him through another battery of tests. Today the doctor was supposed to give him the results .Jenna had wanted to be there with him, but Andrew had a project in the school science fair, and Anton had insisted that she be home with her son. He’d promised to keep the appointment without her having to travel to Charleston to make sure he did.
He’d absently looked through the same year-old magazine three times when the nurse called him. He stood and followed her back to the doctor’s office. The red panda femme smiled professionally at him as she indicated which door to go in, and then turned and walked back toward the waiting area. Anton tapped the door and then walked in.
“Have a seat, Anton,” the basset hound said as he pointed to a chair. “I have the results from your tests.”
“Good news I hope,” Anton replied as he sat down facing the doctor. The look in the canid’s eyes, and the fact that his tail wasn’t thumping against the chair back, told Anton it probably wasn’t.
Dr. Gailton gave a heavy sigh. “No, I’m afraid it isn’t. I’ve been over the results several times, and you’re more than welcome to get a second opinion. The tests show that, while the chemotherapy slowed the cancer at first, by the end of the treatment it was growing at a rate almost as fast as when we started.” He then showed Anton the tests, x-ray and MRI films, and explained what he saw.
Anton blinked slowly. “Okay, what are the options?”
“We could try another round of chemo, but honestly I don’t think that it would do much more than make you sicker and weaker.” The doctor paused a few seconds, and then sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his muzzle. He really hated this part of the job. “Anton, it’s now in late stage four. It’s terminal. We can give you drugs for the pain, which will get worse and worse. We can give you drugs to help keep you from feeling so weak. Basically, as the cancer progresses, your food will do you less and less good.”
The basset hound paused, looking sadder than even was usual for him. Anton closed his eyes for a few seconds. The doctor could see a tear in the corner of the old tiger’s eyes.When he opened them, though, his voice was steady.
“All right. How long?”
Dr. Gailton took a deep breath, and then let it out. “That depends on how strong you can stay, and how long before the cancer breaks loose and spreads throughout your body. Also on whether or not you can avoid other diseases that will try to prey upon your body’s weakened defenses. There are—.”
“How long?” Anton asked again more emphatically.
“Uh, I’d say at least three months, at most a year.”
Anton nodded and was silent for several moments, staring off into space as felines do when thinking. He suddenly snapped back into sharp focus, startling Dr. Gailton. The canid had busied himself looking at paperwork waiting for Anton's reaction.
“Thank you, Doctor. I appreciate all the work you’ve put in. I’ll forgo the pain pills for now. I want to stay clear-headed for as long as possible. Will you need to see me again?
Dr. Gailton had to smile. The old tiger was as tough as nails.
“Yes, I want to monitor how you’re doing, so I can suggest medications to help you be as comfortable and active as possible, for as long as possible. I’ll also put you in contact with Kanawha-Charleston Hospice. They can be a big help from now until . . . the time comes.”
Anton nodded, silent.
“Ah, do you need someone to drive you home?” the basset hound inquired.
“No, I’m all right. I drove myself,” Anton replied.
“Well, if you’re all right to drive. I’ll give you a prescription for something to help you keep your strength up, and a renewal for the anti-nausea medication. You can pick those up from the nurse when you’re ready to leave. I want to see you again in two weeks. Make an appointment with Dolores when you get the prescriptions. Now, is there anything I can tell you or do to help right now? Any questions for me?”
Anton thought a few seconds before answering. “No, I don’t think so. I’ve been through the denial, the anger, the bargaining while I was in chemo. I guess this is called the acceptance stage. It’s all right. I have some time left, and a lot to say and do in that time. I’m glad for your help in making it as good as possible.”
“You’re welcome, Anton. I have other patients to see right now, but feel free to stay here until you’re ready to go.” The basset hound stood to leave.
“Thanks Doctor, but I’m ready.” Anton stood and he and Dr. Gailton walked back to the waiting room. The doctor called a young mink femme and started toward the exam rooms with her. Anton overheard him tell her he had good news for her. The old tiger was glad to hear there was good news for someone as he got the prescriptions from Dr. Gailton’s nurse, Dolores.
She smiled and said, “Don’t forget to come and see us in two weeks,” as she handed him a slip of paper with his appointment written on it. Anton thanked her and walked out to his car and got in. he sat there for a long time before pulling out, sorting out in his mind how to tell those he loved the sad news.
“Ah, the Lord will provide, as always,” he finally said as he started home.
# # #
Jenna had just arrived home, and still had a couple of hours before Tia and Andrew had to be picked up from school. For once, she didn’t have anything pressing to do, so she got a glass of tea and sat down in the living room. She leafed through a couple of magazines, enjoying her rest. The last one was an aviation publication that Tia had subscribed to. As she looked at the pictures of small aircraft and articles on various aviation subjects, one in particular caught her eye. It was written by a pilot’s wife, and spoke of how she had first recognized what made her husband so unique, so “who he was,” when she she’d first seen his passion for flying. As she read on, Jenna realized that, in college, she too had been most attracted to Jason when he would talk about flying and his future in the Air Force. The article went on to say that the wife had learned that, without the sky, her husband wouldn’t be the same fur.
That’s when it hit Jenna. Jack, without the sky, wouldn’t be the Jack she was attracted to, just as Jason without the sky wouldn’t have been the same fur she married. She sat bolt upright when the thought struck her. She had been afraid of one of the very things that had attracted her.
“Jenna girl, sometimes I really wonder about you,” she said to herself with a rueful smile. “No more,” she muttered. Jack and she had both been busy since that afternoon at the hayride. As he’d promised, he hadn’t pressed her at all about a date. They’d held paws again on the couple of social occasions at church they’d been to together. True to his word, the wolf hadn’t gone anywhere. He seemed as interested now as he had been then.
“Well, I think it’s time I give Mr. Lazarus an answer,” she said to herself as she walked over and picked up the cordless phone. She flipped open the book of phone numbers she had there and dialed his work number. She suddenly realized she was a bit nervous, and that she hadn’t thought of exactly how to frame what she had to say. On the third ring, Jack answered.
“Hello, Jack Lazarus here.”
“Hello Jack.” Jenna was surprised at how her voice sounded in her ears. It had come out in a smooth, confident tone. No where near as nervous as she felt.
“Hey! Hi Jenna. What’s up?” jack was used to her calling to confirm outings and meeting times with the church youth group for Tia.
“Remember what we talked about at the hayride?” Jenna decided the best way was to forge ahead, and not hesitate.
“Uh, yes.” Now Jack was the one who sounded nervous.
“I’ve reached a decision.”
Jack blinked. “About going on a date?”
“Yes.” Jenna said it emphatically.
“Uh, sorry if this sounds dense, but I want to be very sure of what you mean, Jenna. Yes, you’ve reached a decision, or yes you’ll go out on a real date with me?”
Jenna resisted the urge both to giggle and to just say yes again. Instead she managed a small laugh.
“Yes I’ll go out with you.”
“Wow! Great! Ah, uh, well, I don’t have anything planned out. When are you available? No, that didn’t sound right. Ah, when is your schedule open? Geez, that didn’t—.” Jack was stumbling over what he wanted to say, sounding both nervous and excited. Jenna interrupted him, both to save him from stumbling further and to tell him when she might be able to go out.
“Jack, easy, don’t have a coronary on me. We have some time before I’ll be able to go out. At least next week or later. I’m busy this weekend going to Alex’s retirement in Virginia. We’re leaving Wednesday so we can stop at Dad, I mean Anton’s, on the way and take him with us.”
“Oh, well, that’s fine. Gives me time to find somewhere really special to take you. Uh, how is your father-in-law?” Jack had calmed his nerves and didn’t stumble over his words now. Jenna had told everyone at church of Anton’s cancer and chemo treatments the second Sunday they’d attended to ask for prayer for him.
“He’s doing okay. He finished the chemo a few weeks ago, and they did some more tests on him last week. The stubborn ol’ tiger has a doctor’s appointment today so they can go over the results. The way he is, I won’t find out what the doctor said until a week from today.”
“Yes, so you’ve said. Well, I pray everything is fine now.” Jack said, feeling on more secure ground.
“Me too. Heh, I usually call him Dad, because he’s been a dad to me ever since Jason and I started dating in college.” Jenna looked over at the wall clock as she spoke, and let out a small yip.
“Yipes! Uh, sorry to run, Jack, but I’ve gotta get ready to go pick up Tia and Andrew.”
“All right Jenna. Y’all drive carefully and I’ll talk to you when you get back.” Jack sounded very earnest as he prepared to let Jenna end the call.
Jenna gave a quick laugh. “Silly wolf. If we’re dating now it means you can call me, anytime within reason, just to talk. You are going to call me before I leave day after tomorrow, right?” She said it with just enough emphasis to make it more a statement than a question.
For a few seconds, Jack’s muzzle opened and closed without a sound. Finally he managed to speak. “Oh yes! Of course. Heh, see? I’m awfully rusty at this.”
“You’re doing fine,” she said reassuringly. “I’ll talk to you later, then. Bye Jack.”
“Uh, bye. I’ll call you tomorrow around this time, okay?”
“Fine, Jack. Goodbye.”
“Bye.” *click*
Jenna now allowed herself a giggling fit.
On Jack’s end, Shadow leapt to her feet. She had been laying in the corner of Jack’s office, and had heard the excitement building in his voice. If her companion was going to dance around and howl like he’d done the last time he’d put the noise-ringer down with the same expression on his face, she was going to join in, whether she understood it or not. Together they capered around the office for a good fifteen minutes, until a call from the office below them threatening to call the police brought them to a halt. Jack hung up the phone from that call and flopped down on the sofa that sat along one wall.
“Shadow, I feel like the luckiest wolf alive,” he finally said, grinning. Shadow, for her part, lolled her tongue out and looked at him in that way that only kalis can. Ears up and forward, head cocked to the side, as though she hung on every word he said.
# # #
“Good morning, Jedi,” Ice said as he walked into the flight planning room at base ops.
“Good morning, Ice. Ready to dance?”
Ice grinned at the expression. “Which shall it be, waltz or tango?”
Jedi arched an eyebrow. “With the way we fly, it’ll be more like disco on speed. Dang, they were right, you have a comeback for everything.
Ice struck a dramatic pose. “Ah, young Jedi. You must clear your mind, and not be ruled by your emotions. They cloud clear thought and hinder proper snappy reparte’.”
“Very funny,” Jedi replied, but his grin gave away any thought that he might actually be upset.
“How’s the weather looking?” Ice asked, getting back to business.
“Typical for early fall. Scattered cumulus at three thousand, bit of altocu and altostratus at twelve from a low beginning to push in from the west. Thicker cirrostratus at twenty to twenty-five. We’ll either have to stay low or go high.”
“We’ll make it high. We’re in the South Practice Area, and the Navy likes to play down low through there. Make the hard deck the top of the cirrostratus layer. Should be around twenty-eight thousand,” Ice replied.
“Got it,” Jedi replied as he made a notation on his kneeboard.
“All right. Only ROE (Rule Of Engagement), outside of stay above the hard deck and in the practice area, is guns only. We’ll only be out about an hour, so I want to maximize fun, ah, that is, training for the time.”
Jedi laughed at Ice’s slip of the tongue. “Okay Ice, training it is. I’m ready to go file flight plans if you are.”
“Ready to go,” Ice replied.
The pair walked across to Base Ops and filed their flight plans, and then caught a ride in a crew van over to where their Eagles awaited them in front of the Tigerkaht’s hangar. Both had already donned their g-suits, and had only to put on their survival vests and head for their aircraft. The crew chiefs were waiting for them. Jedi’s new crew chief, an ocelot femme SSgt. Named Helena Oceloton who'd just been assigned to the unit, saluted him and the two began the preflight on Jedi’s Eagle. Ice walked up to the brown tabby TSgt. Who’d been his crew chief during his time with the Tigerkahts. The enlisted fur snapped to attention and saluted.
“Lt. Col. O’Whitt, the aircraft is prepped and ready for preflight, sir.”
Ice arched an eyebrow. He and TSgt. Baston had always maintained a less formal rapport for the preflight and engine start routine. He returned the salute.
“Well, why so formal Barry?”
“Sir, it is the Colonel’s last flight before retirement. It’s a tradition to follow all proper protocol at such times, sir.”
Ice grinned at the tabby. “They’ll be waiting behind the hangar with the fire hose when I land, won’t they.” It was a statement rather than a question. TSgt. Baston did a credible imitation of a Cheshire kaht, but said nothing.
“Uh huh, okay. And I’ll bet Scatcat Higgins will be leading the charge. Oh well, so I get wet. Traditions are traditions,” Ice chuckled and shook his head slightly.
“Yes sir. Is the Colonel, ah, hell with it. I can only do that for so long. Ready to preflight and mount up, Ice?” The NCO now had a large, earnest smile on his muzzle.
“Yup, let’s go,” Ice replied. Together he and his crew chief went through the ritual of checks required to prepare the Eagle for flight. Ice pulled and collected all the various pins and covers with their attendant “Remove Before Flight” pennants, and then climbed into the cockpit. TSgt. Baston climbed up after him and helped him stow the items and strap in. The tabby handed Ice his helmet and helped him connect his comm. and oxygen lines. He then climbed back down and removed the boarding ladder. The feline then plugged in his intercom headset.
“All right Ice. Ready for engine start and control check when you are.”
Ice checked that he was on Langley ground Control’s frequency and keyed the radio. “Langley Ground, Stripes One. Two Eagles requesting clearance for engine start on the Tigerkaht ramp.”
“Stripes One, Langley Ground, two cleared for engine start.”
“Stripes One,” Ice replied, using the aviation standard of saying the aircraft call sign to acknowledge that the message was received. He then switched to ship-to-ship.
“Jedi, Ice, go for engine start.”
“Copy Ice, go for engine start,” the feline in Stripes Five replied. Ice then switched to the intercom.
“All right Barry, ready for engine start.”
“Okay Ice, ready to start number one.”
The tabby stood out in front of the Eagle and lifted his right paw into the air, pointing skyward with his index finger. He made a circular motion with that finger, indicating for Ice to begin the start procedure on the port engine. It quickly rumbled to life and spooled up to speed. The procedure was repeated for the starboard engine, and then TSgt. Baston and Ice went through the checks of the flight controls. Satisfied that his Eagle was ready to fly, Ice called Jedi.
“Jedi, Ice. Stand by for pull chocks and taxi clearance.”
“Jedi standing by,” came the reply.
Ice selected the ground Control frequency again, and then keyed the microphone. “Langley Ground, Stripes One, two eagles requesting clearance to taxi for Runway Two Six.”
“Stripes One, Langley Ground, you are cleared to taxi for Runway Two Six. Hold at runway for tower clearance. Good luck on your retirement, sir.”
Ice grinned in his mask. Apparently, the whole base knew about his retirement.
“Copy Langley Ground, thank you. Stripes One.” He then switched back to ship-to-ship.
“Okay Jedi, pull chocks,” and then on the intercom, “Barry, pull chocks.”
“You got it, Ice,” the tabby replied as he ran in and pulled the wheel chocks. He then disconnected the intercom headset he wore and ran over and deposited them and the chocks over to the side. He then took up a spot off of Ice’s port wing, came to attention, and raised his paw to his forehead in salute. Ice returned it, and then nudged the throttles forward as he keyed the ship-to-ship.
“Let’s go, Jedi.”
Ice noted that TSgt. Baston did not drop his salute or move from attention, at least not until after he’d turned down the ramp toward the taxiway and could no longer see the NCO. Jedi fell in behind him and together they taxied across the ramp and turned to hold at the end of Runway Two Six. Langley was a very active base with several squadrons in the wing. There was also a lot of transient traffic, but what they had to hold to wait for was a Cessna 172 from the base’s flying club. The Skyhawk was puttering down its final approach, and the pilot waved to them as he passed by. Ice waved back, and a few seconds later the Tower called them with their clearance.
“Stripes One, Langley Tower, your flight of two is cleared for takeoff on Runway Two Six. Tower chief says let it loose and conrats on your retirement, sir.”
“Thank you tower. Copy let it loose.” Alex chuckled to himself. He hadn’t requested any kind of special clearance, but since they offered, he’d show off a bit..
Switching to ship-to-ship, Ice called his wingfur. “Okay Jedi, line up on your side and then full stop. On my call, full ‘burner and hold for my go.”
Ice could hear the grin on the spotted feline’s voice as he answered. “Gonna put on a show, eh Ice?”
“Might as well go out swinging. Let’s go.”
Ice then nudged the throttles and pulled onto the runway, Jedi solidly on his port wing. They came to a stop and stood on the brakes.
“Full ‘burner,” Ice called. “Go in three, two, one, go!”
He called the count in a cadence that let Jedi know exactly when to release the brakes. The Eagles had rumbled and shook on their gear, straining to be free of the brakes holding them back. At Ice’s soft-spoken command, they streaked down the runway and into the air, pulling up gear and flaps as they rose. At the end of the runway, Ice pulled the nose up sharply to perfectly vertical. Jedi was well prepared, and followed his leader’s every move. They exploded upward, still accelerating. Ice initiated a roll, which Jedi matched, and they surged upward, rolling around a common center. After eight rotations, they neutralized the roll and continued their climb. One last word came into their earphones from the tower.
“Beautiful.”
At twenty five thousand feet, they broke through the cirrus deck. Ice eased back on the throttles and they leveled out, making a port turn to head out over the Atlantic. This would take them clear of much of the civilian traffic along the coast. The South Practice Area for Langley was all over-ocean, so they had to travel a couple of miles offshore. As they approached, Ice called to the Range Control Center to activate the area.
“Langley Range Control, Stripes One Two is a flight of two F-15’s. Ready to activate the South Practice Area.”
“Copy Stripes One Two,” came the immediate reply. “Be aware of possible Navy aircraft operating through the area below ten thousand.”
“Copy Control, Stripes One Two.”
In another couple of minutes, the pair entered the practice area. Ice keyed the ship-to-ship.
“Ready, Jedi?”
“When you are, boss.”
“Then game on!”
With that Ice jammed the throttles forward and kicked the rudders, executing a near snap roll to inverted. Instead of completing the split-s and diving, though, he pushed forward on the stick and climbed instead. To his credit, Jedi, who had rolled inverted and started to dive, recovered and climbed after the tiger. Ice let the other feline get almost in range, and then kicked the rudders hard again and dived down and away. Jedi was ready for him this time, and stayed on his tail. He saw his CO’s afterburners kick on as the other Eagle suddenly pulled up and shot skyward. Jedi hauled the stick back and went after him, grunting at the G-load. He’d expected Ice to go on vertical, but then something told him to be wary. Ice abruptly pulled hard over from vertical, executing a very tight loop, and Jedi found himself head-on with his now-inverted and diving leader. He pulled back on the stick and the two Eagles flashed past each other belly to belly, about thirty yards apart. Jedi rolled to try to track him, but Ice had quickly vanished into the blind spot below and behind him. He leveled out of the climb, turning as he did so to look for the other F-15.
Ice had pulled up level and begun a tight turn when he was in Jedi’s blind spot, and was now angling in toward the other feline’s six. Just as he was about to close into range, he saw why the previous Tigerkaht CO had made the notation that gave Jedi his call sign. The feline suddenly reversed course and hit the ‘burners. Ice couldn’t see any way Jedi could’ve known he was here, but the other Eagles slipped out of gun parameters, and the chase was on again.
Now they entered a high-speed scissors maneuver, and Ice again slowly closed the distance between them. Then Jedi did a quick Immelmann and the two closed head-on again. As they passed, Ice broke left as Jedi broke right, and Ice found himself having to angle off as Jedi barrel-rolled and got on his tail. Ice jinked around, but Jedi closed the distance. Just as he got in range, the spotted feline heard, “See ya!” in his earphones. Ice abruptly chopped the throttles and pitched the nose up at the same time. With the Eagle’s large wing area, it was like he had popped a drag-chute. Jedi tried to match the maneuver, but overshot. Figuring that his CO would have to recover to a wings-level attitude before coming after him, Jedi hit the throttles and dove away to starboard. That’s when Ice’s experience and patience paid off. Still nose high, he kicked the rudders and fell out of the stall attitude and right into his wingfur’s six. Carefully dancing on the rudders, Ice lined up his shot/
“Guns, guns, guns. Gothcha, Jedi.”
“Dang!”
That was the only response from the spotted feline, so Ice called for a setup to start another round.
“Go out a few miles and come in again. We’ll start on even ground.”
“Copy Ice. I’ll get ya this time,” Jedi replied with a chuckle in his voice. He’d been at this long enough to know that you learned from each encounter, both good and bad.
He did, too. For the next forty minutes, the two warriors wheeled and jinked their craft across the practice area. The brilliant blue sky above and the white cirrus deck below made the perfect stage for their dance. In the end, they each had scored against the other three times. All too soon, just as they separated after Jedi had gunned Ice with a wide deflection shot, Ice heard the feminine voice of the warning annunciator in his earphones.
“Bingo fuel, bingo fuel, bingo fuel. . .”
He switched the voice off and called to Jedi.
“Bingo fuel, Jedi. Time to go.”
“Awww, and I was just getting a good handle on your moves.”
Ice gave a rueful grin inside his mask. He would miss the spotted feline who’s flown his wing these past few months. Jedi formed up on his CO’s wing and they turned northwest. Ice hadn’t had his radar on, since they were doing gun training. He turned it on now to check for traffic outside the practice area as he called to tell Range Control that they were leaving. Four returns in a tight formation appeared on the display. Ice at first thought they were another flight coming in to use the practice area, but they were instead flying along parallel to the boundary of the area. Ice was about to call Range Control and inquire about the unknowns when the ship-to-ship frequency crackled to life.
“Ice, Blackie. Four Tigerkahts standing by to escort you home.”
Ice arched an eyebrow, and then he grinned.
“Blackie, Ice, don’t you mean keep me from doing a precautionary over at Seymour? Scatcat sent you by here, didn’t he.”
Ice could hear the broad grin in the panther’s reply. “Well, he did say if we were by here on our navigation training mission to see that you got home okay.”
Ice laughed, and then answered, “Copy, Blackie. Might as well not fight it, eh? Form up on us as we exit the practice area, and take me home.”
As they left the practice area, the four F-15’s from Blackie’s flight formed a box around Ice and Jedi, and they proceeded back to Langley. All too soon, it seemed to Ice, his main gear chirped onto the runway and he taxied over to the Tigerkaht ramp. TSgt. Baston was waiting to delay, that is, assist him in unstrapping and climbing down from the aircraft. Ice laid a paw on the engine inlet and gave it an affectionate pat. In the meantime, Jedi and the pilots with Blackie who’d escorted him back had shut down and scrambled out of their aircraft to watch Ice be christened for his last flight.
Ice could see Scatcat and a couple of the Tigerkahts pulling a fire hose from behind the hangar in his direction. He waited calmly for them to get close, and then dodged around to the other side of his aircraft. He was promptly blasted by water from a second hose crew that had slipped up on that side after he’d shut down. Stumbling back from the assault, he ran back around the aircraft and received a second wetting from Scatcat’s crew. Seeing that the tiger was now fully soaked, the lion called for the water to be shut off.
Dripping wet from head to tail, Ice waited for Scatcat and the Tigerkahts to come up to him. Just as they got close, he shook himself vigorously from head to waterlogged tail.
Now thoroughly damp, Scatcat Higgins shook his head, his mane flipping and his tail curling in merriment.
“Thanks a lot, Ice. I’m not the one retiring.”
“Just sharing the wealth, Boss.”
Everyone laughed heartily. Various shouts of congratulations rang out, and then the group disbursed. Ice stepped over to collect his helmet and gear, and stopped to look over the Eagle he’d just flown.
“Until the next time, old friend,” he finally said. He then turned and joined Jedi, and the pair of felines headed for the Aircrew Life Support building.
END OF CHAPTER 22.