Siren In The Sky // Bradley Bradshaw

Chapter 4

"Pilots take your seats!" Three men enter the room. I take the opportunity to escape but before I can Bradley grabs my arm. "We'll talk later," he murmurs. I give him a brief nod and sit next to Striker. 

Once everyone is seated the older man begins speaking. "I am Admeral Simpson. Call sign Cyclone. Next to me is Warlock and Hondo."

He pulls something up on the screen, a video if ariel combat during the Korean war. He points to it as the video plays. "During Korea, the Navy kill ratio was 12-to-1. We shot down 12 of their jets for every one of ours." I resist the urge to roll my eyes. We know what a 12-to-1 ratio is. He continues, "During Vietnam that ratio fell to 3-to-1. Our pilots became dependent upon missiles. They had lost their dogfighting skills."

Adm. Simpson stops the video. "Now Top Gun was created to teach a ACM - air combat maneuvering. Dogfighting. By the end of Vietnam, that ratio was back up to 12-to-1." He turns of the screen and gestures for Hondo to turn on the lights. 

Warlock makes his way to the center next to Cyclone. "Lieutenants, You are the top 1% of all naval aviators. The elite. The best of the best... We'll make you better." Cyclone walks through the rows as he speaks. "You'll fly at least two combat missions a day and attend classes between and evaluations of your performance." I squirm in my seat, excitement to get up in the air. Striker and I send each other side smiles. 

"I want no funny buisness. I expect all of you to take this seriously. I never thought I'd see the day where another Mitchell and Bradshaw were in the same class." My eyebrows shoot up. Bradshaw? As in Goose's son? I didn't even know he was in the navy. 

My eyes scan the room and catch on Bradley doing the same. Of fucking course. How did I not see it. He's the spitting image of Goose in the photos my dad had hanging in his office. It seems Bradley realizes it too. But his reaction is what surprises me. His expression hardens and he sends a glare my way. I furrow my eyebrows and turn to the front. What was that about?

"I'm keeping my eye on you two." Cyclone says as he gestures to us. "Now, in each combat sequence you're gonna meet a different challenge. Every encounter will get more difficult. We're gonna teach you to fly right to the edge of the envelope. Faster than you've ever flown before. and more dangerous." 

The admirals words quickly fill my body with excitement. I'll worry about Bradley later. I'm going to be the best. "In case ya'll are wondering who the best is they're up here. Their name's along with their wso's are on the plaque. At the end of Top Gun who ever is number one will join them." 

I try to hide my devilish grin but I can't help but quirck the corners of my lips up. "That's going to be us." Striker whispers in my ear. I give a stiff nod in agreement. That will be us. My dad wasn't number one. I will be better than him. I will make him regret the day he left.

"Go suit up. Be on the hanger in 10."

All of us stand and head to the locker rooms. Since there are only three girls we have the whole lockerroom to ourselves. We begin talking  while we put on our flight suits. "Siren did you see Rooster glare at you?" Striker starts. "Ya what was that all about? He seemed thrilled that you were here 5 minutes prior." 

All I can do is shrug. "My best guess is because our dads used to fly together when his dad died. But, my dad and the Bradshaws were on good terms after that so I don't really know either." 

I grab my helmet and slide my aviators on as we head out to the hanger. The sun is scorching hot and I can already feel it burning the skin on my face. Striker and I say goodbye to Pheonix and head towards our f-14. 

Once were in with our hemets on we connect to the general radio channel. "Allright lieutenants. The hard deck on this hop will be 10,000 feet. There'll be no engagement below that. The jets you will be flying against will be smaller and easier to maneuver, just like enemy migs. The clock will start ticking as soon as everyone's in the air and as of now we are keeping score."

The hook on our wheels start to drag us towards the runway as people report into the radio. "Hangman in the sky." "Coyote in the air." I head down the runway and pull up. 

"Siren in the sky." I report.

Before I know it we're all wizzing around the air fighting with the migs. Im chasing down one when Striker starts talking behind me. "Siren we've got a mig on our tail." 
"Alright. I'm going to pull up and let him fly right by."

I pull the lever and quickly shoot upward, causing the guy to fly past. Dropping back down I'm behind him. I've got my missiles on trying to find a lock. "I almost got him, I almost got him."

Suddenly it locks. "yes!" Striker cheers. "One down, one to go." We're chasing down the left over mig when suddenly we're cut off. 

"I got this one Siren." Hangman says over the comm. "Jesus Christ hangman you almost hit us. A bit of warning next time would ya?"

I'm pissed. He endangered the both of us just to prove something. Before I know it the simulation is over and we head back to the strip. Once we've landed I try to calm down. 

The two of us get out and make our way towards the locker room to get changed. While we're walking Hangman jogs by us. "Remember Siren, No points for second place." What I wouldn't give to wipe that smirk off his face. 

"We're still in first, asshole!" Striker shouts after him. I grab her arm to hold her back from chasing him. "Calm down, it's day one. We can't let them get under our skin." She sighs and nods. After changing I head towards the car, but spot Bradley heading towards his. 

"Give me a sec." I say to Regina. 

I begin jogging in his direction. "Bradley!" He turns his head but once he sees me he keeps walking. "Bradley." I catch up to him but he won't look in my direction. 

"What the fuck? What did I do?" He stops walking and turns towards me. I'm taken aback by the anger on his face. "Like you don't know. Did you know who I was and sleep with me just to catch me off guard today?" He lets out a bitter laugh. "I can always count on the fucking Mitchells to try and ruin my naval career." He goes to start walking again but I grab his arm to stop him. 

"What the hell are you talking about?" He grabs my hips and slams me against a car, still being careful not to hurt me. "You know damn well what I'm talking about. It wasn't enough for your daddy to pull my papers to the naval academy. He just had to send you to fuck with me too." He says the whole thing with a sarcastic smile. My dad pulled his papers? That must be wrong.

"My dad did what?" Shock is evident in my tone but he doesn't pay attention to it. "Don't play dumb. I'm sure Mav couldn't wait to run home and tell his little girl."

Now I'm angry. Shoving him off me I point a finger in his face. "Whatever your issue is with my dad, don't blame it on me." He scoffs and looks away. "Like father like daughter, can never take responsibility." he mutters. 

Slap

My eyes widen as I realize that I hit him, but I'm too angry to care. He holds his hand up to his cheek as he looks down on me with shock in his eyes. "Don't you dare compare me to that asshole," I say in a low voice. 

His eyebrows furrow in confusion as to why I would refer to my father like that. "And loose my number Rooster."Before he can say anything I storm away towards my car. Regina is already in the passenger seat so I sit down and pull out of the parking lot. 

My hands are gripping the steering wheel so tight my knuckles are turning white. "Do you want to talk about-" "No" I cut her off. 

We remain in silence for the rest of the ride.