NEPTUNE - Tom Kazanzky

mach 1

The sun is beginning to set in the Indian Ocean. Wind howls loudly . Rain drives horizontal.  The sea surges up, nearly to the flight deck of the Aircraft Carrier USS Kitty Hawk. The carrier plunges, driving its bow into a wall of grey water. the deck pitches forward and back, rolls left to right, and yaws in a corkscrew motion. the entire 93,000 ton behemoth rises and falls in the typhoon-driven swell.

A roar. Sliver wings flash by, a cockpit, fiery jet exhausts. A forty ton monster drops at 120 knots into an area the size of a tennis court in a controlled crash.

A shower of sparks, a screech of rubber and metal as the gear hits the deck. the hook catches the 3 wire and the F-14 TOMCAT is slammed to a halt. it's the scariest thing you've ever seen, the most dangerous manoeuvre in aviation and just another day at the office for a Naval Aviator.

On the flight deck, the LSO leans almost horizontal tinot the winds. He holds the pickle, controlling the landing lights and speaks into a mic.

"Power, power...Don't climb...Okay, hold what you got"

His clam, professional commands belie the extreme conditions.

Another TOMCAT flies over the ramp. It slams in. The pilot hits full power, catches the wire, slams to a stop, cuts his engines.

^^^

Below deck, among all the scopes and electronic gear, the CCA officer watches a blip on radar and reaches for this mic key.

-Eliana's POV-

We float like gods, above the storm, above the cloud cover, looking down. From overhead, a probe slides into the frame, then a graceful nose, The cockpit sides by, Pilot, then RIO barely illuminated by the orange glow of their instruments. The fuselage gracefully swells to two enormous air intakes, then variable angle wings, swept back for high speed flight. Twin tail booms cant outward, horizontal stabilizers make constant adjustments. Enormous twin jet exhaust ports glows red in the moonlight.

We become aware of wind whistle, jet engine sounds, radio static. Me and my RIO Lt. Cameron "Sweep" Smith are complete opposites to our wingmen in the air. Pilot Lt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell and RIO Lt. Nick "Goose" Bradshaw. We have been friends since freshman year of high school. Pete and Nick are the most energetic people I know. Always getting into trouble and never failing to get me and Cameron to join in on there antics. Cameron and I are more conserved though. We knew hen to have fun but also knew when our job was more important. Always having to remind the other pair that although its all fun and games, we need to be serving our country when the time comes. 

But, when were not in the air, lets just say my cool, calm approach while flying completely disappears. I was the one always getting in trouble at school. Getting caught drinking and smoking during school, stealing from shops, I even got placed in a holding cell for hot wiring a car. Luckily my older brother, Matthew bailed me out before Dad found out. I always wonder how I ever graduated high school. I wasn't a bad student academically, heck I was actually smart. I was a straight A student, I mean if I wasn't always skipping school or being in detention, I would have probably been a candidate for valedictorian.

Three F-14 are up in the sky,  Sweep and I, Maverick and Goose and Cougar and Merlin.  A UHF transmission breaks in.

"Ghost Rider, this is Strike. We have an unknown contact inbound, Mustang. Your vector zero nine zero for bogey", spoke the radio transmission from the carrier.

"Talk to me, Goose", spoke Maverick flying at the front of there triangle formation. Neptune and Sweep on his right, Cougar and Merlin on his left.

Almost immediately after, Goose picks up the target and responds, "Contact 20 left at 25. 900 knots closure"