Skin and Bones

1: No More Exceptions

June 2014

"Nnononno! No no no NO!"

As my nose dives over the edge of the USS Ronald Regan, I skim the belly of my metal dragon and feel its shiver as it screams. I shove the engines and pull up, straining with everything I have to thrust myself further into the sky. I let out a frustrated yell as my plane shutters and almost cuts out as I make the sudden change.

"Dupont! You alright out there?!"

I feel beads of sweat forming on my face. I normally don't sweat this bad, but I guess under the circumstances I can give myself an exception. I grab my mask and shove it up to my mouth.

"Someone want to reinstitute nine cables instead of three?" I bark.

"Dupont, I know landing isn't your strong suit, but come on." My Admiral in command, Solomon Bates A.K.A. Warlock, sounds agitated. "You're better than this."

"I know, I know." I roll my eyes and let they sky take me in its sea of cloud. As I circle back and make my way towards the landing strip, my voice shakes. Another not-so-normal thing, but I'll make an exception all the same. "Just...let me give it another go, yeah?"

"Kind of have to. No one's going to land that plane for you." He mumbles.

I'm close. I'm so close to graduating Top Gun. Just a few more weeks. My fingers tingle with excitement as I think of all I'll do when I finish. I dream of making it to the peak of the Navy Mountain. Who knows? I could be an instructor. I could test new planes. I smirk when I get the chance to glimpse the look on Henry's face when I tell him I picked the better, cooler branch of the military. He's going to be so...

I slowly become aware of the warnings beeping in my ears. I blink and find reds and yellows flashing on my console and my hands fumble around pointing at gauges to make sure my eyes are seeing clearly. That can't be right. I think. There has to be some mistake. Yeah, no. The gauges are right. The warnings are correct. The beeping sounds in my ears are...what's another word for annoyingly void of error?

I feel my heart race as I grit my teeth, trying to bring it down to a normal pace. "Admiral? Wanna help me figure out what's going on here? Got some birds chirping in my ears."

It's silent on the other line as I eye the strip again. I run my lip through my teeth and grip the centre stick as I guide my plane down. The LSO guides me as I come level with the carrier. As I near the cables, I see something come up in the corner of my eye. The ship tilts with the waves as my tailhook misses two cables. It snags the third, but...

I'm not stopping.

"Admiral!" I cough into the comms as my plane jolts for a split second causing the seat belts to grab me. I catch the torn end of the cable coming towards my canopy and I jerk up my arms to hide my face as it whips my cover and cracks the barrier. My plane starts turning with my hand off the centre stick. I'm heading for the Tower. I grab the controls and scream through my teeth, dragging the plane to the right.

"Tesha! The plane!!!"

I shoot my eyes forward at Bates' cry and notice my wing is about to rend into another jet. I miss it by probably a foot. Stomping my feet down on the floor, I haul my plane into the take-off runway and jab the thrust. My metal dragon roars as it sputters its way back into the sky.

"Tesha..."

I'm trying to focus really hard on what absolutely did not just happen.

"Tesha, are you okay up there?"

It's really hard to focus on things with someone screaming at you. Then some shuffling happens.

"Tesh! How's my girl?"