Cowboy Casanova

24

"Good morning," Warlock said, looking at all of us. He stood on the podium, my dad standing to the side. "The uranium enrichment plant that is your target will be operational earlier than expected." Nat and I looked at each other before looking back at Warlock. "Raw uranium will be delivered to the plant in ten days' time. As a result, your mission has been moved up by one week." I took a deep breath and everyone in the room squirmed in their seats a little. This wasn't what I was expecting when I saw both superiors in the room this morning. We have barely been able to do the speed runs through the canyon. How were we going to be ready to do this mission in one week's time?

"Sir, no one here has successfully flown a low-level course," Javy spoke up, saying what was on all of our minds.

"Nevertheless, you've been ordered to move on. Captain." Warlock called to dad.

"We have one week left to focus on phase two. It's the most difficult phase of the mission." Dad spoke quickly and precisely as he walked in front of us. "It's a pop-up strike with a steep dive, requiring nothing less than two consecutive miracles." He held up two fingers. He had mapped out this entire flight plan the minute he received the target information. "Two pairs of f/a-18s will fly in a welded wing formation. Teamwork. Precise coordination of these aircrafts is essential to both the mission's success and your survival." I looked over at Jake, who looked over at Bradley, before all of us looked back at dad. "As you know the plant rests between two mountains. On final approach, you'll invert directly into a steep dive. This allows you to maintain the lowest possible altitude and the only possible attack angle." I watched the screen closely as dad showed the flight plan. Their target only being a little under 3 meters wide was not exactly the best. It worried me, making me wonder who could really make this shot. The mission depended on it. I wanted to believe that I could do it, and maybe with more time I could, but I was starting to doubt my skills. "The two-seat aircraft will paint the target with a laser bulls-eye. The first pair will breach the reactor by dropping a laser-guided bomb on the exposed ventilation hatch. This will create an opening for the second pair," he explained, stepping in front of the screen again as he held up one finger. "That's miracle number one. The second team will deliver the kill shot and destroy the target." He held up two fingers. "That's miracle number two. If either team misses the target, the mission is a failure. Egress is a steep high-g climb out to avoid hitting this mountain."

"A steep climb at that speed? You're pulling at least eight Gs," Jake spoke up, making dad turn to him.

"Nine, minimum," he said with a slight attitude. I held my breath.

"The stress level of the f/a-18's airframe is 7.5." Bradley said next, causing dad to look over to him.

"That's the accepted limit. To survive this mission, you'll pull beyond that, even if it means bending your airframe." I leaned back in my chair, looking back at Bradley for a second. "You'll be pulling so hard you'll weigh close to two thousand pounds - your skull crushing your spine, your lungs imploding, like an elephant sitting on your chest - fighting with everything you have just to keep from blacking out," he explained. "And this is where you will be at your most vulnerable. This is coffin corner." Dad looked back at us, making sure we were all paying close attention. We needed to know this to survive and come home. "Assuming you avoid crashing into the mountain, you'll climb right up into enemy radar while losing all of your airspeed. Within seconds, you will be fired upon by enemy SAMs." The graphic on screen showed just how quickly it will happen. "You've all faced sustained Gs before but this... This is going to take you and your aircraft to the breaking point."

"Sir, is this even achievable?" Nat asked, her voice showing minor defeat.

"The answer to that question will come down to the pilot in the box," he said, looking over at Bradley quickly.