The Razgriz Aces [Book 2]

First Flight

"If you do not experience anything, it's impossible to gain knowledge."
~Chinese Proverb

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Genette

Hamilton was short and to the point about what happened to Bartlett. When the rescue chopper arrived, the Captain was nowhere to be seen. The only thing they found was the retreating enemy intelligence vessel. 

The news dealt a blow to everyone because Bartlett had been the last senior member on base after Baker and Svenson were lost. Blaze, Chopper, and Nagase took the news particularly hard, though. They'd been his wingmen, his backup. I believed they thought his disappearance was somehow their fault, that they could've done something to prevent it. Bartlett wouldn't have let them take the missile for him, but I decided now wasn't the time to convince them of that. The situation was too fresh in their minds.

As Chopper and I walked to his room, and my mind wandered to what the base had become. This island used to be a place of exile from the rest of the world; it then became our first line of defense against the enemy. The truth of us being at war still hadn't fully settled in yet. I couldn't wrap my head around it even though I'd been in two battles for it already and witnessed the third one over the radio. 

Reaching his room, I turned on a lamp while Chopper switched on the stereo, hooking up his iPod. Blurry started playing, a new hit song that'd recently come out. Kirk, Pops' black labrador, nudged Chopper's hand, and my friend gently patted the dog on the head. Kirk had followed us when we came across Pops on the way to my room. I think the dog could sense our silent distress. 

I sat on the edge of his unused bottom bunk and asked, "So, who will be the flight lead tomorrow?"

"Who'll be the flight lead tomorrow?" Chopper repeated, collapsing onto the couch. Kirk lay down at his feet. "I wouldn't waste my energy worrying about that if I were you. We're an auxiliary squadron, you know, so his highness the Lieutenant Colonel will just come down from the mainland and take over, that's all." 

Chopper leaned his head back, declaring, "Whew! I love this sound! Calms me down. I'm gonna sleep well tonight!"

I found myself tapping my foot along with the beat as well. I wanted to talk more about the future of the squadron because, to be honest, I wanted to know if my sister had a shot at becoming captain full time. She'd already proven herself in the last three missions, especially the most recent one. I might be biased about the situation, and I'm not an expert on aerial flights and maneuvers, but I also wasn't blind. I could see how amazing my sister was at her job. However, knowing my best friend wasn't interested in the topic, I moved on. I could always bring it up another time. Instead, I chose another topic of interest for me. "I heard that the one who broke the Captain's heart fifteen years ago was a recon major in the Yuke Army."

"Yeah, I did my history homework. We were allies back then. Man, the Base Commander sure wasn't being subtle 'bout making accusations," he replied. Chopper cleared his throat, and, with a sly smile, mimicked the Base Commander's nasally voice, "'Was there anything suspicious about the Captain's behavior?' he says." Switching to his normal drawl, Chopper said, "Hell, I'm more suspicious 'bout the screw in his damn head!"