This week with Arlene and Jeff:
...Shortly after Ship arrived back on Earth, Arlene and Ann, in full uniform, walked into Arlene's office. As Arlene slid into a seat that was far too prestigious - in her opinion. Ann sat on the corner of the desk, partially turning to face her boss/sister-wife.
Against Arlene's objections, Ship had insisted that she have a desk "befitting her position" as Wing Commander.
Shortly after Arlene had taken over as the Interceptor Wing Commander, the General had sent her the paper backup files as well as a digital copy of the aviators' files, saying that holding a hard copy of the file in his hand seemed to give him a better concept of the person the file represented, and thought it might work for her, too. She wasn't sure whether he was messing with her or not. Although she constantly used a computer, after a time, she had found herself reading a hard copy more often than she ever thought she would. The files contained every assignment the airmen had participated in during their careers as aviators for the General, along with much of the radio traffic between the units during practice and combat.
Arlene had, at first, thought the files would only cover training missions, but there were a number of secret missions the aviators had flown here on Earth. So far, other than drones, there had been no flight missions off-planet for various reasons - one being the size of Earth's fighter jets that were far too big to fit through the portal. Some of the teams had reported encountering space-capable fighter craft piloted by an aggressive race. The race seemed to be after some of the things the General hoped to obtain. It usually meant the research teams would have to hurry back through the portal. Pulse rifles would take down the fighters, but they could stand off well beyond the horizon and fire guided missiles. It would be suicide even for the assault teams to try and take out the space fighters.
She remembered that Jeff had mentioned that the General wanted a squadron of interceptors for off-world work, but so far, Ship had refused to provide the interceptors and also insisted that the thirteen she had built would remain with her as her own defense as well as that of Earth's. Even if Ship should approve, the physical size restrictions prevented an interceptor from being sent with the research teams...
Have a goodun;
Roust