Chapter 424

Ship’s Space Academy

When all the teams had cycled through, they were given a break, not just at the academy, but in real time, too. Jeff didn’t want any personal interaction between the pilots and his wives just now, so he had Ship bring the women out of the simulation a few minutes early.

“Let’s go back to the Retreat and get a snack while the pilots relax for a bit,” he told Kayla, Arlene and Ann. “When we come back, I’ll speak to them for a couple of minutes before we go back to the academy.”

The four sat at the smaller of the kitchen tables, Jeff with his ever-present coffee, the girls with soft drinks, all eating freshly baked cake still warm from the oven, the cake thick with chocolate icing.

“So what do you think?” the Prime asked, directing his question to his two young wives. “Do we have a chance with this group?”

Ann and Arlene looked at each other before Ann spoke. “The three helicopter teams seem to be catching on much quicker than the fighter pilots.” Ann took another bite of cake, then a sip of her drink before continuing. “A couple of the fighter teams just can’t seem to shake their old reflexes – at least not completely. I guess that flying a fighter must be ingrained to the core in them. They still have a tendency to make high-speed turns, instead of just jumping in the direction they need to go. Oh, they’re better than they were, but when stressed under battle conditions, they still sometimes begin a turn before they realize they don’t have to do that anymore.”

“By then, Ann has them in her sights and it’s all over,” Kayla said with a chuckle.

Ann grinned back and winked at her sister-wife.

“And the helicopter crews?” the Prime asked.

“I suppose they’re more accustomed to abrupt changes of direction while flying. Even with a helicopter, there is still momentum, though, no matter what you do at the controls, but they’re not locked into high-speeds and slow turns – comparatively speaking – like the jet pilots seem to be. Whatever the reason, the helicopter crews seem to be acclimating to the inertialess drive better.”

Jeff grinned at Ann and Arlene. “That’s the reason I wanted the helicopter crews in this. I thought they might do well. But you two still destroyed them. Two teenage girls cleaning their clocks has to be hard on their egos.”

Arlene responded with, “But it took longer and I had to dig into our bag of tricks a time or two with the helicopter people, and I never did with the fighter pilots.”

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Arlene asked, “Are you still going to fly against them this afternoon in a one-man interceptor? I don’t like that, Daddy.”

“I’ve offered to be his gunner,” Kayla said, but Jeff just shifted his gaze and grinned at her.

“I’m flying single, but I’m doing it in a crew interceptor just like everyone else is using.”

“But that’s even worse,” Arlene objected. “At least the one-man ship is set up for one person to be able to operate everything. Sure, you’re limited to forward guns, but...”

“Who says I can’t operate the gun position while flying the two-man, hmmm?” he returned, a grin again cracking his face.

“Baby, that’s impossible...” Kayla started, but suddenly stopped mid-sentence when her mind kicked into gear. “Oh, Jeff, you wouldn’t...” she said as she fought back a giggle. “That’s just plain mean. Those oh-so-arrogant jet jockeys are gonna be pissed.”

It took Arlene and Ann a second before they two began to smile, then laugh outright.

After rinsing their dishes and putting them in a washer, they started back to Ship. Kayla took Jeff’s arm and while walking down the hallway, slowed his pace for a moment. “Baby, are you sure you can do this?” she quietly asked. “I mean, I wouldn’t want those guys to wind up winning, and there’s a real reason for the gunner position...”

The Prime stopped to kiss her forehead. “I can,” he responded, simply.

A worried Kayla hugged him before the two hurried to catch up with Arlene and Ann.

They found the pilots in Ship’s lounge, the room suddenly becoming quiet as Jeff and his women walked in. Kayla, Ann and Arlene chose a table while Jeff stopped at the bar. After getting a cup of coffee, he turned to his audience to give the aviators a short pep talk, then got down to the main subject at hand. “As it stands now, we have ten, two-person interceptors ready to go. Ship is continuing production, but keep in mind, she is not a manufacturing facility for interceptors; she’s mainly a battleship. We also have several one-person interceptors, but I have ruled out their use against the aliens because of the multiple crews and multiple weapons of the Paladins.”

As the crews looked around at each other, Jeff went on. “That’s correct; there are ten crews in this room, plus two of my wives who will be assigned an interceptor as will Bill and Kathy. I think that all of you will agree that their flying is up to par,” he said sarcastically to the accompaniment of groans from his audience.

“Uh, Colonel,” one of the aviators said, “are you saying that two crews are going to be eliminated?”

But Jeff went on, “Possibly Ship will have an interceptor for everyone, if... there is enough time before the aliens reach Earth. My people have been observing them, but the last crew I sent out hasn’t reported in – and they’re slightly overdue – although I didn’t set an absolute time for them to return.

“Hopefully, they’re fine, and I’ve sent another team to check on them and the aliens. Maybe we’ll know something by tomorrow.”

Jeff paused for a couple of seconds as he looked about the room. “Unfortunately, you’re right,” he said as he nodded to the aviator who had spoken. “But ... whether the other two interceptors are ready in time or not, I will wash out any of you that I feel do not meet the minimum requirements. If you can’t go head to head with Arlene and Ann and do reasonably well, then I won’t send you against the aliens just to be killed.”

Then to give them hope, “You have improved after the last months of work academy time, but there is still room – a lot of room – for improvement.” His frustration mounting, he nodded to Arlene and Ann. “My wives are just sixteen. You people have years of experience, yet they destroyed you in minutes without anyone in this room scoring a serious hit on their interceptor. Come on, people. Improvise, adapt and overcome. And yeah, that’s not the sequence that many of you were taught, but it sounds better that way to me. And ... just so you know, my young wives haven’t been giving their all, either. They wanted to give you hope, so they held back rather than destroy your egos. When you next go against them, they’re going to push you a lot harder – my orders. If you want to fight the aliens, then put on that A game I advised in the beginning.”

“Uh, Colonel, the instructor told us that you might...”

“I’ve just decided to fly against you as soon as we get back to the academy. And before you ask, I’ll be alone, but in a two-person interceptor.”

“But ... Colonel,” one of the female pilots hesitantly said, “that would leave you with just forward guns...”

“All my weapons will be functional,” he overrode her to say. “So if you’re thinking about cutting your Colonel some slack, think seriously again. I’ll be coming hard after you. It’s time for all of you to get with the program and become a team, both the two-person kind while in your interceptor and eventually including the whole group as a team. You will start training with a wingman after today – the ones of you that make the cut, that is.”

After a few questions, Jeff stood staring from one to the other for a few seconds, then, “Don’t even think about doing anything other than going after me with all you have. I’ll eat your lunch if you slack even for a second. I want to see who has it and who doesn’t. And remember, it hurts like hell when your simulation interceptor blows. Avoid the pain and take me out – if you can.”

Jeff turned and walked out the door, his wives following. Across the room, his face flushed with anger, Worthington whispered to Camp, “We’re gonna make that arrogant son of a bitch eat those words.”

Neither of the two had the foggiest idea that Jeff could hear them.

As they stepped into the corridor, Kayla grabbed her husband’s arm. “What’s that grin on your face for?”

“Oh, it’s nice to see a plan starting to work so well.”

“Oh,” Kayla returned, not quite sure what he meant.

As they walked on, he spoke to Ship mentally. “Please put Worthington and Camp first on the roster.”

“I had anticipated that and already have them first, Ship responded in his mind.”

Back at the academy a few minutes later, Camp sealed the hatch of the simulator behind him as Worthington sat at the controls and brought up the roster.

“What the fuck? Did you volunteer us to be first again?”

Camp hurried to the gunner’s position so he could check. “Shit. I didn’t volunteer for anything.”

But before their conversation could continue, the instructor’s voice came over their system. “Worthington and Camp, you’re first up. Check out your ship and be ready in ten,” he said/bellowed.

“What the fuck?” Worthington snarled, but Camp wasn’t in the mood.

“Shut the fuck up. You heard the Colonel. We either do this are we’re out on our asses. I, for one, don’t want to go back with my tail tucked between my legs. I strongly suggest you go over what you’re going to do while we go through the checklist. We need a fucking plan that extends past the next second, or he’s going to eat our lunch.”

“No fucking way can he...”

But Camp interrupted again. “He can and he fucking will.“

“How the hell do you know that?” Worthington groused.

Camp snarled back. “Ever hear of his losing against anyone in anything? The fucker is faster than any human being has a right to be, and he’s going to be coming after us. Start fucking planning or we’re going to be dead ten seconds out of the carrier. The instructor keeps talking about reflexes, and we’ve practiced instant turns forever. It’s time we got good at it. Get your mind to thinking random turns while I try to help you figure out where he’s going to be next. We need to be proactive. We need to go after him while keeping our jumps random. You either fucking do it or we’re gonna be cut.”

“But he’s going to be in a two-man interceptor. There’s just no way to...”

Camp interrupted yet again, his voice louder. “He thinks he can, and by damn, if he believes it, so do I.”

“Shit!” Worthington snarled, but what Camp said about going back with their tails between their legs really worried him. Frantically, he set about planning his strategy.