Black Widow by E. Duke Vincent

Author:E. Duke Vincent
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
ISBN: 9781596919280
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2019-12-18T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

THE SQUADRON ASSEMBLED in the ready room at 0700 on Monday morning—except for Kenny Willis, our LSO, who was already aboard Saratoga waiting to wave us in. Everyone was milling around and chatting excitedly when I arrived with Doug. We found Zaz waiting for us—but no Whitey—and Concannon was about to begin the briefing any minute.

I looked around and asked Zaz, "Where's Whitey?"

"Coming," he answered somewhat sheepishly.

"Coming! From where? He's late!"

"Umm, I think he's in the head."

I suddenly became concerned. "Is he okay?"

"I think so."

"You think? What's wrong?"

"Well, last night I took him out for Mexican food and I don't think the burritos and salsa agreed with him."

"Christ!" I mumbled, and shot out of the room.

I found Whitey in the head over a bowl chucking his guts out. "Whitey," I yelled. "Are you gonna be okay?"

He got up and wiped his mouth with a paper towel. "Yeah. Yeah, I think I'm gonna be okay, Vin. Must've been the salsa . . . never happened before."

He was the saddest, most apologetic-looking Nebraska farm boy on the map. His unruly red hair was plastered to his forehead and his eyes were wet and downcast—his entire six-foot frame slouched in embarrassment.

My heart went out to him. I'd seen it before. Nerves. Pure and simple. I said, "You've never been about to land a swept-wing jet on a carrier before."

"Yeah," he said miserably, "I didn't get much sleep last night."

I clapped him on the arm. "Of course you didn't! It's normal!"

He looked up. "It is?"

"Are you kidding? It happens all the time! The anticipation—the excitement—the worry that you'll fuck up! It's completely normal!"

He began to brighten. "Gee, Vin, I didn't know, I—"

"Of course you didn't know! You've never done it before. It happens a lot! It happened to me!"

A lie, but who gave a shit.

He brightened a bit more. "Really?"

"Absolutely! And to Doug! It happened to him!"

Another lie, but who was counting?

"Wow." A smile formed on his face. Then it dropped. "How come it didn't happen to Zaz?"

"He's Mexican!" I said as if that made all the sense in the world.

"Oh." He nodded in agreement.

"Now, wash your face and get your ass into the ready room. We're about to slam 'go-fast, belch-fires' onto moving runways!"

A minute later I walked in with a smiling Whitey. Everyone was seated and Concannon greeted us coolly. "Glad you could join us, gentlemen. With your permission I'll begin the briefing."

"Yessir," I mumbled as we hung our heads and sat.

Concannon announced that the first flight of eight planes would launch at 0745 and that Saratoga was steaming in our normal operating area off the Florida/Georgia coast. Unlike a week earlier when forty-foot seas turned the ocean into a naval nightmare, the water was flat as a pool table, the skies were clear, and a fresh wind was blowing.

The exercise was still only scheduled for a week because of the break in Saratoga's schedule, and we wouldn't remain on the ship. Instead, every pilot in the air group would make eight carrier landings and receive eight catapult launches.

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