Point of Impact by Point of Impact (retail) (epub)

Author:Point of Impact (retail) (epub)
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781788637503
Publisher: Canelo Digital Publishing Ltd
Published: 2020-05-04T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

Back at Finnington, Drew emerged from the briefing room and hurried down to the crew room. ‘Anyone seen Michelle?’ he asked.

‘Yeah, you’ve missed her,’ Jumbo said, as he smeared peanut butter on a pile of cold toast. ‘She was looking for you a while ago, but she’s airborne now. They were taking off as we came out of the briefing.’

‘On a sortie?’

‘No, recalled to base.’

Chapter Eleven

Drew and Nick were in the first formation of Tempests to touch down at the enormous base at Gióia del Colle. Like the seasoned veterans they were, they made an immediate dash for the accommodation block and claimed two of the better rooms for themselves. Then they drove out of the domestic site on to the perimeter track leading to the operations area.

They passed a number of open doors as they walked down the corridor to the crew room. The detachment commander, a group captain, was already at his desk, wrestling with the problems involved in shoehorning the Tempest and Jaguar personnel into a space barely big enough for a single squadron.

Across the corridor was the Ops room. ‘Nice to see the mud-movers hard at work,’ Nick said, nodding to the Jaguar pilots already planning missions at their operations desk, surrounded by racks stuffed with Ordnance Survey maps.

The Tempest crews had a separate area, presided over by the authoriser, who was flanked by a battery of status boards and secure radios to talk to the aircraft, Combat Operations Centre and Air Traffic Control. An engineer stood ready to report on the availability of the aircraft and a Met man was busy fumbling with his charts.

The crew room was at the far end of the corridor. Drew nodded to DJ, Ali and the others, then stood contemplating the bare concrete floors, second-hand equipment and decrepit furniture.

He gestured towards the geriatric kettle and chipped mugs on the table. ‘The Americans bring everything from coke machines and jukeboxes to a fully fledged Dunkin Donuts franchise. What do we bring? A small jar of Nescafé and a packet of digestive biscuits.’

‘We can’t afford to get too comfortable,’ Nick said. ‘We’re on dawn patrol tomorrow.’

The room fell silent, each man lost in his thoughts. Combat was what they trained for, but it was also what got them killed.

As Drew settled down in a corner with a paper, DJ came over to him. He took a look around, making sure the others were preoccupied with their own conversations. ‘Drew, can I have a word?’

Drew saw the strain in DJ’s face. He put down his paper.

‘You’ll think I’m stupid, but…’ DJ began.

‘Try me.’

DJ gave him a grateful look. ‘I’m scared I’ve lost it. Every time I go up there I’m thinking about what happened on the way to Aalborg. I still don’t know if it was me or the aircraft, but I’m scared it’s going to happen again. If I lost it in training, how will I keep it together in combat?’

Drew paused, searching for the right words. ‘We’re all scared, DJ.

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