Home of Her Heart (Hearts of the War Book 2) by Shanna Hatfield

Author:Shanna Hatfield [Hatfield, Shanna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-08-09T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Klayne took a deep breath of salty air as he walked around the wooden flight deck of the carrier. He’d heard some of the sailors joke about the warship resembling a bathtub with a barn door on top, from the appearance the flight deck gave the boat.

The wind battered the rigging on the carrier island while waves slapped against the ship. Adding to the symphony of the sea were the bass notes of the warship pounding across the water with unrelenting determination.

He glanced up at the ship’s stack where someone had painted “Remember Pearl Harbor” in big block letters.

Pearl Harbor was a horrific event he’d never forget. Even if he wasn’t stationed there, he knew men who were. Men who’d gone to a watery grave when they were trapped inside one of the sinking ships. No red-blooded American would ever fail to remember that day.

After all the weeks of wondering and speculating where the mission he’d volunteered for would take him, now Klayne knew. When the colonel finally announced their destination, Klayne wasn’t surprised they were headed right to the heart of the enemy. He and seventy-nine other men would fly to Tokyo, and other cities in the area, drop two thousand pounds of bombs from each plane, then do their best to keep from getting shot. If they survived, they were to fly to China and land on friendly airfields, refuel, then be on their way. They’d spent hours studying maps and charts, plotting routes, gauging instruments, attending lectures, and mentally preparing for the task before them.

The day of their planned take off quickly approached and Klayne wondered what he’d gotten himself into. Part of him felt a driving, almost primitive need to wreak as much devastation on Japan as they’d done to Pearl Harbor. The more rational part of him questioned if he’d make it out alive. He’d first volunteered to go because he didn’t have anyone who cared if he lived or died. But now… now he had Delaney. Even Bob had become a close friend, one who would mourn Klayne’s passing if something should happen to him. Klayne also knew the colonel leading the raid cared about each one of the men on the crews.

Klayne watched as a fleet oiler came alongside the carrier, topping off the tanks with more than two hundred thousand gallons of fuel. In addition to the carrier on which he rode, cruisers, destroyers, another carrier, and loaded fleet oilers accompanied them.

He’d marveled at the warship carrying the planes that was similar to a floating city. From the moment he’d boarded, he’d been treated well and lived better than he had most of his life.

A desalination plant on the ship made ocean water drinkable and provided fresh water for showers, galleys, and the boilers. Freezers, refrigerators, and pantries held an assortment of food. Many of the men in his group had gained weight, feasting three times a day on meals that included steak, chicken, fresh eggs, and green vegetables. A so-called mechanical cow churned dehydrated milk into ice cream, a treat Klayne certainly enjoyed.

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