Rush to Glory by Robert L Hecker

Author:Robert L Hecker [Hecker, Robert L]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781620062678
Publisher: Milford House Press
Published: 2020-06-02T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

The “Mongrel House’s” four officers got back to the base in time for evening mess. Some of the crewmen who had just returned from the day’s mission were already eating, and their raucous comments about the mission imparted a devil-may-care atmosphere. But the shrillness of some voices and the trembling hands gave a lie to the illusion.

O’Reilly’s crew looked out of place in their dress greens and pinks as they walked down the center aisle, but as usual, O’Reilly and Fox were greeted by shouts and slaps on the back and ribald questions about nightlife in London. Everybody knew them, even the men from the other squadrons, and they acknowledged the tributes with majestic waves.

They worked their way through the mess line and found places at the table with Luke and a few men from other crews.

“How were things in London?” Luke asked O’Reilly with a sly grin. “Did you see more than the ceiling of a hotel room?”

“You misjudge me, fearless leader, sir,” O’Reilly said. “I was very intellectual on this particular excursion.”

“That means the girl he went to bed with had an IQ of a hundred,” Luke said, and everyone at the table laughed.

“Nope,” O’Reilly answered, shaking his head. “Any girl that smart won’t have anything to do with horny Americans. So, I had to find two girls with IQ’s of fifty.”

When the laughter died, O’Reilly continued, “Fox didn’t have much luck, though. He could only find one with an IQ of ten.” He paused to glance around at the anticipating faces, then added, “So he made her ten times.”

“That’s bullshit,” Fox countered. “She only had an IQ of one. Boy, am I tired!”

Luke turned to Hal. “How about it, kid? How did you make out?”

His brother’s question was innocent, and only Hal detected the imperceptible sarcasm in Luke’s voice. Luke had never understood Hal’s views toward life in general and women in particular. Luke had his ideas about why women were put on this earth, and he was suspicious of anyone who did not share his wisdom. Hal knew he could easily bring a leer to Luke’s face by simply telling him that he had spent his time in London with a beautiful redhead. Luke would laugh with delight when he found out it was Colonel Sutton’s girlfriend.

Except that Hal didn’t want to tell Luke about Betty. He could imagine Luke’s ribald remarks as well as the snide comments from Fox and the others. So, he grinned ruefully and shook his head. “Not so good,” he said. “I just took in the sights.”

Luke was smiling, but there was little humor in his voice as he asked, “What’s the matter? You didn’t like the commandos?”

Hal smiled. “I prefer being attacked by something I can whip.”

“He’s right,” Cossel cut in. “If they had those witches on the front line, the war’d be over.”

“Yeah,” Fox agreed with a laugh. “It might take ’em longer, but they’d kill ’em.”

O’Reilly had been studying Hal and Luke as though sensing the undercurrent behind their oblique exchange.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.