Raven One | страница 78

“No, only four months and three weeks.”

“Oh, great.”

Now that he knew the emotional storm had passed, Wilson desperately wanted to hear her laugh. “Did you say we’ll talk when I get back?”

“Yes.”

“First thing?”

“Well,” Mary coyly replied, “maybe not the first thing!”

They continued to talk about the kids and her holiday plans until Wilson noticed one of the marine pilots waiting to use the phone.

“I gotta go, baby. I know you support me out here, and it’s okay to blow off steam. I can take it.”

“I promise I won’t do that again, James. We’re fine here, surrounded by friends and family. Get another medal, will ya.”

“Medal of Honor this time?”

“If it will keep you home, yes.”

“Okay, I’ll work on it,” Wilson said, smiling.

“I love you very much.”

“I love you, too.”

“Bye, baby.”

“Bye.”

Wilson looked over at his wingman, Smoke, inside his Hornet in tension on Cat 1. Seconds prior to launch, Smoke’s head was back against the headrest, left arm locked against the throttles at full power. All around Smoke’s aircraft, Raven 410, the troubleshooters and catapult crewmen held thumbs up aloft to signify ready. The catapult officer, topside on this clear blue day, had returned Smoke’s salute seconds earlier and was in a crouch pointing toward the bow. The green-shirted crewman in the catwalk looked left and right, arms raised, and then dropped his arms and depressed the FIRE button on the console in front of him.

As the catapult fired, Wilson saw Smoke’s body compress, due to the sudden forward motion. It then seemed to bounce in the cockpit as the 44,000 pound aircraft was slung down the track by the shuttle attached to the nose gear. The aircraft accelerated from zero to 180 knots with an instantaneous 3 g-force that drove him further into his seat and caused the stabilators to deflect down to lift the aircraft up on the climb out. Wilson saw the burner cans stage open with yellow fire halfway down the track as Smoke selected afterburner. In a fraction of a second, the aircraft departed the ship, accompanied by a sharp Boom as the catapult shuttle crashed into the water brake at the end of the stroke. Two seconds from the first motion, Smoke’s bomb-laden