David said, “How are you adjusting?”
Both of her brothers were watching her closely. She said, “I’m not going to lie. It sucked. But a lot of things have sucked about the past year.”
Chase looked at David. “Any predictions on the next year?”
David reddened. He was always the Boy Scout. The one not wanting to break any rules. Victoria understood that he had fallen into this incredibly important role, an assignment that allowed him to see some of the nation’s most vital secrets. David wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize their country’s success.
She punched Chase on the shoulder. “Leave him alone.”
Chase rubbed his shoulder, feigning severe injury. Victoria rolled her eyes.
David said, “Everyone’s working hard on different projects. It’s… complex. That’s all I can really say right now.”
Victoria looked at David with sympathy in her eyes. “You seem frustrated.”
Chase picked up a small rock and chucked it into the water. “He is.”
Victoria said, “Is it about the scientist? Rojas? That was the reason they took us here, right? The scientist in my camp was important.”
David cleared his throat, then shook his head. “We can’t talk about that.”
“Sorry,” said Victoria.
David waved it off. “No, it’s fine. Just, you know. OPSEC and all…”
Chase wiped ketchup from his mouth. “Loose lips…” Then he seemed to realize that Victoria had actually been on a sinking ship…and went silent. Both brothers took the opportunity to take a few extra bites of their meal. Nothing but the sound of chewing.
David said, “So you’re going to Jax?”
Victoria nodded. “Yup. Flight doc wanted to make me med down, but I talked to the admiral and greased the skids there. I’ll be joining up with a reserve unit, if you can believe it. They’re stashing all of the helo pilots they don’t know what else to do with in that squadron, then deploying us on whatever still floats.”
Chase said, “I heard they took some ships out of mothballs in Philadelphia and refitted them.”
Victoria said, “You heard right.”
“Is that really faster than making new ones? Doesn’t seem like the right way to go about it.”
Victoria did an impression of their father’s voice. “Son, there’s the right way, the wrong way, and the Navy way.”
The brothers chuckled.
“I miss the old man.”
They all went silent again. This time not even the sound of chewing.
Chase said, “So are you in charge of the squadron, then?”
Victoria said, “No, actually, I’ll be thrown in the wardroom with about fifty other pilots. Most of them are reservists, but a few active-duty types like me. My XO took command of my former squadron once I was captured. And apparently going back there wasn’t an option. So, I get to just fly…which, aside from the threat of death, should be pretty nice.”
Chase nodded approval.
David looked more worried. “Please make sure you are careful.”
“I know, David.” She turned to Chase. “Is that what’s bothering you? You know what’s coming and it scares you?”
David said, “No one knows what’s coming. And we’re all scared.”
“So what are you worried about?”
David said, “I work on puzzles and chess games all day. Trying to think three moves ahead of my opponents.”
“And?” Victoria said.
David finally relented. “Our opponents have too many pieces. And we can’t use all of ours. We can’t even use all of our moves, and some of them I don’t want us to use…”
Victoria said, “What did Dad used to say, when he was teaching us chess as kids?”
Chase grimaced. “He told me that I should take up lacrosse.”
The siblings laughed.
Victoria said, “Sometimes your best move is to let your opponent defeat themselves. Any way you can do that?”
David nodded. “We’re working on it.”
“You’ll get there. Keep studying the board.”
David looked at his watch. “Oh crap. I’ve gotta run.”
“Already?”
They rose and David hugged his sister goodbye. “You guys all right getting out of here?”
Chase nodded. “I know where we’re going.”
Then it was just her and Chase.
“Is David always like that now?”
Chase nodded. “He has become a spook. Or a boss. Or a spook boss. I don’t even know how to describe it. But it’s really annoying. He’s privy to all of the information that nobody else is. And he’s always stressed and everything, just like we all are, but…”
“But what?”
“But he’s not. China is on the verge of breaking through our lines in Central America, of taking over Hawaii. They’ve got a giant fleet headed to fight us, and David is pulling the strings for General Schwartz, and he’s just…”
“What?”
“It’s like he’s okay with losing.”
Victoria cocked her head, giving her brother the most disapproving look she could muster.
“Well you see him all the time now, right?”
“Once per week I fly here and get a half-day brief, then fly back to my new unit.” Chase lowered his voice. “They’ve got us doing some crazy training, but we don’t even know what we’re going to be doing. It’s freaking SEAL Team Six, and they still don’t tell us anything about this mission. It’s like they’ve got us prepping for every different scenario.”
“Well what does David say when you raise your concerns about where the war is headed?”
“He says he can’t talk about it. Just like he did with you now. The one time I got him to say a little more, he said something to the effect of ‘we’re choosing our battles.’”
Victoria punched him on the shoulder. “Don’t be an idiot. David’s one of the smartest people I know. And he doesn’t give up. If he’s doing it this way, there’s a reason. So, buck up and have faith.”
David returned to the Silversmith building and found Susan waiting in his office.
“We just got a cable from Beijing. Guess who contacted Tetsuo? Lena.”
David walked over to his chair and sat, rubbing his chin and looking at the floor while his mind spun into gear. “It’s not a counter-intelligence op?”
Susan shook her head. “No. Tetsuo is too high of a risk for that. They would have taken him in for interrogation and tortured him until they found out who else he was running over there.”
She was right. David said, “Did she offer us anything?”
“She just asked for CovCom gear.”
“What do you think did it?”
Susan said, “You’ve heard about this bioweapon thing?”
“Yes, of course.”
“I think she’s spooked about her kid again. She felt it was safe before. But not now. Her father has given her new motivation.”
“We need to figure out a way to work this into our existing plans.”
“Already working on it.”
Victoria’s initiation into the HSM-60 Jaguars wardroom took place in a darkened pub near Jacksonville Beach. Over fifty pilots, all wearing their flight suits, filled just about every seat in the place. Two female bartenders were busy filling pitchers nonstop.
The walls were lined with aviation relics. Squadron patches and propellers. The door of an old helicopter. An inflatable female doll of questionable proportions hung from the ceiling.
Victoria could see this from a window just outside the bar. She stood there with six other “newbie” pilots, Plug included. While a commander and a lieutenant commander with thousands of flight hours between them were hardly new aviators, they were new to the squadron and thus being initiated accordingly.