Chapter 2: A day in the life

Late November 2001

"You're early," Lorne commented when Piper came to find him half an hour before their next mission briefing was due to start. For this one he'd decided he and Piper would fly together, leaving his less experienced pilots on base to hopefully spend an uneventful night. The other two planes would still be held in readiness, just in case further close air support was called for while Lorne and Piper were away from the base.

"I know," Piper shrugged. "I thought we might as well start now - it's not like there's much else to do around here."

"True," Lorne agreed. Nodding towards the building where the pilot's briefing room was located he smiled. "Come on then ... since you're so keen."

Evan admitted to himself that he was actually looking forward to their mission as well. Al Udeid was far enough from the combat zone, and on the other side of the gulf, so they didn't see a lot of action. Forward Operating Base Rhino, known as Camp Rhino, on the other hand was right in the thick of it, located in the Registan Desert 100 nautical miles southwest of Kandahar. That was particularly important because Kandahar Airport was where the Taliban had taken refuge and still held a strong position.

"Once we land at Camp Rhino we'll refuel," Lorne began the briefing, "talk to our forward air controllers at the base and on the ground." The forward air controllers were the guys who went out with the soldiers right into the thick of the battle zone so they'd be on site, ready to call in air support when it was needed.

Calling up a map of the region around Kandahar Evan pointed to a spot about 50 miles away, at the base of mountain ranges that extended over a large portion of the country. "Our ground troops are holed up here ... they're not under attack right now but there are signs the Taliban are moving units to intercept them. We need to discourage that, hence tonight's show of force."

"Two F-16's flying low should get the message across," Piper agreed. "Don't mess with us."

"Let's hope so. From what I can gather this is leading up to us making a push to take Kandahar," Evan told her intently. "We do that, drive them away from their spiritual home, and it'll seriously weaken them, both internally and with the locals."

Continuing the briefing, Lorne covered the basics - where he and Piper needed to be, fuel management, weather, angle of approach and payload in case things got ugly. Every mission was a life and death undertaking, even though they might not actually be within sight of the enemy until those few moments when they dropped their planes inside the battle zone. Every eventuality had to be considered and planned for because they were a prime target for the Taliban's anti aircraft surface to air weapons. That's why they were doing the mission at night – it was too risky to fly out from Camp Rhino during the day. War wasn't a nine to five occupation in any case – often after dark was when things really kicked into action.

"Okay," Evan concluded the briefing, leading the way out to where they kept the logs.

Paperwork didn't disappear just because they were in a warzone. They still had to sign out their jets before each mission – still had to check the maintenance records, the software installed, note any limitations listed, and confirm that the weapons codes were right. Each plane had its own folder, filled with the pages that detailed its mission history. You couldn't get attached to any one jet because it could be replaced at a moments notice with another, but secretly Lorne did think each plane had a 'personality'. The one he was taking out that night was his preferred ride, for no real reason other than that it felt like they belonged, like he had a special affinity for it. He wasn't superstitious but if something gave you an edge, even if it was just a mental one, then you might as well go with it.

"Ready," Evan finished his checks and signed his name on the night's mission sheet before turning to see that Piper was almost done too.

"I'm good to go," she said, replacing her folder in its slot.

The planes were kept some distance from the pilots briefing room so they had to get transport to take them out there. Four wheel drive jeeps were the vehicles of choice for the base ... Lorne and Piper settled in the back for the drive down the dusty runway towards their planes. The journey took a while, more than long enough for you to reflect on what you were about to do. It was serious business sure, but Evan enjoyed it, enjoyed the chance to do what he'd trained for. That was the interesting thing all the new guys learned – that you could miss home while still looking forward to the kind of flying you got to do in the Middle East.

Snipers, roadside bombs and fanatical insurgents weren't the only threats they faced on the ground. There were others – scorpions, sunburn, and heat stroke – the elements themselves making everything just that little bit harder. It was hot in the front seat of an F-16 too – temperatures could get in excess of a hundred and twenty degrees Fahrenheit – and you had to sweat it out in a heavy flight suit and anti-G pants. Of course all of that was forgotten when you were hugging the ground at 300 feet - it was the journey back to base when you noticed those discomforts.

Once at the hangar, Evan and Piper both greeted their ground crews with familiarity – when you relied on the same team of people to keep you in the air you made sure you got to know them pretty well.

"Good luck almost Major Lorne," Piper said teasingly before they separated to move towards their individual F-16's.

"You too," Evan shook his head, not rising to her teasing. Ever since he'd made the mistake of admitting he'd finished the degree she'd known he'd started Piper had taken to calling him an 'almost' Major, telling him he just had to do something to distinguish himself and he was as good as promoted. He'd stopped correcting her and resorted to pointing out that unless she signed up for some study of her own she'd face the prospect of him outranking her for real, rather than just from experience.

Landing at Camp Rhino a couple of hours later Lorne and Piper left their planes to be refuelled while they checked in with the commanding officer keeping tabs on input from their forward air controllers, getting an update on the relative positions of all the players. It only took a few minutes, hardly enough time for them to get even an impression of Rhino, and then they were back up in the air again.

"Go to 20,000 feet," Lorne instructed, taking the lead position as Piper dropped her aircraft into formation beside him.

"20,000 feet," Piper confirmed.

"Wait for my mark and then descend to 5,000." They'd already discussed what they would do but Lorne still needed to give the order for each step. "We'll do the final drop below the flight deck when we're only a few miles out."

"Acknowledged."

Even in a full wing of planes, flying could be a lonely occupation if you let it. You had your radio but couldn't create unnecessary chatter by using it for anything other than essential communications until the mission was complete. It was just you and the sky and the mission ... and if you didn't think that was about as good as it got then you were in the wrong business.

"Drop to 5,000," Lorne said purposefully when they were close enough, adding moments later "and dive."

The planes soared through the sky, diving steeply until they pulled up sharply, levelling at around 300 feet above the ground. It was a heart in your throat, sitting on a knife's edge adrenalin rush – the ground flashing past below as you battled to ignore the feeling that any second the earth itself was going to reach up and grab you out of the sky.

The mission went flawlessly; their jets making the earth shake as they flew over the supplied coordinates.

"Pull up," Lorne ordered once they'd done a pass. "Let's give them another buzz – raise a little dust."

"I am totally for that," Piper quipped, keeping her flight line tight as she followed Evan in a wide loop and back towards and then over their 'target' with an ear jarring roar.

"That should do it," Evan grinned suddenly as he led the way back up to the open sky. "Was that as good for you as it was for me?"

"Oh hell yes," Piper shot back. "Tease."

"What, me or the mission?"

"Not you Mr Nice Guy," Piper was the one teasing now. "I meant the bad guys – I bet it burns to see us so close and not be able to take us out, knowing we could get rid of them before they went five yards."

"That's why they call it a show of force," Evan pointed out, amused at her summary of their mission result.

"Well, let's hope it did the trick today."

"We'll find out once we land back at Rhino," Lorne replied.

Even though they couldn't see the troops on the ground the pilots knew their presence was appreciated. A show of force wasn't the only trick in their bag, although it was more important than someone inexperienced with warfare might have expected. Lorne's wing could be called in at a moment's notice to support ground troops pinned down, ambushed or under heavy enemy fire. Already they'd provided the fire power, attacking and bombing insurgent installations and military compounds - all part of combined efforts to drive the Taliban somewhere they could finish them off.

It wasn't for glory or victory ... it wasn't to be the country in control of the most land. It was to take away the ability to the Taliban to engineer another September 11 and to seek justice from those responsible for the attacks. Beyond that it was for the people in outlying villages – to give them a chance to go about their business, rebuild their regional governments and their economy ... to bring peace to a country at war for 200 years.

Landing back at Camp Rhino an hour later, leaving his jet for the ground crews to check and refuel again, Lorne joined Piper and the mission commander for a debrief before they broke to refuel themselves. That's when they got the chance to take in the set up there. The base was surrounded by desert terrain Evan was sure would be more at home on the moon or in a science fiction flick. The outpost didn't belong out there in the middle of nowhere – as far as the brass had been able to tell it had been built for use as a drug distribution hub and then abandoned before it began operation. That intended purpose made it ideal from a defensive point of view. It was surrounded by a high wall with four guard towers. Inside those walls were warehouses and offices. Capping it off were actual sealed roads running throughout the camp and a three foot deep cement moat that bisected the base.

It was perfect for their needs but at the same time the facilities were minimalistic at best – in comparison, Al Udeid was luxury accommodation. Rhino had no showers or wash facilities and no messing facilities which meant literally pulling up a piece of ground and a ration pack for every meal. Water was a scarce resource, every drop having to be flown in. Where Lorne shared a semi permanent looking tent with 7 others, the guys at Rhino were being accommodated in a large open warehouse building – sleeping either on the cold cement or outside in the cold dirt. They were close to the front line, tactically significant, so after dark it was lights out for everyone, only those going out or assisting with night missions allowed to remain active.

Evan and Piper found their way to where a group of marines also returned from a night mission were sitting - one of the smaller warehouses used to store food supplies.

"How do you guys put up with this?" Piper asked, sitting on the ground next to Evan and opening her ration pack with a faint grimace.

"It's not forever," one replied with a shrug. "Another couple of weeks and we'll have taken Kandahar airport, moved everything there. Besides," the young man grinned across at Piper, "I kind of like rations."

"I bet you like airline food too," Piper shot back.

"What's wrong with airline food?" the marine retorted, making a play at being genuinely puzzled.

"If you don't know that there's no point telling you," Piper returned, shaking her head sadly and getting a laugh from everyone.

Lorne chuckled too, amused to see Piper holding her own in a group of testosterone charged marines still coming down from the high of a successful mission. But then, she was a marine herself so she was probably feeling right at home. Evan was the odd man out in that game.

"Once we take Kandahar you guys will probably end up stationed there too," another marine commented. "You can come and put a few craters in the ground for us." That sparked a conversation about military tactics and the war effort that lasted until their planes had been cleared by the ground crew and it was time for Lorne and Piper to return to Al Udeid.

It had been a long day and an even longer night but still Evan found it hard to settle once he was in his bunk back on base. The sounds of others sleeping wasn't distracting as much as it was frustrating - he'd been up for 20 hours, he should be tireder than any of them. It was his own mind that was keeping him awake - thoughts that he couldn't shut off. The world had changed too much in recent times and he sensed it was about to change again ...hopefully this time it would be a step in the right direction.

Turning onto his stomach, Lorne buried his head in his pillow. "Think about something good," he told himself. Trouble was, these days life was all too serious and he couldn't help but think about why. One thing was for sure though - Evan was where he was meant to be – it had been a long time since he'd questioned the choices he'd made or the role he'd chosen for himself.

He'd made a difference that day ... helped their guys on the ground remain clear of the enemy. And with any luck he'd continue to make a difference until eventually it'd be somebody else's turn and he'd get to go home again.

Authors Note:

Thanks to MackenziesMomma for pointing out in her review of chapter 1 that of course Lorne would have actually introduced himself to Lieutenant Castles – I went back and corrected that by having Piper introduce him as their wing leader, Captain Evan Lorne.

I had to fix a few glaring errors I'd somehow missed in this chapter first time through and I don't know, it still seems a little ... boring to me, which compels me to promise you all that it will get good, eventually! I personally found it intriguing learning just what it was a fighter pilot did all day while stationed somewhere like Afghanistan – this was my attempt to reflect that. Lastly, I have no idea if two Captains would rib each other about getting to the next rank and who outranks who - seemed like the kind of thing Piper would do though, hence including it.