Chapter 10: Letters to Home

Upon arrival to Wycombe, the witches were unloaded from the trucks and walked onto the aerodrome. Much to their surprise, the maintenance crews were already reloading the bombers again and performing required maintenance on them.

"What is the meaning of this, commander?" Jamie demanded.

"Oh, Miss Doolittle. What you're currently seeing is our forces amassing for the largest aerial and amphibious assault ever known to mankind. The operation's codename is D-Day. When will it take place? We can't say just yet, so keep your guard up and continue practicing until the final go-ahead is given from the President. Now if you'll excuse me, I have my afternoon tea to attend to."

Bridget groaned slightly in disgust. "But we just got back from a grueling raid on Bremen… I can barely move…"

"Well, I don't know what to say anymore." Jamie sighed. "But it seems like our next mission will be the preliminary raid on Omaha Beach, the opening act for this 'D-Day' attack."

"Did you know about this?" Roberta inquired.

"More or less. There are some things they don't tell me, even though I'm considered one of the 'top brass.' I have to find out for myself half the time." Jamie muttered. "Makes me sick with the way they treat my witches."

Samantha looked on worriedly and asked, "Hey, you okay chief?"

"I'll be fine. I'm going to my quarters to rest, and I suggest you all do the same." Jamie muttered.

The other witches nodded in agreement, and headed toward their barracks while Jamie went to her office and fell asleep at her desk.

Around 1800 hours, the witches were awakened by the sound of another party taking place in the mess hall. Roberta in particular was annoyed by it, as she sadly clutched the note the gunner had given to her. She knew she shouldn't, but her hands slowly unfolded the note, exposing its contents to her. It read something like this:

"Dear mother and father,

Life is pretty good here at RAF High Wycombe. I got into one of the best bomber crews I've ever known, the crew of the Sally B. They're a swell bunch of guys, I wish I could bring 'em over sometime to meet you. The food here isn't too bad, they treat their aircrews well. However, the package mom sent was very much appreciated. To taste the luscious dried grapes from your vineyard in San Jose was a real treat, and the crackers were absolutely heavenly. But things are changing rapidly around here, they're sending us deeper and deeper into Karlsland, and I begin to wonder if we'll ever make it to our 25th mission so we can come home. Don't you worry though, I'm not fighting so I can come back, I'm fighting to liberate these people, that's more important to me than the comforts of home.

Your son,

Chris"

The letter underneath it also found itself being unfolded by Roberta's hand, though this one was much more recent.

"Dear mother and father,

We just completed another mission over Karlsland. My heart is racing even now, as I relive the horrors that I saw in Stuttgart. It's terrible, these enemies are inhuman, and they are not something to be trifled with. I recently acquired a job as the ball turret gunner, after my friend Billy was killed in action on our bomber. It's quite possibly the most vulnerable place to be on a bomber, suspended from a plane, thousands of meters high in the air. I'm scared mother, so very scared. But I don't have to be scared anymore, because I've finally met a beautiful girl, and fallen in love…"

At this, Roberta put her hand over her mouth and began to tear up as she continued reading.

"...Her name is Roberta Morgan, the Memphis Belle. She's a fiery young girl from the 8th Joint Strike Force, a squadron where they equip powerful young girls to be Bomber Witches. I took her out to the dance, and it was just such an uplifting experience to be with her. I almost forgot that we were at war altogether. With a girl like her around, I feel safe, and I am confident that I will make it home and introduce you to her. I plan to get some flowers after my 25th mission, and propose to her on base, I can't wait to see the smile on her face. I truly..."

The last few words were obscured by smudges, and a few bloody fingerprints had dried on the edge of the paper. Tears began to roll off of Roberta's face, and she had to hold the paper away, else her tears obscure it more. There was also a picture attached with a paper clip of Chris in his uniform, and she stared at it quietly before putting it back within the letter. A determined look made its way across her face as she looked at the stars out her window and whispered, "Don't worry Chris, your death will not be in vain. I… no. We will end this war."

Esther rolled over on her bed, adjacent to Roberta's, and began mumbling groggily. "Are you still awake? You need your sleep Roberta…"

Smiling at Esther, Roberta put the letter and photo back into its envelope, and kissed it as she set it on her nightstand. She was soon asleep, dreaming peacefully.

But it was not to last, as hours later they were awakened by B-17's doing early practice takeoffs. Roberta rubbed her eyes as she sat up in bed, still half asleep. She got out of bed and began walking towards the mess hall for breakfast, and was met by equally tired bomber witches sitting around a table. Grabbing a plate of egg, sausage, bacon, and toast, she sat down next to them.

"Good morning girls…" she said, taking a bite of toast.

There was a general exchange of good mornings, except for Pauline who was too busy complaining and poking at her powdered eggs.

"Gah, having no eggs at all would be better than this crap." Pauline complained.

Thelma nudged her, and suggested, "I'll take those off your hands."

Pauline agreed, though she looked sickly as she watched Thelma consuming what was considered a bane to all aircrews, save for the Orussians, who were grateful for so much as a bowl full of gruel.

Samantha was at the table, and having finished her breakfast, was busy reading maps and diagrams of Normandy. "So… This is Omaha Beach, and this… is the bunker line." she said.

The other witches leaned over to look at the paper, and were quite dismayed as they viewed their target.

"That little line of pillboxes and bunkers is our target?" Bridget squinted." I'm not concerned about us being able to hit it, but the other bombers will have a very hard time hitting that." remarked Bridget as she had a worried look on her face.

Samantha nodded and pointed to the route they were taking. "Especially when we're approaching from a perpendicular direction. We're coming south to attack, but the line runs east to west."

"Dear lord, even I know that's a failure waiting to happen." Thelma rubbed her head.

"I know, but it can't be helped. Top brass' decision is final." Samantha sighed.

"That's what I hate the most about this job." a voice muttered from the end of the table.

The other witches turned to see Jamie hunched over a cup of coffee, holding her medal in hand.

"I lead the first counteroffensive for Liberion against the Neuroi, in a raid that was named after me. Everyone said it was impossible, but we did it. I'm a freaking war hero, and I still don't get any respect from the top brass."

"You still have us though…" Roberta said as she hugged Jamie.

"W-What are you doing?! You can't just hug your superior like that!" Jamie sputtered as her face turned beet red.

"If I see someone down like that, I can and will hug them to cheer them up." Roberta replied, matter-of-factly.

Jamie protested, and then conceded to Roberta's warm embrace. The other witches grinned at each other, then they group hugged Jamie together. "H-Hey! I can't breathe!" she shouted, but it was muffled as they all laughed together, and she eventually joined in the laughter.

Their hugging was abruptly interrupted however, as the siren began screaming for Minimum Interval Take Off to begin. "General quarters, all hands! Prepare for MITO immediately! Man your battle stations!"

"It's time..." As Jamie stood up, she addressed the other girls, "Well this is it girls, this might even be our last mission."

But they all stood up and saluted her proudly, shouting, "Rest assured ma'am, the Bomber Witches will always get through!"

Jamie smiled, and teared up slightly. "I've trained you girls well, you'll do fine out there." She saluted them back, and imperatively said, "Dismissed!" as they ran out to the hangar to scramble.

Roberta smiled as she ran with them, saying to herself, "Today is the beginning of the end... the war will be over that much quicker if we can nail this preemptive strike."