Part 6

Lord, guard and guide the men who fly
Through the great spaces in the sky.
Be with them always in the air,
In darkening storms or sunlight fair;
Oh, hear us when we lift our prayer,
For those in peril in the air!
-- Mary C. D. Hamilton, 1915

One of Vic's projects at S.T.A.R. Labs was studying the one Ch'ton ship that had been captured intact. During the testing, the technicians had noticed that the ship had vibrated slightly whenever they would communicate using cell phones. That led to several tests in which they projected high-frequency tones at the ship. At one particular frequency, the bow of the ship began noticeably vibrating; what was even more odd was that the vibrations continued at the same rate for more than a minute after the test was over. They had never been able to figure out a reason for the vibration. Until now.

The data from the probe revealed to Vic that in addition to the destructive "layers" of the mine, there were also layers of super-high-frequency sound. The frequency tugged at his memory until he recalled the earlier S.T.A.R. Lab tests. He checked his notes, and the frequencies matched! He was then able to construct a transponder that mimicked the Ch'ton ship's behavior. They had put the transponder in the tip of one of Vic's largest probes, and the probe was able to penetrate all the way to the mine without any shielding by Toni.

Then, Dick made his proposal.

"You've got to be crazy, Dick!" Vic yelled.

"Why?" Dick had asked in surprise. "The test probe with your new transponder worked just fine. Why shouldn't the next step be to put it in an actual ship?"

"Dick, just because it worked on a small probe, doesn't necessarily mean it will work on a larger ship!"

"That was a pretty big probe, and my Barracuda's a pretty small ship," Dick answered calmly.

"We still don't know for sure how large of an area needs to be covered by the transponder!"

"Look, the Ch'ton ship only vibrated the bow, right?"

Vic nodded.

"That means that we don't have to make the whole ship vibrate to make this work. In fact, you set the transponder on the probe to vibrate the same percentage of the hull that the Ch'ton ship's did, right? So just do the same with my fighter."

"Dick, why can't you just wait while we build a bigger probe?"

"Because eventually, you're going to have to test this with someone on board. Now, I've seen the specs, and I trust your work. Let me ask you something: Would you be this opposed if I wasn't a friend of yours?"

Vic opened his mouth to deny Dick's suggestion and then stopped. Dick could see that he was forcing himself to consider the probe's data and the test results objectively. Reluctantly, Vic shook his head.

"Maybe you're right; it's hard to say. I would just feel better if we could try it with a Barracuda-sized probe first."

"But then what would we do about the carriers? We can't really build a carrier-sized probe," Dick replied, smiling. "At some point, we have to take a chance. I think this is that point."

"Do you think your Captain Tremaine would agree?" Vic asked teasingly.

"The CAG's a busy man, Vic. Let's not bother him with petty details like this," Dick responded in the same fashion. For a moment, it was as if they were no longer in the Texas' machine shop, but back in the Titans Tower on Earth. In their memories, Dick wasn't wearing a flight suit, but the vivid yellow, red, and green of his Robin costume, and Vic was again a half-man, half-machine Cyborg.

Dick said quietlly, "Vic, we've been friends a long time. In all that time, you have never let me down, and I know you won't now. I trust you."

~~~~~~~~~~

Dick sat in his Barracuda in the launch airlock going over his final preflight checklist. Toni had looked inside the cockpit and pronounced it more crowded than her makeup bag; however, with more than two years' experience flying the Navy's premiere fighter, he accepted the confining space without a second thought. The small, lethal ship had become a part of him, and its complexities were as familiar to him as his Nightwing gear. The fittings were ruthlessly compact and utilitarian, with one small exception: a small photo mounted just below eye level on one of the canopy's support braces. He looked at the photo and smiled.

When he had asked Babs to send him a picture to keep in his cockpit, he expected her to send him a simple portrait shot, or maybe one from their wedding. What Barbara had done was to have Dinah take a picture of a beach (Aruba, if he wasn't mistaken), and then a picture of Barbara on a neutral background. After some photo manipulation, what he got was a glamorous shot of his wife on a beach in a tiny swimsuit, lying on her right side, her head resting on her right hand staring sexily into the camera.

With a shake of his head, he got back to work. The sooner he launched, the sooner he could test Vic's "key." Dick saw the outer airlock door open and looked over at the Deuce sitting next to him on the launch pad. He could see HD and Vic in the drivers' seats up front, and he knew Toni was in the back somewhere.

They had originally planned to leave her behind since Dick had refused to risk anyone else during this test, but after much discussion (i.e. whining and pleading by Toni) they agreed to take her if she could fit herself into the Deuce's small cargo compartment. She made a valid point that her powers would allow the Deuce to follow Dick's Barracuda, but Dick and Victor both knew her main reason was that she would go crazy waiting for word of what happened.

He gave a "thumbs-up" to HD, who returned it, as did Vic. This time no words were needed as the Barracuda and the Deuce took off from the Texas and again flew in tandem to the Ch'ton mine. When they arrived, Dick broke comm silence to give Vic and HD his final instructions.

"All right. Toni, go ahead and put up your shield around the Deuce. I'm going in. And Vic ..."

"Yeah, Dick?"

"Tell Babs I love her."

"Tell her yourself, man. I'm not goin' anywhere near that woman when she finds out what a stupid stunt you're pullin' here!"

"Vic ..."

Vic finally replied softly, "You got it, Dick. I'll tell her."

"Thanks, man. I'll see you in a bit."

Accompanied by the shielded Deuce, Dick's Barracuda approached the mine field.

~~~~~~~~~~

Barbara Grayson was so deep in thought as she traced a convoluted path through the Penguin's latest money-laundering scheme that she actually jumped when the phone rang. Wondering who could be calling on her "civilian" line at 2:30 in the morning, she activated her headset and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Mrs. Grayson?" asked an impersonal-sounding female voice.

"Yes?"

"You have a call from the Heinlein space station. Please stand by."

The voice cut off abruptly, and Barbara was left to sit and wonder who could be calling her from the Navy's main orbital station. The only possibilities she could think of were not good ones, so she was shocked to hear a cheerful voice replace the tinny Muzak.

"Heya, gorgeous!"

"Dick!?!?"

"Yep, it's me!"

"Oh my God! How... what..." she sputtered, unable to complete a question.

"I've been asked to report to the Pentagon on Monday at 0900. Which means, if I've got my time zones figured right, we can have almost a whole weekend together."

"Umm, yeah, it's 2:30 Saturday morning," Babs replied absently, still trying to accept that her husband whom she had thought was light-years away was now practically next door. "But you're okay, right? There's nothing wrong?"

"I'm fine, sweetheart. Apparently they just have some questions about Vic's and my report and wanted to ask them in person."

Oh. That report. She understood that Dick wouldn't discuss military secrets over an open channel. "Are you in trouble?" Dick had written her that the CAG had not been happy that his Division 1 flight leader had decided to play test pilot.

"The CAG didn't seem to think so. He did warn me to bring all my gear with me, but that's as much precaution as anything else."

Barbara concentrated on Dick's voice and realized that he honestly didn't sound worried. Maybe everything would be all right. "So when can I see you?" she asked eagerly.

"Well, I should be arriving at Norfolk on the shuttle around 1100 local time, if you want to meet me there. Otherwise, I can grab a flight into Gotham."

"Oh, I think I can meet you at Norfolk," she grinned. "Just me, or is it okay if I bring the rest of the 'family' along?"

"Well, ... sure -- as long as I can get you to myself at least some time this weekend," he replied, and she could almost see the leer directed her way.

"Count on it, sailor!"

After getting the details of his shuttle flight, she finally had to hang up when the operator broke in to warn them that their time was up. Barbara sat back in her chair with a sigh, a contented little smile on her face. In a little over nine hours, she would get to see her husband ... get to kiss her husband ... get to ... Okay, don't go there, she chastised herself briefly. She didn't have time to daydream; she had to get moving!

Knowing he would still be up, Barbara placed a call to the Batcave. "Alfred?"

The old gentleman's image came up on her screen. "Yes, Miss Barbara?"

"I've got some great news! Dick's going to be landing at Norfolk at 11:00 this morning!"

"That's wonderful! I shall tell Master Bruce immediately!"

"I'm planning on going out there to meet him. You want to tag along?"

"I would love to, Miss Barbara, but wouldn't you prefer to be ... alone with him?" he asked delicately.

"Oh, we'll definitely have some time alone! I just thought you ... and Bruce ... would like to see him before I carry him off to have my way with him," she replied with a chuckle.

"Oh, certainly, Miss Barbara!" Alfred chuckled in return. "I shall inform the master right away. Would you like me to make the arrangements?"

"If you'll arrange for the flight down to Washington, I'll arrange the rental car to Norfolk."

Alfred looked surprised. "Madam?"

"I want to keep things as low-key as possible, Alfred. It won't arouse too much notice for Bruce Wayne to fly to DC, and a rental car under my name should lessen the chances of anyone ... bothering us when we meet Dick."

"I see. Yes, that makes sense, Miss Barbara. I will call you back when I have all the details."

"Thanks, Alfred."

~~~~~~~~~~

Seven-and-a-half hours later, Barbara, Bruce, and Alfred were entering Naval Station Norfolk. She made Bruce and Alfred wait in the van while she filled out the paperwork that would let her on base with a temporary pass. The (very) young petty officer seemed rather flustered -- by her or her wheelchair, she wasn't sure which -- but he checked her ID thoroughly and then handed her the permit with a smile.

"Welcome to Norfolk, Mrs. Grayson. I hope you enjoy your stay here."

"I will as soon as I see my husband, Petty Officer! Thanks for your help."

Once the permit was in place, they were on their way again, and soon they were in the shuttle terminal. After a seemingly interminable wait, Barbara caught a glimpse of a familiar figure walking down the ramp wearing khakis and carrying a seabag slung over his shoulder. She maneuvered her chair so that Dick could see her; when he did, his face lit up, and he started jogging toward her. As soon as he reached her, he dropped the seabag to the ground and picked her up out of her wheelchair. She vaguely noticed that he was holding her so tightly she couldn't breathe, but all she cared about was that her husband was holding her and kissing her.

He was home.

** End Part 6 **