Disclaimer: I own nothing. I borrow and play with only.
A/N: Sorry for the delay. I took the weekend off and unfortunately for the story's sake it turned out to be almost a four day weekend. I am hard at work on continuing the story. Some of you had some questions which will be cleared up. I know some were disappointed with the direction of the story. All I can say is hang in there. Things are going to get bumpy from here and may or may not go the way people might want. I hope it does not interfere with everyone's enjoyment of the story.
The Fall and Rise of Harmon Rabb Chapter 7
I have been on the Patrick Henry for a week and a half. Things are unsteady to say the least. Flying is wonderful as always. Skates was waiting for me. It seems she transferred back to the Henry to be my RIO, then she is going back state side. I have gotten in a lot of traps and flown a number of sorties. I have also been putting Bud through his paces. He is doing quite well. He has maneuvered around the ship with little problem, we just need to work on his speed. With the new leg, he is able to jog. He jogs with me every morning now. He has lost eleven pounds. I am proud of him; he is pretty serious about staying in the Navy. Being the CAG has been an interesting experience. I am the second most powerful man on the boat. Having this command is going to look good for my career. I hope I don't screw it up. I don't know what is going on around here. We have been having random system malfunctions. So far it is nothing serious. We have also had a rash of illnesses. We still have a full crew compliment, but it is getting harder as the days go by. The Skipper is not ready to declare an emergency yet, but the command staff is on alert. Due to all of this, I have worked 14 hour days since I have been here. I am a day or so away from 16 hour days. I haven't heard from Mac since I came on board. That's probably a good thing. I am too busy to deal with Mac right now.
I am in my cabin enjoying a rare moment of relaxation. I am relaxing while I can here. My pilots are getting hit hard by the illness going around the ship. I already have my team running two duty rotations instead of three. I am about to join them on the extended duty shift. As it is, I have been flying a full day like the active pilots normally would fly and I have been CAG and part time JAG on the boat. I have a bad feeling about the malfunctions and the sickness on the ship. If they had happened at different times, I would think it was a minor problem. I just don't think it is a coincidence that it has happened at the same time. I have Bud investigating the situation quietly. Now is not a good time for this to be happening.
Intelligence for the past few months has indicated that "rouge" factions within Syria, Libya, Iran, and Pakistan have formed an alliance against America. Allegedly, this group is acting outside of their government's purview. Apparently, this group has possible ties to Al Qaeda. They are extremely well financed. There are rumors that they have bought military equipment from Russia: tanks, guns, ammo, helos, and Migs. If the scuttlebutt is true, they have enough equipment to wage a small war on the battle group. Thinking about it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I have this sick feeling that makes my skin crawl. Some hotshot at the CIA thought he was a genius and called the situation the SLIP campaigns. SLIP of course stands for Syria Libya Iran Pakistan. I bet Webb came up with that stupid name. He probably wanted to impress Mac by coming up with something with a clever little letter trick. Heh, I bet he wants to take her mind off the fact that he is a cold calculating bastard without a heart unless it gets him what he wants. Every operation I have ever gone on with that idiot went south. I am willing to bet the C-130 landing I did on the carrier was a Webb mission. One thing is for sure, when Webb plans a mission, it blows up in my face. Now that I think about it, Webb hasn't shown his face in a while. I bet he will make an appearance soon. He can't be gone too long. Yep, probably why my skin is crawling… Webb is coming. I have to get some sleep. I have been going so much I am getting delirious. One night of good sleep, while I have a chance.
4 days later
Well, shit has hit the fan. SLIP has made an attack on the Seahawk battle group. The Henry was going to rendezvous with the group when our systems started going nuts. What I feared is coming to play. We had no choice but to stay behind. We have no way of knowing if our malfunctions can be spread to other ships. Bud is working around the clock with the techies to get our systems back up and running. I have been working 18 hour days. Half of our pilots are down. The illnesses have crippled 30 percent of the ship. There is no doubt in my mind, this boat is under attack. We have suffered malfunctions and illnesses that now quarantine us from all other ships. We are effectively alone out in the ocean. If we keep losing pilots, we are sitting ducks. The Skipper has sent out the last long range communication that we dare to send at this time. We are on our own. We have to survive with just our own defenses, our current food supply, and our own boat keeping us afloat in the water. Our boat is betraying us slowly but surely. Things are not looking good and I have a feeling it is only going to get worse.
Skates and I have been flying double shifts. We are trying to fill in for the missing pilots. Since Skates and I just recently came aboard, I have taken authority as CAG to allow us to fly more missions. So far the illness that is spreading around the other pilots has not affected me or Skates. I am getting three hours of sleep each night. I haven't gone this hard since the Academy.
"Hammer, I am picking up something on radar," Skates tells me. I tell her to give me coordinates and we can investigate. What I find chills me to the bone. There are a dozen Migs heading for the Patrick Henry. Skates and I are close to bingo fuel and we are about to be under attack. With the shortage we have on pilots right now… No time to think about it Hammer. We hit supersonic speeds on the way back to the ship. For some reason we have been unable to raise the ship. I finally decide the only chance we have is to dump our ordinance and try to get back faster. We have increased our speed now and the Henry is coming up. Communications are back. All I can do is warn them now.
"This is Bad Man 1. We have 12, I repeat 12 bogies centering on the ship. Imminent attack, I repeat, imminent attack. We are at bingo fuel and have dumped our ordinance to increase speed. We are in the air with no line of defense. Request another bird be ready after we trap."
"Roger Bad Man 1." Good, very good. If I have figured correctly we have 4 minutes before the Migs reach us. We need to get back in the air as soon as we can.
Skates and I trap and pull to a stop as soon as we can. I open the canopy and we jump out quickly. There is no time to wait for the crews to help us. We find our bird waiting for us and we ready for emergency quick take off. I am informed that we now have a total of 4 pilots including myself. All of our other pilots have slipped into comas. We are so screwed.
"Ok ladies the odds are 3 to 1, pick up the paces and whatever you do, don't miss. Our boat is going to be taking heavy fire. Bad Man 1 has the lead." We have to hit hard and fast. There is no other way to do this. Skates informs me that the bogies are coming in as one group. It gives me an idea. "Ok, listen up. Continue flying in formation and engage the enemy. I am breaking away from the group. I am going to fly low and fast and see if we can't break this little party up."
Skates and I go low. We are flying the deck and she is calling the numbers out. The bogies have not broken from formation yet. We are hoping that they are focused on the group of our Tomcats and not the one flying the deck. As soon as we are in range, I pull up hard I fire the 20 mm cannons as much as I can. I am pulling back and forth trying to do as much damage as I can.
"Two bogies down Hammer, three others hit." Good now it is 4 against 10 with 3 out of the 10 being damaged. Our only prayer is that we are up against inexperienced pilots. "We have to bogies on our six."
I fly fast and turn hard trying to shake the Migs from our tail. 2 of the other Migs decide they want to play chicken. These guys can't be that stupid can they? I increase speed straight into the path of two bogies with two bogies closing in on my six. I am trying to maneuver to keep them from getting a lock. As we get closer I fire the cannons and have Skates deploy two flares. I blew one bogie out of the sky before I pull up hard and break right. The remaining three Migs collide and explode with a brilliant flash of light. I kind of feel sorry for the poor bastards for flying stupid.
Tuna and the others catch up to our position. It is now 4 on 4. We take out the remaining four Migs. I turn to head back towards the Henry when we get the call. Static fills the radio but it does come through. The Patrick Henry is under attack. There are 6 more Migs. We close the distance and engage. Tuna leads two bogies away from the ship. The other 4 are closing in. I fire and blow one out of the sky. It hits me that I just got my seventh kill in the air today. I am excited and saddened at the same time. It is always hard to kill someone, no matter how much it is necessary.
We lost two tomcats. We had chutes on all; I just pray they are ok. I know how it feels to land in the drink. Tuna and I are the only ones left. We are facing off against 3 bogies. Tuna gets another kill then I get one. I am horrified when I see the last Mig is doing a suicide run towards the ship.
In fractions of a second, the possibilities run through my head. If there is enough fuel in that plane, it could sink the ship. If they hit a critical area of the ship, we would be crippled. I am also fully aware that the angle we are going, if I miss with my missile, I am going to hit the ship. Friendly fire at its worst. Shit. This asshole is going for the bridge. If I do nothing, the command center of the ship is knocked out. If I miss, I knock the command center out. Damn it Harm, don't miss. I get a lock and fire.
The explosion is loud and blinding.
To be continued…