Author's note: I've made some major corrections in Chapters 1 and 2, so it may do some good if you go back and read those parts.

Chapter 4: The Ghost in the Machine(Part I)

June 30, 2011

"Some housewarming party." said David with a smile. Everyone had left for the night and only Kei and him remained. Kei was sitting on the velvet couch with one leg folded over another apparently tired. David came over and sat down next to her, putting his feet on the table.

"It was so good to see everybody again. I mean, it seemed so long ago, but it was only a few months. It's like nothing's changed. Well, almost." he said cheerfully.

"Well, now that everyone's gone, there's something I need to tell you." said Kei in a serious tone.

David paused. "Okay, go on."

"No, it's really important. David...I'm-"

"I know."

Kei's eyes widened in shock. "What!"

"I knew something was up with you recently. It was also interesting to note how you didn't take a sip of that Chardonnay my mother brought. Plus she hinted at it during the party. It didn't take me long to put two and two together" said David.

Kei's eyes lit up again and she put her arms around David.

"Oh my, I can't believe this his happening to me. Everything I've wished for is coming true." she said between tears and laughter.

"Now this is has been quite a day. We're going to be parents, my sister's going to be a pilot, and man...Quara. I had no idea...

"Yes. That was intense. Who knew? But I'm glad it turned out the way it did."

An hour earlier...

Some of the people that had been invited to the party had already left, most notably David's parents, and the Captain and Nastasha. The only people there were David and Kei, Snow, Claude, Marimeydia, Van and Quara.

"So he really shot you down before you married her?" asked David in

David found himself talking to the one-eyed Marimeydia Sophie Piccaro-Kushrenada. She was sharing the story of how her and Claude met. All the while, she was looking at him talking to the others.

"Yes, we fought five times before that resolved. It was quite invigorating. We always argue over who won each fight. One time Claude and I got into it so much it degenerated into a family pillow fight. He's so goofy sometimes. You should see him around the kids. He's just...you'd never think he was a fighter pilot." she said.

"Hell, people often said that about me. I was always characterized as this happy-go-lucky guy for the longest time."

"Yes...God, this thing itches sometimes..." Mari said while pulling off the large eye patch she had on. There was a large patch of pinkish, brown, dead skin around her former eye cavity. David looked in disgust. "Holy...put that thing back on please. Man, that's..."

"I know; it's repulsing. There was a young pilot in our squadron, back when we were flying for Yuktobania, that had found a prized Versuan handgun. He was going around showing it off insisting that it wasn't loaded. There was no clip in it, but there was a round in the chamber. But in his jubilation, he tripped, it fired, and hit a tank of acidic materials...not 5 meters from me. That was the worst pain I'd ever felt in my life." she said softly.

"Geez...That must have been painful."

As they continued to talk. Kei seemed to drift from the others. There was something else on her mind. She wanted to pull David away and tell him, but now she could not tear herself away from the conversation. So then Quara began to speak to Claude and the others. Quara was a well-spoken individual. She knew he was from Anea, and had lived here and Yuktobania.

"So, what do you do?" asked

"Oh..me, I'm actually with the Yuke Air Force. I sort of split my time between here and the motherland."

"You know, you sound familiar."

Kei could see Quara's blank expression.

"Really? I sound familiar? Who do I remind you of?" he said.

"Before we were station keeping around Kirwin Island, we had been fighting in this month long battle." said Snow looking in David's direction(who'd turned to hear the conversation), "That was why I was the only one left."

"Really? I was wondering what happened to all of them. That must of been one hellish battle." said David.

"Indeed it was. We were attacking the Bougainville Island, which housed a Yuke airfield and command and control center for naval operations in the Fuscum Sea. We were deployed there in late October for diverting forces from Bastok to support the upcoming invasion. We thought the campaign would be easy, that the Yukes wouldn't resist the way they did. We were sorely mistaken."

Kei remembered that Claude had also been with the Yukes for some time. Quara was still silent.

"The island was heavily defended, and it was for good reason. It was the first time we ever encountered Osean made aircraft in the air. Most of the planes we faced were made by other countries. And even if they had them, they were 'watered down' so to speak. We expected the same. But these aircraft as we came to find out were spared no expense...and the people who flew them were more experienced that we were. It wasn't until recently that the Yukes weren't even supposed to have the aircraft. It was a secret deal with the Osean government back in 2000, long before the war. The project was slow to get off the ground, then they brought their best pilot cadets here in 2006 to train on them. For 3 years, the had the best training possible. So they went home, trained on the most dominant fighter ever, the F-15. There were 20 of them, I think."

"F-15s being shipped to Yuktobania? I recall seeing some in the air, but they were probably manufactured under license. They used their own technology, and it wasn't as good as ours. But these 20 were the best ever. I see."

"They were building up a defensive stronghold at sea to defend against an amphibious attack on Ocktabursk. Our superiors underestimated the scale of the threat. We sent out a patrol to clean up enemy fighters and no one returned. It wasn't until I went myself that I saw what was really going on. We were shocked, and it justified the panicked screams on the radio we heard during the first mission. There was little we could do against them. We had no training on how to fight the F-15s; it was compounded by the people inside of them. They flew like professionals, they talked like professionals, they fought like professionals. For awhile, we had some respect for them. There were also other planes on the islands, Su-27Ks that would come up and engage us. They were naval aircraft. We found them easier to deal with. Then, they came..."

"Who's they?"

"The most skilled of the F-15 drivers. Their planes were painted with a black and grey. There were never alone, always with a wing man or two or three, or even four. They were the vanguard of the island defense. We lost 10 planes to them in the first week. I listened to them on the radio, and sometimes they'd talk about old classical singers...like Parker and Sinatra. So I came to know those four men, and the one woman, as "The Rat Pack". But you have to keep in mind, the real battle had not even begun."

"It wasn't until the 2nd week that command decided to commit the entire 3rd fleet. Our objective had changed. The Yukes were moving their 4th Fleet from one side of the Fuscum Sea to the other. We had no doubt it would be a major battle fleet action. But in reality, it was the few on the island that decided it. We were ordered to attack the island and secure it with Marines on the ground. That didn't go well at all. Our cruise missiles were intercepted by their own. Attacking the island meant running a gauntlet of SAMs and flak. We lost many planes in the island raids. Then the "Rats" struck again. This time, they'd hit the light carriers the Marines were using. A surface invasion was out of the question now. It eventually degenerated into a battle of attrition. The Kestrel's sister carrier, the Titan, also bore the brunt of the fighting. We'd shoot down some of their 27s and they'd get some of us. It went on for days. And the worst was yet to come. There were other islands in the area where civilians lived. A pilot apparently dropped a bunker buster on what we was told was a strategic target turned out to a air raid shelter. The next day, at high noon, we had to contest with everything. Both fleets had moved into position. The battle was on and lasted all day and night. I don't remember how many aircraft both sides had, but there had to be no less than 120 aircraft turning in the skies above the sea. The F-15s had their field day, and blew away some 13 of my squad mates. We lost the Titan to a surprise attack by enemy Migs, which we had been trained to fight against. This was on November 18th."

The same day we found Kei in the snow, David thought.

"It was a disaster for us. Our so-called invincible Navy had been decimated over the battles. The Kestrel's air fleet was all but gone. The Titian was gone. The Marines tried Harriers against the enemy, but were slaughtered by the Yuke F-15s. We had no choice but to fall back. But they still came. As we retreated, a small group of planes attacked. Being the only one left, I took off to engage. There were two in the group and I bested them both. But on my way to the carrier, one of the "Rats" came. He wouldn't let me go. He followed me for 8 minutes and he fired two missles at me. His fangs were out and he almost got me. But suddenly, he turned away. I think he must have had an engine problem or something. And I tell you, I knew someone was watching after me. He was just a mile away. But I'll never forget the last words he said."

"What did he say?"

"It was strange. He said 'Screlanar!'. I had no idea what it meant." said Snow.

"Oh that, it's Yuke pilot lingo. It means, 'Fighter has electrical trouble'. So that's what it was...a ghost in the machine." said Van.

"I wonder who that guy was. Maybe he gave up? I don't know. I just wish I knew. If it wasn't for that I wouldn't be here right now. One thing about the 'Rats' was they had some planetary related call sign. The lead plane was Jupiter, the trail was Ganymede, then Venus, Charon, finally there was the last guy who flew on the lead's left, Callisto."

Kei noticed Quara's shifting stance. Was he hiding something?

"That was...quite a fascinating story." said Kei.

"Callisto. That's a really cool nickname. Why didn't I come up with that?" said David while laughing a bit.

Quara was more visible about his shifting, yet few made notice of it.

"So why did I remind you of this...Callisto?" said Quara nervously.

"I don't know. He spoke kinda like you; he was somewhat terse person. Maybe, I'm wrong."

Quara bit his lip. I can't do this. No, you have to...you gotta tell him. It's been with me everyday since then.

"You're very perceptive. Since I...am the Callisto you speak of..." he said.

One could hear a pin drop in the room.

To be continued...