Chapter 15 - Trying to Survive

The German fighters climbed higher, to allow for more dive speed when they attacked the bomber, high speed making it harder for the bomber gunners to track them. The fighters then banked over, when they got high enough, to start their dive to the bomber, but as they drove towards their target, the B-17 disappeared into the cloud formation. Now they had no target, so the fighters circled around above the clouds for over 20 minutes watching for the American bomber. However, what saved the bomber, was the small fighters carried a lot less fuel than a bomber, and as their fuel became low, the German fighters gave up and headed back to their base, Happy Jack had survived the encounter.

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In the cloud bank, the bomber was barely flying, it had two engines out completely and it was a miracle that Lewis got their propellers into feather position before they had seized up. Another engine was running at less than full power and it was smoking slightly, showing everyone on the ground and in the air where they were. The other working engine was actually mostly powering the aircraft, and Lewis said a little prayer to the men and women at Curtis-Wright who built them. However he had another problem, the last attack had also damaged all his navigation gear and his navigator was dead, so after flying around in the clouds for almost thirty minutes hoping the fighters would have to leave by then, he had no idea which way was home. They were a mess and because of lack of power and need to try and hide, he finally come down out of the clouds and was flying below them at 8000 feet, so he had no sun or star reference. Captain Spears got out the ground maps and tried to determine where they were, hopefully he would and Lewis could fly the plane by a ground map, but right now they were definitely lost in big trouble.

Their casualty were also another problem, Gray was still out and couldn't parachute from the aircraft so thoughts of getting him out of the aircraft and trying to get home by land where out. Add that to their plane was now a death trap with its low speed and smoking engine, everyone in the Happy Jack was in a difficult situation. Lewis looked at Gray and made his decision. "Captain to crew, prepare for bailing out."

Both Speers and Siberski both knew what that meant, both had checked the co-pilot and knew Gray couldn't jump, they also knew Lewis well enough to know he would not leave Gray and the aircraft. "Major, I am staying with you." Speers answered back, it was a second later Siberski joined him, "I'm staying with you sir, too." The rest of the crew had an idea what was happening now and each one of them told Lewis they were staying with the airplane. Lewis wanted to order them to leave, but they were all good men and knew what they were doing, so he didn't say a thing, silently thanking them.

It was a few minutes later that the lumbering bomber lost its cloud cover completely and only a couple more when a new group of German fighters appeared. The first set of four attacked the bomber and hit it hard, first coming in from the front of the bomber, both Carl, at the nose gun, and Tony, in the top turret, firing at the attacking fighters. Tony was unlucky, a fighter round hitting him in the shoulder and breaking it, now leaving the front of the aircraft only protected by Captain Speer's gun. The fighters then came in from the side, Jimmy getting hit in the leg, while Larry's guns in the ball turret went silent, Larry wouldn't be coming home alive that day. The bomber didn't have much time, Major Lewis knew, it couldn't take much more and the crew was being killed the longer they kept flying. Lewis knew there was only one way any of them were going to survive, he had to get the rest of them out of the bomber, while he tried to get away with the wounded.

Siberski bandaged up Tony in the top turret, while Tommy tighten the bandage around Jimmy's leg, as tight as it would go, and it stopped most of the blood flow. Jimmy wasn't going to be doing any more fighting, so that left Tommy alone manning the waist guns, he was going try to move between them, to fire at German aircraft when they came from the right or left, it was really impossible. As he now looked out the waist window, he saw one of the fighters turning on them, coming in from the left side, Tommy was scared, he knew the plane and crew couldn't take much more and he wondered how it would feel to die. He hoped it was quick, the thought of falling from the sky and dying in this airplane when it crashed was terrifying to him. He looked at his friend laying there, the man couldn't jump from the plane now and Tommy knew he could never leave him.

Tommy turned his attention back to the German Plane as it approached, his gun and its guns would be in range at the same time, the problem was he just had the one 50 caliber gun, the plane had four heavy guns. Tommy estimated the range by the size of the target and started to put pressure on his guns trigger, then everything changed, where there was a German plane, there was now a tremendous explosion, the plane completely blown up in the air. Tommy was stunned as he looked at his gun, he never fired, so what caused the plane to explode his mind tried to understand, then he saw the flash. Something very fast had passed by their bomber, so fast he couldn't tell what it was, all he saw was colors, red, white and blue.

Tony was still in the top turret, he had seen the German blow up too and he had seen the flashes in the sky, there where actually two of them. Even though he was too wounded to operate his guns he could still watch the show above him from his turret. He saw another German fighter turn and blow up like the first, then a third, and as he watched the flashes and explosions, he estimated at least 5 additional German aircraft had met similar fates as the first three, before the sky above him, suddenly seemed clear of German aircraft. A sudden peace fell over their bomber as it now traveled unmolested in the sky, the only noise, the droning of the engines as the plane continued through now calm sky.

It was Tommy who first saw the plane, as it slowly pulled along side their bomber at about two thousand feet out. Even at that distance he had never seen anything like it, it was big, the size of a medium bomber, but it was definitely not a bomber. It scared the hell out of him, and he put his gun sights on the intruder, afraid this new aircraft was some German secret weapon. However, as Tommy watched, the plane banked to come closer to them and Tommy saw the whole top of the aircraft. He thought he was dreaming, the whole top of the aircraft was painted like an American Flag, it was one of ours, and Tommy cried.

Tony saw them both, there was one on each side of the bomber, he also saw the American Flags painted on top of them. They were amazing, they had no propellers, and they looked fast, really fast, these had to be the flashes they saw, the flashes that destroyed the German Aircraft, they were beautiful. He watched as they closed until they were only a hundred feet from them, there were men inside, with helmets and oxygen masks, they looked like spacemen from the old Julies Verne books he read as a kid. He also noticed the planes had their landing gear down and landing flaps out, they were obviously trying to fly slow to stay with their bomber.

US Air Force F-15 pilot Major Steve Green looked at the bomber in disbelief, thinking 'how was it still flying'. He had read books about the condition aviators brought planes back home in World War II, but seeing it was incredible. He shook his head, because he had work to do, so he tuned the special radio in his plane, to the frequencies they used in World War II. "Eagle One to US Army Air Corp B-17 Bomber, 'Happy Jack', over."

Major Lewis had not seen the plane till it had moved up right next to them, he was so engrossed in keeping his plane flying. But now he was trying to keep his mind on flying the big bomber, while staring out his window at the incredible aircraft next to him, the radio call shocking the hell out of him. "Um…..Say again, over."

Major Green was happy the radios worked, "Eagle One to US Army Air Corp B-17 Bomber, 'Happy Jack'. This is United States Air Force F-15, call sign 'Eagle One'. We are here to escort you home, Major Lewis. Over."

Lewis almost lost it, they knew his name, who where these people, where did these planes come from, they looked like something from the future. He had never seen anything like them on any Army Air Corp airfield. "Who are you? Over."

"Friends, Major Lewis and fellow United States airman. Our only job is to get you home, we are here for you, to make sure you and your crew get home safely. And I promise we will die to accomplish that sir, you have my word as a fellow aviator. Over."

Lewis just stared out the side window in shock, he never believed much in religion, but were these angels? At this moment, that was the only explanation that made sense. "Okay Eagle One, what do you want me to do? Over" Lewis was beyond confused right now.

"Well first sir, we want you to turn around, you are going the wrong way and heading into Germany. Over."

"Oh, my navigation system is shot, I didn't know. Over."

"Yes sir we know, that is one of the reasons we came, to get you turned around then home safely. Over."

"How did you know? Over." Lewis was now really more confused.

"Sir, it not something I can explain, but I promise you we will get you home. Over."

Lewis looked at the planes again, they were definitely angels. "Okay Eagle One, I'll follow you. Over."

The F-15s made a gradual 180 degree turn followed by the crippled bomber, aligning on a direct path back to England and the bombers home base. The fighters Inertial Navigation Systems were updated just before being transported to the past, so their navigation systems were self contained and accurate enough for the job. The rest of the flight turned out to be uneventful, the remaining time back to the bombers home, as the bomber finally crossed the English Channel to England, and came to be only minutes from it base.

As Major Green's navigation system told him how close they were to the bomber's base, he now knew his job was done. "Eagle One to Happy Jack. Over."

Lewis looked at the plane, "Go ahead Eagle One. Over."

"Are you in good enough shape to make it back to your airfield. Over."

Lewis looked at the two planes again, they were leaving, his angels were leaving. "Yes, Eagle One, I should be fine getting home now…..I don't know how to thank you. Over."

"Just doing our job sir. Good luck Major Lewis. Just remember sir, we were never here. Over." The two fighters pulled up so Lewis could now see both pilots, one on each side. As he looked he saw both pilots salute, Lewis swallowed, then sat tall in his seat and saluted them back. "God's speed gentlemen and tell the archangel thank you, Happy Jack, Over and out." Lewis then watched the pilots drop their salute and their planes pull ahead, the landing gear coming up and the landing flaps retracting, they were beautiful aircraft, they looked like they owned the sky. Once they pulled a little ahead the moved off right and left until they were 1000 feet ahead and to the side, then Lewis saw their engines glow as they accelerated away at unbelievable speed then shot up through the clouds and disappeared. Major Lewis just shook his head, did he just dream it all, no one would believe what happened to them, he really didn't believe it himself. However, he put it into the back of his mind as he saw the airfield ahead in the distance, he had an aircraft to land. "Happy Jack to tower, requesting permission to land. Over."

"Happy Jack! Good to hear from you, you are cleared for a direct landing approach. Welcome Home. Over."

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Sheldon had taken a walk outside the airbase after his breakfast and after he had gotten any modern item left in his room. The rest of the stuff he just left since it was from the right time period, he didn't need it anymore, he didn't plan on coming back there after he left. He had noticed a hill near the approach end of the runway, outside the airbase, while he was in the control tower that morning, so as soon as he was out the gate he began his hike to the top of it. It took him almost two hours to get there, but Sheldon was in no hurry he still had several hours to wait and it was much later, around dinner time, when he saw the first airplane come back to land.

Sheldon watched from the field as the bomber landed, the first of many to follow as Sheldon, from his vantage point could see the nose art and tail numbers on each one. He became more and more relaxed as the planes landed, none of the being the 'Happy Jack', and after the last touched down relief spread through Sheldon's body. However, Sheldon still couldn't go home just yet, because ever the one for details, he could not leave until his calculations on fuel availability confirmed the 'Happy Jack' could not be flying anymore. So Sheldon waited while looking at his watch, counting down the minutes before the fuel tanks on the bomber would be empty and his task was done.

He only had a half hour left on his watch, till his time to leave, when he heard the bomber, all the relief that had previously filled his body, dissolving as the bomber came into sight. His worse fears were realized, when on approach, Sheldon could see 'Happy Jack's' nose art and as the bomber passed the hill to land, the tail numbers left no further doubt. He just couldn't believe it, his plan should have worked, and the sudden thought that he was now going to have to do it all again, made him curse out loud, "Dam it, what went wrong?"

"Nothing, we just made sure they got home safe." The voice completely surprised Sheldon and he turned quickly to see a man in modern military camouflage standing just 15 feet behind him. The man was covered from head to toe, and with his hat and face screening he blended perfectly with the surrounding foliage making Sheldon nervously wonder how long he actually been there watching him. However Sheldon's shock was far from over, because as the man removed his hat and face screening, Sheldon saw his face, it gave him another shock that went through his whole system, the man that had said those words and was now looking at him was LEONARD!