B is for Blackbird
Sigfred had known all his life that he was an apex predator. He was sleek, black, and built for speed. He was a creature that was designed to fly so high that he could practically touch the edge of space itself. During his heyday, Sigfred had been used to being pampered and respected as the only SR-71C ever created. But his very nature meant that he was an aircraft that required massive amounts of fuel, care, and upkeep to remain airworthy, and that meant he was an incredibly expensive asset for the US Air Force to maintain. As satellite technology improved, it was only a matter of time before the skies were taken away from him forever.
The youngest of the Blackbirds knew that he should consider himself lucky. The legend of the Blackbird was great that they would never be forced to retire to the disgrace of the military boneyards. Instead, he would be given the opportunity to live out the rest of his existence at one of the Aerospace training facilities scattered across the United States. And even though Sigfred considered it to be a bit of a backwater, he should be grateful that the Aerospace Center at Hill Air Force Base was willing to take him in…but that still didn't mean that he had to like his neighbors.
"You know that visiting hours are over." Sigfried glared down his long nose at the cargo plane trundling across the tarmac with a gaggle of smaller vehicles in tow.
"And?" The C-119 looked back at him with mild annoyance.
Sigfried swept his wing in the direction of the small construction equipment. He also didn't bother holding back his disdain as he spoke. "So, what are they doing here?"
The Flying Boxcar gave an exaggerated sigh. "If you must know, we are going to pick up Kurt so that we can call catch over during dinner."
"Who?" The Blackbird's eyes narrowed, which caused the plane to give another exasperated sigh.
"Kurt Vorkosigan, you know the HH-43 Huskie that is parked across from you for hours a day practically every day?"
"Of course, I know who he is." Siegfried tried to cover up the obvious lie. "But why are those things in here?"
"They are Cabbie's nephews." The C-119 stated, which caused all three little vehicles to grin.
"Who?"
"Cabbie." The aircraft looked at him with mild disappointment. "My former wingmate and one of the only C-119 left flying. Honestly, Sigfried sometimes I wonder if you left your brain in the stratosphere sometimes."
"I did not." The large black plane pouted.
"Then perhaps you should start acting like you care about the other vehicles in your vicinity instead of spending your time glaring at everyone." The C-119 straightened his flaps and gave the SR-71 one last sharp look before turning his attention to the vehicles he was guiding around. "But enough chatting to the mean old plane. Let's go get Kurt."
The little vehicles didn't waste their time falling following the aircraft. They darted in and out from under cargo plane's wings in a way that spoke to their comfort around large aircraft. It almost made Sigfried believe that they perhaps were related aircraft even though they clearly were not related by steel. It made the Blackbird feel incredibly lonely…but then he overheard the conversation the vehicles were having, and his loneliness evaporated.
"AND I THOUGHT THAT CHIEF RANGER WAS CRANKY." The little dozer spoke loud enough that his words echoed through the museum.
The C-119 rapped the tiny vehicle hard on the canopy with a wing tip "If you can't say anything nice…"
"THEN DON'T SAY IT WITHIN EARSHOT OF THE PERSON YOU HATE."
"Avalanche!"
"WHAT?" The little creature shrugged with his blade. "THAT'S TRUE, ISN'T IT."
"Avalanche." The plane sighed heavily. "We are in fact still in earshot."
"OH!"
Sigfred settled lower on his tires as he watched the gaggle roll away, secure in the conviction that if that is what it was like to have a 'functional' family, he was perfectly content being completely on his own. He was, after all an apex predator, and apex predators didn't need company. Closing his eyes, he allowed his breath to slow, and he let imagination allow him to once again feel the heat of speed on his skin and the breathlessness of streaking the very edge of the earth's atmosphere.
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird: The SR-71 Blackbird is a Mach-3 capable aircraft designed for high altitude/long-range reconnaissance. Entering military service in 1966, it flew missions for the USAF until 1989 when most of its tasks were taken over by spy satellites and drones. A few if the Blackbirds remained in service through 1999, acting research platforms for the USAF and NASA.
Even though the Blackbird spent a lot of time flying over hostile territories, not a single Blackbird was taken out by hostile action. This was primarily due to this aircraft's unique ability to simply accelerate and outrun any missiles they happened to detect. This aircraft currently holds the world record for being the fasted airbreathing manned aircraft. This record is expected to remain unbroken because the USAF's next generation of hypersonic aircraft, such as the SR-72 (aka son of the Blackbird) are all unmanned.