Chapter 5: This isn't Independence Day
Late August 2002
"So I hear they finally gave you a real job." The response to his hello delivered by a familiar voice had Lorne grinning into the phone.
"Marcus! Hey – how's it going?" he replied. He frowned, wondering why the other man was ringing – not that they didn't talk regularly but it had only been two weeks since their boys night.
"You know the commercial airline business," Marcus Price dismissed lightly. "Runs like clockwork as far as us pilots are concerned."
"I guess it does," Evan agreed. "Janet and Riley okay?"
"Yeah - Janet's still spending most of her time chasing after Riley," Marcus said with a chuckle. "For a two year old he's running our entire household with one hand tied behind his back."
"Not that I've ever thought about it but I'm guessing they don't call them the 'terrible twos' for nothing," Lorne commented.
"No they don't," Marcus said feelingly. "So, you finally got posted more permanently?"
"I did," he answered, thinking back to the meeting he'd had with Major Michaels the monday morning after Piper's wedding. Since then his life had taken another turn into the unexpected – his current posting at the heart of that. "Back at Nellis if you can believe that," he continued, "part of the Groom Lake facility this time so it's different enough to not feel like I'm going backwards."
"No way! Area 51?" Marcus asked incredulously. "You're stationed at Area 51?"
"You're joking right?" Lorne laughed. "This isn't Independence Day Marcus," he added with amused sarcasm. "They don't call it Area 51 and as far as I've seen they're not hiding little green men, or for that matter aliens of any other colour, on the base."
"So, what're you doing there then?" Marcus asked curiously.
"Classified," Lorne couldn't help the grin when he said that. Sometimes that was a blessing – that you were restricted from talking about your work to anyone – because it meant you didn't have to explain things you hardly understood yourself. Like his current job.
"I don't know why I asked because I knew you were gonna say that!" Marcus grumbled. "Is it flying or are you branching out with the ground troops? Can you at least tell me that?"
"It's aircraft," Lorne admitted. "That's really all I can tell you."
"So you're not going back to Afghanistan?" Marcus asked. They'd all talked about it when they'd been together and Evan hadn't discounted the possibility. At that point he hadn't known the results of Colonel Baker's inquiries.
"Not for the time being," Evan agreed. "You know the military business – stability isn't in the job description."
"True," Marcus agreed. "And there's no word on when Drew's coming back?"
"Not so far," Evan admitted. "Cade mentioned the training wasn't going as well as expected but he couldn't say what the impact would be on Drew's return date."
"And Elaine's okay with that?" That Marcus was asking after Elaine wasn't a good sign because it probably meant she'd been isolating herself at home instead of following her usual routines.
"I thought so," Evan frowned. "I take it she hasn't spoken to Janet yet?"
"No. Janet called and left a message but so far Elaine hasn't called back ... Janet's worried," Marcus admitted, the reason for his call suddenly clear. His wife was worried and had put the pressure on him to find out what was going on.
"I spoke to Elaine yesterday," Evan shared, frowning. "She was a little flat but I put that down to missing Drew." He thought on the possible solutions for a moment and then nodded. "Thank Janet for me Marcus - tell her I'm handling it."
"Okay," Marcus sounded lighter now he'd gotten his mission completed. "Watch out for those aliens, man."
"Ri-ght," Lorne shook his head, unwittingly amused. "I'll do that." He paused and then said seriously. "Thanks for the call Marcus."
"No problem," Marcus returned.
As soon as he'd hung up the phone Evan made another call. "Mom," he said when Grace Lorne answered the phone.
"Evan!" Grace smiled, happy to hear her son's voice. "How are you dear?"
"I'm good Mom," Evan smiled slightly. He wasn't sure if she was more doting because she'd had her first in your face reminder of what he was risking when he'd come home injured or she was giving him the same level of 'doting'ness she always had but he was only now noticing it. "Listen, is there any chance you can get a couple of days off?"
"What's wrong?" Her immediate assumption wasn't too far off base and Evan grimaced.
"Probably nothing," he sought to reassure her. "I know we've both been speaking to Elaine pretty much every day – she sounds okay to me but I think she's burying herself in the house too much, not getting out like she usually does."
"She's missing Drew," Grace said softly, "and mourning for every stage of the pregnancy that he misses."
"I know that," Evan paused, thinking. "It's understandable but don't you think it's unhealthy for her to be so reclusive?"
"It's not like her," Grace agreed. "I suppose I could take a long weekend, visit with her for a few days."
"I think Elaine would like that Mom," Evan smiled, relieved she'd stepped willingly to the role he'd assigned her in his head. "I'll make all the arrangements and send you the details okay?"
"I am capable of booking my own trip Evan," Grace pointed out intently.
"Yeah, I know, but this way at least I feel like I'm doing something."
"You've done plenty dear," Grace smiled, never prouder of her children than when they were being so supportive of each other. "I know being there for some of her appointments has meant the world to Elaine."
"It's not a long trip Mom," Evan excused, uncomfortable with the praise when he still felt like he could do more. He'd been lucky enough to get a little extra leave here and there to help – special treatment or maybe an arrangement between Lorne's superiors and Major Baker, he hadn't wanted to risk asking for the details.
"It's not how long it took but that you made the effort at all that counts," Grace insisted. "So I'll make my own arrangements this time."
"Fine," Evan conceded, "as long as you let me know if you run into difficulties."
"Of course dear," Grace returned, feeling suddenly more like the child than the parent. When had her boy become so grown up and responsible?
From: Major Evan Lorne (elorne at nellis_gl . af . mil)
Sent: Friday, 9th August 2002 12:35:10 PM
To: Captain Andrew Rider (arider at aefw389 . af . mil)
Subject: Update
Drew
I don't want to worry you but I thought you should know that Mom is going up to spend the weekend with Elaine. She's okay, all right ... but Marcus called this morning and said Janet was worried. Elaine's been hiding out a little, not returning calls ... I guess that's not unexpected but at least with Mom visiting she'll get out of the house a bit. She's really missing you Drew ... God only knows why!
Kidding. We all miss you ... and I'm only saying that here because I know you have to delete this as soon as you've read it.
Mom and I have both been calling Elaine pretty regularly but it's not like that's gonna make up for you not being here. So, any word on when exactly they're replacing you so you can come home? I know it's not inside your control and I've spoken to enough people here and at Cold Lake that even Cade doesn't want to take my calls anymore. I just think with a real return date Elaine will do a bit better with the waiting thing.
Just ... be careful okay.
Evan
PS Any news on when they'll get video calls set up there? This email thing is getting really old.
From: Captain Andrew Rider (arider at aefw389 . af . mil)
Sent: Monday, 12th August 2002 01:00:50 AM
To: Major Evan Lorne (elorne at nellis_gl. af . mil)
Subject: Re: Update
Evan
Thanks for the message buddy ... I managed to get a call home so I spoke to Elaine and your Mom yesterday. I really hate this – being so far away when I can hear how unhappy Elaine is. I just ... there's nothing I can do about it from here. You know, for the first time I almost wish I'd gone for something steadier, like Marcus and Cade.
The last I heard my return date had been shifted back another week ... so I'm looking at shipping out at the end of the month now. Still plenty of time to be in on the last part of preparing for Junior's arrival. Elaine keeps reminding me it could be a girl – said she'd had to keep telling you the same thing too. She's finally caved though and bought a few things for the baby – nothing big, she said she's saving furniture construction for me.
Okay, my time on the computer's up. Oh, good news on one front – FINALLY the last expeditionary mission brought in a stack more computers with clearance for video hook-up. Should be in business next week so I'll be able to talk to you on screen before I leave. Elaine was pretty excited about that – glad I had something good to tell her.
Take care of things for me ... I know I don't have to ask that, or tell you how much I appreciate it, but it makes me feel better typing it just the same.
Drew.
As he'd told Marcus, Lorne's new job was about aircraft ... what he hadn't been able to mention was specifically what aircraft. His friend had joked about aliens but in some respects he wasn't that far off the mark, in so far as the jet Evan was currently test flying seemed straight off the pages of a science fiction magazine.
Walking around the experimental aircraft before the mission a few days later Evan marvelled again at what he'd landed into. He still wasn't exactly sure why they'd picked him but he'd jumped at the chance – given both his requests to return to Afghanistan had been denied. Colonel Baker had contacted him, had seemed almost apologetic as he'd admitted the powers that be had simply said Major Lorne was already slatted for a different project. Lorne had gotten the same story and was still puzzled on the real why, even after receiving his new orders to report to the Groom Lake facility. And while he would have thought their campaign in Kandahar was up there on the highest priority list for U.S. military efforts, he wasn't privy to everything going on and clearly there were things seen as equally important. Like his current project.
They called it the X-302 ... a second generation aerial combat vehicle with capabilities Lorne hadn't even scratched the surface of. It was sleek and although it certainly had elements that were classic U.S. aircraft design it was also different from anything else Lorne had ever flown. If he had to choose he'd say it was most like the F-117 Nighthawk fighter first flown in the eighties.
Even more impressive was the fact that the X-302 had been built entirely out of Groom Lake under the direction of Dr Larry Murphy, a brilliant aeronautical engineer with a long history working for the military. As far as Lorne was concerned, with the X-302 Murphy had designed possibly the greatest multi-role fighter the skies had ever seen. With its curved wing span, multi engine burners and impressive weaponry of modified AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles and projectile cannons it was an impressive sight to behold ... and Lorne got to fly it!
The plane had the goods to back up its powerful appearance. Four different sets of engines - air-breathing jets, modified aerospikes for high altitudes, a rocket booster and another engine Lorne had been told was planned for future applications he didn't need to know about. To go with all that power was an experimental inertial dampening system and the capability for VTOL – vertical takeoff and landing.
Yeah, it sure was impressive and it had the questions lining up in Evan's mind. Some of the systems and features were just streets ahead of anything he'd seen, even in the latest developments he'd been involved with. And Lorne should know – he'd done plenty of testing for aircraft upgrades to know that what he was testing now was years ahead of where they should be. The level of secrecy around the X-302 was extreme too – he wasn't allowed to even mention that he was test flying anything, let along talk about the specifics.
The mission he was flying today was a simple one, guaranteed to get his blood pumping. All he had to do was take the aircraft into the air and push it to the limit of its speed capabilities. On the ground they'd be monitoring the performance of the engines and the inertial system, trying to iron out the bugs that still existed. On a previous test flight Lorne had proven that when pulling negative G's the inertial dampeners were only about 80% effective – still providing an easy ride for someone used to pulling 8+ Gs in an F-16 but more than the designers were willing to live with.
Finishing his pre-flight checks, a set of standard checks modified to cover the different features of the X-302, Lorne pulled himself up the ladder and settled himself inside the cockpit. It was designed to be a two seater jet just like the Falcon and the Hornet but so far all his flights had been solo.
"Flight this is Test One," Lorne reported, "ready for takeoff."
"Test One, Flight. You are cleared for takeoff on runway zero three."
Acknowledging the instruction Lorne powered up the jet, feeling that familiar rush of excitement as the aircraft roared to life. Taxiing slowly into position on one of three airstrips managed by Groom Lake, Evan paused and then slammed the stick forward, accelerating rapidly to takeoff speed. Pulling up, the 302 soared effortlessly into the sky, putting none of the usual force on Lorne's body. That actually took some getting used to for a pilot with Lorne's years of experience. Acceleration didn't push your body back into your seat; decelerating didn't throw you forward against your restraints. And throwing the jet around didn't have any of the usual effects either ... to be frank it had been a little disconcerting to begin with. Lorne had done a few missions since the first one and was much more comfortable with it now ... and the loss of familiar effects was more than compensated for by the sheer brilliance of flying the 302.
"Flight, Test One approaching twenty thousand feet."
"Test One, Flight. Proceed to speed range one."
"Acknowledged." Lorne levelled the jet at about twenty five thousand feet and then punched it forward. The speed dial climbed slowly until he reached 1,000 miles per hour. "Flight, speed range one, check."
"Test One, hold it steady for a minute and then proceed to speed range two."
Lorne did as instructed – the 302 seemed to be enjoying the ride as much as Evan was, purring smoothly as it easily kept to the speed.
"Flight, Test One approaching forty thousand feet." At the higher altitude, beyond the height flown by commercial airlines, Lorne repeated the same process, increasing the speed until the dial hit 1,500 miles per hour. Reporting in the success he was instructed to take it up to the next speed range at 50,000 feet.
"Flight, Test One now at speed range three," Lorne reported, grinning as he added "and I am officially going faster than I've ever gone before."
"Test One, Flight, well done."
"Flight, Conditions up here are perfect ... should I punch if forward, see how fast this thing is capable of going?"
There was a pause before he got his reply. "Test One, Flight. You are cleared to test full speed capability."
"Yes," Evan uttered, grinning madly. It was every pilots dream really – to fly the bolts off something as capable as the 302. Now if only he could take it into space all his aerial ambitions would be satisfied! "Flight, Test One, beginning increase in speed," he reported more decorously.
Slowly and steadily Lorne pushed the stick forward. The speed dial approached 2,000 miles per hour with ease. He was a bullet in the sky now, everything around him blurring past too fast for him to register it. At that altitude the ground was a blur of browns and greens too, the symmetry of fields and structures he was so fond of traded off for the thrill of extreme speed.
"Two thousand miles per hour," Lorne reported.
And then moments, later "Two thousand two hundred ... two thousand five ... with no reduction in performance."
The 302 was handling the speed and Evan was convinced it had a lot more under the hood – even though as far as he was aware, barring space shuttle flights and unmanned rockets, he was going faster than any manned flight on record. "Flight, Test One ... ring Guinness."
"Test One, Flight ... we can do that ... just as soon as the words 'Classified project' lose their meaning."
"Yeah, I kind of thought you'd say that," Lorne returned, smiling to himself. "A guy can hope though ... and we're officially at three thousand miles per hour. This baby hasn't even broken a sweat ... whatever the geeks put under the hood works a treat."
"We'll be sure to pass on that feedback," the flight controller replied drolly. "Test One you are advised to reduce speed and return to base for debrief."
"Acknowledged," Lorne hesitated and then continued. "I don't suppose I can throw in a few manoeuvres on the way back, test out those inertial dampeners a bit more?"
"Not today Test One," Flight replied. Evan was sure he heard a note of amusement in the return, despite the negative response.
"Right, not today," he sighed, hoping he'd get the seat for when they did the full scale stability test.
The trouble with Groom Lake was that everything was classified. There were projects going on there that only a handful of people were cleared to know the details of. And apart from the X-302, Lorne wasn't cleared for any of them, which meant that large parts of the facility were off limits to him. He'd pull into the carpark, get cleared at the main desk and then be escorted via the most direct route to the hangar where the 302 was being developed.
When he wasn't involved in test flights, debriefs and planning sessions there wasn't a lot else for Evan to do at the facility. He wasn't accustomed to sitting around though so it was lucky he'd been assigned additional duties in training the newest batch of wannabe F-16 pilots at the Nellis base. None of the geek squad at Groom Lake cared what he did as long as he was ready to hop into the cockpit when they wanted to test something and he got to keep busy so it was a win-win situation for everyone.
The training role was a departure for Evan. He'd had a mentoring role a few times in the past, most recently in Afghanistan with Lieutenant Castles, but hadn't ever conducted full scale training. Surprisingly he found that he actually enjoyed it. The audience was usually super eager, intelligent and very keen to impress – training them hardly required any effort at all.
On his way to running them through the training session on pre- flight checks ... he still remembered how much of an effort that had been when he'd been learning ... Lorne stopped when he heard his name spoken in a tone of surprise.
Turning, his brow rose when he saw who it was ... Captain Tanya Reid.
"Ace," she said with a faint smile, that careless regard along with the memory of a past attraction shining in her eyes.
"That'd be Major Ace to you Captain," Evan replied, his expression friendly but not especially welcoming.
"Of course Sir," Tanya's posture straightened instinctively as she processed what that one sentence said about their standing with each other. She was just the job to him now ... he wasn't harbouring still unrequited feelings and he wasn't holding a grudge. There wasn't enough caring there for that ... Evan had simply greeted her as she'd expect from any superior officer who recognised her from previous professional contact.
"Still assigned to Nellis Captain?" Evan asked curiously, motioning for her to walk with him as he continued towards his classroom.
"Just returning Sir," Tanya revealed. "I did a tour in Iraq, spent some time back here in the States and now I'm back assigned to Red Flag again."
"Then I guess our paths would have crossed eventually anyway," Lorne offered. When she looked at him curiously he shrugged casually. "I'm helping with training the new F-16 class ... some of whom will be good enough to take part in the next Red Flag."
"I wouldn't have pegged you for a teacher ... Sir," Tanya hastily added the address at the end. It was tough to get used to being formal with someone who'd had their hands all over you ... even when you hadn't seen them for years.
"Neither would I Captain," Lorne said with a chuckle. "I was on the injured list for a couple of months – missed the boat on another tour of Afghanistan for the moment. Besides, training is particularly important right now ... there'll be a push for even more pilots to ship out, some of them a hell of a lot younger than we were for our first big tour." Arriving at his door he nodded. "This is mine." Stopping he turned to Tanya and said sincerely "it was nice to see you again Captain."
"You to Sir," Tanya returned. Evan smiled and then turned and disappeared into the classroom, his voice greeting the students just filtering out to her.
Her mind was awash with a host of impressions ... that the additional years and maturity sat particularly well on him, that he seemed so comfortable and sure in himself ... that she'd been a total fool when she'd pushed him away – even more so because if she were honest with herself she'd still felt that rush of connection while understanding with complete certainty that he hadn't felt the same. It galled to only understand what fear had driven her to give up after it was too late to do anything about it.
Looking at that closed door for a few moments, Tanya sighed sadly and then returned to duty, hoping she'd not run into Evan again. Having your own 'version' of the past erased by a bleak present wasn't something she wanted to repeat any time soon.
Lorne had enjoyed running the six recruits through the Falcon's pre flight checks, enjoyed seeing them all so cautiously ticking each off as they practised in a simulated classroom fashion. He'd hardly given his encounter with Tanya a passing thought, until class was over and he was along, clearing away his materials.
He'd felt nothing ... genuinely ... and that was the bit that surprised him the most ... and disturbed him a little too. She'd been the first woman to find a spot in his heart and at the time he'd really thought her to be 'the one', if he let himself believe in the concept of one right person for everyone. And yet a relatively short time later he felt nothing? Did that mean he'd never loved her in the first place or was it human nature's way of making sure a person could recover from the kind of disappointment he'd felt when she'd dumped him? Clearly love didn't conquer all, despite the positive press to the contrary ...
Not that he wasn't glad he'd felt nothing – since it would have been kind of awkward not to mention inappropriate now that he outranked her. He'd seen that casual way she addressed the world drop away when he'd pointed out his change in rank ... he couldn't have not done so, but being completely honest with himself a small part of him had wanted her to be both impressed and regretful that she'd let him 'get away'.
"Next I'll be selling tickets on myself," he shook his head at his thoughts and how arrogant they sounded. What was done was done and for the better given what he'd achieved since he'd left Nellis the first time. Maybe he wouldn't have done any of that but for Tanya Reid and the push she'd inadvertently given him.
Not that he'd be thanking her for that ...
Lorne wouldn't have said it aloud but he'd wondered more than once if the fates were conspiring to challenge Drew and Elaine with Drew's absence. First had been Elaine not finding out she was even pregnant until Drew had already left, followed by the training accident that had extended his tour. Since then there'd been more than one delay due to aircraft availability and glitches training the wing rotating in to replace Drew's. So when his computer pinged him with an incoming video call in the wee hours of the morning a few days before Drew was due to come home a part of him wasn't surprised to see his brother-in-law's face pop up on screen.
"Drew," Evan narrowed his eyes as he took in his friend's appearance and expression. Something had happened .... and it was bad. The only thing reassuring him was that Drew himself seemed to be unscathed.
"I need you to do me a favour," Drew launched straight into speech without the pleasantries.
"Of course," Evan immediately replied.
"Can you get a day off?" Drew didn't wait for the reply. "I want ... I need you to tell Elaine that ... damn it!" Looking down, Drew ran hands over his face and then looked back into the screen again, his eyes glistening slightly.
"What happened?" Evan asked quietly.
"We lost one," Drew said starkly. "Lieutenant Rochelle ... barely 26, first trip away from home. It should have been simple ... fly over, shake the ground a little, be back in time for breakfast. Fucking al-Qaida with their Afghan spies!" And suddenly he was angry, the emotion fairly simmering off him. "They knew we were coming ... sent a couple of AA's after us. I should have watched his tail closer but ....,"
"Wait, you were up there too?" Evan interrupted, sitting forward abruptly.
"Yeah," Drew ran a hand through his hair tiredly and this time Evan noticed the faint tremble.
"When was this?" A pilot killed in action was front line news but Evan had heard nothing.
"Today," Drew admitted, "just got back a couple of hours ago. Debriefed, filed my report for the investigation, and then just got out of there. I haven't even told the rest of the team yet. I should be thinking about that kid and his poor family but all I can think about was how I 'm going to tell Elaine I'm not coming home yet. A kid is dead and I'm thinking about myself!" Drew swallowed hard, close to the edge of emotions they both understood too well.
"I'll tell her in person - today," Evan promised, not sure how he'd make that happen but determined to do so. He paused, watching his friend struggling with his emotions and then spoke again, gently. "She'll want to talk to you, you know that right? You can't cushion this for her ... once she sees the news reports the first thing she's gonna think is that it could have been you."
"I know," Drew said angrily. "I know all right – and yeah, I should tell her myself but ... she's by herself there Evan. I can't drop this on her, tell her I can't leave even though they'd still let me, and not be able to comfort her."
"They didn't rescind your return papers?" Evan asked in surprise.
"They left it up to me," Drew laughed harshly. "Like I'd leave the rest of my wing to deal with this alone! He was such a character Evan ... he'd get a laugh out of anyone, no matter how dire the situation. Even if he wasn't so well liked this is going to be hard for the younger guys to deal with but ... but ... he was special, you know?"
"Hard for you to deal with too," Evan murmured. Drew had been Lieutenant Rochelle's lead man for the mission ... was the Canadian wing's commanding officer for the duration. Losing a man under any circumstances was difficult, but when you felt responsible for them, when the mission success was your responsibility too it was even harder.
"I'll stay until they send someone else ... until everyone is settled," Drew revealed. Sighing, he slumped tiredly in his chair. "This whole thing is fucked up ... that kid is dead and I don't even know whether we're making a difference here."
"You are," Evan insisted, leaning forward, his tone sincere. "To the simple families over there living with the impacts of al-Qaida and the Taliban every day it does make a difference. Even just seeing a jet flying over their village gives them hope Drew ... if nothing else that has to make it worthwhile."
"Maybe," Drew allowed. "I guess I'm finding it hard to see the value right now."
"Of course," Evan agreed. "And no one would expect you to. It sucks you lost a team mate and it sucks you have to stay over there a bit longer. Nothing's gonna make that right." He narrowed his eyes, looking at Drew closely. "You look like shit Drew ... did you even report to medical after your debrief?"
"Ah ...," Drew shrugged, evading.
"If you're gonna be any help to the rest of your wing you need to set the right example," Evan took it down to duty deliberately – not to Drew's country but directly, to his team mates – because he knew nothing else would motivate his brother-in-law to put personal considerations up there.
"I know," Drew glanced behind him, looking for someone, and then back to Evan. "I'll do that in a minute – I just ... I needed to make sure you'll take care of Elaine, tell her, make her understand I have to stay a bit longer."
"I'll tell her," Evan promised. "I don't know how yet but I will get a flight there this morning – if you get the chance maybe you could call Elaine while I'm there."
"Okay," Drew agreed. "I have to go find my guys – tell them what happened."
"I'm so sorry Drew," Evan said sadly. "I wish ...," he trailed off, knowing words weren't going to cut it in the circumstances.
"Yeah, me too," Drew said grimly. He paused, leaned forward and nodded purposefully. "Thanks Evan ... I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Okay," Evan sat there, watching the video wink out and a blank screen replace it.
A pilot getting killed in action, even one he didn't personally know, always raised the ghosts Evan carried inside. His Dad ... John ... the faces he'd never forget, the ones who reminded him to never take anything for granted. Looking at the computer clock – reading 3:30am – he wrote off the possibility of further sleep, instead grabbing the phone. He had a few calls to make if he was going to live up to his promise.