CHAPTER 4: SPIKE

CARRIER SAO PAULO, VICINITY OF RIO, 1930 HOURS, BRIEFING ROOM

"... And so, we'll arrive in the Rio harbor in 0700 hours. Then, you will have a week out, all of you. You are dismissed."

And with that, the whole briefing room shook with cheers from the pilots that have finally got some free time to spend. But just then, Major Rodriguez called out.

"Lieutenant Sandravel? Come here for a second." With that, Sandravel turned to him.

"Yes, sir?"

"Listen, Pedro. There's one more thing you must do before you go."

Pedro was a little confused. Major said that he will let him go after a patrol flight or two.

"And what is it?"

"Listen... The Brits are asking us to do a favor for them. It's pretty big, and you are the chosen one. You can reject if you want, i will understand you."

"Uh, sir, can you tell me more? I can't reject it if i don't know nothing about it."

"Sure. British undercover agents found out that de Mayo is active, and it's currently on a testing run in Argentine waters. Brits intended to spy on it using their satellite, but it malfunctioned and it can't be used anymore. Turns out it was a pretty old one. So, Brits are asking us to make a quick recon run, take a few photos of it, and return to our carrier."

"I understand sir, but how will the British return the favor?"

"Well, in case of an accident, they will cover it up, saying that it was a exercise between you and the Falkland- based fighters. Now, do you accept it or not?"

Pedro was in a puzzle. It was a pretty dangerous mission. A little misunderstanding and he could get shot down. But in the other side, it was and honor to be chosen for this kind of mission. The decision finally fell.

"I accept it."

"Good. The mission start at midnight, and you will be stripped of anything, except for the recon pod. This mission is top-secret, and you will not talk about it until you return from it. Got it?"

"Yes sir!"

"Good, prepare yourself, and be in the main hangar in 2345 hours."

CARRIER MAIN DECK, CATAPULT NUMBER ONE, 0000 HOURS.

"Alright,parrot one. Your'e in the green zone. Conduct last system check, and wait for further orders." Control voice boomed through his ears, as he was parked and "hooked on" to the catapult.

'OK,let's see... Fuel, check. Engine, check. Electronics, check. Avionics,check. Hydraulics,check. Flight control system, check. Ejecting system, check. Radar, check. Counter-measures, check. And recon-pod, check.'

"This is Parrot, everything is OK."

"This is control, output to maximum, you will be launched in a few seconds."

With that, he pushed the throttle to the max, as the catapult boosted him. In a few seconds, he was flying 200 knots and he took off. As soon as he was fast enough,he retracted his landing gear and flaps.

"This is control, turn at your eight o' clock and climb to 8 thousand feet. Good luck."

"This is Parrot,roger that. I'll need it." Pedro mumbled the last part as he climbed up.

40 MINUTES LATER

'Well, it's time to drop down.'

"This is Parrot, dropping altitude to 500 feet." He then started descending in a angle of 25 degrees. He was going to get under the radar coverage of the Argentine coastal radars,so he could fly

"Control, here. We have received reports that there may be some Argentine patrol boats. Switch your radar to ground-tracking mode and exercise caution."

"Roger that-"

But as he finished his sentence, his radar picked up something. It was about 10 miles in front of him, and it was moving about 15 knots.

"Control, i have picked up something. Probably a patrol boat 10 miles inf front of me. What should i do?"

There was a silence for a moment, but then control came in.

"This is control, evade it before it detects you."

"Ro- Oh,shit!"

His radar warning system indicated it obtained a lock on him. Once he activated his night-vision goggles, he spotted a warship, probably a destroyer about 8 miles in front of him. He checked his altimeter. It read- 4000 feet and descending.

"This is Parrot, radar spike! A destroyer has obtained a lock on me!"

"A destroyer? But your'e still outside from Argentine waters! Abort mission,and return home immediately!"

Pedro switched to full thrust and turned 180 degrees. Just then, he saw something flash behind him. Instantly, master alarm and radar warning system went off. As the realisation dawned upon him, he started firing chaff and calling over the radio.

"This is Parrot, missile inbound! Performing evasive maneuvers!"

The ship that just fired at him was the Almirate Brown-class missile destroyer. It's anti-aircraft armament consists of one 8-cell Albatross launcher for the Aspide missiles, a Italian version of the American AIM-7 Sparrow,and 4 double Boffors 40mm anti-aircraft/CIWS guns.

As he performed a high-g barrel roll, he punched more chaff, until the master alarm stopped. The missile missed him,but he still had that radar warning system blinking. And after a few seconds, all the alarms ceased.

"I'm okay, returning home. Phew..."

I WILL BE ABSENT FOR A WEEK, BUT I ASK MY FANS AND READERS TO FOLLOW THIS STORY AND REVIEW IT. WHEN I RETURN,I 'LL BE BACK WITH A NEW CHAPTER.

TiPoDiRaMartin,

out(hail Batista)