Chapter 4
The results from Scofield were impressive, and Knocker followed through on his promise by bringing the Golem and Mage teams to a nearby restaurant for a small victory party.
Just like the Hard Deck, the bar is also located near the camp of the Top Gun, and the business here is booming, thanks to the frequent visits of these soldiers, even Trigger, who had only been in the camp a few days, knew where to go.
Trigger got there early, sitting in a rather inconspicuous corner, drinking ice water. If it wasn't for Knocker, Trigger would never have come to a place called a restaurant but really a bar-even though as a student he'd heard about the"Tradition" of bars at military schools and around barracks, but he had no idea what it meant to drink, whether it was good for his health or whether he was just waking up on the other side of the corner that evening, not knowing when he was going to pass out on his (P.S. alcoholics) ? He doesn't understand. He really doesn't understand.
Just then the bar's gate was pushed open and it was Brownie. At first, she did not notice Trigger at the corner. When she walked in and looked around, she saw that the wine putty was wobbling on the seat and was talking to the boss who was trying to help him up, brownie instinctively took a half step back as if he had seen something weird. Watching the boss pick up the putty and greet her with a smile, a strong smell of alcohol and vomit wafted up his nose as he walked past her. Seeing this, she could only smile and nod awkwardly in response. After watching the boss throw the wine putty out of the store, she finally noticed Trigger, who was sitting quietly in the corner.
Brownie is not good at talking to people - neither is Trigger. And she was very sure, and sure, that Trigger had seen her embarrassed just now. But Trigger didn't seem to take the little incident at the bar door to heart. He just beckoned the waiter to bring him another glass of ice water. Although captain Knocker paid for the meal himself, for the sake of his own money, it was better to drink some free ice water before ordering.
Brownie sat down next to Trigger, crossed his hands on the table, and glanced at Trigger from time to time. Trigger's response to Brownie was the fact that she had been seen through by Trigger-and Brownie hadn't really been to places like this.
"Just you wait," Trigger said, uncharacteristically, to ease Brownie's embarrassment. Of course Trigger wasn't embarrassed. He didn't care. However, Brownie so a stir, the atmosphere has inevitably moved towards embarrassment, in order to prepare for the rainy day, Trigger took the initiative to speak, broke the deadlock.
Knocker, meanwhile, has just finished debriefing his immediate supervisor and is leaving the office. The news that the Erusea launched drones into the field is not a rumor. After seeing the nimble, accurate and efficient flying fish, a sense of crisis came over them, the advantages of drones are obvious: they have plenty of room to carry a lot of ammunition and fuel without the cabin; they don't need a pilot, and the deadliest overload for a pilot is negligible It could be disguised as supplies and transported by container to the battlefront, achieving high efficiency, speed and precision, and outperforming the fighters that needed to be deployed and prepared for take-off.
As much as it pains me to admit it, Knocker has a pretty lousy view of drones. It's not so much bad as disgusting - and it's not just the Knocker. When a creature that knows it is inanimate acts like a human being. There may be a uncanny valley effect, or a similar psychological effect at play, and humans must be instinctively fearful of such undisguised objects.
As Air Force pilots, we fly the goal is undoubtedly to kill the enemy, to complete the task. As human beings, we all have more or less the illusion of flight. The presence of drones strips that fantasy away, forcing pilots engaged in drone combat to cross over and confront the deep-seated fear of losing everything - at least according to Golem 4, that's what the army psychotherapist told him.
Knocker hopped into the jeep, ignoring the Clown who had been waiting for him, and methodically closed the door, started the car, turned on the radio, and let the radio play meaningless pop music.
"You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain"
"Too much love drives a man insane"
"You broke my will"
"But what a thrill"
"Goodness gracious great balls of fire!"
While waiting for the waiter to serve the dishes, Clown found the piano in the corner of the bar, which had been idle for a long time. Due to neglect, it was obviously not as accurate as it had been before, has long since gone astray to the other side of the ocean's Yuktobania. But even within the confines of the device, smooth music was streaming down Clown's fingers. At this point, Knocker had completely lost his serious image as a squadron leader. He put Trigger on his shoulder, held his wallet in his other hand, and pointed to an old photo in his wallet. It was a picture of the Knocker family. He introduced his family to Trigger with some pride, but Trigger didn't listen to a word of it-his impression of the family was so vague that he only had a snapshot of it in his memory, more then can not recall.
Mindful of the wartime ban on alcohol, everyone tacitly chose non-alcoholic drinks, and even the set menu avoided anything that might include cocktails. It's a shame we can't drink to celebrate this victory, but it doesn't stop everyone from toasting, sparkling water swaying in the glass, and the sound of the glasses clinking.
Trigger drove the Knocker's car, the sound of clinking glasses still ringing in his ears. He glanced at the crowd in the rearview mirror. Although we did not drink, but the hard work of the day has been washed away by this celebration. Even Trigger felt that if he could lie down now, he would fall asleep right away.
Trigger rolls down the window, puts one hand on the window and lets the breeze blow into the cab.
With no traffic in front or behind, he reached out and spread his fingers. The air ran through his fingers, and the resistance in his hands made him hold something, a fist, but nothing.
For some reason, he suddenly remembered how he felt when he was flying.
Happy? Hard to say. Free? Just doing my job. Then why was he in the air?
"Because if we end the fight in time, fewer people will die," he said, blurting out his thoughts.
He quickly looked in the rearview mirror to make sure no one was woken up, and was relieved.
Do you think too much? Trigger stared at the road, watching the changing buildings and the surrounding landscape. He suddenly felt more comfortable driving than flying-the sky was always there, though it was always beautiful. And the warning signs that just passed, the crumbling garage, the company of people, perhaps one day they will disappear.
Is that sentimental? Who knows, maybe"Flying on the ground" made Trigger feel happier and freer than flying? No one knows, even Trigger himself is hard to say, perhaps his tired body does not allow his confused mind to think anything. When the stars were not so conspicuous by the warning lights, Trigger finally led them back to the garrison base.
A gathering like tonight was only occasional. The crowd still rushed back to the base before curfew. Trigger, who was still sober, parked the Jeep and woke up his comrades, who were sleeping soundly in the backseat, he handed the keys back to Knocker and got out of the car to go back to his dorm room.
Brownie didn't seem to be sleepy. She didn't go back to her cell as soon as Trigger did. Instead, she turned a corner at a fork in the road, the turn dragged the heavy oneself to the rest room which had not yet fallen lock. She closed the door, turned on a small light in the corner, and nestled herself into the soft sofa. The soft cream-colored light spread through Brownie's hair like a warm undercoat. Outside the French window, fighter jets from Fort Grey were moving up and down the runway.
They took off in an orderly manner, under the command of the tower and the AWACS. Brownie looked out of the window, but couldn't get up.
She remembers being on a mission during the day when the wreckage of a drone crashed into a residential area. She remembered the neighborhood - flying low over it, she saw her mother scurrying away from the apartment building with her baby in her arms. She hoped that the mother and son had not been affected by the war, and she also hoped that she could control the place where the drone crashed, so that when the mother and son returned home, they would see a home full of life, not the burning wreckage of a drone or the rubble of a home.
As a soldier, she had early awareness, but did not expect this awareness used too early.
Knock, Knock, Knock. Brownie paid no attention. She just listened to the footsteps approaching. The man walked in, it was Knocker - he had noticed Brownie's strange state, saw Brownie walking alone to the break room, he was more sure of his judgment, and he didn't go back to his room to rest, first come to do for their wingman psychological counseling.
"Brownie -" Knocker looked at her, not saying much, just looking for something, pretend You've lost something in the break room: "Have You Seen My Hat? It's Just A, uh, regular cap."
Brownie ignored him, just glanced at him, then returned to his daze. Seeing that, Knocker didn't say anything. Instead, he said something ineffectual, "Hey, Clown and his wife got into an argument again on the phone after the mission today..."
"Clown's wife, too, said something about quitting early and going back to a safer job. It's too dangerous to die on the front lines," said Knocker, sounding like a grandmother, rummaging around for his"Hat".
"But look, there's a war going on," said Knocker, pulling open an empty drawer and pretending there was something in it, "We soldiers can't just say we won't fight. We're already soldiers. What can we do?"
"All we pilots can do is finish the mission earlier and keep the people who live in peace away from such a terrible war," he said, knocker finally flips over a cap that someone left in the break room, grabs it in his hand, and throws it: "Ah! Found it."
Knocker clutching his hat, walks over to Brownie, looks at Brownie, looks at the hat in his hand, smiles awkwardly and says, "The sooner this war is over, the fewer people will die, won't They?"
With that, Knocker turned to leave, and before he did, he saw the warm light shining on Brownie, giving her a cream-colored halo. So he closed the door gently, slowly, with a barely audible motion, letting the spring of the lock spring back in.
On the way back to his dorm, Knocker realized that Clown was still a bachelor, but that didn't matter-at least enough to enlighten Brownie. Brownie, he knew, would probably make it on his own, as a growing teenager would say to his parents, "I need to be alone.".
Give Brownie time to think about it. She may have grown up to be a terrible adult, or an old bird pilot, just like a teenager.