I am such a horrible person...
Another snippet featuring pilot Archerfish and her beloved Max!
11132: We don't know who is the culprit behind the current noise complaints but whoever it is better step forward before the battleships teach you a lesson. They are downright terrifying when they're sleep deprived.
Archerfish silently slipped into the hanger late after dinner. She had just returned from patrol and after filling her tanks, she was keen on getting some sleep. But there was a special someone she needed to see first.
"Hi Max." It was somewhat of a cliche name but Archerfish had never found another that suited the plane. As she closed the door and turned to face the semidarkness she felt the semi-Cold nose of her lover press to her chest. "Missed me?" She grinned.
Archerfish narrowed her eyes at the bright strobe flashing. She noted how the flashes followed a pattern, like signal lamps. "Of- course- I - did!"
Archerfish smiled. "Soon enough, Admiral Briggs will have you converted to a P8 and you can follow me everywhere."
"Please!Please!Please! When?!When?!When?!" Max bounced eagerly.
"Honey calm down." Archerfish rolled her eyes. "Your excitement is understandable but most of us are not capable of withstanding that kind of energy."
Max calmed down, a low whine sounding from her engines. Archerfish stroked her nose. "It's okay sweetie." She cooed.
Max dropped her nose, then thrust up pushing Archerfish up and over her cockpit and onto her back. With a carefully placed wingtip, Max flicked a switch and the large bay doors slid open. Max moved out onto the tarmac with Archerfish straddling the top of the fuselage just in front of the wings.
"Ah honey. I'm a ship. I'm not sure this is a good idea." Archerfish warned.
Max gave a soothing purr which was felt by her lover as a gentle shudder of the wings. She had no handholds and relied solely on her shafts for grip. Max taxied out to the runway and with a flick of her rudder in warning, through the power into her engines. Archerfish held on as best she could, her fists balled up so tightly her knuckles turned white.
Max lifted off into a cloud bank and Archerfish shivered at the cold moist air as the whispy gray clouds wreathed around her. She had only flown in clear weather and the clouds were like a band of destroyers, hunting her down...
Then, a gorgeous sight. Clear beautiful night sky! There were so many stars, more stars than Archerfish usually saw out on the overcast ocean. She dared a look below just as the clouds parted, giving her a view of the base below. It wasn't nearly as lit up as the city around it. Even with wartime regulations, a city as large as Norfolk still displayed a magnificent light show.
Despite the 200 knot headwind generated by Max's forward motion, Archerfish raised her arms and cheered. "THIS IS AMAZING!"
She was forced to hold on tight again as Max made a tight left turn out over the bay, giving her lover a perfect view of the fleet below, both shipgirls and steel hulls, before returning to the airfield.
Max pulled into her hanger with Archerfish still on her back. The submarine lay on her belly stroking Max with small circles drawn with her fingers. Max folded her gear, effectively "laying down."
When Archerfish climbed off she found herself snuggled between Max's wing and her fuselage. Once again the strobes blinked Morse at her and Archerfish needed Max to repeat her request twice because the first time was not believable.
She wanted to... with a submarine?! How would that even work anyways? Then again how did Kongo and Goto manage? Or Iku and Kamata? Admittedly one of them was human. But the same principles applied. One of the partners was more fragile than the other. And in this case with one being a little 300 foot long, 1500 ton submarine and the other 80000 ton airplane the status of fragile definitely fell to Archerfish.
As Archerfish settled at Max's side she pulled out a pair of earmuffs and placed them on her head. 737s had many great features that Max exemplified. They were well versed in the ins and outs of their business. As a plus the line had proven they could slip into tight spaces and drop good sized loads while multitasking from the hot and humid regions of the tropics to the colder tips of the arctic. For small airports or challenging runways the TOGA button was always useful, making a go around just when one thought they were coming in to land.
And of course when on approach those engines whined, a lot! Archerfish would need those earmuffs tonight. The rest of the base would soon get that memo.
