The Sky and the Stars - Tom and Sarah Kazansky

-2-

When Sarah arrived at the base the next morning, she hung back, not eager to engage with any of the officers. That was until she spotted the blonde woman in the skirt and blazer. 

She quickly approached her.  "Oh thanks goodness! I was worried I wouldn't see another woman for weeks!"

"We ladies have got to stick together." 

"Agreed!"

The woman smiled and held out her hand.  "Charlie, instructor."

"Sarah, aeronautics analyst." They shook hands. That's when she recognized the blonde.  "You were the one the pilots were all singing to last night at the bar."

Charlie chuckled.  "You saw that, did you?

"Saw it and heard it." Another chuckle.  "How'd it work out?"

"For me? Or him?"

Now it was Sarah's turn to chuckle. "Think he'll be one of these guys?"

"Oh, I'm counting on it. Can't wait to see the look on his smug face."

"Smug is right. He was flirting with me before you - well, tried I should say. I was there taking down everyone's names and introducing myself, which now I'm reconsidering altogether."

"Anyone I should avoid, besides lover boy?"

"All of them."

The ladies shared a laugh. 

"Yeah," said Sarah.  "I'm not going to let some big shot pilots ruin this chance for me."

"That's the spirit!"

Thankfully for her, her role was mostly an observational role from now on, collecting data to send to her supervisors. She didn't have to interact with the cocky, loud, horny pilots. She'd had enough of those already, but was going to have some stories to tell her team back home, that was for sure.

One of the commanding officers stepped forward to the front  of the room, addressing the pilots. "Good morning. Besides ourselves, you will be trained and evaluated by a few civilian specialists. The civilians are here because they are our very best source of information on enemy aircraft. One of our most qualified is your instructor, Callsign: Charlie. She has a Ph. D. in astrophysics.  You'd better listen to her because the Pentagon listens to her about your proficiency."

It was pretty funny watching Maverick's expression as Charlie strode up to the front of the room. By the looks of it, Charlie was trying to contain a smile regarding this as well. 

"And we also have a special guest with us from NASA: Sarah Coleman."

Oh - she wasn't expecting an introduction besides her own last night. She'd figured she would just be more in the background.  Guess not. Now all heads turned to her and she gave a brief little wave to the sea of men's gazes.

"She will be collecting flight data during the duration of your training. That's all. It's all yours, Charlie."

"Thank you." Charlie took the floor.

Following her introduction, the pilots were instructed to get out to the tarmac. Everyone was more than eager to do so, eager to be back up in the air. 

"You didn't say goodbye last night."

Sarah jumped a little and turned to who was speaking to her.  Tom Kazansky. He had come to see her on his way out. "Oh - well you got pulled away and I really had to get going. Had a lot to prepare for today."

"Remember me?" Maverick had approached Charlie.

"How could I forget," the blonde responded. 

Maverick grinned. "That's what I like to hear!"

Charlie met eyes with Sarah and shook her head amusedly.  

Tom too was shaking his head, but not in an amused way.  "That one's dangerous."

"Yeah, well, you could say that about everyone here."

"Do you think I'm dangerous?"

"Yes, yes I do. Goodbye, Tom. Good luck up there."

(Felt that was a good place to end things for now ;) 

I can't keep up with all the reads! Thank you so much!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :))