Untamed Flame || R. Floyd

15

She wakes up the next morning bright and early. The sun is starting to rise over the horizon. Finley has her hand on her husband's bare chest, her head in the crook of his neck. Bob's nose is embedded into her hair, the scent filling his nose.

Her eyes peer open. She tugs at the blanket pulling it close to her naked body. She slowly flips over viewing the clock on the nightstand.

"Oh shit! We're gonna be late."

"Wha?" Bob groans into a pillow. She takes one from her side hitting Bob in the head. "Ow! What the hell was that for?"

She stands up taking her uniform off the hanger. "We're going to be late. Hurry up!"

They jump into action getting ready. In under thirty minutes, they are ready and out the door. To ensure they get there on time they take the same car.

As they walk into the room her eyes meet Phoenix. She's sure their tiredness shows with droopy eyes and their carefree attitude.

"Did you have sex?"

"Finley!"

"Just asking." She tries to ease the mood. "You look like you still have sex hair. Wait, did you guys do it?"

Phoenix smoothed down her hair. She groans angrily. "I was sure I got all of it." She faces her. "This stays between us."

Finley laughs at her handing her a cup. "Coffee, trust me you need it."

"Thanks," she grumbles.

"Did you do it at your apartment? Oh! Maybe my parent's house, that would be sick. Did they find out?"

Nat glares at her from the side. "Bradley's my roommate and there's no way we did it at your parent's house. That's just disturbing."

She gums sipping her own cup. "That would be weird. So then, where did you go?"

"Got a hotel room not far from here for the night. You're going to hold this over me forever, aren't you?"

"Nah, I will with my brother though."

"You are the human version of period cramps."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

She rolls her eyes at Finley. "You're a terrible person."

"I know it keeps me up at night. Go to the others," she gestures to the opposite side of the room seeing Maverick. The look of displeasure covers his face. "Something's up with him. I have to go."

She says her brief goodbyes to Nat before walking over to Maverick. Bates and Simpson are in front of the screen talking between themselves as everyone gets situated. Keeping her voice low, she asks, "what's going on?"

"The mission has been moved up. We have to move forward."

Her jaw slacks. "What! But they—"

"I know, but we don't have a choice. Are you okay, you look tired."

She goes silent looking away with a blush. She finishes her coffee tossing it into a garbage can. "Eh, I got laid."

"I didn't need to know that."

"You asked."

"I asked if you were okay."

"Oh I'm good, very good," she winks at him. He fakes a gag making her chuckle.

Captain Bates steps forwards as all the pilots take their seats. "Good morning. The uranium enrichment plant that is your target will be operational earlier than expected. Raw uranium will be delivered to the plant in ten days. As a result, your mission has been moved up one week to avoid contaminating the target valley with radiation."

Her husband meets her eyes and he swallows hard. He tells the admiral, "sir, no one here has successfully flown a low-level course."

"Nevertheless, you've been ordered to move on. Captains."

Maverick takes the lead telling them, "we have one week left to focus on phase two. It's the most difficult stage of the mission. It's a pop-up strike with a steep dive, requiring nothing less than two consecutive miracles."

Knowing the next steps to the mission, Finley steps in front of them. "Two pairs of F-18s will fly in a welded wing formation. Teamwork. Precise coordination of these aircraft is essential to both the mission's success and your survival. As you know, the plant rests between two mountains. On the final approach, you'll invert directly into a steep dive. This allows you to maintain the lowest possible altitude and the only possible attack angle. Your target is an impact point less than three meters wide," she can see the concern on their faces as she mentions the extreme lengths it takes for this mission. "The two-seat aircraft will paint the target with a laser bull's-eye. The first pair will breach the reactor by dropping a laser-guided bomb on an exposed ventilation hatch. This will create an opening for the second pair. That's miracle number one."

"The second team will deliver the kill shot... and destroy the target. That's miracle number two. If either team misses the target... the mission is a failure. Egress is a steep high-g climb out to avoid hitting this mountain."

Hangman points out their concern, "a steep climb at that speed, you're pulling at least eight g's."

"Nine, minimum," Finley tells him.

"The stress limit of the f-18's airframe is 7.5," that statement from Rooster is pointed at Maverick.

"That's the accepted limit," he says. "To survive this mission, you'll pull beyond that, even if it means bending your airframe. You'll be pulling so hard, you'll weigh close to 2,000 pounds, your skull crushing your spine. Your lungs implode like an elephant's sitting on your chest, fighting with everything you have just to keep from blacking out."

Finley shakes her head crossing her arms over her chest. "This is where you'll be at your most vulnerable. This is coffin corner. Assuming you avoid crashing into this mountain, you'll climb straight up into enemy radar while losing all of your airspeeds."

They stare wide-eyed at her. It's not about the parameters set for the mission. It's a surprise to them that she's been through it already, that is at least, something like it.

"Within seconds, you'll be fired upon by enemy sams. You've all faced sustained g's before, but this...
this is gonna take you and your aircraft to the breaking point," she adds.

"Sir," Phoenix speaks up quietly, "is this even achievable?"

Maverick pauses thinking of the right response. Finley takes it as an opportunity to answer. "The answer to that question will come down to the pilot in the box." Her eyes drift between Phoenix, Payback, and Rooster.