Sky Fighters

CHAPTER 5

I was greeted by a high-ranking general the next day as we prepared to lift off for America.

"A word of advice. We believe that Adolf Hitler and many high-ranking officials are stationed in a heavily guarded flying base. The base's location is unknown, but we assume it is guarded by hundreds of Anti-Aircraft guns and maybe larger cannons. It is patrolled by a dozen or so of the toughest ships in the arsenal. It flies 24/7, fueled by large tanks and regular supply drop offs of fuel. We believe there is even a medium sized airfield there with room for dozens of fighters."

And as quick as he came, he vanished.

"Who was that?" Michael said.

"Don't know. He gave me some very important information."

"Nico!" Abigail said running to Michael and I with a letter. "It's from America! A German Convoy is on it's way to them! We can catch them if we leave now!"

"Cast off the mooring lines! Joey! Get us to these coordinates!" I said giving him the paper.

In minutes we were airborne on our way to stop the convoy. It consisted of thirty freighters with bombs and payloads to drop them. It was guided by four cruisers. I heard the radio come on and went to see who it was.

"Captain Nico? I'm Captain James aboard my ship the Gale Force. We have been sent to help you. Coming up on your left. Over."

"Thank you. Over."

As soon as I put the radio mic down, I saw the ship on our left. It was almost as long as the Riptide. It glistened silver and red. I saw a young man in a hat similar to mine waving from the deck. Assuming he must have been the captain, I waved back. He didn't seem to be over twenty-five.

A day later at about 5:00 pm, Lucas looked up from the radar.

"This must be the convoy. Less than a day away from the coast." He said.

I contacted Captain James.

"James? This is Captain Nico. We found them. There are two cruisers in the back where we are. You take out the left cruiser, we get the right one. Over."

"Roger that. Over"

I saw the back of the convoy emerge in front of us.

Wait for it. Wait for it. Now!

"Fire!"

The cruiser was hit dead on in the stern. The front pointed at a 45 degree angle up. A few more shots and it started falling towards the ocean below. A minute later the other rear cruiser was on its way to meeting the same fate.

"James! You get every transport you can find. We'll take care of the other cruisers. Over."

I turned the wheel to the right and climbed so the ship was above the convoy. I reduced thrust on the left side fans to make the ship roll. That way the guns could shoot down on the cruiser in the upper left corner of the convoy. A few shots and both of the fans on one side broke off, leaving the ship rolling down to the ocean.

The last one had turned around and was heading for us. I went on the ship's speaker system and said a clear message to them.

"Every one of our guns are pointed at you. Shoot one bullet, and your ship goes down like a plane with no wings. If you want to live, exit in the lifeboats and leave your ship to us. Don't try anything funny. You have three minutes to decide."

Not even one minute passed before every lifeboat was filled and gone. Knowing they had no protection, the transport ships were left to hover while the crews abandoned them. I radioed in for more ships from America to take care of the transports. I put a dozen of my crew on the captured cruiser and they followed us and the Gale Force. When we were docking in New Jersey, a sixty or seventy foot long ship pulled up to us. A kid not younger than me jumped on and walked up to me.

"Captain Nico? I'm Captain Evan. This is my ship the Cuttlefish."

"First of all, hi. Second, why is your ship named that? Third, I have a nice captured German cruiser to give you to replace your, uh, beloved, uh, Cuttlefish."

"A captured cruiser? Really?"

"She's all yours."

I signaled for the cruiser to pull alongside Evan's beat-up patrol boat. He thanked me and his crew climbed aboard. Later the general said that we would be on patrol together. Standard patrol at night. Even though we had just taken out the convoy headed here, you never knew. That night was a normal night. No attacks, just darkness.