“Okay,” Jackal began. “I need everybody on the ball. Vixen, you on?”
A short pause later, Vixen replied, “I’m here.”
“Get me bogey dope on the Tucanos.”
“Stand by.” She paused for what seemed far too long to my racing mind. “One-eight-five for fifty, at five-thousand.”
Jackal repeated. “Bearing one-eight-five, fifty miles out, circling at five-thousand feet. Make sense, Lynx?”
I nodded. “I get it.”
“Good. Keep your master arm on. I’ll teach you about heat-seekers on a moving target.”
“But ours aren’t real missiles.”
“The Tucanos don’t know that. They’ll probably shit themselves as soon as they see MiGs fly in.”
As the airfield came into view, I saw them: A pair of turboprop airplanes, circling high above the runway, like vultures. Jackal spoke, “Going for close range. Put your radar in close combat mode and lock one of them up. I’ll take the other.”
A large circle appeared on my HUD. I moved it over one of the Tucanos and pressed the target designator. The circle followed the Tucano, which almost immediately turned out of its orbit and tried to evade me. “I’ve got him!”
“Good, Lynx. I have the other one. They know we’re locked-on now. Let’s see what they do.” The Tucano in front of me curved left and right, trying to shake me. It was no match for my MiG’s performance. I smiled inside my oxygen mask.
My confidence faltered as I heard a steady tone in my ears. I looked down and to the right to see my radar warning had lit up. “I-it’s got a lock on me!” I looked over my shoulder. Indeed, the other Tucano was chasing me, with Jackal behind it. “It’s got a lock on me!”
Jackal quickly came in over the radio, “Stay on your target, Lynx! I’ll push this guy tailing you.”
I panicked, evading right and losing my target. The radar warning in my ear stopped as I turned back toward where I had last seen Jackal. In the second and a half it took me to break the enemy’s lock, the Tucano I was chasing had circled around behind Jackal.
I pulled the stick hard to maneuver behind the Tucano, tensing my legs and my gut as the g-forces pushed me into the seat. As I locked on, I saw a Sidewinder missile launch from the enemy ahead, accelerating toward Jackal’s MiG. “Jackal! Missile!”
“I know!” Jackal’s MiG flew a corkscrew, launching a flurry of decoy flares as it circled back onto its target. The missile took the bait, chasing a flare and harmlessly rocketing off into the distance. “If you’re on the guy, squeeze off a missile and see if you can scare him off. Let’s push these guys outta here.”
“Unicorn Two, fox two!” I pulled the trigger and a missile left my wing, tearing toward the Tucano in my sight. It banked hard, launching decoy flares into the air. Inverting, it dove to gain airspeed and accelerated to the west.
“Unicorn One, fox two!” Jackal declared over the radio as I saw a missile launch from his fighter, frightening the other Tucano into a similar dive as it dumped flares. It joined its wingman in retreating west.
“Good job,” Jackal praised as we watched the Tucanos run, “looks like they’re bugging out. We’ll orbit for a few minutes to make sure they’re gone, then get back on the ground.”
As the two of us established an orbit above the airfield, Jackal spoke again over the radio, “Listen, this wasn’t part of the plan, but you did good.”
I shook my head. “I completely chickened out and ignored your instructions! How is that ‘good’?”
“You did that in a plane with play-pretend weapons against planes with real weapons and you’re still alive. Both of us are. That means you did good. You got scared, sure, but you realized you peeled off of your target and re-engaged, which is why he didn’t get a second shot off. You’ve got good instincts. That could’ve gone a lot worse, but I’m grateful it didn’t. Thanks for the save back there, Lynx.”
I sighed, part in relief and part in lingering disappointment in myself. “Thanks, Jackal.”
As we banked left into our orbit, I looked left outside the canopy, down toward the airfield. The airfield looks almost as dead as when Shizuka and I first arrived. Nothing was moving. Nobody was outdoors. It looked as though all the people had vanished in the middle of work.
Jackal and I entered the conference room, shutting the door behind us. Mama Bear sat at the end of the table, her head in her hands, muttering to herself as Vixen and Shizuka sat nearby, patting her back. Vixen looked up as Jackal and I sat down. “You made sure they’re gone?”
“They’re gone. For sure.”
“For good?” Mama Bear interrupted, looking up at Jackal hopefully.
Jackal looked at me, then back at Mama Bear. “Unfortunately, probably not. They know there’s something here worth defending now, so they’ll be back at some point. And they’ll bring more friends and better planes.”
Mama Bear let out a yell and plopped her head back into her hands. “I didn’t budget for air defenses! And if they find out our fighters aren’t real, they’ll just take what they want! This place was supposed to be quiet and out-of-the-way! The whole thing’s ruined if they come back!”
Shizuka looked to Jackal. “Is there anything we can do? Anything at all?”
Jackal put his chin in his hand and shook his head. “Unless we have the cash to hire some combat pilots and their planes, it’s gonna be really difficult. Is there anything we can sell in short order to get some extra money?”
Mama Bear shook her head. “No. Everything’s already been allocated. We have surplus food and water just in case, and stuff like that, but nothing worth much.”
“Jackal,” Vixen interrupted, “don’t you have some friends from years back who owe you a big favor?”
Jackal’s eyes locked on to Vixen. Otherwise, he didn’t move. “That was half a decade ago, Yuzu.”
“And they keep their word, Merlon.” Vixen looked at Mama Bear. “Mama Bear, do you think our facilities can support at least two real fighter jets in addition to our MiGs?”
Mama Bear didn’t speak, but nodded. Vixen looked back to Jackal. “Give them a call. Explain the situation, and I’m sure they’ll fly in as soon as they can to help.”
Jackal shook his head. “I’m not gonna call them. Not over this. Lynx and I will keep chasing them off.”
“You know that won’t work. Besides, you’re training Lynx to be a performer, not a mercenary. You’re gonna expect her to keep chasing off more Tucanos in better airplanes with a jet built for airshows and mock combat? That’s not fair to her.” She looked at me, then back at Jackal.
Jackal sighed. “If we can find a way to get enough money, maybe we can buy some real missiles. Our MiGs still use the same firing mechanisms. It should work.”
Vixen scoffed. “Sure, bring more cargo planes to land here. And attract more bandits doing that. Unless we also have the money to hire escorts for them, which you know we don’t. Besides, are you expecting Lynx to fight for real now?”
“Of course not! I’d carry the real missiles while Lynx trains.”
“And what happens if you get shot down doing that? That leaves both the airfield and Lynx defenseless. We need help. You’re being selfish.” She crossed her arms. “What’re you saving this favor for, anyway? You plan on being a combat pilot? Again?”
“Again?” I asked, though Vixen continued as If I hadn’t, standing up and heading for the door.
“Call them, or else this entire operation is screwed and it’ll be all your fault.” With that, Vixen left the room. Her heeled boots could faintly be heard clicking across the terminal floor as she walked away.
Without a word, Jackal stood up and left the room.
Shizuka patted Mama Bear’s back. “Are you gonna be okay, Mama Bear?” Mama Bear nodded, her head still buried in her hands. “Okay. Lynx and I are gonna go find something to eat. Call us if you need us, okay?” Mama Bear nodded again.
Shizuka and I stood and left the room. As we walked toward the door of the terminal building, Shizuka sighed. “That was scary. Though, I can’t imagine how scary it must’ve been for you up in the air.”
“Having Jackal with me helped. I wouldn’t have been able to make it on my own, I’m sure.”
“Speaking of which,” Shizuka mentioned as we passed through the sliding doors, “Jackal and Vixen have a past together, don’t they?”
“Sure looks like it. He called her ‘Yuzu.’”
“And she called him by his first name. She mentioned last week she used to fly a fighter. And you saw how she did in the simulator.”
“Yeah, but Jackal told me that he isn’t a combat pilot.”
“But if he isn’t, then where did he learn how to fly a fighter?”
“Good question. He knows what he’s doing, that’s for sure.”
As we approached the food supply truck, Shizuka brought her hand to her chin. “Well, he’s for sure keeping something from us. And I think Vixen knows too. She’s just subtle about it.”
I returned to my trailer as the sun was setting. As I opened the door, I heard my phone chime. I reached into the breast pocket of my flight suit and tapped it awake.
I had received a text message from Jackal, telling me that we wouldn’t be flying until we could figure out a way to deal with the Tucanos. I gave a disappointed sigh and sat down on my bed, sending Shizuka a text message.
“Just heard from Jackal. We’re grounded until the Tucanos go away.”
“That sucks! Does he have a plan to chase them out for good?”
“Dunno. Not sure what I should do tomorrow. I guess I can still explore the MiG.”
“Hopefully this clears up soon.”
“Yeah, hopefully.”
The next day, after breakfast, I entered the hangar. I looked left, toward the table Jackal and I sat at. He was nowhere to be found. With a sigh, I walked over to the wall and lifted the stepladder off of it, carrying it over to my MiG and placing it near the canopy. I climbed to the top and stepped onto the plane.
Carefully walking toward the rear, I stopped at the root of the MiG’s spine and decided to lay down, my head toward the back of the plane. Soon enough, I drifted off to sleep.
I hadn’t heard the door open, but Vixen’s voice stirred me awake.
“The MiG-29 usually doesn’t have a grounded pilot napping on the empennage, but today it does.” I rolled over. Vixen and Shizkua were standing behind my plane, looking up at me. Vixen smiled. “How’re you doing today, Lynx?”
“Bored,” I replied. I stood up and jumped down off of the plane. “What’re you two doing here?”
“I figured if the MiGs aren’t flying, I thought it’d be a good opportunity to familiarize Shizuka with the airplanes. The flight queens are there to look pretty for the cameras, but they’re also spokeswomen, so they have to know about what the pilots are flying. Care to give us a walkaround? If you’re not too busy, that is?”
I chuckled. “Luckily, my schedule is clear. Though who knows when Jackal might show up and find some assignment for me.”
Vixen walked up to the back of the plane, her hand to her chin. “I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that today.” She pointed to the fairing in the center of the MiG’s rear end. “What’s this thing?”
“Vixen,” Shizuka asked, “didn’t you used to fly a fighter plane?”
Vixen winked at Shizuka. “I’m asking for you, so we can get started. Tell me about this part, Lynx.”
“That’s the parachute fairing. And around it is the airbrake.”
“A parachute?” Shizkua asked, “in case the plane is falling?”
I shook my head. “It’s to slow the plane down when landing. And usually only if the runway is short or the weather is bad.”
I continued walking around the MiG with Vixen and Shizuka, showing them every part of the plane and explaining what I knew about it. I pointed to the three remaining heat-seekers left over from yesterday and explained how the missiles worked. I explained the IRST system, and how it could be used to lock onto a target without alerting the target that they’d been locked. I even climbed up into the cockpit and explained the instrument panel to Shizuka, just like Jackal had explained it to me the first night.
Soon enough, however, they had to leave and continue their training. I was left to languish, wandering around the airfield, mingling with the ground crew, going for a jog around the taxiway. All day, even as I returned to my trailer at sunset, Jackal was nowhere to be found.