Excerpt #3

This is the third installment of excerpts from the new story I am working on... Enjoy!



USS RONALD REAGAN, MEDITERRANEAN SEA 22 JUNE 2010 1124HRS

The flight deck hums with activity. Ordnance teams arm aircraft as they are being fuelled, while pilots finish their briefings. The entire ship is alive with the actions of war.

In her own world stands a petite red-haired woman, her thoughts drifting back in time. She remembers that terrible day nearly a decade ago: The day she lost nearly everyone who mattered in her life. Orphaned and alone, the teenaged Maria LeBarne was bereft of all support and comfort. On that day, her destiny was decided. She swore to destroy that which, to her, was responsible for the loss of her parents, grandparents, brothers and baby sister.

It was the baby sister she was most sorry for, and angry about. Leanna was only a month old on September 11, 2001. She and her parents and grandparents were due back from Washington, DC that evening, having spent a week with her brothers, both of whom worked at the Pentagon. How ironic it was that the instrument of her brothers' demise was the exact plane on which the rest of her family was due to come home on. It was not lost on her that the entire family died in the same fiery crash. All but her brother Arnold, who survived the initial attack. He lived long enough for her to get to DC to see him. She remembers, too, the last words he spoke to her.

"Ain't that a bitch?! The plane used to kill us was the one Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa and baby Leanna was on... You're the one, Maria... make us proud..."

He died right afterward. She cried and mourned, and the day after she buried the entire family. She swore to avenge them all.

She came back to the present and walked toward her F/A-18. Today's targets were all in Cairo, but it had been standing orders that mosques were off limits. They were to go after strictly military targets; a restriction that rankled her. Orders were orders, however, and she always successfully fought the urge to destroy a mosque or two.

The word came down, however, that the misson had been changed. As Maria climbed into the cockpit, CPT Jonas called her up. "Intelligence has reported that Gen. Ibn Bin-Qadi will be at the Grand Mosque at 1500 local time. You, LT LeBarne, are tasked with taking him out. Happy Hunting!"

The day Maria had dreamed of for almost nine years had come. She would have her revenge. Her family would soon be able to rest in peace.

Minutes later, as she took off, Maria thought about all the dead the Islamofascists had made so. Her trian of musing was interrupted by a yelp of surprise.

"We got inbound aircraft at 50 miles!" a voice called out.
"I'm on it!" announced another pilot.

Streaking ahead of the formation, two F-14s raced for the threat. At ten miles out from the Egyptian coastline, the first of the enemy MiGs fired. The second F-14 dove sharply, causing the missile to skid across the sky as it followed the escaping fighter.

The action now became fast and furious as the two groups of aircraft joined battle. One of the F/A-18s fired, and a MiG and pilot ceased to exist. Another MiG turned away and fled south toward Cairo. By this time, however, LT Maria LeBarne and her wingman, LJG Watson Andros were past Alexandria and beginning the bomb run.

"Target Acquired," LT LeBarne announced.
"Acknowledged, Lieutenant," Andros replied.
"5...4...3...2...1...Bombs Away!"
"All right, Maria, let's get on out..."

Andros never finished the statement, as his plane blossomed into a bright orange fireball. The force of the blast flipped Maria's fighter, which, incidentally, saved her. Two missiles aimed at her flew away to the greater source of heat: the fireball that had once been Lieutenant Junior Grade Watson Andros.

Maria regained control of her aircraft. In a matter of seconds, she turned, fired, and sent one of the offending Islamofascists right to Hell.

In the Grand Mosque, General Ibn Bin-Qadi knelt, prostrated himself, and began his prayers. In his supreme confidence, Bin-Qadi was oblicious to the crash of a 2000-lb napalm bomb through the dome of the mosque. Bin-Qadi saw only the bright yellow light in front of his face, and felt very warm, indeed. His clothing began to burn, and finally, his skin and hair. The last sensations he had were searing heat, intensifying pain, and the smell of his own flesh roasting.

The second bomb had missed its mark, slamming into a hospital nearby. Flames swept through the halls and into the maternity ward. Mothers nursing newborns, babies coming out of the womb and staff members all followed Gen. Bin-Qadi into the Kingdom of Death.

Flying out from Cairo, LT LeBarne passed over the Pyramids, turned, and headed back to the carrier. As she left the Egyptian coast, her radar detected an enemy plane following her. The threat closed in and she turned to face it.

"Infidel!" the enemy pilot shouted over the radio. "You have desecrated our sacred mosque and destroyed a hospital. Now, you will pay for General Bin-Qadi's death!"

"You're about to get killed by a woman," she taunted back.

Enraged, the Islamofascist hit the afterburners and closed in on her. She did the same and raced toward her attacker, flying right past him. She then flew into the sun and made the MiG chase her. After about 10 miles LT LeBarne turned back, locked on, and opened up with an AMRAM-2.

The enemy pilot threw out flares, trying to deflect the missile. It failed, however, and he was forced to run. Seeing his opportunity, he fired off two missiles. LT LeBarne easily dodged the first, but the second was more troublesome. She was forced to drop altitude to less than 50 feet.

This was wavetop level, but it was sufficient to cause the missile to plunge into the sea. LeBarne continued back towards the USS Ronald Reagan, her pursuer going right along with her. She rose to an altitude of 20,000 feet and then the Islamofascist spoke again.

"I commend you on your skill, infidel, but you must now die like the dog you are," he declared.

With afterburners still going, LT LeBarne led the enemy on. He was gaining, and she knew that the had but two chances at survival. Reaching the fleet was the safer option, but that might not happen in time. So she took the second, more hazardous option.

She shut down the afterburners and then cut engine power to a near stall. Nose up, she seemed to stop moving completely, and then it happened. The enemy pilot shot right past her, which was bad news for him, because she locked on and let loose with her last two missiles.

The Death-dealers streaked in, and he knew he was a goner. He weaved and bobbed and could see the missiles flying around him. He kept on trying to elude the missiles, trying to postpone "meeting Allah" for as long as possible. As he flew on, his radio crackled.

LT Lebarne told him, "Goodbye, you camel-felating son of a bitch!"

That was the last thing he hearde before the missiles caught up with him. The MiG disintegrated as the pilot ejected. LT LeBarne could see a parachute floating down. She raidoed for a rescue team to pick up the downed enemy pilot, and returned to the USS Ronald Reagan.

After landing, LT LeBarne jumped out of the F/A-18 and ran back to the wardroom. Elated, she sat down and waited for de-briefing. As she waited, the reality of LJG Andros' death hit her. "War, terrible war," she thought. It had not been a day without loss. She had lost so much in her life already, and now, with LJG Andros gone, she was alone again. Like a samurai daimyo, she rededicated herself to the destruction of the Islamofascist Empire.