Read Online Touch the Heavens by Lindsay McKenna - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Lindsay McKenna
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and... Her breath caught when she read the intent in his eyes.
One part of her cried out for Dan’s touch once again. Another shrank in fear from him. She had just lost someone she had loved. It can’t happen again, a voice screamed. She never again wanted to feel the kind of pain that still persisted over the loss of Jim. “I think we should say good-night, Dan,” she said firmly, her voice more businesslike than she intended.
If he was disappointed, he did not show it. Offering her a smile, Dan nodded. “I’ll see you in the morning, Raven. Good night.”
5
I T WAS 0600 when Chris arrived in her flight gear at TPS. She saw Dan’s Corvette parked in the rear lot. The sky was still dark with stars although a gray hint of dawn nudged the silhouetted mountains in the background. Her fingers tightened in the pockets of her flight jacket as she quickly took the steps two at a time up to the door. Dan was busy with paperwork when Chris stepped into his cramped office. He looked up, giving her a slight smile.
“Grab a cup of coffee and then go check the weather. I’m going to be tied up with this stuff for another half hour.”
“Sounds good,” she murmured, meaning it. The coffee was like a shot of adrenaline to her exhausted mind. Sleep had been impossible, and Chris wanted to be perfect on the test flight today. Dan was a fair, but tough instructor. She called up operations and got in touch with the meteorologist, jotting down the wind direction, knots, the temperature and dew point. All these factors would have a great deal to do with the rotation or takeoff point of the jet that she would pilot this morning. Gathering up the flight plan information, Chris met Dan as he was coming out of his office. He glanced up at her.
“All set?”
“Ready, ready now,” she replied, dropping into B-52-bomber slang. It brought the expected smile to Dan’s face.
“Okay, let’s get Double Ugly checked out and then you can take me for a ride.”
A new feeling penetrated her exhaustion. She recognized it as a shot of badly needed adrenaline. Today was the day! Resolution coupled with desire to do her very best on the test catapulted through her. Not only did Chris want to make the highest scores possible, but equally important, she wanted to make Dan proud of her. He was giving up a great deal for her sake. More than once she had heard some of the other instructors teasing Dan about the flight overtime he was logging for her benefit. Chris felt her heart expand in silent gratitude for his sacrifice. Dan personified the image of the ideal officer and gentleman.
She picked up her flight bag at the locker and doggedly walked out to the flight line where Dan was waiting. Hopping into the waiting van, they were driven out to the ramp in the grayness of the burgeoning dawn that outlined the black shapes of the awesome F-4 Phantoms.
As always, it was business only in the cockpit. Conversations were kept to a minimum, covering only the technical exchanges that were needed to complete the preflight list. Suddenly her fatigue vanished, and Chris placed all her concentration on the present. The shiver of the throbbing twin engines of the jet filled her with confidence. Working the rudders, she gave the crew chief a thumbs-up and inched the throttles forward, pointing the black nosed fighter toward the taxiway. In an hour and a half she would know whether or not she had the right stuff to continue flying the fighters.
It was almost 0900 when Chris landed the Phantom. After she completed the final landing, Dan ordered her to bring the bird in from the grueling hour-and-a-half test. Chris pushed up the dark visor that covered the upper half of her face. When she unsnapped one side of her oxygen mask, it brushed the left side of her cheek. She grimaced, feeling the familiar trickle of sweat from between her breasts and from beneath her armpits. It had been one hell of a test.
“Switch to private,” Dan ordered, breaking into her
One part of her cried out for Dan’s touch once again. Another shrank in fear from him. She had just lost someone she had loved. It can’t happen again, a voice screamed. She never again wanted to feel the kind of pain that still persisted over the loss of Jim. “I think we should say good-night, Dan,” she said firmly, her voice more businesslike than she intended.
If he was disappointed, he did not show it. Offering her a smile, Dan nodded. “I’ll see you in the morning, Raven. Good night.”
5
I T WAS 0600 when Chris arrived in her flight gear at TPS. She saw Dan’s Corvette parked in the rear lot. The sky was still dark with stars although a gray hint of dawn nudged the silhouetted mountains in the background. Her fingers tightened in the pockets of her flight jacket as she quickly took the steps two at a time up to the door. Dan was busy with paperwork when Chris stepped into his cramped office. He looked up, giving her a slight smile.
“Grab a cup of coffee and then go check the weather. I’m going to be tied up with this stuff for another half hour.”
“Sounds good,” she murmured, meaning it. The coffee was like a shot of adrenaline to her exhausted mind. Sleep had been impossible, and Chris wanted to be perfect on the test flight today. Dan was a fair, but tough instructor. She called up operations and got in touch with the meteorologist, jotting down the wind direction, knots, the temperature and dew point. All these factors would have a great deal to do with the rotation or takeoff point of the jet that she would pilot this morning. Gathering up the flight plan information, Chris met Dan as he was coming out of his office. He glanced up at her.
“All set?”
“Ready, ready now,” she replied, dropping into B-52-bomber slang. It brought the expected smile to Dan’s face.
“Okay, let’s get Double Ugly checked out and then you can take me for a ride.”
A new feeling penetrated her exhaustion. She recognized it as a shot of badly needed adrenaline. Today was the day! Resolution coupled with desire to do her very best on the test catapulted through her. Not only did Chris want to make the highest scores possible, but equally important, she wanted to make Dan proud of her. He was giving up a great deal for her sake. More than once she had heard some of the other instructors teasing Dan about the flight overtime he was logging for her benefit. Chris felt her heart expand in silent gratitude for his sacrifice. Dan personified the image of the ideal officer and gentleman.
She picked up her flight bag at the locker and doggedly walked out to the flight line where Dan was waiting. Hopping into the waiting van, they were driven out to the ramp in the grayness of the burgeoning dawn that outlined the black shapes of the awesome F-4 Phantoms.
As always, it was business only in the cockpit. Conversations were kept to a minimum, covering only the technical exchanges that were needed to complete the preflight list. Suddenly her fatigue vanished, and Chris placed all her concentration on the present. The shiver of the throbbing twin engines of the jet filled her with confidence. Working the rudders, she gave the crew chief a thumbs-up and inched the throttles forward, pointing the black nosed fighter toward the taxiway. In an hour and a half she would know whether or not she had the right stuff to continue flying the fighters.
It was almost 0900 when Chris landed the Phantom. After she completed the final landing, Dan ordered her to bring the bird in from the grueling hour-and-a-half test. Chris pushed up the dark visor that covered the upper half of her face. When she unsnapped one side of her oxygen mask, it brushed the left side of her cheek. She grimaced, feeling the familiar trickle of sweat from between her breasts and from beneath her armpits. It had been one hell of a test.
“Switch to private,” Dan ordered, breaking into her
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