Singing Stars

The sky is why I fly. To the different hues of the atmosphere. To the puffy clouds and the purest shades of all colors of the universe. I challenge any cosmic or mystical power to say otherwise.

“Clair”?

“Remember Dad, when I sat on your shoulders and you pointed out star constellations after the sun went down. 

I do.

I remember your big smile when I asked “do the stars talk to us daddy”?

You laughed into the still night and passing shadows and said “yes my sweet pea. They even sing if you know how to listen”.

“Lieutenant Donavan”!

Clair snapped out of her daydream like a whip snapping the backside of a bull. The eyes of her C.O was looking back her. “You daydreaming again farm-girl”? Her C.O said. 

 Clair cleared her throat “no sir just thinking about the mission”. 

Captain Adam Cordell, flight lead of Talon squadron, grunted and said “don’t think to hard farm-girl. Just keep your head on a swivel out there. I’m sure you’ll do fine”. 

“Yes sir” Clair said sharply.

“And stop daydreaming” Captain Cordell said as he turned around and looked forward as the cart drove through the parked aircraft. The wind was warm and thick. Common for this part of the world that seemed to forget that moisture and wetness was a thing on planet earth. 

Clair couldn’t stop thinking of the upcoming mission. One on One war games with Captain Adam Cordell. One of the best pilots in the Air Force today. Lead flight on the most decorated Squadrons in the military. This war game is a test for the best of the best to join…well the best of the best. 

A test in a active war zone. 

-Two hours later-

“Listen sweet pea, oh no, don’t cry. I know this is going to be hard on you. But listen carefully, I will always be with you. I will be with you as you reach for the stars and take on the world as the strong person I know you are. I know you may think your on your own. But your not, me and your mother will always be here for you. Always sweet pea. Remember to listen carefully in your life.”

“I know dad, because the stars sing if you know how to listen”. 

“You there Lieutenant“? Adam asked over internal comms. 

Clair shakes her helmeted head, softly shaking the memory away. “Yes sir”.

“Well then heads up Farm-girl, looks like your final test got more interesting. Briefing is being sent to your HUD.”

Clair looked at the red text sprawling at the bottom of her heads up display. 

TALON Squadron, priority tasking. High Value Target suspected at coordinates. Area is highly dangerous, anti-air abilities unknown.

Mission objectives are as fellows-

1: Surgical strike noted targets in the information package provided with the briefing.

2: Report damage assessment.

3: RTB (return to base). 

Clair raised a eye brow. But said nothing to her commander. “Alright farm-girl, you ready? Area of operation is not that far. If we do this right we can be home before lunch”.

“Yes sir” Clair said. She pulled on her aircrafts throttle, banking hard with her Commander. 

“Holy shit” Clair said to herself. “This is really happening. Okay Clair calm down. You can do this. Just have to remember your training. After everything that you have been through. All that pain and suffering. All those feelings of being lost. Of being alone. All those trials has strengthened you for this.” 

Clair repeated similar encouraging chants in her head as she raced across the Amber sky, to the mountain valley on the calm horizon. 

*

This is the transcript for OPERATION THUNDERCLAP.

Pilots.

Adam Cordell (Commander: Talon squadron)

Clair Donavan (Trainee. Likely new recruit into Talon squadron)

Other Talon pilots not present. 

Warning: Classified Information. All unauthorized personnel are subject to arrest and imprisonment for accessing this information.

Transcript is as fellows-

Talon1: Good hits Talon6. Looks like good effect on targets. Let’s RTB.

Talon6: Sir wait. I see something. 

Commander, I have 4 unidentifiable aircraft coming from the southeast. 

Talon1: I see them. Can you identify?.

Talon6: No sir, I think we shou…

Enemy jammers are suspected of cutting off the pilots radios at this time. It will be two minutes and ten seconds till communication is Reestablished with the remaining pilot.

End of Transcript-

*

“Shit” Clair yelled into her dead comms. The fear tried to overcome her. “What happened to the comms”? She was thinking. Memories of her loneliness when she was a kid tried to overcome her. The fact that again she was alone. But this time she was entering a dogfight.

But then, like many times in her life. Her father and mothers voices came to her. 

“Shh sweet pea. Listen to the stars”.

“You got this honey. Fight with all your soul”.

She looked around and seen Commander Cordell as one of his seeker missile fell off one of his wings. The booster jets ignited a moment later, and the missile shot towards the incoming four jets that were racing at them. Leaving behind a thin white stream of smoke. 

Clairs training  kicked in. She flicked her master arms and popped open the button cover on her flight stick. “Locked and loaded” she echoed in her mind. 

The white color scheme of her HUD changed to battle station red. 

Her fighters battle AI soft voice came in fuzzy and distorted; “Jamming effect in progress” scrolled across the bottom of her HUD.

“Well that explains the comms” Clair said to her cockpit as she launched her own seeker missile.

Clair heard the ‘thuck’ as the missile fell away from her fighter. It then shot off after her Commanders missile like a young sibling chasing his older brother.

“Missile Lock” Flashed on her screen and Clair looked to see the four enemy fighters launched their own salvo of anti-air missiles before they broke their formation and turned and burned hard to avoid Talon Squadrons incoming seeker missiles. 

Clairs mind switched on and her training took complete control. She pulled up hard and as her plane screamed towards the heavens. The G-forces kicked in and Clair could see the edges of her sight blacken and she started to feel the heaviness of her eye lids. It was like God was struggling to flick off her life switch.

“Flares”! Clairs yelled through gritted teeth. The fighters AI was happy to comply. Clair smiled inwardly at the ‘tsk, tsk, tsk” sound as heat chaff deployed from under her fighter like a flowers pedals blossoming on a warm day. 

Clair felt relief on her body as she completed her barrel roll and the missile lock warning ended. When she found herself looking back down at earth. She took in three things instantly. 

One: was that Her Commander was unloading his fighters chain-guns into the belly of a enemy fighter. The fighters back end bucked up and then exploded into nothing but dust and vapor.

Two: behind him was another enemy fighter closing in for the kill. She wanted to tell him that he had a bogey on his tail. 

But the third thing she noticed was she had another issue she had to deal with first.

Two in fact.

The last two enemy fighters were racing up to her. She watch a hole open up under the enemy’s cockpits and a stubby muzzle sprung out of it.

“Remember”, Her father said within the recesses of Clairs mind. 

Then she did remember. A trick her dad showed her in his ancient crop dusting plane. A trick that mom hated when he did it with Clair flying with him. 

“Command Override” Clair said to her battle AI. 

“Turn off engines and fire off top thruster for 1.0 seconds”. 

After her barrel roll, Clair was approaching the enemy at a steep angle. But thanks to her dad. She didn’t have to be. She could get out of her enemies sights before they turned her into a firework display for the sand dunes below.

Her AI respond immediately and she heard and felt her fighter shutdown. A friction of a second later. Her fighters top thruster shot off in a short burst and immediately she was heading straight down to the land below. Completely out of her enemies sights.

“Initiate startup” Clair said. 

As her fighters systems came back online. She looked behind her to see cannon fire and a missile fill the space she was just occupying.

Refocused and out of immediately danger. Clair punched it and was in behind the fighter that was unloading cannon shots at her Commander. Her Commander was dodging like the living legend he is. But a round caught him in is left wing. 

Clair flicked off a seeker missile and watched it shoot off from her fighter, curve away from her, and slam right into the enemy center. Right where the fuel tank was. 

The enemy Fighter disintegrated, and Clair had to pull away from the debris and concussive wave. 

*

Commander Adam Cordell had just smoked a fighter when he turned and watched the rookie pull off a crazy maneuver that had just saved her from being turned into a pile of rubble in the sand. 

“Nice reflex’s and reaction time” Adam thought. “Looks like the farm-girl has some skill. Nice to know all the stories about her talents are true”.

Adam’s plane shook from a impact on his wing and he turned in time to see his pursuer lining up for a volley of hot lead that would put him in the dirt. But instead of that. The enemy plane exploded. His fighter shook from the explosive force and he leveled it out as fast as he could. His wounded wing telling him he is not going to be able to evade very well. 

The rookie flew just off his wing. He couldn’t tell if she was trying to communicate with him. Comms where still dead and her helmet made it impossible to see if she was trying to say something.

She pointed at him and then down. Adam followed her finger. It was pointed to the mountain entrance they used to enter this valley. She kept pointing at him and at the entrance. It took Adam a moment, but when it hit him on want the rookie was telling him to do. Adam’s jaw almost dropped behind his flight helmet. “She wants me to leave” He thought to himself. Then and there is when Adam knew that this young bright eyed woman was family. Was a Talon.

Commander Adam Cordell, looked at his wingman’s faceless helmet and simply shook his head. Then banked hard right and back around. His aircraft shook from the maneuver. His crippled wing screaming its distaste for what he was doing to it. 

He may have a wounded bird. But he still has some sharp fangs. Commander Adam Cordell squared his jaw as he raced full power towards the incoming enemy.

*

Unlike her Commander. Clairs jaw did drop as she witness her Commanders shaking fighter turn hard towards the two enemy fighters in the distance. Clair followed suit. Burning and turning hard to get in formation with her Commander. 

“You got this” her mother’s voice told her.

Clair thought it was funny. Remember her mother’s voice but not her face. 

Her mind did not wander this time now. As the ‘missile lock’ warning flashed on her HUD. She got solid locks on the enemy fighters and flicked off four high velocity Hunter killer missiles. Her Commander seemed to fellow suit and fired his salvo as well. 

Both pilots watched in aww as the missiles curved towards their targets. Broke the sound barrier a moment later. Then the missiles found good hits. Both enemy fighters went up like small supernovas.

However, the ‘missile lock’ warning did not go away. Then Clair seen why. Two seeker missiles where heading straight at them, one each. 

The enemy fighters were able to get a few off before they meant their early end.

Clair knew she could bank away. But she also knew her Commander couldn’t with his beat up fighter. Clair swallows hard and said “plot intercept course on missile heading towards Talon 1”.

The AI did as it was told. The intercept line showed on her HUD. 

In one glance of the data showing on her HUD. Clair seen that her chances of survive were in the single digits. That’s also including the idea that she bails out at the exact right time.

Clair did not hesitate. She accelerated and turned hard into her Commanders path. She reached between her legs and pulled her bailout lever. Her canopy shot off her plane. The wind rushed in. Her instrument panels shorted out and she closed her eyes and surrendered to the blackness of everlasting peace when her AI told her impact in 5, 4, 3…

“I did it Dad, I listened like you said. You were right. They do sing. The stars. Their singing to me”.

“That’s good sweet pea, I’m so proud of you”.

Something smacked her in the said of her helmet as she shot out of her fighter. Then Clair Donavan, felt nothing at all.

*

Two Days Later-

“Why”?

That’s all Commander Adam Cordell could ask himself for the past two days. Why would she do that. He had given her nothing but grief ever since she was sent to him for recruitment. About her farming family and simple roots. The fact that she was the smallest of all the cadets. The fact that she was alone. 

It was all meant to build her up. Make her stronger, Independent. 

Her sad eyes and daydreaming had to be taken out of her if she was to become a terror of the skies like the rest of his squadron. 

Yet, she showed reflex, skill, and bravery that was on par with any of his crew.

“Why”?

“Well guess it’s time to finally find out”.

The doors swooshed opened. On top of the doors read ‘MEDICAL’

On the cot at the end of the room. There she was. Clair was sitting up. Her right leg and neck in a thick cast. 

She looked at him as he walked up to her bed. She said no words. Neither did Adam. As they locked eyes. Adam then knew two things. 

One, this young shy woman is a Talon to the core. 

Two, she is not alone. 

She may be just one person. But within her green blue eyes. Is the strength of Gods. The smarts of the cosmos and the love of someone who was never alone. Even if she didn’t know it.

Adam could have told her of her ejection out of her plane. Or how he stood in the air and watched her parachute slowly take her to the hot sands. How long it took the rescue bird to find her. Or when it did find her, that she was barely breathing in the desert heat. Or how she has been out for two whole days.

But instead, Adam smiled. Placed his hand gently on her shoulder and said:

“Welcome to the family Lieutenant”

The End