Chapter 14: War. No matter how good the win is, some of God’s Children still die.

When breakfast was done, the Taylors went to the lower deck where the 223’s were parked. The side door had just been opened and Bull Dog and the other pilots were in their planes. Sam was standing by the chairs where the shield team would sit. Most of the shield team was standing with Sam watching the 223’s.

“Well, I see you didn’t fall overboard.” John shook hands with his assistant.

Jenny gave Sam a hug, “At least not more than once.”

“No, sir! I see the Marines are still watching your back, Mr. President.” Sam looked at the four Marines dressed in their finest.

“I’m going to talk with them. Dress uniforms are not going to get the job done today.” John laughed.

Within two minutes, two of the Marines scamper off towards the elevator.

John was back with Sam when the 223’s all lined up. Bull Dog and J-Hawk (Commander Wilson) led the planes through the big side doors. The Shield Officer was on his phone talking to Control. The planes were floating until they were clear of the ship then they turned and took off at full power, disappearing with a big roar, “Where are they going, Sam?”

“Bull Dog and Tin Man are going to be watching our stern. Their job is to keep that landing deck clear. Commander Wilson is J-Hawk and he and his wingman Hawkeye are to keep the bow of the ship clear.” Sam said quietly, “John the Admiral has the best of the best watching and protecting this ship.”

“Sam, this may be the largest air battle involving just fighter planes in the history of mankind before we are done today. We won’t leave here until all of the ISIS threat is eliminated from this part of the world. The Admiral knows this and that is why we are so close to the action. That is also why he and I agreed to go with our mental shields.”

“How are you feeling?” John asked.

“More alive than I have ever felt in my life and yet...” Sam stated.

“You have a love interest in harm’s way,” John added.

Sam thought for a minute, “Yes Sir.” Jenny had heard the question and the answer.

“Sam, we will get through this. We have had our other children in harm’s way. Tony and Willa in Russia and now in Mexico along with Peter and Patty. Johnny and Teresa in Cuba. She’ll come back to you, Sam.” Sam stood 6’2” and John looked up at the man that was becoming like another son.

“Yes, Mam, I will do my job.” Sam shook his head to clear the cobwebs.

“I never had a doubt.” Jenny smiled.

As John and his team waited for the Marines to move up to the upper control room, the mess was setting up a big table and setting a buffet lunch on it.

“Are you hungry boys?” The Admiral asked.

John laughed, “Boys eat all the time.”

When the Marine Sergeant and the Lance Corporal returned with combat greens on, John kissed and hugged all his girls. The Sergeant led John and Sam and the boys up to the control room. The Admiral lead the group into a side room where the nice buffet spread was laid out with sandwich fixings and fruit. “Eat up boys, this may be a long afternoon.” The Admiral informed.

The wait felt like many hours. John continued to talk to the two boys. He asked Ben “Do you have a girlfriend yet?

Ben looked away and shook his head no.

Willy looked at his dad and nodded his head ‘Yes!’

John pointed to his nose with his index finger in the sign of quiet to Willy, “Is she pretty?”

Ben looked at his dad and gave up. He didn’t know why he thought he could get away with his denial, “Yes, she is very pretty. Her name is Stacy.”

“Thank you, Ben, I didn’t mean to impose. I was just trying to help the time pass. War is best known as hurry up and wait.”

“Thank you, dad.” Ben smiled, “Hurry up and wait! I’ll remember that.”

“When your dad said war is hurry up and wait, he confirmed for me that he has been there.” The Admiral shared with the boys, “This is always the hardest part of any war. God says the battle will last about two hours. That will seem like ten minutes. When it is over, your stomach is going to tell you it’s hungry. Until that moment you would think your stomach has left you.”

Willy looked down at his stomach and gave it a comforting pat.

The Captain looked in, “Sir we have over 200 aircraft that have just now shown up on our long-distance radar. They are heading our way, sir.”

John stood up and gave each of the boys a 4 oz. bottle of water. He also handed each a banana and a delicious oatmeal and chocolate chip cookie that was wrapped in a napkin. Sam also took a water bottle and a cookie. John did too. The two Marines followed suit with water bottles and cookies.

Over the com channel came “Listen up. F-223’s allow the F18’s to take on the choppers. F-223’s your job is to take on the F-35’s. You have 144 rockets, make them count.”

There was a chorus of “Aye, aye sir!” over the intercom.

John looked around, Ben was in his position with his safety line connected. Willy was in his position with his two safety lines on. Sam was standing behind watching, “Sam come fire the 50.” Sam had fired one at Quantico, Virginia when he went through the FBI School. Everyone had their helmets on that were tied into the intercom with all the pilots and controllers.

Within a minute there were a hundred things going on all at once.

Bull Dog and Tin Man were chasing two F-35’s across the stern of the Lincoln. The Auto’s on the stern opened and peppered Tin Man, he, “SCREAMED.”

“TIN MAN?” Mary yelled, “Admiral the Auto’s just shot up Tin Man.”

“I’m okay, I’m transporting. One, two and three.” If Tin Man had counted to five he would have been blown to bits. He had pulled his AI module and transported to the flight deck of the Lincoln. He quickly made his way to Control. Once there he entered to face the Chief Flight Officer, “Did I get him, Sir?”

“Yes, Tin Man, you are the first to shoot down an F-35.”

“How can I get back into this battle?” Tin Man asked.

“Leave your AI here and go assist the President.” The CFO pointed to the walkway outside of the Control Room.

“YES, SIR.” Tin Man jumped towards the door. Once through it, he looked at the action. The Marshall was on the 50. The Marines were on a 20-mm M61 Vulcan cannon that is identical to what the F-18’s carry. It was obvious the 50 needed a more experienced hand, “Marshall?”

Sam looked at the helmet with Tin Man written on it, “Yes Tin Man?”

“Can I try my hand, sir?” Tin offered.

“Take over.” Sam moved out of the way. He watched as Tin Man flipped the toggle switch to fully automatic and shot down three Black Hawk Helicopters coming at them about a mile away in three minutes. He then took aim at an F-35 that was coming out of the South in their direction.

The F-35 turned into an explosion.

“Good shooting Tin Man,” John announced.

“Sir, can I take over for you?” A pilot with WASH on his helmet asked Sam.

Over the intercom, a woman’s voice asked, “Tin Man?”

“I’m here helping out White Eagle. I got a few dozen targets in front of me. Two bogies. Wash just joined me.”

“You okay Wash?”

“Rocket missed my shield, took out one of my engines. I’m okay. 10-4” Wash shared.

Sam returned to his position to stand behind John.

Off to the southeast, an F-35 blew up. Bull Dog announce, “That was three.”

“I’m at four!” J-Hawk announced.

Another explosion towards the rear of the ship.

“Now, I’m at four also.” Bull Dog stated.

Inside the control room, the Captain announced 22 to 4.

The Admiral looked over and released a lung full of air. They had about 30 minutes on the clock. He was standing on the left shoulder of the Radar Technician. He nodded and went back to watching the Radar. He announced into his mic, “We have four bogies coming over the bow.”

“Eagle, can you get the two on the left?” J-Hawk asked.

“I’ll get the left two,” Ben said.

I’m on three.” J-Hawk shared.

“I’ll clean up the mess!” Hawkeye stated.

Ben took a deep breath and with his right hand sent a shield towards the first F-35. He followed up with his left hand sending another shield. His dad had told him, in the battle, all of them would find new abilities. The planes hit his shields and glanced down towards the ocean. One of the F-35’s bounced off the Lincoln’s Bow. To his right, another explosion happened then another one. Big pieces of F-35’s landed on the Flight deck.

Over the intercom, “Way to go Eagle. He got both of his. Admiral, our Lady is going to need some paint.”

“We’ll worry about that in Hawaii.” The Admiral stated.

“10-4”

“Two bogies coming up the stern.”

A little voice said, “Okay!”

Soon that little voice added, “Got um!” The noise that went across the flight deck was horrendous. It had to be into the hundreds of decibels. The Marines hit an F-35 and it crashed into the side of the ship’s shield. It too made a horrendous noise. The whole ship shuddered from the vibration.

“Captain, I do believe we are in a battle.” The Admiral was trying to get his hearing back.

“The tally is 58 to 6. The Nimitz has lost two F18’s. Pilots are okay. We have also downed over 100 Black Hawks. The Marines, Tin Man and the F-18’s have chewed them up pretty good.” The Captain reported.

The Admiral looked at the position clock. 90 minutes had passed since Tin Man had shot down the first F-35. We are still shooting down an F-35 every minute and a half. God says there will be a quick break in the action at around 100 planes. That leaves 42 planes, so we got around another hour of the battle. Maybe I can shorten that hour.

“Two more bogies coming at the Stern.” Over the intercom.

“Okay!” a little voice said.

The boat protested with a shutter and a rattle as the horrendous waves of noise traveled across the flight deck.

“Got UM!”

“Good job General.” The Admiral said over the intercom. This was Numbers 4 and 5 for Willy.

Hundreds of voices on the intercom. Short two or three-word discussions.

“Tin Man?”

“I’m at 5.”

“I’m at 11, coming in to reload. General?”

“Okay Bull Dog! Ruff!”

“Ruff!” Bull Dog floated in and sat as her crew brought more fuel and twelve new rockets. In ten minutes, her plane was ready to take to the skies again.

“Bull Dog?”

“Yes CFO.”

“Get ready to fight. We have what looks like four bogies coming at the bow.”

“Everyone?” J-Hawk asked, “Eagle take the left one.”

“10-4,” Ben informed.

“I’ll take #2,” J-Hawk said.

“Me for three,” Hawkeye added.

“I’ll take #4.” Bull Dog added.

“NOW!”

Ben’s Shield hitting an F-35 was about half as loud as Willy’s.

That seemed to be the trigger this time. Ben lowered his shades on his helmet. Three loud explosions and more pieces of F-35’s all over the bow end of the flight deck. The Navy crew quickly moved out to clean up the mess on the flight deck.

“J-Hawk and Hawkeye take over the cover of the Lincoln. Bull Dog go HUNT.” The Admiral directed his team.

“YES, SIR.” Bull Dog screamed. Over the next ten minutes, Bull Dog tallied ten more hits. She led two bogies in front of White Eagle. He reached out with his TK and pulled the tail wings off the two bogies. They did a corkscrew dive into the ocean. She also had four others shot down chasing her by J-Hawk and Hawkeye.

“Two bogies coming at the stern.”

“Okay!” The little voice said followed by two very loud noises from the stern.

“Three bogies coming at the bow!”

“I see them!” Ben’s young voice announced.

“Eagle take two?”

“I’ll take two,” Ben said.

“I’ll take #3. 10-4.” J-Hawk added.

“Two bogies coming mid-ship on the Starboard side.”

There were explosions everywhere. Tin Man nailed the right bogie. John hit the second bogie with his shield. The F-35 just bounced up. Sam hit it with his shield. The F-35 exploded knocking everybody on the walkway down, except for Sam. Ben and Willy were somewhat protected as their portion of the walkway were covered by the Main Ship’s shield. Sam was thrown against the outside wall of the Control Room. His back about 5” from his backbone hit the safety ring sticking out about 3”. Two of his rib bones were broken.

A voice that John knew well uttered, “owwwwww.”

John turned over and got to his knees. He made a circle checking everyone. When he got to Sam he realized his Marshall was in trouble. Sam couldn’t breathe.

“Marshall?” a woman’s voice over the intercom.

“I got him.” John eased a very white Sam down to a sitting position.

“Sam?” John asked.

“Back!” Sam squeaked out.

“He’s got a rib broken, I’ll fix,” John reported.

At the two-hour mark, The Captain’s report was, “92 to 7.”

Bull Dog continued her hunt.

“Sir we have another fleet starting to show up on the long-distance radar.” One of the Lieutenants informed the Admiral and Captain.

“It’s about time for the Kuznetsov to show up.” The Admiral informed. The Russian Kuznetsov Air Craft Carrier today has a complement of 40 of the Mikoyan MiG-29K and 20 of the Sukhoi SU-30’s.

“Sir they are launching their SU-30’s.”

John’s phone rang. The display showed “Mother Bear”.

“Hello, this is Admiral Wiggins of the Abraham Lincoln.

“This is Mother Bear. Is White Eagle available?”

“Mother Bear, he is coming in the door now.”

“Mother Bear?” John asked.

“I’m here White Eagle.”

The Captain handed John a slip of paper. On it was 99 and 7, “Mother Bear, I just got handed a piece of paper with the numbers we saw months ago. 99 and 7. That leaves 45 F-35s still in the sky.”

“Do we have a green light to play in the pool?” Vid asked.

“Absolutely Mother Bear, Green Light to Play in the Pool,” John said loud enough for all to hear in the control room.

The Admiral moved away and keyed his mic, “F-223’s, go to plan E-1. Please sound off and disclose your number of rockets.”

“Bull Dog 2.”

“J-Hawk 1.”

“Bull Dog and J-Hawk land and reload.”

When the Admiral heard he only had 29 rockets in the other 9 F-223’s, “When Bull Dog and J-Hawk return, I want three of you at a time to land and reload.

Over the intercom, all heard many “Aye, aye, sir.”

Willy was getting bored. He moved over to Sam, “Are you okay Sam?” He did not realize his question went out over the intercom.

“Your dad fixed me up as good as new!” Sam said.

“Admiral, we are getting a hail from the pilot of an F-35. He is asking for Political Asylum.”

“Sir, the lone F-35 is nearing our stern. His plane shows it has radiation coming from it.”

“Nuclear Bomb. Willy push that last bogie as far away as possible.” The Admiral directed.

“Okay.” Willy looked to Ben, “Come!” They ran to the end of the cat walk on the stern. They each grabbed a tie line.

Ben pointed to the stern and said, “There.”

The two boys hit this lone F-35 about a quarter mile behind the Lincoln with their shields. They were able to push it another quarter mile further away. Both boys had thrown two shields at it, “Got him, Admiral.”

“Everyone come into the Control Room Now!” The Admiral ordered. He then called the Engine Room, “This is the Admiral, Warrant Officer Briggs, give us all you can, we may have a Nuclear Explosion a half mile behind us.”

“Understood Admiral.”

Overall channels, “Prepare for a Rogue Wave. Move indoors. Secure all doors and windows from storm surge. Do this NOW!”

Ben picked up Willy and headed for the door. The Marines, Tin Man along with his assistant Wash scampered through the door ahead of them. Sam pushed John in after them. As Ben turned to enter there was a very loud noise with a mountain of water rising out of the sea behind them. Sam bent down, “Go, Ben!”